J/News Articles

J/105 Loving South Africa's Southerly Busters!

2012-01-29T20:49:00.001-05:00

(Capetown, South Africa)- It seems that a bunch of fun-loving sailors in South Africa decided that some of the bigger J's might be good offshore boats for the gear-busting conditions often seen of the tip of South Africa. In recent years, both a J/105 and a J/133 have shown up on the local racing scene and have been enjoying themselves often as leaders of the pack. We recently got a heart-warming note from one of our J/105 owners, Dwayne Assis, proud owner of J/105 #591 called PANTS ON FIRE! Here's Dwayne's story:

"Hi J/Team- By the way here are some images of my J/105 PANTS ON FIRE and another J/133 JACANA participating in Simon’s Town’s Spring Regatta in South Africa in September 2011.

My crew of 3 and I sailed the J/105 from Cape Town round Cape Point (my first rounding) in very pleasant weather (thank goodness) a few days before the regatta. First J/105 rounding the notorious Cape of Storms? I certainly think so!

We competed in a return race from Simon’s Town to Cape Town after the Spring Regatta and completed the course in 6 hours 16 min beating into a mild South-easterly to the Point and enjoying a marvelous run all the way to Cape Tow-- broaching spectacularly under masthead A2 on the finish line as the South-easterly wind crept up to 35 kts! We finished 4th on club handicap behind the J/133 (1st) an Archambault 35 (2nd) and a Beneteau 44.7 (3rd) beating a Simonis 42, Farr 40, Lavranos 52 and some others.

Coming up on February 24-25 is the annual downwind dash from Cape Town to the huge, wildly luxurious Mykonos resort in Langebaan Lagoon some 60nm north of Cape Town. Last year’s race attracted over 100 entries! It's fun! Pictured here is how they start to promote the regatta, my oh my!

Keep up to date with the event and the Royal Cape Yacht Club sailing scene at http://www.rcyc.co.za. Please note, our resident photographer Trevor Wilkins has a sailing photo collection here.

Regards from Sunny South Africa! Dwayne"

Villanova Wins College Regatta Video Contest

2012-01-29T20:46:00.001-05:00

* Villanova Wins First-Ever Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta Video Contest- Sailors captured the breeze from a creative angle during a video challenge at the Larchmont Yacht Club and Storm Trysail Foundation 2011 Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta (IOR), which took place over Columbus Day Weekend. Nearly 85% of the 47 boat fleet were J's- ranging from J/105s to J/109s to J/122s! During the two-day event, 30 HD Flip video cameras, donated to the Foundation by Storm Trysail Club members Rick Lyall (owner of the J/109 STORM) and Barry Gold (owner of a J/122 and J/105), were made available so that each sailing team had the opportunity to document as much action as possible onboard their boats and dockside before and after racing as well as during social events. This week, Villanova University, with sophomore Scott Barnhill (Baltimore, Md.) serving as video editor, was declared the winner of the video challenge (click to view video) and will receive a $1,500 donation made out to its sailing team.

“We’re in a big fundraising stage for our team, so this a fantastic boost for us,” said Barnhill, adding that it was Villanova’s first time attending the event and that it certainly lived up to its reputation as the world’s largest, if not most exciting, college regatta. Over 400 collegiate sailors from across the country raced on the placid waters of Long Island Sound off Larchmont, N.Y. They sailed on 47 offshore boats, which were lent for the weekend by private owners. The boats ranged in size from 35 to 44 feet.

“The cameras really brought everyone together; you saw a lot of people come forward to share their creative ideas with each other,” said Barnhill. “Looking back, the level of footage that we got to work with was fantastic because we had cameras in so many different places. It is impossible to be at every spot and to capture all the shots, but because we had all those cameras we were able to document the whole event.”

Once the regatta had concluded, the footage, which totaled over 50 hours, was uploaded to a server, and each team was challenged to turn the collective work into a short video that would best capture the atmosphere of the event. “The video that Villanova submitted not only met the criteria of the contest, but it was a superior effort that will serve to show what this regatta is all about and help the Storm Trysail Foundation and Larchmont Yacht Club build interest in the event,” said IOR Regatta Chairman Adam Loory.

“We will definitely run the contest again in the future,” Loory added. “Having cameras on all the boats and in the hands of so many different shooters let us cover the regatta so much better than just one or two professional photographers, and we have a lot of good footage that was left on the cutting room floor, so to speak, that we will be able to use in other projects.” To watch the winning sailing video, click here.

J-Sailors Ken Read & Iker Martinez Leading Volvo Race

2012-01-29T20:44:00.001-05:00

* Fellow J-Sailors Ken Read on PUMA and Iker Martinez on TELEFONICA are now back to real "live" ocean-racing on their Volvo 70s in the Volvo Ocean Race. They're now sailing the Maldives (Indian Ocean) to Sanya, China leg. Ken had this to say about the experience for Leg 3- "And now we are off. Sailing the leg that really nobody looks forward to when they sign up for this race. Upwind for about a million miles!" So far, in the tight, tactical racing relished by Ken and his PUMA MAR MOSTRO gang, they're currently leading the fleet into the Singapore Straits before making a long left turn to head north up to Sanya (a gorgeous, almost Hawaiian-like island that is China's southernmost point of land).

Winter Sailboat Shopping Season

2012-01-28T20:41:00.002-05:00

(The World)- While our friends in the Southern Hemisphere are "simply messing around on their boats" in the height of "Mid-summer series" and having a ball, their northern neighbors are still feeling like they're either living in an icebox or on the verge of becoming Eskimos themselves. Nevertheless, since most all northern "winter" boatshows are indoors (other than SoCal & Florida), it's a great time to get out and socialize with friends and take a look at some of the latest J's that are making headlines around the globe. Here's a shortlist for you globe-trotting J sailors to consider visiting in the near future:

San Diego Sunroad Boat Show- from Jan 26-29, the southern California J/Dealer JK3 Yachts will be showcasing an exciting lineup of new boats at the upcoming San Diego Boat Show. Come by the show to see the J/95 and for info on the new J/70 – the latest hotrod from J/Boats. Please note, JK3 is hosting a reception on Sunday for J/Boat Owners, Fans and Friends as well. For more info contact JK3 at ph- 619-224-6200, email- jeff@jk3yachts.com or http://www.jk3yachts.com.   For more Sunroad Boatshow information

Strictly Sail Chicago- from Jan 26-29 at Navy Pier- the J/111 on display is an example of the boat that dominated the two Mackinac Races this past year in 2011. Also, please visit J/105 Fleet 5- Lake Michigan at Booth #204E where J/105 fleet members will be happy to discuss with you the virtues of low-key, fun J/105 class participation. Please be sure to contact Richard Stearns at Stearns Boating- ph-312-994-9153 or email- rich@stearnsboating.com   For more Chicago Strictly Sailboat Show information

Gothenburg Boatshow- from Feb 4-12- to be sure the J/108 will be displayed very comfortably indoors at the Gothenburg Show in Sweden! Come on in and enjoy classic Swedish hospitality in the most enjoyable surroundings one might possibly imagine- with healthy Swedish hostesses addressing any of the craziest questions one might ask as it relates to DSPL/L, BMax/ BWL, Sprit Extension/ SPL Midgirths and Prismatic Coefficients/ High VCG ratios. Please be sure to arrange for a personal tour with Henning Mittlesman- ph- 49-4642 2722/ info@mittelmannswerft.de/ www.JBoats.de   For more Gothenburg Boatshow information

Boston/ New England Boatshow- from Feb 11-19 - on display comfortably in-doors in a wonderfully warm ambiance will be the Hill & Lowden display that will be showcasing the J/111. Please be sure to come by, convince them to give you a "lobster roll & beer"- contact Rich Hill and George Lowden at ph- 781-631-3313 or hilllowden@aol.com   For more Boston Boat Show information

Key West- Day Five- Classic Key West, Spectacular Finale!

2012-01-20T20:02:00.003-05:00

LE TIGRE Three-Peats J/80s, J/122 TEAMWORK Wins PHRF/ J-Class
(Key West, FL)- Today is what everyone dreams about when sailing Key West. Gorgeous light bouncing off the pearl white sands creating a neon blue water color. Steady, oscillating ESE gradient breeze with near trade-wind like consistency flowing along at 10-15 knots. Solid race committee and PRO management making for fun, fair racing on mostly windward-leeward courses. One cannot imagine that anyone would be disappointed by such spectacular weather conditions.

While Thursday's sailing saw breezes in the NE quadrant, Friday's final day of sailing saw mostly ENE breezes that hardly fluctuated more than 15 degrees in direction. The key was staying in wind pressure and ensuring you sailed the lifted tack as long as possible. Some boats hit the corners and when they did it usually turned into a disaster-- corner shots sometimes pay in Key West, but not this week. For the most part, so long as you played the wind shifts and the wind pressure you could always stay in the hunt with the race leaders.

It was a runaway in the 18-boat J/80 class as Glenn Darden steered LE TIGRE to a steady stream of first, second and third place results. John Gluek was serving as tactician on LE TIGRE, winning with an 18-point lead over second place ROCAD RACING skippered by Mikael Lindqvist from Stockholm, Sweden.

LE TIGRE was named Mount Gay Rum Boat of the Day for winning the class which had the closest, most competitive racing for the day on Thursday. The boat is co-owned by Reese Hillard, who works the bow while Karl Anderson trims the jib aboard the Forth Worth, Texas entry. They captured the J/80 World Championship in 2006 and got the three-peat for Key West!

“Our team really meshed well. We’ve had a lot of time in the boat and that makes a big difference,” Darden said. “John has done a great job of keeping us in phase and everyone else is just doing their job at a high level.”

The next three places in the J/80s were a horse-race to the very end of the regatta. Snagging third place by virtue of a 5-5 on the last day was Ron Buzil on VAYU 2 for a total of 48 pts. Fourth place went to the fast-climbing veteran J/80 campaigners, John Storck Jr and family on RUMOR finishing with a 3-8 to get fourth overall with 50 pts. Behind them in fifth place was Chris & Liz Chadwick on CHURCH KEY with a 9-9 for a total of 53 pts. The SAIL Best Around Buoys Team, Ryan Glaze and the Scott brothers hung tough against some top J/80 teams and managed to finish off with a 6-3 for 54 points, good enough for sixth place.

SAILING WORLD'S Mike Lovett had a quick interview with this fast team: "What was the most fun is that the conditions were up and down, shifting around," says tactician John Gluek, who is president of Dimension-Polyant. "It was all about staying calm and not panicking, deciding a side that's favorable and digging through the fleet to get there, and shifting gears. From five to ten to fifteen knots, there's a range of adjustments [we] make that is really the speed, that's the gas pedal."

Trimmer Karl Anderson is the team's gear-changer. "We try to keep the boat rolling, fully powered up," he says. "There's a lot of small adjustments you can make that are minor adjustments, but they all add up. The trick is to have it all in sync with the trim of the boat and the pressure on the sails. In that way, it's a little back to dinghy sailing. When the wind drops, we try to focus on making the boat go faster forward. We'll heel the boat to make it easier for the helmsman, and we try to keep everybody from freaking out! When everybody's working together, we're able to work through those lights spots."

Of course, skipper Glenn Darden prefers to avoid the light spots altogether. "What John [Gluek] did was keep us in the breeze," says Darden. "There were big breeze lanes—more than shifts, there were breeze lanes—and John kept us in these lanes. A couple of races, we didn't get off the line as well as we wanted, we were a little bit behind, and up the first beat we weren't looking great. John had the patience to work us into better lanes."

Gluek explains his wind-hunting method: "Today was what I call lake sailing, where you had to be patient. You couldn't hit a corner; you couldn't say it's right or left. You had to go with the velocity and move up the water, a little like skiing down a slalom course."

In the PHRF One Division, the sailing could not have been more interesting and more fun competitively amongst the ten boats sailing in the division. Many incredibly well-sailed boats, all with great teamwork, good tacticians, great boat speed. There was nowhere to hide amongst the top six boats, it was a tough battle every single race to scrap for every place you could get as each and every team sought to make incremental gains against one another-- perhaps some of the best "almost one-design" racing one could find sailing handicap racing. On this last day, the moderate conditions seemed to be working well for Robin Team's J/122 TEAMWORK (pictured at right) and Paul Stahlberg's J/111 MENTAL, each compiling a 1-2 record to be the "J-Boat of the Day". At the end of the day, the late charge by MENTAL was not enough to overcome the strong showing of TEAMWORK on the first two days/ five races of the series. Robin's team on TEAMWORK sailed a fantastic series to win with a total of 22 pts. Second by virtue of their three 1sts and two 2nds on the last two days was Paul's MENTAL team from Chicago, IL, good enough for 26 pts. Finishing fourth overall was Bill Sweetser's veteran J/109 RUSH with a 4-3 for the day and Doug Curtiss' J/111 WICKED 2.0 sailed to a 5-5 for a total of 43 pts to snag fifth place in class. Gary Weissberg's J/109 HEATWAVE sailed a strong last day to get a 6-7 and finish sixth in class.

Within the J/Division (PHRF Time-on-Time), Robin's J/122 TEAMWORK won the class with a 1-3 on the last day for 20 pts. Second was determined on a tie-breaker, with Bill's J/109 RUSH with a 3-2 on the final day to snag 2nd place. Losing the tie-breaker was Paul's J/111 MENTAL with a 2-1 for 23 pts to secure third place. Sailing their J/111 WICKED 2.0 well was Doug Curtiss' team that included skipper Ted Scott and tactician Neal Fowler (both Tufts Sailing Team classmates of the Editor), securing a 4-4 on the last day to finish fourth in class. Debuting for his first time in Key West was Gary Weisberg's team on the J/109 HEATWAVE, sailing to a 5-6 to get fifth overall in the J/Class.

In the PHRF Two Division, Gerrit Schulze sailed strongly on the J/105 MAX POWER to finish fourth overall in class with a 4-5 on the last day. Ed and Justin Palm's J/95 STILL CRAZY sailed to a 6-7 to get sixth place and Dave Whealon's J/80 BOND---JAMES BOND sailed to 9th overall.

In the IRC Three Division, Jim Bishop on the IRC Modified J/44 WHITE GOLD had a serious battle on their hands going into the last day for second place on the podium. However, despite their valiant efforts to overcome stiff competition, the 2-4 was just not enough to win this cliff-hanger to get onto the podium. The WHITE GOLD crew missed 2nd place by one point and their two competitors in themselves had to settle the score on a tie-breaker at 33 pts each!
Photo credits- Tim Wilkes- http://www.timwilkes.com
For more Quantum Key West Race Week sailing results:
http://www.premiere-racing.com

Key West- Day Four- Tricky Sailing Day

2012-01-19T08:37:00.004-05:00

Good Day For MENTAL Crew!
(Key West, FL)- After Wednesday's sailing was thankfully canceled due to lack of wind, everyone was looking forward to another nice day of sailing Thursday. The forecasts all showed a front passing over the Keys in the early morning hours followed by NNE wind blowing 7-13 knots with clearing skies during the day. Remarkably, the forecasters got it right!

Thursday's sailing was an enormous challenge, a lot like the first two days of sailing when the wind is filling behind a large frontal system headed out to sea over the Bahamas. No telling whether the wind will back or veer and whether or not the forecasts are remotely accurate. Why? The combination of the fast-moving, 85 degree river known as the Gulf Stream and exceedingly warm waters over the Bahamas Banks are renown for killing many a front, much to the chagrin of even the most experienced weather forecasters. The day's racing started off with about an hour postponement-- wise move. The wind was shifting a good 20-30 degrees with enormous fluctuations in velocity. Once the wind settled down, it certainly oscillated like crazy with large wind streaks filling in from both sides of the course. There was no "magic bullet", just keep your head out of the boat and stay on top of developing breezes (or massive, glassy holes in the wind) and keep the boat moving towards the mark uphill or downhill. Starboard tack saw headings vary from 345 to 005 degrees and on port from 45 to 80 degrees. No question the tacticians anywhere on all three courses were suffering moments of stark terror and extreme anxiety as boats from BOTH corners of the course were making gains!

For the J/80s, the Glenn Darden/ Reese Hillard team on LE TIGRE continued to knock out strong, consistent scores, avoiding corners and sailing super fast. Their 2-3-1 tally enabled them to extend their lead to a solid 18 points over the closest rivals for a total of 14 pts in 8 races-- not bad, just below a 2nd average! Making a comeback after a slow day Tuesday was Mikael Lindqvist on ROCAD RACING with a 4-1-4 for a total of 32 points. The next three places in the J/80s are in a horse-race for the silver and bronze on the podium. Just 3 points back from ROCAD RACING is that fast rising CHURCH KEY team led by Chris and Liz Chadwick with a 1-5-3 for 35 pts total. Three points back are Ron Buzil on VAYU 2 sailing to a 5-2-5 and just one point back are another fast-climbing team, the past North American Champion team, the Storck family sailing their RUMOR to a 6-4-2 for 39 pts. The high-flying SAIL Best Around Buoys Team, Ryan Glaze and the Scott's from the famous lake yacht club, Rush Crush YC, in Dallas, Texas had a rough day, accumulating a 3-10-12 to drop into 6th with 45 pts. Check out the latest video by Adam Cort on the SAIL BAB blog with a debrief of Tuesday’s racing with skipper Ryan Glaze.
http://www.sailmagazine.com/key-west-race-week/best-around-buoys-quantum-kwrw-2012

In the PHRF One Division, the lighter conditions started to create a changeover in the standings as some boats excelled and others took a nose-dive. Savoring the conditions was Paul Stahlberg's J/111 MENTAL, compiling a 2-1-1 record to be the "J-Boat of the Day", for a total of 23 pts, good enough for third place. Still leading the division is Robin Team's J/122 TEAMWORK with yet another consistent performance, scoring a 4-3-2 to be leading PHRF One by one point for 19 pts. Dropping into fourth place is Bill Sweetser's J/109 RUSH with a 3-4-6 for a total of 28 pts. Laying in fifth is Doug Curtiss' J/111 WICKED 2.0 with a 5-2-3 for 33 pts.

Within the J/Division (PHRF Time-on-Time), Robin's J/122 TEAMWORK continues to lead the pack with a 3-4-2 for 16 pts. Second is Mr. Bill's J/109 RUSH with a 1-1-4 for 18 pts. Third is Paul's J/111 MENTAL with a 2-2-1 for 20 pts.

“We’re having a great time because the conditions have been terrific and the competition has been spectacular,” said Team, who has his brother and two sons in the crew. “We’ve been mixing it up with Tres Hombres and finished overlapped with them in the first two races today. RUSH is also tough so I think it will be a dogfight the whole way.”

RUSH, a J/109 skippered by Bill Sweetser and team of Annapolis (pictured right), was named LEWMAR/ NAVTEC BOAT OF THE DAY on Tuesday after posting a superb score line of 3-2-1. Quantum pro Tad Hutchins is calling tactics on RUSH. “The conditions were very good for us today. When the wind is 14 knots or less we can fly our big jib, which is kind of like our secret weapon,” Sweetser said. “We pay for that jib in our rating so it’s good whenever we can use it.” It’s been close but no cigar for Rush at Key West as Sweetser’s boat has finished first or second in class several times, but never come away as overall winner at week’s end. “One of these years we’re going to finally break through and it’s going to be wonderful,” he said. Here's a YouTube Interview with the RUSH crew:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jK1rtZXkyo

In the PHRF Two Division, Gerrit Schulze sailed strongly on the J/105 MAX POWER to stay in 4th place with a 7-5-4. Ed and Justin Palm's J/95 STILL CRAZY is hanging in for sixth place and Dave Whealon's J/80 BOND---JAMES BOND are enjoying themselves and hanging in 9th overall.

In the IRC Three Division, Jim Bishop on the IRC Modified J/44 WHITE GOLD got a 3-5-2 for a total of 28 pts, exactly 2 pts out of second place overall! We wish him well on Friday.

Amongst the J sailors, champions and alumni in other racing divisions, it's pretty clear they're having a dominating impact on both IRC Divisions and other one-design divisions. Top amongst them is long-time J/80 sailor Ben Schwartz, now leading the notoriously pro-heavy M32 Class with his boat PISCES over such notables as John Kilroy on SAMBA PA TI. Sailing with him is America’s Cup veteran and J/24 World Champion Ed Baird calling tactics and Quantum professional and J/24 Champion Scott Nixon trimming the jib and spinnaker. “You have to give Ed and Scott a lot of credit for getting our boat up to speed,” said Ben. “I’m fortunate to have a great crew, the guys never stopped working and we were able to change gears pretty well.”

POWERPLAY lived up to its name by making a strong move in IRC 2/ TP52 class with a strong line of 1-3-4 on Tuesday and a 2-6.5-3 today. Owner Peter Cunningham, a resident of Georgetown in the Cayman Islands and a champion J/22 sailor locally, has a nice mix of amateur and professional crew with tactician Tony Rey from Newport (yet another top J/24 sailor). “We’ve only had the boat for six months and we’ve made a lot of modifications during that time,” Cunningham said. “We’re pretty happy with our performance so far. We’re sailing fairly well and having a lot of fun.”

QUANTUM RACING, skippered by former J/24 and J/44 owner Doug DeVos, continues to set the pace in the 52-foot class and leads PowerPlay by 14 points. Terry Hutchinson, helmsman for the Swedish syndicate Artemis Racing that is Challenge of Record for the America’s Cup and a J/24 World Champion, has made strong tactical calls in leading Quantum to the top of the leader board. “Tuesday was far from straightforward. The wind was very shifty and there are some tricky current patches to deal with,” Hutchinson said.

Photo credits- Tim Wilkes- http://www.timwilkes.com

For more Quantum Key West Race Week sailing results:
http://www.premiere-racing.com

J-70 Featured in New York YC Invitational Qualifier

2012-01-18T14:34:00.003-05:00

(Newport, RI)– The New York Yacht Club (NYYC) announced today that the new J/70 will be featured at the 2012 NYYC Invitational Cup U.S. Qualifying Series (USQS). The J/70 will join the NYYC’s fleet of Sonars when 24 of the nation’s most competitive yacht clubs compete in the NYYC Invitational Cup USQS off Newport, RI from September 4 to 8, 2012. The top three finishers will earn the right to compete in the 2013 NYYC Invitational Cup presented by Rolex.

The USQS will continue the successful format from 2010 in which teams compete in two fleets of one-design keelboats. By utilizing the J/70, a modern high-performance planing keelboat 22.7’ in length with an asymmetrical spinnaker – along with the 23’ Sonar with its symmetrical spinnaker -- the NYYC is raising the bar for competitors by testing their versatility across different boat designs as well as allowing the final decision to be made in a boat closer in philosophy to the NYYC Swan 42 -- the yacht used in the international event.

The J/70 is J-Boats’ ramp launch-able keelboat, making its world debut this spring in Newport, RI. It is designed as an easy-to-own, high-performance one-design that is stable enough for the family and built to last. Notable features include a high-aspect carbon rig, vertical-lifting keel, manageable three-sail inventory (fat-head main, roller-furling jib and masthead-asymmetric spinnaker) and large cockpit to accommodate a racing crew of three or four. “We’re excited to have the J/70 involved in this prestigious event,” said Jeff Johnstone, President of J-Boats. “The teams will find the boats well-balanced upwind and down and a blast to sail.” The J/70 is being built in the USA, by CCF Composites of Bristol, RI, builder of the J/95 and J/111 and over in Europe by J-Composites in Les Sables d'Olonne, France.

Both the Invitational Cup and the USQS are for Corinthian (amateur) sailors who represent their yacht clubs. “The 2012 USQS will provide teams with some of the most challenging sailing possible by continuing the dual-fleet format and testing sailors in both traditional one-designs (Sonars) and modern high-performance keelboats (J/70),” said Will Crump, event co-chair, who added, “We expect to announce the invited clubs soon.”

In the inaugural NYYC Invitational Cup presented by Rolex in 2009, 19 yacht club teams from 14 countries, from four continents competed. The winner was the team from the host NYYC. In the 2010 USQS, 24 yacht club teams from the U.S. competed. Eastern Yacht Club won the USQS followed by Annapolis Yacht Club and Newport Harbor Yacht Club (Calif.). The second biennial Invitational Cup presented by Rolex in 2011 saw 22 yacht club teams from 16 nations from six continents compete. The winner was the team from the Royal Canadian Yacht Club sailed by Terry McLaughlin and John Hele from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

On the web at http://invitationalcup.org/2012-us-qualifying-series. Contact: saillingoffice@nyyc.org. Media seeking further information contact Michael Levitt- communications@nyyc.org.

Key West- Day Two

2012-01-17T12:42:00.002-05:00

Gorgeous Bombay Sapphire Water Colors
(Key West, FL)- It's not often that you sail in Key West Race Week and experience an equally spectacular second day in a row. The forecasters for the first time in years seemed to have gotten the first two days of wind/weather conditions right. Today's sailing was again postcard conditions- sunny, puffy white clouds scudding across the sky, simply spectacular "bombay sapphire blue waters", ESE winds blowing just 10 to 14 knots steady, with mildly oscillating-persistent shifts moving further SE all day long.

In a replay of the first day of racing, there were enough holes in the wind and shifts to both the right and left that no one single "formula" carried the day tactically. In fact, depending on the upwind and downwind legs, you could go left or right and make significant gains. What was prevalent were enormous wind streaks, if you could hook into them downwind, the gains were significant. Upwind it was a bit of a casino, or perhaps "Russian Roulette" for some boats.

Perhaps the best thing that took place for the fleet was that the two-race per day program starting an hour later than in the past was tossed out the window. After giving up a chance to have three races in superb conditions on Monday, the decision was made to start the fleet an hour earlier (the old time) and get in three races. Good call! All three courses got in three very good races and the fleet was still in by 1630 hours.

For the J/80s, it was incredibly tight racing with numerous position changes as they sought to divine the what the wind Gods were throwing at them during the course of the day. Rising to the challenge was the Glenn Darden/ Reese Hillard team on LE TIGRE, knocking out a strong 1-3-1 to be leading the fleet with only eight points! Sailing strongly are the SAIL Best Around Buoys Team, Ryan Glaze and the Scott's from the famous lake yacht club, Rush Crush YC, in Dallas, Texas. Their 6-7-2 has kept them in contention for 20 points overall, but they have five teams breathing down their backs only three points behind them, collectively. Lying third is Mikael Lindqvist on ROCAD RACING from Sweden, his steady 4-4-6 kept them in contention for a total of 23 points. Fourth and fifth are tied with Chris and Liz Chadwick on CHURCH KEY leading the tie-break with a 2-2-5 record today for 26 pts and Ron Buzil on VAYU 2 with a 5-5-7 for 26 pts. Lurking just behind them are two very strong teams, including John Storck Jr on RUMOR in 6th with 27 pts and Brian Keane on SAVASANA with 30 pts.

In the PHRF One Division, the competition continues to heat up amongst the leaders. Robin Team's J/122 TEAMWORK continues to lead the fleet with a 3-3-1 for ten points. However, the winner of the day was Bill Sweetser's J/109 RUSH with an excellent showing of 2-1-2 for a total of fifteen points to climb into third position. Just behind in fourth with a 6-4-4 is Paul Stahlberg's J/111 MENTAL for a total of nineteen points. Fifth is Doug Curtiss' J/111 WICKED 2.0 with a steady 5-5-5 for twenty-three points total.

Within the J/Division, TEAMWORK is leading with seven points. Sweetser's RUSH leapt into second place after today's excellent showing for a total of twelve points. Stahlberg's MENTAL is third with fifteen points, Curtiss' WICKED 2.0 is fourth and Gary Weisberg's J/109 HEAT WAVE is fifth with twenty-six points.

In the PHRF Two Division, Gerrit Schulze sailed strongly on the J/105 MAX POWER to stay in the top five, a 5-4-4 fourth place. Ed Palm's J/95 STILL CRAZY is hanging in for sixth place and Dave Whealon's J/80 BOND---JAMES BOND are enjoying themselves and hanging in the top ten.

Making up for some of their magic they've showed in past Key West weeks, Jim Bishop and crew on the IRC Modified J/44 WHITE GOLD got a second in the second race of the day and are in a horse race for second place, just four points out.

Photo credits- Tim Wilkes- http://www.timwilkes.com

For more Quantum Key West Race Week sailing results:
http://www.premiere-racing.com

J/27 Lake Ontario Championships!

2012-01-17T12:40:00.001-05:00

* J/27 Lake Ontario Championships on August 11-12! If you've got a classic fast & fun J/27 (or wanna get one), then be sure to consider sailing in the J/27 Lake Ontario's! The Oakville Yacht Squadron (www.oysqn.com) will be hosting the J/27 Lake Ontario Championship Regatta as part of it's annual Mercedes-Benz Oakville Regatta this coming August 11th & 12th, 2012.

In attendance will be the four local J/27s, plus they are expecting between 4 to 6 other boats from the rest of the Lake Ontario/Fleet.

If there are any boats still out there who have an interest in attending, and have any questions or need any assistance, please drop an e-Mail to J/27 Ontario Class Guru- Andrew Riem- email- andrew_riem@hotmail.com

J/30 Class Continues Healthy Growth

2012-01-17T12:38:00.001-05:00

* The J/30 Class continues its healthy growth over the past few years. Credit the "Bill & Dave Show" for making it happen, keeping the J/30 gang organized, having fun and, most importantly, keeping it all in perspective. Apparently 75 "official class members" agree! Wonderful stuff. It's also a model for ANY J/Class organization to keep their members involved, informed and enjoying what you love to do the most-- "simply messing around in boats" and sharing it with family and friends (sure helps that they're fun boats to sail, too!). Here are some excerpts from Bill & Dave's 2012 New Year's Welcome message to the J/30 Class:

"The word 'camaraderie' means: Mutual trust and friendship among people who spend a lot of time together. We are very proud of our class as we have developed a sailing leadership image over the years. We have overcome our differences of opinions through various levels of diverse thinking. Across the nation, we have developed a lot of lifelong friends in our class. We are thankful to have the best people with a focus of family. With a goal to keep the costs of our sport low, let’s work together to produce a class built on the basic foundations of sportsmanship and camaraderie. We are like a softball league on water. As the economic times improve and the new sailing season begins, give yourself a pat on the back for creating a world in which we compete, laugh, collaborate and succeed on and off of the water.

After reading Nicholas Hayes book Saving Sailing, it's clear that we need more families sailing together. Let’s host more junior regattas and act as mentors to younger sailors. The J/30 is a perfect boat to help Save Sailing."

Perhaps one of the best things a class can do is provide "recognition awards" for how various individuals contribute to the "cause". This year's J/30 President's Recognition Awards go to:
- North Americans– David McConaughly- with Hampton based crew aboard WHITE BOAT
- Newest Member to Finish Top 5 at NAs– Whitney Kent- with TEAM RAFIKI from Milwaukee, WI
- Media– Molly Winans- for coverage of multiple J/30 events in Spinsheet Magazine.
- Funniest Video– Bob Rutsch- watch this video- pretty darn amusing.
- Sailor Recruitment– Vic Farmer- who created a youth sailing program in Naples
- Training Videos– Vic Farmer – check many of them out on the J/30 forum
- Innovative Story– Dell Todd – check out his story on the J/30 website
If you would like to recognize a J/30 class member for accomplishment visit this forum thread.

Key West- Day One

2012-01-16T08:21:00.003-05:00

Classic, Chamber of Commerce Conditions
(Key West, FL)- The 25th Edition of Key West Race Week started off with yet another fabulous day of sailing for the 100+ competitors on the three race-courses. The weekend of practicing before-hand were simply, perfect sailing days, with northerly winds filling in behind a fast disappearing cold front going out over the Bahamas. The forecast for Monday to Wednesday has been for the northerly winds clocking into the easterly quadrants, ending up SE over 72 hours with winds blowing from 15-22 knots, sunshine and "torn-cotton" puffy white clouds whisking across the horizon.

For Monday's racing across the board, all boats saw wind directions in the 35-40 degree range and slowing moving in an oscillating-persistent shift further east so that most courses saw winds in the 70 degree plus range at the end of the day.

On the Division 1 course, IRC 3 Class has Jim Bishop's modified IRC J/44 WHITE GOLD dueling for class leadership against a very strong boat fleet. Currently, WHITE GOLD lies in fourth with a 4-3.

The J/80 one-design class has a very competitive nineteen boat class, with a group of Texans leading the pack. Like last year, the star for the day was past World/ North American / Key West Champion Glenn Darden and Reese Hillard sailing EL TIGRE to a 1-2. Lying second is the SAIL BAB/ TEAM GRINGO gang from Dallas, Texas, skippered by Ryan Glaze and crew with a 2-3, obviously relishing the 16-22 knot breezes. Third to sixth are all tied with nine points! Third is the Swedish Champion team ROCAD RACING with Mikael Lindqvist sailing to an 8-1. However, it was only a mistake finishing the first race while leading at the time that cost ROCAD RACING double-bullets! Fourth lies Mike Sudofsky on BOB DYLAN with a 3-6, fifth is Rob Buzil VAYU 2 with a 5-4 and sixth is Brian Keane on SAVASANA with a 4-5.

In the new PHRF/ J-Class Division, there are many well-sailed boats in the fleet. On the PHRF Time-on-Distance side of the equation the J's are all at the top of the leader board. Robin Team's Key West Champion crew on the J/122 TEAMWORK sailed two solid races to earn a well-deserved 2-1 for 3 pts. Just behind in third is Paul Stahlberg's J/111 MENTAL with a 3-2, fourth is Doug Curtiss' J/111 WICKED 2.0 with a 4-4 and fifth is past Key West Champion Bill Sweetser on the J/109 RUSH with a 5-5.

In the J-Class Time-on-Time scoring, TEAMWORK is winning with a 1-1, with MENTAL in second with a 2-2, WICKED 2.0 in third with a 3-3, RUSH in fourth with a 4-4 and Mike Kirkman's team from Detroit on their J/120 HOT TICKET in fifth with a 5-5.

The PHRF Two class has a J/105, J/95 and J/80 racing standard Time-on-Distance handicap. Gerrit Schulze on the J/105 MAX POWER currently lie third in class with a 4-3. Ed and Justin Palm sailing the J/95 STILL CRAZY are in seventh with a 7-7.

Photo credits- Tim Wilkes- http://www.timwilkes.com

For more Quantum Key West Race Week sailing results:
http://www.premiere-racing.com

25th Key West Race Week

2012-01-14T08:16:00.002-05:00

Big J/80 Class, Cool New PHRF J/Class
(Key West, FL)- While the world has not seen the best of times, nor the worst of times in the past few years, what has remained a constant, nearly magnetic attraction to the sailing world has ben the annual midwinter pilgrimage to Key West to sail Race Week. Many top teams from the Americas as well as from Asia and Europe attend the event for a bacchanalian sailing feast for a week in January that most describe as "tropical sailing conditions" in spectacular azure-blue sailing waters around the reefs of the Gulf Stream and the Florida Keys. Sunsets and the "green flash" are signature events that put an exclamation mark not only on the day's sailing, but usher in evening festivities that perhaps only can be best described as "epic" and "off-the-wall"! After all, that's what Key West is renowned for down at the bottom (or beginning) of the famous Route 1 roadway that goes from Key West to Easport, Maine.

One of the features of this year's 25th Key West is the very welcomed sponsorship and support from Quantum Sails, whose headquarters in the Great American Midwest belies the subtle, laid back, but competitive approach they have to supporting their sailors, their teams and their customers. "We recognize that Key West Race Week is the flagship regatta in this country and has been for well over two decades," Quantum President Ed Reynolds said. "This has been reinforced by many people we've spoken with both here and abroad. Even with the smaller fleet sizes of recent years, this midwinter, big-boat regatta is very important to North American and international sailboat racing. We would like to see it continue and are committed to supporting the regatta during this transition period."

SAIL Magazine's Best Around the Buoys competition is another regatta highlight-- a remarkable "award" for the team that qualifies to sail in a supplied boat with sponsors J/BOATS, NORTH SAILS, HARKEN and others. The aim is to grow sailing at a grass-roots level with both one-design and PHRF competition- growing awareness that sailing can be fun with family and friends. This year, the SAIL BAB sailors from Dallas, Texas will be racing a J/80 one-design against some of the top teams in the country.

Yet another special feature of this year's 25th Anniversary is the creation of a J/Class. It's quite a turn-out of some of the top J/Teams that have raced Key West over the past few years. At the top of the food chain in PHRF 1/ J-Class is the J/122 TEAMWORK- Robin Team from Lexington, NC- these guys have done it all, won Lauderdale-Key West and Key West IRC Class and will always be a team in contention at the end of a week long series like Key West. A new team from Detroit is the J/120 HOT TICKET sailed by Bob Kirkman from Bayview YC in Detroit, Michigan-- no shrinking violets this crowd is, having beaten all other multiple Chicago/Bayview Mac Champions to the finish line in the 2011 version of the races. More new faces to the Key West crowd include the J/111 trio, including the J/111 WICKED 2.0 sailed by Doug Curtiss from Buzzards Bay (he sailed his J/124 in Key West last year); the J/111 MENTAL sailed by Paul Stahlberg from Chicago YC (a very fun-loving crew); and the J/111 WARLOCK skippered by Tom Hickey from Newfoundland YC, St John's, NB, Canada (a fast-rising team from near the Arctic Circle and the cool Northwest Passage). If this fleet wasn't' tough enough, you only need to toss in two well-sailed J/109s, like a past J/109 North American Champion and Key West Champion, Bill Sweetser's RUSH from Annapolis YC in Annapolis, MD; he's accompanied by Gary Weisberg from Gloucester, MA sailing his J/109 HEATWAVE in Key West for the first time.

The J/80s are sailing their J/80 Midwinter Championships, the 19 boat turnout makes them the biggest class for Key West-- quite a remarkable achievement over the course of time! In addition to the SAIL BAB Team (which must feel like they're getting fed to the sharks), you will find the J/80s led by World Champions like LE TIGRE- Glenn Darden from Fort Worth Boat Club in Fort Worth, TX and Swedish Champion ROCAD RACING sailed by Mikael Lindqvist from KSSS (Royal Swedish YC). Plus, you have multiple Key West J/105 Champion Brian Keane on SAVASANA from Buzzards Bay, MA and J/80 North American Champions John Storck and family on RUMOR from Storm Trysail Club in New York rounding out the leaders. Finally, toss in Bruno Pasquinelli on TIAMO from Fort Worth Boat Club and he's sure to be a factor amongst the leaders so long as he doesn't argue with his boom!

The PHRF 2 Class have ten boats participating. It will be a competitive fleet with two J's flying the flag and leading the fleet home (we hope)- the J/105 MAX POWER sailed by Gerrit Schulze from Cape May, NY and the J/95 STILL CRAZY sailed by Ed Palm from Grosse Pointe, MI and Naples, FL. For more QUANTUM SAILS Key West Race Week Sailing information

Lauderdale-Key West Race Preview

2012-01-13T08:14:00.002-05:00

(Fort Lauderdale, FL)- This perennial winter favorite of offshore sailors always throws the fleet a curveball, no matter how good the forecast looks prior to the start of the race. One would think a simple 160 nm race from Fort Lauderdale, headed south down the Florida shoreline, keeping that right-turn signal blinking as you make your way around all the reef buoys, staying out of the fast-flowing northbound Gulf Stream, to finish off the Truman Annex Navy Base at Key West would not have too many surprises! Well, if you know anything about "The Hobart" Race that is, essentially, a coastal race down the Australian shoreline, turn left to cross the Bass Straits (a short hop), then cruise down the Tazzie shoreline to the finish knows better. Even the most defined race courses in terms of their natural boundaries can throw the fleet massive curve balls. Such is the case in this year's classic Key West Race Week "feeder event", the Lauderdale to Key West Race sponsored by the Storm Trysail Club and the SORC with help from Lauderdale YC.

The original forecast was for an upwind race only as the wind is predicted to start off from the south and clock around to the southwest and west as both the front and the race progress . "This race is always a Navigator's race and changing weather patterns make it an even greater challenge", says Race Committee Chairman Joel Bowie.

With nearly 50 entries headed for the starting line, the early starters in the race saw a tough uphill slog into 20-25 knots southerly winds down to Miami Beach/ Key Biscayne and the first major turning point of Fowey Rocks. But, the front is already dying- as it nearly always does when it hits that massive 85 F degree thermal wall called "the Gulf Stream". However, with a fast-dissipating front and waning breezes clocking NW, then N, then NE, there was still promise for spectacular moonlit nights of racing under spinnakers, watching the dolphin contrails of phosphorescence criss-crossing your wake and knifing upwards pass your bow in dramatic fashion. Time will tell.

What is unique about the Lauderdale Race among offshore races is that it's sailed within cell phone range the entire race! Race competitors are permitted to do just about any type of communicating they want, including updating Facebook pages, Twittering away to any friends worldwide-- enabling them to compete for a prize for "Best On-Water Reporting"!! With technology, the folks living vicariously through these sailors can be along for the ride!

Amongst the J/Sailors that love this annual challenge, you'll find a bunch of tough, but fun-loving, hombres sailing PHRF A. Leading the pack may be Robin Team's J/122 TEAMWORK (2011 Lauderdale Race Champion) along with a trio of J/120s- Frank Kern's globe-girdling champion from Detroit, the famous yacht CARINTHIA; fellow Detroiter Bob Kirkman sailing HOT TICKET (yet another Great Lakes Champion tearing up Florida/ Bahamas offshore waters); and Bill Terry's well-traveled TAMPA GIRL. Lone wolf, but perhaps the toughest of the lot may be David Bond's gang aboard crimson red J/105 LOKI sailing in PHRF B.

An interesting side-note, SAILING WORLD's Stuart Streuli is sailing aboard Robin Team's TEAMWORK- learning how to race, navigate, drink beer, avoid the reefs, avoid the Gulf Stream, employ race-winning strategies while sailing fast-- all at the same time! Imagine that! It should be an interesting report at some time in the spring- look for it in Sailing World here- http://www.sailingworld.com. Sailing photo credits- Imagesbymarco.com and John Payne photos.com For more Lauderdale Key West Race sailing information.

J/109 University Student Wins "J.O.G." Trophy

2012-01-13T08:12:00.001-05:00

* Southampton University Student Wins Prestigious Sailing Trophy- Will McGough (age 22), while studying for his finals in Aeronautical Engineering, also achieved sailing success with JOG (Junior Offshore Group) this year. Will was awarded the “Youth Challenge Trophy” when JOG held its prize-giving recently in Southampton. The prize is awarded to a participant under 25, for sailing ability, commitment to offshore racing and Corinthian spirit.

Will races aboard the J/109 JUST SO with his Mum and Dad, Mary and David McGough. During the summer JUST SO won races from Cowes to Dartmouth and St Peter Port as well as from Cherbourg to Cowes and was second overall in the series. Furthermore she was placed 2nd in JOG’s 60th anniversary regatta in Falmouth.

Will is clearly on a winning streak and he has also found himself a job, albeit he hopes this will not interfere with his sailing in 2012! Mary and David, on the other hand, are looking forward to Will’s pending financial contributions towards JUST SO’s running costs!

Musor's J/130 SCEPTRE Cruising Fast!

2012-01-13T08:11:00.001-05:00

* Bob Musor sails his J/130 SCEPTRE just about everywhere on the West Coast of America, from California to Mexico on multiple occasions. Who can blame him? Gorgeous sailing, gorgeous waters, dolphins and whales swimming everywhere in the Baja, tasty fishing and so forth. We wanted to share Bob's Happy New Year note to us:

"Happy New Year! Stuart et al. I was cleaning out my email and came across this little video of my J/130 SCEPTRE rolling a 44 foot boat during the 2009 Baja Haha cruising race down the coast. We were about 40 miles off the coast of Baja and about 100 miles NW of Cabo St. Lucas.

As a long time J-Boat owner (32 years and counting), I read your newsletter each week and enjoy watching the evolution of J-Boats and the new group of sailors coming up.

There is more to J-Boats than buoy racing and "Fast Cruising" is certainly among the fun things one can do with a J-Boat. Best wishes to you and the J/Family in the New Year!

Fair Winds and following seas- Bob Musor- J130 #25 Sceptre"

Watch the YouTube video here of Bob's fast sailing adventure off Mexico

J/29 Panama City- Celebrating New Years!

2012-01-13T08:09:00.003-05:00

* New Year's notes and wishes are always nice to receive, especially when it's a family of J/Sailors enjoying their boat on New Year's Day itself! I must admit, I'm jealous. On New Year's Day in Newport, RI we had a gorgeous, but very cool day-- one intrepid cat boat did make it out for a quick tour of Newport Harbor, perhaps fueled we might imagine by some deliciously hot toddies or hot rum ciders! In this case, we got a cute note from Allen Rives sailing his J/29 in Florida. Said Allen, "Here we are on our J/29 SUPER DUCK sailing on St. Andrews Bay, Panama City, FL on New Years Day 2012! Wish you'all were here! Best Wishes in 2012!" We love to get these notes and photos, please send more of them to us at "editor@jboats.com". :)

J-Team's Haul the Silver in Winter Series

2012-01-12T12:47:00.003-05:00

J/97 "YACHT OF THE SERIES" & J/80 "SPORTSBOAT OF THE SERIES"!
(The Solent, Hamble, England)- The GHWS is one of the most hotly fought regatta series in the UK with an entry list that puts it right at the forefront of competitive sailing. There are of course many reasons for this. For starters, it’s an extremely well managed event, run by an experienced and intuitive race management team. The courses are varied and challenging, and the racing is tight and competitive. It also enjoys strong sponsor and volunteer support. All in all it’s a fabulous series in which to compete at any level, but to win it… well that’s really something!

The series prize-giving for the Garmin Hamble Winter Series took place on the 10th of December at Hamble River Sailing Club and the Class winners and podium finishers were all in attendance as one would expect, to collect their prizes. Racing took place across eight classes in the main IRC series including a J/109 one-design class and then there were four additional classes for the J/109s, the J/80s and other sportsboats on the two ‘Autumn Championship’ weekends. As usual, the J/Boat entry list for the series was both strong and successful.

In the main IRC series, raced over eight Sundays, David Ballantine’s J/133 JINGS achieved a creditable third place overall; a great result to round off his first full year in the boat. Chaz Ivill took the helm of the J/111 JENGA VI and finished second in IRC 1. Ivan Trotman and his J/122 JOULOU were placed fourth in the same class. Fourteen J/109s raced as a one-design class on a level rating basis and Richard and Valerie Griffiths veritably romped into the top slot with OUTRAJEOUS clocking up just ten points to count across the ten races sailed. David and Mary McGough’s JUST SO slammed in a second place in the J/109s and Paul Griffiths was third with JAGERBOMB. J/97s and J/92s raced in IRC 3 and Mike and Jamie Holmes J/97 JIKA-JIKA won the class convincingly, accruing just eight points to count at the end of the series-- some might call that "a schooling" on how to race the Solent!

The Autumn Championship was a nail-biter for the J/80 Class. Sailed over two weekends in October, Rob Larke’s J2X was leading the fleet by a single point after the first weekend, but let things slip on the second weekend. At the end of the fourteen race series, Phil Taylor and Kevin Sproul’s J.A.T emerged victorious. J2X settled for second, just three points behind and Thor Askeland took third in ELLE S'APPELLE. The J/109s also raced at the Autumn Championship and once again it was OUTRAJEOUS which emerged victorious. Steven Tapper’s STALKER finished in second place and Jody Windmiller’s J2EAU took third.

So it was a bunch of very happy J Boat owners at the prize-giving. However, after the series silverware was presented, there were still the two main prizes to be awarded: YACHT OF THE SERIES and SPORTSBOAT OF THE SERIES. Race Director Jamie Wilkinson explained that these prizes are awarded at the discretion of the race management team to the two boats which in their opinion put in the most impressive performance across all classes. He made the point that the standard of competition at the Garmin Hamble Winter Series is always top-flight and he also reminded the assembled crowd that the sheer number of entries each year means that any single race win is an achievement of which one should be extremely pleased: to actually win YACHT OF THE SERIES is a major accolade. Mike and Jamie Holmes scoreline in the J/97 JIKA-JIKA included eight bullets! IRC 3 was considered one of the most competitive classes in the series and Mike, Jamie and the crew of JIKA-JIKA were deserving (and extremely proud) winners of the Garmin Hamble Winter Series YACHT OF THE SERIES. Phil Taylor and Kevin Sproul never once finished outside the top two in any of the fourteen races they sailed in their J/80 J.A.T. and the class was 22 boats strong! The Garmin Hamble Winter Series SPORTSBOAT OF THE SERIES was awarded to Phil, Kevin and the crew on J.A.T.: delighted and proud winners. For more Garmin Hamble Winter Series sailing information

J's Dominate Pacific NW Offshore

2012-01-12T12:44:00.004-05:00

(Puget Sound, Seattle, WA)- J/Boats did it again in one of the most closely fought series in the Pacific Northwest. J's took five of the Top 11 and eight of the Top 25 in their year-long sailing series.

48 North Magazine awards the popular Top 25 Pacific NW Boats every year. Ten major events were tracked, including SSSS's South Sound Series, Corinthian YC's Center Sound Series, Seattle YC's Tri-Island Series, CYC's Puget Sound Sailing Regatta, West Vancouver YC's Southern Straits Classic, Royal Victoria YC's Swiftsure International Yacht Race, Whidbey Island Race Week, SYC's Start & Bar Regatta, Bellingham YC's PITCH Regatta and CYC's Puget Sound Sailing Championship.

You had to sail at least four events to be counted. Performance of all boats sailing in one or more of the above ten events was tracked with a boat's best four event performances being used for calculating her final positions, e.g. a best four of ten.

The goal is to celebrate participation first and foremost and then consistent top-end sailing and performance. Each boat earned her spot on the 48 North Top 25 List based on her performance in the four regattas under an enormous variety of sailing conditions. Amongst the leader board in the Top 25 for J/Owners were the following boats:

2. J/105 JUBILEE- Erik Kirsten
6. J/109 TANTIVY- Stu Brunell
9. J/33 KORVO- Tom Kerr
10. J/29 HERE & NOW- Pat Denney
11. J/29 SLICK- Pat Nelson & Bob Mayfield
14. J/105 ALLEGRO VIVACE- Lorenzo Migliorini
16. J/105 DELIRIUM- Jerry Diercks
25. J/105 LAST TANGO- Jim Geros

All winners can stop by the 48 North booth (West 11) during the Seattle Boat Show Jan 27th to Feb 5th at CenturyLink Exhibition Hall! Please visit http://www.seattleboatshow.com and head-on over to chat with Bob Ross and crew from Sail Northwest- or contact him at Ph- 206-286-1004 / email- bob@sailnorthwest.com. For more sailing information on the 48 North Magazine Top 25, go to page 64 here.

Lauderdale-Key West Race Preview

2012-01-12T12:43:00.003-05:00

Y&Y Reader's Choice Awards- "Yacht of the Year"- J/111

2012-01-11T16:18:00.004-05:00

(London, England)- Shocked? While the French sailboat reviewers were having fun evaluating the J/111, the sailors across "La Manche" in England had first-hand experience either sailing aboard or racing against the J/111 all season long on the Solent and in the Fastnet Race. Many of them were Yachts & Yachting Magazine readers.

The UK had a sun-filled season. One which lifted the spirits, and one which further boosted that feeling of "goodness" by a number of special events that had the sailing scene buzzing. The America’s Cup launched its World Series and came to Plymouth and Cowes Week got a new sponsor. The result, with Aberdeen Asset Management’s branding, was the liveliest Cowes for years – especially with the J/111s criss-crossing the Solent in wild, planing rides buzzing past everyone and keeping pace with TP52s on some legs- hitting steady 16 knots with bursts to 22 knots! Plus, the 111's had a great time in the Around Island Race, that 65nm classic around the Isle of Wight, winning their class. If that weren't' enough proof the 111 could sail well in a wide variety of conditions, it finished 2nd in IRC Class 1 in the Garmin Hamble Winter Series (more below) and even got a 3rd in IRC Doublehanded in the Rolex Fastnet Race despite being parked for hours within a stone's throw of the finish line (and watching a sure overall win evaporate as time passed by).

As a result of all that activity, the Yachts & Yachting readers selected the J/111 as "Yacht of the Year" in the UK! As described in Y&Y, "it's no wonder the J/111 won, imagine a J/109 on steroids – a one-design that’s nearly 20 per cent lighter, with a longer waterline and bigger sail area! It's fast and it shows, the trophy shelves are already stuffed with all the Queen's Garrard silverware!" Sailing photo credits: Paul Wyeth @ PWPictures.com Find out more about the J/111 story in England in the latest February 2011 issue of Yachts and Yachting. For more J/111 sailboat information.

Chilean J/105 Clinic Runaway Success

2012-01-10T16:15:00.001-05:00

(Algarrobo, Chile) Andrew Kerr recently spent some time down in Chile enjoying the enormously gracious hospitality of the Chilean J/105 Fleet and providing them a sailing clinic on how to sail J/105s faster. Here's Andrew's report:

"The Growing J105 fleet in Chile recently hosted a 3 day seminar at Club de Yates Algarrobo in Algarrobo on Chile’s beautiful coastline. Algarrobo is a fantastic venue for sailing and to bring your family and friends and the Yacht club is a very friendly club that is excited about having active one-design sailing and a fleet like the J/105.

Daniel Gonzalez, the fleet Captain, and Juan Reid of J-Boats CHILE organized the clinic and I (Andrew Kerr) came in from the USA to coach the seminar. Local sailor Phillip Goyeneche helped with translating the technical terms of Sailing and did a fantastic job, Phillip has spent time in the USA and is also fluent in German, he is a remarkable person!

TEN J/105 teams attended the clinic, we spent 3 day’s sailing right in front of the yacht club in light, medium and heavier conditions which was perfect for teams as they developed there techniques and boat handling. We would meet in the morning in the classroom for a talk on topics such as starting techniques and tuning and then sail a very short course with lots of starts and mark rounding’s all of which were videotaped by Andrew for review back at the shore side debrief.

What is fantastic about the J/105 is how it is great for family and friends to sail on – Daniel Gonzalez regularly sails with his 3 daughters, Vernon Robert who is a really good J/24 sailor sails with his father steering, he trims the mainsail and his sons trim and are on the foredeck. Many teams sail with family on board and the fleet emphasizes family and friends, good sailing and good camaraderie on and off the water.

The J/105 fleet is growing fast in Chile and with people like Daniel, Juan , Vernon and Phillip and many others the J/105 fleet will flourish, there are already 16 boats in the area with many sailors expressing interest in the boat and the fleet. A big "Thank You" to the fleet and Yacht club for all its hospitality, I am very much looking forward to going back to Chile and seeing my new friends! For more J/105 sailboat information

2012 J/105 Midwinters in Houston!

2012-01-10T16:13:00.001-05:00

(Houston, Texas)- Yes, you read it right. J/105 Fleet 17 has stepped up to announce they will host the 2012 J/105 Midwinters from March 9th to 11th at Lakewood Yacht Club in Houston, Texas, sailing on beautiful Galveston Bay.

Lakewood Yacht Club sits on 38 beautifully landscaped acres with four sheds and seven docks. There are over 200 open slips on fixed and floating piers ranging in size from 40 feet to 100 feet. The spacious clubhouse offers its members a beautiful view of Clear Lake and Galveston Bay.

The Bermuda-style clubhouse provides the 500 plus Lakewood members with quiet harbor-view dining facilities and excellent cuisine while the bar and piano lounge with three large plasma televisions invite members to relax by the fire or gather around the bar. The beautiful ballroom overlooking the inner harbor is the venue for many of the Lakewood social events as well as weddings, meetings and the popular Sunday Brunch. A Game Room provides supervised activities for members children. Lakewood Yacht Club has been recognized in the "Robb Report" (a high-end lifestyle magazine) as one of the Top 10 most prestigious yacht clubs in the United States. For more J/105 Midwinter Championship sailing information

VOILES Magazine "Boat of the Year"- J/111

2012-01-10T11:55:00.003-05:00

(Paris, France)- Surprised? It was a banner year for the J/111 and the press accolades keep pouring in. Over in Europe, some of the world's most experienced sailing editors and reviewers have had opportunities to compare and contrast the J/111 against two dozen-plus models from leading sailboat builders in Europe. What they discovered is what most American and British sailing experts in the media saw as one of the most exciting next-generation offshore sailboats in decades. After the dozen or so French sailing experts spent over a week evaluating various boats, the J/111 came out on top as the VOILES Magazine Boat of the Year 2012! A PDF file (36 MB) can be found here to read-- in French.

Southwest Airlines' SPIRIT Promotes SAILING J/80s!

2012-01-09T11:52:00.000-05:00

* Southwest Airlines SPIRIT Magazine- November 2011. This holiday season (and in 2012), get off the couch and get out into the world. Rather than must-have toys and tech gear, SPIRIT Magazine handpicked 32 action-filled trips that take you from the snow-covered peaks of Park City, Utah, to the tale-tinged pubs of New York City, to the gorgeous water of San Francisco Bay. Ready, set, wish!

Check it out! SPIRIT picked Orange Coast Sailing Club's J/80 to be on the cover seen here! Here's the blurb below inside the SPIRIT Magazine as the FIRST activity you should pick-- go sailing!!

SAILING- SCALE THE BAY!
Berkeley, California-based OCSC Sailing provides all manner of maritime education, but its Basic Keelboat class is ideal for windjammer wannabes without a clue. Master the sport over five days or two consecutive weekends. On Day One you’ll be at the helm of a 24-footer; by the next afternoon you’ll be commanding your crew to "Jibe ho"! The fog lifts from the San Francisco Bay in the winter months, making it an apt time to test the waters, which will host the 34th annual America’s Cup catamaran race in 2013. $995; go to http://www.ocsc.com See SPIRIT Mags article on Sailing Experience Gifts- cool stuff!

J Sailors Leading Volvo Ocean Race!

2012-01-09T11:48:00.001-05:00

* Over the course of the holidays, the Volvo 70s managed to sail into the "Land of No Return", the "Twilight Zone", the "No Spin Zone", the "No Go Zone", the "Stealth Zone" and the "Party Zone". Whatever. The sailing part didn't work for a lot of teams. The party part perhaps soothed some severely bruised egos.

Nevertheless, it's pretty clear the hard-charging Spanish team on TELEFONICA led by Iker Martinez can probably credit their extensive small keelboat racing experiences on J/80s in Spain against World Champions as critical in keeping them on edge and on top of the Volvo Ocean Race World.

Ken Read, the J/24 World Champion, has had his share of hard-luck, first the broken mast and Tristan da Cunha shipping episode, then having to deal with the Indian Ocean Doldrums and a slow boat going into Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. We wish our J/Team friends all well and good luck on the next leg to Sanya, China! For more Volvo Ocean Race sailing information

Newport J/70 Demo & Fleet Program

2012-01-06T16:46:00.004-05:00

(Newport, RI)- Following early spring sea-trials in Newport, we will maintain two demo boats here in Rhode Island through mid-summer. As a result, J/Sailors can arrange factory tours with J/Dealers at our building facility at CCF Composites in Bristol, Rhode Island and also go for demo sails off Newport in beautiful Narragansett Bay.

J/70 fleet development is growing rapidly with the two largest fleets so far being Annapolis/ Chesapeake Bay and Seattle/ Puget Sound with dozens of enthusiastic new J/70 sailors! Fleets can be shipped in "four-packs" anywhere in America with fleet pricing of boat, trailer and sails under $45,000. Hull commitment slots have filled up remarkably fast, talk to your J/Dealer soon to get in line, we'll be past the century mark on J/70 orders in no time flat! For more J/70 sailboat information

London Boatshow- J/80, J/109 & J/111!

2012-01-05T16:43:00.001-05:00

(London, England)- Opening up this weekend for a week-plus is the Tullett-Prebon International Boat Show in London at the ExCel Exhibition Centre. From January 5th to 13th, you can take a stroll down the "Boardwalk" in the South Hall and view the J/80 (M009), the J/109 (M008) and the J/111 (M011). Paul and Marie-Claude Heys and Becci Eplett, amongst others, will be glad to help you learn more about these three boats as well as the upcoming J/70 in Europe! For more London Sailboat Show information.

Happy Holidays- The J/Team- December 25th, 2011

2011-12-25T09:04:00.010-05:00

The J/Team

Al, Bob, Drake, Jeff, Kendra,

Laura, Paul, Peter, Phil, Rod and Stuart

"Made In America"
The J/70 speedster tooling has arrived in America. The J/70 will be made in America for the North American marketplace. 2012 production begins early 2012 with two sets of molds to meet the unprecedented demand for the new "baby J". The J/70 "twins" will be hatched in early Spring on Narragansett Bay off Newport. Contact your J/Dealer for all the details.

"Made in Europe"
J/70 tooling will be heading Trans-Atlantic in the New Year and production will commence in France at J Composite late spring with first deliveries anticipated mid-summer (July) in time for the fall boatshows.

J/70 Speedster Excitement Growing!

2011-12-21T09:24:00.007-05:00

(Newport, RI)- In the next few weeks, several announcements will be forthcoming that will simply knock those cozy holiday socks off your collective feet!

The J/70 train is starting to build up steam, in fact with so much momentum building, it's a possibility the J/70 may eclipse any known sales records for the introduction of a new "J" class in history.

Watch this space next week. The first announcement coming within a fortnight will have an enormous impact on American J/70 fleet development and with a commensurate impact on European J/70 class development, too. For more J/70 sailboat information

J/80 Coupe de France- A Vintage Year

2011-12-21T09:20:00.001-05:00

INTERFACE CONCEPT Wins, Three Women's Teams in Top Ten!
(Paris, France)- It was truly a vintage year for the J/80 class in France. Strong turnouts at all major events. And, the total number of French teams participating in this year's Coupe de France J/80 exceeded all expectations- 189 boats sailed, up 17% from 2010! That's a remarkable performance given the economic and political times we live in today. To provide you some context, the International J/80 is by far the largest European circuit of one-design keelboats- larger than all other sportboats combined! And, it is the only national one-design keelboat circuit that has women's teams competing at the highest level of sailing in the sport- women's boats took three of the top ten in this year's circuit!

The 2011 Coupe de France included the following eight events: Spi OUEST France, Valle des Fous Regatta, Grand Prix Ecole Navale Regatta, Grand Prix Crouesty, Deauville Open J/80, Pornic J/Cup, Telegramme Lorient Regatta and Nationals St Cast.

After sailing in a wide variety of weather conditions in a broad and spectacular array of sailing locations, the creme'd'la'creme of French J/80 sailors would surely rise to the top of the standings. It takes talented teams that can weather the good, the bad and the ugly in terms of starts, mark roundings, wind shifts, currents, boat-to-boat tactics to do well in these types of series.

At the end of it all, Eric Brezellec sailing INTERFACE CONCEPT 2 proved his fantastic performance in this year's J/80 Worlds in Copenhagen, Denmark was no fluke. Eric's team has been sailing consistently and it's clear the French J/80 sailing teams, in general, have stepped up their game to a world-class level. Perhaps the motivation of a J/80 Worlds in Weymouth, England and the next worlds in France are helping the teams sail faster and smarter! Nevertheless, congratulations are due to Eric's IC2 team winning and the rest of the top ten players:

2. CN ST CAST GRAND OUEST ETIQUETTES- Maxime Rousseau- 1st women's team
3. J'ILE DE RE- Christine Briand- 2nd women's team
4. VOILERIE ALL'PURPOSE- Sylvain Pellissier
5. ECOLE NAVALE CG29- Patrick Bot
6. CHARLY- Pierre Metais
7. INTERFACE CONCEPT- Jean-Charles Moriceau
8. GAN'JA- Luc Nadal
9. MARINE LORIENT TRI-UGENT- Gwénolé Bernard- 3rd women's team
10. BABY J- Jean-François Guionet

For more Coupe de France J/80 sailing information

ECC VIVIENDAS Wins "El Mundialito"

2011-12-20T09:18:00.001-05:00

BANCAJA and GO FIT Complete the Podium
(Santander, Spain)- This year's "Mini-Worlds" (as El Mundialito refers to) held each fall in Santander, Spain almost always seems to live up to its billing, hosted by Federacion Cantabra de Vela. It is an event that attracts some of the top one-design/ keelboat talent in all of Spain. Who can argue with the turnout, thirty-one J/80s and about 140 crew, with some of Spain's best sailors in the mix-- J/80 World Champions, TP52 Champions, Olympic Champions and friends of the Martinez's (one of them, Iker Martinez, is now racing the Volvo 70 TELEFONICA in the Volvo Race), amongst others.

This year, Cantabria hosted a new edition of its traditional 'Mundialito' fleet that has been hosted for the last six years in the J/80 class- one of the the largest and highest quality International One-Design keelboats fleets worldwide. Top sailors are invited as "guests" to participate as both skippers and crew with the J/80 owners. Two races were held on Saturday in the interior bay of Santander with a Northeast wind between 8 and 10 knots, sadly no racing on Sunday for this fun-loving, highly competitive bunch of sailors due to no wind. Perhaps a good thing since Saturday night many sailors had fun to dawn on Sunday? It is the way the Spanish play, love the sailing, dinner and dancing late, wake up late and do it again-- so far, so good, a few J/80 Worlds title holders from Spain attest to the fact their formula works!

This year, the winner of the competition was Pichu Torcida's familiar ECC VIVIENDAS, sailing with "guest sailor" Ariane Mainemare Malaga. It was hard for the other teams to match their speed and cleverness, posting a 1-2 to once again be "the best on the bay"! Just behind them in second was BANCAJA, sailed by Javier Lopez-Vazquez, Alvaro Alfonso Madrid Mazarrasa and Colon de Carvajal, which also had a fantastic weekend with a 2-3 record. Behind them, it was a hard-fought contest for third place. In the end, GO FIT sailed by David Madrazo and Ignacio Triay combined forces, with Triay skippering to a 6-4 snatched the third spot on the podium. That's an awesome performance for Triay along with another famous shipmate, Ignacio Postigo (creator of the Cantabrian MedCup TP52 Circuit). This trio beat out the current J/80 World Champion on a tie-breaker, Ignacio Camino on NEXTEL ENGINEERING. Camino and friend Armando Gutierrez sailed to a 5-5, but had to be content with fourth place finish. Just off the pace and sailing well was RAITA sailed by Rafa and Jesus Gonzalez Maliach Colvee, with Canarian tactician Susana Romero called the shots, their 4-9 securing them fourth place. Another regatta favorite, the CROCS TEAM sailed by Javier Aguado of Menorca (2nd in Copa del Rey) and Laureano Wizner, finally took 6th place after sailing to a 9-6.

Yet another fixture in "El Mundialito", Jaime Rodriguez-Toubes, accompanied by good friend Toño Piris on YATES & COSAS, finished a creditable seventh. The FONESTAR Team with Jaime Borras at the helm took the honor of winning the second race from start to finish to finish in eighth position. Ninth was MAQUECHE sailed by Rafael Pascual Alfonso Esposito, who had as sailing guest Javier Polanco. Rounding out the Top Ten was LOUPE sailed by Alberto Padron and Cesar Obregon.

It is important to mention the presence of Galician Malal Bermúdez de Castro sailing aboard SOLVENTIS, which was third in the first race but boomed the second race to finish 11th overall. Also, Italian J/80 Champion Max Rama finished in the middle of the fleet in his first major test against to top Spanish teams in their home waters, not bad! The defending champion, SOLUCIONES CINQUA, sailed by Alejandro Diaz was not so lucky and ended up in the middle of the fleet, too. Many other top sailors and Spanish champions were sailing, however, "El Mundialito" is a weekend designed to bring together representatives of the top offshore and one-design fleets in Spain-- the end result is not important, and indeed there is no award. Nevertheless, the sailors love having fun and competing at the highest level in the world. The success of the event is due to the enthusiasm and generosity of the owners of the J/80 fleet at the Real Club Marítimo de Santander. An extraordinary event, a model for other top sailing clubs and countries to follow as they introduce more people to the sport of sailing. For more J/80 Mundialito Regatta sailing information

French Team Wins J/22 Euro League

2011-12-20T09:16:00.002-05:00

A Vintage Year for European J/22s
(Paris, France)- The International J/22 class enjoys a "boutique" class of events throughout Europe during the course of every summer. With fleets in The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and Italy, the J/22 sailors have a broad range of experiences available to them for sailing every summer-- they sure have fun sailing on a lot of Europe's more picturesque lakes and bays.

Over the past few years, the J/22s created their version of what the J/80s have enjoyed in France (their Coupe de France) by conducting their J/22 "Euro League", counting a number of regattas towards the overall count. The Euro League consists of the following four events- the Championnat de France, EC Travemunde Woche, the German Masters Championship and the Delta Lloyd J/22 Championships. This year had a record turnout of forty-eight participants in the League.

This year's winner of the J/22 Euro League was, for the first time, the French team on J/22 #1444 sailed by Reinier Brockerhoff. Congratulations to Reinier's team! That is quite an awesome accomplishment for the French J/22 fleet. Perhaps this is indicative of the strengthened training program for some French J/22 teams preparing for their J/22 Worlds in June 2012 held in Crouesty, France. Good news for French sailors, but watch out for the Dutch, Germans, South Africans and American J/22 teams!

The balance of the leaderboard for the J/22 Euro League includes Rheinhold Gross sailing GER 1513 in second, a great showing for one of the top German teams. The third position Ronald Veraar's NED 1450, the top Dutch team. Fourth was Woulter Kollman on NED 1591 and fifth was Ivo Kok on NED 1600. For more French J/22 sailing information.

J/22s Getting Busy Sailing In South Africa!

2011-12-20T09:12:00.003-05:00

(Capetown, South Africa)- The 2011 sailing season was a very busy and active one for the J/22 class in South Africa. Like their J/Sailing comrades in J/22s and J/80s in Europe, this was also a "vintage year" for the J/22s racing in some of South Africa's most spectacular sailing venues- lakes, oceans, bays.

The four main regattas held each year are the J/22 Nationals, Mpumalanga Championship, Northwest Championships and Interclub Youth Championships. Here are the reports from each event.

Amtec J/22 Nationals
The Nationals officially opened at a cocktail party hosted by the sponsor Amtec where Mike Hayton drew the winner of the new Amtec branded main sail won by Werner Hautmann on MOONSHADOW. Dave Rushton, having arrived from Durban announced that racing would begin at 0900 the following day, and those having sailed with Dave as the Race Officer knew he would be ready to start at 9 sharp if the winds were in his favour. The wind was in his favour so it was all systems go in wind of 18 knots for 5 slick and well run races.

HAKAHANA now skippered by Ewald Sternagel, crew Steven and Donavan Kruger set the pace from the start always in sight of the top positions. Their worst results were a 6th, 8th and 9th so with 2 discards this made them the boat to watch. AFTER DARK sailed by Jessica Lenz and her crew of Lara Wood and Herbie Karolis were placed 2nd in the first race and continued to be seen in the top finishers with a final place of 7th. CELL C had only 2 “bad days at the office” during the whole regatta in the 8th and 13th race finishing 21, races they would probably rather forget. US'N'J had a good first day racing with 2 firsts, their worst result being an 8th that day. VOODOO, the PYC entry skippered by Luke Wagner, crew J George and Siya Vato took their first in the 4th race. Paul Thompson (who became synonymous with his scarf) on ALPHA ROMEO managed a 1st and two 3rd’s his worst result being a 15th for the day. Tired and wind swept, some more than others, all 24 boats were very happy to head for home in the late afternoon to enjoy some liquid refreshments!

Thursday saw another early start with great races in good winds. The results made it evident that any one of the top 6 boats could be a winner depending on what transpired in the two remaining days. Dave Rushton pushed the races as the forecast was that the winds would decrease with little or nothing forecast for Saturday. The close and competitive racing heard several shouts, of varying degrees of insistence and volume, for water, starboard boat, windward boat keep clear and all the other regularly used terms used in similar circumstances. The protest committee dealt with the infringements quickly and efficiently but this still did not show a clear cut winner.

Friday racing was just as hard and competitive with the anticipation of no sailing on Saturday due to the weather forecast. Remarkably, just one more race was squeezed in by the Race Officer.

It was great to see PAGURO back on the water with Dirk Manten, Dylan Emmett and JJ van Niekerk who finished 4th overall. Local knowledge was a much debated advantage but the local J/22 LAUGH A MINUTE finished in 6th place. All the junior sailors showed their commitment and determination to make their presence known. It was great to see the juniors Oliver Cribb on JAY WALKER, Alice Martin on JAY BEE, Jolene Tofts on BLUE JAY and JABBERWOCKY sailed by the locals Steffan Botha, Donovan Martinson and Devan Mathews on the water. These are our J/22 champions of the future.

With a total of 14 races with two discards the deserved winner was HAKAHANA (4 wins, three 2nds) skippered by Ewald Sternagel crew Steve and Donovan Kruger. Second was Graham Baker on US'N'J with Sean and Barry Gurnell, third on the podium was Richard Wiederholdt with Greg Plunkett and Rob Edwards. Our sincere thanks to all the Witbank Aquatic Club and the dedicated team who worked all hours of the day and night to make it the event it was. Mike Hayton of Amtec without whose sponsorship and love of sailing made it a regatta never to be forgotten and hard to beat.

Mpumalunga Championships
From 10h00 on Easter Friday the grounds of Witbank Yacht & Aquatic Club became a hive of activity in preparation for the Amtec J22 Mpumalanga Provincial Championships. Life was made easier for the registration team as most of the information had been collected prior to the event. Witbank Yacht Club had pulled out all the stops with the facilities and infrastructure ensuring a well run and organised event. With boats and crew prepared, the winners of the Amtec sponsored spinnaker, the team on PAGURO IV, knew that their chances had just improved.

The first race on Saturday started with winds of 8-10 knots, an organised RC had a course laid and a prompt start for the fleet of 21 J/22's commenced at 11h00. No one boat held the first place consecutively as the competition was close and fierce. In the first three races a maximum of 8 minutes separated the first and last boats. A quick turnaround between races ensured that a total of 6 races were completed.

The Durban entry, VOODOO skippered by Luke Wagner and crewed by Jean and Siya showed they were a team to be reckoned with achieving two firsts, two seconds, a third and a fourth. The steady wind which calmed slightly after three races did nothing to deter the boat skippered and crewed by the Youth team. They were as competitive as their experienced senior counterparts as proved by Donovan Kruger on HAKAHANA rounding the mark first in the 6th race and ultimately finishing 7th. As the sound signals for the 6th race were heard there were some tired bodies but the focus was ever present with five minutes separating the first and last boat.

Sunday saw a lighter breeze but four evenly matched races completed the regatta on 10 total races! Prize-giving acknowledged Donavan Kruger, with his team of Jared, Steven Kruger and Justin Botha being the first placed Youth skipper. Third place saw US'N'J skippered by Graham Baker with Barry and Shaun Gurnell with 28 points, second VOODOO with Luke and his team with 25 points and first place to Richard Weiderholdt on CELL C with his team of Greg Plunkett and Rob Edwards on 18 points. Special thanks went to Mike Hayton of Amtec for his sponsorship, time and effort as well as all Witbank Yacht Club ensuring a fantastic regatta was held by all.

InterClub Youth Championships
The Aruba Networks 2011 J/22 Interclub Youth Championship was well-attended with nine teams all sailing an incredibly competitive regatta, sailing seven races with one discard.

At the end, it was hard to hold back the HAKAHANA team from TYC, sailed by Oliver Cribb, Riccardo Suttner-Scalco and Rudi van Velzen. Their record of 1-3-1-1-3-1-5 for a net of 10 pts was hard to beat. Behind Oliver and crew it was a tight battle for 2nd and 3rd, with three boats all in a virtual tie for second. Winning the tie-breaker and finishing second was Megan Eccleston skippering JOKER TOO with her crew of Jacob Bester, Zak Bester and Tyrone Smith to a 3-4-2-7-6-3-1 record for 19 pts. Third was Donovan Kruger on US'N'J sailing with crew Jared Kuger, Alex Nicolakos and Jolene Tolfs to a 2-2-3-4-2-9-6 record for 19 pts. Watch out for these teams in the future, they're sailing fast and furious and know how to get a J/22 around the course smartly. Perhaps some of them may sail in the J/22 Worlds in Crouesty, France next year?

NW Championships
The TYC's NW Champs saw an excellent field of twenty entries sailing in both Gold and Silver Fleets. All four race sailed were scored as counters for the regatta, no toss races.

It seemed that Team HAKAHANA were on a roll as Donovan Kruger's team managed to win this regatta with three 1sts and a 6th! Second was John Bruckman's LAUGH A MINUTE with a 3-2-3-3 for 11 pts. Third was Graham Baker's US'N'J with a 1-3-14-2 for 20 pts, they were feeling the pain of an OCS in the third race-- otherwise they'd been in the running to win against their buddies sailing HAKAHANA! For more South African sailing information.

JJ PALMENSIS Lanzarote Island Cup J/80 Champion!

2011-12-17T10:16:00.001-05:00

(Lanzarote, Canary Islands)- For a fleet of twenty-five boats, it's hard to beat some of the world's best J/80 sailors in the windy, wavy conditions you often see for even the evening beer can racing off the Canaries. Blessed with "super San Francisco" conditions- 15-30 knots, sunny, clear azure blue waters, it's hard not to like racing in these conditions, especially planing off the wind in clouds of spray.

Gustavo Martinez and team on JJ PALMENSIS found the racing and the conditions very much to their liking, they're proclaimed Champions and Kings of the J/80 World in the Canary Islands! They worked hard to earn the top of the podium over three weekends of sailing, ultimately, beating out past J/80 World Champion Rayco Tabares sailing the famous GRAND HOTEL ISLAS CANARIAS. For more Lanzarote Island Cup sailing information.

J/92 MOJITO Lighting It Up in Hong Kong!

2011-12-17T10:13:00.001-05:00

(Hebe Haven YC, Hong Kong, China)- The sailing reports from some of our J Sailors from across the world are always an entertaining, fun read. Recently, Simon Blore sailed his J/92s MOJITO in the eight race Hebe Haven YC Winter Series from late October to early December. Here's Simon's report:

"Rating at 0.994, the J/92S MOJITO was the lowest rated (slowest) boat in the IRC division, up against its main rival the X35 Vixen, plus a new lightweight GP26, with a rating at 1.053. At various times the Millennium 45 Surfdude joined the fray, as did the Holland 38 RB and King 40 Blondie. Recognizing the need for a bit more light air power, MOJITO added a larger light air #1 North 3DL sail in to their inventory in the autumn, with a new #2 3Di also included, to take over the headsail duties from 10 kts and above.

The light air #1 was used for all of the first 6 races, with winds rarely much above 10 kts, but the new grunt provided by the specialist light air jib allowed some improved performances, and top 3 finishes to put MOJITO one point ahead of the light air specialist boat the X35 with two final races remaining.

On the final day it was still all to play for, and with Vixen only a point behind, the X35 looked in supreme form pre-race with a good spinnaker run in 17-20 kts of breeze, meanwhile we were struggling to get our no3 headsail to work, and only just had our no2 ready for the start sequence.

In the race proper though, MOJITO was honking along in the strong winds with the new 3Di, and on the first run, Vixen unravelled with a botched gybe and a trapped kite making them retire, meanwhile the J/92S sailed a bit more conservatively with the smaller A2 kite to post a strong time.

In Race 2, again the pressure was on the X35, and with gusts regularly in the mid 20's, MOJITO was matching Vixen's pace upwind and down, and eventually on the second run, another bad gybe by Vixen saw her dropping her kite again, and MOJITO came through to just beat her on the line, and take the handicap win with ease. Also out on the final day was the new McConaghy 38 Tornado 2, with the factory works team, and this boat (rating at 1.260) lit up the race course with impressive pace, but at the final prize-giving, the little J92S crew were delighted to record two victories over the Mc38, and post a 1 and a 2 for the day, and so seal the series win by 4 pts!"

GO FIT Leads J/80 Trofeo IMPREDIGITAL

2011-12-17T10:10:00.001-05:00

(Santander, Spain)- The Federacion Cantabra de Vela hosted the Trofeo IMPREDIGITAL for a big fleet of 27 J/80s with over 100 sailors on the starting line-- an excellent turnout for this event. The racing was marred by some controversy as five of the top ten boats were disqualified for OCS violations. Nevertheless, for most of the fleet is was a great day of sailing.

The wind started out of the West and kept veering to the Southwest in an oscillating-persistent wind shift, making for challenging, tactical racing. Furthermore, with a strong adverse current whistling down the shoreline, it was also important to short-tack the beach to gain tactical advantage on the boats around you. The racing started near the beach of Magdalena and the windward mark was near FCV yacht club.

In the end, GO FIT sailed by David Madrazo won, followed in 2nd by Tonio Piris sailing YATES & COSAS, 3rd was Jesus Amaliach on RAITA, 4th Luis Arrarte on ROGUE and 5th Pichu Torcida on ECC VIVIENDAS. For more Trofeo ImpreDigital sailing information

JING JING King's Cup Update

2011-12-16T10:08:00.001-05:00

(Kata Beach, Phuket, Thailand)- 2011 was the 25th anniversary of the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta. The event attracted the largest fleet in the competition’s history with 91 keelboats and over a thousand sailors from 33 countries across the globe. Conditions have been good for much of the week, and comments centered on the enjoyable racing and spectacular beach-side parties each evening.

While the regatta proved challenging for them against a fleet of relatively new IRC 40 footers, Rick Pointon's team on the J/130 JING JING from Hong Kong, China hung in the top ten and got in some great racing, even managing a fourth in one of them. In the end, the more professional teams prevailed while the corinthian sailors had an enjoyable time in the spectacular sailing conditions-- a far cry from last year's storms, rain, wind, waves that saw some wreckage on the beaches in front of the gorgeous Kata Beach Club Resort. Rick is hoping a few more J Sailors join him for next year's event! Sailing photo credits- Guy Nowell. For more Phuket King's Cup Regatta sailing information.

Happy Holidays- Help Introduce Sailing to Friends!

2011-12-16T10:05:00.001-05:00

* HAPPY HOLIDAYS! HAPPY SAILING? Why not? Help Introduce Sailing to Friends and Colleagues- Now is as good a time as ever to Consider a gift to your local sailing community or yacht club programs. Here in Newport, we give as much support as we can to SailNewport- renowned not just for hosting regattas for the America's Cup World Series in the AC45 cats next June, but hosting regattas for kids in Optis, 420s, Vanguard 15s and adult evening sailing in J/22s. It is a "community sailing" program open to all.

For example, gifts from fellow sailors and friends who support public access to sailing provide vital funding source for Sail Newport. You can continue to provide sailing opportunities for all ages and skill levels and help chart the course of the future for the sport of sailing. Learn more and donate online.

Does someone you know want to learn to sail, or, learn to sail better? Give a gift that will inspire, teach and provide a healthy sport! We have gift certificates available for memberships, sailing lessons and rentals for those who already know how to sail. For information on sailing certificates.

For those J Sailors from across the Americas and other parts of the world, consider doing something similar for your local community sailing programs (or yacht club/ sailing club programs who have similar offerings)!

The Perfect Gift For People Who Love Sailing!

2011-12-14T08:43:00.001-05:00

NEW 2012 J/Calendar(Newport, RI)- For 2012 we've created another beautiful calendar for J sailors who love the joys of sailing a J in some of the most spectacular harbors and waters of the world. Whether you are a cruising, racing or armchair sailor, these stunning sailboat photographs will transport you to wonderful sailing experiences in far away places. Enjoy the color and excitement of J sailing with these gorgeous photos. The J/Sailing Calendar features photos of a J/44 powering upwind off Key West, a flying J/24 on the Chesapeake, J/125s dueling on San Francisco Bay, surrealistic scenes of J/80s off the Cantabrian and Brittany Coasts, a J/120 and J/95 playing in the azure waters of the Caribbean and J/105s parading past Alcatraz in a pastel of colors. A great gift for loved ones, family, friends and crew! See the 2012 J/Calendar and order now.

Texas Team SAIL Best Around Buoys Winners!

2011-12-13T10:03:00.002-05:00

(Boston, MA)- A Texas-based crew, comprised of Ryan & Jana Glaze and brothers Max & Jake Scott, sailing J/22s, Vanguard 15s and Melges 24s from Rush Creek YC in Dallas, Texas won SAIL’s 2nd annual Best Around the Buoys (BAB) competition, earning them free entry in the J/80 class at Quantum Key West Race Week 2012, January 15-20.

The Glazes and Scotts beat out approximately 80 other entries based on their one-design record in 2011. Among other successes, the team took 12th in the recent 2011 J/22 Worlds on FAST LANE held at Southern YC in New Orleans, LA against 64 boats (even winning a race!). On a regional/national basis, the Glaze's took first in the Vanguard 15 class in the Galveston Bay Championship Regatta and 8th out of 30 at the Vanguard 15 North American Championships. On a local Dallas fleet level sailing on Lake Ray Hubbard, the Glaze/Scott team took first in the Melges 24 Black Tie Regatta and RCYC's Fleet Championship.

Ryan first got into sailing at the age of 8, when his father decided to buy a Catalina 27 for his 40th birthday. He and the Scott brothers all grew up together on Lake Ray Hubbard and have sailed together on everything from Optis to Laser 2s, J/22s and a J/105.

“Max, Jake and I have special bond. Not only did we grow up sailing together, we grew up doing everything together--- from playing football or basketball in the driveway as kids [to being] groomsmen in each others weddings,” Ryan says. “We all love to race sailboats, and we love racing with each other even more.”

Ryan describes Quantum Key West Race Week as a “bucket list regatta” he’s long been interested in. “Beautiful location, great atmosphere and even better competition: it says something about an event when a boat owner sets his build schedule for a custom racer based on getting there in time for Key West Race Week, or teams pull together their resources in order to be a part of it year after year.”

As the winning crew of this year’s BAB contest, the Texas crew will receive free use of a J/80 from J/Boats with a new set of canvas from North Sails. Harken will outfit the crew in full racing kit, while Quantum Key West Organizer Premier Racing will provide accommodations and waive all entrance fees. Additional support will be provided by US Sailing. In 2011, the Cleveland-based crew of the J/105 IT! took first place in their division racing the J/111 KONTIKI V in the inaugural SAIL BAB competition, so the pressure is on!

J/111 JAKE Thunders Down Under!

2011-12-13T08:41:00.001-05:00

(Sydney, Australia)- The Australian J/111 JAKE owned by Ray & Sandra Entwistle has been busy competing in two offshore series since her launch at the Sydney International Boat Show in July. The Short Offshore Pointscore Series is 7 race windward/leeward series held just off Sydney Harbour Heads. The Ocean Pointscore series is a 6 race series of passage races north out of Sydney Harbour towards Pittwater and south towards Botany Bay and Cronulla of around 50nm. Here's Ray's report about the thunder they're generating Down Under:

"The J/111 is one of the smallest boats in these highly competitive IRC Division 1 Sydney fleets. The two fleets in the two events have included boats from Beneteau First 40s, 45s, 47.7s, Cookson 12s, DK 43s, one off 50 footers, Corby 49, Transpac 52s, Kerr 40, Sydney Kerr 43, Swan 60, to name a few. A Volvo 60 even joined in the fun for few races.

The weather was a real mix from drifters to over 30 knots, clear sunny days to complete fog "white-outs", but the J/111 showed no vices in any wind or sea state. She just reveled right through the range often beating much larger boats on the beat and on the water. Off wind she is an absolute dream and we have seen speeds of over 18 knots.

Bang for buck the J/111 has really gone head to head with much more expensive programs. She has proven beyond doubt this new 36 footer can mix it up with highly professional crewed boats. The crew and many visitors have complimented how easy she is to sail, and really enjoy that adrenalin rush that is missing from so many models these days. The J/111 really responds to every tweak and change in trim.

JAKE finished 2nd on IRC in both series. We know we still have a bit more to learn about her, and can’t wait for the next series to start so we can work to claim first prize." For more J/111 sailboat information.

INVICTUS Wins J/80 Hong Kong Nationals

2011-12-13T08:38:00.003-05:00

(Middle Island, Hong Kong, China)- The J/80 class in Hong Kong were treated to "chamber of commerce" conditions-- sun and gorgeous 12-15 kt Easterlies- for the first J/80 Hong Kong Class Championship. Hosted by the gracious Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, the highly competitive fifteen boat fleet were treated to some great racing over the first weekend in November sailing in the waters off Lamma Island.

The regular fleet racers we're pleasantly surprised to see three bullets of the four-race first day go to Tristan Stewart on JAVELIN, they were sailing in only their second regatta outing with the J/80 - well done guys! Other notable results for the day was a 1 and a 2 for Peter Backe on INVICTUS, a 2 in the first race for Rob Tanner on his new boat EPEKWIT'K and a third for Lucinda Ho on MOZZIE.

From the dock, Sunday looked very soft at first but the forecast held and the fleet enjoyed a building breeze throughout the day. After two general recalls in the first race, the RHKYC's PRO sent up the black flag and, not surprisingly, the sailors held back and saw a much more conservative start. Louie Perfectua in JELIK 7 took the first race, with Andrew Moore & Lionel Welch on TIGRINA in second. JELIK 6, helmed by Rafael Buitre took third.

With the whole fleet suitably warmed up there were some very crowded mark roundings and finishes for the rest of the day. Race 6 was especially close at the first top mark with the majority of the fleet approaching on port lay and plenty of slaloming to avoid boats already around the mark with kites on their way up or made. Peter Backe on INVICTUS won race 6 and 8, and Tristan Stewart on JAVELIN was back on form to take the bullet in Race 7.

At the end of the day, "Congratulations" are on order to Peter and his crew on INVICTUS for the overall win, Louie on JELIK 7 in second, and Tristan on JAVELIN for third. Sailing Photo Credits- Ris Sattinasiri Wood Full results: http://www.rhkyc.org.hk/J80Results.aspx J/80 Hong Kong Class Association: http://www.facebook.com/J80HKG

J/120 CARINTHIA Wins Epic Wirth Munroe Race!

2011-12-13T08:36:00.002-05:00

(Palm Beach, Florida)- This year's fleet in the annual Wirth Munroe Memorial Fort Lauderdale to Palm Beach Yacht Race got a bit more than they bargained for. To say the least, race conditions were challenging, with 20+ knot ENE winds gusting to 30 knots and sea conditions considered “sporty” as the northbound Gulf Stream built waves to 8-12 feet, many with breaking wave-tops. For some of the modern ocean-racing machines (TP 52s and similar stuff), it was a bit too much as once the fleet got out of the southbound "flat water" just off Fort Lauderdale and they hit the current wall (a.k.a. "the conveyor belt") only a few miles offshore, the wave conditions made even the hardiest of San Francisco Bay or Solent sailors stand up and take notice-- these were ginormous, vertical-walled waves that often broke across the bows and down the deck in a wall of water, doing their best to wash crews down the deck and over the side. Epic conditions, indeed! But also scarily spectacular. The northbound Gulf Stream running 2-4 nm offshore was screaming, making the water look like a monstrous washing machine. As a result, several competitors abandoned racing and arrived at Palm Beach's Lake Worth Inlet under power, although no one reported injuries or damage.

Reveling in the tough conditions were the tough hombres from Lake St Clair, Michigan, all experienced Mackinac Race veterans who've seen far worse stuff than what the Stream was throwing at them. Frank Kern's cracker-jack team aboard his J/120 CARINTHIA smashed through the massive waves and proceed to take 1st overall in PHRF Division on corrected time, taking the Sailfish Club/ Cruising Club of America's silverware back to Detroit for safe-keeping! Just behind them in third place was David Bond's well-sailed offshore team aboard the J/105 LOKI and finishing a respectable fourth was Bob Kirkman's J/120 HOT TICKET.

In the IRC Class, Jim Bishop’s J/44 WHITE GOLD also cleaned out the trophy shelves at the Sailfish YC, taking the "First CCA Yacht to finish" and "First Sailfish Club Yacht to finish".

Here's some commentary from Frank's CARINTHIA blog on the race- "Carinthia has done this race now a number of years so it was very close to the conditions we have seen before. As part of the southern circuit Hot Ticket again joined us for the "race to the buffet". She was late getting to the start for which was explained to us later.

Apparently a crew member who was late delivering a sail caused HT to miss the 9am opening of the Fort Lauderdale 17th street bridge to reach the Atlantic Ocean. After much discussion the decision was made that they would be able to clear it. Except a scary moment occurred when the radio antenna on top of the mast scraped the bottom of the bridge and navigation lights on the spans in spite everyone sitting on the end of the boom to tilt her.

To make things worse after arriving in the starting area their #3 genoa went up incorrectly and had to be taken down minutes before the start. With all that distractions we were the first boat to the ocean side of the line at the gun with the J105 Loki a little behind and to our leeward. HT was noticeably late on the shore side of the line. We decided that we would start with our #1 with the wind speed in the high teens close hauled and from the northeast. In the first 10 to 15 miles Hot Ticket managed to match speed with us, but we made every opportunity to point as high as we could so we could sail into the gulf stream. Loki soon fell back and we were the farthest right in our fleet. We started getting lifted and continued to get out farther right. About 20 miles up we were heavy in the Gulf Stream with the miserable 8 foot pounding waves that accompanied it. On the conveyor we got nearly a 2 knot kick that catapulted us ahead of everyone in the PHRF fleet including Ticket. By the time we reached the end of the 40 mile course the other J120 was nearly 4 miles behind us. At the end we were headed but made the finish line without tacking. The boats behind had to tack 4 times to stay off the beach."

Of note, the Wirth Munroe Memorial Yacht Race has been held each of the last 55 years on the first Friday in December, co-sponsored by The Sailfish Club of Florida and the Cruising Club of America. First raced in 1957, the invitational competition was organized by Richard Bertram (famous for creating the Bertram Yachts line of powerboats) to remember Miami-based yacht designer Wirth Munroe, whose renowned craft included "Comanche" (the Columbia 33) and the 30’ Sea Sailer class. Originally contested from Miami north to Palm Beach as a warmup to the SORC, the course has now been shortened to start from Fort Lauderdale. Over the years winners of the race have included Ted Turner, the billionaire CNN cable news media mogul-- also famous for racing the 12 meter COURAGEOUS in the America's Cup and winning his first SORC on the Ranger 37 MUNEQUITA.    Read more on CARINTHIA'S blog here.   For more Wirth Munroe Race sailing results.

J Sailors Enjoy Last Hot Rum Race III

2011-12-12T12:14:00.002-05:00

(San Diego, CA)- This year's San Diego YC's Hot Rum Series could be deemed a "classic" Hot Rum Series, sun, fun, gentle sea-breezes and laid-back sailing. Basically, you just start off the Piers near SDYC, beat out in a lightish Southwest 5-8 knot breeze, tacking up under the Point Loma shoreline, making sure to not run over any incredibly curious sea-lions, avoiding the US Navy submarine pen tucked under the Loma cliffs (currently nurturing an old "boomer"--one of those monsters of the deep that lurk beneath the surface of the world's oceans for a century armed to the teeth with a gazillion MIRV'd nuclear warheads), turning left to go offshore to a marker way south of Coronado Island, then reach/fetch back to the finish and head home. Easy. Simple to follow the directions. And, hundreds of sailors love to do it as their fall (or early winter) right of passage just before the Christmas holiday shopping spree often lubricated with a bit of "cinnamon-spiced hot rum cider"!

This year's event seemed to be skewed to the much larger boats- the 50 to 70-plus footers that were roaring around the course with their towering rigs. Nevertheless, amongst the J/125s in PHRF 1, Jim Madden's crew on STARK RAVING MAD led the pack of J/125s and ended up 9th in class. From there, the standings flip-flopped for the other three 125s. Second J/125 in the class was Viggo Torbenson's TIMESHAVER with the unusual paint job (white topsides with a PINK bottom paint!). Third was Tim Fuller's RESOLUTE and fourth in the 125s was Mark Surber's DERIVATIVE.

Because of throw-outs, the PHRF 2 Class also saw a complete jumbling of their standings. Local ring-leader Chuck Nicholl sailing his famous J/120 CC RIDER dropped to 4th in class and first in the J/120s. John Laun's J/120 CAPER was next, finishing 5th in class and 2nd J/120. Third J/120 was Mike Hatch's J-ALMIGHTY sitting 9th in class. Top J/109 was Daylen Teren's GREAT BALLS OF FIRE, lying 12th in class. And, top J/124 was Seth Hall's MARISOL in 18th class, just ahead of Tom Barker's J/124 GOOD CALL finishing 19th in class. This was a huge class, with 38 boats sailing on ONE starting line!

The J/105s sailed very well in PHRF Class 3, with Dennis and Sharon Case's WINGS leading the pack, finishing 2nd in class and top J/105. Jumping up into 3rd in class, 2nd J/105 was Dave Vieregg's TRIPLE PLAY with a second on the last race. Third J/105 was Team Fisher/ Dagostino on VIGGEN, also sailing well on the last day grabbing a third, but not enough to win the tie-breaker over their classmate TRIPLE PLAY. A good performance was turned in by Herb Zoehrer's J/35 Z-FORCE, finishing 9th in class.

PHRF 4 Class had David Cattle's J/27 BLACKADDER hanging tough to finish 9th in class ahead of J/classmate Steve Worcester's J/32 RHAPSODY at 14th class.

The epic battle for Hot Rum braggin rights in PHRF 5 resulted in a few of the J "classics" melting down while others soared like Phoenix's rising from the ashes. Mary Snow's J/24 BOGUS secured third overall by virtue of their 1-3 in the first two races, not even sailing the last race and tossing her DNC! Amazingly, by doing so she lost a three-wayY tie for second-- huge bummer. Bob Noe's J/30 MAD HATTER was the third leg of that stool, losing the three-way tie and ending up fourth despite having the overall best record of the three boats-- sailing a solid 2-2-4 for the series! Next time, Bob, next time you'll get that keg of hot rum! Shala Lawrence's cute J/22 NOTHING DRIVES LIKE A RENTAL sadly didn't sail the last race, so had to score a 5-DNF to slide into 7th. Sailing photo credits- the infamous Sir DA-Woody (a.k.a. Dennis St Onge). For more San Diego YC Hot Rum Series sailing information

JING JING Loving King's Cup

2011-12-12T12:12:00.002-05:00

(Kata Beach, Phuket, Thailand)- The 25th Anniversary edition of the Phuket King's Cup Regatta is underway and the huge fleet has so far been blessed with remarkably nice weather conditions despite prognostications to the contrary. Despite grim weather forecasts early in the week, a light North Easterly flow has arrived each morning and lasted into the afternoon for the first two days. Such idyllic conditions allowed the race committee to choose the 27 mile passage race to the SE of Phuket for the Racing classes, 10-12 kt winds was enough for the yachts to stem the strong out going tide and by short tacking along the islands make their way to the turning marks. Although the wind faded on the run back the assistance from the current carried the yachts in the direction of the finish. The third day of racing set sail in the best weather conditions of the week so far, with winds up to 16 knots providing some exciting sailing for many boats.

While the first two days have proved challenging for them, Rick Pointon's team on the J/130 JING JING from Hong Kong, China are hanging in the top ten so far with a few days left of racing in their IRC Class 1. Like last year, things can change pretty fast in this competitive fleet. Here's to hoping JING JING gets some breaks and makes a good run at the top five overall! Sailing photo credits- Guy Nowell. For more Phuket King's Cup Regatta sailing information.

J105 ROCKIN & GROOVIN Wins Holiday Regatta

2011-12-12T12:09:00.001-05:00

(Santa Barbara, CA)- The end of the Santa Barbara YC Summer Series is the Holiday Regatta held on the first weekend of December. Sailed over two days, five races are generally planned and there was no question that fresh on everyone's mind was whether or not the hurricane-force Santa Ana winds that had been blowing mid-week would prevail. For days, Santa Barbara (as well as others in the general Los Angeles region) were fighting to keep electrical power flowing to their cities as all kinds of debris, including entire trees, were getting ripped out by their roots and flung hundreds of yards.

The forecast for the weekend kept changing rapidly over the last few days of the week. In the end, the weekend's sailing was a bit anti-climactic. In fact, there was so little wind the chastened Santa Barbara YC PRO and RC were fighting tooth and nail to just get enough races off for a series. A series of mistakes (like marks losing anchors and chain) led to having most all racing Saturday called off for most fleets, leaving Sunday to run as many races as possible in the light-medium flukey conditions. Sunday's sailing saw a 7 knot southerly blow in that backed left into an Easterly for some decent racing. Apparently, it was a bit tough sailing downwind in the short, steep westerly chop, but upwind the following seas made it interesting to see what crews/ skippers could dial themselves in to nearly surf upwind.

The J/105 fleet made the most of the difficult conditions and had some good racing against one another. In the end, "Johnny D" appears to be on a roll. First was John Demourkas on ROCKIN & GROOVIN with a 2-1 for 3 pts. Second was Ken Kieding sailing his "new" ADVANCE" to a 1-3 for 4 pts-- Ken is sailing Bernie Girod's old ROCK & ROLL with a new paint job and graphics. Third was ESCAPADE with a 3-2 for 5 pts.

In PHRF B, past J/24 North American Champion Pat Toole and team on their J/24 THREE BIG DOGS took third with a 3-3-5-3.7 for 14.7 pts. Just behind was one of SBYC's champion offshore sailors, Larry Leveille racing his J/29 RUSH STREET to fourth in class with a 5-4-3-4 for 16 pts. The Tunberg's J/24 BULLET rounded out the top five sailing to a 4-5-7-5.3 for 21.3 pts. For more Santa Barbara YC Holiday Regatta sailing information

Twilight J/24 Series Raging Success

2011-12-12T12:07:00.001-05:00

(Sydney, Australia)- Whilst the Saturday keel boat fraternity wandered back to their pens and the bar after a long day around the sticks the entertainment out front of the club was just beginning. The critics in the bar were "oooing and awing" as the fleet of eight J/24s performed perfectly choreographed starts and mark roundings for them. Some with binos and most pausing their drinks as the J/24s sailed a four race set right in front of their eyes. With the start line not much more than 100m off the edge of the bar and a brisk southerly blowing in, the crowd sat on the edge of their chairs as the gladiators performed.

Saturday afternoon turned on some of the best weather we’ve seen this summer and the J’s turned on the action for the first ever J/24 Saturday twilight racing series. Racing was delayed slightly while we waited for the boats racing in the Club Marine series to get back to the club, but once they were all up in the bar they were treated to some seriously close racing in top end genoa and jib conditions.

Race Officer Glenn Taylor set a short course of windward leeward races inside number 4 mark only metres from the shore!! The brisk southerly ensured plenty of action with commentary from Luke Matthews giving a blow by blow description keeping all in the bar and deck area patrons enthralled. The rolling four race format was fast and furious with any mistakes made costing race places in a blink.

With a fleet of eight boats, racing was always going to be tight and after the first two races, the lead was tied with Hugo Ottaway on BRUSCHETTA VI and Kirsty Harris on HYPERACTIVE both scoring a first and a second in both races. Hugo, finding his groove stepped clear in the third race, going a point clear of the girls on HYPERACTIVE. For the last race HYPERACTIVE needed to not only beat Hugo, but put a boat between them, so it was always going to be tough. Cat and mouse in the last start saw both boats start at the back of the pack after an OCS call. However, Hugo ended up getting the upper hand, leaving Kirsty in his wake.

Third in the first two races was the ever present Brendan Lee sailing BY THE LEE, who was always nipping on the leaders heels. This all being said, one of the most exciting moments went to the thrilling victory in the last race by Steve Aulich holding out a fast finishing Hugo to snatch his first race win in J’s.

The competitors loved it, needless to say the spectators LOVED it, too! The first of hopefully many such events highlighting the fun a “J” has to offer.

The fleet is now looking forward to the next installment on 4th February, so make sure you are there with your big eyes and a calming drink! Thanks for the contribution from Simon Grain. For more Australian J/24 Twilight Series sailing information

J/35 FALCON wins J/35 North Americans!

2011-12-12T12:06:00.003-05:00

(Toledo, Ohio)- Congratulations to Ed Bayer and the crew of FALCON, 2011 J/35 North American Champions. This year's regatta was proudly hosted by North Cape Yacht Club on the Michigan shore of Lake Erie on August 26-28, 2011.

With the help of our title sponsor Toledo Beach Marina and all our other sponsors, the event was a huge success. Race tracking replays, analysis, results and photos are being posted, with links on the www.j35.org homepage.

Thanks to the teams of FALCON, MR. BILL'S WILD RIDE, MAGIC, MAN-O-WAR, TIME MACHINE, WHIPLASH and SCREAM for your participation and competition. Here are some J/35 NA photos- Friday photos; Saturday photos; Sunday photos. J/35 Facebook site links. J/35 NA's website here. J/35 Class Association site.

"Manly-Man Mini" Festival of Sailing

2011-12-12T12:03:00.001-05:00

(Sydney, Australia)- Seriously, prove that you're a "monly mon" sailing for a Mini? Yes, you can WIN a car-- a BMW Austin MINI! Crawl, walk, run, fly as fast as you can and join in the only regatta in the WORLD in which the CREW can win a car! J/24s, J/111s and so on are eligible, even "classic J/35s"!

The "Manly Mini" Festival of Sailing will be held over two days on January 21-22, 2012 at Manly Yacht Club, Sydney and there are no less than SIX, yes SIX, BMW Austin MINI's up for grabs!!

This "Manly Mini" regatta is open to all monohull yachts whose length overall is greater than 6m and less than 11m, so join the "Manly Mini Festival of Sailing" and prove for once and for all, that size doesn’t matter, it’s "what you do with it" over a series of sensually, serendipitous, windward-leeward serpentine-like races in northern Sydney Harbour, that counts!

It’s from such humble beginnings that many of the worlds’ greatest regattas are born. This one will for sure go down in the record books as one of the best ideas ever. Too long the rock-stars and the owners of their 500m yachts have been hogging the airwaves. Way too many owners have driven away in the car the crew won. If you have a modest yacht, then sail over, belly-up to the bar and be counted amongst the greats of this inaugural sailing festival where each member of the crew can walk away with a car prize!

As well as the cars, there is an overall prize of 2 Nights at Pittwater YHA up for grabs along with the coveted (and, most important) "Horses Ass Trophy" and a variety of crew prizes such as the hotly contested "Tea-Bag Award" for the best "foredecky"-- guys may not be eligible. But, best of all is the opportunity to sail into the history books as one of the founding entrants of the "Manly-Man-Mini" Festival of Sailing.

If you want to be able to say-- "I was there when it all started"-- then fill out the entry form as soon as possible and send it in to Manly Yacht Club. There is a "mini-entry" fee of $35.

Notice of Race can be found here. A good-ole-fashioned "shrimp/ steak/ fish/lobby on the barby" will be held after racing on Saturday at the "manliest-man" of places on Planet Earth, the Manly Yacht Club-- if you're "manly-enough" to be eligible, some prizes may be available after racing on Sunday. For queries or further information contact the race director Chris Stockdale on info@manlysailing.com.au.

J/109 OUTRAJEOUS Wins Hamble Series

2011-12-11T14:47:00.002-05:00

(Hamble, England)- Winter finally came to the Garmin Hamble Winter Series in time for the final race, to show crews just how lucky they’ve been throughout the unseasonably warm event. A brisk, cold westerly wind that fluctuated between 10 and 25 knots gave the assembled sailors a challenge when it came to choosing sails, not to mention working out how to make their boat go quickly upwind in a nasty chop. The regular finishing positions in many classes were turned on their head as boats came from behind after a windy series’ practice to beat the top-placed boats.

In many classes, the overall series winner has been obvious for some weeks now – and in these classes the real battles were for the remaining podium places. Trying valiantly to close the gap to second place was the J/133 JINGS! sailed by David Ballantyne and crew. JINGS! posted another fourth to secure third overall for the series in IRC 0.

In IRC 1, the see-saw battle amongst the top ten boats continued with a few surprises in the final results. Ivan Trotman's J/122 JOLOU reveled in the tough conditions, posting a 3rd to jump back into fourth overall for the series, a fitting finale for this devoted and successful team. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the rapid ascent of the J/111 JENGA VI sailed by Chaz Ivill, a 2nd on the final day elevated JENGA VI into second place overall!

In the J/109 class, David Richards’ JUMPING JELLYFISH won the final race, with overall winner, Richard and Valerie Griffith’s OUTRAJEOUS finishing sixth. In the final tally, OUTRAJEOUS won with 10 pts, followed by David and Mary McGough's JUST SO in second with 22 pts and Paul Griffith's JAGERBOMB in third with 27 pts. Rounding out the top five in this competitive group was David Jobson's AUDAJIOUS in fourth with 34 pts, winning on a tie-breaker over David McLeman's OFFBEAT.

In IRC3, Mike and Jamie Holmes' J/97 JIKA-JIKA simply sailed their fleet off the Solent, winning by counting all 1sts for a total of 8 pts! Five J/97s were racing in IRC 3, following JIKA-JIKA is Nick and Adam Munday's INDULJENCE, 2nd in J/97s and 5th overall and third in the J/97s was Gillian Ross' INJENIOUS. The two J/92s' sure had a fight on their hands with their stablemates. Nevertheless, the J/92s sailed very well, with David Greenhalgh and John Taylor's J-RONIMO sitting in 6th and Andy Howe and Annie Kelly's BLACKJACK in 7th just two points back.

And, as ever it was a match between the J/80 JESTER sailed by Mike Lewis and the Hunter 707 in the Mixed Sportsboat class, with JESTER taking the day’s race, but not enough to take the overall class prize, missing the first four races didn't help their case so Mike's JESTER team had to count two DNC's in their eight counting races! Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth. For more Garmin Hamble Winter Series sailing information

J/24 Italy Winter Championships Report

2011-12-11T14:41:00.003-05:00

(Anzio & Nettuna/ Cagliari/ Taranto/ Cervia, Italy)- The J/24s continue to see a strong, and growing, resurgence of sailing across Italy. Perhaps a throwback to fun times in the past, or a recognition of the ease and fun of finding one cheaply and sailing it with family and friends, focusing on good times, not simply winning at all costs. Whatever the secret ingredient, it's increasingly apparent the Italian J/24 contingent, much like their Australian friends and Argentinean friends (now World Champions), that simply going out, having fun and messing around in boats is a great thing. With a few thousand J/24s to tap into, it's pretty easy to get fleets rolling for next to nothing in terms of cost and effort.

At this stage, there are four "winter championships" taking place in Italy in various parts of the country. In Anzio & Nettuna, just south of Rome along the western coastline of Italy, they've had their third weekend of sailing with TWENTY NINE boats, including several from Hungary and Chekovia! Luke is winning the series so far, followed by Marco Vincenti in second and Paulo Perinelli in this, Massimo Mariotti in fourth and a women's team led by Manuela Santarcangelo in fifth!

In the Puglian J/24 fleet, they enjoyed a gorgeous SSW 13 kt breeze this past weekend, allowing the SEVENTEEN teams to have three excellent races on the port of Taranto, hosted by the Sailing Club Ondabuena. Currently, JEBEDEE sailed by Antonio Macina leads the fleet after five races. In second is DOCTOR J sailed by Team Sandro Negro, third is MATI LTD sailed by Angelo Lombardo, fourth is LUMACHI sailed by Carlo D'Errico and fifth is MARBEA skippered by Marcello Bellacicco.

"The J24 fleet in Puglia was born in the 90's when our monotype experienced the greatest spread in Italy and worldwide, with about 5,400 boats produced at the turn of the twenty-first century, while nationwide it sold 450 boats in Italy! The races were frequent and professional sailors took turns in the leadership role to drive about seventy boats that once trod the fields of every race. Then the birth of more and more new monotypes led to a decrease in the number of boats. But, the timeless J/24, a solid boat with good performance in all conditions, was slowly brought back to new owners and crews, so that now you go back to J/24 regattas with over fifty boats! The Pugliese J/24 fleet follows the trend with a crescendo of followers from 2008 to present-- today, many events are concentrated in some areas, but it's expanding again!", says the Chief of the J/24 Fleet in Puglia, Nino Soriano. Nino also mentioned the creation of a new website for the fleet- please visit http://flottadipuglia.altervista.org

In addition to the growth and developments of the J/24 fleet in Puglia, over in Cervia they were recently hosting the Pirini Stefano Memorial Winter Championship with SEVENTEEN boats! This past weekend they saw everything- too much wind, fog, no wind, rain on the first day. But, the second day was glorious- sun, fresh mistral of 12-14 kts and calms seas, good enough for three races. At the moment, CAPTAIN NEMO is winning sailed by Dominic Bright. Second is KISMET sailed by Antonio Antonelli and third is Joc Fabio sailing APOLLONIUS SOCIETY TRIESTINA.

"A special 'Thanks' to the Friends of the Nautical Club de Cervia, they know how to organize and run a great event and 'Thanks' the sponsors Slam and North Sails who provided gadgets and discount coupons," commented Guido Earnings.

Finally, on that island nation many call Sardinia, the Winter Championships Cagliari were taking place for the Trofeo Ciabattai, hosted by the YC Cagliari. An excellent FIFTEEN boat turnout for the Sardinian J/24 fleet saw an unusual, but fun, sailing conditions on the island- strong westerlies from 265 degrees blowing 15-20 kts in flat seas off Marina Piccola. Amongst the leaders of this event are VINEYARDS SURRAU, BOTTA STRAIGHT, LIBARIUM, LYBISSONIS and "Armadillo Racing". There are great expectations for the last weekend of J/24 in Cagliari, December 17 to 18 when six races are planned and, hopefully, the champion will be determined! For more Sardinia Island, Italy J/24 sailing information For more Italian J/24 sailing information

SAIL-22 Supporting J Sailors

2011-12-11T14:39:00.001-05:00

* Sail22 is excited to announce a new affiliation with J Boats to further support all of our clients who own J/Boats. Sail22 has been supporting racing teams since 2007 with the Sail22 Support Trailer. The trailer is fully stocked with rigging, cordage from New England Ropes, Ronstan and Harken parts, custom designed parts, gear and accessories from Gill, as well as, tools for teams to use at regattas. Sail22 is also working with J/Boats Dealer, Stearns Boating, to support J/Boats owners and teams in the Midwest region for their service needs, rigging and gear. As the J/Boats Mobile Resource Team, Ed and Becky Furry have over 25 years of combined racing on J/Boats and will work with teams on a one-on-one basis for their needs.

Look for the Sail22 Support Trailer this winter season in Key West, Miami and Fort Lauderdale. The trailer will be stocked with all of your J/Boats needs to make your boat faster and provide service for any repairs or rigging. A video tour of the Sail22 Support Trailer will give you an even better idea of what you can expect to see at upcoming regattas. For the J/Fest Winter Series, the Sail22 J/Boats Mobile Resource Team will be located in Truman Annex and will be available starting the week before Quantum Key West Race Week 2012. Until Key West and after, the trailer will be based at Shake-a-Leg Miami and will head to Fort Lauderdale for both of the Winter Series events, J/Fest Dead President's Regatta and the J/Fest Super Lucky Regatta at the Bahia Mar. To cap off the end of the winter season, the J/Boats Mobile Resource Team will be in Charleston for Charleston Race Week 2012.

Feel free to contact Sail22 with any of your J/Boats Resource Team questions or needs at info@sail22.com or 574-889-0022. Sail22 is proud to be part of the J/Boats family and looks forward to meeting and working with more J/Boat sailors.

Lucky It Was a J/24 Sailboat!

2011-12-11T14:36:00.002-05:00

* How A J/24 Rescued A Boat and Saved Lives At the Lipton Cup
(Port Philip, Australia)- The 2011 Lipton Cup was sailed in true Port Philip conditions, from a 10 knot North Easterly through to 30 knot South Westerly on Saturday. Mix this with blinding rain that persisted all day and you have conditions that test the best of us. Fortunately the weather improved on the Sunday, however, most of the fleet stayed on shore, as the previous day was enough.

Simon Grain and Lisa Simonov won the regatta with 4 straight wins, their J/24 MAKE MY J was quick, well sailed and when required picked shifts that pulled them up through the fleet to win yet another race.

However, something else took place that day that saved a sailor's life. Here's Hugo Ottoway's account from aboard his J/24 BRUSCHETTA VI- "There was another event that took place that day that made me feel glad that (1) our crew competed (as we only decided to sail the previous day) and (2) that I sailed such a great boat as a J/24!

In the third race the wind had turned to the South west and kicked in at recorded 30 knots. After a screaming downwind run with the spinnakers Simon and I rounded the bottom mark together, back on the wind, we sailed lower and both boats were about ten boat lengths apart on port tack with Simon slightly astern and to windward.

My crew alerted me that there was a boat from another division that was on starboard and hardly moving, we bore away and as we passed astern we could see that the boat was a mess with her headsail half-furled and two crew occupied with something going on in the open cockpit. The boat’s crew shouted “we have a man overboard”, which sent a shock right through the whole of our crew, we replied “where”, one pointed directly downwind. Through the blinding rain we could just see a tiny black shape about 200 meters away.

Jack on the bow tripped the jib, and kept his eyes firmly on the MOB, whilst Matt eased the vang and Michael readied the life ring, the MOB was waving his arm and as we approached we assured him and asked him to keep calm.

Our first pass was too quick and we felt that the wind was too strong to throw the life ring as it would never have made it. Our second pass, much slower allowed the MOB to swim to the windward side of the J where it took all three of my crew to get him on board.

The rescued person, Dominic, was ash white, shaking and exhausted, we put him down in the cabin where Jack kept a eye on him. It was only then that I looked around to see that through the rain the only other boat I could see was the stricken yacht, no one else was in sight. The stricken yacht had managed to bare away and was able to run downwind some distance away, we both headed to the nearest harbour at RYCV.

Dominic advised us that there was a injured crew on the other yacht and that the events that caused his injury had caused his fall from the boat. I estimate that Dominic would have been in the water for a minimum of ten to fifteen minutes, we were concerned that he might be effected by shock so I got Jack to keep eye on his condition all the whole way home.

J/24′s are great to sail in heavy windy conditions, their low free board made getting Dominic on board much easier, and the speed in which we could do a second pass, took some of the panic out of the situation. Had we been in a much bigger boat, this MOB rescue would have been much harder and taken a lot longer, of that I am sure.

When we entered to harbour, the stricken yacht managed to get assistance from a rescue boat who rushed the injured crew to a waiting ambulance. After we had docked we were met by the crew of the other yacht who thanked us and advised us that they could never have been able to pick up Dominic.

On reflection, my crew and I agreed that we had all had a rewarding and special day, as no one else knew Dominic was out there until we reported what had happened when we came ashore. We later learnt that the race was shortened due to the wind strength and reduced vision of 100 meters.

A very, very special "Thanks" to Jack Crawford, Matt Weston and Michael Lewenhagen, my crew on BRUSCHETTA VI."

Note from Simon Grain- "Hugo’s actions quite probably saved Dominic’s life on Saturday. The visibility was terrible with heavy driving rain, rising seas and lots of spray making looking to windward almost impossible and painful. This might have meant that no other boat would have seen him in the water. This is a very sobering thought, as losing a crew member overboard can happen in the blink of an eye to any of us on the water in these conditions. Make sure you practice your man overboard retrieval in all kinds of weather. Hugo was awarded redress and scored an equal first place in this race and came second overall in the Lipton Cup." For more J/24 Australian fleet sailing news.

J/109 Irish IRC SailBoat of the Year

2011-12-07T10:10:00.001-05:00

(Dublin, Ireland)- As predicted in Afloat's online reader poll, Pat Kelly's J/109 STORM won the Irish Cruiser Racer Association's (ICRA) "IRC Boat of the Year" award at the ICRA Conference in Dun Laoghaire at the Royal Marine Hotel. Among other wins, the J/109 STORM (a simple, easy-to-sail IRC cruiser-racer) counted five firsts in an impressive victory in Class One IRC at this year's ICRA Nationals held in Crosshaven.

Amongst the contenders were another J/109, Glenn Cahill's JOIE DE VIVRE, along with a Mills 36, X36, Sunfast 32 and three Corby 25s. At the end of the day, the Kelly's sailed an impressive series of races all year long and proved, yet again, the extraordinary versatility of the J/109 as an excellent racer-cruiser for its owners. Over the course of the summer sailing season, the fleet was confronted with everything, from drifters and long rolling swells to near gales with massive chop and breaking waves that saw carnage strewn all over the Irish Sea. J/109s simply sailed through all that Mother Nature had to throw at them and did so with tremendous ease and great style. For more ICRA Boat of the Year sailing awards information

J/97 Trumps GARMIN Hamble Winter Series

2011-12-07T10:08:00.001-05:00

JIKA-JIKA Wins IRC 3 With a Weekend to Burn!
(Hamble, England)- The PRO/RC team faced a dilemma this week in the penultimate race day of the Garmin Hamble Winter Series. An approaching front early on Sunday morning saw the forecast predicting gusts of 32 knots at start time, reducing to 10 knots by late afternoon. PRO Jamie Wilkinson made a good call with a 2 hour postponement that proved popular with crews, giving time for a leisurely breakfast or lie-in as the wind shrieked in the rigging.

The gusts were still hitting 27 knots as the fleet headed out, and many boats sported reefs and small sails. A strong weather-going spring tide created a sharp chop with the consistency of concrete, making upwind progress tricky. But the wind gradually decreased as the day went on, and by 1500 crews were scrambling to power their boats up and enjoying some flat water and a steady breeze as they beat home.

Enjoying what many saw as "real" fall sailing conditions, a bit of chill in the air, strong breeze whipping up a froth on the Solent, lots of current to create "foul play" (and nasty waves), was the J/133 JINGS! sailed by David Ballantyne and crew. JINGS! managed to stay away from the fray and post another good score to stay in the top three in IRC 0, snagging a third place to jump into third overall for the series.

In IRC 1 it was a see-saw battle amongst the top ten boats for the overall series lead. WIth two throw-outs and 7 of 9 races counting to date, the standings changed dramatically after last weekend's racing. Ivan Trotman's J/122 JOLOU had a tough go of it and posted a ninth to drop to sixth overall with 39 pts. Chaz Ivill's J/111 JENGA VI posted another third to jump up to third overall in the standings, only 2 points out of second! Next weekend, it will be horse race for the second and third spots on the podium. Both the J/122 and the J/111 have a shot at grabbing 2nd and 3rd overall for the series.

The J/109s saw series leader, Richard and Valerie Griffith's OUTRAJEOUS, simply smoke their class, winning by a country furlong, essentially guaranteeing they're the winner of the J/109 class at the Hamble Winter Series. Behind them it's still anybody's guess as to how the top five will fare since there are four boats within seven points of each other. At the moment, Dave and Mary McGough's JUST SO is in second with 20 pts; Paul Griffiths' JAGERBOMB is third with 24 pts; David McLeman's OFFBEAT is fourth with 25 pts; and David Jobson's AUDAJIOUS is fifth with 27 pts! It's pretty clear the off-track betting parlors and odds-makers will be busy on that group of boats for next weekend's racing-- wonder what the odds are that on an "offbeat" day, an "audajious" move dropping the "jagerbomb" might "just so" create a panic enough that a "jazzy, jumping jellyfish" leaps to the top of the standings?!? "J'taime" it, says "me julie", if that happens, I may have to walk the "red arrow" after way, way too much "jynnan tonnyx"! :)

What an amazing story. This year's Garmin Hamble Winter Series saw an epic, dominating performance in IRC 3. No, it was not some custom IRC 52 whiz-banger, or some IRC lead-sled tweaking the rule, it was simply a fun, family racer-cruiser that simply blew away the most competitive class in the entire Winter Series. The more teams that sail J/97s on the Solent, the faster they're learning how to make them go against one another. And, nothing is more self-evident than the improvement in performance of the up-and-coming J/97 class sailing in IRC Class 3 this fall. Leading the charge since day one has been Mike and Jamie Holme's JIKA-JIKA, sailing away with class honors while posting an incredible scoreline of EIGHT firsts in nine races (e.g. they count seven firsts for an average of a, drum-roll please, first)! Wow, even the Editor can count that on his fingers! That scintillating performance would blow most people's socks off their feet. Five J/97s are racing in IRC 3, following JIKA-JIKA is Nick and Adam Munday's INDULJENCE, 2nd in J/97s and 5th overall. Third in the J/97s is Gillian Ross' INJENIOUS. The two J/92s' continue to sail well, with David Greenhalgh and John Taylor's J-RONIMO sitting in 6th and Andy Howe and Annie Kelly's BLACKJACK in 7th just four points back.

Of special note-- in the "mixed sportboat class", Mike Lewis sailing his J/80 JESTER has been having a go at the Laser SB3s and Hunter 707s. So far, he's hanging tough and is lying in second overall after missing the first four races and is counting two DNC's in his scoreline!

After a chilly day’s racing, as winter finally moves in after a seriously warm series, a packed clubhouse provided some welcome warmth as crews piled in for the prize-giving, with prizes this week from Yachts and Yachting. Next weekend is the final race of the 2011 Garmin Hamble Winter Series. While the long-term forecast is for some serious breeze, here’s hoping for a gentle end to the series! Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth. For more Garmin Hamble Winter Series sailing information

J's Sailing San Diego Cool Rum II

2011-12-07T10:05:00.001-05:00

J Sailors Enjoying Laid Back Hot Rum Series
(San Diego, CA)- Every year in the late fall the San Diego YC kicks off its winter sailing season with the infamous "Hot Rum Series" off Point Loma, a series of pursuit races that take place over the period of a month, just before Christmas/ Holiday season. Depending on the winds, the fleet either sails out off Pt Loma, sails a giant triangle into the Pacific Ocean, then heads home to finish just off the breakwater entering San Diego's enormous harbor populated with none other than several US Navy nuclear carriers, nuclear submarines and monstrous cruise ships that should be nuke powered, too. If the weather gets nasty, with giant Lows swirling offshore throwing up massive swells and breaking waves, the SDYC RC/PRO's prudently keep the fleet inside, making for unbelievably tight racing inside Coronado Island while ducking around all the military/ cruise ship hardware!

Last year, it seemed the Hot Rum Series could hardly buy a break from all kinds of bad weather. If you recall, it all started pretty off with a vicious Low blowing onshore at 20-30 knots with rain squalls sweeping by about every five minutes, or so it seemed. This year it's nearly the converse with barely a breath of air, lots of monstrous, long period swells and the fleet of 120+ boats making every effort to keep themselves moving in the lightish on-shore sea breezes that keep developing late afternoon.

Many J sailors in the SoCal region look forward to this event every year. Just take a look at the PHRF 1 Fleet for the big boats- a fleet of four J/125s are sailing plus a J/145 is thrown into the mix. In PHRF 2, there's six J/120s, two J/124s and four J/109s. In PHRF 3 you have ten J/105s, one J/35s and one J/100. In PHRF 4 there's a J/27 and J/32 cruiser. In PHRF 5 you see one each of a J/22, J/24 and J/30. That's quite a turn-out for J aficionados in this laid-back regatta.

Amongst the J/125s in PHRF 1, Jim Madden's crew on STARK RAVING MAD is leading the pack of J/125s and is 6th in class. Second J/125 is Mark Surber's DERIVATIVE, third is Viggo Torbenson's TIMESHAVER and fourth is Tim Fuller's RESOLUTE. Hanging in there is Tom Holthus' beautiful J/145 BAD PAK (they're praying for more breeze!).

PHRF 2 has local ring-leader Chuck Nicholl sailing his famous J/120 CC RIDER into first in class and first in the J/120s. Second in the 120s is Tom and Terri Manok's POLE DANCER, third is John Laun's CAPER. Top J/109 is Daylen Teren's GREAT BALLS OF FIRE, lying 11th in class. And, top J/124 is Seth Hall's MARISOL in 14th class, just ahead of Tom Barker's J/124 GOOD CALL.

The J/105s seem to be having their way in PHRF Class 3, with Dennis and Sharon Case's WINGS leading the pack, 2nd in class and top J/105. Next is Team Boline/Kyel racing JETSTREAM sitting 4th class and 2nd J/105. Third J/105 is Team Fisher/ Dagostino on VIGGEN sitting 6th in class. Just behind them is Dave Vieregg's TRIPLE PLAY at 4th in J/105s and 7th in class.

Over in PHRF 4 Class, David Cattle's J/27 BLACKADDER seems to have a great looking, fast crew and are hanging tough to hang in 6th in class ahead of fellow J/classmate Steve Worcester's J/32 RHAPSODY in 11th class.

There's a huge, huge, massive, ginormous, epic battle for Hot Rum braggin rights brewing in PHRF 5! Wow, the J "classics" division is seeing the J/22, J/24 and J/30 all vying for top honors on the podium. So far, Mary Snow's J/24 BOGUS is leading the J/Classics division, sitting 2nd in class. Then, Bob Noe's J/30 MAD HATTER is 3rd in class just barely ahead of Shala Lawrence's cute little J/22 NOTHING DRIVES LIKE A RENTAL (it is a rental, isn't' it??). Watch this page next week to see who wins this epic, winner take all battle! We're breathless with anticipation-- if Mary doesn't win in her J/24, rumor has it that Chris may be doomed to hand-cutting thousand-panel tri-radial J/24 North Sails genoas for life in Sri Lanka! Uh oh, the stakes and drama are going to be high in this class next weekend! Sailing photo credits- the infamous Sir DA-Woody (a.k.a. Dennis St Onge)(the ONLY person who can drive a car on water!) For more San Diego YC Hot Rum Series sailing information

Sailing J/80 ECC VIVIENDAS, Pichu Becomes "El Maqueche"

2011-12-07T09:59:00.001-05:00

(Santander, Spain)- Pichu Torcida and his championship crew on the J/80 ECC VIVIENDAS were proclaimed "El Maqueche", celebrating the overall win after winning the third and final race of the series. Second overall went to yet another J/80 World Champion, Ignacio Camino on NEXTEL ENGINEERING and third overall was GO FIT sailed by Paul Santurde and David Madrazo. With two J/80 World Champions at the top of the fleet, the fleet of thirty J/80s knew they were going to be in a battle to be in the top positions.

Only half the races scheduled for the regatta were sailed due to the light, fickle winds of the second weekend. On the last day the boats went to "Abra del Sardinero", inside the giant sand-spit off Santander's river, hoping to get in two races in a building, but very light sea breeze. After first trying to get in a race at 1530 hrs late in the afternoon, the PRO Enrique Perez finally convinced the sailors to wait and give it one last shot at 1700 hours, just before sunset! At that point, the sea-breeze sprung to life and filled in about 7-8 knots. The PRO and RC team were ready for it, quickly setting a windward-leeward short course, two times around. In these conditions, most of the fleet went left towards the beach, including ECC VIVIENDAS, followed closely by NEXTEL, YATES & COSAS, BANCAJA and GO FIT. At the bottom of the run, Pichu's ECC VIVIENDAS continued leading, but BANCAJA jumped into second position ahead of NEXTEL.

By winning the last race, Torcida became "El Maqueche" by scoring a 1-2-1 to easily win with four points, well clear of Ignacio's NEXTEL in second place with 8 pts. Third was GO FIT's Santurde and Madrazo, fourth was Cesar Obregon's LUPA and fifth was Alex Diaz's SOLUCIONES CINQUA.

Next weekend will be the traditional "Mundialito" (mini-Worlds for J/80s in Spain), sailing a doubleheader Saturday and Sunday. This regatta invites J/80 sailors from all over Spain to share a weekend of racing with members of the YC Maritimo de Santander. For more Spanish J/80 sailing information

J/80s Sailing Mar Menor

2011-12-06T14:50:00.001-05:00

(Cartagena, Spain)- Along the SE tip of Spain jutting into the Mediterranean is a gorgeous "ocean lake", a fully enclosed body of water with access to the sea via a ditch cut through the border island. The flat water and strong sea-breezes make for fun, fast, exciting sailing.

Setting the bar high in this series was Carlos Martinez sailing MAPFRE to victory in the Trophy V "Infanta Cristina". The trophy series started in October, completing six races over three weekends in 8-12 knot NE winds. Such steady, stable breezes made for very competitive sailing as it was not easy to break away from the fleet on massive, oscillating wind shifts. Instead, it was like sailing in ocean breezes with mild oscillations in direction and minor changes in wind speed.

The courses were windward-leeward, with a duration of approximately 50 minutes per race. The presiding PRO Jesus Moreno, aided by the stable wind conditions, managed to get off nearly flawless races for the J/80 fleet.

At the end of the series, behind Carlos Martinez's MAPFRE, was Emilio Azofra's OPORTO YATES in second and Charles Beltri's SAYULA in third- in a very tight final match only 2 points separated the top three when all results were tabulated. For more Spanish J/80 sailing information.

J/130 JING JING Plans King's Cup Redux

2011-12-06T14:47:00.002-05:00

(Kata Beach, Phuket, Thailand)- A record fleet is expected for the 25th Anniversary edition of the Phuket King's Cup Regatta. From December 3rd to 10th, over 1,000 sailors will descend upon the gorgeous, crescent shaped Kata Beach for more fun and games in Asia's largest regatta. More than 35 nationalities will partake, noting an especially strong increase in the number of sailors from China taking part in the sailing and festivities.

Famed for being Asia's largest big boat regatta, the Phuket King's Cup Regatta was founded in 1987 with a mixed fleet of dinghies, boards and keelboats. Over the years, the Regatta has grown in size and stature to become the jewel in the crown of the Asia yachting circuit, welcoming the best-of-the-best from around Asia and beyond to compete annually in Phuket.

As they have in past years, hoping to be amongst the top three of the IRC Class 2 leader-board will again be Rick Pointon's team on the J/130 JING JING from Hong Kong, China. Last year, Rick's team was dueling for the lead of IRC Class 2 for most of the event, but finished third overall. Rick's crew is hoping to build on their experiences and have another go at the top of the podium! For more Phuket King's Cup Regatta sailing information.

J/24s Sailing Sydney Short Ocean Series

2011-12-06T14:45:00.001-05:00

(Sydney, Australia)- Starting in late spring Down Under, the Sydney Short Ocean Series gets rolling, a popular series of weekend races that takes place both inside Sydney Harbour as well as rounding marks offshore past the infamous Sydney Heads.

The event incorporates an Ocean Passage Race on Saturday with a common Start/Finish in Sydney Harbour. And, then on Sunday, there's a combination of Windward/Leeward Courses and Triangle courses in the harbour. A number of J/24s have been participating in the lead-up to the series, with three of them taking top five positions in what was known as the Seven Islands Race- Division 2.

It was clear the racing was close for the J/24s. Leading the J/24 fleet home was Marc Tromp's WATERBORNE AGAIN, beating the next J/24 home by 12 seconds, a very tight finish for the top two. INNAMINKA sailed by John Crawford was second and managed to stave off the charge by Brett Hudson's WILD FIRE, beating them by 30 seconds. A bit off the pace about four minutes back was John Terry's PINOT. For more Sydney Short Ocean Racing Championship sailing information

Miami-Nassau Cup Sailing Update- J/120 CARINTHIA

2011-12-06T14:42:00.001-05:00

(Nassau, Bahamas)- Oh boy, you think the sailing is good to Nassau? How about the fishing on the delivery back for mahi-mahi/ dolphin (see below)!? Extraordinary! And, in between is a lot of fun and entertainment both on the sailing side getting there from Miami to Nassau, but also the shoreside festivities on Paradise Island (a.k.a. the home of the "New Atlantis"-- basically a monster casino and water park on spectacular beaches).

Frank Kern sailed his J/120 CARINTHIA on this famous race. Here's some excerpts from their blog. According to Frank, "This was was a 'Swiss Cheese Sail'. 'Easy peazee, lemon squeezeee!' This race was across the Florida Straits from Miami around Great Isaac and Stirrup Reef and down to Nassau. This year our Bayview Yacht Club dock neighbor and fierce competitor, the J/120 HOT TICKET sailed by Bob Kirkman elected to do the race with us. The wind was out of the northeast at 12 knots but it soon proved that a code 0 was in order. When we rounded Great Isaac we turned about 20 degrees to the right and went to a 3/4 spinnaker.

HOT TICKET (seen at right) then put up their .6 oz and at that point we caught up and rolled her. But as long distance races go it was not over as the wind clocked some more. After dark we could see Ticket catching up and we went to our .6 runner but it was not enough. She rolled us and continue to pace away from us. It turns out that this 4 year old spinnaker was just too porous and we just could not get enough juice to keep up. For us this was a two boat race and this is one we wanted to beat her. In all Ticket finished 8 minutes ahead of us. But at least the conditions were great...full moon, steady breeze, and temperatures in the 70s." Read on and see more photos on CARINTHIA's sailing blog.

Love Boating? Love Sailing?

2011-12-04T11:25:00.000-05:00

* Love Boating? Love Sailing? Check out this YouTube video promotion from DiscoverBoating.com. Should we make one for sailing, too?

In addition to the YouTube video, here are the "Top Ten Reasons to Rent or Buy A Boat" according to the NMMA's Discover Boating research and development project for "growing boating" in general:

1. Boating Improves Quality of Life
2. Boating is an Affordable Recreation Alternative
3. Water Access is Closer Than You Think
4. Boating Fun Helps you Bond with Friends and Family
5. Boating Helps Reduce Stress
6. Boating is Convenient
7. Boating is an Engaging and Rewarding Activity
8. Boating is Good Exercise
9. Recreational Boating is Easy to Learn
10. Boating is Fun

What do you think are the Top Ten Reasons to go boating or buying a sailboat? Please let us know- editor@jboats.com

J/30 Sister Sailors Love Sailing's Challenges!

2011-12-04T11:22:00.002-05:00

* Erin Schanen at SAILING magazine recently had a chance to sit down and chat with two very passionate and enthusiastic sisters, Whitney and Alison Kent, who love to sail. Here's their story.

"The J/30 is sailing on the final downwind leg of the last race of the season in the hotly contested women’s series and although the boat is not in contention for the season championship because of missed races, it’s looking pretty good in this race. It’s not easy sailing: a leftover lumpy sea and a dying breeze require a good deal of concentration and it would be great if the boat could make it to the finish without having to jibe.

The crew is in full race mode, constantly looking over the transom to see how the competition is doing. And then, a question pierces the concentration-- “Who is your chemistry teacher this year?”

So goes life sailing on a boat sailed by teenage girls from 14 to 18 years old. Other quirks to expect: a constant supply of Tootsie pops, a cornucopia of snack foods and sodas that appears in the cockpit as the race committee’s finish horn quiets, and a fair amount of gossip. And one other thing: a whole lot of great sailing.

The leaders on the J/30 RAFIKI are a pair of sisters younger than most of the sails on their boat!! Whitney Kent, 18, is a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Alison Kent, 17, is a high school senior. Both started sailing RAFIKI two years ago after their stepfather Eric Jones, a yacht broker, found the J/30 languishing in a boatyard.

Since then the pair have been the core of a crew of teenage friends on Monday nights, and a crew made up of other family members and good friends for other series, and even a crew of their own. This summer the two sailed the Queen’s Cup, a nighttime race across Lake Michigan, doublehanded, something their parents didn’t allow until after a thorough quiz of what they would do in various scenarios, their mother Cheri Kent said.

The race was one of the fastest on record, with big seas and fluctuating winds, challenging even for the fully crewed boats.

“We took turns sort of dozing in the cockpit while the other person steered,” said Alison, affectionately known as Gator. “Our arms were so tired.” Whitney said she likes the doublehanded sailing challenge.

“It’s really fun when it’s just the two of us,” she said. “It’s certainly harder, but I think it’s more rewarding. It’s fun to try to do everything on the boat.”

RAFIKI finished in ninth place in the doublehanded division, but the boat has its fair share of brag flags, all won with Whitney at the helm and Alison on the bow. On weekends and Wednesdays, Jones serves as tactician and their mother Cheri trims sails.

And the family sailing connection doesn’t stop there. The girls get plenty of inspiration from their father, Tim Kent, who sailed in the 2002-2003 Around Alone race. His daughters said they have fond memories of meeting him at stopovers around the world.

“When you’re a parent and your kids are young, you try to do things to inspire them,” Tim said. “That’s one of the reasons I did the Around Alone: to prove to them they could do anything they wanted. Now the tables are turning and they are the inspiration.”

Cheri, who sails most Monday nights with the girls and two years ago sailed the family’s C&C 41 in the Queen’s Cup with just her daughters, said sailing is second nature to Whitney and Alison. Family photos from the time the two were babies bring back fond memories of bathing them in buckets on the foredeck and matching Barbie life jackets.

“I always thought we might lose them to soccer at some point, but the best thing ever is that we all still sail together as a family,” she said. “Watching their progression as sailors has been super cool and as a mom I’m very proud.”

One of the benefits of growing up in a sailing family is that the friends the girls have grown up with, both on land and water, are now fellow sailors. Among the Monday night crew on RAFIKI are sisters Kate, 17, and Elizabeth Hayes, 14. A treasured photograph of the four girls taken more than a decade ago at a yacht club party is a reminder of the bond their shared love of the sport has fostered." You can read the rest of Erin's story about the sisters at SAILING magazine website here.

Volvo Ocean Race Friends. More Win Some, Lose Some Stories.

2011-12-04T11:15:00.001-05:00

Spanish team TELEFONICA skipper by Iker Martinez wins the first leg and is loaded with Spanish J/80 sailing friends (including English/Aussie friend Andrew Cape). Meanwhile, friend Ken Read is temporarily marooned on Tristan da Cunha for four days of "cow pie" golf, baby-sitting their mast-less 70 foot carbon coffin offshore each night and praying their delivery ship arrives soon! Time is ticking and a-wasting away. December 10th is the next start and the ship takes 5 days in transit from Tristan to Capetown, South Africa. Ken's take on his arrival on Tristan is upbeat and amusing, a sure sign these guys are determined to keep up the spirits. As Ken describes, "We have now been on Tristan da Cunha for 24 hours. And, it is exactly what we thought it would be. A cloud seems to surround the island always. We still haven't seen the peak of the mountain, but the cliffs that make up the borders of the rock are breathtaking.

Yesterday at daybreak we arrived to a police escort (one large inflatable boat) to the anchorage area that they suggested we use. Of course, we are the only anchored boat in about a 1,500 mile radius. After anchoring Puma’s Mar Mostro in about 20 meters of water, we all went in on the RIB to meet several of the town administrators eager to help.

Housing, food, coffee, showers – all the necessities that we were craving were provided. And, of course, that 9 am cold beer! Police Inspector Conrad Glass explained the rules. We met the harbormaster – Jonathan Swain’s long-lost relative; Iris, the Minister of Tourism; Lorraine, the Treasurer and hairdresser; Sean Burns, the British government administrator, and of course Andy, the radio and communications director. And, so on and so on. I am leaving a lot of important people out for sure, but the fact is they are all fantastic.

The rest of the day was all about getting organized and relaxing. Figuring out how we are going to deal with our yacht on anchor. A night in the pub for the boys, and Jono and I took the first night shift on the boat. Pretty much setting up a routine that we will likely follow until the ship gets here to bring us back to the mainland.

Today will be golf day. Played in a cow pasture with flags but no greens. For sure the cow patties will bring a new meaning to 'lift, clean and place.' Ought to be interesting. We have trips planned to nearby Nightingale Island, a hike up the mountain, and of course more boat chores than we know what to do with. For sure we will keep busy.

In the meantime, we use the internet cafe to constantly check on communication from our families and look up the progress of the ship heading this way. The clock is ticking louder ever minute. PUMA hopes to be back by December 6th in Cape Town and ready to go by Dec 10th for first inshore race! Ouch!

J/97 IRC Boat of the Year

2011-12-01T14:03:00.004-05:00

See J/97 @ Paris Show with J/111 & J/122
(Paris, France)- The prize of "IRC Boat of the Year" in France is awarded to the builder of a series production boat that has distinguished itself in international IRC competitions throughout Europe. It is presented annually during the "Evening of Ocean Racing" held in conjunction with the Salon Nautique de Paris (Paris Boatshow). This year's winner is the J/97, designed by J-Boats/ Alan Johnstone and built by JB Composites in their shipyard in Les Sables d'Olonne.

The jury presiding over the election of the IRC boat of the year was made up of four elected members of the UNCL: its President, Marc de Saint Denis; Edouard Baetz its general secretary; Jean Michel Carpentier (Racing Commission); and Jean Claude Merlivat ( Commission IRC). They were assisted by four prominent yachting journalists: Olivier Le Carré (BATEAUX), Pierre-Marie Bourguinat (VOILES & VOILIER), Bernard Rubinstein (VOILE Magazine) and Patrice Carpentier (SEAHORSE INTERNATIONAL Racing).

The selection criteria were: 1) sailing results in France and in Europe; 2) the boat-handling and sailing qualities; 3) the ability to both race and cruise; 4) oveall aesthetics; 5) a minimum of 10 boats built in the last year; and 6) have sailed at least 5 races in the IRC in the past year.

The boats selected by the UNCL were an impressive line-up of many winners in IRC events this past year in European waters. The competitive sailboats included: Elan 350, Beneteau First 30, Beneteau First 40, Grand Soleil 43 B&C, J/97, Jeanneau Sun Fast 1010 and Jeanneau Sun Fast 3200.

A top three was reached during the first round of selection: Elan 350, J/97 and Jeanneau Sun Fast 1010. After a thorough comparison of all the information, the Jury's final selection was the J/97.

As a versatile cruising boat with a racing pedigree that is so dear to the IRC, the J/97, with 45 boats built to date, is a boat that is well-designed and well-built, benefiting from the professionalism and experience of JB Composites. Whether sailing nationally (France) or internationally, the winning record of the J/97 is eloquent and prophetic:

- In France: the J/97 was the winner of the Trophy Atlantic UNCL IRC 4 with victories in Spi Ouest France-Intermarché and Crouesty Grand Prix, and a second place in Brest and the Course of Three Islands. A remarkable record considering the extremely tough competition from other factory teams.

- International: the J/97 was the winner of 2010 Cowes Week in IRC Class and won the "Garmin Hamble Winter Series 2011" by a huge margin in IRC 3 Class against stiff competition from other top teams.

Didier LeMoal, CEO of JB Composites commented, "A big thank you to members of the UNCL IRC Jury for this award. The J/97 ultimately demonstrated its pedigree and potential performance in 2011 with several strong campaigns in France and England. At JB Composites, the best way to demonstrate legendary J performance is to race them against world-class competition. This helps customers better understand the performance of boats like the J/97 and optimize them at all levels of sailing."

The prize of "IRC Boat of the Year" will be awarded to Didier LeMoal, CEO of JB Composites at the Evening of Ocean Racing, the annual awards banquet of UNCL that will be held this year at the Ecole Militaire, Paris VII, Saturday, Dec. 10.

JB Composites invites you to join them Friday, December 2 at 20:00 at the "JB Composites" display at the Paris Boat Show to celebrate this award for the J/97 (Hall 1 Stand D60). For more Salon Nautique Paris information, please visit: http://www.salonnautiqueparis.com/GB.htm

Team LUCA Wins J/24 Worlds

2011-11-29T14:53:00.002-05:00

South American Teams 8 of Top 10!
(Buenos Aires, Argentina)- The 2011 J/24 Worlds in Buenos Aires, Argentina sailed this past week had 58 crews from 9 countries. It marked the first time in decades that Americans did not factor as the principal leading boats in the top five. Instead, the South American teams continue to chip away at the J/24 world order once led by mostly Europeans, Australians and Americans. This year's regatta may be seen as a watershed event as it was clear the South American teams continue to ascend into the top ranks of the J/24 class worldwide and are raising the level of their game quite significantly. This year, Argentina’s Alejo Rigoni sailing LUCA with crew Gustavo Gonzalez, Joaquín Duarte Argerich, Fernando Gwozdz and Sergio Armesto are crowned the 2011 J/24 World Champion after securing the victory on the final day of racing. Rigoni's LUCA is the first Argentine team to have won the J/24 Worlds in the three decades the J/24s have been racing worldwide as the world's largest international one-design keelboat class.

After the first three days of racing, the American Tim Healy of Newport, Rhode Island was at the top of the leader board leading by nearly 20 points, a seemingly unassailable lead at a World's event. However, as they say in "da'islands", it was "movin day, mon." Just over the hump of the middle stages in the regatta, either you show that consistency or you crack. And when the cracks form in the veneer of impenetrability, sometimes things don't turn out so well or as one would want it to be. In this case, 11TH HOUR RACING sailed by Healy's team saw some of the "wheels fall of their shopping trolley". Two races were completed on the third day under sunny skies with winds ranging from 10 to 18 knots. After a general recall in each race, Principal Race Officer Teodoro Kundig was again quick to hoist the black flag to keep the aggressive fleet under control. And this little black flag would prove the undoing of many teams. In the day’s first race 18 of the 58 boats (including Healy) were scored BFD after two general recalls under the black flag. On the next attempt the fleet finally got away and Peru’s Luis Olcese hit the pin end start perfectly. Olcese led the fleet until the final few meters when he was run down by Alejo Rigoni who took the win. Conditions were more challenging for the second race as the wind had again built to around 18 knots, kicking up a very confused sea. Healy rebounded from his black flag disqualification to win the race going away followed by local favorite Matias Pereira in second.

The morning of the last day dawned with a weather forecast sure to strike fear in the hearts of the top contenders. It was certainly going to be a challenge to get a race going before noon. The RC tried to get something started in the morning and actually did start a race on the first try under black flag with the current running away from the line. The wind quickly died, as everyone expected, forcing the race to be abandoned. At 1430 the wind had finally filled enough to race and the event’s riveting, drama-laden final ninth race, also started on the first try under the black flag! American Mike Ingham on RELOADED led at the first mark, and wound up third at the end to move up to third overall in the standings. Francisco van Avermaete of Argentina on MENDIETTA won the last race to secure the 4th place overall. Luis Olcese on GUERRERO from Peru finished second overall, a remarkably strong performance and the best ever by a Peruvian team in the J/24 Worlds! Of special note was the best finish by a Uruguayan team was Pedro Garra on EXTASIS in 9th overall, the best Chilean team was Matias Seguel's team on Team VOLVO in 10th overall. Also, the top Italian team was Ignazio Bonnanino on SUPERBA in 20th overall and top Australian was Sean Kirkjian on DEATHSTAR in 30th. Brazil's past J/24 World Champion, Mauricio Santa Cruz, had to bail from the Worlds for personal reasons, so top Brazilian team was Nelson Horn Ilha on DIFERENCIAL SAILING TEAM in 37th. Congratulations must go to the top Womens' team (pictured here), an Argentinean crew led by Mariana Crousse on NUBARRON with six women leading the charge into a very respectable 32nd place, a top half finish and beating half the American J/24 teams! Sailing photo credits- Jorge Cousillas/ El Ojo Nautico. For more J/24 Worlds sailing information J/24 Worlds Youtube video- an entertaining view sailing on an Argentine J/24 team.

Summer Sailing In Hamble Winter Series

2011-11-29T14:50:00.001-05:00

J/97 JIKA-JIKA Leads the IRC3 Pack
(Hamble, England)- The recent stunning weather lasted long enough to bathe Sunday’s Garmin Hamble Winter Series racing in a beautiful sunshine and light breeze. All classes enjoyed some close racing and many remarked on the champagne sailing conditions that felt more like a summer’s day than the distant end of November.

After an hour’s postponement to allow a thick "pea-souper" fog to clear enough for the race committee to see their own start-line, racing got underway in 9 to 12 knots of breeze, which oscillated from 090 to 110 degrees.

Some over-enthusiastic jockeying by the combined IRC 0 and IRC 1 starters saw a General Recall and the use of a Z flag on the restart. Nevertheless, the J/133 JINGS! managed to stay away from the fray and post a good score to stay in the top five in IRC 0, snagging their fifth 4th place in a row to maintain, appropriately enough, fourth place overall (and are just 2 pts out of third). In IRC 1, Ivan Trotman's J/122 JOLOU sailed a good race to finish 4th and fourth position in a tie with Chaz Ivill's J/111 JENGA VI. In fact, 2nd to 8th are all within 7 points of each other, making it the proverbial horse race for the second and third spots on the podium, presuming of course the leader doesn't' stumble too badly.

The J/109s followed suit, jumping the gun but finally getting a good race off. This time it was David Richard's JUMPING JELLYFISH showing up for the first time all Winter Series long and managed to post a first, beating series leaders, Richard and Valerie Griffith's OUTRAJEOUS by 40 seconds. Third in the race and still second in the series was Dave and Mary McGough's JUST SO. This last race puts the next three teams in a nearly three-way tie for third overall-- it's getting tougher to maintain consistency for some of these teams over the course of four fortnights! In their current order are 3rd, Paul Griffiths' JAGERBOMB with 21 pts, fourth David Jobson's AUDAJIOUS also with 21 pts and fifth is David McLeman's OFFBEAT with 23 pts. Showing improvement over time has been Owain Franks' JYNNAN TONNYX, getting their best finish to date in the series with a fourth place.

IRC 3 was dominated by the up-and-coming J/97 class, with Mike and Jamie Holme's JIKA-JIKA beating Richard Watney's JEOPARDY 2 to take first place. Five J/97s are racing in IRC 3, with JIKA-JIKA winning class by a wide margin, followed by Nick and Adam Munday's INDULJENCE 2nd in J/97s and 6th overall. Third in the J/97s is Gillian Ross' INJENIOUS. The two J/92s' are also having fun racing, with David Greenhalgh and John Taylor's J-RONIMO sitting in 5th and Andy Howe and Annie Kelly's BLACKJACK in 7th.

Back in a packed clubhouse, Race Day Sponsor Elvstrom Sails’ Jeremy White presented prizes for the podium positions. Next Sunday sees a full program of racing, with the first start at 1000 and the day sponsors are our Media Partners Y&Y. Let’s hope that the balmy weather holds for the rest of November! Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth. For more Garmin Hamble Winter Series sailing information

JALAPENO Burns Benelux J/80 Championship

2011-11-29T14:47:00.001-05:00

(Grevelingenmeer, Belgium)- Last weekend the Benelux J/80 sailors were greeted by unseasonably warm, sunny weather like their British counterparts across La Manche (the Channel). In the the bright weather was some "bright sailing" by Team JALAPENO, sailed by Erik Scheeren. "Hot weather, hot boat", they played a dominant role all weekend. The first race marked the JALAPENO boys "thankful" streak as well-- after a failed start in race one, they chose the "other side" of the field and the race course, this decision ultimately resulted in a spectacular first place in race 1!

The mild weather and shifty breezes resulted in position changes every race for the compact fleet. Amazingly, the mild weather also resulted in conservative starts, no recalls, an unusual scenario for the J/80 fleet! One team got their boat well underway while others were looking for the right settings. Plus, while the wind strength was building gradually all day, one also had to be looking for wind streaks and stay in them. This was especially important for finding the right course for downwind speed to the finish line. Saturday saw a lot of good racing! At the end of the day, Laura Vroon's JOI DE VIVRE stayed close and took a first place in race 4, but it was not hard enough to beat TEAM JALAPENO, who were hotter than hot!

On Sunday, the Grevelingenmeer was just like the rest of the Netherlands (or for that matter, the rest of Europe), with a dense fog shrouding the entire lake. After the racing was postponed twice, it was decided not to sail anymore race. This made for a slightly anticlimactic finish for the regatta, but despite the limited number of races, there was no dissatisfaction with the results-- it was quite clear to most all of the contestants that the superior performance of TEAM JALAPENO on Saturday made them a worthy 2011 Benelux Open Champion! And, speaking of being "thankful", we must give "Thanks" to Tom-Erik "Chief" of the lake and Grevelingencup organization. For more J/80 Benelux Open Championship sailing information

US Naval Academy Wins College Match Race Nationals

2011-11-28T20:00:00.001-05:00

(San Francisco, CA)- A revolution in the making? US Navy Midshipmen learning how to sail, plus sail fast and smart? No one would've predicted that outcome in the recent College Sailing Match Race Nationals this fall. After all, the US Naval Academy has been known over time for fielding some good dinghy teams, occasional good women's teams and were, of course, expected to win, place or show in their own regatta held in those massive lead-mines known as Navy 44s (hardly a sailboat, some say, as they drag half the world's Seven Seas behind them once they achieve 6.666 knots of boat speed).

Nevertheless, the "Middies" pulled off what many see as the "coup of the century", at least in this relatively young 21st century (just 88 more years to go to break more records). Co-hosted by the California Maritime Academy and St. Francis Yacht Club the top college sailing teams in America gathered together on the infamous San Francisco Bay to challenge one another in StFYC's matched J/22 one-design fleet to determine the top intercollegiate match racing team in America.

As some of the older college sailors will recall, the Sloop Nationals used to be a fleet-racing regatta often sailed in various locations in J/24s, Shields and what not. Recently, the decision to change over to match-racing to reflect the times and interests of college sailors seeking new and different challenges led to this new format. It was a popular decision that led to renewed enthusiasm for this fall classic.

Ten teams representing all seven ICSA conferences sailed the J/22s with spinnakers; each team had one skipper and two crew members aboard. Racing took place in front of the Golden Gate Bridge under a range of weather conditions including light wind, rain and strong current (to be expected, of course).

The first day of racing began with a southwest breeze 8 – 12 knots with shifts, a variety of puffs and an ebbing current. As the day progressed the current got stronger making pre-start techniques between the boats more difficult because they had to fight with the current and position themselves properly to beat one another at the start. The current played such a role in the start that at times boats were starting on port because they could not make the line on starboard tack, a highly unusual situation. It was a long day of racing with the race committee and volunteers completing 45 races. The US Naval Academy team of Jason Carminati skippering with team-mates Taylor Vann and Killian Corbishley lead after the first day of racing with a record of eight wins and one loss. Roger Williams University team skippered by Alec Anderson with crew Annie Schmidt and Dylan Vogel was second with seven wins winning a tie-breaker over Tufts University-- they were skippered by sophomore Will Haeger with crew Maggie Bacon and Dave Liebenberg also with seven wins. Stanford University was in fourth with six wins.

Day two racing was postponed all morning due to a lack of wind. The breeze was only 2 – 4 knots, which was not enough for the boats to sail in given the strong current on the course. At about 2 p.m. racing resumed and the format of the regatta had to be amended due to the late start. A Gold Round Robin was eliminated for the top six teams, which would have determined the seeding for them in the quarterfinals. The Repechage round instead began the day’s racing with the teams in 7th – 10th places competing for the last two spots in the quarterfinals. University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin advanced to the quarterfinals with the original top six teams. The light winds continued and the current remained a challenge for the teams especially on the downwind leg where the current swept the boats sideways across the course.

The third and last day of the event sailors were again greeted by light breeze on the Bay and the usual strong current. Sailing resumed with the remaining races in the quarterfinals as boats fought the current and light wind. The teams who advanced to the semi-finals were Navy, Stanford, Roger Williams and University of Southern Florida. In a repechage semi-final round the remaining teams sailed for 5th – 8th place. Simultaneously, a knockout round between the University of Oregon and the University of Texas A&M took place with the teams finishing 9th and 10th respectively in the event.

After all of the semi-finals racing completed it was on to the finals with a match-up between Roger Williams and Navy and University of Southern Florida (USF)(skippered by Bill Stocke with Abagail Featherstone and Chris Stocke as crew) and Stanford (skippers by Nick Dugdale with crew of Kevin Laube and McKenzie Wilson). After the first few races there was a large wind shift and some rain came in which caused the finals and petit finals racing to be postponed. With everything re-set the racing continued with Stanford and USF in the petit finals and Roger Williams and Navy in the finals. Stanford won the petit finals placing third at Nationals and USF therefore finished 4th. Going into the third finals race the racing was close and Navy and Roger Williams were all tied up. The breeze had increased with the wind shift making for better sailing at this point. In the end Navy took the last race winning Match Race Nationals and Roger Williams finished second in some fantastic sailing.

Ian Burman, head coach for the US Naval Academy Sailing Team attributes their success to having a strong keel boat skipper Jason Carminati ‘12, who placed third at Sloop Nationals two years ago and great crew work on the boat by Taylor Vann ‘13 and Killian Corbishley ‘14. “Really a great deal of the credit for our success goes to our assistant coach Brendan Healy who lead the charge in match racing and was with the team every step of the way. It was a real team effort and we also had a lot of people practice with us and give us a lot of help so that we were prepared for anything at this event,” explains Burman.

St. Francis Yacht Club and California Maritime put on a great event along with the help of volunteers and umpires who are an integral part of match racing. The racing was competitive and in challenging conditions, but the Chicago Match Race center kept viewers up to date with live video feed and Twitter updates. Sailing photo credits- Chris Ray For more ICSA College Match Racing sailing results.

Cherry Defends RYA National Match Race Crown

2011-11-28T19:57:00.002-05:00

(London, England)- Racing J/80s on the Queen Mary Reservoir just underneath the flight paths from Heathrow Airport, Nick Cherry defended his RYA National Match Racing title this weekend for the fourth time! Eleven teams showed up to do battle, with skippers and their crews having earned their berths at the grand final through five qualifying rounds, their positions in the ISAF Match Racing world rankings, or as defending champion.

In addition to Southampton’s Cherry, the impressive line-up of teams that qualified include Skandia Team GBR and Women’s Match Racing World Champion, Lucy Macgregor; Britain’s top ISAF ranked skipper, Poole’s Mark Lees; and Mark Campbell-James who holds three RYA National Match Championship titles (2009, 2008, 2005). "The kids" also joined the party in the form of the RYA’s Youth National Match Racing Champion James French. Said young James before the regatta stared, “We are really looking forward to the finals at the Queen Sailing Club where we will have the opportunity to race against some of the best match racers in the country. We are as prepared as we can be and are looking forward to competing against a lot of the older teams at the event. Having competed in the Governor’s Cup, I hope my experience will pay dividends and that we can get a good result come the end of play on Sunday." This group of match-racing mercenaries all got underway Friday morning (18 November) with a 22 flight round-robin which was followed by knock-out quarter-final and semi-final rounds before the Champion was to be decided in the final round on Sunday 20 November.

At the end of the day, the event was overshadowed by frustrating sailing conditions across the course of the three day regatta only allowing for a number of round robin races to take place. With an array of match racing talent in attendance at Queen Mary Sailing Club (Staines), the first day of the grand final welcomed a promising 10-12 knots allowing for nine flights to take place before poor light meant racing was abandoned mid-afternoon.

Day two of the Championships was another slow start for the 11 teams who had qualified for the event over the course of the year. With light, intermittent winds flicking left to right, the race committee managed to make it through to flight 15 by the close of play on day two (Saturday 19th November).

With no racing on the Sunday due to heavy fog (!?), Nick Cherry was awarded the prestigious title on his percentage of wins in the round robin stages. Across the two days of racing, Cherry and his crew won six out of the seven races while Mark Campbell-James won seven but lost two therefore finishing in second place with a lower percentage of wins to that of Cherry. Skandia Team GBR’s Lucy Macgregor finished the weekend in third after winning three out of her four races.

On winning the trophy for a second consecutive year and for a staggering fourth time (2011, 2010, 2007, 2006), matching that of fellow match racer Mark Campbell-James who finished runner-up for a second consecutive year, Cherry commented: “We are delighted to win! Looking at the trophy Mark CJ is the only skipper with his name on it as many times and one was a first equal - So I’m claiming the most outright wins of this trophy!

Cherry skippered his crew of Matty Adams, Connor Myant, Sam Richmond to a total of six out of seven race wins giving them an 85.7% win percentage clinching them the 2011 RYA National Match Racing title.

“One of the main things that went well was our draw in the pairing list! We ended up racing most of the lower ranked teams and none of the top seeds so have to acknowledge that was a factor. Our closest race was against BUSA ladies, skippered by my girlfriend Charlotte Lawrence which after several lead changes came down to inches at the finish. That was certainly a battle I was glad to win,” said Cherry.

“Although I haven't done a lot of match racing this year due to my focus on the Figaro with the Artemis Offshore Academy, we have sailed as a team for a long time and were always confident we could put up a good fight. Going into the event I would have certainly put Skandia Team GBR’s Lucy Macgregor and her crew as favourites, having trained with them earlier in the year it's obvious that their hard work and new coaching setup has made them a strong unit. I was also looking forward to a good race with Team Wight Match, having crewed for Sam in Bermuda last month it could have been a bit of a grudge match if there had been wind on Sunday!”

Cherry added: “We had some good close races this year, however I think the key to our success was always sailing in a low risk style by just doing enough to get the points on the board. Out teamwork is also a crucial factor in our success as well as our experience and of course this weekend the weather was also a big factor.”

The event this year has been a huge success and an enormous "Thank You" on behalf of everyone must go to the Royal Thames Yacht Club for all their help and support in running yet another successful RYA National Match Racing Championship. For further sailing information on the RYA National Match Racing

ECC VIVIENDAS Leads El Trofeo Maqueche

2011-11-28T19:55:00.001-05:00

(Santander, Spain)- If the previous weekends were tough on the past J/80 World Champion, it was clear that Pichu Torcida and team were not going to take the defeats lightly. This past weekend, with spectacular winds, sun, gusty westerlies in the Bay of Santander, the J/80s were simply flying around everywhere, most of the time upright! After a month worth of October's light wind conditions, the sailors were happy to see the more typical breezes of this time of year.

This regatta is fun because it incorporates both buoy racing and "coastal tours" for the 20 sailing teams that were participating. The coastal tours were starting and finishing in front of the Club Maritimo and turns in front of Marina Beacon Bay of Biscay in Camargo, and turns near the Isla Horadada. The sections of the course heading west saw spinnakers hoisted, vibrant in color, pulling with enormous power, with boats exploding off the tops of waves.

The best team of the day was ECC VIVIENDAS, with Pichu Torcida scoring a 2-1 for 3 pts. They were three points clear of a three-way tie for second place, which included Paul Santurde/ Dave Madrazo's GO FIT with a 1-5, SOLUCIONES CINCO's Alfredo Gonzalez with a 4-2 and NEXTEL's 3-3.

Watch this group of world-class sailors continue to duel for the top of the podium over the next few weeks, a bunch of tough hombres who don't give any quarter in the tightest of situations. For more Spanish J/80 sailing information

J/80 GO FIT Wins Trofeo A&G Private Banking

2011-11-27T22:49:00.001-05:00

(Santander, Spain)- After a break at the end of the summer, the Spanish J/80 teams are at it again, sailing their fall and winter series on both the chilly Bay of Biscay on Spain's northern Cantabrian coastline and the warm, sunny, southern climates along the southern coastlines in the Mediterranean.

Off Santander, twenty-eight teams congregated to sail for the honors of the coveted Trofeo A&G Private Banking. Top Spanish J/80 sailors, Jaime Piris (FONESTAR) and David Madrazo (GO FIT), shared the wins in the two days of racing sailed on a "spring-like" weekend. The J/80 class returned to enjoy a weekend of excellent afternoon racing in the Open Sardinero with spring weather and a fairly steady northeast wind of 8 knots. The races were very exciting, with many options and opportunities for different parts of the course to gain and lose. However, it seemed that the northern part of the course farthest from land paid over the parts on the downwind legs.

The day opened with two strong candidates to win the Trofeo A&G Private Banking, which were Pichu Torcida's ECC VIVIENDAS and Dave Madrazo's GO FIT, separated by only 2 points. The first race of the day proved to be a determining factor in the series. While FONESTAR's Jaime Piris won and MAQUECHE's Alfonso Pascual and Iñaki Samaniego finished second, it was GO FIT's Madrazo who had a fierce fight to beat OPTICA CENTRALE for third place to retain a slim one point lead going into the last race over Torcida's ECC VIVIENDAS.

For the final race of the weekend and the series, it was going to be a big battle between GO FIT and ECC VIVIENDAS. In the end, GO FIT maintained control of the race and took the final race to become the overall winner after eight races. It was quite an accomplishment for Madrazo to win over Pichu Torcida, a two-time J/80 World Champion! Behind these two, the rest of the top five included third- LUPA (Obregon), fourth- BANCAJA (Lopez-Vazquez) and fifth- MAQUECHE (Pascual). For more Spanish J/80 sailing information

Miami-Nassau Cup Race update

2011-11-27T22:47:00.001-05:00

(Nassau, Bahamas)- Last week, we reported on the Miami-Nassau Race and why it has retained its popularity with many sailors over the course of time because of its allure as one of ocean racing's "classic" offshore courses- challenging, beautiful, often a sleigh-ride and a fun destination to get to when the racing's all said and done. We received an update from one of the crew-members sailing aboard the J/105 Team LOKI. Read on and enjoy Anson Mulder's commentary:

"On Nov 10, LOKI joined 16 other boats off Government Cut in Miami for the start of the Miami to Nassau ocean race . The 176 nm race course was wedged between a high pressure system to the northwest and Tropical Storm Sean to the northeast, so the forecast was for a meaty northerly gradient in the low to mid teens, with the potential for 20 knots in the Gulfstream. However, NOAA broke its promise and much of the race was sailed in 8-11 knots, which- combined with an incredibly bright full moon - made for a memorably pleasant overnight ocean race.

Team LOKI launched the 1.5oz A3 reacher amid a cluster of boats in the PHRF start and soon was out near the front of the pack with the leaders, including J120s CARINTHIA, HOT TICKET, and TAMPA GIRL. The Gulf Stream proved more confused than menacing and the anticipated big seas/big waves never materialized. By moonrise, LOKI was around Great Isaac and by Great Stirrup the nav lights on the leaders were still in sight - a sign that LOKI was probably leading the PHRF fleet on corrected time.

The sun brought with it light winds in the morning of Nov 11 and the NW breeze meant a dead run under the .6oz A2 to New Providence Island. It was hard for the LOKI crew to forget last year's blast reach across the Tongue of the Ocean, regularly hitting boat speeds in the teens. As the leaders called in their finish times, the Lokies knew it would be close with the J/120s. A picturesque finish in impossibly blue water under the eye of the lighthouse left LOKI the winner of PHRF 2 class and 4th overall - 30 seconds behind CARINTHIA and 30 seconds ahead of TAMPA GIRL!"

J Sailors- Winning & Surviving on World Stage

2011-11-27T22:44:00.003-05:00

* Win Some, Lose Some. Tough week for "los amigos y hermanos de J/24s". For starters, kindred J/24 spirits in Argentina were winning the J/24 Worlds. But, their mentors and heroes were suffering interminable bad breaks. For one, Ken Read's Volvo 70 PUMA Mar Mastro suffered the worst fate anyone of us could imagine, watching their super high-tech Scott Ferguson/ Hall Spars custom special carbon uber-rig simply fall over the side in three pieces in just 20+ knot winds in a long period 10-12 foot swell about 3 pm UTC off Brazil, about 700 nm from nowhere on Monday, November 21st. What gives? Maybe a symptom of the massive forces/ acceleration experienced in the first 48 hours of the race? Certainly the conditions back then were bad enough to knock two of their competitors out of contention already (Abu Dhabi and Team Sanya). Nevertheless, they're still "Thankful" for surviving to date. Also, still surviving (and leading) are Iker Martinez on TELEFONICA, the ETNZ CAMPER boys and the French Connection on-board Franck Camas's team on GROUPAMA.

* A world apart and surviving in a tactical way was Terry Hutchinson on ARTEMIS RACING. Sailing strongly in the America's Cup World Series on the AC45 cats in the racing leading up to the final days, Terry's team were handily in the top four. But a shift here, a hole there and in the blink of an eye (e.g. 30 seconds) their hopes were dashed from competing for the finals. Next up? First race in 2012 is in Italy followed by Newport in late June! Should be quite a sight to see these 45 foot cats flying around Narragansett Bay at light speeds between Castle Hill Light and the Newport Bridge! Maybe some wise guy named Larry will show up with an AC72 foot version and show it off, too!? Now, that would be very, very cool.

J/42 Survives Massive Tropical Storm

2011-11-27T22:42:00.002-05:00

* Shane's J/42 Survives Massive Tropical Storm "Sean" Sailing to Caribbean- long-time J/Boat owner Shane Creamer (J/32 and J/42) recently experienced real survival while delivering his J/42 BARUNA from the Chesapeake Bay down to Antigua in the Caribbean. Here's Shane's account as reported by Bob Warner at the The Philadephia Enquirer-

"Tropical Storm Sean was barely a blip at the end of the 2011 hurricane season, a disturbance that developed in early November in the South Atlantic and eventually veered northeast toward Bermuda, never getting within 200 miles of the U.S. mainland.

It was no blip, however, for the executive director of the Philadelphia Board of Ethics, J. Shane Creamer Jr., who battled 60 m.p.h. winds and 20-foot waves for four days while skippering a 42-foot sailboat through the storm.

"You've read about things like this, but you don't understand it until you go through it," Creamer said Monday, back at work but still sore from two cracked ribs - one the result of a shipboard stumble, the other suffered when he was knocked overboard by a wave in the middle of the storm.

Creamer just turned 50 and was celebrating with a 1,700-mile trip from the Chesapeake to Antigua in the Caribbean, aboard a J-42 sailboat named Baruna after the Hindu god of the sea. He had three crew members - his girlfriend, Jennifer Eckert, and two friends from Maryland's Eastern Shore.

"We were using a professional weather routing service, and they'd send e-mails to us over the satellite phone," Creamer said. "We were already in our third day, across the Gulf Stream and several hundred miles from shore, when we were advised we'd encounter a system with sustained winds over 40 knots."

When the storm hit, actual winds reached over 50 knots (50 knots equals 57.6 m.p.h.), and the waves were too high for the boat to head in any direction but downwind - luckily, south-southwest, the same general direction the party wanted to go.

About halfway through the storm, 450 miles off the coast of Florida, a wave broke over the boat, knocking out its communication equipment and instruments. Another wave knocked the boat on its side and Creamer slipped into the water, but he was wearing a harness tethered to the boat and was able to climb back on, with help.

Eckert was hit in the pelvis by a flying refrigerator hatch, and another crew member, John Danly, was thrown from his berth into a steel ceiling rail - bending the rail but leaving himself unable to straighten his leg for the next six weeks.

The battered boat and crew limped into Antigua after 11 days, roughly on schedule. But Creamer needed five days to arrange for repairs and missed last week's meeting of the Ethics Board - the first he had missed since he got the job in 2005.

"You learn a lot about yourself and the people you're sailing with," Creamer said. "Everybody stayed calm, nobody panicked and the boat came through. . . . I don't want to go through it again any time soon, but on one level I'm glad I've seen that and survived it."

Perfect Sailing Gift- The 2012 J-Sailing Calendar

2011-11-23T14:15:00.001-05:00

The Perfect Gift For People Who Love Sailing!
(Newport, RI)- For 2012 we've created another beautiful calendar for J sailors who love the joys of sailing a J in some of the most spectacular harbors and waters of the world. Whether you are a cruising, racing or armchair sailor, these stunning sailboat photographs will transport you to wonderful sailing experiences in far away places. Enjoy the color and excitement of J sailing with these gorgeous photos. The calendar features photos of a J/44 powering upwind off Key West, a flying J/24 on the Chesapeake, J/125s dueling on San Francisco Bay, surrealistic scenes of J/80s off the Cantabrian and Brittany Coasts, a J/120 and J/95 playing in the azure waters of the Caribbean and J/105s parading past Alcatraz in a pastel of colors. A great gift for loved ones, family, friends and crew! See the 2012 J/Calendar and order now.