Wednesday, November 7, 2018

J/Newsletter- November 7th, 2018

J/Sailing News

The Sun Never Sets on J's Sailing Worldwide

In the upcoming week, the 2nd annual U.S. J/70 Youth Championship will be taking place in St. Petersburg, FL, with up to ten youth teams participating on St. Petersburg Yacht Club’s fleet of matched, one-design J/70s.  The youth teams from across America are participating in the three-day event from Friday to Sunda with sailing taking place on Tampa Bay.

Other announcements include the PRO-Yachting “Persons of the Year Awards” banquet, hosted by The Royal Yacht Club in Moscow, Russia- the awards go to sailors that participated in the summer-long Tuesday and Wednesday evening series sailing J/70s on the lake reservoir west of Moscow- a very popular and fully-booked series for the local sailors.  Also, see the latest announcement regards the famous springtime event in France- the 2019 SPI OUEST France Regatta held in La Trinite-sur-Mer, France.

Last week, the French J/80 Nationals took place in Pornic, France, sailed on the Bay of Biscay and hosted by CN Pornic.  We also got a report on the Russian J/70 Sailing League finale that took place for eighteen teams from across Russia; the regatta was held in Sevastopol, Crimea.

Over in the Americas, last weekend marked the first of three weekends of sailing off San Diego for the famous Hot Rum Series, hosted by San Diego YC.  This sailing event is enormously popular in southern California, attracting teams from as far north as San Francisco to enjoy some fun-in-the-sun sailing the pursuit-style races off the picturesque Point Loma.  Then, over in the big state of Texas, the Lakewood YC in Seabrook hosted their annual Harvest Moon Regatta- a long distance race that starts from Galveston Bay and goes offshore, south down to the finish line at Aransas Pass; a number of top big boat J sailors participated in the overnight race and reaped the benefits at the awards party later!

Read on! The J/Community and J/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:

Nov 11- Around Hong Kong Race- Hong Kong, China
Nov 13- The BIG Sail- San Francisco, CA
Nov 17- Hot Rum Series II- San Diego, CA
Nov 30- Wirth Munroe Memorial Race- Palm Beach, FL
Dec 1- Hot Rum Series III- San Diego, CA
Dec 8-16- Salon Nautique Boat Show- Paris, France

For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.

U.S. US J/70 Youth ChampsJ/70 Youth Championship Preview
(St Petersburg, FL)- The 2018 edition of the U.S. J/70 Youth Championship will be taking place from November 16th to 18th on the sunny, warm waters of Tampa Bay.  Hosting the top J/70 youth teams from across the country will be the St. Petersburg Yacht Club, in St. Petersburg, FL.

The regatta will be sailed in supplied J/70s from StPYC’s Junior Sailing Center.  The goal of this event is to help develop and build leading-edge junior keelboat sailing programs across America.

Like the inaugural event held last year in Newport, RI by SAIL Newport, the youth teams had a series of twelve qualifying events that started in February at the St Pete NOOD Regatta and ended in late August with the J/70 Pacific Coast Championship in San Francisco, CA.  The teams will be sailing in a round-robin format and short-course racing of less than 20 minutes each.  The action should be fast and furious and will be held just off the beautiful St Petersburg city waterfront.

The following teams have qualified for the event: Musto Youth Team from Stonington, CT; Coral Reef YC from Miami, FL; King Harbor YC from Los Angeles, CA; South Carolina YC from Hilton Head, SC; Annapolis YC Youth Team from Annapolis, MD; American YC Youth Team from Rye, NY; Gotham Racing Team from Chicago YC in Chicago, IL; Little Traverse Sailors from Little Traverse YC in Harbor Springs, MI; Manchester YC from Manchester, MA; and Santa Barbara YC from Santa Barbara, CA.  For more U.S. J/70 Youth Championship sailing information
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SPI J/80s sailing SPI OUEST FranceOUEST France Easter Regatta Announcement
(La Trinite sur Mer, France)- For many sailors in the northern hemisphere Easter regattas are the first major test of a new season. Perhaps the most competitive Easter regatta of all is SPI OUEST France- the largest inshore regatta in France and home to some of the world’s most competitive sportsboat and IRC fleets in Europe.

The fleet is based in La Trinité-sur- Mer and racing takes place in the splendid surroundings of the Quiberon Bay in southern Brittany. The islands of Belle Ile, Houat and Hoëdic offer shelter and also spectacular scenery for coastal races. Lorient is only 15 miles to the north, which means the regatta attracts the cream of French offshore racing sailors who are based there. The beautiful scenery, consistent winds, and top-level competition of SPI OUEST France are a hard combination to beat.

The Société Nautique de La Trinité-sur- Mer (SNT) organizes the regatta. The club is undergoing a rejuvenation at present under the stewardship of its ambitious president, Antoine Croyère.

“My fondest memories of sailing are of competing internationally– as a youngster racing around the world with Eric Tabarly and more recently racing double-handed in the Fastnet. One of my aims since becoming president of the SNT has been to have more international involvement, both of our club members competing abroad and with international teams coming to race with us,” commented Mr. Croyère.

One-design sports boats make up more than half of the SPI OUEST fleet. The J/80s will once again be the biggest fleet (there were 73 last year), with numerous world champions from France and Spain expected to attend in 2019. There are also signs that the French J/70 fleets are developing well; aided in part by the SNT’s own youth teams.

“Traditionally our youth teams have raced in French boats such as the Open 5.70. Recently, however, the club has bought two J/70s and we would like to buy eight more. It will enable our youngsters to race internationally and, hopefully, encourage more international teams to come and race us here,” said Croyère.  For more SPI OUEST France sailing information
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PRPRO-Yachting J/70 regatta awardsO Yachting J/70 Series Awards Announcement
(Moscow, Russia)- On Tuesday, November 20, the PRO-Yachting project will complete the 2018 sailing season with their annual gala prize-giving award banquet at the Royal Yacht Club in Moscow, Russia.  The occasion is the “PRO-Yachting Persons of the Year Award.”

By tradition, PRO-Yachting will celebrate the most significant yachting events of the season and the people who have made a significant contribution to the development of sailing in 2018. The awards will be granted for the following categories: “Children's Coach of the Year”, “Sailing Event of the Year”, “Teapot PRO-Yachting J/70 series- Moscow, Russiaof the Year”, “Discovery of the Year”, “For Lighting of Sailing”, “Photo of the Year”, “Patron of the Year”, and “Man of the Year”.

At the gala evening, PRO-Yachting will award the winners of the evening series of regattas- the Tuesday Warm-Up Race Series and the Wednesday Night Race Series.  All races were held on one-design J/70 class yachts at the Royal Yacht Club from May to October 2018.

The leader of the Wednesday Night Race series will receive the main trophy of the season- the Marine Torpilleur series watch from the Swiss watch manufacturer- Ulysse Nardin.

J/70s sailing at Royal YC in Moscow, RussiaThe overall winning team of the Tuesday Warm-Up Race series will receive four fully sponsored travel vouchers to Germany to visit the unique natural region of “Eifel”- the mountain source for the premium-class mineral water “Gerolsteiner”.

The award banquet for the "PRO-Yachting Man of the Year” has been held since 2014. Last year, SSA-9 Moscow24 Team were the winner of the Wednesday Night Race series. The Tavatuy team (Pavel Kuznetsov, Yevgeny Neugodnikov, Yegor Konyukhovsky) was recognized as the “Person of the Year” for the development of sailing sports in the Sverdlovsk Region.

Partners for the event include: watch manufacturer Ulysse Nardin, mineral water premium-class Gerolsteiner, marina luxury Porto Montenegro, yachting clothing Marinepool, sunscreen Lancaster, the Belgian premium beer Asteria, Czech Beer Bakalar.
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ARFrench J/80 Nationals- Pornic, FranceMEN HABITAT Crushes French J/80 Nationals
(Pornic, France)- The 2018 edition of the French J/80 National Championships took place in Pornic, France and was hosted by the CN Pornic club from November 1st to 4th. Forty-four teams from France, England, Spain, and Ireland enjoyed a total of nine races sailed over the four-day event on the beautiful Bay of Biscay.

The fleet enjoyed a wide variety of weather conditions.  Nevertheless, it was quite apparent one crew stood head and shoulders above the rest of the teams from the four nations that were participating; Simon Moriceau’s team on ARMEN HABITAT (Jean Queveau, Pierre Loic Berthet, Paul Medinger, and Vincent Guillarm).  After starting off with a 1-1-2, Moriceau's team never looked back.  Despite a 16th in race four, they closed with a 4-1-4-1-2 to win with just 16 pts net; a full 18 points clear of the second place team.

While not maintaining the same pace of podium finishes, the English crew on J.A.T. (skippered by Kevin Sproul and crew of Phil Taylor, Chris Taylor, Jessica Slater, & Helen Yates) nevertheless kept the pressure on the French team.  Their tally of 5-3-4-8-1-8-3-6-4 was good for 34 pts net to take the silver medal.

Rounding out the podium was another French team- Simon Bertheau’s APCC EQUIPAGE JEUNE; they barely took that honor over the next two boats in the top five.  Simon’s crew of Nicolas Bouchet, Baptiste Hulin, Marine Cottenceau, & Theau Guilcher managed a 7-9-17-5-8-3-9-8-9 for 58 pts net.  Just one point back in fourth place was a leading Spanish team, Iker Almondoz’s GARATU with 59 pts net.  Then, only one more point in arrears in 5th place was the top women skipper for the regatta- Maxime Rousseaux’s CN ST CAST GRAND OUEST ETIQUETTE team.

As for the other top awards, here is the list:
- the first Women crew- SAMBA skippered by Christelle PHILIPPE
- the first Masters crew- the Spanish GARATU skippered by Inigu JAUREGUI (J/80 World Champion- silver)
- the first Youth crew (under 25)- Simon BERTHEAU’s APCC EQUIPAGE JEUNE

For more French J/80 National Championship sailing information
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RusJ/70s sailing Russian League- Sevastopol, Crimeasian J/70 Sailing League Finale Report
(Sevastopol, Crimea, Russia)- Last weekend, the season-long five-event Russian J/70 Sailing League series held their finale in Sevastopol, Crimea.  Sponsored by major corporations like GAZPROM and NORD SEA Gas, the sailing league is organized and supported by the Russian Sailing Federation.  As in year’s past, the fleet participated in a matched fleet of J/70s supplied for the event- with regattas taking place in Moscow (Konakovo River Club), Sochi, St Petersburg, Vladivostok, and Sevastopol.  We get this brief report from a Russian woman J/70 champion skipper- Valeriya Kovalenko from ARTTUBE RUS-1:

Russian J/70 Sailing League winners“We had a very successful year sailing J/70s in the Russian National League as well as in Europe and the USA for the J/70 Worlds,” said Ms Kovalenko.  “I am extremely proud of my team- Aleksey Borisov, Alexander Bozhko, Igor Lisovenko, and Max Titarenko- they are amazing!  We finished 2nd in this finale in Sevastopol and this year took 2nd place in the overall Russian National Sailing League- a performance that we are happy with after such a long season.  It is wonderful to see the level of Russian sailing improving dramatically and, in fact, it is the J/70 one-design class that has helped elevate our sailors not just in Russia, but in European and International events!”

Of interest to J/70 sailors is the fact that Valeriya Kovalenko’s team on ARTTUBE RUS-1 has been the two-time Monaco Winter Series J/70 Class winners and a podium finisher in the famous Primo Cup- Trophee Credit Suisse hosted each spring by YC Monaco. Sailing Photo credits- by Maksim Sheremetyev.
Enjoy Russian J/70 Sailing League videos on Facebook here.   For more Russian J/70 Sailing League information
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BeJ/105 sailing Hot Rum series- San Diego, CAautiful Start For Hot Rum Series I
(San Diego, CA)- The annual fall bacchanalian festival in San Diego known as the “Hot Rum Series” took place last weekend, hosted by the San Diego YC.  A fleet of 136 boats is participating in the series of three weekend races that take place on Saturdays.  The race is a simple “pursuit style” event, where the slowest boats start first and the fastest boats start last; whomever crossed the finish line first boat-for-boat is declared the winner.  As has been the case over time, the building seabreeze often benefits the bigger faster boats that start late.  In last weekend’s event, that was certainly true for most of the classes.

In PHRF 2 Class, the J/120s led the way home, with John Laun’s CAPER winning with Ernie Pennell’s MAD MEN second by just 1 min 40 sec behind.  Fifth was the J/124 CIRRUS.

In the PHRF 4 Class, it was Steve Wyman’s J/70 NUNUHUNU that took 2nd, followed by Dennis Case’s J/105 J-OK in 4th, Erostino Dagfish’s J/105 VIGGEN in 6th and Dave Vieregg’s J/70 SOGGY DOLLAR in 7th.

Then, in PHRF 5 Class, it was David Cattle’s J/27 BLACKADDER in 4th position.  Sailing photo credits- Bronny Daniels/ JOYSailing.com.   For more San Diego YC Hot Rum Series sailing information
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J/SHarvest Moon Race offshore sunsetweep @ Harvest Moon Regatta
(Seabrook, TX)- Lakewood Yacht Club hosted the 32nd Annual Harvest Moon Regatta from October 25th to 28th. This year's regatta had 119 sailboats returning to the usual finish line in Port Aransas after a one-year hiatus because of the extensive damage rendered to the city by Hurricane Harvey the previous year.

Hundreds of racers look forward to this event each fall. No matter their sailing skill-levels, novice to expert, the “Harvest Moon” is a fun offshore race that ends with a fabulous outdoor party with plenty of refreshments, excellent BBQ dinner, and live entertainment.

According to JD Hill, owner of the J/122 SECOND STAR, “it was a big weekend for J/Boats down here in Texas, as J’s swept the podium in the ORC division at Harvest Moon Regatta. In a 119 boat regatta, our J/122 SECOND STAR was the best monohull in ORC Overall, followed by John Barnett’s J/105 PESTO and James Liston’s J/120 AEOLUS.”

Here was the breakdown of this year's big winners:

In the ORC A Class, the “Bacardi Cup” was awarded to Hill’s J/122 SECOND STAR.  Taking 2nd in class was Liston’s J/120 AEOLUS.

Then, in the ORC B Class, winning was Barnett’s J/105 PESTO, followed by Charles Wielchowsky’s J/105 TEXAS RANGER IV in fourth place.

Finally, in the PHRF Spinnaker Division, taking 5th place was the J/46 SODALIS III sailed by Jim Demarest and crew from Lakewood YC.   Follow the Harvest Moon Regatta on Facebook here   For more Harvest Moon Regatta sailing information
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