J/122 is RORC Yacht of the Year

Philippe Delaporte’s PEN AZEN was recently named the 2008 Yacht of the Year by the Royal Ocean Racing Club. Delaporte was recognized for his ‘outstanding racing achievement… and in particular for his sportsmanlike approach, Corinthian spirit and the support he has shown his fellow competitors.’ What a great way to cap off a second straight winning season.

Delaporte, a multiple J owner who helped launch the J/80 class in France, sent the following email report:

“This year was very good for us. We just finished the RORC season and we are more than happy with the results. We won the season’s overall, our class and a total of 6 annual RORC trophies:
- Best Overall IRC
- Best IRC 1
- Best Overseas Yacht
- Best Series-produced Yacht
- Special trophies for events 3 and 4

We raced 9 regattas including 2 long distance races from Cowes to Madeira and back that are 1,480 miles each. Both of them with strong winds. On the way to Madeira we got 30 knots upwind with gusts up to 46 knots during 3 days. 5 boats only arrived and we win overall. We won our class 7 times and finished second the 2 others. In short a full success. Pen Azen has now sailed 11,000 miles and we are very happy with her.” RORC site

J/122 Repeats at Rolex Big Boat Series

Dave Kirby of Manhattan Beach, CA sailed his J/122 TKO to a second straight win at the Rolex Big Boat Series hosted by St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco. Racing in IRC C division, TKO notched 5 bullets in 7 races, finishing 9 points clear of a custom Wylie 42, followed by a Sydney 38 and Tim Fuller’s J/122 RESOLUTE. The J/122 continues to demonstrate her racing versatility with impressive results in light air, heavy air, inshore and offshore venues.

On the heels of just hosting the 2008 J/105 North American Championship three weeks earlier, the J/105 fleet fielded another 30+ boat fleet and Phil Perkins aboard GOOD TIMIN’ took the title followed by Tim Russell's AQUAVIT (Belvedere, CA) and Scooter Simmons (Belvedere, CA) on BLACKHAWK. The SF Bay J/120 fleet also saw competitive one-design action with Barry Lewis (San Francisco) on CHANCE edging out Steve Madeira's MR. MAGOO for the victory.

At the closing ceremony it was announced that US-IRC selected St. Francis Yacht Club's Rolex Big Boat Series for 2009 IRC National Championship to be held September 11-14. Event website

New J/105 Champion Crowned

Scott Sellers and his crew on DONKEY JACK emerged victorious at the 2008 J/105 North American Championship held recently on San Francisco Bay. With 5 bullets, two 2nds, two 3rds, and a 7th, Sellers along with crewmembers Rolf Kaiser, Eric Ryan, Geoff McDonald, Cam Geer and Ted Conrads managed a 23 point victory over GOOD TIMIN (Dave Wilson/Chris Perkins) who finished 2nd. St. Francis Yacht Club played host for the highly competitive 36 boat fleet and managed 10 championship races over 4 memorable days. Even the I-flags and 2 mile beats couldn’t prevent the 15-20 boat simultaneous mark roundings seen in several of the races. San Francisco Bay delivered a glorious final day of racing with the starting line off the west face of Alcatraz and the fleet racing along the famous city front.

Rounding out the top five were Tim Russell on AQUAVIT followed by BLACKHAWK (Scooter Simmons) and RHYMENOCEROUS (John Horsch). For 2009, the North Americans moves east with the event scheduled for October 29-November 1 at the American Yacht Club in Rye, NY. Results

J/44 wins NORT honors

After finishing 2nd in class and 6th in fleet in the Stamford Vineyard Race last week, Lenny Sitar’s J-44 VAMP was named the overall winner of the 2008 Northern Ocean Racing Trophy presented by Stamford Yacht Club. VAMP is the first J Boat to win this prestigious trophy, based on a series of grueling races that has historically been dominated by larger boats with names like BLUE YANKEE, BRIGHT STAR, CARRERA, etc.

For 2008, the NOR Trophy was based on combined results under IRC in the Storm Trysail Club's Block Island Race, Newport-Bermuda Race, Around Long Island Race, Ida Lewis Distance Race and the Stamford Yacht Club’s Vineyard Race. VAMP won her class in the Block Island Race and Newport to Bermuda and was 2nd in class in each of the other events. With 20 years experience racing in the competitive J/44 class and the 2007 Long Island Sound Distance Racing trophy (Windigo Cup) under her belt, VAMP and her seasoned team were dialed in!

VAMP tactician A.J. Evans attributed their success to great crew chemistry as well as little things, like “no freeze dried meals….breakfast served all day!”

We’re pleased to congratulate the entire VAMP team of: Lenny Sitar, A. J. Evans, Skip Smith, Lynden Kibler, Tom Colucci, Doug Lanthier, Brian Purdy, Jason Braunstein, Neil McLaughlin, Nate Fast, Bill Sitar as well as Bjorn Johnson, Adolf Haffenreffer, Kit Will, Gary Martin, and Alex DeWitt for a job well done!

Fisher wins 2008 J/22 Worlds

Rochester, New York . . . . Greg Fisher of Annapolis, MD prevailed over 103 other J/22 teams from around the globe at the J/22 World Championship in Rochester, NY. Sailing with wife JoAnn, Jeff Eiber and Sarah Paisley, Fisher finished 17 points ahead of Anthony Kotoun of the Virgin Islands and 30 points ahead of Phil Wehrheim of Rochester, NY who finished third. Fisher was also the victor at last year’s J/22 North American Championship.

“It was such a thrill to be able to win a huge regatta with 104 boats and great sailors from other countries,” Fisher beamed. Multiple nations were represented at the championship, including the Netherlands, South Africa, France, the Virgin Islands, Canada and the United States.

Racing began on August 20 and concluded Sunday with variable breezes of 5 to 10 knots. The Rochester Yacht Club did a stellar job of getting 10 races completed over a five day period, and all this with 104 boats starting together on one line. Rounding out the top ten were: 1) Greg Fisher, 2) Anthony Kotoun, 3) Phil Wehrheim, 4) Chris Doyle, 5) Bill Hardesty, 6) Peter McChesney, 7) Jim Barnash, 8) Todd Hiller, 9) Rob Johnston and 10) Allan Terhune, Jr.

Visit www.myyc.org/j22worlds for complete results.