Saturday, May 4, 2019

Frutillar J/80s Enjoy Sailing Clinic!

J/80 sailing on Frutillar (Frutillar, Chile)- Juan Reid from J/Boats Chile provided this report regarding a recent J/80 sailing clinic on Lago Llanquihue (a lake just north of Puerto Montt,  about 900 miles south of the capital of Santiago):

“Sixteen people from Frutillar and Puerto Varas meet at Cofradía Náutica de Frutillar on March 30th for a J/80 clinic that was led by Stu Johnstone from J/Boats in Newport.

The J/80 class has four active boats on Lago Llanquihue. It is a very enthusiastic fleet that participates in many regattas; such as the non-stop around Lago Llanquihue race (e.g. “Vuelta al Lago”) and also the Semana de La Vela races from 19 to 26th of January.

We met at 10:00 AM for a theoretical tuning discussion and then the group split onto the two J/80’s that were available- "Cumberland Yacht Charter" and "Domingo Siete".

The weather could not have been more spectacular and beautiful. It was a sunny day, light winds of 5 to 8 kts from the south. We had great views of the three famous volcanos across the lake (Osorno, Puntiagudo and Calbuco). It was simply perfect scenery for our sailing clinic.

We ran several windward-leeward legs for the two teams. Stu J and I were on a RIB giving instructions to the two teams regards sail trim, boat trim, and boat-handling maneuvers.

After three hours of sailing, the sailors headed back to the yacht club to enjoy lunch (awesome BBQ and local wines) and a good conversation about the lessons on the water.

The clinic was great input for the J/80 class on Lago Llanquihue. They need as much knowledge as possible!” Add to Flipboard Magazine.