Steve McManus- J/109 owner of SAYKADOO has been on an upward trajectory since getting his team rolling in the past year on his J/109. Local Annapolis papers had a nice profile on Steve and his team this past fall. It was entitled "SAYKADOO Tops Tight Wednesday Night Class" by Bill Wagner. "There are not many classes more competitive than PHRF A2 of the Annapolis Yacht Club's Wednesday Night Races. Four of the thirteen registered boats have the exact same rating (75) while several others are extremely close to that figure.
That is evidenced by the fact four different boats won a race during Series 2, which wrapped up last Wednesday. SAYKAYDOO, the J/109 skippered by Steve McManus, did not win any of the five races held between June 10 and July 29, but nonetheless wound up capturing PHRF A2 Class for Series 2.
"The whole fleet is very evenly matched. The rating band is extremely small among the top seven or eight boats", said McManus. "It was simply a matter of consistency for our boat. We weren't able to win a race, but we were always in the money." Indeed, SAYKADOO counted three seconds and a third in totaling nine points, just one better than Jeffrey Caruso's Ben 36.7 SHOCK WAVE. Only five points separated the first and fifth place boats.
"I'm blessed to have a regular crew and we do a lot of cross-training so that people can fill in other positions if someone can't make it out for whatever reason", says McManus. Dave Robinson (pit), Stuart Numan (jib, spinnaker), Bob Taylor (tactics, bow), Jack Hunt (jib, spinnaer), Don Handy (main, bow), Carl Turek (pit) and Marie Dallacqua (mast) comprise the regular crew aboard SAYKADOO, which also won Series 1. In fact, McManus is on a bit of a roll, having won Series 2 and placed second in Series 1 last year. "We've been doing the Wednesday Night Series for about six years and we seem to be getting the hang of what it takes to be successful", he said.
Competition was equally close in two other PHRF classes...with Richard Born's J/120 WINDBORN second in Class A1.
In the nineteen boat J/105 class, it all came down to the wire with the Salvesen/Lewis team on MIRAGE edging out Peter Schellie on FREEDOM in the battle of the family-based boats. In third was Jim Konigsberg's INIGO.
For the J/30s, Steve and Katherine Bardelman on VALHALLA vanquished their fleet of eight boats, leading home Bill Wallop's CANNONBALL and Ron Anderson's INSATIABLE in second and third, respectively.
The J/35s had a wonderful turnout this year with seven boats. Barry Moss's BAD COMPANY won by a landslide over the perennial competitor AUNT JEAN, ably raced by the team of Kaminer/Christofel in second and Mark McGonigle rounding out the podium in third onboard WINDEPENDENT.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
J/24 South American Championship (Los Sud Americanos)
Argentinean Rossi and SHARK Team Win
(Costa Del Sol, Brazil)- The Argentine team, led by Alejandro Rossi, won the South American Class J24 which ended on Saturday in South Sailboat In rank he was vice commander Brazilian Mauricio Santa Cruz, Rio de Janeiro. And the Uruguayan Diego Garcia, who began leading the competition, finished third. The three final races were very exciting with heated competition among the top five in the fleet; in fact nearly full blown match racing between the current J/24 World Champion and the ultimate race winner.
When crossing in 3rd place at the finish line of the last race, the crew of the boat SHARK celebrated their victory nearly shouting themselves hoarse. Skipper Alejandro Rossi, 34, had won for the first time the South American title after sailing for fifteen years in the J/24 class. "The Brazilian, Mauritius Santa Cruz, offered tough competition on the race course, it was important to sail with great speed and be sensitive to changes in the wind. Santa Cruz is three times J/24 World Champion, so we expected a tough battle," said Alejandro. Another element of difficulty was the weather, pointed out Mr. Rossi. "The wind streaks were complicated, with very fickle wind, both in direction and intensity and with a lot of rain."The Mauritius Rio Santa Cruz team from Brazil sailed better in the last few races, but it was not enough for the title. Mauritius regretted having started the racing in bad form on the first day. "We lacked a bit of calmness and focus in the beginning. I sailed with a new crew. Sailing as a team is very important and we learned fast. All who were with me here are excellent," said the current J/24 World Champion. Santa Cruz said his team was Andre "Cheek" Fonseca, Marcos Grael, Georgia Roberts and Frederick Sidou.
Finishing third not too far off the pace from the two leaders, Rossi and Santa Cruz, was Uruguayan Diego Garcia, finishing with 26 points.
After the bad weather during the week, forcing cancellation of racing on Thursday, conditions were favorable for good sailing the last few days. The wind in Guaíba was east, with an average wind speed of 12 knots. This meant everyone was fast, so you had to sail nearly perfectly to maintain lanes and get the right wind shifts.
Captain of the Brazilian J/24 Class, Cláudio Ruschel said he was pleasantly surprised with the fleet turnout-- "We have a promising future", he says. Ruschel was fifth in this year's J/24 South American Championship.
The J/24 South Americans sailed nine races from Wednesday until Saturday with a total participation of fourteen boats from Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Uruguay. The 2010 edition will be held from 15 to 20 November in La Punta, Callao, Lima, Peru. For regatta, sailing, information.
Garmin Hamble Winter Series Postpone Sailing
J/109, J/105 and J/80 Fleets Restlessly Idle
(Solent, Hamble, England)- This past weekend the Winter Series saw all racing canceled, postponing in effect until next week. The fleet made some spirited attempts to work around what amounted to a near hurricane, e.g. the double-red flags on the Beaufort Wind Scale - Force 10. However, the strength and the persistence of the Low was far too overwhelming to even consider venturing forth onto the infamous Solent. Can't imagine what a 6 knots current again gusts up to 60 knots might look like-- how about a webcam mounted on a titanium tripod on the Bramble Bank in the middle of the Solent-- would be kinda cool!In short, the UK MET Office issued all kinds of dire warnings. The BBC was positively shrill...worried perhaps that train service would again cease operations because leaves blown into the air-intakes would stop the trains running again. As one of the Race Officers put it, "latest info we have is SW 25 - 30 kts, with gusts to 45 kts, increasing towards midday with averages of 35 kts with gusts to near 60 kts in thundery showers. This forecast has increased again since last night and racing is clearly impractical." Good on ya, the pubs clearly appreciated the windfall business. For more regatta and sailing info
J Sailing Calendar Is A Hit!
J/95 Wins SAIL Magazine's 2010 Best Boats "Performance Sailboat" Award
Thanks to its shoal-keel, the J/95 unlocks entire areas to one-design racing that were previously unable to accommodate fixed-keel sailboats. This is beginning to happen now in such areas as the Chesapeake, Florida and the lakes in Europe. As SAIL said, "If you want a grin-inducing ride every time you go sailing, the J/95 could be the boat for you."
Learn more about sailing the J/95. SAIL Magazine Review
J/111 Rocketing Out of the Blocks
Saturday, November 21, 2009
2010 J/Sailing Calendar- HOT Off The Press!
The Ultimate Gift for People Who Love Sailing!
The beautiful J/Sailing Calendar is for J/Boat owners and J sailors who love and appreciate the joys of sailing a J in some of the most spectacular harbors and waters of the world is getting rave reviews.
Whether you are a cruising, racing or armchair sailor, the stunning 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 flying J/80s, a wildly planing J/100, a powerful J/122 surging upwind, a serene sail on the Maine coast on a J/42, J/120s battling up the San Francisco waterfront and tranquil shots off the world's most beautiful harbors and coasts on J/22s, J/24s, J/80s, J/105s, J/109s and more. For those who love the sailing lifestyle, it's the ultimate gift for yourself, friends and family.
Please visit the J/Sailing Calendar page to preview what each month looks like and how nicely our large wall calendar format works for your home or office. Go to this link and order yours today:
http://www.jboats.com/sailing-calendar
Commodores Trophy- Espana
ZEIK Wins Big In Gale Force Winds
(La Coruna, Spain- 9 November)- This past weekend was the penultimate day of Commodore Trophy for J/80s organized by the Real Club Náutico de La Coruña. It was a blustery regatta, marked by the storm that struck the Galician coast for two straight days with near Force 8 gale winds offshore.
On Saturday at 1600 hours was the first race of the day for the J80 class inside the Bay of La Coruña, with a northwest wind 16 to 19 knots and waves of 2-3 meters. The Race Committee had to delay until late afternoon because the weather was so ferocious earlier in the day. Ultimately, it was a good day for the "Big Boy Nautical Aussycrawl" Stuart Shimeld winning two races. However, by the end of the weekend, it was ZEIK that took the overall event winning on a tie-breaker over MARINA CORUNA with 17 points each, the tiebreaker to "greater number of first "wins" goes to the former.
For more sailing information and regatta results.
(La Coruna, Spain- 9 November)- This past weekend was the penultimate day of Commodore Trophy for J/80s organized by the Real Club Náutico de La Coruña. It was a blustery regatta, marked by the storm that struck the Galician coast for two straight days with near Force 8 gale winds offshore.
On Saturday at 1600 hours was the first race of the day for the J80 class inside the Bay of La Coruña, with a northwest wind 16 to 19 knots and waves of 2-3 meters. The Race Committee had to delay until late afternoon because the weather was so ferocious earlier in the day. Ultimately, it was a good day for the "Big Boy Nautical Aussycrawl" Stuart Shimeld winning two races. However, by the end of the weekend, it was ZEIK that took the overall event winning on a tie-breaker over MARINA CORUNA with 17 points each, the tiebreaker to "greater number of first "wins" goes to the former.
For more sailing information and regatta results.
Bancantabria Sailing Cup
(Santander, Spain- 8-9 November)- The forecast for bad weather in the Bay of Biscay, with orange alert announced and forecast winds of force 7 to 8, meant that the Third Act (Series) of the Bancantabria Sailing Cup was going to be an experience to say the least. Fortunately, the Race Committee elected to setup the courses in the inner bay, therefore enabling the J/80s to have two fun, very windy races. Only twelve of the thirty boats raced in the demanding conditions. And the end of the weekend, it was Tono Gorostegui who maintained their composure to maintain the overall lead sailing FUNDESTIC.
Leaders for the weekend (Act III) were Pichu Torcida on ECC VIVIENDAS; then RAITA finished second and Tono's FUNDESTIC got third. The provisional Overall standings for the Bancantabria Sailing Cup has Tono's FUNDESTIC in first with 8 points, Paul Santurde's SPACIO in second with 12 points and Pichu Torcida's ECC VIVIENDAS in third with 13 points.
For more sailing and regatta information.
French J/80 Nationals
(Cherbourg, France- Nov. 7-11)- A record turnout of forty eight J/80s showed up for this year's French J/80 National Championship in Cherbourg. The hometown hosts were fabulous and put on quite a show despite the somewhat difficult weather conditions they were presented with over the course of the four day regatta. Light shifty four knot winds and flat water to moderate rolling seas blowing upwards of twenty knots offered the fleet tremendous challenges. It was very difficult to stay out of the bottom of the fleet and maintain some kind of consistency.
However, Luc Nadal and his team aboard GANJA sailed magnificently, demonstrating remarkable consistency across the board to win by nearly thirty points over his next competitor. Their record of 2-1-9-1-7-1-1 for 22 points speaks for itself...four firsts was unequalled in the fleet. Second overall was Jean-Yves Jaffrezic racing ATLANTIS with a record of 5-8-21-12-1-3-1 for 51 points, beating JACUZZI on a tie-breaker. Ludovic Gilet raced the renowned JACUZZI into third place with a 1-6-13-3-5-19-4 also with 51 points but lost tie on most firsts. Fourth was the famous French woman sailor Christine Briand just three points back sailing J ILE DE RE and finishing behind her was Frederic Denis on ECOLE NAVALE CG29 with 63 points.
On a personal note, it was nice to see Pierre Follenfant- a former 470 and FD sailor whom Drake and Stu sailed against when they were kids in the 470 class in the mid-1970s sailing a respectable series to finish 11th in this highly competitive fleet! We're glad to see old warhorses like us can still hang in there with the top players in the class!
For more sailing and regatta information.
Garmin Hamble Winter Series
(Solent, Hamble, England)- This past weekend the Winter Series continued with good solid racing taking place in the three J one-design fleets represented in this classic Solent fall series.
In the seventeen boat J/109 class, Luca Rubinelli racing his ARIA has taken over the lead sailing to a 2-3-3-3-2 series with 13 points. Richard and Valerie Griffith sailing OUTRAJEOUS sailed into second with a 5-2-7-2-3 record for 19 points. Falling just a little off the pace due to a DSQ was J-DREAM, David & Kirsty Apthorp's well-campaigned boat to an unfortunate 1-1-1-DSQ-1 record for 22 points to settle into third place.
The J/105s were having a good go at it with six of them vying for top honors. What a competitive fleet! All top three boats are within one point of each other! Simon Curwen's VOADOR is atop the heap with a 1-2-3-OCS-1 record for 13 points. Paul Griffiths is just behind on FAY-J due to a 2-1-2-OCS-3 tally that generates 14 points. And, Chris Jones' JOURNEYMAKER 5 recorded a 3-4-4-1-2 record for 14 points to be behind on a tie-breaker.
John Coopers' Team O!! are sailing quite strongly this fall and their record shows it- 2-2-1-1-2-4-DNF-2-1-2-1-1-2 is not bad and only totals 15 points. Chasing them around the race track has been Ian Atkins' BOATS.COM, sailing to a solid - 4-1-4-3-3-2-1-1-3-3-2-4-1 record for 20 points. Thor Askeland is sailing ELLE SAPPELLE well and is hanging in for third overall with a- 5-4-5-4-1-1-DNF-3-2-1-5-5-5 record that puts him 10 points back from second place with a total of 30 points.
For more sailing results, who's sailing and regatta information.
Paris Sailboat Show & London Sailboat Show- J/95 & J/97 Debut
For those of you who enjoy the bright lights and big cities of Europe, be sure to consider taking a fun, romantic, adventurous trip to Paris or London for the boatshows to visit with J/Europe or J/UK to chat about sailing and perhaps your next J dream boat.
Paris Sailboat Show- 5-13 December 2009- http://www.salonnautiqueparis.com/
For more info on Paris, contact Frederic Bouvier at tec@jeurope.eu.com
London Sailboat Show- 8-17 January 2010- http://www.londonboatshow.com/2010.aspx
For info on London, contact Paul Heys at paul@keyyachting.com
Paul and his team will have both the J/95 and the J/97 debuting at this show. If you have any interest in either one of these exciting designs, please be sure to visit London in January. Great time of year to go to Europe and the airfares are cheap.
Paris Sailboat Show- 5-13 December 2009- http://www.salonnautiqueparis.com/
For more info on Paris, contact Frederic Bouvier at tec@jeurope.eu.com
London Sailboat Show- 8-17 January 2010- http://www.londonboatshow.com/2010.aspx
For info on London, contact Paul Heys at paul@keyyachting.com
Paul and his team will have both the J/95 and the J/97 debuting at this show. If you have any interest in either one of these exciting designs, please be sure to visit London in January. Great time of year to go to Europe and the airfares are cheap.
J/95 Winning The Hearts of Traveling Sailors
Recently, Peter Bangerter, the J Swiss dealer visited America to see what all the excitement was about. In short, he was blown away. In his own words, Peter had this to say about his experience last week on the J/95: "it was simply awesome. Amazing boat, absolutely a big boat feel. Very fast. Easy to handle, turns on a dime! The perfect "little big boat" for European lake sailing. We picked one up for our Swiss clients who love to travel from lake to lake. Our Swiss and Austrian sailors like to have a boat they can spend weekends on with family and friends. We love it!" Be sure to contact Peter soon to arrange a preview and demo sail in the Swiss Alps-- imagine going for a healthy hike (or ski) in the Alps in St. Moritz, then cruising down to Lake Silvaplana for a gorgeous afternoon sail in pristine spring weather. You can best reach Peter at email- peter.bangerter@bluewin.ch
For more information on sailing the J/95, please visit the J/95 website.
A Voyage to the Greater Good- The Battle Against Leukemia- A Heartwarming Sailing Story
We also learned some numbers: 17 years ago there was one event that raised $30,000, this year there were 38 events this year and we raised a total of just under $4 million dollars. The total raised to date is over $31 million. There were 75 people attending the Fantasy sail this year though a bunch more had qualified and not been able to make it. 67% of the money raised came from individual donations brought in by sailors which does not include corporate donations, silent auction items, etc.
One of the best things about qualifying multiple years is that the people you meet at this event are incredible. The mood is festive and everyone is upbeat. Just about everyone has had a personal experience with blood cancer, either a friend, family member, or actually survived themselves and the feeling of having been able to do something to help people living with blood cancer and find cures is really amazing.
Included in the group of survivors is the perennial host of the Fantasy Sail, Gary Jobson. Gary started as the national spokesman for the LCR way back in the last century, long before he was actually diagnosed, and he continues to inspire and spur us on to do great things. This cocktail party is all about meeting up with the folks you went drinking with last year (Hello, Emory!) and meeting new folks you missed the year before.
The morning started out slow but built through the three races until it was steadily 10 gusting to 15. With fog pouring over the magnificent San Francisco waterfront and burning off halfway across the bay, the opportunity for photos was breathtaking, the entire scene changed every 15 minutes. I don’t know how the folks sailing kept their concentration on the racing.
After the sailing, dinner and the presentation of pickle dishes, the event was topped off by a speech from Ian, a sailor from San Francisco who is just over a year into his recovery from leukemia. This is what they call a "mission moment" to get us fired up for next year and Ian was a perfect example of why we raise money. Ian volunteered to be on the regatta committee at the SFYC last year and a few weeks later while training for a triathlon, he started to feel like he was coming down with something. He went to the doctor and the verdict went from “you might have the flu” to “you should see an oncologist” pretty quickly. After that it was the unpleasant experience of getting treated which left him unable to join us for the Fantasy Sail last year. The contrast was remarkable. Looking at this guy standing there smiling and walking around with a microphone you would never be able to guess that he had been sick a day in his life let alone had just recovered from a disease that would have had a 5% survival rate just 40 years ago. It was an inspiring end to a great weekend.
Raising $8,500 sounds like a big deal but I’ll let you in on a little secret: I have raised an average of $11,000 every year just by sending out 8 emails every year. Other folks have raised their money by doing everything from holding fancy dinners to selling lemonade (literally). The society provides you with tons of tools including raffles and incredibly helpful staff folks who seem to have no end to their reservoir of energy. So if you’re going to sail in your regatta, try to make enough to meet us in Charleston next year. You’ll have a great time and I think Clean (Alan & Meredith Block) said we could all stay at his house.
- Courtesy of Peter Howson.
More photos at Peter Howson's sailing website.
A Sailing Whale Tale- MOBY DICK Reincarnate?
A Tragic Whale Tale- -- J/120 Sunk by Moby Dick Clones. The Baja-Ha-Ha is an annual cruisers rally from San Diego, California to Cabo San Lucas, Mexcio. They began their 750-mile route this year on October 25th. Sadly, for one of the participants amid the 170 boat fleet, the trip ended much too early.
About 200 miles south of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and extraordinary turn of events confronted what is normally a fun, easygoing cruise from California to Mexico. Appropriately named, the Baja-Ha-Ha is an event many California cruising sailors look forward to after the course of a long sailing season. It's organized by a group of friends, including J-WORLD's Wayne Zittel. However, this year it was not a walk in the park for those aboard the J/120 J-WORLD. Here's the report from Wayne:
"Hey All - Thanks for all the good thoughts. Yes, the boat has sunk but everyone is safe and sound. The boat was heading south in the Baja-Ha-Ha with two instructors (Eugenie and Barry) and three students on our annual cruise south to our Puerto Vallarta location. They put into Ensenada briefly for some minor repairs (a loose wire in the wiring harness seems to have been the culprit), then headed back out Tuesday morning. I got an email from them in the evening reporting that all was fine and they were making good time. They made the scheduled roll call in the AM. Here is what I know from the brief conversations I have had with the crew: about 10am, they came across a pod of whales. Shortly after yesterday morning's Baja Ha-Ha check-in, the crew of J/WORLD, the J/120 skippered by former Punta Mita Yacht & Surf Club commodore Eugenie Russell, experienced one of the highlights of the cruising life: They spotted a whale. Then they saw another. They quickly realized that they'd sailed into a pod of whales - big whales. That's when they felt a bang, then another and another. At least one whale was attacking J/WORLD's rudder!
Their behavior was described as 'erratic.' One or more of the whales struck the boat repeatedly, and the boat began taking on water at a rapid pace. It sounds like, not surprisingly, most of the damage was around the rudder. They made an attempt to bail the boat and get a distress call out on SSB, but it was clear that the boat was a loss. They activated the EPIRB, boarded the liferaft, and the boat was reportedly gone within 7 minutes of the strike. As I understand it, the boat did not capsize in any way. I was in contact with the the USCG from the time the EPIRB went off. They did an absolutely stellar job. Within four hours, they reported that they had safely lifted all five sailors into the helicopter and were returning to San Diego. Eugenie has a bruised hand, but there were no other injuries. I personally am in shock... this is the stuff you read about but you think will never really happen to you. You can make all the preparations in the world, load boat with experienced sailors, and still have unexpected consequences. A bit humbling, to be sure. We all need to remember that when we go sailing, we really go to sea in every sense. I know we will get a good debrief from the crew, and we'll be sure to post more info and some 'lessons learned,' but I am tremendously relieved that everyone is safe. All of us here at J-World are in deep gratitude to the folks of the USCG. Man, they run a great operation. Here's the video of the rescue. Anyway, that's the latest report from here.... the J/120 J-WORLD was a great boat. She was hull #9, the ex-GANNET, ex-CROSSWAVE, now known simply as "J-WORLD." We sailed her some 10,000+ open ocean miles per year, including this year's TransPac and raced her in San Francisco and Mexico, not to mention subjecting her to all the abuses that students can dish out, and she took it in stride.
Anyway, thanks again to all of you out there for the support...
All the best,
Wayne Zittel
J-World Performance Sailing School
San Francisco Bay | Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
About 200 miles south of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and extraordinary turn of events confronted what is normally a fun, easygoing cruise from California to Mexico. Appropriately named, the Baja-Ha-Ha is an event many California cruising sailors look forward to after the course of a long sailing season. It's organized by a group of friends, including J-WORLD's Wayne Zittel. However, this year it was not a walk in the park for those aboard the J/120 J-WORLD. Here's the report from Wayne:
"Hey All - Thanks for all the good thoughts. Yes, the boat has sunk but everyone is safe and sound. The boat was heading south in the Baja-Ha-Ha with two instructors (Eugenie and Barry) and three students on our annual cruise south to our Puerto Vallarta location. They put into Ensenada briefly for some minor repairs (a loose wire in the wiring harness seems to have been the culprit), then headed back out Tuesday morning. I got an email from them in the evening reporting that all was fine and they were making good time. They made the scheduled roll call in the AM. Here is what I know from the brief conversations I have had with the crew: about 10am, they came across a pod of whales. Shortly after yesterday morning's Baja Ha-Ha check-in, the crew of J/WORLD, the J/120 skippered by former Punta Mita Yacht & Surf Club commodore Eugenie Russell, experienced one of the highlights of the cruising life: They spotted a whale. Then they saw another. They quickly realized that they'd sailed into a pod of whales - big whales. That's when they felt a bang, then another and another. At least one whale was attacking J/WORLD's rudder!
Their behavior was described as 'erratic.' One or more of the whales struck the boat repeatedly, and the boat began taking on water at a rapid pace. It sounds like, not surprisingly, most of the damage was around the rudder. They made an attempt to bail the boat and get a distress call out on SSB, but it was clear that the boat was a loss. They activated the EPIRB, boarded the liferaft, and the boat was reportedly gone within 7 minutes of the strike. As I understand it, the boat did not capsize in any way. I was in contact with the the USCG from the time the EPIRB went off. They did an absolutely stellar job. Within four hours, they reported that they had safely lifted all five sailors into the helicopter and were returning to San Diego. Eugenie has a bruised hand, but there were no other injuries. I personally am in shock... this is the stuff you read about but you think will never really happen to you. You can make all the preparations in the world, load boat with experienced sailors, and still have unexpected consequences. A bit humbling, to be sure. We all need to remember that when we go sailing, we really go to sea in every sense. I know we will get a good debrief from the crew, and we'll be sure to post more info and some 'lessons learned,' but I am tremendously relieved that everyone is safe. All of us here at J-World are in deep gratitude to the folks of the USCG. Man, they run a great operation. Here's the video of the rescue. Anyway, that's the latest report from here.... the J/120 J-WORLD was a great boat. She was hull #9, the ex-GANNET, ex-CROSSWAVE, now known simply as "J-WORLD." We sailed her some 10,000+ open ocean miles per year, including this year's TransPac and raced her in San Francisco and Mexico, not to mention subjecting her to all the abuses that students can dish out, and she took it in stride.
Anyway, thanks again to all of you out there for the support...
All the best,
Wayne Zittel
J-World Performance Sailing School
San Francisco Bay | Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Bancantabria Sailing Cup
(Santander, Spain- Oct. 14-26)- Hosted by the FCV (Federacion Cantabra de Vela) in Santander, Spain, the Bancantabria Sailing Cup had a strong turnout of thirty-one J/80s. The Cup is a series of races taking place over several weekends sailing in the spectacular waters off Santander in often warm, sunny conditions.
While the last weekend of the two week event was nearly a wash-out, the sailors had an enjoyable time racing for this past weekend's Fundestic Trophy. Pichu Torcida racing ECC HOMES managed to take home another win. Pushing him hard was Jaime Pris onboard FONESTAR to take second overall and coming in third place was Adrian Zamacona racing MABLE. Notable amongst the competitors in this year's even was the return, after months of absence from racing J/80s, of the 49er Olympic Sailing medalists Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez. Iker and Xabi went sailing with friends aboard PROPERNOR-- looks like they'll need some practice after posting a twelfth in their first outing.
For more sailing information and regatta results, please visit J/80 Spain Class site.
J/24 East Coast Championships
(Annapolis, MD- Oct. 30-Nov 1)- Severn Sailing Association hosted the J/24 East Coast Championships in a wide variety of sailing conditions for a strong turnout of thirty-four J/24s. The indomitable and redoubtable Tony Parker shows that he's still got it after sixty+ years of sailing and racing in venues all over the world. Showing the young bucks how it's done, Tony rattled off two bullets, a second and third to win by five points over Ted Bartlewski in second and Mike Ingham in third.
Read more about the sailing, the regatta and the sailors here.
J/109 WHISKEY JACK Wins China Cup
Saturday was a washout. After a delayed start to the program, to allow Government officials to get to Opening Ceremony (taking place on the second day of the regatta - go figure), the breeze failed to cooperate and the fleet floated around from 1200 hrs to 1630 hrs when the RO signaled ‘AP over A’ and we all went ashore. In the interim, entertainment was provided by skinny-dipping Russians, a display of spreader-diving, and large numbers of water-fights – all good stuff as crews sat ‘on the grill’ in the uncharacteristically hot October sunshine right next to Daya Bay nuclear power station.
Sunday’ forecast was for more breeze – lots more breeze – and it was plum right. Nothing less that 10 kts, and a max of 17 kts, made for good racing on the flat water of Da Ya Wan. Once again, a class act from the Royal Hong Kong YC race management team, and all divisions completed two windward-leewards and a triangle-sausage-sausage geometric, thereby making back one of the races lost yesterday.
Star of the show all day was Nick Southward’s J/109 WHISKEY JACK, scoring 1-1-2 in IRC B, and leading the combined A and B fleets over the line in the second race of the day. 'The boys were on fire' said Southward later. 'They sailed their socks off today, it was hard work.' The program continues.....hope for the best for J-109 sailors Nick and crew!
For more sailing and regatta information, please go to Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club.
J/109 MAJIKAL Wins Port Hacking-Botany Bay Race
Keith Wilson's J/109 MAJIKAL finished first in his division in the Port Hacking to Botany Bay Short Ocean Race. He is delighted with the J/109’s performance in all conditions. Says Keith "this boat is bloody magical the way it sails in all conditions the southerlies can throw at us-- love it! Be great to have a few more down here to mess around with!"
Grant Thornton Ocean Pointscore Series
(Sydney, Australia- October 3rd)- Blustery southerly winds and squally rains greeted the fleet for Race One of the Grant Thornton Short Ocean Pointscore Series. The first race of the series was raced on Saturday, 3 October 2009, in wintery conditions and was conducted by Middle Harbour Yacht Club. In what is becoming a tradition for this race, the southerly winds and squally rains that greeted the sixteen intrepid and enthusiastic competitors appeared to be a re-run from previous year's events. Due to the 2-3 metre swells experienced off shore, the race committee was unable to lay the marks out past the "Sydney Harbor Heads", so they made the decision to send Division 1 yachts to Botany Bay and back.
For Ray Entwistle’s J/122 JACKPOT it was an exhilarating day’s racing. “We flew the 140sq.m asymmetric kite from the Shark Island start to the heads, turned the corner and the crew hit the rail for the beat down the coast to Botany Bay. The winds were averaging 25 knots, gusting over 30 knots at times, and the rain felt like small hail stones hitting our faces. The waves washed away the last of the red dust that remained from the dust storm, which had infiltrated every crevice of the boat. We lost some time when we missed a wind shift and that allowed the fleet to get away from us,” said Entwistle.
“Turning into Botany Bay, we had a few minutes respite from the weather. We rounded the mark and set the new heavy weather spinnaker off the bowsprit for what was a joyride back home. We hit a new top boat speed of 18.6knots in JACKPOT, averaging 14 knots. It felt like it only took 10 minutes to get to Bondi – the boat was flying and the crew were loving it,” concluded Entwistle.
JACKPOT finished third in IRC Division 2. Tim Cox’s J/35 SOUNDTRACK finished first in IRC Division 3, the course set in-harbour due to the rough sea conditions.
J's Dominate Gascoigne Cup
(Sydney, Australia- October 24th)- The Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron’s historic Gascoigne Cup sailed into its second century today with victory on PHS going to prominent yachtsman Tim Cox in his J/35 SOUNDTRACK. Tim Cox, a retired senior RAN officer, is well known as Chairman of the Race Committee for the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and is also a member of the Sailing Committee of the RSYS.
Ray Entwistle’s J/122 JACKPOT won IRC Class, reveling in the light south-easterly breeze of 8-14 knots. “The J/122 just glided through the swell off the heads of Sydney, we had great height and excellent speed. Even though it was a windward / leeward course, we ran just as deep as the symmetrical rigged boats with our 155 sq.m running kite designed by Ian Short Sailmakers. The conditions were a far cry from the race 3 weeks ago when the winds were gusting over 30 knots with a 2-3 metre swell on which we were planing at over 18 knots at times. The J/122 excels in every condition the Sydney climate throws at us.”
SUBARU J/105 North Americans a Power Play
(Rye, NY- Nov 1) - Bruce Stone racing POWER PLAY secured victory at the Subaru J/105 North American Championship at American Yacht Club in Rye, NY. After stumbling out of the gate on the first day with a 6-15-10, the San Francisco-based team’s comeback hit overdrive on the third day when they won all three races to vault them to the top of the standings; garnering four firsts in a row since the last race the day before. A manageable 5-4 on the final day guaranteed their win.
The fleet was blessed by remarkably variable conditions over the four days of racing with plenty of wind from all four quadrants. Whomever prevailed was going to have overcome significant challenges to overcome a very strong and deep fleet of talented sailors racing in this year's North Americans.
It all started out on Thursday with light to medium breezes out of the ENE.; competitors were greeted with blue skies, temperatures in the 50s and winds between 8-12 knots that diminished throughout the three races. James Rathbun of Toronto, Ontario with world renowned World Champion Canadian sailor Terry McLaughlin in the afterguard calling tactics and boat speed led the 28 boat fleet after three races; their J/105 HEY JUDE finished with eight points for the day. A perennial J/105 Champion Brian Keane from Weston, MA sailing SAVASANA ended the day in second with eleven points. One point behind were New York Long Island Sound locals Joerg Esdorn and Duncan Hennes on KINCSEM with twelve points.
On Friday, competitors enjoyed brisk fall conditions on Long Island Sound. Winds blew between SSE 10-14 knots, and temperatures remained in the 50. This day belonged to Joerg Esdorn and Duncan Hennes on KINCSEM who scored a 1-1-3. After six total races, the Katonah, NY team sat with seventeen total points; an enormous twenty point lead over their closest competition. James Rathbun HEY JUDE didn't have such a great day and dropped to second place overall. Josh Burack on PEREGRINA (New Rochelle, NY) rounded out the top three with forty points. Following Esdorn/Hennes in Race 4 were Rob Marsh on BLOWBOAT and Bruce Stone on POWER PLAY. Foreshadowing what was to come the next day, the POWER PLAY team finally got off the starting line clean and led the fleet around the race track, trailed by HEY JUDE and KINCSEM.
Saturday's racing dawned grey and nasty. The forecast was equally as bad- rain, gusty winds 15-30 knots out of the SSW. It was also a day that produced dramatic and significant changes amongst the fleet leaders. In a remarkable display of consistency and outright boatspeed, POWERPLAY won all three races on day three--- a feat never achieved before- four consecutive victories in a row at a J/105 North American Championship. Following POWER PLAY in Race 7 were Joerg Esdorn and Duncan Hennes on KINCSEM and Damian Emery on ECLIPSE. In second place in Race 8 was George Wilbanks racing REVELATION, then KINCSEM in third. Trailing POWER PLAY in the day’s final contest were Kevin Grainger on GUMPTION 3 and Paul Strauch on ANDIAMO.
The winning San Francisco-based team on POWER PLAY, consisting of skipper Bruce Stone, Stuart Johnstone, Nicole Breault, Bob Dearborn, Mark Lindquist and Dave Marshall, finished with 55 points over 11 races, beating their closest competitor by nine points overall. The J/105 NA's concluded a remarkable season for Bruce Stone's team-- having won the ROLEX Block Island Race Week and nearly won a second watch at the ROLEX Big Boat Series with a close second.
Complete daily and overall results for all four days of sailing, plus regatta reports.
Ice Cup Sailing in Sweden
2010 J/80 European Championship Sailing on Lake Garda
J/95 Demos in Full Swing
Go to Sunny, Warm Florida, Texas and Chesapeake!
After the strong showing at the Newport and Annapolis Boatshows, interest in the J/95 continues to grow as sailors look to expand their sailing and cruising horizons with J's newest, innovative design- a 31 foot shoal-draft sailboat that draws 3 feet, can go upwind at 6.5 knots, surf off-the-wind at 8.5+ knots with the simple asymmetric spinnaker and can be turned on a dime with its twin-rudder wheel steering system.
Be sure to contact the J/Dealers for a showing and/or demo of the incredibly fun and cool J/95:
- Florida- Crosscurrent Marine- Craig Crossley- P: (401) 330-6135/ E: craig@crosscurrentmarine.com
- Texas- J/Boats Southwest- Scott Spurlin- P: (940) 591-7040/ E: scott@jboatssouthwest.com
- Chesapeake- Northpoint Yacht Sales- Ken Comerford- P: (410) 961-5254 / E: ken@northpointyachtsales.com
For more information, please contact J/Boats at Ph- +1-401-846-8410 or email - info@jboats.com.
After the strong showing at the Newport and Annapolis Boatshows, interest in the J/95 continues to grow as sailors look to expand their sailing and cruising horizons with J's newest, innovative design- a 31 foot shoal-draft sailboat that draws 3 feet, can go upwind at 6.5 knots, surf off-the-wind at 8.5+ knots with the simple asymmetric spinnaker and can be turned on a dime with its twin-rudder wheel steering system.
Be sure to contact the J/Dealers for a showing and/or demo of the incredibly fun and cool J/95:
- Florida- Crosscurrent Marine- Craig Crossley- P: (401) 330-6135/ E: craig@crosscurrentmarine.com
- Texas- J/Boats Southwest- Scott Spurlin- P: (940) 591-7040/ E: scott@jboatssouthwest.com
- Chesapeake- Northpoint Yacht Sales- Ken Comerford- P: (410) 961-5254 / E: ken@northpointyachtsales.com
For more information, please contact J/Boats at Ph- +1-401-846-8410 or email - info@jboats.com.
Go Sailing at New York's CITY SAIL Sailing School!
She wasn’t quite right. Over the last five years we’ve taken out over 100 Jersey City school children. This is a huge privilege for us. Although the kids live within a mile of some of the most exciting visually stimulating sailing around, they literally never get out on the water. They might as well live 1000 miles from the water for as much as they are able to enjoy it - until City Sail. "Without City Sail I'd never have learned to sail," says Derrik age 14. Dozens of children entered our free sailing school and competed for points through three
levels of seamanship. Our top point scorers this year were invited to apprentice for a week on a working 80 foot schooner. Next year we would like to make this opportunity available to even more kids. We are looking to add a J/24 to our fleet. Anyone interested in helping us can contact us at citysail@gmail.com. All contributions or boat donations are fully tax exempt.
KOS Sailing Photos Among World's Best?
Every once in awhile, we come across some extraordinary achievements by friends of the J/Community that ought to be recognized. "Kos" happens to be one of them. Back in 1991, Stu Johnstone was sailing his J/44 J-HAWK in the Spi Ouest Regatta in La Trinite Sur Mer. Working with Stu at the time to take care of J-HAWK was a young Englishman, Rick Deppe (see PUMA media site). Another friend came along and said a young English girl named "Kos" needed some help on a photo shoot. On a spectacular sunset evening after racing, Stu, Rick and Kos took off on J-HAWK to help Kos complete her photo assignment. Since then, Kos has grown KOS PICTURES into the principal photo library/ stock house for over 200 yachting/ sailing photographers around the world. To celebrate that talent, take a moment to appreciate this extraordinary J/80 photo.
Texas J/80 North Americans
(Houston, TX- October 23-25)- Kerry Klingler has been sailing J/80s for a number of years. Yet, despite the talent and the CV that might favor a "three-peat", Kerry was perhaps the least confident of the class leaders going into this year's J/80 North Americans. With six previous J/80 North American Champions in attendance, including a current J/22 International Class World Champion Terry Flynn, it was not readily apparent who would come out on top of the heap of such a talented group of sailors. As Terry said. "it was closest competition ever in NAs amongst the top 10....it could've gone either way."
The first day was perhaps the best for the fleet as it was a windy, puffy northerly gusting to twenty knots on Galveston Bay. It made for difficult conditions to stay consistently in the top five against the tough fleet of NA Champions. On the second day, there was no wind in the morning and the fleet had to wait for a light, shifty sea breeze to develop out of the southeast. By the third day of racing, a solid sea breeze filled in making for extremely tight, fun racing amongst everyone-- the very tight mark roundings had an enormous impact on race outcomes.
Prevailing through the smoke and fog of battle was Kerry Klingler and team again aboard their J/80 LIFTED with a 1-4-1-5-[13]-1-4-5 record for a total of 21 points. Hanging tough was Terry and David Flynn, finishing second with a 3-1-[8]-7-1-5-3-2 for 22 total points! Third overall was Glenn and Reese Darden sailing LE TIGRE to a 4-2-6-[10]-5-4-2-3 record for 26 points. Special mention must be made of Jay Lutz- the victim of an extraordinary accident at the J/80 Worlds in Santander, Spain. Now fully recovered, Jay "feels like new again" and sailed to a respectable fourth overall onboard the appropriately named PAINKILLER JANE with a 6-[9]-4-4-3-3-7-1 tally for 28 points.
For more sailing information and regatta results.
Manhasset Fall Series Weekend Blowout
Amongst the fifteen boat J/105 One-Design Class, Kevin Grainger and the gang prevailed against all competitors and sailed well to win overall with fourteen points on their J/105 GUMPTION 3. Strong Long Island Sound sailor Damian Emery and his contingent onboard ECLIPSE finished with eighteen points. And, Nathan Boyle sailing his JOYSEA finished third with 28 points.
In the fun, competitive J/44 One-Design Class, Jeff Willis took CHALLENGE IV to an overall win with thirteen points. Following closely behind was Bill Ketcham on MAXINE. Jim Bishop and crew on GOLD DIGGER managed to hang in there with some tough competition and finish third with seventeen points.
A trio of J/122s continued to race after their J/122 North Americans, the Stamford- Vineyard Race and the American YC Fall Series to close out their Northeast season with the Manhasset Fall Series. Andrew Weiss' CHRISTOPHER DRAGON won IRC3A Class with eight points and just behind were Jamie Anderson's AVALANCHE from Port Washington YC with sixteen points and George Marks' GEORGETOWN III from North Shore YC with twenty two points.
For more sailing regatta information and results.
J/24 Europeans Start Sailing in Stormy Weather
The first day of racing had three races completed in difficult weather conditions. Despite the changeable winds, the crew of the HELLENIC POLICE (be careful with them!) with skipper Alexandros Tagaropoulos managed to finish first in the first race of the day with good sailing choices and very good boat speed. The German boat GUNNI, with Matthias Garzmann on the helm won the second race and the English boat RELOADED with Gavin Watson and his crew, won the last race of the day.
More news on the race, the party, the venue and the incredible Greek hospitality later. For complete sailing results and regatta information: http://www.j24euro2009.iox.gr/
Garmin Hamble Winter Sailing Series – Week 4
In contrast to last weekend’s drifting conditions in bright sunshine, Sunday delivered typical Winter Series conditions above forecast with a constant 20 to 25 knot south Westerly across both Black and White fleet courses. Amongst the Black fleet one-designs ‘JOURNEYMAKER 5’ scored a win in the J/105 fleet.
Within the J/109 fleet it was business as usual as ‘J-DREAM’ scored a fourth race win with ‘SHIVA’, making her first outing in the series, coming home second. At the start J-DREAM (David & Kirsty Apthorp) saw off the challenge of SHIVA (Matthew Boyle) but was held out left waiting for JUMPING JELLYFISH (David Richards) and JUST SO (David & Mary McGough) to tack right, to stay on the plateau and in less tide. East Bramble was the first windward mark and then the fleet had an excellent run back to Hamble Yacht Services before a shorter 2 lap windward/leeward course between Air Canada and Hamble Yacht Services. At the first windward mark, J-DREAM led from SHIVA, a position which she extended for the remainder of the race, winning by nearly 4 minutes. At the halfway stage of the event, J-DREAM has 4 points, ARIA 12 points and OUTRAJEOUS 17 points, while places 5th to 8th are only separated by 4 points.
Over on the White fleet course all three races went off as programed, despite gusts up to 28 knots. A few competitors headed for home before but the start of the third race, but most seemed to relish the tough conditions. ‘Oi!!’ scored a consistent 2, 1, 2 in the J/80 fleet maintaining her overall series lead.
Out for the first time in a J/80 was Robin Fielder and his crew. Paul Fuller, who was part of Robin’s crew had this to say;
‘Well, what a weekend for a test sail ! We were slightly apprehensive about the challenges of three races on a breezy Sunday – a new crew and an owner who hasn’t sailed competitively for two years. However, with some expert tuition from Paul Heys, we quickly got up to speed and by the last race were thoroughly enjoying ourselves, finishing with a win. The J/80 was excellent fun to sail in a breeze and very stable downwind. We found it relatively easy to sail and as test sails go, to come away with a 3, 2, 1 was fantastic. It says much for the layout and the handling characteristics of this great little sportsboat that a new crew can jump onboard and race competitively.’
For more regatta sailing results and information click here.
J/97 Chicago Demos
Rich Stearns reports they've had a number of excellent days for demonstrating the J/97's extraordinary performance in a wide variety of conditions. For those of you in the Great Lakes region, now's a great time to get down to Chicago to get a chance to take a demo sail on a terrific, comfortable, easy-to-sail boat-- customer reactions are similar to what's been heard in Newport and Annapolis- "amazing interior", "great cockpit", "feels like a 40 footer"! Please email Richie Stearns at "rich@stearnsboating.com."
J/80 Tour Update
Word on the street is that upwards of a dozen J/80s have been bought for competing in this years' upcoming J/80 Tour that starts with the Nautica Key West Race Week in Key West, Florida and ends with the J/80 World Championships in Newport, Rhode Island. J/80 Class leaders at the recent J/80 North American Championships in Houston, Texas have seen strong enthusiasm for the J/80 Tour. For more information on this circuit, please contact J/80 Class reps at the J/80 Class Association- http://www.j80.org
New J/111 Speedboat Info
For more details regarding J's latest 36 footer, please check out the J/111 webpage. You'll find an Interior layout depicting the comfortable weekending accommodations, navigation station, galley and spacious dining/ living area. The deck and cockpit plan give you an idea of how we've integrated some of the better features of past J's to give you excellent comfort for day sailing as well as enough ergonomic elbow-room to race a boat of this size. Finally, the profile and baseline technical specifications for DSPL/ Length and SA/ DSPL Upwind and Downwind provide insight as to the horsepower and upside speed potential of the J/111. No question, this will be a fun, easy-to-sail boat that has an extraordinary turn-of-speed when you want it to-- planing off the wind in with finger-tip control on a 60" wheel will make the J/111 a joy to sail. For more information, please contact J/Boats at Ph- +1-401-846-8410 or email - info@jboats.com.