Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Newport Sailboat Show- J/111 Introduction
Team 11th Hour-Sailors For The Sea Win J/24 Worlds
Or, Why "The Moose Is Loose" Is a Winning Formula
(Malmo, Sweden - August 18th)- Well Moose, it took just a few years to get there (e.g. it couldn't have been a better outcome for one of the nicest guys sailing on the planet). Nevertheless, with a crackerjack team skippered by Tim Healey, Team 11th Hour-Sailors For The Sea took the coveted prize- "World Champions of the World"- a.k.a. J/24 Worlds 2010 gold. It was not easy. As described in "The Moose Reports" on SA (Sailing Anarchy), it nearly became "stealing victory from the jaws of defeat." Apologies to all, but it's great reading, so here's the unabridged versions from Scot and friends at SA's "The Moose Is Loose Reports":----------------
August 19th- Today was a good day- "Finally, good starts and good finishes, and deserved. At least a little bit. Gordy stepped up in a big way and got us right on the line both starts (first raced we started bow to chainplate with Ingham who was BFD), we were able to use some speed (and I'd like to say smarts but it's still too early to talk about stuff like that) to pop a 1,2. And no rain. Both races were tough. The first race started with small jibs (though we knew we should have been in the big jib), we hooked a good start and were able to tack right into the great current (cool thing here, the current is all based on where the highs and lows are, the current flows from low to high, the high went south last night so instead of the northerly current of the last week, it went south), we were able to overcome about 10 degrees of pin bias to come across the left side and round first. We did a quick change to the big jib in the way downwind, as did most of the fleet, and though there were a lot of anxious moments downwind (I'll stop whining at some point) and a tricky beat where we hooked to the right again for current, though slightly out of phase, we managed to maintain ahead of Tony Parker, who came with us to go from 5 to 2 on the beat. Good day for the ugly Americans.
The 2nd race was nerve wracker, we missed a little trying to be smart and were pinned going to the left, away from the good current. We weren't quite able to hang with Ian Southworth, who popped out form a pretty good start from the left side, though we weren't able to quite hang with him we both did some fancy swerving to get around a group from the right, Ian rounded right behind a Japanese team in first, we slid into 3rd (don't ask how, stuff happens), we both rolled the Japanese and then we followed Ian around for 2nd. It was a particularly tough race for both Ingham and Parker, they were stuck left and never recovered. Casale, who was probably lying around 2nd gong into that race, also fell victim to the squirrelly breeze which leaves Southworth in 2nd, I think. I haven't looked at results yet, that superstitious thing I've told anyone that asks that I've been in far bigger collapses, I hope we can hold on. Tomorrow is forecast to be light and weird, I hope that's not right, we go well in breeze, in light stuff we have to think a lot more and that's where things go bad. Hopefully I'll give you a good report soon."
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August 21- Moose tells you how to Close The Deal- "Well, we didn't make it easy on ourselves but we held on. Ian Southworth sailed extremely well over the last three races to make a full charge at us, we helped him out a lot by hacking up the first race today, losing three boats on the run to the finish to put the end result in doubt. You may have seen our report from the second day, when I talked about losing three boats at the weather mark. I call this points left on the course. Points you had that you blew. We could have sailed in after our poor first race today as champions, instead we left the whole thing up in the air. For anyone that sails a lot, this is an incredibly important lesson: even in a long series, there are little points that you say coulda, whoulda, shoulda, those are the points that will make the difference down the road. Don't give up on any points you've gained, keep pushing all the time, EVERY point makes a difference. If we had only lost two boats the second day we could have sailed in. If we'd only lost two boats on the run the first race we could have sailed in. Frustrating.Enough ranting, anyone that sails with me knows I whine incessantly, for better or worse (and you can guess which one it is, though most still want to sail with me). Tim did an unbelievable job, total calm within the storm (anyone that sails with him knows there isn't a whole lot of noise from the back of the boat), very fast and particularly high upwind, great concentration and effort. We used a chartered Italian boat from builder Paolo Boido (a truly class guy, deal with him if you can, if not go straight to Dunes) that was very comfortable all the way around the course, having confidence in the boat helps in a lot of decision making. John Mollicone in cockpit made the comment- "who would have ever thought I'd win a Worlds trimming?"
Well, he did, very capable upwind getting the genoa (and jib in the breeze) in better than almost everyone (after never doing it), and calling all the shots downwind (while, as expected, I whined about what he was doing, catching the theme?). Gordy Borges, our bow guy (and former World Champ with Brad Read) was the glue that held the package together, the guy that does the bottom, makes the sandwiches, does the rig, all the crap that no one wants to do, and always with a smile (I think). Dan Rabin, a Lightning stud and newer member to the team, joyfully sat below in all the rain (though today it was sun all the way around) and light air (porn not included), never complained and soaked up the experience (if not the sunshine), the perfect complement for a bunch of guys that sail the boats way too much.For the rest of the fleet, there was a mish-mash of results. Former champion Andrea Casele, though quick, had a couple bad races but held on for third overall. Maurizio Santa Cruz, defending champion, won two races but struggled for consistency. Tony Parker was always fast but suffered a BFD in the last race to drop him to 6th after entering the day 2nd, a tough finish but a testament to Tony and his team for sailing a strong series. Mike Ingham also fell victim to the black flag, he had moments of pure brilliance but consistency was not in the books and he ended falling out of contention today. Overall, though, a good showing from almost every country represented.
I'm really glad this came together, not so much for me, because I have been lucky enough to sail with really good teams and have had success, but for the rest of the guys on our team. I love the whole crew aspect, gathering diverse people and getting the most out of the mix. We were fortunate; we sailed very well for several days and had success. This doesn't always happen, I've finished 2nd three times (in the J/24 Worlds) and the bitter pill is tough to swallow. These guys busted their asses, they got the results. I'm really proud, and glad, to have gotten the chance to sail with them." Thanks to SA for The Moose Report- http://www.sailinganarchy.com For more J/24 Worlds sailing results For Sailing Photo Credits- Magnus Grubbe
Mercedes J/22 North Americans
Fisher Wins Again!
(Buffalo, NY)- This past weekend, over 50 teams from across the United States and Canada sailed on the waters of Lake Erie in the Mercedes-Benz 2010 J/22 North American Championship, hosted by the Buffalo Yacht Club in Buffalo, NY. In the end, J/22 class leader Greg Fisher from Annapolis, MD again proved beyond any reasonable doubt that he's one of North America's most versatile one-design class sailors. Greg and his team of Jeff Eiber, Jo Ann Fisher and Martha Fisher, on their J/22 Team WHAT KINDA GONE finished the event with 30 points over five races. It certainly didn't start out that way for Greg and crew. On the first day, they were in a three-way battle for second.
Chris Doyle of Kenmore, NY dominated day one. Team SOLID LAYER finished the day with just 12 points over four races. A three-way battle ensued for the next spots between Todd Hiller, Greg Fisher and Jim Barnash (28 points). Competitors experienced winds starting around 12 knots, building to 15-20 with large waves. Todd Hiller kicked off the event by winning race one, followed by Canadian Champion Gordon McIlquham and David McBrier. In race two, Terry Flynn took the top spot, trailed by Chris Doyle and Greg Fisher. Chris Doyle had a strong showing in race three, besting John Loe in second and Fisher in third. In the day's final race, Flynn returned to the first position, followed by Fisher and Kevin Doyle.By the last day Sunday the tables had turned on the top three completely, looking nothing like the first day of sailing. No racing was completed on the final day of the regatta due to a lack of consistent winds. After a rare score of 20 in the first race of the event, Fisher tallied two third-place finishes and two second-place finishes. Following Fisher in the silver position is Jim Barnash with 35 points, then Rochester favorite Chris Doyle with 36. For more J/22 North American sailing and results information. Sailing Photo Credits- Tim Wilkes Photography.
YERTLE (the turtle) Wins J/24 Canadian Nationals
"YERTLE had to win the last race and did so by overtaking Lisa Ross in JAMN'IT on the final leg of the last race. Ian and Craig needed Peter Wickwire to finish no better than third, which Peter, in fact, did, fully aware that if Lisa could hold on his SUNNYVALE would win the regatta. Both required Johnny Whynacht in STICKY FINGERS to finish eighth or worse (i.e. a drop), which he unfortunately did by coming in tenth for his worst race in what was otherwise a very consistent series." Incredible. Stupendous. Unbelievable. What other words can you possibly use here (or would the competitors use)!?!?
The event closed with a first class lobster supper and prize giving in the Squadron's Spar Loft attended by more than 150 sailors and officials. Class President Dale Robertson, who did a spectacular job recruiting sponsors, distributed the largesse of Sperry Topsider, Slam clothing and gear, Jackson-Triggs, and others to the countless volunteers who supported the event as well as to top finishers and notable also-rans (e.g., Best Dressed Lisa Ross and Best Comeback Eric Koppernaes). Plaques were distributed to all crew members of the top five boats along with many sponsor-provided items. The event concluded after the YERTLE crew collected their trophy and participants were told to look under their chairs for tags that indicated they had won prizes such as Sperry shoes or Henri Lloyd clothing provided by The Binnacle. A melee ensued and we can only hope that everyone left with shoes and jackets that fit.
By the time the band Big City was warming up for the finale, I have to admit I was too dog tired. It was nice, though, to see Tom Taylor from St. Catherines, who I used to sail with in Kingston, Ontario, and who brought his boat, A1, farther than any other competitor at the event. Tom was hoping for more wind than we provided this time but acknowledged that you couldn't knock the sun, which is usually harder to find in Halifax than breeze.
I got a second wind, myself, when Big City kicked into their version of "Suspicious Minds." I lasted long enough to get a few dances with my wife, Lorna, while the young women of BLACK JACK cut a "vicious rug." Next August, when the J/24 North Americans come to town, we'll see if we can't come up with a shorter line up for measurement, no fog, a touch more breeze, equally comfortable temperatures, and the same good times and terrific competition." So, now Dr. Zeus can relax and go to bed! For more Canadian J/24 Nationals sailing information
J/105 SEALARK Wins Overall Verve Cup
MOMENTOUS Wins J/109s
(Chicago, IL)- The 2010 Verve Cup Offshore Regatta kicked off on a beautiful sunny day in Chicago, with decent winds and all three circles getting at least three races in for the day. Racers did have some challenges with shifty wind conditions, navigating between the lake breeze and the winds from the shore."The challenge on Saturday for the sailors was an offshore southwesterly about 12 knots was battling a lake breeze of about 8-10 knots," explained Chris Bedford, meteorologist for Sailing Weather Service. "Shifts of 20-30 degrees between the two breezes were common. Depending on if you were on the correct side of the shift, you were a winner or a loser."
Circle B was dominated by the 17-boat J/105 Fleet, led by STRIKING, owned by Blane Shea. Close behind are SEALARK and VYTIS who are all within 1 point of each other. The J/105s are tuning up for their North Americans which will be held at Chicago Yacht Club in September. After two bullets and a second place, MOMENTUS leads the J109s also with a great first day.
Nevertheless, with Sunday's sailing under their belts the class leaders in the J/105s had a lot of turnover amongst the leaders. At the end it can only be best exclaimed by eventual regatta winner Clark Pellet on the J/105 SEALARK. "Holy crap", exclaimed Clark, upon realizing he'd not only won first place in the J/105 fleet, but also the prestigious honor of the Overall Verve Cup trophy. The Overall Verve Cup trophy is awarded to the winner of the most competitive fleet in the Verve Cup Offshore regatta."As we say in the J/105 fleet, there's always someone waiting to steal your lunch. And they will," Pellet of Chicago said about the great sailing during the series. "This is a great regatta, the Chicago Yacht Club and Race committee does such an outstanding job, we couldn't be happier." The crew of SEALARK also includes, bowman Shane Montgomery, tactician Russ Radke, mid bowman John Schussler and headsail trimmer Ned Sher. SEALARK scored 33 points to take first place, followed by Dorothy Mietz's LATIS with 42 and Team Weerwing/Mathis's LANE 4 with 43 points. Pre-regatta favorites like Tom Petkus's VYTIS ended up fourth, just two points from second! And Don Wilson's CONVEXITY sailed a very strong series and were easily amongst the leaders by virtue of their three firsts but a DNF and DSQ on their score-card dampened any ability to be in the top three.
The J/109s had a very competitive regatta amongst the seven participants. Kevin Saedi's team on MOMENTUS took the gold and walked off with five first and a second and third to win by six points. George Miz and team on-board VALOR sailed very well (their second regatta on a J/109 other than racing the Chicago-Mackinac Race) to finish in second, nicely bracketing their regatta with firsts in the first and last race. Third was Peter Priede's FULL TILT with 33 points, just beating out David Gustman's NORTHSTAR in fourth with 35 points. In fact, NORTHSTAR came on strong the last day with second best record of the day behind the regatta winner MOMENTUS.
In the handicap world, the J/125 JEANINE sailed by John Roeser took second in PHRF 2. In PHRF 5, the two J/35s gave everyone fits...again. The J//35 BOZO'S CIRUCS sailed by Bruce Metcalf was second and in fourth was the J/35 AFTERSHOCK skippered by William Newman. PHRF 7 was dominated by the resurgent, fun-loving J/30 giants in the greater Midwest. The J/30 AWESOME- Team CHI NOLA won; their worst race was a second! In second was the J/30 PLANXTY sailed by Kate and Dennis Bartley. Third was the always competitive J/27 TRUE NORTH sailed by Dan Arntzen. For more Verve Cup sailing information.
Team Swiss Wins Dennis Conner Challenge!
It is both a historical event as well as a fun event. "Doubting Thomas's" aside, it's a first class program that includes taking in all the wonderful sites and events that New York City has to offer as well as a fabulous social program for the four days of the event. Mayor Bloomberg eat your heart out-- perhaps next year he'll sail, too! For you Newporters, thank goodness the blockade in the War of 1812 by the British worked-- they just took a few bits of pine lumber from those quaint Newport cottages to repair their lumbering, slow warships and ultimately left. Meanwhile, Narragansett Bay was shut down...the beneficiary was "New Amsterdam" (e.g. New York) which became the "new" trading port for the colonies. The rest is history...most amusingly when an ancient Dutch Johnstone "ancestor/farmer" (non-sailor we might add) swapped 1,477 acres of the southern tip known today as "Manhattan's Wall Street" for a farm further inland near another town now called "Princeton" (Wall Street used to flood too much back in the 17th century, not conducive to growing crops).
First place went to Societe Nautique Rolloise (Switzerland) with 14 pts, in second was the fun-loving, Mardi Gras-loving, beads wearing gang from Southern Yacht Club (USA) with 15 points. And, not to be outclassed by any measure were the lucky Leprechauns in 3rd from the Royal Cork Yacht Club (Ireland) with 17 pts. Sixteen yacht clubs from around the world participated in the 4-day regatta raced on J/24s on the Hudson River-- lots laughs and many tears of joy and happiness as all departed to the seven seas around the world. Next time, join us!! For more J/24 Dennis Conner International YC Challenge.
J/122 PUGWASH Wins In New York YC Cruise
The Queen's Cup, a marquee event of the Annual Cruise, saw Dave Murphy's J/122 PUGWASH (pictured above sailing off Key West) finish second overall by 20 seconds (but winning class)! Two days later, on August 10, Dave's J/122 PUGWASH also finished second overall in the equally iconic Astor Cup by 22 seconds (but winning class)! Ouch! That hurts...two huge chunks of silverware lost were it not for some lobster pots on rudders, a few slow tacks and a better spinnaker take-down. Nevertheless, the PUGWASH gang, like George Washington forging across the Delaware River, persevered against all odds and took first overall for IRC 2 for the Squadron Runs. For more New York YC Cruise sailing information.
J/105 SoCal Championship
Gary Mozer wins with solid team
(Long Beach, CA)- After posting three first-place finishes in a row on Saturday, local favorite Gary Mozer's J/105 CURRENT OBSESSION 2 hung on Sunday to take first place honours in the second annual J/105 SoCal Championship hosted by Long Beach Yacht Club and sponsored by Ullman Sails, North Sails, West Marine and JK3 Nautical Enterprises.In the final two races, Mozer finished third and sixth keeping a four point spread between himself and second place finisher Dennis and Sharon Case's WINGS. With consistent winds of 10-14 knots throughout the weekend, the competitive 17 boat fleet enjoyed long legs, lots of passing opportunities and tight racing. "Today we enjoyed a much deserved victory," Mozer said. "Twice in the last nine days I've been in the hospital with sciatica and in a lot of pain. It was my team that deserves the credit."
Mozer's team of John Busch, Robert 'Peaches' Wittle, Whit Batchelor, Peter Isaac and Liz 'Tinkerbell' Tran kept the boat in the fight after he began to have severe back and muscle pain near the end of the day Sunday. "My back was hurting so bad I had trouble concentrating," said Mozer, "but the key was the years of teamwork we have had together and our consistency. We also had a little help from someone you may have heard of. Dave Ullman went out with us earlier in the week during one of our practices and his coaching helped us a lot."A good part of the fleet is from the San Diego area and, two years ago, a call from fleet member Dennis Case started the ball rolling to create this event. Long Beach Yacht Club found a date for the regatta and it has now enjoyed two years of great racing and great racing conditions. The reason they wanted to race in Long Beach?
"Well, there are two reasons we chose Long Beach," explained Case. "The first reason is that Long Beach is pretty much the center of the West Coast J/105 fleet. We figured boats coming from either down south or up north would have to come about the same distance. The second reason is the great sailing conditions. The wind is reliable and we race inside the breakwater in fairly flat seas that allow us to enjoy close, fast racing. We are delighted with what we experience here and couldn’t ask for anything better." With his second place in the regatta Case feels he and his team did quite well in the local conditions. "We tried to slow him [Mozer] down a bit," said Case. "I held him down as much as possible on the starts, but by doing that it put us in a world of hurt for boat position on the fleet. He was untouchable on Saturday so we tried to catch up today by staying ahead of him."
Local sailing legend Barney Flam and his boat FLAMBUOYANT sailed to third place in the regatta with his equally skilled son Steve calling tactics and handling main sheet duties. "It was consistency in that last race that helped us a lot," Flam said. "The race was well run and the race committee work was very good."
At the end of the two-day event, there was a three-way tie for fourth place. The tie-breaker was the first place finish in race five by San Diego's Chuck Driscoll and Tom Hurlburt's boat BLOW BOAT. "We tightened the rig and did a few things which helped us to sail better," Driscoll said. "Saturday we were weren't quite right and after the adjustments we were able to finish first in the last race today. We never sail in really good breezes like this and we worked on getting good starts this weekend."
Giving a final comment on their success this weekend Mozer said, "It's all the little details and consistency that wins races." For more J/105 SoCal Championship sailing information
J/100 & J/105 Win There & Back Race
The J/100 WHAT'S UP, sailed by Paul and Sue Herer won the Double Handed Division.
What is even cooler that another J, Mark Gannon's J/105 GANGBUSTERS, won the Single Handed Division!
J/30 BLUE MEANIE YouTube Video
While Steve Buzbee's BLUE MEANIE crew was winning the J/30 Northamericans, other friends on the water did their own version of SA's "On-the-water-Anarchy".Check out this amusing video of the J/30s racing off Marblehead, MA- hosted Boston Yacht Club. It was clear this team was determined to have fun-- powered by Corona Extra Light, it's a great on-board video. See it on YouTube.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
SAIL- J/111 Boat Test
The Latest From J/Boats Is All About Performance
(Boston, MA)- Adam Cort recently did a test sail of the J/111 and interviewed designer Alan Johnstone: "According to designer Al, the brief for the new 36ft 6in J/111 one-design was for a boat that he and the rest of the J/Boats crew would want to sail—-- and it shows. During a recent daysail off Newport, Rhode Island, hull #1 reveled in picture perfect sailing conditions, with winds out of the east in the mid to high teens. Sailing to windward, the boat was balanced and easy to drive through the moderate swells. Off the wind, the boat lit up under a massive, but easy to handle A-sail." Read more about Adam's interview here. SAIL's J/111 video.
Newport Sailboat Show- Sept 16-19
SAIL Best Around The Buoys Contest
Best Around the Buoys Highlights:
* Winning team earns regatta entry, housing, dockage, fast race-boat entry in a PHRF division and more (airfare not included)
* New 36-foot J Boat well-equipped by industry partners
* New suit of North racing sails for the 36' J/Boat
* Go-fast bottom job supplied by Pettit
* Hardware and soft goods by Harken Yacht Equipment
To enter, fill in the information below, including your 2010 Race Resume and a 200-word max essay on why you think your team is ready to compete at Key West. One entry per team. Contest runs between July 28th and Oct 15th. The Winner announced on or about November 1st. For more SAIL Magazine Contest information.
J/Fests Southwest and West!
For the Texas "hoe-down" version, be sure to attend the J/Fest Southwest being held for the first time on October 16-17 in Galveston Bay and hosted by the Lakewood Yacht Club. As LYC Race Committee Chairman Dwight Bengtson explained, “J/Fest Regattas have been held for over 25 years in such venues as Annapolis, Newport Beach, CA; New Orleans, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle. This will be a great opportunity for Lakewood to promote and support a national caliber event.” One design fleets slated for the J/Fest Regatta include J/22, J/24, J/29, J/80, J/105 and the J/109. All J/Boats are welcome to race in the PHRF classes and in the J/Cruise class. Any J/Boat is eligible to participate and the regatta organizers intend to offer several exciting formats for the non One Design racers. To learn more detail about registering for the J/Fest Southwest, please check the home page of Lakewood Yacht Club.
Mercedes J/22 North Americans
American Rebirth At J/24 Worlds?
(Malmo, Sweden - August 18th)- After three days of racing at the 2010 J/24 World Championship, Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio (USA) has kept the 54 boat fleet on schedule with six of the ten scheduled races completed. With a drop race now recorded, and with American Tim Healy successfully gaining redress on a starting line penalty, Healy now holds an 11 point lead over fellow American Tony Parker in second. This is quite a turn-around of events for the top Americans, having had all kinds of trouble getting off the starting lines and sailing seemingly every which way but the right way for the first few days. In fact, after the first four races, Europeans dominated, taking 7 of top 10 places with Brazilian World Champion Maurizio Santa Cruz not having found second gear and fellow South American Matias Pereira from Argentina sailing strong to stay in second. Now the tables have changed and racing continues through Friday. For more J/24 Worlds sailing and results.
J/109 BLUR Wins Goteborg Offshore Race
The forecasts couldn't have been better. SE 10-15 knots going to lighter NW during the evening. All the boats got off at 1100 on Friday the 13th (not the best starting date?) and after some short and intensive legs to get out of the archipelago everyone hoisted their kites for the run north towards Marstrand. Perfect conditions but tricky winds and current reshuffled the standings early on. And when the fleet got that promised 180 degree shift on the beat over to Skagen, everyone knew that this race would demand 100% focus and concentration all the way until the finish.
The night proved to be a magical one. Warm downwind sailing in 4-8 knots of wind, a million stars, lots of falling stars (some counted over fifty) and sparkling seas. And BLUR managed to stay with, and even overtake, all the 40-footers except a new First 40. Suddenly they all wished they had a sprits and asymmetrical spinnakers!
After a glorious sunrise, the fleet beat north again along the Swedish coast. Once again fantastic conditions and close racing, especially among the 40-footers. And after 26 hours of racing, BLUR managed to beat most of the 40-footers on the water to a comfortable win on handicap with over an hour in both IRC and SRS rating systems. For more Goteborg Offshore Race sailing information
J/105 ARBITRAGE Wins Summer Keelboat
Chester Race Week Fun
J/24 and J/29 Fleet Love Fest
(Chester, Nova Scotia, Canada)- The beautiful little village of Chester played host to another wonderful Race Week. The racing concluded with the last classes crossing the finish lines in the late afternoon and the crews anxiously waited to learn the results on the boards at Chester Yacht Club. Many of the boats sail in handicap fleets which have to be calculated before the results are final."The weather and wind conditions could not have been better" said Randy Stevens, chair of this year’s regatta. "The winds were light earlier on but filled in on Friday and Saturday to make for excellent, competitive racing without the drama of gales and foul weather" Stevens added. "The regatta did not experience any unpleasant events and protests were few".
A total of 142 yachts competed in 12 classes on three different courses over the four day event which is the largest keel boat regatta in Canada. Boats were registered from all over Nova Scotia plus three from Prince Edward Island and two from New Brunswick. For those viewing the racing from shore or on the water they were treated to a kaleidoscope of color with the spinnakers billowing and pulling the boats to the finish lines. The yachts varied from the 23ft Bluenose class to the magnificent classic yachts and the large ocean racers.The social side was not neglected with Barbeques and parties every night until the wee hours. The popular Hopping Penguins Band entertained on both Thursday and Friday evenings. The festivities finished with an appearance of a band 'The Halifax Pirates' in full privateer regalia.
In the A2 Fleet, the J/35s sailed well, finishing 4th and 5th for the week against a slew of Beneteau 36.7s. Gary Sullivan's J/35 SUMROO was 4th with a 7-7-5-2-3-7 record for 24 points, beating his stablemate Richard Oulton's J/35 WHISTLER'S AIR on a tie-breaker!
In the A3 Fleet, the J/92 POOHSTICKS sailed by Colin Mann finished second with a 1-3-2-2-2 record, to lose by only one point the top of the podium!
For the Cruising Fleet, the J/120 BRILLIANCE from Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron sailed beautifully to finish first with a 1-1-1-5 record. Also participating in their class were Reg Goodday's J/44 AKUBRA and Mike Kennedy's J/105 GRAND CRU.
The J One-Designs had some great sailing with a good turnout for both classes. The J/24s had seven boats participating. After the final gun, it was John Whynacht's STICKY FINGERS that took the gold, with Gerg Blunden's ADRENALIN RUSH taking silver and Jamie Storey's WAVE RUNNER the bronze.
The J/29s had an excellent fleet with nine boats racing. After a real donnybrook of a fight, it was the "dogs" on DOG PARTY that took first place, sailed by a bunch of characters from Charlottetown Yacht Club and ably captained by Terry McKenna and crew. Second was Chris MacDonald sailing SCOTCH MIST and third overall was Larry Creaser's JAEGER from the host Chester Yacht Club. For more Chester Race Week sailing information.
J/24 Worlds Report- by "Moose"
Sweden is a nice place, very friendly (and blond) people everywhere who are very helpful and almost all speak English (I thought this was just another example of dumb Americans only knowing English until I realized that of 17 channels on TV, 13 are full time English speaking shows with Swedish subtitles, the kids grow up on English). Despite the usual measurement hassle (and only two boats found with illegal lead encased, other than that it went pretty smoothly, though long, for the fleet) we’ve had a pretty good time getting acclimated to the area (though reading street signs here is no easy chore). We’re staying right next to the Twisted Torso (shown) which has aptly been named the Twisted Sister. We’re told this is one of the top ten innovative architectural designs, it just looks cool when you get next to it and look straight up. As a landmark, it works because it towers over everything, whenever you’re lost you just head for it and viola, boat park and apartment.
Winner of the practice reach was Tony Parker of the US (2nd in last week’s Nationals), we were doing just fine but made the decision to tack for the weather mark right around the leeward mark while in 3rd, we were overstanding again when the mark got picked up and moved to the other side of all the boats reaching down from the mark. Mark change? Well, no one said there would be one, no signals. Whatever, it’s a practice race, hope it gets better for the real deal. In practice runs, everyone we’ve sailed against seems fast, particularly the Italians, defending champ Mauricio Santa Cruz and Americans Parker and Mike Ingham. I’m not sure where we are on this list, we have a charter boat from Italy that seems quite good but until we actually get on the starting line in earnest we’ll be guessing. Forecast for today is starting around 20 knots and dying to about 12 by the end of the day. Forecast includes, of course, rain.
Update:
Nice day today, 15-25, small jibs all day (though we thought about the big jib (read: me pushing for it….it would have been a mistake) for the last beat). Matias Periera smoked everyone, 1,2. We had two really bad starts but were able to hang in for a 2,4. Mike Ingham did a great job in the 2nd race, lost Periera near the finish but got him at the line, we were able to pass Southworth on the last beat to complete a comeback from 15th just before the weather mark, long painful race. The committee was having a hard time keeping themselves anchored before the 2ns start, giving one boat time to go in and get a kite to replace the one they blew up (not sure where that stands in the J-24 class rules) but were able to get the race off, some funky stuff that may lead to a protest of the race, hope not. First race had lots of broaches, best shot though was an upwind broach of a port tacker who didn’t see the starboard guy coming along, full on bat turn with the jib cleated, keel completely out. Who says J-24’s aren’t entertaining? 2nd overall to a Periera and just ahead of a very fast German boat, forecast for tomorrow is not a lot of breeze. Also, not a lot of rain. If it doesn’t rain again I don’t care how we do, I’m sick of being wet." Read more about Moose's exploits this week sailing the J/24 Worlds on Sailing Anarchy.com- http://www.sailinganarchy.com
Nantucket Race Week Friends
Nantucket YC was hosting the Nantucket Race Week this past week. It's an eight-day experience that marshals the entire Nantucket community together in a fun-filled week of regattas, awards ceremonies, and parties. The races provide sport for everyone from young dinghy sailors and families in the household one designs to grand prix racers at the very top of their profession. Among the event features was the IOD Pro/Am event with highly accomplished guest sailors among the 12 entrants. Remarkably, there were J friends, alumni and crew on nearly every boat listed as amateur/pro, including on the winner- AMERICAN (Jim Bishop and Dave Ullman), 2nd- PEOPLE'S BOAT (Mark Reynolds), 3rd- BRAVO (Dee Smith), 4th- WINDY POINT (Gary Jobson), 5th- TANGO (Kimo Worthington), 6th- VICTOR (Chuck Allen), 7th- CAPE COD (Heather Gregg and Karl Anderson), 8th- SAILNEWPORT (Jesse Smith and Mike Toppa), 9th- CORINTHIAN (Robbie Doyle), 10th- WHISKY (Whitey Willauer and Kevin Farrar), and 11th- ALPHA (Tom Whidden). For more Nantucket Race Week info- http://www.nantucketraceweek.org/
J/Cruising Community Updates
The J Cruising community continue the adventures around the world, below are a selection of their excellent "blogs" written by passionate sailors publishers.* The J/42 JARANA continues their epic voyage around the Pacific. Continue to read about Bill and Kathy Cuffel's big adventure cruising the South Pacific headed for New Zealand. Their blog is here: http://www.svjarana.blogspot.com/
* Prolific writers, Bill and Judy Stellin, sailed their J/42 JAYWALKER around the Mediterranean and Europe and back across the Atlantic for nearly three years. Their blogs/journals can be found at- http://blog.mailasail.com/jaywalker. The earlier journals have been compiled into two self published books which can be found at: http://www.blurb.com. Search for "SEATREK: A Passion for Sailing" by Bill Stellin or William Stellin." Fun reading when rocking back in a chair watching your storm-lashed windows take a beating in the gale roaring outside and listening to the crackle of a roaring fire. It is winter "down under" you know. The Argentineans are freezing.
* John and Mary Driver are sailing their J/130 SHAZAM for extended cruising in the Atlantic basin. At this time, John and Mary will have just finished their double-handed crossing of the Atlantic, landing in Portugal on their J/130 Shazam. Read the latest news at http://www.sailblogs.com/member/shazam/.
* Several J/160 owners are island hopping across the world's oceans, fulfilling life long dreams to cruise the Pacific islands, the Caribbean islands, the Indian Ocean and all points in between. Anyone for Cape Horn and penguins?? Read more about their adventures and escapades (like our J/109 GAIA, J/42s PAX and JAYWALKER and J/130 SHAZAM friends above). SALACIA, the J/160 owned by Stephen and Cyndy Everett has an on-going blog describing some of their more amusing experiences (http://www.salacia1.blogspot.com). Susan Grun and her husband on the J/160 AVANTE are also sailing in the Pacific archipelago, read more about their great adventures on their blog (http://web.me.com/susangrun).
J/65 at the Newport International Boat Show
If you have a passion for speed and comfort, the J/65 BRAND NEW DAY is in a league of its own. The J/65 is the flagship passage maker in the J Boat line-- the ultimate private sailing yacht for sailing enthusiasts. The J/65 has exceptional performance under non-overlapping 
headsails, double-handed ease of operation, minimum on-deck maintenance, luxurious accommodations, stunning aesthetics, and great value. Finishing 2nd in IRC in the 2010 Newport – Bermuda Race, sailing with air conditioning and wine with each meal, the J/65 is a yacht that performs exceptionally well and in style and comfort. For more on the race experience. BRAND NEW DAY will be at the Newport International Boat Show September 16 – 19 in Newport, Rhode Island. To arrange a viewing, contact Jeff Brown- jeff@jk3yachts.com
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
J/109 JEROBOAM Wins Cowes Week
J/122 JINJA 2nd IRC 2
(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- Racing conditions for this year's Cowes Week could be described as challenging interspersed with "champagne sailing" for those sun gods and goddesses looking to enjoy the "southern climate" of England; enjoying all the Solent could possibly muster over the week long event.At the end, the J/109s proved they're the class to beat. With excellent one-design competition, it was clear it would not be a "cake walk" for the winners atop this class. Nevertheless, the mid-week leader continued to sailing consistently to take first-- Rick Garret's JEROBOAM won with a convincing record of 1-3-1-2-1-2 for ten points to finish 13 points clear of second place finisher Adam and Helen Wright's VELVET ELVIS (7-4-2-3-6-1). Third was Mike Smith's ZELDA with a 8-9-1-5-1-3 record, fourth was Matt Boyle's SHIVA and fifth was Glyn Locke and Gill Ross' JAMBHALA.
After a slow start, the RAF J/80 Team started firing their gatling guns (firing off a few rounds of bullets to dazzle their competitors!). Simon Ling's RAF SPITFIRE crew sailed a very strong series to dominate their class with a 1-1-1-1-2-1 record for seven points, well clear of second place finisher Sebastian Ripard's AGAINSTMALARIA.COM (a family crew from Malta). Third was John Cooper's OI! and falling off the pace a bit towards the end was early series leader, Thor Askeland's ELLE S'APPELLE, dropping to fifth.
The J/122s were quite successful racing both handicap and one-design class within IRC 2 Class. On handicap, Ian Matthews' JINJA climbed into second overall for the series and Rodolphe Marchais' JOLLY JOKER hung onto their mid-week position of sixth overall. In one-design class, JINJA, JOLLY JOKER were first and second, respectively, followed by David Richard's JOLLY in third, David Hunt's JACOB'S LADDER in fourth and Robin Myerscough's MINT JULEP in fifth.
In IRC 5, J/97s seemingly dominated their class dueling it out with ex-J/39 owner Adam Gosling on YES! The J/97s had taken mostly firsts, seconds and thirds. Grant Gordon's FEVER ultimately got second place with a fantastic tally of 1-1-2-2-2, just one point from first place! Lying fourth was Jim Dick's JACKAROO with a 3-3-3-7-3 record, losing on a tie-breaker for third overall.
In conjunction with Cowes Week, the J/92s were running their J/92 Nationals. The new class Champion is Steve Etheridge and Andrew Roberts' JUST IN TIME finish first with a solid 1-2-2 record. Second was Andrew Dallas' HULLABALOO with a 4-3-1 tally and third was Mark Lloyd's JUNGLE FEVER with a 5-1-5 score.
Racing in IRC configuration, the J/92's sailed six races. The winners were Dallas' HULLABALOO (4-3-1-5-3-1) followed in second by Greenhalgh and Bexon Taylor's J'RONIMO (3-6-3-4-1-9) and third was Pip Tyler's NEILSON REDEYE (7-4-4-1-4-9). For more Cowes Week sailing information.
J/80 Gotland Runt- Personal Report
* J/80 Gotland Runt Report- back in July, a J/80 crushed the fleet in the huge (800+ boat) Gotland Runt Race in Sweden. It's a popular race, in fact, the most popular offshore race all summer in Sweden. Our J/80 friends produced an amusing report of their escapades on the J/80 Sweden site- here's the translation: "After an amazing second place in the MP Race, we had to ask ourselves if we'd do the Gotland Runt. Well, when we mess with the port security guards, we always get a good place at Lokholmen. Since this was our fifth round Gotland with the J/80, and we had a proven track record, we did nothing about the boat in Mandan, so went and bathed in the sauna instead as preparation for the race!! On Tuesday, Pete scrubbed the boat inside so that it would be livable for the race. Roffe came with the raft and rockets and with Thomas to replace Lucas in Gotland Runt. Floating objects were taped with MK-tape products, our home-built kitchen was mounted on the mast and the radio was tested. It did not work. Hah! Some channels worked, but not others. But after successfully going out and trying the radio on open water, we were ready for inspection. The inspectors were zealous. But we had an eye on the rules and came through with a clean protocol.Now it was time to provision the boat with water, food and clothing. Someone ran around an island, someone drank a beer or two and someone else cooked. All drank rose wine. Skippers meeting did not mean much but we met many new acquaintances. Quickly back to the Onions for SM champagne, grill and rodtjut. Then, sauna (again) and early to bed.
Full speed on with wind and sun. We decided to leave as late as possible to reduce the stress of the sun. We started 12:15 in the second start, SRS Alpha 2 class. We started almost at the top of the windward jib-top. I went there to keep the height so we had to quickly switch to the jib. The start was decent but not great. We were a bit ahead of the second J/80, Bjorn Nabben. Small boat and light winds. In order to sail undisturbed, we chose the right edge. The wind would turn against the West as it seemed clear as a bell. I turned the other way as 200 boats safely drove us on the road to Alma. After Alma was the first single reach, but then opened it up and we sat down and then jib-top gennaker. We again chose the right edge. In the dark at Gotska Sandon it blew fresh. We topped the 13.8 knots on flat water, beautiful. Now we cooking against many boats. When it brightened we saw Bear Nabben behind us with jibtop. They quickly switched to gennaker. Good speed down to Faro. The distance to the Bear Nabben increased. After Faro it would promise to be a hard leg. We sailed well against a lot of big expensive boats. No one could go down and rest. Nuts and candy on the edge. We were near shore so we could download status and saw that we were 9th at Faro. Fantastic!In the afternoon, after Gotland southeast coast, we continued at first to sail on boats before but Faluden turned it against and it faded out briefly. First jibtop and then jib. Some of the larger boats we sailed against were now caught up. But we did a nice, tight rounding of Hoburgen and sat again. We know now that we have been 4th at Ostergarn. We walked along the Charles Islands, including 39 footer who started 15 minutes before us. We gave ourselves room far out on the route to Visby, jibe quickly and cut out to sea again. We aimed to go up to 5nm west of rumbline to avoid expected Bleken north breeze off Gotland. It turned, however, so we ended up on the east side of rumbline instead. We switched to jibtop and fought to get onto rumbline again. We could now see 3-4 boats in front of us and two behind. Given that this was a J/80 weather, we knew we sailed fast. We put the "pedal to the metal."
At the finish, we could see a nearly empty harbor! We picked a case of beer and clean clothes from the motor boat on Lokholmen. After we submitted our finish papers, it was soon clear that we would win our class at the estimated time. We are led by more than 4 hours at Gotska Sandon. Sauna, beer, dykarbar, swagger and bragging on Almagrundet. We fried them! Sandhamn Fried them! We won our class, we had also won the second Lysklassen on the short course!
At the winners banquet for our class, they described us with these words- "The Winner-in-class SRS alpha2 Is a J/80, a small boat with a tremendous speed." After the ceremony we went full speed for Viggbyholm Batlyft. What a fantastic week!! For more Swedish sailing sea stories and Swedish J/80 News- http://www.j80.nu
Aussie J/24 Wins Winter Series
* Australian J/24s Show The Bigger Boats How It's Done! The Winter Series at Middle Harbour Yacht Club only had one J/24 entered this year Brett Hudson's WILDFIRE skippered by Grant Dawkin-- and boy, did they show the bigger yachts how it's done!! Over 10 races, WILDFIRE produced 3 wins and 2 thirds (lovely Henri Lloyd jackets for all the crew!), taking them to an overall series win against the bigger boats! A generally light wind series allowed the Js to pull away from the big boatS-- let's hope more J/24s decide to enter next winter and really show the fleet how its done!! For more news from J/24s sailing Australia- http://j24australia.com.au/
Dillon Open Regatta- World's Highest Regatta
J/22s, J/24s, J/80s Need Oxygen Masks?
(Dillon, Co)- On the first weekend of August, the Dillon Yacht Club again hosted the world's highest regatta at 9,017 ft above sea level. Racing was held on beautiful Lake Dillon in Dillon, Colorado (a town about 70 miles west of Denver high-up in the Rocky Mountains) where the sailors enjoyed sunny days, insanely shifty, puffy winds (vertical micro-bursts?) and spectacular views of the snow-capped mountains ringing this spectacular lake.Participating in this years regatta were one-design fleets of J/22s, J/24s and J/80s, with a total of 25 J's participating-- a huge turnout for such rarified air!
In the J/22s, Bill Darling sailed his CAMP ROBBER to six firsts, dominating the eleven boat J/22 fleet and winning by 12.5 points. Second was David Baker sailing the appropriately named UP FOR AIR (remember, they are sailing over a mile high in the air!), sailing to a 3-3-2-4.5-3-3 record for 18.5 points. Third was Lyn Nicks on WALK OF SHAME (who as the inspiration for that name?) with a 2-4-4-2-5-4 tally for 21 points. The J/22s had a great time and it's wonderful to see the fleet continue to grow.
The J/24s are one of Lake Dillon's oldest one-design keelboat fleets, having been formed back in the late 70s with luminaries like ski-boot legend Denny Hanson racing avidly over the years. Still hanging tough and having a wonderful time sailing Dillon's crazed wind patterns were ten boats from around the Rocky Mountain states. This year, Greg Johnson sailed PINOTAGE to a pretty convincing win with a 4-1-1-1-2-1 record for 10 points, nine points clear of second place. Jill Nelson (you go girls!!) was second sailing FLY MO'Js with a 1-2-5-2-5-4 score for 19 points. Third was Matt Weiler on SHOOTING STAR, starting out slow but finishing with a flourish, getting a 7-4-2-5-1-2 tally for 21 points.The J/80s are beginning to build their class on the lake and this year saw four boats entered. In the end, Kurt Vanderwall traded off 1sts and 2nds with David Leavenworth to determine the regatta leader. After the smoke cleared, it was Kurt's HENDRIX that took it with 5 firsts and a second over David's HARMATTAN with five seconds and a first. For more Dillon Open Sailing information.
BLUE MEANIE Wins J/30 North Americans
In what may be a record turnout in recent years for the J/30s, seventeen boats showed up for the NA's for some great racing. The top three spots were hotly contested with only six points separating the top three at the end of the seven race (one throw-out) regatta. The winners, Steve Buzbee's well-oiled machine on BLUE MEANIE, sailed well to consistently place in the top five, garnering a 1-2-1-1-7-1-5 record. Second only two points back and coming on very strong in the later half of the regatta were Bengt Johansson's cast of characters on FUZZY WUZZY, racing to a 4-1-6-2-1-2-3 score. Rounding out the top three were Bill Saltonstall and gang aboard ARABELLA, sailing to a 2-5-3-4-3-3-2 tally.
The J/30 Class has gotten well-organized and have made great efforts to ensure J/30 owners are having fun and enjoying the camaraderie of one-design class racing-- taking a few pages out of other J One-design organizations like the J/24 Australian Class and J/80 class, the J/30s are providing a great class website along with forums and current news and information about class members and their activities aboard. BTW, the artwork is credited to long-time J/30 sailor, Martha Quigley-- she was part of the Starlight Express crew that to this day still holds the fastest time to finish in the Marblehead to Halifax race. She also has a history with the J/30's in that her brother had one for a number of years here in Marblehead and she spent quite a bit or time racing on it. See Martha's gallery of work at- http://www.landfallgallery.com/ Read more about sailing the J/30 Class and their NA's
ECLIPSE Wins J/105 West Passage Regatta
J/105 Narragansett Bay Championship Event #3
(Wickford, RI)- The final race of the West Passage Regatta marked the end of the Narragansett Bay Championship as well. With good breezes both days, the eighteen boat J/105 fleet enjoyed great racing on the northern part of Narragansett Bay sailing just off the Quonset Naval Air Station. The strong southwest thermal breezes were shiftier than normal and made it difficult even for the local sailors to divine the best tactics and strategies all weekend long. Congratulations to the Wickford YC for conducting an excellent event, with eight races run in two days- four per day!Damian Emery has been on a roll recently. After slowly getting started in the SailNewport Regatta back in June, Damian's ECLIPSE team took the New York YC Race Week in J/105s and has now "sealed the deal" to not only win the Wickford Regatta (1-2-5-4-1-1-2-1) but win the first Narragansett Bay Championship as well. Well done mates! Second was Fred Darlington on TONTO with a great series, sailing to a 5-3-1-2-3-2-5-2 record. After a strong start and leading after the first day, it appeared the wheels fell off the shopping trolley of Bruce Stone's POWER PLAY-- starting with a 2-1-2-1 score, then fading to a DSQ-4-9-5 record on Sunday to finish third. Class leaders Joerg Esdorn and Duncan Hennes on KINCSEM sailed consistently to finish fourth, just two points clear of Andrew Kennedy's BAT IV who finished fifth. BAT IV came on strong on Sunday with a 2-3-1-3 record, but it wasn't enough to crack the top three and get the podium finish.
In the end, Damian's ECLIPSE team were ecstatic to have earned a brand new NORTH SAILS VMG J/105 Asymmetric Spinnaker as part of the spoils for winning the regatta. With a big, cheshire cat grin, Damian was heard remarking, "this will only make us go faster next time!" That may, or may not, be good news for their competitors! For more J/105 Wickford Regatta and sailing info.
J/22 Travemunder Woch Regatta
JABBADABBADOO Wins The Party!
(Travemunder, Germany)- in the first weekend of August, the J/22 German class hosted their renowned Travemunder Woche Party--- er, sailing regatta. Here's an amusing story from Team JABBADABBADOO that hail from the Netherlands J/22 fleet, daring to venture across the border, trailer their boat after the J/22 Worlds to parts unknown up north where different tribes of J/22 sailors lurk, awaiting in the shallows to launch an ambush on unsuspecting sailors who haven't cracked a smile in weeks (if not years!). Here's JABBADABBADOO's report-"From all the German J/22 sailors, we had heard that we had to go to the Travemunder Woche to party and sail this huge event. So nicely convinced by them, we packed our JABBADABBADOO! and went to Germany!
We even convinced our favorite German sailor to join us (and even more important) to train us- "Welcome on board of the JABBADABBADOO Mssr. Falko! And training we needed, from rigging to trimming to maneuvers.
The first day brought wind, a lot of wind-- our cowboy attitude in hoisting the spinnaker was instantly punished-- we broached big-time, and we went swimming (a complete Stan and half a Nadine), "J down for the count", we're in the water, but Falko was already at the spinnaker halyard, rescuing us, our J/22 and keeping our third place in the race! Lessons learned-- release the spinnaker, don't panic, and enjoy the ride, the J will be up in 20 seconds!
With a third and a ninth place we were completely happy with that day, having already exceeded all our expectations. Time to celebrate with all the other J sailors on board the beautiful four-masted ship PASSAT and later for cocktails and music to the Travemunder Party (all promises proved true-- it is an excellent place to sail AND to party)!Two more days ahead and we started the second day again with more wind than predicted (but thankfully a bit less than the day before). After a 5th place (involving some more swimming crew-members) we went on with a steep learning curve, leading to an incredible (for us) second and first place in our J/22.
We celebrated this in all forms at the end of this day with a BBQ organised by the class association (yummmy, such nice Bratwurste) and well deserved German beer!
The third racing day brought no wind and we could just enjoy the sail (and tow back).
It was such a great weekend, a superb party, a fantastic sail and even more important great company on our boat, but also on shore with all the other J/22 sailors!
And we know that we have so much to "thank" Falko who coached us perfectly and proved to us that our boat can be fast and point! The race results were great, but the learning curve thanks to Falko's training was much more important to us. Thank you!" Most respectfully, Team JABBADABBADOO- Nadine Fritz, Audrey Paterson, Stan Heltzel und Falko Braun- pictured here. Team website- http://jabbadabbadoo.eu/ For more Travemunde Woch Regatta sailing information.
LITTLE FEAT Wins J/80 USA Tour #5
Buzzards Bay Regatta Breezy Affair
(Marion, MA)- The annual Buzzards Bay Regatta was hosted this year by Marion Yacht Club; they also provided support as the fifth stop of the J/80 class USA Tour. It was nearly postcard perfect conditions, with the warm weather feeding the strength of the thermal breezes, making for classic Buzzards Bay conditions-- short steep chop and steady 15-20 knot winds. The regatta also served as another "warm up" event for the upcoming J/80 North Americans in Buzzards Bay in September and the J/80 World Championship in Newport later in October.Prevailing in these conditions were the family team of Jeff and Rod Johnstone racing their J/80 LITTLE FEAT to a very consistent score of 2-5-1-1-2-4-4-1-4 for 19 points, managing to win over a strong contingent of twenty-seven boats, including past J/80 World and North American Champions such as Jay Lutz and Kerry Klingler. Second in the regatta was Kerry Klingler with a 4-3-3-8-1-6-dsq-2-2 score of 29 points. Third was the team of Jay Lutz and Gary Kamins on FIRED UP, sailing to a 1-4-5-10-6-1-10-7-1 for 35 points. J/80 Class newcomers Will Crump on GULDFAXE and Brian Keane on SAVASANA are rapidly rising the learning curve and were strong contenders throughout the series despite a few missteps early in the series, getting 5th and 6th, respectively for the series.
The J/24s had a strong, very competitive 16 boat fleet. Ryan Walsh sailing SKETCHY AT BEST won by just four points despite nearly dominating the series with a 1-1-2-2-1-1-1-1-3 record for 10 points. Just behind giving them a serious run for the money was John Van Dalen sailing ARNOLD GOES TO HOLLYWOOD with a 3-2-1-1-2-2-3-2-1 tally for 14 points. Third was Margaret Borden sailing HEFFAH with a 2-3-3-5-4-4-4-3-6 score for 28 points. For more Buzzards Bay sailing information.
BABY J Wins J/80 Deauville Open
"We still had to deal with many weather changes throughout the four days. The chop bothered us the most, because it was suddenly longer than usual and much higher," stressed skipper Jean Francois Guionet. "We had to fight and play hard in order to do well."
Deauville and local fleet President Laurent Chauvin, who managed to get two wins, finished third. The Deauville J/80 fleet did very well in the event, with a fifth place for the other crew Philippe Szellos. As always, the skillful sailors from the Cherbourg J/80 fleet have placed one of their own time to be amongst the fleet leaders. Second from La Trinite-sur-Mer was LDT DEMOLITION skippered by R. Paternot, fourth from CN Cherbourg (the Cherbourg Navy), was G. Rizzolo. For more J/80 Deauville Open Sailing information.
J/24 Legends Regatta
Big J/24 event of the Year!!
(New South Wales, Australia)- Leave it up to the fun-loving Australians for more out-of-the-box thinking and generate lots of enthusiasm for their ever-expanding J/24 program in Australia. For starters, the J/24 Australian NSW State Championships will be racing October 2-3. But, perhaps more importantly the Australian J/24 class is hosting the J/24 Legends Regatta on Monday 4th October 2010 at Gosford Sailing Club (e.g. like the 12 Meter "Legends Regatta" being held at New York YC's Harbour Court in Newport, RI this September). Here's your chance to have one of Australia's J/24 Sailing Legends sail on your boat as either skipper or crew. This will be the most amazing collection of past and current World Champions and National Champions the J/24 class has ever brought together for a day of racing and conviviality. Immediately following the State Championship, this one day regatta will become the stuff of Legends itself. If you want to meet and talk with, sail against and have a beer with Australia's Sailing Legends, you need to book early and be at the Legends Regatta.Invitations to the J/24 Legends Regatta event include World Champions, National Champions and Women on Water winners and supporters. The evening's Master of Ceremonies will be ex-J/24 sailor and "Master of the Universe", Rob Mundle. They already have Legends Mark Bethwaite (yeah, same family who helped create a bunch of Aussie 18s, the International 49er and 29er classes), Ian MacDiarmid, Garry Geitz, David Suda, Sean Wallis, Sean Kirkjian, Hugo Ottoway, Steve Girdis and Rod Waterhouse confirmed. BTW, are Ken Read, Morgan Larson, Terry Hutchinson and Ed Baird invited, too? Some say they are distantly related to a few "ex-convicts" (a few dozen generations back) and qualify somewhat tangentially as "Aussies Too". :) If you are interested in entering, or being involved, please contact Terry on 0413 876184 or Paula on 0404 539176. They'll be filling the ballroom pictured here!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
J/111 Sailing Fast!
The weather forecast was partly cloudy with spotty ESE breezes from 0-12 knots, which is exactly what we saw for the 111's first shake-down sail. It was a good test of the boat's balance and acceleration capabilities in the low wind ranges. As designer Al Johnstone commented, "even with a #3 jib flying, we could tell right away that the J/111 has all the elements we were hoping for in terms of speed, acceleration and a feather light touch on the helm both upwind and downwind.”
On day 2, the full Doyle inventory (including #1 jib) was flown and a five person crew took the J/111 upwind in a steadier 12-16 knot southerly to test the balance, responsiveness and stability. Grins all around as the J/111 sliced effortlessly upwind with minimal wake and very easy steering/ trimming with helmsman able to drive and play the mainsheet (fine-tune) like a J/80. Two people could handle the tacking duties, and the jib trimmer was in heaven being able to freely adjust the fore/aft/inboard jib leads with the cockpit led controls.Jeff Johnstone added “we then hoisted the large A-Sail (130m2) and took right off. The boat balanced great and we felt we had equal opportunity to either go deep and rotate the kite out, or heat up to double digit speeds. We threw in several jibes, including a double-handed one in 15-17 knots with Rod on helm and mainsheet and Al on both kite sheets.”
This week the commissioning continues with sailing electronics install, engine trials and final commissioning at Bristol Marine with sailing starting again this weekend in Newport.
With the schedule beginning to fill up in August/ September for the Newport demo sails, please be sure to contact your J Dealer soon to get a taste of J/111's sweet sailing experience. For photos of the first sail, please go to the J/111 photo gallery.
Cowes Week- Midweek Update
J's Sailing One-Design Having Fun!
(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- Of all 700+ sailboats participating in this year's renowned Cowes Week, surely the thirty-five boat J/109 class has to be one of the most fun and competitive classes going, if not the largest offshore one-design keelboat class going by a country mile. At this stage in this ginormous class, Rick Garret's JEROBOAM is leading, followed by Mike Smith's ZELDA, Matt Boyle's SHIVA, Adam and Helen Wright's VELVET ELVIS and Glyn Locke and Gill Ross' JAMBHALA in the top five all within eight points of each other! The "tale of the tape" will be told in the last three days in this closely fought and very competitive class.The racing conditions have been challenging with the fourth day of racing producing some "champagne sailing" conditions. A patchy early-morning westerly wind built into a 15-20 knot south-westerly by lunchtime, giving perfect racing conditions.
The inshore end of the line worked for the J/80 start. Simon Ling’s SPITFIRE expertly snaked through from behind the slower-moving boats on the line to pop out ahead of the pack. Within five minutes he’d caught up with the back markers in the Daring fleet that had started 10 minutes earlier. Ling crossed the finish first, two minutes 20 seconds ahead of Robin Fielder’s WARP FACTOR lX, in his third win of the regatta. Sebastian Ripard’s AGAINSTMALARIA.COM was third. At this stage of the racing, the J/80 Class leader is Sebastian Ripard's AGAINSTMALARIA.COM (a family crew from Malta), followed by Thor Askeland's ELLE S'APPELLE and Simon Ling's RAF SPITFIRE.
By late morning as the larger handicap classes started, the champagne sailing conditions kicked in. The wind in the central Solent rose to a solid south-westerly of 15-20 knots, giving an increased tempo and energy to the short tacking and progressively more anxious calls for water as all boats headed upwind to the first markers. In IRC 1, the J/133s are having a good time racing against both handicap boats as well as sailing in one-design configuration. So far, it's Fiona & Malcolm Thorpe's KING LOUIE, Yves Grosjean's JIVARO and Herman Bergshaven's SOLNESS III rounding out the top three in J/133 class.The J/122s are racing both handicap and class within IRC 2 Class. On handicap, Ian Matthews' JINJA is in third and Rodolphe Marchais' JOLLY JOKER is in sixth. In one-design class, JINJA, JOLLY JOKER are first and second, respectively, followed by David Richard's JOLLY in third.
A surprising top five leader in IRC 3 class is the extremely lightweight, fast (very NON-IRC design) 30 footer, JOE 90, the McDonald clan's J/90 with Duncan McDonald guiding them very fast around the track. Surely, the conditions on Wednesday were to their liking as the long, broad reaching conditions would see the J/90 rocketing downwind at speeds in excess of 20 knots.
In IRC 5, J/97s are seemingly dominating their class and dueling it out with ex-J/39 owner Adam Gosling on YES! The J/97s have taken mostly firsts, seconds and thirds. At this stage, Grant Gordon's FEVER is tied for first with YES! However, Mike and Jamie Holmes' JIKA JIKA started amongst the leaders with a 4-6 then took two DNS's for next two days. And, Jim Dick's JACKAROO has a 3-3-34-3 record. We hope both JIKA JIKA and JACKAROO round out their weeks with strong finishes and that FEVER gets hot and takes over the top of the podium.In conjunction with Cowes Week, the J/92s are running their J/92 Nationals. After four races, the leader is Steve Etheridge and Andrew Roberts' JUST IN TIME, Andrew Dallas' HULLABALOO and Mark Lloyd's JUNGLE FEVER.
Racing in IRC configuration are more J/92s. In the J/92 IRC class, the leaders are HULLABALOO, JUST IN TIME and Pip Tyler's NEILSON REDEYE. For more Cowes Week sailing information. Sailing photo credits- Rick Langford- Ocean Images
J's Love Women's Cancer Regatta
(Hamble, England)- It was a weekend of awesome sailing for this year's Women's Open Keelboat Championship, with the top J being the J/105 JOS of Hamble, skippered by Clemency Ives, coming in third overall.
One hundred and sixty women from all over the UK and abroad took part in the event, with J's being by far the largest brand (over 50%!!) supporting Breast Cancer Care for Women in the U.K. (the charity that is the beneficiary of the WOKC event). The regatta was hosted by the Royal Southern Yacht Club in Hamble and supported by championship sponsor Coffin Mew LLP, race sponsor Dubarry of Ireland and drinks sponsor Wight Vodka. Six races over two days were split into three classes - IRC1, IRC2 and J80.
Participating J's this year included the J/105 JOS (Clemency Ives), the J/105 JOURNEYMAKER 5 (Louise Makin), the J/109 JAMBHALA (Gillian Ross), the J/80 SWALLOW (Vicky Lincoln), the J/92 WIZARD (Cathy Vise), the J/109 J2EAU (Jody Windmiller), the J/92s NEILSON REDEYE (Marion Piper) and others.
SWALLOW, skippered by Viks Lincoln, came out on top in the J80 class in the inaugural year for one-design racing at the event. She also managed to finish fourth overall behind much larger boats.
Racing in the Solent was challenging with competitors having to contend with gusty winds of 22 knots on Saturday afternoon and the postponement of racing for an hour due to light winds on Sunday morning. Peter Bateson (PRO), from the Royal Southern Yacht Club, set a series of challenging courses accommodating the range of boats participating and creating some exciting mark roundings.
One of the event's organizers, Jody Slater, commented: "It was a fantastic weekend, with all the competitors really getting into the spirit of the event, whether at the front or back of the fleet. It was also great to see the Championship so well supported by both our sponsors, but also other sailors. The Frock's & Flip-Flops Party was a great success, attracting lots of sailors from the local area, and raising £800 for Breast Cancer Care, a charity that WOKC is proud to support."
Several other teams took awards including Cathy Vise's J/92 WIZARD, named "Most Improved Team." For more WOKC Sailing information. Sailing photo credit- Rick Langford- Ocean Images UK
McIlquham Wins J22 Canadians
Newcomers to the fleet, Gord Mcilquham, his wife Maryann Turcke, and their 2 daughters, Emily and JJ, showed us all how it’s done, walking off with the trophy sailing PRUDENCE to a solid 6-3-1-1-2-3-2 record for eighteen points. It was pretty clear they were learning the ropes as they went along, starting out slowly but finishing with a flourish! Second just five points back was Travis Odenbach sailing INSTIGATOR sailing to a 7-2-2-2-8-1-1 record, nearly pulling off the Championship themselves excepting a "hairball" fifth race where they got in trouble and dropped off their regatta winning pace. Third was American Kevin Doyle sailing MO'MONEY.
The Canadian J/22 fleet continues to grow on Lake Ontario. Join them and have some fun! A few new boats showed up this year: the winning boat PRUDENCE from Royal Canadian YC, Jerry Wendt from Niagara YC, SPACEBALL from Nepean (Marg Hurley) and ECLIPSE from BHYC (Brian Young). Thanks to EVERYONE for coming out! For more J/22 Canadian Championship sailing info.
J/29 RUSH STREET Dominates SB-King Harbor Race
(King Harbor, CA)- In the 81-mile Santa Barbara to King Harbor (Redondo Beach) Race raced last weekend the J/29 RUSH STREET not only won the biggest class in the race- PHRF C, for the fourth straight time, but they finished before a whole bunch of bigger boats that started up to half an hour earlier; this included a Farr 40, a Farr 49, a Santa Cruz 52 and a ULDB 60! Yet another incredible performance by the extraordinary Larry Leveille from Santa Barbara YC.
Only forty-six boats sailed this year's race...it was forecast for light and variable. And, sailing around the first "mark", the chain of Channel Islands 25 miles offshore, it was sure to be light and shifty with huge streaks along the backside. However, the fleet experienced intermittent but reasonably good breeze for most of the race, playing gybing angles all the way southeast to Redondo Beach. A large, competitive fleet of thirteen J's participated (27% of the total sailing!) in this summer offshore classic race off the California coast, including Larry's J/29, Dr. Laura Schlessinger's J/100 PERFECT, two J/33s (Fred Kottrell's TIGGER and Messenger/Colgan's NITRO), Charlie Underwood's J/92s STING, two J/109s (Tom Brott's ELECTRA and Bryce Benjamin's PERSISTENCE, Eric McClure's J/35 MACS, Bill Webster's J/37 SIDEKICK, two J/120s (Gary Winton's SHENANIGANS and Tom Cullen's BLUEBIRD, Charlie Browning's J/130 BEBE and Gil Maguire's J/133 TENACITY.
In PHRF B, Bill Webster's J/37 SIDEKICK sailed a terrific race to beat some other very-well sailed so-called "racing boats", getting second in class and beating Dr. Laura Schlessinger's J/100 PERFECT by just nine minutes. Sixth in class was Fred Cottrell's J/33 TIGGER.
Most of the J's were sailing in the PHRF Sprit Division. The two J/109s out-sailed their sprit stablemates with Brott's ELECTRA winning by 25 minutes over Benjamin's PERSISTENCE in second. Third was Winton's J/120 SHENANIGANS, just eight minutes behind PERSISTENCE on corrected time. For more Santa Barbara- King Harbor Race sailing information.
Only forty-six boats sailed this year's race...it was forecast for light and variable. And, sailing around the first "mark", the chain of Channel Islands 25 miles offshore, it was sure to be light and shifty with huge streaks along the backside. However, the fleet experienced intermittent but reasonably good breeze for most of the race, playing gybing angles all the way southeast to Redondo Beach. A large, competitive fleet of thirteen J's participated (27% of the total sailing!) in this summer offshore classic race off the California coast, including Larry's J/29, Dr. Laura Schlessinger's J/100 PERFECT, two J/33s (Fred Kottrell's TIGGER and Messenger/Colgan's NITRO), Charlie Underwood's J/92s STING, two J/109s (Tom Brott's ELECTRA and Bryce Benjamin's PERSISTENCE, Eric McClure's J/35 MACS, Bill Webster's J/37 SIDEKICK, two J/120s (Gary Winton's SHENANIGANS and Tom Cullen's BLUEBIRD, Charlie Browning's J/130 BEBE and Gil Maguire's J/133 TENACITY.
In PHRF B, Bill Webster's J/37 SIDEKICK sailed a terrific race to beat some other very-well sailed so-called "racing boats", getting second in class and beating Dr. Laura Schlessinger's J/100 PERFECT by just nine minutes. Sixth in class was Fred Cottrell's J/33 TIGGER.
Most of the J's were sailing in the PHRF Sprit Division. The two J/109s out-sailed their sprit stablemates with Brott's ELECTRA winning by 25 minutes over Benjamin's PERSISTENCE in second. Third was Winton's J/120 SHENANIGANS, just eight minutes behind PERSISTENCE on corrected time. For more Santa Barbara- King Harbor Race sailing information.
J/105 BLACKHAWK Wins Aldo Alessio
CHANCE Wins J/120 Class
(August 1, 2010) - The Aldo Alessio Perpetual Trophy Regatta was held at the St Francis Yacht Club over this past weekend, one of the premiere trophy races hosted by StFYC every summer. While the usual summer "nuclear conditions" did not prevail, as usual San Francisco Bay can be relied upon to provide challenging sailing conditions and plenty of breeze so long as it's partly cloudy and the valleys to the east of the Bay heat up at least 20 F. degrees warmer than the Bay.Enjoying the nice sailing conditions were the J/120 and J/105 classes, the two largest classes sailing in the regatta. For the highly competitive eight boat J/120 class, Barry Lewis sailing CHANCE won with very consistent 2-2-3-1 record to win by two points. John Wimer's DESDEMONA sailed to a 3-3-1-3 record to snatch second from class-leader Steve Madeira sailing the famous MR. MAGOO, which had an uncharacteristically slow start, getting a 5-4-2-2 score.
The J/105s saw some class veterans dueling it out with one another for the top three spots in the eighteen boat class. This time it was Scooter Simmons racing BLACKHAWK that took home the big jug of silverware, taking first by virtue of a tie-breaker over Bruce Stone's ARBITRAGE! Third was Phil Labin and Richard Pipkin's RACER X. The other regatta leader, Rolf Kaiser's DONKEY JACK sailed a regatta-winning record of 1-2-2 in the last three races but had to count a DSQ (17 points) to still finish fifth. For more St. Francis YC Aldo Alessio sailing information. Sailing photo credit- Erik Simonson
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