J/70 @ Austrian Boat Show- BOOT TULLN

(Tulln, Austria)- The Austrian Boat Show– BOOT TULLN- continues its success story! The biggest and most comprehensive boat and water sports trade fair in Central and Eastern Europe, the show takes place from March 7th to 10th, 2019.

The trade fair city Tulln on the Danube River has been presenting the Austrian Boat Show for 45 years. More than 45,000 visitors with substantial purchasing power come each year from Austria and abroad to enjoy the attractions of the trade fair and its host city.

On display will be Europe’s most popular sportboat- the internationally famous J/70 one-design sailboat.  The class has truly taken over Europe by storm, with nearly 1,000 boats on the Continent.  That activity has been driven by the famous SAILING Champions League, in which 20 nations are taking part from across Europe in the incredibly popular sailing league programs that has mostly standardized on J/70 sailboats. Austria has been an active participant in that growth for “club sailing”, bringing aboard most all of Austria’s top sailing clubs. Come on down and learn more about the J/70 in Austria and how you can participate in European J/70 events.  For more BOOT TULLN show information

To meet J/Boats Austrian representative Richard Gebetsroither-Haslinger from Yachtservice Gebetsroither GesmbH, please contact them at mobile +43 664 211 68 33/ email- office@yacht.co.at/ or web- http://www.yacht.co.at Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Ready, Set, Go! European J/70 Sailing Leagues Blast-off!

(Hamburg, Germany)- The revolutionary sailing league concept first pioneered by Oliver Schwall and the Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga continues to gain momentum and roll across the European continent like a never-ending tsunami.  In 2017, no less than thirteen sailing leagues are starting their seasons in April and May, from as far east as Sochi, Russia to the west in Cowes, England and from the north in Helsinki, Finland down to Porto Cervo, Sardinia.  Those nations include Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom.  From May to November, these national sailing leagues will be conducting sixty-one events with a projected 1,500+ races for 732 sailing clubs and at least 8,000 sailors; all of them will be sailing the one-design J/70 sportboat on virtually every major body of water across Europe- from lakes, to bays, to open ocean.  Imagine that, from mid-April to the first weekend in November, fleets of J/70s are sailing every single weekend across Europe!

The Russian Sailing League, organized and managed by the Russian Sailing Federation, have already hosted events in Sochi, Russia and Sevastopol, Crimea on the Black Sea.  Next up for them is their June 2nd to 4th event in Moscow, hosted by the Royal YC Moscow on the northwest side of city.  Simultaneously, the Royal Yachting Association in the United Kingdom hosted their first qualifiers for their UK Sailing League for Youth Under 25 Teams in Southampton, England; the Swiss Sailing League held their first event in Ronco, Switzerland on Lake Ascona; and the Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga held their first event in Prien, Germany on the Chiemsee.  Read more about those regattas below!

For more Sailing Champions League information and the complete schedule for dates and locations across Europe, please click here. Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Monaco J/70 Winter Series V Preview

(Monte Carlo, Monaco)- This coming weekend, the YC Monaco will be hosting the fifth and final regatta of their famous winter series hosted on the cobalt blue Mediterranean waters off Monaco.  From March 2nd to 4th, forty-four J/70 teams from across Europe will be competing for both the regatta as well as the series win.  Leading contenders for the overall series include Russia’s leading woman skipper- Valerya Kovalenko’s ARTTUBE from Moscow, Russia.

Teams will be represented from twelve nations, including Austria, Brazil, France, Germany (10), Italy (6), Monaco (12), Norway, Poland, Russia, Switzerland (9), Sweden, and the United Kingdom.  Returning for their fifth event is Brazil’s Mario Soerensen Garcia from the YC Rio de Janeiro.   They have enjoyed the remarkable hospitality of YC Monaco and they are also hoping to repeat their tremendous performance in the fourth act, winning that event by a considerable margin!  Challenging them will be leading contenders from each country, include Klaus Diem’s crew on PFANDER from Bregenzer Segel-Club in Austria; Adrien Follin’s GIVE ME FIVE team from CN de Ste Maxime in France; Tobias Feuerherdt’s ROTOMAN and Max Augustin’s TRE MARKRELLER teams from Germany; Scarpa Germano’s SPORT CUBE from Italy; Eivind Astrup’s NORWEGIAN STEAM from Norway; Pawel Tarnowski’s APOTEX crew from Poland; Valerya Kovalenko’s ARTTUBE crew from Moscow, Russia; Jean Luc Leveque’s WATCH from Switzerland; Anders Kemmler’s DYNAMANT RACING from KSSS in Sweden; and Sam Carter’s BRUTUS from Royal Southern YC in the United Kingdom.

Hoping to represent their host club well are talented Monegasque crews from YC Monaco, including Michel Boussard’s SIROCCO, Herve Maiano’s SOPWITH CAMEL, Phillipe Battaglia’s LE REDOUBTABLE, Stefano Roberti’s PICCININA, Anne Rodelato’s JOKER and Pierrik Devic’s PAGET.   For more YC Monaco J/70 Winter series sailing information. Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Europe’s SAILING Championship Series 2017 Program

(Hamburg, Germany)- The impact of the sailing league program, originally created in Germany by Oliver Schwall’s Konzeptwerft Group in Hamburg, Germany and their J/Germany partners Mittelmann’s Werft, has simply re-defined “club sailing” in Europe- for thousands of sailors across the continent.

Started in 2013 “on a wing & a prayer”, the dynamic team managed to engage 18 sailing clubs in their first season in 2014 to hatch the Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga.  Teams of four sailors from across Germany sailed “college-style” regattas, rotating in each team after sailing short 10-15 minutes races on evenly matched J/70s.  It has proved to be an extremely popular and very successful format.

Since that time, the SAILING Champions League was created to provide an overall European Champion for the fourteen countries participating from Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany (Junior and Open), Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom. The 2017 qualification program for the 300+ sailing clubs across Europe includes the following schedule:

• Act 1: 11-13 August, St. Petersburg Yacht Club, St. Petersburg, Russia
• Act 2: 1-3 September, Segel-Club St. Moritz, St. Moritz, Switzerland
• Final: 22-24 September, Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, Porto Cervo, Italy

The extraordinary impact that J/70s and the sailing leagues are having on “grass roots” sailing in Europe is quite astonishing.  Here are the basic numbers (the demographics):

• 14 National Leagues
• 24 Sailing Clubs (average)
• 500 Club Spectators (average)
• 12 Sailors per club (average)
• 7 Regattas per league (average)
• 6 Boats per event
• 15 Races per weekend for each team

In short, each club sails about 105 sailing league races each season.  Each club has 12 sailors and 500 club members actively engaged for each event (virtually or onsite).  In other words, across 14 European countries, there are more than 172,000 sailing club members actively engaged in their club’s success in each event; 4,032 alone are men, women, youth sailing as crew on the boats.  A total of 1,470 races are scheduled for the 2017 season!   For more SAILING Champions League Sailing information

Italian J/24 Winter Series Reports

(Rome, Italy)- The Italian J/24 class continues to enjoy a loyal following in many of the Peninsula’s famous seaports on the Mediterranean.  Fleet activity takes place in Trieste and Cervia on the east coast on the Adriatic; in Taranto on the “heel” of Italy on the south coast; on the west coast are Anzio & Nettuno (Rome), Porto Rotondo (Sardinia), La Maddalena (Sardinia), Portoferraio (Elba), Livorno (Tuscany), Marina di Carrara (Tuscany, famous for marble!), Porto Santo Stefano (Tuscany), Portofino (Genoa); and, finally, in the “Lakes District” in the north are Mandello del Lario (Lake Como and home of Moto Guzzi motorcycles), Lecco (Lake Como), Lago di Caldonazzo (Trento), and Castelletto di Brenzone (Lake Garda). Here are the latest updates in some of those winter series.

TARANTO
Three good races marked the second event of the Winter Championship in Taranto.  The races were well-organized out in the bay by the Ondabuena Academy Sailing Cub; Molo Sant’Eligio assisted them from the local Italian Navy base.

"By the second event, the Winter Championship in Taranto came alive!  Joining the fleet were Massimo Ruggiero’s CANARINO FEROCE and Leonardo Cappelluti’s crew,” commented Nino Soriano, skipper of JEBEDEE. “It was perfect weather conditions, a sunny day with a fresh northeast wind around 11-12 kts.  The regatta PRO was smart and provided the fleet short courses in the shifty winds blowing offshore from the mountains to the north of us.”

After sailing three fairly tight races, it was Thomas De Bellis Vitti’s FIVE FOR FIGHTING J that established an early lead on the fleet and never relinquished their position. As a result, after five races in the Taranto winter series, they are leading by two points over Soriano’s JEBEDEE.  Sitting in third for the series is Marcello Bellacicca’s MARBEA.

PORTOFERRAIO
On the beautiful island of Elba, the J/24 fleet sails out of the historic port of Portoferraio on the northeastern side of the island.  The second event of the Elba Winter Cup was a fun one, a challenge for the crews as the course consisted of a 7.0nm windward-leeward course, sailing out of the Bay and out to a sea-buoy and back into the finish line.  Participants included teams from several historical seaports, including Marciana Marina and Porto Azzuro.

According the organizers, “Despite the light and shifty winds, it was a great show to see the boats sail between Scoglietto and the Gulf offshore, the fleet was visible from the promenade in front of the fortress all day. Simply beautiful! We hope everyone had a wonderful time socializing and enjoying our wonderful wines at Restaurant PIER G!”

Once again, it was Enrico Gambelunghe’s BE-BEEF that led the fleet home after their gorgeous sail.  Marco Cardenti’s STELLA POLARE in second place and Marco Marmeggi’s ZIO CELESTE in third position followed them home.

MARINA DI CARRARA
After the opening round was lost due to the complete absence of wind, the Club Nautico Marina di Carrara in collaboration with the Circolo della Vela Marina di Massa, were really hoping to deliver a nice weekend of racing for the ten J/24 crews that were in attendance.  In the end, the PRO managed to run two windward-leeward races on Saturday in the light northerly winds that had started at 8 kts in the morning and slowly diminished all day.  Sunday was not much better, with just one more race completed.

Race victories were scored by Pietro Diamanti’s JAMAICA (he is the Italian J/24 Class President) and Italian Navy sailor, Vetrugno Carmine, who skippered EUTERPE.

The provisional rankings for the weekend showed that JAMAICA was leading with 4 pts, followed by EUTERPE in 2nd place with 6 pts, Giuseppe Diamanti’s SON OF RABBIT in 3rd position with 8 pts, Roberta Banfo’s TALLY HO in 4th with 9 pts and the young woman skipper, Eugenia De Giacomo, placing 5th skippering TAKE IT EASY.

TRIESTE
The Italian Navy Sailing Club (Trieste section) hosted the XII International Christmas J/24 Match Race regatta in Trieste this past weekend.  Teams from nine countries (Italy, Russia, England, Estonia, France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia) participated for a weekend of racing in a Grade 3 World Sailing match race event aboard J/24s.

The President of the Italian Navy Sailing Club Trieste, Pierpaolo Scubini, pulled together a strong team to manage and conduct the event.  The world-class race committee included the Slovenian David Bartol as PRO and the Chief Umpire was the Frenchman Jean-Pierre Cordonnier.  Their teamwork was almost flawless in its execution.  Over 19 flights of races were run in very demanding weather conditions over three days, with two Semi-final round robins and the Finale on Sunday.

The first day of racing on Friday was tough on everyone.  The wind was oscillating between 3 to 5 kts and the wind direction kept changing significantly.  In the end, just two flights were held that day.

Saturday dawned with much better conditions.  With a north to northeast wind at 5 to 10 kts, the PRO managed to “catch up” the entire rotation and rounds for everyone.

Sunday’s sailing ended with a typical “Borino” breeze between 6 and 10 knots, which allowed the event to complete the semifinals and finals.

In the finale match, it was champion Austrian sailor, Christian Binder, that had the boats and the breeze figured out.  Using his skills as a tactician in the extremely competitive RC44 circuit, Binder overcame Frenchman Simon Bertheau to win the overall title.  Third place went to the Italian team of Rocco Attili and fourth position went to the Slovenian Bojan Rajar.

A special feature of this 12th edition of the regatta was that all races were run with the “New” match racing rules that will take effect in 2017.

Pierpaolo Scubini commented, “This was a beautiful event. The competition was outstanding amongst the field of eleven crews from eight European nations. For us, it was great satisfaction to be able to see sailors come from Russia, England and other countries and enjoy the tight combat of match racing in one-design J/24s!”

“We are very happy to be here in Trieste and win this XII International Christmas J/24 Match Race. We have been here before and we knew how difficult it was to race in this regatta.  On Friday, we were lucky to not lose the field, because the light winds were difficult for us to manage.  On Saturday and Sunday, we sailed well and we closed with this victory. I really like Trieste and the club and its volunteers run an amazing event,” exclaimed the winner- the Austrian Christian Binder.  For more Italian J/24 class sailing information

YC Bregenz Wins Austrian Sailing League

(Neusiedler See, Austria)- At the finals of the Austrian Sailing League sponsored by SAP at Neusiedler See (21st to 23rd August 2015), the Yacht Club Bregenz won overall and was awarded the Champion’s trophy for the first time. For Burgenland Yacht Club that took second place, it also meant a ticket for the SAILING Champions League in September in Porto Cervo.

Max Trippolti, team manager of YC Bregenz said of the outcome for his winning team, “That’s awesome”!! He said this even after his competitors had tossed him into the water. It’s an old tradition, which came into effect for the first Austrian Champion of the Sailing League sponsored by SAP. “We are extremely satisfied. That’s the outcome of our hard and long-time work. We are a comparatively young team, the cooperation worked extremely well. The team is also excited about the format of the Sailing League and has set its goal to defend the title next year.”

The Burgenland Yacht Club finished the regatta again – just like at Traunsee – in third place.  The local team from Neusiedler See was fighting for victory for quite a long time. In the sixth race, when rounding the mark, the gennaker of the Burgenland team was twisted. Their distance to the competitors increased and they finished last. Even in the last race, they were not any better than fourth place. But, thanks to the good results of the two previous days, they managed to finish on third at Neusiedler See – with the same score as the Union Yacht Club Traunsee – and second in the overall ranking.

Clemens Kruse of Burgenland Yacht Club said, “Fortunately we did start into the weekend successfully with three victories. Our big goal was the participation at the Champions League. And thanks to our second place finish, we made it! In the upcoming year, we want to compete again in the four events and fight for the title.“

Following the sailors from Bregenz, the SCTWV Achensee finished the last event in 2nd place. On the last racing day, the sailors from Tirol even had the chance for victory. But with a 3rd place, they were pushed back in the standings behind YC Bregenz.  Michael Meister from SCTWV Achensee said, “It’s a shame, we could not bring home the victory. The J/70 was completely new to us.  Nevertheless, our performance was very, very good. We are absolutely satisfied with rank three overall.“

Both teams are now sailing in the SAILING Champions League in Porto Cervo, Italy. Max Trippolti and his team had training sessions with their colleagues from Bregenz Sailing Club (BSC). The BSC has its own J/70 boats and is supporting the Austrian Champion during the preparation. Max Trippolti said, “It is a benefit for both of us. Our goal for Porto Cervo is a rank in the top ten.“  Sailing photo credits- SBL/David Pichler.  For more J/70 Austrian Sailing League sailing information

RIO Wins Battle @ Lindauer

(Lindauer, Germany)- The first major regatta for J/70s sailing on Lake Constance took place this past week.  Teams from all three countries that surround the lake were participating (Switzerland in the south, Germany in the north and Austria in the east).  The event was called “The Battle @ Lindauer” and twenty boats hit the starting line eager to test their skills against each other.  It was a perfect weekend for the sailors and the hosts- Lindauer Segel-Club (http://bit.ly/1EnK3cb)- were able to get in 14 races total, 8 on Saturday and 6 on Sunday.  Race Director/ PRO Josef Bitsche said, “you seldom have spectacular weather like this with a cool, brisk north wind- force 4 Saturday and force 3 on Sunday!”

At the end of 14 races, the top boat was Malte Kamrath skippering RIO from VSaW in Berlin, their five 1sts enabled them to win with 25 pts net.  Battling them from the first race was Julian Stuckl’s team on GER 470 from DTYC in Hamburg.  Had it not been for a BFD in race 10, Stuckl and crew sailed a very consistent series posting most all their races in the top three, but could only manage 27 pts net to take second place.  The top local boat was Veith Hemmeter’s crew from Lindauer Segel-club, taking a third with fairly consistent scores in the top five.  Fourth was Florian Troeger on JACKPOT and fifth was Tino Mittelmeier on ESPRIT D’EQUIPE.

What was evident from the regatta was that German teams that had been sailing for two years in the Deustche Segel-Bundesliga had an advantage in terms of boat speed and boat-handling.  Taking four of the top five spots were German teams.  Nevertheless, the steep learning curve for the Swiss and Austrian boats showed they were on the fast-track and were starting to get better finishes in the latter part of the regatta.  For example, Klaus Diem on PFANDER from Bregenzer Segel-Club started slow on the first day with mid-fleet finishes, but managed to sail much faster the second day and post a few finishes in the top six!

Fourteen teams are going for training in Italy at “Lago di Garda” next week- it’s part of the Alcatel OneTouch Italian J/70 Championship circuit.  The next “Battle on Lake Constance” is May 14-16 on the German side of the lake in Langenargen.  For more J/70 class sailing information

Austrian J/70s Sailing Already!

(Lake Constance, Austria)- Yes, it was not springtime yet, but a determined J/70 crew took delivery of their new boat and launched it past the ice!  Max Renner, a life-long sailor from Austria had this to say about their exciting first day on the water:

“We just bought our new J-70 and put it in the water today!  It didn’t matter to us that there was still snow in the mountains and many people were skiing.  We are the first J/70 in Austria and we sail on Lake Constance (sandwiched between Switzerland, Germany and Austria) and all over Europe.  The name of our new boat is "REGI".  We are looking forward already to sail in the J/70 European Championship at YC Monaco in Monte Carlo during the month of October!  We hope you enjoy our photos!  Best regards, Max”

SAILING Champions League Growing Dramatically!

(Hamburg, Germany)- Europe is mad about the J/70 sailing leagues! Only two years after the start of the innovative sailing league format in Germany (the Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga) and the kickoff of the SAILING Champions League in October 2014 in Copenhagen, many new countries are following Denmark in 2015 and are establishing their own sailing club competitions: Switzerland, Austria, Russia, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and Great Britain in Europe, as well as America.  A brief summary of developments in each country follows.

Italy
After the Italian FIV (Italian Sailing Association) organizers requested to host the 2015 SCL at the first SAILING Champions League in Copenhagen, it was clear there would be a national sailing league in the South of Europe.

The FIV’s sailing league will start in February. Two to three events are planned with perfect sailing regions set in Trieste, Genoa, Naples and Porto Cervo. Ten to twelve clubs will be among the pioneers in the first season. The Italians plan to use J/70s for most of the events. “We wanted to participate in the SAILING Champions League, because we support the vision and the mission 100%”, explains Roberto Emanuele de Felice of FIV.

The FIV plan to host the SCL Finals from September 17 to 19 at the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda on Sardinia.

The Netherlands
The Dutch Sailing League, called “Eredivisie Zeilen”, also started planning their sailing league after the prelude in Copenhagen. Their organization is managed by the Royal Netherlands Yachting Union together with an event organizer.

At their three events, they will be sailing J/70s in a spring and autumn series.  “For the Eredivisie Zeilen, 15 clubs have confirmed their participation. But I am sure, even more would like to participate”, said Rob Franken from the Netherlands Sailing Federation.

Russia
The Russians already started planning their first 2015 sailing league season in the fall of 2014. At a test event in September, the format, the J/70s and “live” broadcasting were thoroughly tested.  The Russian sailing league has the backing of the Russian Sailing Federation, utilizing a fleet of 10 J/70s. No expense was spared in their “test event” for multimedia and social media- the “live” HD video from the J/70s, from videographers ashore and from a helicopter was quite remarkable. Even the GPS system aboard each boat was tested.  For 2015, the Russians have planned five events.

Sweden
Swedish Sailing Federation will establish its national sailing league, “Allsvenskan”, with 18 participating clubs in three regattas.  The events will be sailed in a fleet of J/70s at Saltsjöbaden close to Stockholm (in May), Malmö in the South (in August) and Stenungsund (in September). “We want to make our clubs stronger by establishing the ‘Swedish Sailing League’ and make the sailing sport more popular and attractive for the age range between 18 and 30.  We are also pleased to have the Swedish POSTCODE Lottery as our lead partner″, said Peter Gustafsson of BLUR.SE sailing fame.

Stefan Rahm, SSF's Managing Director, had this to say regards the exciting development of the sailing league in Sweden:

“The clubs are central to the sport of sailing. Kids often first start in sailing school, then practice and sail dinghies, and later sail the family boat. But, racing takes place almost always as an individual sailor or as part of a 2-3 person individual team on your own boat.  However, in many other sports you are competing for your club in regional or national competitions. Shouldn’t that be the case in sailing, too?

Based on the experience from other countries that have sailing leagues, it’s clear the club ‘feeling’ is strengthened. Club members get enthusiastic and more involved in putting together teams.  The members help the team train, create training opportunities, acquire sponsors and promote them in the local news media.  Juniors, Olympic sailors and old seasoned sailors gather together to defend the club's colors.

The sailing will also be simple and accessible in J/70s provided by the Allsvenskan.  Moreover, it seems the media have a better understanding of the sailing and format— especially since there is “live” updates on standings race-by-race.

It's incredibly exciting that we finally have a national race series between clubs in Sweden. A series that will naturally determine Sweden's best sailing club, but will also drive more activity in the clubs and, thereby, increase the accessibility of our sport. The latter is a goal that we share with our main partners Swedish Postcode Lottery.”  More information about the “Allsvenskan” of the Swedish Sailing Association here.

Switzerland
For the start of the Swiss Sailing League, two regattas are planned: in April at Lake Thun and in October at Lake Constance. Founding members of the SSL are the Yacht Club Kreuzlingen, Lake Thun Yacht Club and Swiss Sailing (the Swiss Sailing Association). 31 clubs throughout the country have requested to participate in the Swiss Sailing League in their fleet of six J/70s. The first 18 participants will be announced in February 2015.  Like their colleagues in Germany and Denmark, they plan to extend the format and establish a 2nd league.  For 2016, they’re expecting to host five regattas.

“If the top three team of our Swiss Sailing League are qualifying for the SAILING Champions League, it is of course more attractive for the top Swiss sailors to participate in the national league – especially because of the international perspective”, explains Felix Somm, project leader of the Swiss SSL.  For more Swiss Sailing League information.

United Kingdom
For 2015, the British Royal Yachting Association is planning several test events in Portland Harbour and Cowes, Isle of Wight.  With support from the Royal Yacht Squadron and The Royal Thames Yacht Club (the only British club that raced in the SAILING Champions League in Copenhagen), their collective fleet of a dozen J/70s is the likely platform for the test events.

Austria
The Austrian Sailing Federation project leader, Rudi Hoeller, first visited his German colleagues in 2013 to get information about the new sailing format and what was required to establish a national sailing league in Austria.  Two promotional events are planned for 2015 to present the sailing league format to the public.  “We formed a Segel-Bundesliga GmbH according to the German model and the organizational committee and the hosting clubs are also set. There will be at least four regattas in 2016”, said Hoeller.

USA
America had already started planning their sailing league following the German model a year ago. The German project leader, Benjamin Klatzka, was one of the first persons to advance the German Sailing League concept.  In August 2015, the “Premiere Sailing League” will start with four regional qualifier regattas (North-Chicago, South-New Orleans, East-Newport, West-San Francisco) for 72 clubs. The best 16 US clubs – four per region – will then compete against each other at the “Premiere Sailing League National Championships” in Annapolis, Maryland in October. They will be sailing on J/70 boats with a crew of four.  A test event is taking place in late spring this year to promote the format to sailors, clubs, sponsors and the hosting clubs.   Please find a list with all National Sailing League events here.

J/70 Speeds Across The Bodensee

(Lake Constance, Germany)- With the advent of the J/70 as an International Class in November 2013, several sailing regions around the world have exploded with enthusiasm.  One area in particular, Lake Constance, has seen the J/70 become the one-design sportboat of choice for the Lake Constance Sailing Association comprised of 55 yacht and sailing clubs with over 10,000 members and at least as many boat owners.  The selection was a demanding one for the J/70, having eclipsed many highly regarded contenders and winning the final “bake-off” against two other well-known sportboats.

Since that time in the fall of 2013, the reports coming from German sailors on the lake has been nothing short of amazing.  Many had experience with the J/70 first-hand when the Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailed their five regatta series all over Germany last summer.  With the first deliveries of J/70s on the Bodensee, many enthusiastic German one-design sailors have hopped aboard and, like many others before them, have been pushing the limits.

Recently, a Berlin skipper, Jurgen Waldheim, was down on the lake with a bunch of friends taking the J/70 for a spin in 20-26+ kts TWS.  The conditions in early December were a bit chilly, but the breeze was up, good-sized waves were rolling down the lake and there was even snow on the hills on the nearby Swiss and Austria Alps!  As they say, “can’t keep a good crew down” from rising up to the challenge and simply going for it.

Jurgen and crew managed to hook-up several GoPro video cameras and here’s the evidence of their blast across the lake.  What’s cool about their frolic across the Bodensee was that their crew never hesitated to throw in a bunch of gybes as they blew down the lake at speeds up to 20 kts!  Next time guys, keep the jib out and you’d go even faster with more control!    Here’s their YouTube HD J/70 sailing video.   For more International J/70 One-design sailboat information

J/70 Lake Constance Class Development

(Friedrichshafen, Lake Constance- Austria, Germany, Switzerland)- The “Bodensee” as Lake Constance is known in central Europe is perhaps one of the most remarkable bodies of water in the world.  Steeped in history and at the middle of a “tug-of-war” between various empires over time in the middle of Europe, today “the lake” enjoys a somewhat neutral position in the world of politics and empires— no one has jurisdiction over the sailors whom enjoy its spectacular sailing venues— be that Austria, Switzerland or Germany!

As a result of its unique place in history, Lake Constance has a remarkably collaborative approach to life on how one manages one of the most beautiful lakes in the world!  With no jurisdictional powers over the lake, three major European nations exercise their “community of interests” by cooperating together on a wide variety of sailing, environmental and social issues.  In this case, summer, fun, beaches, sun-bathing, boating and sailing are the principals that drive all towards a common interest to enjoy a shared passion for the water!

In a remarkable development over the course of the past year, for the first time Germany and an entire region of central European sailors have made a decision to promote a single class within their clubs and throughout the entire region!  The project initiated from Constance sailor Christian Rau, an experienced European one-design racer. Together with other successful sailors from the racing scene at Lake Constance, they developed a concept that could be the basis for the development of a relatively inexpensive and fast boat, which could be promoted by all of the clubs and, most importantly, could be leaders in developing a new EUROPEAN-wide one-design keelboat class!

According to Bo Riechmann (J/Boats Germany Dealer Mittelman’s Werft), “it´s really quite remarkable, in fact unbelievable, that such a large group of clubs have collaborated on such a large scale! The Lake Constance Sailing Association has around 100 sailing clubs with 20,500 members sailing over 10,000 sailboats in the 18-25 ft size range and at least 70 clubs were present to select the J/70 as their next “one-design club keelboat”!  The driving issue was to consolidate the dozens of keelboat classes that have evolved over time into one that was “easy-to-sail by all age groups (especially women & children), ramp-launchable, easily transportable around Europe, and affordable”.  The J/70 helped to overcome significant issues related to the limited “in-water” docks & moorings that were available around Germany, Austria and Switzerland, as well as for the rest of Europe.  The storage issue simply became a choice of whether it was your drive-way at home or a local dry-sail facility next to a launching ramp.”

The Lake Constance Sailing Association is planning to organize five main one-design events on the lake for the 2014 summer sailing season. In addition, they will also take part at seven other main events on the lake.  As a result, new J/70 one-design sailors will have at least twelve regattas to sail next summer on the Bodensee!  Most importantly, everyone (community sailing club or private yacht club) can take part at all events.  Henning’s Mittelman’s Werft team will be providing a fun “twist” to the series, providing a “Golden Spinnaker” to the current series leader for each event— so everybody will be able to see which boat is leading the overall score going into each event!   For more German J/70 Class Association information (just recently organized).   For more J/70 & Lake Constance Sailing Association sailing class information.