J/121 KAZI Japan Review

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(Tokyo, Japan)- The famous Japanese boating magazine KAZI has always been known as a leader in the yachting world for their in-depth reviews of various sailboats. Remarkably, KAZI was one of the first reviewers of the revolutionary J/24 back in 1977 when both J/Boats co-founders, Bob and Rod Johnstone, were sailing in the famous Storm Trysail Club Block Island Race Week. 

Here is the approximate translation of KAZI's review of the J/121 offshore speedster in their most recent issue. Here is the introduction.

A flagship model aimed as a powerful open sea racer from J/Boats

Debuted as a family racer-cruiser in 1977, the J/24 became the world's largest-ranked one-design keelboat in the world.  And, 40 years later, J/Boats latest offshore creation- the J/121- sets the stage for a new classic offshore racer for the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and the Sea of Japan.

The New J/21 Offshore Speedster
This new boat is positioned as the flagship model of J/Boats' offshore performance range of sailboats. While fully compatible with fully-crewed inshore races around the buoys, the big theme is to win offshore distance races with a small crew. 

Alan Johnstone, who is in charge of designing the recent line of J/Boats, studied the data of the weather conditions of prestigious offshore races around the world- over 4,100 nm of race tracks- such as Newport Bermuda Race, Transpac Race, Fastnet Race, Cabo San Lucas Race, RORC 600 Race, Sydney to Hobart Race, and the Mackinac Races in the American Midwest.  As a result, it was determined that the ratio of windward, reaching, and downwind sailing was 25%, 50%, and 25%, respectively. That design specification was incorporated into the design of the J/121 hull and rig."  For more J/121 offshore speedster sailing information.Add to Flipboard Magazine.

SAILING IN Wins 2nd Asian J/80 Championships

(Qingdao, China)- The second annual Asian J/80 Championship took place in Qingdao, China, famous for its award-winning Tsingtao Beer first created by German immigrants in 1903. Hosting was the Qingdao International Sailing Centre in what were the fabulous facilities for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

From October 11th to 13th, seventeen teams from across Asia (China, Russia, India, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and Malaysia) all competed for the honor and title of being crowned 2019 Asian J/80 Champion; it serves as the “de facto” Asian keelboat championship as the J/80 is by far the largest one-design keelboat class in the region.

After winning the first race and taking a total of five 1sts in eleven races, Jimmy Johnstone’s SAILING IN Team from China won the regatta by a significant nine-point margin to be crowned the 2019 Asian J/80 Champion. Taking the silver was the TA ORIENT Team from Taiwan with four 1sts in their scoreline to end with 34 pts net.  Hanging on to take the bronze on the podium was the WUHAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION from China with 56 pts net. The balance of the top five was determined on a tie-breaker at 60 pts each, with the Indian team from ROYAL MADRAS INDIA taking fourth place on countback over the Chinese DAIIANN MARITIME UNIVERSITY.  For more Asian J/80 Championship sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Russians Win Asian J/80 Champs!

(Xiamen, China)- The local sailing club in Xiamen, China hosted the 2018 edition of the Asian J/80 Championship for a fleet of twenty-six boats from across the greater Asian region representing eight nations; including Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Russia, India, USA, Canada, and China.

This was the first time the J/80 Class was properly enforcing the rules in the Asian market. There were four days of measurement before the event, weighing boats, measuring sails, weighing crew and completing a proper safety check. During the measurement days, teams also got some nice practice time.

The weather in the days leading up to the event was perfect shorts and t-shirt weather. However, thereafter it was a bit cooler on race days.

Day 1
It was awesome racing on day one, with two races sailed in a steady 18-22 knots of wind. Hull 10 came out to race on this day, starting with two bullets. This Chinese team was comprised of junior professional Chinese national sailors; their skipper was the Chinese National 470 Champion. The 2nd to 5th place boats were not so consistent, giving the Chinese Youth team a nice lead in the standings to start the series.

Day 2
With an earlier start and a few knots less wind then the day before, the race committee was able to complete four races. There was no dominant winner of the day, with four different boats getting first place.  As a result, that outcome narrowed the overall points for the first four boats (Russian team, Chinese National team, Australian Team, and Xiamen University Team).

Day 3
Following the trend of the first two days, the fleet was again blessed with good breeze, but just a few knots less than the day before. This time, it was the Russian’s turn. The Russian team from the Seventh Fleet YC (members of the Russian Navy in Vladivostok, eastern Russia) brought their “A” game and pulled off three 1sts and a 4th!

Day 4
The last day of racing needed only one race to complete the series. The boats went out to the starting line with very little wind. Consequently, the RC hoisted the “AP” flag for about thirty minutes to wait for a gentle breeze to build along the shore.  Soon, the fleet started with a light northerly breeze with the current helping everyone to windward and against them down wind. In this area of Xiamen Bay, you can see 1-2 knots of current sailing in the open waters off the harbor. Unfortunately, the breeze shut off for a bit when the boats all reached Mark one.  So, the race became a bit of a restart. But, when the breeze came back, it lasted for the complete race, which was a windward-leeward twice around.

The organizers supplied two judge boats for this event with two International Judges and Jim Johnstone as the third Judge and in charge of the technical measuring process. With on the water judging, the sailors were all able to enjoy the nights off in Xiamen, with a great opening ceremony and plenty of nightlife to be had in the city!

The final results saw the team from eastern Russia- the TEAM EVOLUTION TIGER- win the regatta with four bullets in their scoreline of eleven races for a 26 pts net total.  Second was the XIAMEN UNIVERSITY TEAM with 30 pts net and rounding out the podium with the bronze was the SEAMO RACE TEAM from Australia with 44 pts net.

Overall, the J/80 teams were very pleased with the venue and the class is already in the planning stages for the next Asian Championships to be held in Qingdao next September 2019. The Chinese J/80 Class Association is holding the event in venues where they can see continued growth in the local J/80 fleets. The goal is a simple one- get more boats to participate than last year. The 2019 target is a lofty one-> 40+ boats in Qingdao, site of the Chinese Sailing Olympics in 2008! Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/145 Wins Round Hong Kong Island Race

(Hong Kong, China)- The annual Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club Around the Island Race is one of the biggest inshore events in Hong Kong. It is a 26.0 nm race around Hong Kong Island involving Class Keelboats, Dinghies, Beach Cats and Cruisers.

Winning IRC 2 Class and taking 12th overall in what was decidedly a big-boat race was David Mitchell’s J/145C REDEYE, rounding the 26.0nm course in 3:58:16, for an average of nearly 6 kts.  Fourth in IRC 2 was Rick Van Den Berg’s J/111 JUGGERKNOT.  Taking 5th place in the IRC 3 Class was Nick Southward’s J/109 WHISKEY JACK.

In the eighteen-boat J/80 class, it was a horse race all the way around the island, with several teams running neck-and-neck the entire way.  Ultimately, it was Henry Wong’s FOOTLOOSE that won the class by 11 seconds over Rita Yau’s JELIK 7! Then, just over a minute back was Ben Bulmer’s JASMINE in third place, just edging out by a half-boat length (4 seconds worth) Sarah Page’s SEABISCUIT.  Fifth place went to Andrew Blank’s JAVELIN and Pascal Martin’s J/105 LEGENDE took 7th place.  For more RHKYC Around Island Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

China Club J/80 Match Challenge Announcement

(Xiamen, China)- The famous China Club Match Challenge event will be taking place off Xiamen, China from November 19th to 22nd.  The event starts with fleet racing for forty-four J/80 teams from across China and Asia. That event then qualifies twelve teams to sail in the final match-racing event to determine the overall winner.

The level of sophistication of the sailing teams has increased dramatically over the years. The top Chinese teams are now doing a lot more boat preparations, with bottoms being worked on for hours before practice. That is a large improvement over years ago, when they ignored the bottoms altogether. This will be the largest ever keelboat event in China with a one-design class.

Then, in December, Xiamen is also hosting the first Asian J/80 Championships. This is an open event, but using International J/80 class rules. However, the Chinese J/80 Class has modified the class rules for championship events, with no restriction to professional sailors, since most Chinese sailors are professional (they have sailed for prize money in many local events). So far, teams that have committed to participate come from Japan, Taiwan, India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Malaysia. The event organizers are expecting 40 to 65 entries! Boat weights, sail measuring, safety gear and crew weight will all be done in the three days before registration.

For anyone interested in attending either the China Club Match Challenge or the Asian J/80 Championships, please contact Jim Johnstone- at email- jimjboats@icloud.com or at China cell# +86 185 7722 9501. Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Inaugural J/80 Asian Championship Announcement!

(Xiamen, China)- J/80 production in China started in 2008. Since that time hundreds of J/80’s have been built in China and supplied around Asia and many into new Chinese fleets. This year production has been steady at 1 1/2 boats per week, non-stop.

New fleets have developed in Qingdao, Sanya and Suzhou in 2018. The J/80 Chinese Class has been established and is now the only class in China that is working with a complete set of World Sailing class rules; including boat weight equalization, sail measurements, safety gear checks and crew weight limits being enforced.

This year’s J/80 Asian Championship will be raced out of Wuan Bay in Xiamen, from December 4th to 10th, 2018. The class anticipates the fleet will be 40-65 boats with teams from around Asia.

The first twenty new charter boats will be pre-checked on boat weight and safety gear. Sails and the safety gear list will be checked prior to registration. Three days planned for checking boats and practice. Priority will be given to international teams not based in China up until October 1st.

The racing area is not far from the docking areas and the plan is for two to 4 races per day over four days of racing. This will be an open J/80 event, so no issues on professional sailors in the class rules. Each driver will need to be a member of either the international or national class association. This can be done at registration.

If you or your team are interested in participating this December please contact- Jim Johnstone at J/Boats China- email- jimjboats@icloud.com Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/80 Growth Continues in China

(Xiamen, China)- With over 100 J/80s already sailing in China, interest in the class is stronger than ever. The recent Shanghai Boat Show (April 7-10) brought current J/80 sailors and prospective owners together checking out the latest boat from Red Dragon Yachts, the J/Boats licensee for Asia.

"We're booked on orders for the next five months," said Liu Hong Yan, General manager at Red Dragon. She added, "Chinese sailors love the J/80 for the same reasons it's been successful elsewhere. It's a terrific all-around boat for training, daysailing and one-design racing, and a perfect fit for the rapidly growing Chinese sailing market."  For more J/80 China sailing information, please contact Jim Johnstone- J/China- jimjboats@gmail.com.

J/Teams Lovin' China Cup IX Regatta

(Daya Bay, Shenzen, China)- The 9th Edition of the China Cup International Regatta took place in Hong Kong and Shenzhen (Guangdong Province), China from October 30th to November 2nd, 2015, under the auspices of the Water Sports Administration Center of the General Administration of Sport of China and Shenzhen Municipal Administration of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

As the largest international big boat sailing event in China and three-time winner of “Best Asian Regatta of the Year”, about 100 yachts sail this South China Sea each each year including a new fleet of a dozen J/80s competing intensively in a one-design class, crewed by leading Asian sailors. The four-day event had eight different classes of competition and eight races: the Hong Kong to Shenzhen passage race, inshore races and round the island races, with around 1,000 sailors from more than 30 different countries and regions enjoying the intoxicating experience.

The event is distinctly oriented towards social festivities and provides simply extraordinary entertainment and parties in the evenings.  You do NOT want to be imprisoned in a protest room into the late evening while all your friends are cutting loose and having a fantastic time in the five-star resort!  Relaxation and fun are the theme and the daily prize-giving awards ceremony simply puts most others to shame.

Mr. David Zhong, Deputy Secretary-General of China Cup International Regatta Organizing Committee said, “We want to make the races as competitive as possible by attracting the world’s top sailors to participate in one of the world’s most enjoyable sailing events. Furthermore, we hope to strengthen our ties with the international sailing community.”  To say the least, they’ve got the formula right, and there’s no question several J/Teams took home their fair share of silverware.  Here is Jim Johnstone’s (J/Boats China) report:

“J sailors had a nice showing in this years China Cup IX. With the J/109 WHISKEY JACK driven by Nick Southward and long time crew in IRC and a new J/80 fleet racing One-Design.  Teams came from China, Hong Kong, USA, United Kingdom and Holland to participate on the different J/'s sailing.  Thirteen J/80's registered with boats coming from Xiamen and Hong Kong as either private or charter boats.  SAILING IN performance sailing school also participated with two boats full of students- novice sailors lead by Martin Hingst and me.

As we all know, when you take out beginner racers it is much easier to sail when the breeze is light.  The China Cup this year was not particularly light, but not out of control either.  It was enough to challenge the novice sailors and help with their overall confidence.  We sailed most of the event in 15 to 20 knots of wind with moderate size waves.

This year, we decided that we needed to start enforcing the J/80 Class Rules a little more in China and we started this event with crew weigh-in's for the J/80 class only.  A notification was sent to all competitors before they arrived and teams still scrambled a little to figure out how to deal with being overweight!  Nothing new there, right!?  Being prepared includes checking what the crew weight is and making adjustments to get lighter crews- like this spinnaker trimmer.

We sailed 8 races over three days and there was a noticeable difference of experience between the top four J/80's and the rest of the fleet.  Henry Wong on the FOOTLOOSE team from Hong Kong, Liu Changlong from XIAMEN LIHAN Sailing Team and the two SAILING IN Teams were the boats everyone else had to beat.

The team that jumped out to an early lead was SAILING IN ONE lead by our team.  The noticeable difference in this team was that they played the shifts and tacked twice as much as the competitors in the class and were using very conservative spinnaker tactics on the sets and take downs- the stated goal was to minimize all errors!  Their tactics and strategy paid off for them, taking the overall victory with 7 firsts and 1 third.

Martin Hingst on SAILING IN TWO was sailing in the pack most of the time, but where Martin’s team excelled was in their ability as a crew to make large gains downwind.  They pulled off second place overall all 4 points ahead of 3rd.

3rd place was Liu Changlong, a former Olympic Chinese Finn Sailor and coach in Xiamen, skippering the XIAMEN LIHAN Sailing Team.  Liu was a force that was very consistent in his overall sailing.  He was always there and always pushing.  The FOOTLOOSE team was 4th position, driven by Henry Wong. This team and the other Hong Kong Teams also did a Special J/80 Passage Race from Hong Kong to Shenzhen, which was not counted in the One-Design overall scores, but they enjoy frequent one-design racing in Hong Kong with the 26 local Hong Kong boats.

Red Dragon, builders of the J/80 in Xiamen, also sailed with their own RED DRAGON Team, finishing 5th place in the event.  They were also on hand providing two new charter boats and helping with any questions any of the J/80 sailors had during the event.  Overall, it was great to see the Chinese J/80 Class come together for this event.  In the past, it was always difficult since moving boats around china is not like it is in the US where you can simply tow them down the road. You need to ship them, which adds to the cost and reduces the participation.  We are currently working on a new fleet for the Shenzhen area, so we are looking forward to the potential of a much larger fleet next year. Congratulation to WHISKEY JACK for their dominating performance in the IRC Class.”

According to Nick Southward, owner/skipper of the J/109 WHISKEY JACK, “the crew of Whiskey Jack was happy to be returning to the prestigious China Cup International Regatta. With the competition heating up, the team was ready to face all challenges and was ready to fearlessly plow through the seas in the hope of bettering last year’s performance and regaining their title from 2013. In keeping with the team motto, “teamwork makes the dream work and whiskey never hurts”, the team had another enjoyable and exciting China Cup!”  Indeed, they did!  They started out by winning their first race and, despite a DNF in the second race, laid down an amazing string of races (a 1-3-2-1-1-2) for a total score of 11.0 net pts!  The masses of silverware were theirs!  Imagine that, they absolutely HAD to be at the Awards cocktail party each night since top three prizes were given out each night for each race in each fleet! Eight awards in all- but who’s counting anyways?  Good on ya Nick and gang!  For more International China Cup IX sailing information

And, a very brief report about the AUDI China Coast Regatta.  In IRC 2 Class, WHISKEY JACK was 5th place while fellow stablemate, the J/111 MOJITO sailed by Simon Blore took 3rd place and won some of their own silver along the way!  Congrats to both teams!   For more Royal Hong Kong YC China Coast sailing information

San Fernando Race Preview

(Hong Kong, China)- From its inception in 1977, when a group of sailing enthusiasts cruised down to San Fernando and raced back, this event has had a special place in the hearts of those who have taken part, not only for challenge of the offshore race itself but because they have enjoyed the warmth and camaraderie that surrounds it. It has also through the support of the children’s home in San Fernando been more than just a race.

The race starts April 1st and is a very challenging 480nm Category 1 Offshore Race from Hong Kong, China to San Fernando, Philippines.  The fleet will be dealing with the remnants of Typhoon xxx, so they will expect choppy, confused seas on their way across the western Pacific to the Philippines.

The race has been a popular one for the Hong Kong/ China offshore community; especially since the warm reception at their extraordinary yacht club on the water also doubles as an enormous charity/ benefit for the children!  Participating in this year’s race are Paul Leese and David Mitchell’s J/145 REDEYE in IRC Racing 1 and Nick Southward’s J/109 WHISKEY JACK sailing IRC Racing 2.   For more Royal Hong Kong YC San Fernando Race sailing information

J/70 Sydney Sportboat Regatta

(Sydney, Australia)- The Australian Sports Boat Association recently hosted their Nationals in Sydney.  For the growing local fleet of J/70s, it was one of their first opportunities to get everyone together and have a rockin’ great time sailing around the cans and test out their newfound steeds.

The six boat fleet had a bit of a “schooling” by local hotshot Ray Entwistle aboard the mighty JEDI.  After collecting a number of firsts, they took the top spot on the podium with 9 pts net.  However, the balance of the teams were learning quickly.  Most notably, Ray Carless on JUNIOR not only notched a win but managed to snag a number of seconds to take second overall for the regatta.  Third was Stephen Brady sailing Y-KNOT.

Next week we anticipate a full-on report from some of the participants in the regatta.  Stay tuned!   Sailing photo credits- SportSailing.com   For more ASBA Nationals sailing information

TIGRINA Crowned King of Hong Kong J/80s!

J/111 Wins Around The Island Race
(Hong Kong, China)- Over the past few weekends, the J/80s in Hong Kong have been quite busy, having a wonderful time sailing their Hong Kong Championships, the Lipton Trophy Pursuit Race and the classic Around The Island Race; all events hosted by the extraordinary Royal Hong Kong YC.

Starting with the Hong Kong Championship on November 1st & 2nd, an excellent turnout of seventeen boats participated, with the fleet enjoying a total of eight races to complete the series.  It was extremely close racing for the top two boats, Andrew Moore & Lionel Welch’s TIGRINA and Felix Ng’s JAVELIN.  After the first day of racing, JAVELIN had the upper hand, closing out the day with a 1-3-2-2 for 8 pts with TIGRINA just one point back with an equally stellar record of 2-2-4-1 for 9 pts.  Behind this duo, the fleet was experiencing a bit of the “snakes & ladders” conundrum, working hard to stay in the top three, but often snagging defeat from the jaws of victory.

On Sunday, it was clear that Moore’s TIGRINA crew must’ve had a can of “whup-ass” for breakfast in their steak & eggs and heaps of coffee.  For after starting out the day with bullet, they closed out with a 3-1-1 to win the series by four points over the friendly rivalry with Ng’s JAVELIN team.  The balance of the top five was equally tough competition with next three boats finishing just four points apart.  Winning (or perhaps, surviving) this battle was Dan Tullberg’s UNKNOWN PLEASURES, completing the podium on third with 27 pts net.  Only one point back was Jonathan Hodgson’s J-CHI with 28 pts in fourth and sitting on fifth place was Gill Keefe’s JELIGNITE with 31 pts. For more J/80 Hong Kong sailing information.

Lipton Trophy Pursuit Race
The replenishment of the northeast monsoon coincided with the first pursuit race of RHKYC’s 2014-15 season, with an average 10kts of easterly wind bestowed on the competitors sailing in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour.  A total of 47 boats started the race in front of Kellett island, on staggered start times according to their RHKATI ratings. For many boats it was a great warm-up for the much anticipated Around The Island Race, the circumnavigation of Honk Kong Island.  In the end, top J/80 was David Fan’s SEA BISCUIT, followed by Alex Cheung’s FIGURE OF EIGHT in second and Paul Lam’s LILA in third.  For more Lipton Trophy sailing information.

Around The Island Race
While the Lipton Trophy took place on Saturday and was good sailing, Sunday’s Around the Island Race was shortened due to a bit too much light air.  Sailing like a man possessed, it was clear David Fan’s J/80 SEA BISCUIT crew were simply on fire.  Starting first in the J/80 Class and increasing his lead (isn’t that what the textbooks tell you to do?), Fan’s crew finished first with a nearly six minute lead at the gun!  Lonny Chen’s crew on MAY-13th took second and they were 4:30 seconds clear of the third place finisher, Henry Wong on FOOT LOOSE.

Amongst the J/70 Class, it was John Leven’s SAN LONG that took class honors followed by Paul McMaster & Fabrice Bureau taking second with DAZIBAO.

In the offshore IRC handicap world, Simon Blore’s J/111 MOJITO again took class honors over the best-sailed boats and most competitive offshore class at the Royal Hong Kong YC.  For more Around The Island Race sailing information.   For more Royal Hong Kong YC Facebook photos

Japan Sailing Report- J/88 & J/70

(Tokyo, Japan)- A quick report from Japan from Kebby Tokoro indicates that things are hopping in the Japanese offshore and one-design circuits.  There is great interest in the J/70 as well as the newly introduced J/88.  Kebby reports that, “we have been doing a lot of promotion for the J/88 and J/70 in Japan.  Please see the fantastic review of the J/88 for KAZI magazine.  Plus, we have been racing in several big fleet offshore races.

One of these events is the famous Tamori Cup, it is the biggest yacht race on the east side of Japan.  We got 5th Overall and 3rd in Class!  Many sailors were shocked to see how fast the boat goes, especially in lighter winds.  We hoped they would do more races, but the last day was canceled due to a huge typhoon!

The J/88 is so fantastic, we love sailing it and I have been working with at least three new owners for the boat.  There is strong interest for one-design sailing the J/88, too!  More later!  Best regards, Kebby”

Hong Kong J/80 Class Championship

(Hong Kong, China)- The fifth Hong Kong J/80 Class Championships will be held on the 1st & 2nd of November.  The event is organized by the Royal Hong Kong YC, one of the oldest sailing clubs in Asia with a history dating back as far as 1890.  Expected to be the biggest international J/80 event in Asia thus far, over twenty J/80's are planning to participate with some of the high profile sailors from the region.  This year a number of visiting teams will travel down from Mainland China to test their skills against the local fleet.

The regatta will be sailed off the southern tip of Lamma island, in open waters.  November typically offers optimal sailing conditions; East-North Easterly breezes of between 12 and 18 knots, a light swell and clear blue skies.  Add in local hospitality, stunning location and facilities of the host- the Royal Hong Kong YC- and its no wonder this event is growing in popularity.  For more J/80 Hong Kong Championship sailing information

J/111 & J/109 Dominate China Coast Regatta

(Daya Bay, Shenzen, China)- Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club’s flagship China Coast Regatta took place from 10 to 12 October this year, following a tried and tested three-day format that offered competitors a variety of windward/ leeward and islands courses in the waters to the south of Hong Kong Island and west of Lamma Island.

Headlined by Audi for the first time since its inception in 1993, the regatta attracted nearly 40 competitors in four classes and seven divisions, with the majority of entrants sailing IRC Racing class. In the most competitive class in the entire event, the IRC 2 Division, the J/111 MOJITO skippered by Simon Blore handily won their nine-boat class with a very consistent 4-8-1-4-1-2-1 for 13 pts net.

Taking second in IRC 2 was a perennial top performer on the Hong Kong offshore racing circuit, the J/109 WHISKEY JACK sailed by Nick Southward.  The “Jack” started off strongly, leading their class up until race five, but couldn’t hold off the hard-charging crew aboard MOJITO.  In the end, WHISKEY JACK’s scores of 2-3-3-1-7-1-5 for 15 pts net secured their team a solid second place performance.  In fact, Southward’s team may have benefitted from their early “practice race”, the newly created Audi Hong Kong Kettle race- a new team racing competition that included an “Around Hong Kong Islands Race” the day preceding the China Coast Regatta.  The timing offered entrants the double benefit of an extra day’s acclimatization to the region’s sailing conditions, coupled with a great opportunity to see the wilder parts of Hong Kong.  The Hong Kong Kettle Race Chairman, Drew Taylor, explained the rationale of the Kettle event schedule, saying “Hong Kong in October provides very good sailing conditions with breeze typically in the high teens, temperatures in the high 20’s and a great combination of geometric and island courses.”  In the end, the J/109 WHISKEY JACK sailed by Nick Southward took advantage of the opportunity, took in some fabulous views of Hong Kong Island, and won the inaugural Team 3 Race Class in the Kettle Race!     China Coast Sailing Regatta on Facebook  Sailing photo credits- Guy Nowell/ RHKYC
For more China Coast Regatta sailing information

Singapore Strikes Sailing Gold!

Win Asian Games J/80 Match Race!
(Incheon, Korea)- Singapore's sailors bagged their third gold medal at the Incheon Asian Games after the J/80 Match Racing team beat South Korea 2-0 in a best-of-three final on Wednesday afternoon.

The five-man crew of Maximilian Soh, Andrew Paul Chan, Russell Kan, Christopher Lim, and Justin Wong had reached the final after winning 15 of their 16 match races in the nine-team round robin preliminary stage. They then beat Malaysia 3-0 in a best-of-five final.

Commenting on the team’s performance in Incheon, Dr Ben Tan, President of the Singapore Sailing Federation said, “Our sailors were up against the big boys of Asia, such as China, Korea, Japan, and they did Singapore proud. The hard work of our sailors and the attention to detail of the support team brought us this excellent set of results. Singapore Sailing will continue to build on our breadth and depth so that we can continue to deliver for Singapore.”

Singapore's sailors now have three golds, two silvers, and two bronzes so far at the on-going Asian Games. The results of Match Race Finals were: 1st Singapore, 2nd Republic of Korea, 3rd Japan and 4th Malaysia.

Thanks must also go out to Red Dragon Yachts, the International J/80 One-design builder in China for their fantastic support and ensuring the delivery of new, evenly-matched J/80s for the regatta!  Thanks for contribution from Chua Siang Yee.   For more J/80 Asian Games sailing information

J/80 Asian Games Update

(Pusan, South Korea)- The 2014 Asian Games are being hosted by South Korea this coming September.  It’s an enormous event where thousands of athletes from across Asia participate in track & field events as well as in yachting.  The yachting portion of the games includes dinghies, catamarans as well as keelboats.  The J/80 was again chosen as the principal one-design keelboat for the Asian Games.  Jim Johnstone from J/Boats Asia reports on the J/80s and the South Korean National Team:

“I just finished doing the final inspection of the first J/80's that will be heading to Korea for the Asian Games this September.  There are six boats on order that will ship in July.  Production at Red Dragon in Xiamen, China is going quite well at the moment and the overall quality of the boats is excellent.

I was only in Korea for one day of training with the Korean National sailing team.  The team consists of ten of their top sailors, most of them are very experienced 470 class veterans.  On-the-water practice was short but it was helpful to go out and discuss weight movement, penalty turns upwind and downwind, spinnaker setting techniques, boat preparation and preventative maintenance. Overall the team was pleased with the training program and they hope to practice hard in the coming months before the event.  We then went off to have an excellent Korean-style meeting with the head of the Club, Andy Ra (J/Boats Dealer in Korea) and the sailing team.  I wish them all luck in the upcoming Asian Games and they are all very excited to see and start sailing the new J/80's.  I’ll be attending the event in September and will give a sailing update then.”

J/70 Qingdao Update

(Qingdao, China)- The J/70 fleet is starting to grow well in the Asia-Pacific Rim with activity developing in China and Australia.  The advent of McConaghy Boats, a renowned Australian sailboat builder, as the Asia-Pacific builder for the J/70 is beginning to have an impact in the marketplace, with many new owners excited to get their boats sailing for this summer.  Here’s an update report from Jim Johnstone, the J/Boats Asia dealer based in China:

“It’s always a pleasure to go sailing with the new owners in their new boats.  The J/70 is no exception.  With 4 days of sailing the first two J/70's in Qingdao this past weekend, we got the opportunity to work with the Qingdao Maritime School practicing on their new J/70 and do some two boat testing and training.

First impressions of a new boat in the water are always important.  The J/70 impresses in many ways.  The lift keel is quite easy to use.  The amount of space down below is impressive for the overall size of the boat and the cockpit is very easy to maneuver in.  I had the opportunity to sail around the boat by myself one afternoon and found that setting the spinnaker solo and retrieving it was quite easy.  With the spinnaker halyard mounted on the mast with a swivel cam, it made hoisting the halyard and releasing it much easier.  The spinnaker design is also a huge bonus with a much more high aspect ratio sail the jibes are a piece of cake. The only thing you need to consider is that the jibing angles are a little greater in lighter air since the boat tends to want to sail higher angles to obtain better VMG's.

With the first boat in the water for about a week without bottom paint on the keel or rudder I felt it was the perfect time to try to scrub the bottom without getting wet.  Wow, this was easy!!  First, we lifted the keel with the keel crane.  The main halyard is quite long on the J/70.  By securing just the very end to the cleat on the mast and taking the main halyard around the spreaders, out on the dock and around to the other finger dock, I just tied it off.  Then I released the dock lines and tied them at the very end of the line.  Went back over to the main halyard on the other finger dock and pulled it with one wrap around the cleat.  The boat slowly slid into the middle of the finger piers and when the dock lines became tight, I leaned into the halyard enough to give the boat about a 10 degree heel.  Then I just walked over to the bow and stern lines and pulled the boat over close to the dock.  As I pulled the boat healed over more.  With about a 30 degree heel and the boat right up close to the dock I had full access to the bottom of the boat to scrub the bottom and keel!  After I was done I repeated this on the other side.  This took 1 person about 15 minutes to do both sides without getting wet.  When I was pulling the dock lines to really heel the boat over the overall load on the dock lines was not that great.  One arm could hold this. It could not be any easier to clean the bottom of the J/70! It’s wonderful to have this option of scrubbing the bottom and not getting wet. :)

I have been to many launching ceremonies before, but the Qingdao Maritime Collage had everyone out for this launching with champagne, Maritime students standing at attention, sailors ready and the cruise ship attendants in blue that also study at the schools.  After the ceremony, the President of the school and the sailors all went sailing in the two J/70's. We look forward to deliver a few more to the Qingdao Maritime College soon!”