Tuesday, December 3, 2013

J/70 Worlds, Europeans & NA’s Announcement!

J/70 one-design speedster sailing in Germany (London, England)- 2013 has been a remarkable year. The first full season of J/70 class racing runs like a highlight reel - starting with the huge fleet at Key West for the first J/70 Midwinters, 50+ boats at Charleston, numerous regional events around the globe, and the 89 boat North American Championship held two months ago in Annapolis. Not since the J/24 has there been such rapid market acceptance and endorsement of a new design. And just when we thought the news couldn’t get better, 2014 promises even bigger and better things to come for J/70 sailors worldwide.

2014 J/70 Worlds Newport
After being approved as the International J/70 Class recently by ISAF in their Oman Meetings, the J/70 class will be looking forward to their inaugural World Championships in Newport, RI hosted by the New York Yacht Club, in partnership with Sail Newport at Fort Adams from September 8th to 13th, 2014.  The 2014 J/70 Worlds will be one of the hottest one-design tickets around. Hot enough in fact that it will be a qualified entry event with a cap of 120 boats. Upcoming J/70 winter events such as Key West, Davis Island Winter Series, St. Petersburg/San Diego NOODs and Bacardi Cup, plus most of the regional events throughout the season, will have qualifier slots (both Open and Corinthian) for the 2014 Worlds. The J/70 Class plans to announce the specifics of the qualifier program early next month. If you know of a regional J/70 event that is not already on the class calendar and should be considered as a world’s qualifier, please contact Chris Howell- email- howell@j70office.com

J/70 European and World Circuit2014 J/70 European Circuit
Rapid fleet growth is already taking place in Europe with fleets forming in Sweden/ Denmark, Netherlands/ Benelux, Germany (Lake Constance), Monaco, Italy, France and Great Britain/ Ireland.  As a result of the tremendous enthusiasm and the desire for many teams to travel to events with their fun, fast trailerable speedster, there will be a six event European J/70 Circuit that culminates in the de-facto J/70 European Championship on Lake Garda, Italy.  The events include the following dates:
  • Feb 7-9- Primo Cup- Trophee Credit Suisse- Monte Carlo, Monaco
  • Apr 18-21- SPI Ouest France- La Trinite sur Mer, France
  • Jun 6-9- North Sea Regatta- The Hague, Netherlands
  • Jun 21-29- Kiel Week- Kiel, Germany
  • Aug 2-5- Cowes Race Week- Cowes, Isle of Wight, England
  • Mid-Sept- J/70 EuroCup/ Europeans- Lake Garda, Italy
2014 J/70 North Americans Rochester
While a ticket to the Worlds might take a few regattas to qualify for, the 2014 North American Championship in Rochester, New York is OPEN to all comers! Slated for July 14-20, this event promises to be huge. Rochester Yacht Club is ready to roll out the red carpet to J/70 owners and their families. Timed ideally at nearly two months before the worlds, J/70 owners around the world have a great excuse to bring their boats to the northeast USA and enjoy what promises to be an epic J/70 summer!

The 2014 J70 Calendar is shaping up to be huge!  By the first of the New Year there will have been 500 J/70s produced. There are other regional circuits developing that will be announced soon that include Pacific Coast, Great Lakes, Southwest, Mid-Atlantic and New England.  Please be sure to check frequently at the J/70 Class website for any updates.   For more J/70 Class regatta information   For more International J/70 One-Design sailing information