Netherlands J/22 Warming Up Report

(Brassermermeer, The Netherlands)- The J/22 class in the Netherlands are all “warming up” for the J/22 World Championship that is starting on May 30th and goes until June 4th in Scheveningen.

As part of that program, they host their annual “Spring Warming Up” Regatta series. Over the weekend, in the Dutch Roelofarendveen, the traditional Warming Up took place.  The Brassermermeer showed its most beautiful side with beautiful sunshine, a blue sky, and 3-5 bft breeze from the northeast.

Twenty boats participated, with most of the crews from The Netherlands, plus there were four top crews from Germany’s J/22 class and two top French teams. Everyone was highly motivated to prepare their boats, get their crews working like a well-oiled machine, and tune their rigs and sails for optimum performance.  After all, the World Championships are less than two months away, and the security detail (pictured here at right) are ready to hug, snuggle, and lick you to death! :)

After a total of nine exciting races, it was quickly clear who would be at the forefront of the World Championship!  Nic Bol (NL), the 2010 J/22 World Champion, won the Warming Up with 37 points lead, counting four 1sts and two 2nds in his scoreline. Nic’s crew consisted of Chris Bol, Niels de Vries, and Tim de Weerdt.

While Bol and crew were simply sailing in a league and class higher than anyone else, the fight for the last two positions on the podium was a rough and tumble one!  Those protagonists were a Dutch and French crew- Lisanne Nidjam’s NED 1365 and Reiner Brockerhoff’s FRA 1444.  Both teams started off their first five races quite slowly, in fact neither one was in the top five after five races counted.  However, both went into much higher gears, sailed faster, smarter and made less crew work mistakes and got better starts.  That combination enabled both of them to race up the standings.  Nijdam’s crew closed with a 3-2-4-2 while Brockerhoff’s team closed with a 4-ocs-3-1.  In the end, it was Nijdam’s crew (Tomas te Velde, Derk Hillege, Iris van Gerrevink) that finished with 56 pts to take the silver.  Three points in arrears was Brockerhoff’s crew (Christophe Deckecp & Charles Mic), settling for the bronze with 59 pts.  The balance of the top five included Jean-Michel Lautier’s NED 1273 with 65 pts in fourth place and 5th was Hylke Kooistra’s NED 1455.

Next event for additional World’s “training” will be the VanUdenReco Regatta in Stellendam at the end of April.  For more Netherlands J/22 class sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

SAIL Best Boats Winner- J/88 Oceanvolt!

(Boston, MA)- Few builders are consistently willing to push the technology envelope and accept the risks that entails.  Remember 1991 and the world’s first sprit boat- the J/105?  This fall saw the introduction of the world’s ground-breaking Oceanvolt electric saildrive on the enormously innovative, all-electric J/88 from J/Boats.

The Achilles heel of electric propulsion in boats is the high level of energy it takes to power at cruising speeds since large battery banks are required for any kind of substantial range.  However, the J/88 Oceanvolt model is impervious to this in as much as the propulsion system is needed only to maneuver in and out of slips, after which the boat is sailed.

The Valence batteries are lightweight lithium-ion manganese-phosphate (the world’s safest version of this leading edge technology). Although Oceanvolt saildrives have folding propellers, Oceanvolt has found an innovative way to use the folding propeller to stay open and freewheel when so desired, with the electric motor now being driven as a generator to recharge the batteries. The J/88 Oceanvolt also flies a SolarCloth main from UK Sailmakers, which includes a number of integrated solar panels to further top of its battery banks by generating electricity from the sun.  For more J/88 Oceanvolt SAIL Best Boats information

Spectacular U.S. Sailboat Show Is Ready!

(Annapolis, MD)- Remember, the US Sailboat Show in Annapolis takes place this Columbus holiday weekend- October 8th to 12th.  The weather forecast for the next five days looks fabulous- in the 60s, sunny, light to moderate winds, and gales of “painkillers” for happy show-goers at the famous Pussers Bar & Grille.

The show is the largest in the USA for sailboats and on hand will be five very exciting models from the J design team.  Featured will be the popular J/70, the new J/88 Oceanvolt, the new J/97E, the new J/122E and the classic Chesapeake shallow-draft cruiser- the J/95.

Join North Point Yacht Sales and J/Boats as we host the famous “J/Party” on Friday evening at 6pm when the show closes.  All J/Sailors are invited to join us for refreshments and munchies and take a look at the recent additions to the J/Boats line.   For more U.S. Sailboat Show information

J/40 HERON REACH Sailing Blue Planet Odyssey!

(Hiva Oa, Marquesas Islands)- If some of you recall, Virginia and Jerry from Bellingham, Washington did an extensive refit on their J/40, called HERON REACH, set sail from San Diego to the Marquesas Islands to join the “Blue Planet Odyssey”. They recently made it to the Marquesas, here’s a recent excerpt from their blog:

“On Sunday, March 29th at 6:15pm, we morphed from Pollywogs into Shellbacks! In other words, we crossed the equator into the South Pacific!  We celebrated with a toast of gratitude to Neptune.  Not  surprisingly, it doesn't look any different out there, but we have a powerful sense of the accomplishment for crossing this imaginary line!  Tonight we saw the  Southern Cross  for the first time, the smallest of the 88 named constellations. It points to the south celestial pole and feels like a different world. But the next day, it was back to squalls coming on the horizon.

We  have traveled 4,223 nautical miles since we left Bellingham, all on the largest body of water in the world.  The Pacific Ocean (North and South) cover more area than all of Earth's continents put together.  It is surrounded by the Ring of Fire, hundreds, if not thousands of both active and dormant volcanoes.  There are over 20,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean, most of which are concentrated in the south or west where we are headed.  Some of the islands are associated with their neighboring continent, like Japan, in the east, the Aleutians in the north, or Vancouver Island and the Gulf and San Juan Islands in our own backyard.  Another type is the high volcanic island such as the Hawaiian Islands or the Marquesas.  Finally, there are the sandy coral  atolls like the majority of the islands of the South Pacific.  It is this type most in danger by the rising seas of climate change.  It is astounding to us, as we cross this vast ocean, to realize that we have raised the temperature of such a gargantuan mass and changed its acidity level with our high carbon uses!”   Read more about their adventures here.

Les Voiles de St. Barth- Starting off Just Right

(Gustavia, St Barthelemy)- With winds whipping briskly at 15-20 knots, it was a lively show on the water for opening day of Les Voiles de St. Barth. After an equally lively opening party held on the Quay General de Gaulle the night before, 70 teams in 10 classes were raring to begin what they really came here for: hard core racing. The regatta organizers, knowing their audience, took no prisoners, sending the classes on a 23-mile course that started off Gustavia Harbor and led counter-clockwise and three quarters of the way around the eight-square-mile island of St. Barth before rounding a buoy off St. Jean and heading back in a clockwise direction.

“Today was typical St. Barth conditions--20 knots of wind, big waves and a lot of reaching legs, so it was a lot of fun being on a boat that could surf downwind in big waves,” said Gavin Brady, a tactician sailing in the regatta.

On the second day of sailing, it was another great day for setting records. Another serving of clear skies and classic trade winds made it a very good day for promoting racing in the Caribbean, and Les Voiles de St. Barth organizers capitalized on the stellar conditions with a decision to “go big” on the regatta’s second day of racing.

Making good on an earlier promise to give the largest, fastest boats a new marquee race designed for flat-out speed, the race committee sent the Maxi 1, Maxi 2 and Multihull classes on a 42 nm course that started off Gustavia and looped around St. Barth before continuing across the Canal de Saint Barthelemy to round the island of Tintamarre (off the eastern end of St Martin) to port and return its players to a finish near where they had started.

During Lay Day at Les Voiles de St. Barth, the teams racing were invited to compete in a caviar treasure hunt in the waters off Eden Rock along St Jean Beach. The goal was for participants to find the most tins of Roman Kaviroff caviar. Taking the win in the competition was Greg Slyngstad’s J/125 HAMACHI team, finding three tins!

Talking about their performance on the second day of sailing, Slyngstad said, “We had a great day. It was just enough wind for us to plane downwind and once we could get up on the step on our boat, a J/125 goes downwind really well. We went well upwind, mixing it up between several boats but then downwind we were able to separate and get some distance from those guys.

We rounded the last mark in second and then we got by one of the big swans going downwind and then it was right before the finish line that Phaedo (the 70 ft trimaran) came whipping by.  We raced against two Melges 32 in St Martin (Dingo and Lazy Dog) and won.  However, if it gets lighter we are going to struggle, but if it gets windier we should do well.

We had a great start and we got out in front on the leeward side and had a clear lane and many of the boats in our class were mixing it up in bad air while we were able to get some distance, which was the biggest gain. We were able to turn the corner eventually and put up the spinnaker and we gained a lot of distance there.”

At the middle stage of the regatta, HAMACHI is holding onto 2nd overall with a 3-2 scoreline in CSA Spinnaker 1 class.  In CSA Spinnaker 2 class, Rick Wesslund’s J/122 EL OCASO also has a 3-2 scoreline and is just 2 pts out of first place overall.  Finally, in CSA Spinnaker 3 class, the J/109 POCKET ROCKET from Ireland skippered by David Cullen is holding onto 5th place with a 6-5 tally.  For more Voiles de St Barth sailing information

New J/88 Powered By Clean Energy!

Harness the Power of the S.E.A.
(Newport, Rhode Island)-  Imagine sailing a beautiful boat knowing that, even if the wind dies and you’re forced to turn on the engine, peace and tranquility aren’t lost.  Furthermore, imagine that every minute sailing, the battery banks are silently charging, allowing you to later push a button to silently power back to the harbor.

A state-of-the-art electric propulsion and charging system from Oceanvolt is now being offered on the J/88, the 29’ state-of-the-art performance daysailer from J/Boats.

“There’s no quicker buzz kill for sailors than having to turn on the diesel engine,” said Jeff Johnstone, President of J/Boats.  “Most of our owners will tell you they sail their boats 90% of the time.  We’d like to improve that other 10% and make it an environmentally-friendly solution for sailors who love the sea!”

J/Boats will be installing Oceanvolt’s innovative, fully integrated S.E.A. system (Silent Electric Autonomy) on their first 2016 model J/88 slated to launch mid-summer in Newport, RI and then displayed at the Newport and Annapolis Shows.  The S.E.A system is electric propulsion with a twist– it has full hydro-regeneration capabilities so that batteries are recharged while sailing, with added passive recharging thanks to 500 watts of high-performance Sunpower solar cells (the world's most efficient).

"For the past ten years, we have been developing innovative solutions for the electric/ hybrid power market in Europe,” said Timo Jaakkola, President of Oceanvolt.  “Based in Finland, a country renowned for developing leading edge ‘green’ solutions, our company has pioneered the use of electric power in keelboats that range from 24 to 55 ft and ranging from 3kW to 20 kW.  We look forward to working with the J/Boats team on their J/88 project!”

To make an appointment to see this gorgeous, innovative J/88, please contact J/Boats at “info@jboats.com” or call +1-401-846-8410.   For more J/88 speedster sailing information

J/70 “Storms” Mirabaud Photo Competition

(Paris, France)- For those passionate J/70 sailors, J/Crew and J/Lovers around the world, here’s a wonderful chance to continue to grow the momentum of not just the J/70, but “J” sailing worldwide with family and friends.

Sharon Green of Ultimate Sailing took this awesome photo of J/70s starting off Key West on the first day of racing at the J/70 Midwinters, held in conjunction with Key West Race Week 2014.  As she describes, “it was like a battalion of white sails raking the coal-black squall behind the fleet, symbolizing how the J/70 has literally taken the sailing world ‘by storm’ since its introduction in 2012.”

As the only J/Boat represented in the “Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image” contest, the “J/70 Storm” photo needs your VOTE!  Please click on this link here to vote now.

J/105 JAM SESSION Leads Dutch Short-Handed Racing

(The Hague, The Netherlands)- The Noordzeeclub and Shorthanded.nl organize and host a summer series for short-handed racing on the North Sea. Sailing teams and enthusiasts of this type of sailing come from all over Europe, including The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and the United Kingdom.  During the year there are 10 events were you can score points. At the end of the season, the best score of 4 events will decide who is the winner.

The J/122 JUNIQUE and the J/133 BATFISH were already in a battle for several events, with JUNIQUE coming out on top. The J/105 JAM SESSION, skippered by Dennis Zuidam, had only done 3 events, so for their last event they needed to score high points to factor into the overall standings.

Consequently, that’s exactly what happened in the Bruine Bank Race, a 100nmrace around a sandbank where skippers can decide if they want to round clockwise or counter-clockwise around the marks.  JAM SESSION elected to sail clockwise and after 13h:47m:25s of racing offshore, they finished 1 hour behind BATFISH and just 0:45 min. behind JUNIQUE, making JAM SESSION 2nd overall in the race for a total score 351 pts.  That was just enough points (by a 5 pts margin) to overcome JUNIQUE’s lead and win the overall Dutch Short-handed Season Series!!  Here is a YouTube sailing video of their experience.

FREIGHT DOG Tumbles to Dallas Honky Tonk Win!

(Dallas, TX)- Yet another Dallas Race Week goes down in the history books the 34th edition again considered an unqualified success amongst the many happy evening racers on Lake Ray Hubbard just southeast of downtown Dallas.  Hosted by the only three yachts clubs on the lake (Chandlers Landing YC, Bayview YC & Rush Creek YC), the one race per night “pursuit race” style format over a 5nm random-leg course proved popular for the local members of the Fortune 500 (ya’know, all those wild-catters and stuff that own J/22s and J/24s).  As usual, the evening “after-party” was always popular and a great way to relax after a stressful day at the office rounding up yet another massive herd at the OK Corral (yes, they do things differently in Texas).

While the sailors always seem to have fun, perhaps the biggest beneficiary are the sailors helping support the corporate-sponsored community service projects of the Rockwall Breakfast Rotary Club. The mission is to provide funding for programs that address issues of poverty, hunger, illiteracy and health care affecting the community. The motto is “Sail Into Service” and it is a belief that represents the value placed on teamwork by sailors and community servants throughout history. The main sponsors this year are Gus Sails, The Matteson Realty Group and SailWithScott.com.

Despite the low lake levels (there is a drought of epic proportions in mid-America that eclipse John Steinbeck’s famous novel- “The Dust Bowl”), the sailors still managed by throwing boats on their shoulders or on beach dollies and heaving them into the muddy waters along with frantic catfish leaping for their lives.

While the conditions obviously change radically week to week, witness the fact that Dallas has see tornado’s, baseball-sized hail, freakish sheet lightning and hurricane-force winds just in the last two weeks, it’s “all good” for the sailors on the lake— they always manage to make it work.

In the PHRF B Class, it was pretty apparent that J/sailors almost always seem to “make it work”!  Taking class honors was the J/24 FREIGHT DOG, sailed by that dynamic duo of Bob Williams & Pete Pitzer from Chandler’s Landing YC.  Their three bullets contributed to a runaway win for their class.  Taking third was the J/22 RIJJIJOFRIJIK, skippered by Kathy Kulpers from Chandlers Landing YC.  Then, in 6th was the J/24 AUDACITY sailed by George Conklin and in 7th was the J/22 MAUDE skippered by Jim Oursler.For more Dallas Race Week sailing information

J/70 Sweden Boat of the Year!

(Stockholm, Sweden)- The J/70 continues to garner accolades from knowledgeable sailors around the world.  In particular, Europe is seeing a significant uptick in one-design J/70 activity with more countries and more fleets developing across the Continent.

This past month the Swedish yachting press selected the J/70 as Sweden’s Boat of the Year, citing its scintillating performance, family-friendly boat-handling characteristics, easy transportability and extraordinary value relative to all other sportboats in the market today.

Here is J/Dealer Peter Johansson from Marstrand Yachts accepting the award at the boat show in Sweden. For reference, here’s the original article written in Swedish about the J/70’s qualities (translated into English).  For more J/70 sailboat information

Bitter End YC Pro-Am Sailing Was Awesome!

(Bitter End YC, British Virgin Islands)- Back to Work on North Sound?  “The 11th Annual Scuttlebutt Sailing Club Championship, sponsored by GILL at the Bitter End Yacht Club, was just about as good as it gets in this sport we all love so much. Immodest? Of course, but methinks few (if any) would disagree,” said Scuttlebutt founder Tom Leweck (long-time J/Boats sailor).

After enjoying a layday on Wednesday, it was ”back to work” today on the North Sound. Five double sausage races were sailed in rock-solid Caribbean trade-wind conditions in five perfectly matched IC-24s (modified J/24s) – the same boats used for the BEYC’s Pro Am Regatta. The five skippers were BEYC resort guests who came to the BVI to crew for the rock star skippers in the Pro Am Regatta. This was their turn to shine. Each had qualified earlier in the week by racing Hobie Waves, Hobie Escapes, and Lasers.

The competition could not have been closer. After five races, the championship was decided by less than half a boat length. Defending Champion, I-14 sailor Ron Boehm from the Santa Barbara Yacht Club in California, nicked former Scuttlebutt Sailing Club Champion George Huntington, from New York’s Manhasset Bay Yacht Club, by a single point. Both Ryan Raber and John Paul Bilodeau from Maine’s Portland Yacht Club had qualified for the championship, but elected to team up and race an IC24 together. They finished in third place.

Earlier in the day the pros completed their final four Pro Am fleet races with the BEYC guests rotating through the crew spots on their boats. Match racing for the championship, based on the fleet racing standings, that began on Friday.

Standings after 12 races:
1. Zach Railey, 40
2. Alec Anderson, 46
3. Dave Ullman, 48
4. Dave Perry, 53
5. Paul Cayard, 58
6. Brad Dellenbaugh, 59
7. Stephanie Roble, 63
8. Taylor Canfield, 64 (World #1 in match race rankings!)

In spite of the fact that Alec Anderson had been named as a collegiate All-American in 2011, in 2012, and in 2013, many of the resort guests arriving at the Bitter End Yacht Club for the Pro Am Regatta were not familiar with his name. Well – they all know him now. Anderson has just become the BEYC’s 2013 Pro Am Champion.

Racing in a matched fleet of IC24s with guests of the BEYC rotating in and out of the crews of the eight invited pro skippers, Anderson took second place in the 12-race fleet racing qualifier – just four points behind former Olympic Silver Medallist Zach Railey. That was more than good enough to move him into the four-boat Semi Finals, where the format switched to match racing.

The recent graduate of sailing powerhouse Roger Williams University from Rhode Island had not done a lot of match racing in college, but was a quick study. In two very close races against Dave Ullman, he went 2-0, and advanced to the Finals. Now, the only thing standing between him and the championship was match race expert Dave Perry, who had just dispatched the fleet race winner Zach Riley, 2-1.

Once again, Anderson was flawless – defeating Perry 2-0 to become the youngest-ever Pro Am Champion. Perry had to settle for second place with Zach Railey capturing third by defeating Dave Ullman 2-0 in the Petit Finals. In the consultation round of match racing, Paul Cayard was 2-0 against Stephanie Roble to finish fifth overall.

What’s next for Anderson? He recently teamed with Chris Brockbank to campaign a 49er with hopes of representing the BVI in the 2016 Olympics in Rio.  Remember the name Alec Anderson. No doubt you’ll hear it again.

The elite skippers (and Scuttlebutt founder Tom Leweck) at the 2013 ‘Fantasy Camp’:
- Alec Anderson, native BVI islander- 3-time College All American
- Taylor Canfield- World #1 ranked match racing, College All-American
- Paul Cayard- America’s Cup fame, Star World Champion
- Dave Perry- match racing and rules guru- Congressional Cup winner
- Zach Railey- Olympic medalist in the Finn
- Stephanie Roble- US #1 ranked match racing, College All-American
- Dave Ullman- too many accomplishments to list- National, European, World Champion 470s/ J/24s/ Melges 24s
Pro Am Facebook group.   Bitter End YC sailing website.

J/88 Sailing Videos!

Learn More About This Exciting J/Speedster!
(Newport, RI)— Since the J/88’s debut in July 2013, numerous test rides and sailing media reviews have produced some fun videos of the J/88 sailing in a variety of modes from Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay to waters far and wide.  Outlined below are selected video “summaries” from these various sources that may help you better understand the tremendous fun sailors are having with their J/88s already!

Richie Stearns, the Midwestern J/Dealer based in Chicago, had a chance to sail the J/88 in Newport on a gorgeous summer day in late July on Narragansett Bay.  With a sharp, crisp NNW breeze blowing 12-20 kts, Richie took her for a spin and managed to hit 13.8 kts boat speed sailing doublehanded!  Please view this nice intro and explanation of the J/88!

To further whet your whistle, Terry Spurlin’s most recent video creation involving their J/88 #007 at J/Boats Southwest can be enjoyed for your couch-potato viewing pleasure.  Terry did a nice overview of the boat with explanation of its features for family daysailing and cruising.

During the summer, the North Sails Team that included Chuck Allen, Kimo Worthington, Andreas Josenhans and others took the J/88 for several sail-design testing sessions.  Here’s a nice segment of the J/88 sailing downwind on Narragansett Bay off Fort Adams.

During August, the team from Boats.com with renowned yachting journalist John Burnham (Editorial Director at boats.com) had a chance to take their rodeo ride onboard the J/88 and find out what the excitement was all about with Jeff Johnstone from J/Boats.  Here’s their boats.com test ride video summary.

Even later in the summer, SAIL Magazine with Adam Cort and crew hopped aboard the J/88 to determine whether or not the boat was actually living up to its hype and was able to sail as the designers (Al & Rod) were expecting for their “next generation” 29er! Here’s the outcome of that amazingly fun test sailing experience.

While there were several dozens “test sails” by customers & dealers from July to September, here’s a sample of the experience of sailing the J/88 in moderate breezes while planing under spinnaker in remarkably benign conditions.
J/88 Gybe    J/88 Downwind

Finally, don’t forget Peter Gustafsson’s BLUR.SE review of the J/88 in late June.  A thorough overview of the boat that started on a foggy day off New York YC’s Harbour Court that ultimately turned into a spectacular day of sailing on Narragansett Bay as the fog cleared and the mighty southwest sea-breeze blew in for a perfectly sunny sail offshore.

J/122 “E” Model Announcement

(Newport, RI)- The J/122 has been one of the most successful 40 footers worldwide for the past five years, compiling a record no other 40 footer can match-- winning major events on three different continents in both double-handed and fully-crewed events. However, what has always set the J/122 apart from other  performance boats has been its twin appeal as an all-around family cruiser.

That attraction has grown dramatically with the recent unveiling (at the La Rochelle Show) of the J/122 "E"-- a fully restyled J/122 with new cabin port layout, hull ports and beautiful interior, designed to enhance the J/122 cruising qualities while still delivering the same race-winning performance of its predecessors.

Both the "E" and "Classic" version of the J/122 will be offered for 2014 in both the 2 cabin and 3 cabin arrangements.  For more J/122 “E” sailing information

J/Sailors Sailing a "Green Project" @ 11th Hour!

(Le Havre, France)-  Cleaner. Faster. Better.  Former J/24 sailors in the United Kingdom, professional sailors Hannah Jenner (GBR) and Rob Windsor are campaigning a Class 40, now training for one of the world's most prestigious offshore races, the Transat Jacques Vabre from Le Havre, France to Itajai, Brazil (5395 nm), which starts on November 3.  Their program, Team 11th Hour Racing, aims to set the example for a more responsible relationship with energy and water resources in the sport of sailing. Their race preparations will adopt 11 bold solutions to sail “Cleaner, Faster, Better”. To start with, their entire race campaign’s carbon footprint is to be offset by Green Mountain Energy.

A pre-race estimate for Team 11th Hour Racing’s carbon footprint was conducted based on emissions associated with team travel (flights to and from Europe), commuting daily to the boat and office and electricity usage (for office and land based computer usage).

The time frame for which Team 11th Hour will offset their footprint is August through December and the calculations take into account all personnel associated with team operations. Based on these data points, Green Mountain Energy estimates Team 11th Hour will emit 6 metric tons of CO2e and will need 10 renewable energy certificates (RECs). The RECs will be used to match electricity consumption in their Newport, RI offices and ensure emissions-free renewable energy. The carbon offsets will zero out the remaining carbon footprint from business travel, commuting, office heating, and waste sent to the landfill.

Listed below are seven additional solutions the pair have adopted:

1. Hydro-generator- Their use of hydro-generator will reduce their fuel needs during the race by 25 gallons, which is equal to about 200 pounds.

2. Water Maker & single-use plastic water bottle elimination- They estimate that between the training and race days, their use of reusable containers will have eliminated the usage of 888 plastic water bottles.

3 & 4. Optimized Nutrition and Ocean Going Farming- By growing micro-greens Team 11th Hour Racing will save energy and enjoy fresh produce during the month-long trip. Using the Carbon Fiber Hydroponic Micro-greens Box is a major improvement in both nutrition and technological innovation.

5. Waste Reduction- When offshore most sailors toss anything that is biodegradable overboard, this may include aluminum, food scraps, paper, books, glass food containers (i.e. olive jars, pickles, jelly), paper plates, paper towels, baby wipes, magazines & cigarette butts. Hannah and Rob are pledging to not toss anything overboard, fitting what trash they do generate into one 13 gallon bag.

6. Solar Panels- While the primary energy source will be the hydro-generator, solar panels provide redundancy if the hydro-generator can’t be used (because the boat may not be moving quickly enough) or breaks.

7. Education Outreach- Team 11th Hour Racing is collaborating with the Rozalia Project to produce six “Mission Atlantic- Team 11th Hour Racing Reports”.  Rozalia Project’s Mission Atlantic program, which focuses on ocean pollution, will engage their 25,000 virtual crew members (students) with online reports that include photos, videos, data, and activities based on the work and experiences of Rozalia Project's crew and partners.