J/111 Worlds Preview

(Breskens, The Netherlands)- The 2018 J/111 World Championship is being hosted in conjunction with the Breskens Sailing Weekend in the Netherlands.  Racing will take place offshore, in the wide-open North Sea, along the fabled northern beaches of the Benelux seashore.  Hosting the event are Watersportvereniging Breskens, Royal Yacht Club of Belgium, Koninklijke Roei & Zeilvereniging De Maas, Koninklijke Nederlandse Roei en Zeilvereniging Muiden, Koninklijke Antwerpse Watersportverenging SRNA and the Royal Netherlands Yachting Union (RNYU).

A dozen J/111 crews are participating from five nations (Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, Netherlands, & Switzerland). Based on past J/111 Worlds, particularly the last edition in Europe when it was hosted by the Island Sailing Club in Cowes, England, Ladbroke’s betting parlour will likely handicap the following teams to be at the top of the leaderboard; a formidable contingent from the United Kingdom- Martin Dent’s JELVIS (2016 World’s winner), Tony Mack’s McFLY, Paul Griffiths’ JAGERBOMB, and Chris Jones/ Louise Makin’s JOURNEYMAKER II. Their top competitors from the Continent will be Paul van Driel’s SWEENY from the Netherlands, Sebastien de Liedekerke’s DJINN from Belgium, Norbert Burket’s TOP JOB from Germany, and Jorg Sigg’s LALLEKONIG from Switzerland. Learn more about the J/111 here. For more J/111 World Championship sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/112E J-LANCE 12 Crushes IRC Europeans!

J-LANCE 12 Wins Class & declared Overall IRC European Champion!
(Cowes, England)- The Royal Ocean Racing Club hosted a stellar fleet of thirty-three offshore IRC racing teams from nine countries (Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Turkey, USA) at their Cowes, Isle of Wight station for the 2018 IRC European Championship. 

The immaculately sailed J-LANCE 12 was crowned IRC European champion for 2018. The French J/112E skippered by Didier le Moal seemed never to put a foot wrong in the latter stages of this week-long regatta run from Cowes by the Royal Ocean Racing Club.

"It's great, I didn't expect that," said le Moal of claiming the IRC Europeans title. "First of all, we wanted to win our class. But, this is fabulous to win overall! It concludes the wonderful week we've had. If you enjoy racing, we have been in paradise. The weather, sun, light winds, heavy winds, big tides, everything you could expect to enjoy from racing, we've had it all!”

Winning Saturday’s first windward-leeward race, held in 15-20 knot winds, was the French team's sixth bullet out of ten races. For the final big breeze, double-points scoring, round-the-cans, cannot discard race, the French had the class win secured, but played it safe.

"The wind was increasing a bit, so we preferred to sail safely, because we had a big lead. We just wanted to finish well," explained J-LANCE 12's navigator and team secret weapon Nicolas Lunven, the reigning Solitaire du Figaro champion. With the wind gusting into the 30 kts-plus range, they avoided gybing the spinnaker, to avoid breakage.

In addition to Lunven, le Moal and Fred Bouvier, the J-LANCE 12 crew of Christophe and Cyrille Cremades, Jean Francois Nevo, Jean-Michel Roux and Cyrille Teston are all friends who have sailed with le Moal for years.

"It is our third season sailing on the J/112E, so we know exactly how it works," continued le Moal. "We had a very, very good navigator - to be fast is one thing, but to be fast on the right side is a good thing! Upwind the boat is so fast, it helps you recover if you had a bad leg someplace!”

In the final race in IRC Three, J-LANCE 12 placed fourth, simply dominating their fleet with a 20.5 pts total, winning with a 30+ points margin.  As the Queen once asked about how the British Royalty’s yachts did in the first race against the yacht AMERICA in the 100 Guinea Cup Race (now the America’s Cup), the reply was “your Highness, there was no second place.”  That would have been an appropriate response for how the IRC 3 felt after being eclipsed by the French crew on J-LANCE 12.

What may have really opened up everyone’s eyes was the performance of the J/112E in the windy, blustery 60nm Round Island Race (the original America’s Cup course around the Isle of Wight).  In that race, J-LANCE 12 finished 3rd boat-for-boat in the IRC 2 fleet! A commanding performance it was for the ages. In fact, in what was easily a “big-boat” race for currents and winds, J-LANCE 12 was 3rd overall on handicap time to the first two boats in IRC 1- all full-on stripped-out racing Fast 40s.

Here is a summary report from Fred Bouvier on their experience sailing J-LANCE 12 in the regatta.

“The key to our success was the following: good boat, good crew- all friends, and a lot of fun and parties ashore.  While we were extremely focused while sailing, it was the great fun ashore that, for sure, was an important part of our performance.

In some way, we were amazed by our results and how we performed against very good professional teams and IRC-optimized, stripped-out racing boats.

Day One- Sunday
We had light winds and only one windward-leeward race.  Our start was not good!  The room at the RC boat was closed at the gun, so we had to a turnaround in just 5 knots of wind and come back to the start line. There was a very nervous feeling on board, as this was not the best way to start the IRC European Championship.

Nevertheless, we fully concentrated on our speed and we crossed most of the fleet to round the first windward mark in fifth place!  We were still nervous, as we were not thinking that light wind was our best conditions. But, despite this concern, we were second at the next windward mark and, in fact, passing several IRC Class 2 back-marker boats that started ahead of us!

Then, we crossed the line just before the wind shut down, thank goodness! Meanwhile, the rest of the fleet was partially parked on the last downwind leg near the finish line, some of them anchoring/ kedging to stay in place because of the current.  With no more wind, the RORC PRO wisely cancelled racing for the day.

Day Two- Monday
We had medium to light winds all day and very shifty- 15-25 degree wind shifts and very streaky.  It was “round-the-cans” random leg courses.

The first race was a reaching start, again not best positioning for first leg, rounding the bottom mark around 9th place.  Then, we recovered to 6th at the second mark.  Then, the next leg gave us a long upwind where we could play wind shifts and we jumped into second place at the 2nd to last mark.  Finally, we passed the Danish X-37 Helly Hansen team to finish first.

For the second race, it was much shorter, with less upwind.  This time, we finished fourth on corrected time after missing a shift and streak on the final downwind run to the finish.  Halfway down the run it appeared we were winning the race, but the boats to the windward and right of rhumbline passed us.

Our conclusion was that Danish X-37 Helly Hansen team would be very strong competitors.

Day Three- Tuesday
The RORC PRO attempted the classic Round Isle of Wight Race.  However, it was never going to happen, even in our own estimation.  We started upwind heading west down the Solent towards the Needles, after beating for two hours against the tide in very light winds, it was clear it was not going to happen. For the first time on our navigation software, we could see that it was predicting an arrival time at the finish line as "infinite”…ha-ha! Not surprisingly, the race was then canceled!

The fleet then waited for several hours in the Solent, hoping a seabreeze or gradient breeze would fill in. Finally, late in the afternoon, a streaky wind that kept oscillating from northeast to southeast filled in, blowing 6-12 kts.

The first race was another long round-the-cans affair.  It was a great one for us!  We beat the Danish X-37 Helly Hansen and the French First 40.7 Pen Koent; winning both on elapsed and corrected time!

The final race was a very short windward-leeward in light, dying winds. There were a lot of issues playing with the bigger IRC 2 Class in front of us to avoid bad air from their ‘back-markers’.  The X-37 was still fighting hard, but we succeeded in passing them right at the finish line, so we won another race on corrected time.

Day Four- Wednesday
We had one long and intense round-the-cans race all over the Solent in medium winds of 12-17 kts.  It was yet another reaching start (which we did not like, of course).  We spent the entire race working hard to beat the two French teams- the JPK 10.80 Shaitan and the First 40.7 Pen Koent. Surprisingly for us, the Danish X-37 Helly Hansen did not appear to sail as well in the breezier conditions.  As a result, we started to think that maybe it was optimized for light winds and the ORC rule.

Later, after dinner, I did some research on the Internet and I found the Danish X-37 was 2nd at the ORC Worlds in 2016 and was also rated lower than us in ORC!  Interesting!

Day Five- Thursday- the Round Island Race!
This was an amazing day for us!  Finally, we were able to sail the Round the Island clockwise in proper yachting conditions- 20 knots average wind speed, gusting to 27 kts, beating against the strong foul tide for almost three hours!  The fleet split off the starting line, one group of six boats went the north shore route up to Lymington, the other short-tacking along the south shore beneath the Isle of Wight cliffs.

It was a brilliant windward leg for us- three hours to exit the Solent upwind against the tide, except for the last 30 minutes when it changed. We rounded the Needles mark first in Class 3, but as well first in Class 2 in front of the First 40 and the King 40- they were clearly shocked we were that far in front of our IRC 3 Class!

The interesting point on the long upwind leg is that we had a small failure in our outhaul purchase system.  So, while we were beating in the middle of class 2 and 3 after having a not so good start, we were tacking every 5 minutes to gain places.  Meanwhile, to fix the outhaul problem, I was working on the aft face of the boom, while we were passing one after another of our competitors that had all crew hiking very hard. I did see some faces on several crews, looking amazed by our performance, especially with me standing to leeward of the boom and wheel doing the repair!

Then, it was a long downwind run against the tide (again!) where a JPK 10.80 and Sunfast 3600 took the inside line below us for less tide going to St. Catherines Point.  The wind against tide at the St. Catherines “overfalls” made for enormous, steep, breaking waves.  As we passed the point, their position inside was a good gain for them, so we dropped to third place on elapsed.

However, from that point down to the next turning mark, we stayed within a few boats length of them for the remaining downwind run, as well as the short reaching leg, before heading back west down the Solent for the last long upwind leg.  We were very fast on this leg, going higher and faster than the JPK 10.90 Shaitan and the Sunfast 3600 Redshift Reloaded.

We were just caught by one Class 2 boat by the finish line.  And, we were fighting the battle to gain back first place in our class, which we did! We crossed the Royal Yacht Squadron line off Cowes about the same time as the Sunfast 3600 and the 3rd place IRC 2 class boat!  Another huge win for the J-LANCE 12 team!

Our doubts about the Danish X-37 Helly Hansen were true, in more breeze the performance of the boat really dropped off compared to the whole fleet, always looking overpowered or not stable on any point of sail, they finished last in IRC 3 Class.

Day Six- Friday
We had two more identical windward-leeeward races in medium winds of 12-17 kts.  In both races, the same scenario played out for us.  We started conservatively and were leading by the first windward mark each time, sailing ahead of the fleet to secure two bullets.

Day Seven- Saturday Finale
We had two more races on the final day.  The first one was yet another windward-leeward race.  Just like the day before, in 17-23 kts of breeze, it was a conservative start, and then we led all the way around the course for another bullet.

Then, the final race was a double-counter that could not be discarded!  It was a long round-the-cans “Solent Tour”, with wind forecast to 25 knots and gusting over 28 knots. With such a big lead on points, we decided to sail conservatively and avoid any wipeouts or breaking something that would force us to retire. On top of that, the previous night saw an even longer and fun party than the previous one!  So, several crew were quite tired and not at full capacity!

Despite sailing one reaching leg without spinnaker, while everyone on board was feeling a bit embarrassed, we finished 4th to secure the win with a 30 points ahead of the French First 40.7 Penn Koent.

It was a fantastic week and the highlight was for sure the boat and its performance.  I am still astonished by how she achieved this performance, while being a pure cruiser-racer and carrying a lot of comfort inside.

The other success factor was the crew; we know each other quite well, and we had a good experience sailing the J/112E.

Nevertheless, most importantly, we had what I called the “fun factor”- spending good times ashore all together and not taking this too seriously.  We know the other professional crews went to sleep early and were up at sunrise each day.  Not us! We would enjoy our morning coffees and croissants and stroll back down to the boat again in time to leave the docks each day.

Finally, the RORC Race Committee and their PRO- Stewart Childerley- deserve a strong congratulations as they ran the event better than everyone could imagine.”

Chris Stone, Racing Manager of the Royal Ocean Racing Club commented, "The IRC Europeans and Commodores' Cup have been an overriding success and all the competitors are happy. The racing has been a complete test with the full range of strong tides, heavy weather, light conditions and sun and rain. There were a couple of standout performances and I congratulate J-LANCE 12 crew as worthy winners. Otherwise, the racing was incredibly close at this third European Championship, showing that IRC remains in great health."  For more IRC European Championship sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/80 Frostbite Cup Ends On Calm Note

(Naarden, The Netherlands)- With only 4 to 7 kts registering on the anemometer, the Frostbite Cup closed with a calm, quiet partly sunny day of sailing. The light weather last Sunday ensured the field of twenty-four J/80s never got too far apart on the race track. For many, it was a welcome reprieve from the rather cold and blustery winter of sailing.

J'ZUSTER closed in style and took a huge lead in the second race of the day and rounded the top buoy far ahead of the rest.  However, despite their enormous lead, the winner of the weekend was LED2LEASE.

As a result of the movement up and down the standings on the final stage of the series, it was J’ZUSTER that maintained their firm grip on the overall series lead to take home the Frostbite Cup.  Behind them, things changed a bit overall.  Taking second place was OANT SIEN and, as a result of winning the last event, LED2LEASE secured the bronze on the podium.

Sailing on the “Gooimeer” was quite a challenge for all the crews.  The wind can shift dramatically in various places on the water. Tactics are important, but in any case, the field was closely matched and any mistake was immediately punished, and often, very costly.

According to race leader Jørgen Schrier, “You are often forced to blow your start and have to catch up to the fleet.  But then, rounding the top and bottom buoys also produced logjams of boats to gain or lose! The field was very competitive, but fortunately, despite the very tight racing, little or no damage was involved- just bruised egos!”

Of the seven scheduled competition days, only one day could not take place because of ice floes! With six cold, often turbulent days on which to sail, the event organizers can look back with satisfaction at the Frostbite Cup 2017-2018.

"No less than 24 boats appeared at the start. That is unique for the J/80 class in the Netherlands,” said organizer Frans Driessen.  “All active boats have gathered in Naarden. The past few weeks, J/80s have also been brought from abroad and we welcome them in the upcoming matches, such as at the Dutch Championships that we will be sailing in May during the North Sea Regatta. With a big field J/80's on the North Sea ... that will be spectacular!”  Follow the Dutch J/80 class on Facebook here  For more Frostbite Cup sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Joy @ Almere Regatta For 80s & 109s

(Almere, The Netherlands)- Perhaps the biggest opening regatta of the season for Benelux/ Dutch sailors in the J/80 and J/109 classes is the Almere Regatta hosted by WSV Flevomare.  It was tight competition in the J/80 class, but in the J/109s it was clear that a “schooling” was taking place that many other boats needed to learn from to continue to pursue a better summer season.

Starting with the J/80s, an eight-boat fleet produced tremendous racing over a seven-race series.  In the end, it was the last race that truly determined the outcome for the regatta.  Winning was the Roel & Torsten team on JOYRIDE by just one point over Robert Raadsheer’s JETZT GEHTS LOS crew.  Just two points back with 17 points was Jorrit Beekman’s JSB.  Rounding out the top five was Bernhard Holsboer’s JUUL with 21 pts in 4th place and Louis Kanters’ JIP in 5th with 25 pts.

The Netherlands J/109 class saw a rabbit take off in flight, never to be seen again!  Winning was top woman skipper Caroline van Beelen-Rutger Kri on her JACK RABBIT with an astounding record of seven 1sts and one 2nd- tossing out a 1st and 2nd to win with just all 1sts!  Ouch!!  Talk about a “spanking” of her J/109 fleet, she showed how it’s done with a fast girl on the wheel!  Taking second a country mile behind was Arjen van Leeuwen’s JOULE with 17 pts, third was Team Heiner Talents on TEAM HEINER 4 with 19 pts, fourth was Dennis Zuidam’s JAM SESSION with 19 pts (losing the tie-breaker), and fifth was Arnout Jorritsma’s MAJIC with 20 pts.   Follow the Almere Regatta on FB here   For more Almere Regatta sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Glorious Van Uden Reco Stellendam Regatta

(Stellendam, The Netherlands)- With rain, sun and above all plenty of wind, the Van Uden Reco Stellendam Regatta was a spectacular season opener for the over 100+ registered sailing teams in the Benelux region.  The biggest class, again, were the J/22s with strong showings again from the J/111 class and the rapidly expanding J/70 class.  In addition, there were IRC and ORC/ ORC Double classes competing offshore.

To begin with, all the J/111 owners agreed it was another great success!  Last year was the first time the fleet had sailed in the Van Uden Reco event as a class; in particular because it was great preparations for the J/111 World Championship in 2016 that was raced in Cowes, England.  This year, five teams showed up for close class racing all weekend long.

By combining the forces of J-Benelux, the J/111 boat owners and crews, the fleet had another great weekend of sailing with six races. Paul Gladdines, class chairman of J/Benelux, enthusiastically responded after the event: "All owners liked it and the class looks forward to more one-design racing offshore, too! It's truly unique to sail with 36 ft boats as one-design class machines!"

Winning the J/111 class this year was Paul van Driel’s SWEENY crew from The Netherlands, showing that they had learned a lot from sailing last year’s J/111 Worlds in Cowes! They posted a 1-1-1-4-1-2 record for 6 pts net to win the class by a comfortable margin.  Pulling in the silver medal on the podium was Sigg Joerg’s LALLEKONIG from Switzerland, with a 2-2-2-3-2-3 tally for 11 pts net. Taking third on a tie-breaker at 14 pts each was Sjakk Haakman’s RED HERRING team from The Netherlands; on the short end of that stick was Sebastien de Liedekerke’s DJINN from Belgium.  Occupying the fifth spot was Norbert Burkert’s TOP JOB.

The J/22 was the largest class in the regatta with no less than 23 participants this year. Lisanne Nijdam’s TU DELFT crew on NED 1365 won last year with one point difference, but this year it was a much different story.  For starters, a significant development in the Dutch J/22 class was that NINE of the skippers were women in this year’s regatta- nearly 50% of the fleet!  The other element was that the level of competition was dramatically higher, especially since the J/22 World Championship is just weeks away and being sailed nearby.

After an eight race series, it was Nic Bol’s QUANTUM HOLLAND that took the series with a very strong performance- accumulating four 1sts and three 2nds to win with 10 pts net.  Second was Hans Deutz’s BIERTJE with 19 pts net, including a 1st and three 2nds in his tally.  Third was Reiner Brockerhoff’s French/ German crew on JAZZY with 24 pts net, also a double-race winner.  After starting with a 1st in the first race, it seems that Lisanne Nijdam’s TU DELFT crew could only manage 3rds- taking four of them in her scoreline- to finish fourth overall (she was also top woman skipper). Finally, if fifth place was Thom van der Starre’s TU DELFT NED 1514 crew with 38 pts net. 

As a result of the fast-growing Netherlands J/70 Sailing League project, there was a huge increase in J/70 sailors in this season opener.  Winning the J/70 class was Diederik Forma’s JULIA with five 1sts and two 3rds in their eight-race scoreline with 11 pts net.  Second was Rikst Dijkstra’s WATERLAND MONNICKENDAM-SHE SAILS with 18 pts and third was Thorsten Willemsen’s JAY DAY with 22 pts net.

In the IRC Class, Alain Bornet’s J/109 JAI ALAI sailed well to take fourth in class.  In the ORC Class, the J/24 JOOL skippered by Dirk Olyslagers simply crushed their class, taking it with a 2-3-2-2-1-1 for 8 pts net.  Then, in the ORC Double Class, Yvonne Beusker is out practicing hard to get their team on PANTHER ready for the various RORC and North Sea races in the respective double-handed classes; she ended up tied for 3rd in class.   Sailing photo credits- Laurens Morel   Van Uden Reco Regatta Facebook page   For more Van Uden Reco Regatta sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/111 Benelux Series Announcement

(Dordrecht, The Netherlands)- 2017 will see the sequel of last year, regarding J/111 One Design Racing in Benelux. Again, three events are selected to host the growing class and it is hot racing:

• 22-23 April: Van Uden Reco Regatta, Stellendam
• 02-04 June: North Sea Regatta, Scheveningen (Open Benelux Class Championship)
• 25-27 August: Breskens Sailing Weekend, Breskens

Before and between these events, there are special dedicated J/111 training programs scheduled, as well as regattas in the Solent off Cowes, United Kingdom.

“After a very successful 2016 season of great One-Design racing, all Benelux-owners agreed to continue One-Design Racing and getting the J/111 Benelux Class in a bigger and better shape.  Stay tuned,” commented J/111 sailor Paul Gladdines!   Follow the J/111 Benelux class here on Facebook.  Learn more about J/111 here.

Dutch Double-handed J/Sailors Honored!

(Nieuwegein, The Netherlands)- The annual awards ceremony of the Dutch Sailing Federation honored the top two-handed sailors in the Dutch offshore circuit.

For the annual Shorthanded Awards, sailors nominate candidates for the Double Handed and Solo Challenge Award, and the committee, consisting of Chairman Sander Bakker Erik van Vuuren, Hans Bourscholte and Luke Schroeder, review the nominations and select and designate a winner.

For the Double Handed Awards, the jury proposed three nominations:

• John van der Starre and Robin Verhoef for winning the Two-handed sailing series and prepping their new J/122 AJETO for the best possible performance shorthanded.
• Yvonne Beusker and Erik van Vuuren for winning the North Sea Race with their J/105 PANTHER and for Yvonne lobbying at the World Sailing Congress in Barcelona to integrate the first Two-handed class in the World Sailing Cup.
• Chris Schram, Raymond Roesink and Ken Parson. Raymond and Chris were on the podium a whopping nine times during the 2016 Dutch Two-handed circuit.  And, Chris and Ken Parson, also placed in many races in the English RORC circuit.

For the jury, it was not an easy decision and they had to take into account not only the team’s performance, but also their passion and dedication to sailing, both on the water and on shore.

As a result, in the fast-growing doublehanded discipline, Chris Schram's J/120 MAVERICK won the 2016 Dutch Doublehanded Award, for best overall performance during the season (competing with Raymond Roesink) and for their impressive performance in the RORC 2H Series (with Ken Parsons as co-skipper).  For more Dutch Two-handed series sailing information

2017 J/70 Europeans Announcement

(Hamble, England)- The Royal Southern Yacht Club (RSrnYC) is proud to be hosting the 2017 J/70 European Championships from Saturday 3rd to Friday 9th June, in conjunction with the J/70 UK Class Association.

The Club completed the Prince Philip Yacht Haven, opened by our Patron, the Duke of Edinburgh, in 2015. This, and its associated waterside deck, has greatly enhanced our walk-ashore and entertaining facilities, ideal for this major Championship. Karen Henderson-Williams, Commodore of the RSrnYC, said “Hosting such major Championships is a rewarding challenge for the RSrnYC and its members. We are looking forward to showing the J/70 competitors some great hospitality in our wonderfully enhanced facilities.”

After two days of registration and measurement inspections racing commences on Monday 5th June, with an opportunity for competitors to sail a practice race, then the Championships run Tuesday 6th to Friday 9th June. The Championships provide a great opportunity for teams to prepare for the 2017 World Championships in Italy later in September. We expect a large entry list, with significant interest from Europeans and North America sailors. If required, the event will have a qualifying and final series, with the option for two race course areas.

RSrnYC’s PRO Stuart Childerley commented, “The intention is to run eleven Championship races. We are preparing for a large fleet and I am sure the sailors will find racing on the Hillhead Plateau area of the Central Solent challenging and fun. The Solent in June can be a stunning championship venue.”

Commenting on behalf of the J/70 UK Class Association, Ian Wilson said, “The Championships will stimulate the growth of the UK based fleet further, and we are very pleased to have a major championship being held in the UK, ahead of hosting the Worlds in 2019.“

The Hamble-based Club has published the Notice of Race (NoR), and it is available for download here, along with other related information. Additional information and support is available from the Royal Southern Yacht Club Sailing Office - Tel: +44 (0)23 8045 0302 or Email: sailing@royal-southern.co.uk
For more J/70 European Championship sailing information

J/80 Benelux Winter Series Training Report

(Naarden, Netherlands)- The J/80s in the Benelux fleet (Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands) have started their annual Winter Series training program this fall.  Here is a quick summary of the first J/80 training session from the inspiring leadership of Jacco Huijgen from Quantum Sails Netherlands.

Commented Huijgen, “the event is organized by the Frostbite Cup Organization.  There were seventeen J/80s registered for the 2nd edition of this Winter Series- it can already be called a great success!

The J/80's have their own up & down race track.  Note, periodically will be controlled by the Yachting Association of compliance with the class rules.

Daily rates are available from the Frostbite Cup Organization. And, Marina Naarden, has a fantastic offer for the J/80 sailors.  You can dock/store your J/80 for the whole winter at the marina, from now until the end of March / early April for only 250 EUR!!

Doubt us still? The Frostbite Cup organization will help you with the logistics and we have a great crew pool to fill any crew shortages!!  Feel free to contact us at (Frans Driessen) if you have questions at The Frostbite Cup Organization.

Do you have a J/80 and you want to join? Registration can still be made through the R&ZV Naarden website.

J/111 Worlds Preview

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- The J/111 Garmin World Championship is less than a week away; fourteen teams from seven different countries will be taking part. Forming a truly international fleet, the teams come from Australia, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States of America. Racing on tight Solent courses the fleet will enjoy a five-day racing programme and a lively social schedule, organized at the Island Sailing Club in the heart of Cowes.

“This is going to be a great championship with a strong international fleet,” commented JELVIS’ Scottish skipper, Martin Dent. “Besides the top European teams such as SWEENY and RED HERRING that came over earlier this year and have done well, we have an Aussie team, and then there are the two teams from the US. Last year we were amongst four UK teams (including the defending 2014 World Champion) that went to Newport for the 2015 Worlds. It was noticeable that the top US teams were a notch up on us all. This year, KASHMIR and SKELETON are the clear two form J/111’s in the US, which is awesome. KASHMIR has just won the 2016 North American Championship, and it’s hard to find anything other than a bullet amongst SKELETON KEY’s race results. As for JELVIS, as usual, we have a young team, barely old enough to drink coffee, 3 teenagers on board and with everyone besides myself and the mainsheet trimmer being 21 or under. We were delayed getting our J/111 programme started this year, since 6 of the 8 crew were still in school/university until July, but now it’s the summer holidays so we have been able to practice, and hopefully if we get some athletic conditions that favour youthful exuberance, we can be competitive."

Rod Warren campaigns his J/111 JOUST in Melbourne, Australia, and has chartered KESTREL from Simon Bamford for the championship.

“The crew is an eclectic bunch,” explained KESTREL’s Rod Warren. “Aaron Cole is head of North Sails Melbourne and has experienced 13 Sydney-Hobart’s; Stephen Daniel is a tree surgeon, perfect for the foredeck- he can climb anything! Aaron Linton is a sugar cane farmer from far North Queensland, who is our wind whisperer. Stuart Johnstone and his wife Julia are from the USA and part of the J/Boat sailing family. Simon Bamford and his son Oscar are the owners of KESTREL, based in Hamble and brave enough to let us loose on their boat. And, I am a Cardiologist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. I began sailing keelboats a couple of years ago and quickly wanted to chase speed, hence the J/111. We love one design racing and we did the Worlds in Newport last year and loved it. We are really looking forward to this year's competition, especially to sail in such a great venue as The Solent. Coming from Australia our goal is obvious!”

Mike Mayer's American J/111 KASHMIR was runner up in last year's J/111 World Championship.  “We are very excited to come to the worlds,” commented Kashmir's American skipper Mike Mayer from Chicago, Illinois. “A big driver of our decision to come to Cowes was coming close at the Worlds in Newport last year. We had a blast at that regatta and have enjoyed travelling as a team, so here we come. Our team is the same as the Worlds in 2015, except that my partner Karl had to miss last year's race because his wife had a baby during the event, and he will be back on board for this event (as he was for our recent North American Championship win). We are all from around Lake Michigan, except our bow man Fireball, who is a college kid from Florida. Most of us have never sailed in the Solent and are looking forward to absorbing the sights and sailing history there. Conditions in Chicago tend to be light, and there are no meaningful tides and currents. That will be a major difference and challenge for us. The logistics of racing across the pond are daunting, and we want to thank J/Boats and J/Composites for working with us to make our attendance possible. We look forward to seeing the UK friends we made at last year's Worlds again, and making new ones at this Worlds.” Sailing photo credits- Tim Wright / Photoaction.com   Follow the J/111 Worlds on Facebook  For more J/111 Garmin World Championship sailing information

J/105 PANTHER North Sea Race Double Champion!

J/122s Sweep IRC 2 Class!
(Harwich, United Kingdom)- The North Sea Race is 180nm offshore adventure from Harwich, UK to the Smith's Knoll Buoy off the North Norfolk Coast then east across the North Sea to Scheveningen, The Netherlands. Organized by the Royal Ocean Racing Club in association with the Royal Harwich Yacht Club, the East Anglian Offshore Racing Association and the Yacht Club Scheveningen.

How did the various J/Teams fair in this classic race?  Amazing! Seven of top eleven Overall!  And, five were double-handed teams!

This year’s event was blessed with summer-like conditions. After a beat to South Galloper Buoy, the fleet turned north for a long starboard tack reach to Smith's Knoll Buoy, followed by a port tack reach to the Netherland's coast and a beat to finish at Scheveningen.  The high pressure that produced a light airs race suited the smaller yachts.

In IRC 1, racing Two-Handed was Bart Desaunois' J/133 BATFISH, taking the silver while fellow J/133 owner, Angus Bates, sailed ASSARAIN IV with a full crew to fourth in class.

In IRC 2, the top three yachts were all racing Two-Handed- all J/Boats in a sweep of the class! Chris Revelman & Pascal Bakker's J/122 JUNIQUE RAYMARINE SAILING TEAM was the winner. Robin Verhoef's J/122E AJETO was second and Chris Schram's J/120 MAVERICK was third.  Seventh in class was the British Army Sailing Association’s J/111 BRITISH SOLDIER.

In IRC 3, Kees Mijs' J/109 ARETHUSA was the winner while fellow countryman Alain Bornet took fourth place in his J/109 JAI ALAI.

In IRC 4, taking second place in class and winning a tough IRC Two-Handed Class were Yvonne Beusker & Eric Van Vuuren with their J/105 PANTHER!  Fellow J/105 skipper, Robert Nelson skippering BIGFOOT, also sailed double-handed and took 4th in class.

The IRC Two-handed class was, essentially, a clean sweep of the top J/teams.  First was the J/105 PANTHER, followed by the J/105 BIGFOOT in third, the J/122 JUNIQUE RAYMARINE in fourth, the J/122E AJETO in fifth, and the J/120 MAVERICK in sixth!

Yvonne Beusker commented on her performance, ”My usual sailing partner for Team PANTHER is Edith Voskamp but she had shoulder surgery, so Eric was my partner for the race. He is our team coach and we did some of the Global Ocean Race together in a Class 40. Two-Handed racing has become very popular in the Netherlands and the North Sea Race is part of our National Championship. I believe our win was down to keeping each other sharp. It is difficult to stay alert in light winds but we made a big point of keeping each other focused, even after 30 hours with little sleep."

Here is the report from Chris Revelman on the J/122 RAYMARINE JUNIQUE:

“As always, we focus on getting home fast! It was nice weather for sailing. The nights at sea were very cold, but you can dress you warmly, they were fantastic conditions!

After our winter break, these were our first two races for the season. We had not yet been out sailing or practicing! Our boat-handling was okay, and we were soon back in our usual routines.

The first race across to Harwich port from The Netherlands was good sailing for us. A great fight with IL CORVO and the J/133 BATFISH. Eventually, we finished 5th behind BATFISH and PANTHER.  John and Robin’s new J/122E AJETO was first.

The North Sea race is one of our favorite races of the season. We had a very nice start and arrived at the first mark together with AJETO. From there, we set, alternatively, the A3 and Code 0 as the wind kept shifting.  We kept changing places with BATFISH and AJETO for the 80nm across the English Channel to the other side near the Netherlands seacoast.  At the next turning mark before heading to the finish line, MN-4, we chose to stay inside the group around us and made a big gain, allowing us to come out in front of BATFISH and AJETO.

The circumstances from that moment on were very mixed. The effects of a cold sea and a warmed-up land nearby produced big differences between the offshore gradient wind and the onshore breeze along the coast. Exactly as the time we were going around the mark, a vacuum formed between the two winds.  Clearly, the land breeze was better.

With the speed and momentum that we had left, we headed straight ahead towards the beach for the land breeze until we can catch it and head towards the finish. That worked out even better than we had expected.

With "only" 5 miles to the finish line, after 32 hours of sailing, we are headed fast (relatively speaking) to the finish line.  Beer is finally in sight!!

However, a massive hole was forming in front of us.  We can see wind out to sea, so we gybed out to get it and then rode that new wind streak into the finish line!  Wow, we finish the race as the third boat in the entire race on elapsed time!  That beer tasted even better after the finish!

We win IRC 2 Class!! And, we were 7th overall in the standings. Two-handed sailing in this light and changing circumstances is hard enough, we are happy with our result!

Next weekend is the continuation of the Netherlands Two-Handed National Championship series. We're going for it during the inshores and we hope to be able to climb in the standings. The competition level within the shorthanded circuit is big, so there are several contenders. Now, it’s time to get some sleep!!”   Follow the J/122 RAYMARINE JUNIQUE here on Facebook  For more RORC North Sea Race sailing information

J/111s Loving Benelux Series!

(Stellendam, The Netherlands)- Last weekend saw the start of J/111 One-Design Racing in the Benelux region at the Van Uden Reco Regatta in Stellendam.  And, what a great start it was!!

The conditions on Saturday were very tricky, to say at the least. The conditions saw very tight, close racing, demanding everything from everybody on the boats; resulting in some very exhausted crews at the end of the day.

But, what great racing! Three races, three different winners with the top three boats (Zwijnenburg’s SWEENY, Sigg’s LALLEKONIG and Vroom’s RED HERRING) all in a three-way tie on equal points!  As a result, that meant the racing on Sunday was going to be anyone’s game to play for. Both de Liedekerke’s DJINN and Burkert’s TOP JOB were playing “catch-up”, learning a lot every turn around the course and getting closer and closer to the top 3.

On Sunday, the wind kicked in like a hammer, beating the boats with brutal force all day long. This ended up with TOP JOB (broken Jib#3.5) and LALLEKONIG (injured person on board) needing to retire before the racing actually began. Thankfully, they are both in good shape and will be ready to resume racing at the next J/111-event in two week’s time.

The two races sailed that day had two different winners: Zwijnenburg’s SWEENY and Vroom’s RED HERRING.  The outcome again left both boats on equal points, tied for the lead.  However, as ISAF-rules apply (best result in the last race is decisive), this made Vroom’s RED HERRING the winner of the first event. De Liedekerke’s DJINN showed great progress that day by catching up on the two leaders to take third overall.

All owners and crews were very enthusiastic and looking forward to the next J/111 Benelux One Design event- the North Sea Regatta in Scheveningen from May 13th to 16th.  Then, all participating boats in the races in the Benelux countries will also participate in the J/111 World Championship in Cowes (UK) in early August!  Thanks for the report from Paul Gladdines!   For more J/111 Benelux Van Uden Reco sailing information

Benelux J/111 Series Announcement!

(Scheveningen, The Netherlands)- 2016 will see the start-up for J/111 One-Design Racing in the Benelux region with three events scheduled:

• April 23-24- Van Uden Reco Regatta- Stellendam
• May 13-16- North Sea Regatta- Scheveningen
• August 26-28- Breskens Sailing Weekend- Breskens

The best scoring boat over these three events will win the Benelux Championship. Besides, this all five boats competing (Sweeny, Red Herring, Top Job, Djinn & Lallekonig) will also participate in the J/111 Worlds at Cowes, United Kingdom in the first week of August!  In fact, some of those teams will also join in the fun and frolic for the J/Cup in Hamble.

Exciting times coming up! Please, any boats are welcome to join us! Feel free to contact us for more J/111 Benelux Class sailing information- Paul Gladdines- paul@jboats.nl   For more International J/111 Class sailing information.  For more J/111 sailboat information

Old-man Winter Freezes Grevelingen Cup Series

(Grevelingen, The Netherlands)- The Netherlands offshore winter series known as the Grevelingen Cup can have awesome, gorgeous days in a mild European winter, or it can just gruesome.  This past weekend, it was decidedly more the latter scenario.

It looked like winter and felt like winter.  With 3.0 C on the thermometer and blowing a solid 18 kts on the whirligig at the top of the mast, it was going to be a bone-chilling cold day! Plus, it was wet and drizzly! 

Nevertheless, being the hardy bunch that they are, the Dutch sailors just tossed on some more layers, wore big hats and warm boots, donned some gloves, and hopped aboard.  Nothing was going to slow them down to brave the elements, and worse, lose a few points to their more brazen (or, crazier) competitors!

The first start sounded at 11 am on the Grevelingenmeer that saw the sailors in good spirits. With 18 knots of wind gusting into the low 20’s, it was a challenge for many to keep their sailboats under control!  Keen observers noted that the wind was quite “dense” (cold + rain) and many sails could not handle it, as evidenced by some shredded in the rigging.

Boat-handling was a key element of success.  The one-design classes wanted to keep warm, so sailed shorter courses.  The larger ORC boats sailed a longer race track (after all they had warm cabins!) and were out about an hour longer than the one-designs.

All in all, it was superb sailing and a great for “character-building” in such demanding conditions (some might say the RC PRO and volunteers might have been a “bit off their rocker” to even be on the water in such weather!).

After the weekend racing, the standings in the ORC classes saw some J/Teams handling all this rough stuff quite well.  In the ORC Inshore 1 class, the J/120 JUST US sailed by H Woudenberg is sitting in third place for the series with a 5-3-1-8-2 scoreline for 19 pts- just four point from 1st overall!

In ORC 2 Triple Number class, the J crews are having a field day.  Leading the class is the J/109 JAI ALAI sailed by JC Bornet with 33 pts total after 12 races.  Sitting in third overall is another J/109, R Bakker’s BIG TIME with 65 pts.  Then, in 4th place is Wessel van der Werf’s J/88 RAGING BULL with 83 pts followed by yet another J/109 in 7th place- the van Beelen/ Krijger team on JACK RABBIT sitting on 98 pts.  Ninth is the J/92S MUSCEL sailed by Remco Otten and in 10th place is Jan Gabriel’s beautifully re-finished J/35 RAGAZZA.

In the one-design world, the J/80s have a great turnout. Leading after 13 races is Laura Vroon’s JOIE DE VIVRE with 25 pts.  Just three points back in second place is Peter Paul de Vries’ LED2LEASE and in third is David van Veen’s nJOY.

The final weekend or racing will take place on Saturday, March 19th, followed by the awards ceremony and a well-deserved feast!!   For more Grevelingen Cup sailing information

Kieler Woche Loved By Big Fleets of J/70s, J/80s, J/24s

(Kiel, Germany)- Sun, wind and waves: The first day of the 133rd Kieler Woche offered everything to make a sailor happy. As a result, “the first day in the office” for the sailors could be finished quickly. All planned races were done in less than three hours.

“That was a good start in all aspects", said Dirk Ramhorst, the Regatta Chairman for Kieler Woche! “The only problem now is that expectations are high!  After this day, it can only get worse!” He would have loved to let the sailors sail even more, but he had to stick to the framework.  Ramhorst’s team was most fortunate, after three days of racing, the race directors had most of the races sailed for all fleets.

It’s not a trivial task managing the one of the world’s largest sailing events.  The week-long event took place from June 20th to the 28th for 1,500+ sailboats and over 5,000 sailors.

Three J classes were featured at Kieler Woche- the J/24, J/70 and J/80.  For the J/80s, the event was considered the J/80 “Pre-Worlds”, as they will be sailing the J/80 Worlds at the same venue from July 6th to 10th.  Thirty-three J/80s sailed in the regatta and the fleet enjoyed the diverse sailing conditions.  Demonstrating why he is considered one of Germany’s top sailors, local Kieler YC member Martin Menzner sailed a very strong series to win the J/80 Pre-Worlds.  Menzner’s crew on PIKE included Frank Lichte, Mika Rolfs, Carsten Hopp managed to post a 2-3-1-2-1-2 record for 8 pts net.  Taking second only 3 pts back was Germany’s Bjorn Beilken with a 1-2-2-4-2-5 tally for 11 pts net.  Third place went to Sven Vagt’s team on BOOTSWERFT WINKLER, they were closing fast and nearly pulled off an upset after winning three races in their scoreline of 4-1-5-1-6-1 for 12 pts net.

The J/70s were sailing the first German Open National Championship.  It was a great event with 31 boats and marked a fantastic start for the J/70 class in Germany.  Several notable sailors from Germany were participating in the fleet, including Christian Soyka- 7x X-99 World Champion; Karol Jablonski- World Match Race Cup Champion and DN Iceboat World Champion from Poland who was sailing on Pit Finis boat from Dusseldorf YC; Karsten Kemmling from Norddeutscher Regattaverein- a top German match racer; Christian Soyka- another X-99 World Champion and 505 World Champion; and Felix Oehme- a winner of the Barcelona World Race in IMOCA 60s.

In the end, it was Spain’s Olympic Medallist Hugo Rocha on NEW TERRITORIES that won the J/70 class in his first major regatta with a 3-4-2-1-6-4 record for 14 pts net.  It was a closely fought regatta for the top five with positions changing every day like a “snakes & ladders” board game.  Leading the fleet after the first four races was Germany’s Hubert Merkelbach, with a 1-1-4-4 score sheet. However, the last two races proved his undoing as a quick 13-9 meant he had posted two, not one, toss race.  Merkelbach finished second overall with 19 pts.  German star Claas Lehmann on TRE MAKRELLER was caught in a five-way battle for the bronze position on the podium.  Ultimately, Lehmann sailed a 2-10-11-3-18-5 tally to finish with 31 pts net.  Only one point back in fourth place was Sweden’s top J/70 team, Oscar Lundqvist on THE PURE CIRCLE with a 5-2-1-7-17-18 record for 32 pts net.  Fifth was finally taken by a tie-breaker between Phillipp Kadelbach and Phillipp Bruns with 33 pts each, the tie-break going to Kadelbach’s team.

The thirty-four J/24s were the largest offshore one-design class at Kieler Woche.  Teams were participating from Germany, Monaco, Sweden, The Netherlands, Hungary and Great Britain.  Skipper Ian Southworth on IL RICCIO with crew of Andy McLelland, David “Sid” Howlett, Simon Philbrick, and Julia Scott managed to show the fleet what it takes to win in very tight J/24 fleets.  Posting three wins in ten races, Southworth’s crew were able to sit out the last race so that the German teams Karsunke and Schonfeldt could duel for the 2 & 3 positions on the podium.  After winning two races themselves, Frank Schonfeldt’s HENK (with crew of Finn Moller, Till Krueger and Thorsten Sperl) took the silver with a sixth in the last race to win a tie-breaker on 39 pts. Stefan Karsunke’s SULLBERG (with crew of Tim Habekost, Carsten Kerschies, Christian Carstens and Malte Gibbe) lost that tie-breaker to take the bronze. Holding on to fourth place was Peer Kock and fifth was Jan Kahler.

Top women’s team in 13th place overall was Stephanie Kopcke’s VEGA RAGAZZA, sailing with her crew consisting of Ann-Katrin Brugge, Silke Basedow, Amelie Panuschka, Nelle-Marie Bock and Insa-Kristin Horsch from Muhlenberger Segel-Club.  For more Kiel Week sailing information

MOJO 4 ROOKIES J/22 European Circuit Winners

(Hamburg, Germany)- The 2014 J/22 Euro Circuit saw a nice increase in overall participation with sixty-four teams from Germany, The Netherlands, France and Belgium having participated in at least one regatta in the nine-race series.  Taking the overall honors was the German team of MOJO 4 ROOKIES skippered by Svend Hartog.  The M4R team ended the season with a high-point score of 135.05 points.

Taking a surprising second overall was the French team of Reiner Brockerhoff on JAZZY, finishing the year with 122.05 pts.  They were followed by yet another German team in third, Christian Rieckborn’s JOLLY JUMPER with 114.05 pts.  Taking fourth with 113.07 pts was the top Netherlands team of Jean-Michek Lautier sailing FRAPORITA.  Rounding out the top five was Hardy Kleinefeld’s CAMPAGNOLO team from Germany.

On an overall basis, it was a fairly even mix of teams from across Europe in the top fifteen: Germany (7), Netherlands (5), France (3).  With the J/22 Worlds taking place in Germany next year, watch this list of participants grow quite dramatically in 2015!   For more J/22 Germany sailing information