Strictly Sail Miami Show In-Water Experience!
(Miami, FL)- The “new” Miami Boat Show runs from February 11th to 15th with the sailboats located at Miamarina along the waterfront park. On display will be the gorgeous new J/122E sporting jazzy red designer accents and the spectacular open, airy, modern Scandinavian interior design. It is a sailing yacht that is truly a “wolf in sheep’s clothing”- her sisterships have won just about every major offshore race around the world. Learn more about the exciting new J/122E “sports cruiser” here.
Also, on display will be the J/70 one-design speedster floating on the very cool “Versadock Drysail” system. J/70 owners can enjoy the pleasure of sailing within minutes, while at the same time storing their boat 100% out of the water. The DrySail system won the "Equipment Innovation of the Year” from Yachts & Yachting Awards in 2014. It’s the perfect evolution in docking for lifting-keel sportboats like the J/70- learn more about it’s amazing benefits at the show! Learn more about the J/70 one-design speedster here.
In addition, the new J/88 Oceanvolt will be participating in the “Discover Sailing” program being run by the Miami Boat Show. Hop aboard and experience the pure joy of sailing the J/88 as well as the pleasure of “silent running” with all-electric power! This eco-friendly solution can be powered by solar panels, hydro-electric regeneration, or by shore power! Learn more about this revolutionary package here.
The program for the J/88 hands-on Performance Sailing Workshop includes:
- Learn how to trim the sails for maximizing performance while maintaining control and minimizing stress on the rigging.
- Reading tell tales, managing draft and sail twist, balancing the helm, steering by the sails and determining the most efficient heel angle and point of sail are all essential skills required for getting the most out of the boat.
- NOTE- the program is nearly fully subscribed but they are accepting a waiting list of entrants!
Electric J/88 SEAHORSE Feature!(Lymington, England)- French sailmaker Alain Janet is the founder of Solar Cloth System which has been busy developing a practical system for generating electrical power from thin photovoltaic films laminated onto modern sail fabrics…
In the past sailors have taken the ecological high ground over other boaters, yet modern sailing requires far more electrical power than it used to. With new onboard technologies and their growing demands for power, it’s clear that sailors now experience regular energy shortages while cruising and/or racing, even over relatively short distances. And of course, the problem grows exponentially when you are racing across oceans and around the world.
Sea and sun go hand in hand, so solar power has long seemed to offer an answer to this problem. However, rigid solar panels are heavy, bulky and require a lot of ingenuity to install discretely; but what about producing electricity with our sails? See the article attached here- thanks to SEAHORSE magazine.
J/111 Worlds NOR Announcement(Cowes, England)- Attention J/111 owners and sailors! The Royal Southern YC is pleased to provide the draft version of the Notice of Race for the 2016 J/111 World Championships this coming August in Cowes, England! The regatta is being hosted by Island Sailing Club from August 1st to 4th, just prior to the famous Cowes Race Week. Please click here for the J/111 Worlds NOR.
Here's a reminder of the busy programme for J/111s in the Solent this summer!
- June 9-11 National Championships at J-Cup - Royal Southern YC
- July 16-17 Europeans as part of Royal Southern YC July Regatta
- July 29-30 Pre-Worlds Regatta - Royal Southern YC
- August 1-4 World Championships - Island Sailing Club
- August 6-13 Cowes Week
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide
The Caribbean sailing season continues to pick up pace. Soon, the RORC 600 Race will kick off from in front of English Harbour, Antigua. However, in the meantime a new J/11S and a J/122 are having a wonderful time going at it hammer & tong in Antigua YC’s regatta series that include recently include the Antigua High Tide Series and Round Island Race. Just off to their east, the Grenada Sailing Festival was taking place with a fleet of J/24s, a J/105 and others having fun in the breezy Windward Islands.Over in the Americas, the first “official” fleet of offshore keelboats raced in the inaugural Conch Republic Cup, a 90nm dash from Key West, Florida to the Mariel Hemingway Harbor at Havana, Cuba. Out West, a simply enormous fleet sailed the incredibly popular Three Bridge Fiasco- singlehanded and doublehanded racing around the three “marks” of San Francisco Bay- the bridges (Golden Gate, Richmond, Bay).
Down in the southern hemisphere, there was plenty of action taking place. In South America, the J/105 Chiloe Regatta took place south of Puerto Montt in Chile- it’s also known as the Patagonian section of Chile with numerous lakes and an archipelago of islands that rival Stockholm, Sweden. However, toss in the wild blue Pacific, the massive, majestic snow-capped Andes Mountain range as a backdrop and one could argue it’s easily one of the most spectacular (and most photogenic) places in the world to sail.
Also “down under” was the fabulous Geelong Festival of Sails that saw hundreds of participants sailing off Victoria, Australia, including some fast-sailing J/122s, J/111s, J/24s and so forth.
Read on! The J/Community and Cruising section below has many entertaining stories and news about J/Sailors as well as cruising blogs about those who continue to enjoy the Caribbean and the South Pacific, staying warm while others are trying to stay warm up north. Check them out! More importantly, if you have more J/Regatta News, please email it or upload onto our J/Boats Facebook page Below are the summaries.
Regatta & Show Schedules:
Feb 6-7- Quantum J/70 Winter Series III- Tampa, FLFeb 25-28- J/70 Midwinter Championship- St. Petersburg, FL
Mar 10-13- J/70 Miami Sailing Week- Coconut Grove, FL
Apr 16-19- Charleston Race Week– Charleston, SC
Sailboat Shows:
Feb 11-15- Miami Boat Show (112E, 122E, 70)- Miami, FLFeb 13-21- Boston Boat Show (88)- Boston, MA
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
J/125 DOUBLE TROUBLE Conch Republic Winner!(Key West, FL)- For the first “official” Conch Republic Race dash from Key West, Florida to Havana, Cuba, the fastest boat in the fleet was Peter Krueger’s J/125 silver bullet called DOUBLE TROUBLE; she covered the course in just about 10 hours, or an average of 9.0 kts. First-to-finish honors were not in the calling cards when Krueger’s team registered for the race. However, with extremely favorable sailing conditions, the famous J/125 from San Francisco simply lit-up the track and took home overall elapsed honors.
For the rest of their J sailing colleagues in PHRF B Racing class, it was a battle for the top five class handicap awards. In the end, J’s took five of top seven boats in class. Sailing the 90nm course about two hours behind the mighty DT was David Malkin’s J/88 MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2 from Annapolis, MD, taking 3rd in class. Finishing just one hour behind DT and taking 4th place in class was Bennet Greenwald’s J/111 PERSEVERANCE from San Diego, CA. Twenty minutes elapsed behind them was Marcus Cholerton-Brown’s J/120 SUNSET CHILD in 5th place. Just 40 minutes off handicap corrected winning time was Krueger’s DOUBLE TROUBLE, taking 6th on corrected. Bill Smith’s J/111 WOOTON rounded out the top 7, finishing just 10 minutes behind PERSEVERANCE on elapsed time (e.g. within eye-sight of each other), but not enough to crack the top five, that’s how closed the handicap times worked out for the fleet.The regatta now has two more races to go, at this time it is Greenwald’s J/111 PERSEVERANCE leading overall honors for the racing fleet. More news next week! For more Conch Republic Cup sailing information
PATAGONIA VIRGIN Trumps J/105 Chiloe Regatta(Puerto Montt, Chile)- Two J/105 teams from the St. Francis YC, one led by Bruce Stone and the other by Ralph Silverman, journeyed south last week to Patagonia, Chile to compete in the prestigious Regata de Chiloe 2016, held every other year in the lovely Chiloe archipelago, framed by volcanoes to the east and Pacific Ocean to the west.
Stone reported that the regatta is run by the Chilean Navy under the auspices of Club Nautico Oceanico de Chile, and with 8 days of racing might be one of the longest in duration: “Ending up in a different small port each night, it places a premium on navigation and also juggling shoreside logistics – aside from the race committee’s ocean-going patrol boats and helicopters, over 50 private support boats (for meals and lodging) followed the fleet, and had their own subtle competition, trying to get to the next port for a great anchorage prior to the arrival of the 70 racing boats. Each was at anchor with hot showers and a late lunch ready for whenever their team arrived, the earliest being 4:30 pm and the latest 8:30 pm. Per Chilean custom, shoreside events or dinner on-board generally began around 10:00 pm, therefore racing did not start until between noon and 2 pm. With just 2 days of windward-leeward buoy racing, and 5 days of 25-30 mile point-to-point racing, the courses wound around islands and required skill in avoiding shoals and the salmon fishing farms along the shoreline.”
Stone’s team, on the chartered J/105 “Patagonia Virgin”, included Club members Bill Higgins (bow) and Bruce’s wife Nicole Breault (main/tactics), together with owner Santiago Said (trim), Ignacio Alvarado Segovia (mast) and Victor Cook (pit).
Silverman chartered Harald Schilling’s J/105 “Sandy” and was supported by Club member Melissa Purdy Feagin (main/tactics) and daughter Whitney and husband Randle made an appearance on-board for the final long-distance race.Stone further commented, “The Chilean J/105 is strong and growing, with just over 30 boats racing, and more expected to buy boats in the next 1-2 years. Members expressed satisfaction with the size and cost of the boat, and the fact that they could race with family members on board, as did every J/105 in this regatta except for the Navy cadets.”
“This week offered an extremely difficult combination of light air and strong current, placing a premium on local knowledge, and we were in fourth place going into the last day. We then found our wheels in perfect San Francisco Bay conditions of 14-18 kt winds, scoring a third and then a bullet to take the top spot on the podium,” commented an ebullient Stone. “The Baeza family team on “Utopia”, and Jorge Gonzalez on “Plan B” tied for second with Utopia winning the tie-breaker. Then Jose Manuel Ugarte on “Scimitar” was just another point back to take 4th (the same Scimitar that won the J/105 NA’s in Marblehead with Henry Brauer/ Stew Neff!).”“Martin Baeza told us that competing in the 2015 J/105 NA’s at St. Francis Rolex Big Boat Series took their game up to a much higher plane and they intend to come to the NA’s in Larchmont this October”, said Stone. He went on to say that, “Ralph and his team on “Sandy” turned in a solid performance, hanging really close but finishing 6th.”
Along with Baeza, several other Chilean teams, including the naval cadets, now intend to come to the U.S. for the J/105 North Americans in Long Island Sound, while both Bruce and Ralph are considering returning to Patagonia for the next Regata de Chiloe in 2018, or possibly sooner for the Chilean J/105 fleet’s National Championship in December, held in the north near Valparaiso. For more Regatta Chiloe sailing information
J/111s Top Geelong Festival of Sails(Geelong, Australia)- Two J/111’s were featured in the Geelong “Festival of Sails” that sees 225 boats compete on flat water with strong breezes. This is the largest regatta held in the Southern hemisphere and typically sees all of the fastest offshore racing teams from around the eastern parts of Australia participate in a week long festival offshore.
In the first passage race of 36 miles the two J/111s dominated, winning their class in lighter breeze building to 18 knots. Three windward-leewards were sailed the following day in a fleet containing M32 sportboats and a canting keel 36 foot Shaw from New Zealand. Those two races were decided by less than four seconds and a further one by eight seconds.
Rod Warren's J/111 JOUST led the series at this point, but strong winds were to come. The following day the planing sports boats regularly touched speeds over 20 knots.
At the finish after the four days and eight fantastic close races only the M32 and Thompson 920 stripped out sports boat stayed ahead of the two J/111s— with JOUST ahead of JAKE (skippered by Stuart Lyon).
The J/111 regularly lead to the top mark against fast lighter planing boats. Thanks to B&G for the new H5000 system and to Aaron Cole from North Sails and the cane farmer Aaron Linton as tactician. The Joust guys plan to see you all in Cowes for the J/111 Worlds!
Pretty Grenada Sailing Week(St Georges, Grenada)- Grenada Yacht Club and Prickly Bay Marina in St Georges are the host venues for our 2016 edition, giving participants a taste of Grenada’s beautiful bays and marine services. Race courses are set off the calmer West Coast and the challenging current-filled South Coast, with a variety of conditions to test racing performance.
The sailing week starts January 28th and finishes February 2nd. The mixture of racing and course styles is one of the regattas most attractive features. Looking forward to that challenge in CSA Racing Class will be Peter Lewis’ J/105 WHISTLER from Barbados YC. Then, in the CSA Racer-Cruiser Class, Hal Slentz-Whalen’s J/125 EAGLE’S WINGS from New Bern, NC will vie for class honors with a team from Great Britain- David Ballantyne’s J/133 JINGS! from Cowes.
Continuing their winter tradition of having fun in the far eastern Windward Islands will be the J/24 class in Grenada and Barbados. Sailing this year’s event include Fredric Sweeney’s ATTITUDE from St Lucia YC, Robbie Yearwood’s DIE HARD IWW from Grenada YC, Gus Reader’s GLORY DAZE from Barbados YC, and Greg Webster’s PHOENIX from Barbados YC. For more Grenada Sailing Week regatta information
Three Bridge Fiasco: Long Live the Counter Culture(San Francisco, CA)- Three hundred sixty-nine singlehanded and doublehanded entrants signed up for the 2016 Three Bridge Fiasco on January 30, an iconic event on San Francisco Bay that lays testament to the support of shorthanded sailing in the Northern California area as well as the pursuit race curriculum.
This year’s fleet eclipsed the previous record of 368 boats signed up in 2011, but considering it’s an El Niño year with epic rain totals already measured, attracting a crowd of this size is a big accomplishment. Long live the counter culture!
With starts strung out from 0900 to 1112 hours for PHRF ratings ranging from 264 to -102, the 21.7 nm reverse pursuit course has become a must-do for sailors from all walks of life and all areas of the country. For many, it might be the only race they may sail shorthanded all year. For others, it’s another one of the fun runs combined with long distance and offshore events fulfilling a busy competition schedule.
The start and finish off the Golden Gate Yacht Club can be done in either direction and the marks of the course – the Blackaller Buoy representing the Golden Gate Bridge, Red Rock Island representing the Richmond San Rafael Bridge, and Yerba Buena Island representing the Oakland /SF Bay Bridge – can be rounded in any direction and any order. Playing the currents, the wind, and out foxing you competitors is the name of the game. Along with a little luck.
This year’s winner, Bill Erkelens, agrees wholeheartedly on the luck aspect. Start times for the 3BF can also play into your luck card, and this year Bill admitted they hit the jackpot. Starting somewhere in the middle of the fleet, just behind a large contingent of Express 27’s and Moore 24’s, Bill saw enough pressure left in the dying northerly to get to Blackaller, staying in the stronger breeze and current and away from the masses which went to the beach and wallowed.Catching a lucky puff, Erkelens was able to round Blackaller and get to better breeze and ride the current up to Raccoon Strait where a gaggle of boats had stalled at the entrance. They were able to use the bad luck of others and navigate around them, catching a couple additional puffs in the process, laying the eddies up to Hospital Cove before heading into the Richmond Channel.
Watching the boats ahead, mainly keel boats which were sailing close-hauled towards Red Rocks in a 5-6 knot northerly, Erkelens was forced to crack off a bit to maintain VMG, which as luck had it put them into the cone behind Red Rock and they were able to slingshot past a horde of boat riding the back eddie up to the western shore. The ebb was still in force at the island at the time, and with the breeze easing, many boats found themselves on a treadmill, attempting to round the rock. Another lucky break came in the form of a puff that gave Erkelens just enough pressure to slide up and over and into favorable current again.
Just after Erkelens began riding the Richmond Channel Current back south, the now transitioning breeze began to die, leaving many boats sputtering in its wake. Riding the remaining ebb for all it was worth, Erkelens slid slowly toward Point Blunt, noticing many of the boat ahead had sailed much lower to avoid the opposite ebb on the Berkeley Flats. Now higher than most other boats, Erkelens was in position to set the kite again as the new breeze from the south west filled.
“The timing was pretty spot on, as far the forecasts predicted,” Bill said “And we were just lucky to get to where we could take advantage of the transition.”
Bearing down around Treasure Island and Yerba Buena, Erkelens chose a tad closer route than some of the other boats, then tacked up the City Front in 10-12 knots and were then able to lay the cone behind Alcatraz before tacking back to Gas House Cove for more current relief and to lay the X buoy with just one tack.
Overall, J/Teams sailed well in these challenging conditions.
In PHRF 2 Singlehanded Class, the J/92’s had a good day. The J/92 RAGTIME sailed by Bob Johnston took 3rd while the J/92S WINDTRIP INFINITY took 4th skippered by Todd Olsen. Then, in 5th not far off the mark was the J/88 WHITE SHADOW helmed by Jim Hopp.
The PHRF 10 Class doublehanded saw the J/88 INCONCEIVABLE place 9th led by Steven Gordon & Eli Gordon. There were a number of J/111s sailing in PHRF 11 Class doublehanded. Top boat was the J/111 SWIFT NESS skippered by Reuben Rocci & Nesirin Basoz in 5th place. The J/44 ACEY DUCEY broke the 111 train, with the team of Richard Leute & Luis Echevarria taking 11th. Just behind them in 12th was the J/111 SYMMETRY sailed by Howard Turner & Jay Crum.
The PHRF 12 double division saw a battle of the J/32’s. Top banana was PARADIGM led by Luther & Robert Izmirian in 7th place. Second J/32 was LA DOLCE VITA sailed by John Riley & Laurence Weinhoff; taking 11th in class.
PHRF 16 class for double sportboats saw the lightning fast J/90 RAGTIME sailed by Trig Liljestra & Corey Lynch take 2nd in class.
PHRF 31 Class was comprised of DH San Francisco 30s; J/Teams dominated the top ten. Winning was the J/30 WIND SPEED skippered by the women family team of Meghan & Maureen Castruccio. In fact, they may have been the top women duo in the entire event! Not to be outdone by them, yet another women double team took 3rd in the J/30 FRICTION LOSS, sailed by Jenny Thompson & Evelyn Hull. Then, some more J/32s were sailing in this class! Taking 8th was STRATOCASTER (Lewis Lanier & Dan Byrne), just ahead of their colleagues on RHAPSODY (Chris Boome & Molly Morris). Yet another J/30 crew on IONE (Peter Jermyn & Curt Brown) took 10th place.
The PHRF 32 class- singlehanded with spinnaker- had the lone J/80 representative sail nicely to grab 5th place- Eric Patterson’s PAINKILLER.
There was an enormous turnout for the one-design fleets overall in the regatta. The most numerous were the five J fleets- the 22s, 24s, 70s, 105s & 120s. The J/22 class had 11 boats. The winners were SAMBA PA TI skippered by Gerard Sheridan & Halsey Richartz. Second was TOM ALLEN sailed by the team of Russ Silvestri & John Bonds Jr. Third was T-BIRD (Mike Bishop & Amand Farrelly), 4th SF22 (Elizabeth Weiler & Tim Stark), and 5th WILDMAN (Bill Adams & Harry O’Reilly).
The grande dame of the fleet was the J/24 class with 7 boats in the lineup. Taking 1st was none other than DOWNTOWN UPROAR (Darren Cumming & Loren Moore). Second was EVIL OCTOPUS (Jasper Van Vliet & Steve Meyers), third FLIGHT (Randall Rasicot & Jessica Ludy), fourth SHUT UP & DRIVE (Val Lulevich & Calvin Patmond), and fifth LITTLE WING (Luther Strayer & Ryan Admiral Nelson).
The J/70s had a competitive turnout. Taking the class win was 1FA (Scott Sellers & Adam Lowry). Just off the pace in second place was PRIME NUMBER (Peter Cameron & Mike Herlihy). Third was CHRISTINE ROBIN (a family affair with Tracy & Christy Usher), taking fourth was SCILLA (Fabio Maino & Felice Bonardi), and fifth was another family affair- PENNY PINCHER (Morgan & Jordan Paxhia).
The J/105 class saw its fleet nearly double in size with eleven boats on the line this year! Taking class honors was PERSEVERANCE (Steve & Gregg Kent), followed by the legendary MASQUERADE (Steve Marsh & Ben Wells) in second place. The balance of the top five was MOJO (Jeff Litfin & Brendan Bradley) in third place, LIGHTWAVE (John Robison & Simon James) in fourth, and MAMALUC (Scott Lamson & Paul Kaplan) in fifth.
The J/120 class also turned out in spades, providing very stiff competition for the crews as they wound their way around the convoluted race course. Winning class was the Mighty MR MAGOO sailed by Steve Madeira & John Clark. Second by a whisker was the family duo sailing SAETTA (Ludovic & Delphine Millin), third was KOOKABURRA (Tom Grennan & Herb Kleekamp), fourth was TWIST (Timo Bruck & Rich Hudnut) and fifth was ALCHERA (Bruce Ladd & Joe Wells).
The 20163 Bridge Fiasco provided yet another legendary day of fun, challenges, camaraderie and variety of weather for all participants, the majority of which completed the course before the daylight faded, and enjoyed a robust breeze for their final legs and ride home. And for a day on the bay in the middle of an El Niño winter, that makes us all lucky! Thanks for photos and story contribution from Erik Simonson. Sailing photo credits & story- Erik Simonson/ h2Oshots.com/ pressuredrop.us
J/11S Loves Christmas Winds @ Antigua(English Harbour, Antigua)- A small but competitive fleet enjoyed some brisk but manageable winds for Antigua Yacht Club’s High Tide Series that was sailed for the 24th year. A final race constituted the resuscitation of another tradition, the “Curtain Bluff Race “. The High Tide Series was initiated by the late Joel Byerley, former Commodore and successful helmsman.
The five races over three days were all in brisk winds although the final day had the edge on wind speed with over 20 knots. Race officer was Clare Leader who was particularly thanked at the prize giving for her efforts.
Winner of Class A was the new J11S SLEEPER that was recently acquired by Antigua Sailing Week winner Jonty Layfield, which was the first series ever, sailed by the boat. Just one point behind was Pamala Baldwin’s J/122 LIQUID with Poul Hoj Jensen at the helm.
The series was sponsored by Budget Marine, the Caribbean’s leading Chandlery with 13 locations in the region and three in Antigua at Jolly Harbour, English Harbour and Crabbs Peninsula.
Round Island Race
This year’s Round Island was sailed on Saturday, the 16th of January. Only a small fleet of ten boats took part but had a very enjoyable and close race in sparkling weather, 15 dropping to 12 knots breeze and calm seas. All competitors flew their spinnakers.
The results in the racing division A were so close as to be almost a tie with the first three boats separated by only 4 minutes and the winner, Pam’s J/122 LIQUID, beating second by half a minute, Jonty’s J/11S SLEEPER – after seven hours of racing. Winning Class B was the J/30 BLUE PETER sailed by experienced offshore veteran- Tanner Jones.
The after race results party was also thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. Starting with the rum see-saw weigh-in – Richard Archer equaling six cases of rum, then an international penny potting competition and finally the traditional “queen” show. Three beautiful “ladies” from Liquid, Cricket and Blue Peter all being judged equally pretty as queens for the year. Well done guys. Antigua YC FB sailing page For more Antigua YC sailing information
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
-----------
* Netherlands J/70 sailing club! Jan Zetzema commented, “At Waterland Monnickendam we run a fleet of SEVEN J/70’s in charter. A lot of teams train with us from across Europe (Swiss, Germans, Dutch, Belgians)! During this past winter, we also had three private owners join up. This brings us to a growing fleet of ten boats!
For some impressions of what it’s like to sail J/70s in the Netherlands, please see this sailing video link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSD6EdKeF7I
Please come by, say ‘Hi” and join us! If you wish, you can join in at Facebook at “winter training 2015-2016” or “keelboat academy”.
For more J/70 Waterland sailing academy information, contact: Jan Zetzema @ janzetzema50@gmail.com/ Waterland Monnickendam
J/Cruisers
J Cruisers continue their adventures around the world, below are a selection of most excellent "blogs" written by their prolific publishers. Some terribly amusing anecdotes and pearls of wisdom are contained in their blogs. Read some! You'll love it.
* The J/40 HERON REACH sailed by Virginia and Jerry is participating in the Blue Planet Odyssey project and have recently joined them in the Marquesas Islands in the Eastern Pacific. Learn more about their adventures and experiences here- http://heronreachodyssey.blogspot.com/
* J/160 SALACIA has been sailing in Australia in the Whitsunday Islands. Guess who decided to throw themselves across their bow as they cruised comfortably to their next destination? A giant whale! Look at this amazing photo!
* Jim & Heather Wilson just completed a circumnavigation of our "blue planet Earth" in June 2013 on their J/42 CEOL MOR. Said Jim, "The odyssey of CEOL MOR is over, for now. We completed our circumnavigation on our J/42 when we crossed our outbound track in Britannia Bay, Mustique. We were, however, still 2,000 nautical miles from home. So we continued on through the Windwards, the Leewards, and then through the British Virgin Islands. After a farewell 'Painkiller' at the Soggy Dollar, and a last meal at Foxy’s, we made the 1,275 nautical mile passage to the Chesapeake and completed our port-to-port circumnavigation when we arrived in Annapolis on June 28, 2013. We had been away 1,334 days, completed 259 days of ocean passages, and sailed 30,349 nautical miles (34,925 statute miles). Read more about their adventures in their well-documented blog here: http://www.svceolmor.com/SVCeolMor/Welcome.html* J/160 AVATAR headed for the Caribbean, again, for 2015/ 2016! We LOVE these updates from our cruising J sailors that continue to criss-cross the Seven Seas. This one comes from Alan Fougere, sailing his beloved J/160 AVATAR. Alan sent us an email update regards their various improvements and refit to the boat (see above). They will again be based at Proper Yachts in St John, US Virgin Islands.
* Bill & Judy Stellin were interviewed about cruising on their J/42 in the Wall St Journal called "Retiring on the Open Sea". The Wall St Journal asked Bill to reply to dozens of questions that flooded into the WSJ's Editor desks. Here's the update:Retiring on the Sea: Answering Readers' Questions
Advice about selecting a boat, ocean crossings, itineraries and safety
The article in our WSJ Online December retirement report about eight years spent sailing the Mediterranean— "Retiring to the Open Sea"— prompted many questions and comments from readers. We asked William Stellin, who wrote the story, to answer some of the most common queries.WSJ- "What kind and make of boat did you use? Looking back, would you have picked a different boat?"
Bill- "In 1995-96, J/Boats of Newport, RI, came out with a new cruiser/racer model, the J/42. We bought hull No. 6 of this popular 42-foot sailboat and named it JAYWALKER. This was our fourth boat since beginning sailing in 1975.
Although long-distance cruising wasn't what we had in mind when we purchased JAYWALKER, it soon became apparent it had the ability to carry us easily and safely anywhere we wanted to go. Because the boat is light, it sails well in light winds, which means very little motoring is necessary.
People often ask (and argue) about what boat is best for cruising. Any boat that is strong, safe, fast, comfortable and easily handled by two people should fit the bill. One thing for sure, fast is fun—and important when trying to avoid bad weather."
READ MORE ABOUT BILL'S INSIGHTFUL COMMENTARY AND THOUGHTS ON WSJ ONLINE HERE
* The J/42 JARANA continues their epic voyage around the Pacific. Continue to read about Bill and Kathy Cuffel's big adventure cruising the South Pacific headed for New Zealand. Their blog is here: http://www.svjarana.blogspot.com/
* John and Mary Driver are sailing their J/130 SHAZAM for extended cruising in the Atlantic basin. At this time, John and Mary finished their double-handed crossing of the Atlantic, landing in Portugal on their J/130 Shazam after completion of their ARC Rally. Read the latest news at http://www.sailblogs.com/member/shazam/.
* Several J/160 owners are island hopping across the world's oceans, fulfilling life long dreams to cruise the Pacific islands, the Caribbean islands, the Indian Ocean and all points in between. Anyone for Cape Horn and penguins?? Read more about their adventures and escapades (like our J/109 GAIA, J/42s PAX and JAYWALKER and J/130 SHAZAM friends above).- Bill and Susan Grun on the J/160 AVANTE are also sailing in the Pacific archipelago, read more about their great adventures on their blog (http://web.me.com/susangrun). Read about their latest adventures as they've gotten to New Zealand- "Avante Cruises the Pacific".
- Eric and Jenn on the J/160 MANDALAY also sailed the Pacific archipelago, read more on their blog at http://www.sailmandalay.com. Eric and Jenn are J/World alumni took MANDALAY up and down the West Coast (Mexico, CA), then to the South Pacific and New Zealand. MANDALAY is back in San Francisco now, and in the J/World fleet--she is available for skippered charters, private instruction, and corporate/executive groups.
|
On display will be the J/70 one-design speedster floating on the very cool “Versadock Drysail” system. J/70 owners can enjoy the pleasure of sailing within minutes, while at the same time storing their boat 100% out of the water. The DrySail system won the "Equipment Innovation of the Year” from Yachts & Yachting Awards in 2014. It’s the perfect evolution in docking for lifting-keel sportboats like the J/70- learn more about it’s amazing benefits at the show!
“I come back every year to Key West because the regatta is so good – always great wind and excellent race management,” said Alberini, who previously raced a Farr 40 and Melges 32 here. “I have no words to describe how happy I am. This is just fantastic.”
Skipper Luis Bugallo and the Spanish sailors on MARNATURA were the top Corinthian entry, finishing seventh. His crew included Fernando Campos Marquez (spinnaker trimmer), Enrique Freire Faria (jib trimmer), Jose Luis Freire (tactician) and Gerardo Prego Menor (bow) crewed aboard MARNATURA, which earned the Quantum Corinthian Boat of the Week award. Second in Corinthians was Rob Britt’s HOT MESS from Tampa, FL and third was Tim Molony’s JOUST from Annapolis, MD.
Peter Wagner and the SKELETON KEY crew made a successful debut at Quantum Key West, winning the J/111 class in dominant fashion. SKELETON KEY, which does most of its racing on San Francisco Bay, also reveled in the big breeze while notching seven bullets and a pair of seconds.
Following JEBEDEE in the standings is FIVE FOR FIGHTING J owned by Tommaso De Bellis and skippered by Tarantino Andrea Airò with just 12 pts total. Then, lying in third place overall is DOCTOR J that is owned by Sandro Negro and helmed by Marco Raeli with 21 pts. Rounding out the top five are Massimo Ruggiero’s CANARINO FEROCE in 4th and Marcello Bellacicca’s MARBEA in 5th place.
* Ed Baird, past J/24 World Champion and America’s Cup Champion, was in Key West Race Week this past week providing participants some perspectives on their race course performance that day.
* Performance J/105 Sailing in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico! Learn how to sail faster and better and be part of a team. Plus, you’ll learn how to dock, anchor, cruise and make monkey fists in between! Join Captain Eugenie in Puerto Vallarta for 1/2 day or full day courses on a J/105 in the gorgeous water of Bahia de Banderas, one of the world’s most picturesque bays. 
* Jim & Heather Wilson just completed a circumnavigation of our "blue planet Earth" in June 2013 on their J/42 CEOL MOR. Said Jim, "The odyssey of CEOL MOR is over, for now. We completed our circumnavigation on our J/42 when we crossed our outbound track in Britannia Bay, Mustique. We were, however, still 2,000 nautical miles from home. So we continued on through the Windwards, the Leewards, and then through the British Virgin Islands. After a farewell 'Painkiller' at the Soggy Dollar, and a last meal at Foxy’s, we made the 1,275 nautical mile passage to the Chesapeake and completed our port-to-port circumnavigation when we arrived in Annapolis on June 28, 2013. We had been away 1,334 days, completed 259 days of ocean passages, and sailed 30,349 nautical miles (34,925 statute miles). Read more about their adventures in their well-documented blog here: 
The article in our WSJ Online December retirement report about eight years spent sailing the Mediterranean— "Retiring to the Open Sea"— prompted many questions and comments from readers. We asked William Stellin, who wrote the story, to answer some of the most common queries.