J/99 Chile Update

 

(Algarrobo, Chile)- In July 2019 Eduardo Capdeville was very interested in the new J/99 when it was first introduced. He was looking for a boat that his family could enjoy, one that he could race with them, and have the ability to do some doublehanded coastal sailing.

As a result, Eduardo decided to visit the J/Composites factory in Les Sables d'Olonne, France. He wanted to see how the boat was built and to take a test sail. Thanks to the efforts of Fred Bouvier, a day of sailing and taking a J/Composites factory tour was organized for Eduardo and friends.


One year later, in June 2020, Mr. Capdeville placed an order for J/99 hull #60 (pictured skippering with family crew).

After the confirmation of the order, the J/Boats dealer in Chile- Juan Eduardo Reid- started the process of organizing all the details and logistics for Mr. Capdeville to complete the boat in France, ship the boat from France to Chile via the Panama Canal; and commission the boat in Algarrobo, Chile.

The optional equipment was finalized, including the big wheel J/111 pedestal option. ONE SAILS were selected for the entire set of sail, the first J/99 worldwide to have them. Additional items included a 12" chart plotter for the wheel pedestal, a long list of West Marine safety equipment, covers, cradle, mooring, proper anti-fouling bottom paint and so forth.  As Juan exclaimed, "I soon realized I was configuring this boat like it was for me, but keeping the customer's desire in mind for all things onboard.


The boat arrived safely on November 22nd, 2020 and, amazingly, we were ready to go sailing on the 9th of December with very light winds!"

As Juan described the occasion, "I wanted to make it a real sea trail for our owner. So, I got together with a famous and very experienced South American sailor- José Muñoz- and we did some test sailing on January 10th, 2021 as the weather would be the right ones.

The conditions were perfect- 12-14 kts, sun, and gentle rolling swells from the southeast (e.g., storm swells from the Roaring Forties down by the Antarctic Ocean).

"During the current pandemic, with the daily cases going up again, going to sail a brand-new J/99 with a great sail inventory and my friend José with the perfect sunny and windy day, was kind of a miracle", commented Juan. "Also, we got Yanko to film with his DJI Drone and Choncho to rent his nice FE 580 RIB.  Sailing was perfect! The IFS A4 asymmetric spinnaker fit and performed perfectly, as well as the rest of the ONE Sail inventory. Flavio Formosa from design and Slovenian Loft 
did a great job."


Juan continues describing their experience, "the J/99 is amazing. The wheel is sensitive and transmits the sensation from the rudder perfectly. With 14 kts of breeze, the boat was going 6.8 to 7.1 kts with no crew on the rail. Very stable, similar to the J/105. And, the hull going through the waves was smooth and strong... hard to describe, but easy to understand for a J/Boats owner. The V shape section and the good hull, sail plan, foils and ballast make the whole combination perfect and the boat just flies through the water."

He added, "downwind, we were making 8 to 9 kts, with a breeze of just 12 to 14 kts. There was no planing condition, but you can see that the boat will go planing very easily with winds over 15 to 16 kts.  Very stable, very easy. Nice, nice, nice.

Other aspects that surprised us was the nicely appointed interior, nice headroom (almost 1.8 meters) and simple, but good distribution. This is a big step ahead of the J/105, a boat that we are very used to in Chile, with a fleet of thirty boats.


For the J/99, another really nice aspect is the nice aluminum mast with an integral mainsail luff track (for sliders), that makes mainsail handling very easy. Also, the trimming system for the jib (with up- down and in-out) makes it very easy to tune the jib shape to any wind/wave condition. This gives you the opportunity of having only one all-purpose jib, as we did for "Lady Chopper II", with Harken furler and vertical battens.

Congratulations to Al Johnstone for the nice design, J/Composite for the good construction, and the entire J/Boats team to achieve more than 60 J/99's built to date. We are happy to have two already in South America; one in Chile and one in Perú.

Now, we look forward to racing doublehanded regattas in IRC, a TCC of 1.005 is very promising.

And, we are also looking forward to sailing the bigger brother of this boat, the new J/45. We see in both models the same design considerations; we believe the J/45 will be a rocket in the water; an easy to sail, soft, stable, well-built, comfortable rocket offshore."   To learn more about the J/99 shorthanded offshore speedster

J/70 Class Report from Chile

(Algarrobo, Chile)- We received a report from Juan Eduardo Reid- J/70 sailor and J/Boats Chile dealer- regards their scenario in Chile.

Juan commented, "there has been no sailing activity since March 2020.  We are still sailing just in Virtual Regatta since April.  Santander and Doyle Sails are hosting a VR circuit with the J/70 owners and crews every Tuesday. Is called "The Master League".  There are weekly and monthly regattas.  2 fleets of 20 boats each week with final 40 participants results. 


This, together with a WhatsApp for internal communication, has become a very important factor of keeping the class together and "active".


Patagonia Yacht Charter and Doyle Sails hoisted the Chilean qualifiers for the South American Virtual Regatta championship. In the local qualifiers, 90 boats took place.

The class took the opportunity to ask for a voluntary donation for purchasing boxes of food for some employees at our home yacht club: Cofradía Nautica del Pacifico in Algarrobo.

We got very good support from the 90 participants, and collect $1,400 USD. And, the J/70 class did the same and supported the campaign with the same amount. So, with the $2,800 USD in funds, the J/70 Class in Chile and the Cofradía Náutica del Pacífico members support (they also complement each box with extra food), they  have been delivering 18 boxes of food every month since May. Three months of 18 boxes each were delivered and we expect to support with 2 more months. 


Independent marine workers are having a hard time since March 2020 and actually there were having very low marine activities since November 2019, after the violence and social strikes we faced in Chile since October 18th, 2019. So, this help is very important for them and the J/70 Chilean Class is happy to somehow contribute. 

This is all that I can comment from this side of the world. I hope we can sail again during September or October.  We still have 2,000 new coronavirus cases and 100 dead every day here in Chile. It is getting better, but still not enough to get to normal life." Add to Flipboard Magazine.

A View from Pandemic Newport- Cats!

Following the thoughts and perspectives last week from the two J/Boats founders- Bob & Rod Johnstone, a few friends encouraged the "next generation" to describe their "home sheltering" experiences in the past few weeks.

Your J/News publisher/ editor- Stu Johnstone- has had one prominent theme while working at home for the past few weeks- "CATS"! LOL. 

My wife- Julia- and I live in a quaint "craftsman's cottage" in Newport that is shared with three complete characters (cats), each unique in their quirks and personalities. Living here is a bit like living on a boat, you're supposed to stay at anchor, stay on the boat, and occasionally you can row to shore to get supplies.


Meanwhile, the cats rule the roost. We started off a few years ago with one Russian Siberian forest cat we named "Allie". As an alpha female, she tries to rule the others, but at a strapping 8 lbs, her efforts are often for naught. She does claim your editor as her protector (as seen here) and enjoys spending lots of time hugging my shoulder while I type away and write the J/Newsletter. 

Our second cat came about for one simple reason, "Allie" seemed lonely or bored at times. So, Julia decided to call back the cat breeder of Allie and find another cute Russian Siberian forest "kitten".

While the story of meeting the breeder to pick-up "Allie" the first time would be described as "epic", the second adventure was even more adventurous. You might describe it as an "interstate buying trip." I had decided to buy a powerboat (yes, going over to the 'dark side' has its merits). But, without a tow-vehicle, I had to rent one! Thanks to Enterprise, I got a nice Ford F-150 quad-cab pickup with a hitch, drove from Newport to New Haven to pick up a brand new aluminum trailer, then drove through New York (via I-287/ Tappan Zee Bridge), through New Jersey (past Delaware Water Gap) onto I-80 in Pennsylvania to meet our "cat lady" halfway across Pennsylvania.


Much to our surprise, when we met her in a brew-pub parking lot just off the I-80 highway, she hops out of her car with a 7-month old "kitten" that was enormous- just your basic 17 lb. black panther hugging her shoulder. I nearly died of laughter... or, maybe it was shock! Nevertheless, "he" was a "lover" (as described by her breeder) and our new black kitty was promptly named "Hobie". Off we went to pick up the boat- a 30 ft Intrepid center console- in southern Long Island, with "Hobie" crawling all over inside the truck. Ultimately, we picked up the boat on Sunday 8:00am and drove back to Newport with the new "J/CREW" in tow (a bit larger than its predecessor- a 16 ft Boston Whaler!).

As if having two cats was not enough, segue forward three more years and my wife is now working at the Kitty Corner Cat Clinic in Newport. While I was "away at sea" over Thanksgiving weekend/ first week of December (I was racing a TP 52 with my cousin Jimmy in Phuket, Thailand, sailing in the famous King's Cup Regatta); my wife decided to add a THIRD cat to our household. This one was no spring chicken. Like Hobie, she was an enormous cat- a 13-year-old female Maine Coon cat tipping the scales around 17 lbs, too. Yikes! Sadly, she was a 'rescue cat', left by a previous owner, and was very timid at first. Her name was "Impy", but I nicknamed her "Whimpers". With both of us at home all the time, she's slowly coming out of her 'shell' and feeling more comfortable, and less intimidated, with the other two cats- Allie and Hobie. Thank goodness. 


As for your J/News editor, I had two "Throwback Thursday" moments while writing on Thursday. My calendar program promptly notified me at 9:00am that Charleston Race Week was taking place this weekend- remember that event? It was a poignant moment for me, as the original plan was to sail with my "Meatballs" friends on their J/88 ALBONDIGAS. Bummer. It reminded me of all the other wonderful times sailing in Charleston Harbour, racing J/70s and J/111s in the past. With Doug Curtiss on his J/111 WICKED 2.0, Heather and Joey on their J/70 MUSE, and Brian Keane's J/70 SAVASANA. Fond memories all...wishing that we can enjoy Charleston again in the near future...

The second throwback moment was a truly epic, adventurous trip to Chile that Julia and I took a year ago. Fourteen days. 12 hours flying from Boston to Miami to Santiago to Punta Arenas. A 30-hour trip by water on the Yagan Ferry down the Straits of Magellan, across the spectacular Beagle Channel (at least two-dozen glaciers spilling down to the seashore) to Puerto Williams, the truly "southernmost city" in the world.


Puerto Williams is part of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago; it’s known as a starting point for trips around Cape Horn. It’s also a gateway to trails around the jagged peaks of the nearby Dientes de Navarino. (https://goo.gl/maps/v6PVoJkBAnVK4j379).

How far south is it? 55 deg south latitude...versus the next closest place to the north familiar to many sailors, the southern tip of New Zealand's South Island- 46 deg south- just 540 miles north!

So far, that is the furthest south the J/Newsletter has ever been published- Puerto Williams! Coincidentally, there is a J/24 fleet there- part of the Chilean Navy's training program (the southernmost J/24 fleet on the planet)!


Thereafter, we did hike the trails up to Dientes de Navarino (they do look like "teeth"). From that height, you can see Cape Horn down south! Then, visited the famous Torres del Paine National Park north of Punta Arenas. Then, up to Puerto Montt and visiting Lago Llanquihue- famous for being surrounded by three volcanic snow-covered peaks- plus there is a J/80 fleet on the lake.

Thereafter, it was a fun trip up to Isla Negra (remember last week's visit to Chilean poet Pablo Neruda's museum?). A trip to a spectacular vineyard northeast of Algarrobo, a day tour of eclectic Valparaiso. And then home. Next time, New Zealand's South Island!

Best wishes to all. Stay safe & healthy. Cheers, Stu & Julia"

Britain's Ward Tops J/70 Bacardi Invitational

Loe's DIME Crowned Corinthians Winner
(Miami, FL)- A stellar fleet is assembled for the 2020 edition of the J/70 Bacardi Invitational in Miami, Florida.  Hosted by the Coral Reef Yacht Club and Biscayne Bay Yacht Club, the fleet of forty-three J/70 teams from ten nations (USA, Argentina, Italy, Thailand, Brazil, Great Britain, Chile, Germany, Canada, and Mexico) were treated to four-straight days of nearly perfect champagne sailing conditions. Solid breezes, sunny skies, a few clouds, warm waters (72 F) and warm weather (75 F) meant that "shorts, shirts, & shades" were the order of the day every day!


After starting off the first day with a 2-2-1 tally, the EAT SLEEP J REPEAT team from the United Kingdom (skipper Paul Ward, Ruairidh Scott, Ben Saxton, and Mario Trinidade) basically led the regatta from wire-to-wire over the eight-race series. As the current J/70 World Champions, they finally showed "good form" after getting a few kinds worked out of their system from earlier regattas in Florida where they were having difficulty staying in the top ten. After a fourth race debacle that saw them score their drop race, an 18th place, the team roared back to win yet another race and finish with 23 pts net.


Notably, the regatta was witness to a meteoric rise for a previously unknown team at the top of the J/70 class leaderboard. Having taken a surprising third place at the J/70 Midwinters two weeks ago, Ryan McKillen's SURGE Team of John Wallace, Sam Loughborough, and Mark Mendelblatt managed to repeat their most excellent performance in the previous event. The SURGE Team were able to sail quite consistently and posted six races in the top five to take the silver with just 28 pts net.


Taking the final bronze step on the podium was Bruce Golison's crew of MIDLIFE CRISIS (Steve Hunt, Jeff Reynolds, and Erik Shampain) from southern California. After their first race "down the mine shaft" finish of 26th, they won the next race and were able to post five finishes in the top five to finish just two points back with 30 pts net.

Rounding out the top five were J/70 World Champion Joel Ronning and his talented crew on CATAPULT (Patrick Wilson, Chris Stocke, and Paul Brotherinton), winning the final race and also posting five top five finishes to take fourth place with 35 pts net. Fifth place went to Oivind Lorentzen's NINE from New York with crew of David Shreiner, Lucas Calabrese, and Ian Coleman.

In the eight-boat Corinthians Division, it was Seattle, Washington's Mallory & Andrew Loe and crew of Cardwell Potts and Brian Shores aboard DIME that won the division, even winning the fourth race overall! Second was The Brazilian team on THREE MUSKETEERS (Alberto & Andre Guarischi, and Mario & Pedro Tinoco), then third went to Zach Segal's USA 1154 team (Enrique Quintero, Ashton Hammerlin, and Alex Sachs). For more J/70 Bacardi Invitational sailing information

J/70 Fastest Growing One-Design Class in South America

Just after North Sails swept the podium at the J/70 Chilean Nationals at the end of 2019, we sat down with Torkel Borgstrom to talk about class growth across the continent. He says the J/70 is growing in a very similar way to how the J/24 grew, thirty-plus years ago. With boats built in Buenos Aires, “It is becoming one of the most important and competitive classes in South America. And most of the sailors here use North Sails, including the top ones, because they perceive that it’s an advantage in terms of performance.” The first South American country to build a fleet was Chile, about seven years ago. “Right now there are probably 30-35 boats, and the numbers are stable.”

Uruguay has another 30-boat fleet, he continues. “And Brazil was one of the first countries that started with a J/70, but due to some restrictions on importation, they only have around ten boats. But every time they participate internationally, they do well.” Add in another 35 boats from Argentina, and it’s easy to see why Torkel says the J/70 “has become one of the strongest and most interesting one design classes. The regattas are very, very competitive, and normally there are a lot of boats participating.”

In Brazil, a lot of professional sailors have moved into the J/70 because the competition is so good. In the rest of South America, Torkel explains, the approach is more like in the US; most sailors are either amateur or people work in the industry, but don’t specialize in J/70s.

The J/70 South Americans in Punta del Este had great conditions but only 32 boats participated, which surprised Torkel—though he wasn’t surprised to see a  Argentinian tie for first. “Most of the sailors are new, and so when you put together a good crew like the one Guillermo Parada has, they normally will win most of the events.” As for the disappointing turnout, he blames it on the current political instability, particularly in Chile but also in Argentina. “Every time we have elections here, things get a little bit unstable. So I believe this is the reason why we haven’t seen more boats.”

Based on what he’s seen so far, Torkel is excited about the future of the class. “In January, we have the Rolex Atlantic Circuit regatta, which is one of the most important ones here. I expect to see more boats sailing in that event.” Longer term, “the good sailors ended up sailing in the J/24s, and the same thing is going to happen with the J/70s. So you will see more people from South America, Argentina especially, going into the international events and starting to do much better every year. We foresee that in the next five to eight years, we’ll continue growing slowly, and continue improving in terms of competitiveness.”  Sailing Photo Credits- Matias Capizzano Add to Flipboard Magazine.

NEW WAVE Wins J/70 Chilean Nationals

(Algarrobo, Chile)- Fresh off sailing the recent J/70 South American Championship in Punta del Este, Uruguay, a number of teams headed back across the formidable Andes Mountains range back northwest to Algarrobo, Chile for the 2020 J/70 Chilean National Championship, hosted by Cofradía Náutica del Pacífico.

Twenty-six teams participated in the regatta and many them participated in the training program provided by the Doyle Sails Team. Running the sailing clinic was non other than J/70 World Champion Jud Smith from Marblehead, MA. After the pre-regatta full-day training program that included an onshore debrief, the competitors continued to learn even more about Smith's "speed secrets" during the course of the regatta. Juddie was on-the-water all three days of racing and provided post-race day debriefs at the yacht club for any of the sailors.

The sailors were treated to a fairly typical cross-section of wind and wave conditions off Algarrobo. Friday's racing was light and shifty winds for most of the day. Then, on Saturday and Sunday, the fleet enjoyed 10-18 kts of breeze, increasing on Sunday to 15-20 kts...making for a few fun, full-out planing races downwind.


Day 1
In the lighter breezes on the first day, the right side of the course upwind paid off the best. However, late in the day, the seabreeze affect started to pull the breeze left with a little more pressure.  The strongest performance of the day was the Herman brothers on NEW WAVE, they had great starts, solid tactics and very good speed to post a 3-3-2 to sit atop the podium at the conclusion of racing. Not far behind was Matias Seguel's crew on TEAM VOLVO with a 7-1-5 and in third was Vernon Robert's MORENITA team that had just finished 6th in the J/70 South Americans in Punta, posting a 2-2-10 for the day.


Day 2
On Saturday, the wind built a little more and some of the stronger teams took advantage of the wind and wave angles, particularly downwind. The Ducasse family onboard TSUNAMI posted the best record for the day with a 6-9-1. Meanwhile, the regatta leaders on the Herman's NEW WAVE posted a 3-11-4 to hold on to their lead. Meanwhile, Seguel's Team VOLVO also held on to their 2nd spot with a 4-12-2.


Day 3
The stronger wind conditions on the final day certainly played into the hands of the more experienced teams. Dominating the final day and closing out the regatta with a strong performance was the Herman brothers on NEW WAVE, posting a 2-1-4 for a 22 pts net (after one discard); that gave them a 13 pts winning margin. This was the second J/70 Chilean Nationals the Herman brothers have won, taking the first event in 2015 at Lago Panguipulli onboard CAROLINA.


Taking the silver was Seguel's VOLVO team, closing the regatta with a 3-5-8 for 35 pts net.  Then, rounding out the podium was the Ducasse family on TSUNAMI. Their final day was a bit of a disappointment, as they had been in the running for the overall lead with VOLVO and NEW WAVE. They started off the day winning their second race in a row, but suffered an OCS in Race 8 and, therefore, ruining their chances to win the regatta. They closed with a 2nd to take the bronze. 

After an uncharacteristically bad fourth race- a 21st place- Robert's MORENITA crew demonstrated why they are one of South America's best J/70 teams, closing the gap very quickly on the leaders to finish just 7 pts from second place! In fact, they posted the best record of any team in the last five races- a 1-3-6-2-1, winning the last race by a big margin and securing fourth place. Rounding out the top five was Alejandro Perez's team on PELIGRO.

Winning the Corinthians Division was young Alfredo Urzua on LA NEGRA, second went to Cristóbal Pérez's IL MOSTRO, and third was José A Jimenez and family on DARK SIDE. Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Rossi Crowned J/70 South American Champion!

(Punta del Este, Uruguay)- The 2019 J/70 South American Championship was hosted by Yacht Club Punta del Este and was sailed off the beautiful seaside city of Punta del Este, Uruguay. Blessed with big waves, big breeze most days, and a picturesque coastline, the fleet of thirty-two entries from Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Brazil, Argentina and Italy enjoyed fierce competition over the course of eleven races. The battle for the podium spots went down to the wire in the final race and, not surprisingly, two of the protagonists included the dynamic, talented Rossi family from Italy- both past European J/70 Champions. The top three spots on the podium saw a spread of only one point after the scores were tallied, ten races counting with one discard.


In the end, it was "girl power" that ascended to the top of the standings, with Ms. Claudia Rossi's Italian team on PETITE TERRIBLE surviving the last race to be crowned the "open" J/70 South American Champion on a tie-breaker at 48 pts each.  Losing that tie-breaker was Argentinian Guillermo Parada on ARG 1270. Just one point back in the bronze medal position was Claudia's father- Alberto Rossi- making the podium a family affair with his Italian team on ENFANTE TERRIBLE.


As a result, it was Argentina's Parada that was declared the J/70 South American Champion as the top team from the continent. The second South American team was Renato Cunha's Brazilian crew on NEGRONI with 60 pts, and the third South American team was Francesco Avermaete’s SI QUERIDA.


The winner of the Corinthians Division also happened to be Avermaete’s Argentinian crew on SI QUERIDA, with Guillermo Amondo's Argentinian crew on BEBETO taking the silver, and Diego Garcia's Uruguayan crew on CHAPULIN garnering the bronze medal.  For more J/70 South American Championship sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Frutillar J/80s Enjoy Sailing Clinic!

(Frutillar, Chile)- Juan Reid from J/Boats Chile provided this report regarding a recent J/80 sailing clinic on Lago Llanquihue (a lake just north of Puerto Montt,  about 900 miles south of the capital of Santiago):

“Sixteen people from Frutillar and Puerto Varas meet at Cofradía Náutica de Frutillar on March 30th for a J/80 clinic that was led by Stu Johnstone from J/Boats in Newport.

The J/80 class has four active boats on Lago Llanquihue. It is a very enthusiastic fleet that participates in many regattas; such as the non-stop around Lago Llanquihue race (e.g. “Vuelta al Lago”) and also the Semana de La Vela races from 19 to 26th of January.

We met at 10:00 AM for a theoretical tuning discussion and then the group split onto the two J/80’s that were available- "Cumberland Yacht Charter" and "Domingo Siete".

The weather could not have been more spectacular and beautiful. It was a sunny day, light winds of 5 to 8 kts from the south. We had great views of the three famous volcanos across the lake (Osorno, Puntiagudo and Calbuco). It was simply perfect scenery for our sailing clinic.

We ran several windward-leeward legs for the two teams. Stu J and I were on a RIB giving instructions to the two teams regards sail trim, boat trim, and boat-handling maneuvers.

After three hours of sailing, the sailors headed back to the yacht club to enjoy lunch (awesome BBQ and local wines) and a good conversation about the lessons on the water.

The clinic was great input for the J/80 class on Lago Llanquihue. They need as much knowledge as possible!” Add to Flipboard Magazine.

MORENITA Wins Dramatic Chilean J/70 Nationals

(Algarrobo, Chile)- A highly competitive fleet of nineteen boats eagerly rigged up, tuned their boats to perfection, and headed out across the Pacific Ocean to the starting line for the 2019 Chilean SANTANDER J/70 Nationals. Hosting the regatta was the Cofradia Nautica del Algarrobo.  As the fastest growing class in Chile since the J/24, and with the best sailors in South America, the J/70 continues to attract the best talent for both skippers and crew. What no one anticipated was the regatta's outcome was going to be determined by a tie-breaker based on the results of the final race.

In the end, it was an incredibly hard-fought regatta for the two protagonists in this year’s J/70 Nationals. Both sailors have tremendous pedigree as both have won many championships in J/24s, Lightings, Soto 40s, and Snipes, to name a few.  Winning the tie-breaker was Mathias Robertson’s MORENITA with a 3-1-4-1 record for 9 pts.  Losing the countback to settle for the silver on the podium was Pablo Amunátegui’s SANTANDER with a 2-2-2-3 scoreline.

Meanwhile, the Corinthians Division celebrated their winners José Antonio Jiménez’s team on DARK SIDE.  Here is what took place each melodramatic day on the water.

Day 1- Friday- Big Seas, Big Battle
The first day of racing started off with winds of 10 to 12kts from the northwest with very choppy seas from a large frontal system offshore. The PRO managed to run two races before the offshore wind finally shut down, a frequent occurrence after a slow moving frontal system passes over the Andes.  Typically, the land heats up in such circumstances and creates an onshore, sea breeze from the west/southwest.  But, that was not the case this time around.

The Robertson brothers, Ro Robles and Pino Cubillos, took the lead at the end of the first day with a 3-1 score for 4 pts.  The Robertson’s are from amazing Chilean sailboat racing pedigree; they are sons of Felipe Cubillos, their father raced in the Portimao Race (35,000nm around the world in Class 40) together with José Muñoz. Tied on points with the Robertson’s was Pablo Amunátegui’s SANTANDER with a 2-2 scoreline for 4 pts as well.

Day 2- Saturday- Light Air Dramas
On Saturday, light wind conditions offshore persisted, prompting an onshore postponement until 1500 hrs! Desperate to get in at least once race, the PRO sent the fleet offshore at 1530 hrs to get in just one race for the day. Incredibly, it was SANTANDER that maintained their steady pace, with skipper Amunátegui posting yet another 2nd place to take over the lead of the regatta.  Sitting just two points back was Robertson’s MORENITA with a 3-1-4 tally for 8 pts.

Day 3- Sunday Crazy, Dramatic Finale
The final day dawned with more light winds. The forecasts looked a bit dismal, unfortunately. Again, the PRO had to do an onshore postponement at 0900 hrs that lasted, coincidentally, until 1500 hrs. At that point, the decision was made to make an attempt to get in one more race in about 6 kts of breeze from the normal seabreeze direction of West/ Southwest. The stakes were high, as whatever the outcome of the race, it was going to determine the championship.

MORENITA had a fantastic start on the RC side of the line with great speed. From there, they took the lead at the first weather mark and simply sailed away to win the race. Meanwhile, their principal competitor, SANTANDER rounded in 5th place. At that point, it seemed like the regatta was over for SANTANDER. But, the drama was only going to build dramatically as the fleet continued to go around the buoys.

On the first run, the wind went a little to the right and SANTANDER and Francisco Perez’s ELEANOR RIGBY were the first boats to gybe. Andres Ducasse’s TSUNAMI and Juan Reid’s WINDMADE/ DREAM YACHT CHARTERS stayed close to shore, looking for more pressure.

Then, the left shift came in and both SANTANDER and ELEANOR RIGBY had a good recovery, but it was not enough. WINDMADE/ DREAM YACHT CHARTERS managed to gybe and run into the leeward gate in front of SANTANDER; 4th at that moment in the race, but still 2nd in overall in the standings.

On the second windward leg, with good speed, SANTANDER took the left (closer to shore) and both TSUNAMI and WINDMADE/ DYC took off to the right on port tack, despite the left-swinging wind direction. SANTANDER made it work along the shore and rounded the second windward mark in 2nd place.  Next, was TSUNAMI in 3rd, WINDMADE/ DYC in fourth, ELEANOR RIGBY 5th, and Matias Seguel’s VOLVO in 6th.

IF nothing changed on the downwind run to the finish, SANTANDER’s big gain meant they would be winning the regatta!  However, positions could, and did, change!

Again, the wind shifted into the right in the final 100 meters upwind at the weather mark, so WINDMADE/ DYC and TSUNAMI gybed onto port downwind, onto the favored gybe. Meanwhile, SANTANDER was still in second place, choosing the right side of the course downwind, closer to shore. Notably, the wind was decreasing in pressure and making everything more difficult tactically across the entire course.

In the final approach to the finish line, SANTANDER made two gybes, in front of TSUNAMI and WINDMADE/ DYC.  But, they did not block WINDMADE/ DYC, who was free to sail a faster angle to the RC finish boat.  Incredibly, WINDMADE/ DYC finished in 2nd by one foot (!) ahead of SANTANDER! Thus, putting SANTANDER in between them and TSUNAMI at the finish! Those two gybes by SANTANDER may go down as the “text book” wrong move, hopefully never to be repeated again by the moribund crew!

As a result, MORENITA won, with SANTANDER losing the tie-breaker to take second, with VOLVO third.

Rounding out the top five overall was also determined on yet another tie-breaker on 21 pts each! Winning that “mano-a-mano” combat was Reid’s WINDMADE/ DREAM YACHT CHARTERS, taking fourth over Ducasse’s TSUNAMI in fifth place. Wow, that last race completely jumbled the ENTIRE top five standings in just 100 meters of the finish line!! Panic and anxiety in Algarrobo!!

Meanwhile, in the Corinthians division, José Antonio Jiménez's DARK SIDE finished 6th overall with only Jimenez family members on board.  Taking second was Patricio Natho’s TRILOGIA and in third was Cristóbal Pérez’s IL MOSTRO.

The Race Committee was managed by Fernando Pérez Spencer and assisted by Claudio Gonzalez and Javier Alias Corniza. The Protest Committee was chaired by Claudio Salvatore. Begoña Gumucio was the PRO for the regatta and also coordinated all the activities ashore. The ex-Olympic sailor was crucial for the success of the championship on the water, social events, and the award ceremony.

On Saturday morning, the 2020 J/70 Nationals host club and town was decided and the two finalists were Algarrobo and Lake Rapel. The Chilean J/70 Class directors are looking forward to sail outside Algarrobo and hope to resolve the logistics scenario to go sailing on Lake Rapel in the foothills of the Andes Mountains; the lake is about 2 hours south of the capital city of Santiago ~ 100 miles. Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Fabulous Semana de Vela Santander Regatta

Gorgeous Sailing for J/One-Designs on Lago Llanquihue
(Frutillar, Chile)- From January 19th to 26th, the Semana de Vela Santander took place on Lago Llanquihue, the second largest lake in Chile, for fleets of J/24s, J/70s, J/80s, J/105s, and IRC handicap boats.  The event was hosted by Club Nautico Oceanico, the Chilean Navy, and Cofradía Náutica Frutillar; it was the first time in the history of Chilean sailing that a fleet of forty-three keelboats have ever assembled together for a week-long event on the lake.

Lago Llanquihue and the Valdivia villages were first settled by German colonialists in the 1850’s, led by Manuel Mont, and supported by then Chilean President Pérez Rosales. The principal strategy was to settle the area by giving away 2 hectares to each family to farm and make a home in a region that was sparsely populated.  However, due to the heavy rains and dense rain forest during the winters, the best mode of transportation by far was using boats on the lake!  Even to this day, there are many ferries that run back and forth between the coastal towns as principal commercial service on what is also one of the deepest lakes in all of South America (1,500 ft)!

The opening ceremony of the regatta took place at the famous “Teatro del Lago”, one of the most important public theaters in all of South America, located literally on the Frutillar shorefront. In the background of the 300 sailors attending the festivities were the famous “tres-amigos”- the enormous 12,000 ft-plus volcanic, snow-capped mountains of Osorno, Puntiagudo and Calbuco.

The sailing conditions started out a little light in the beginning of the week. For the long distance race between Frutillar, Puerto Octay and return to Frutillar, it was longer than what most anticipated.  After a one-day break, the fourth day of racing was the 18.0nm distance race from Frutillar down south to Puerto Varas, a long slog to windward for the entire fleet!

The last three days of the regatta were in Puerto Varas at the southern end of Lago Llanquihue.  The southerly offshore winds were shifty, puffy, and made it difficult on the tacticians to decide where to go for the next wind shift.

The J/24 class was dominated by Team VALDIVIESO, sailed by Felipe Molina and Fernando Gonzales, posting nine 1sts in eleven races to win with just 12 pts total.  Second was Team GUAMBLIN, sailed by the Escuela de Grumetes I team and taking the bronze on the podium was Team MARISCAL sailed by the Escuela de Grumetes crew.

For the J/70s, it was a battle royale to the finish line. In the end, it was Manuel Urzua’s crew on PATIO LV that took the title with 18 pts, followed by their erstwhile competitor, Francisca Cisterna’s UROBORO with 19 pts total. Rounding out the podium in the bronze position was Paulo Molina’s ALBATROSS with 28 pts total.

Like their compadres in the J/24 class, the J/80s were treated to another near “white-washing” of the class.  Ezequias Alliende and Alfredo Valdes had one bad blemish on their record of near all first places, posting a DSQ in race 3, to finish with just 14 pts.  Taking the silver was Anton Felmer’s COSACO with 22 pts, followed by Gabriel Jordan’s CUMBERLAND YACHT CHARTER with 26 pts.

Finally, the J/105s had quite close racing over the course of the week. In fact, their class had the closest racing of any of the handicap or offshore classes. Wining the event with just three 1st places was Jose Tomas Errazuriz Grez on WICHITA 4 with 26 pts total.  In a nose-to-nose horse race to the finish line were four other boats, anyone of which could have take the silver based on their final race positions! Taking the silver on a tie-breaker at 35 pts each was Jorge Gonzalez Correa’s PLAN B over Patricio Seguel’s GRAND SLAM.  Fourth was Daniel Gonzalez and Claudio Leon’s TRICALMA just one point back with 36 pts.  And, yet only three points in arrears to claim 5th place was Miguel Perez’s RECLUTA with 39 pts.  Fantastic racing for all J/105 crews over the course of the week’s racing!  For Semana de Vela Santander Regatta photos  More photos on Semana de Vela Santander Regatta on Facebook   For Semana de Vela Santander Regatta Results Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Big Battle @ Chilean J/24 Nationals

(Bio Bio, Chile)- The Chilean J/24 National Championship was sailed on the waters of the Bay of Concepción, based on Quiriquina Island. A beautiful location to host such an important regatta for the dozen J/24 teams that participated from across the world’s “longest” country (north and south).

A select group of famous South American J/24 sailors were invited to participate as crew aboard various boats. Chief amongst them was the famous Brazilian Mauricio Santa Cruz, multiple World and South American Champion. In addition, the Argentine Matias Pereira, multiple South American champion, Pan-American champion and multiple Argentine champion was crew.  And, finally Nicolas Cubria, former Argentine champion also sailed as crew. Each one of them sailed as crew with a top Chilean helmsman.

Positioning themselves comfortably in first place on the first day of racing was the Chilean Del Castillo and his crew (totally local); they won 3 of the 4 races!

In the first two days, the winds were mild. But, as the racing progressed and the wind increased, it was a classic trade-off in the J/24 class- top end genoa or go for the jib. A true test of offshore sailors, ironically enough!!

At the end of the last race, the teams of E. Fernandez and N. Cubría with the crew of Carlos del Solar and Mauricio Santa Cruz were tied in points.

As in the last regatta, Del Castillo won; he qualified as Chilean 2018 J/24 Champion. Second was Carlos del Solar with Mauricio Santa Cruz. Third was Patricio Rodriguez's team with Matias Pereira.  And, fourth was Raúl del Castillo.  For more Chilean J/24 class sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/122E ANITA Report- Rolex Middle Sea Race

(Gzira, Malta/ Santiago, Chile)- After a really tough 50th edition of the ROLEX Middle Sea Race, the J/122e ANITA finished 3rd in IRC Class and 24th among 115 boats sailing.

The Spanish-Chilean team led by owner/ skipper Nicoléas Ibañez Scott, put up a strong effort in wildly variable weather conditions on the Mediterranean Sea, from “glass-outs” with burning sun, to 40+ kts, grey, cold, and 15 ft seas rolling over the deck.

Here is their “insider’s report” on what went down in this incredibly challenging “bucket list” race on the Mediterranean Sea.  Thanks to ANITA’s owner- Nicoléas Ibañez Scott.

“This was the second year that Anita, a J/122E, participated in the Middle Sea race, 600-mile race around Sicily and the islands that surround it.

It was an especially hard race, with only one-third of the fleet completing the race.

This year we sailed with more sails, more crew (8), and made various improvements in our maneuvers and how we used our navigation/ electronics equipment.

The race started off for us with a collision! The other boat came from behind and hit us in the stern and they ended up getting a badly broken bowsprit. We just got a little scratch astern.

The first long leg is getting to the Straits of Messina between Sicily and the mainland.  It was a long windward leg, with 12-16 knots. Our closest references were the J/133 JIVARO that was easily advancing on us in these conditions. And, the other was the J/122 JOY; they helped us find the correct sail trim.

At nightfall, the wind got lighter and near land, it also became unstable in intensity and direction.  Good tactical decisions and the use of our Code 0 in some transitions allowed us to place ourselves at the head of the fleet in our group and very well positioned in the overall fleet.

In the morning, a zone of total calm trapped the fleet. We floated for hours trying to move. Our new windseeker became crucial!

In the afternoon, the wind finally returned astern and propelled us towards the Strait of Messina. We sailed in sight of the JPK 1180 for hours; in the end they would end up winning the regatta in our class and overall.

In the Straits of Messina, the wind and the currents became capricious, and forced us to continuous changes of sails and maneuvers.

The duel with the JPK 1180 "Courier Recommandée" in this section of the race was exciting for us, we go forward several times, sometimes the boats sail backwards due to the current.  In fact, we sailed just 20-30m from the shore to reduce the current effects.

Finally, we managed to escape from the "claws" of Messina and with a strong wind we got to the Strómboli volcano.

Then, there was one of the biggest highlights of our race, a port-starboard under spinnaker with the JPK 1180 in the middle of the night. From there, they would escape from us, culminating in a masterful race for them! But, frustrating for us!!

Soon after, an enormous lightning storm hits us. The wind came from every direction and intensity. Fortunately, a heavy thundershower caught us with the spinnaker on deck!

After rounding Strómboli, we began a long windward course to the Egades. The wind raged (up to 40 kts) and the waves were difficult to steer through.  In this section, the larger and heavier boats could pound through the seas better and took off from us.

We rounded Favignana rocks on the third night.  We believe this is where the JPK 1180 got away from us, as until this time we were still very close to them after beating upwind for so many hours.  At this stage, the wind was aft and the big waves behind us.  This leg was over 150 miles with 20-30 kts of wind.


We tried the A4 spinnaker for 15 minutes.  But, we quickly realized the boat was difficult to control in the big waves.  So, we lowered the A4 before losing control and breaking something. We sailed this leg with the main and 105% jib only, sailing much slower than many of our rivals.

We finally rounded Lampedusa the fourth night and we had a very wet leg from there to Malta, with 20 knots of wind.

We passed between Gozo and Malta before sailing under kite the last 15 miles and crossing the finish line after four exciting days of racing.

Good times, exciting duels, new lessons, a 3rd place in our class and we want to repeat next year!” Add to Flipboard Magazine.