Tough, Challenging RORC Caribbean 600 Race

(Falmouth Harbour, Antigua)- Eighty-seven yachts started the 10th edition of the RORC Caribbean 600 it was a record fleet that saw new elapsed time records broken, too. With strong 20-25 kts tradewinds that endured for the entire race, it also saw a record number of teams drop out due to the grueling conditions going upwind against 8-12 foot breaking rollers for hours on end.  Most boats spent a vast majority of the race under #4 jibs and reefed mains.

The 600nm race around the central Caribbean includes three French islands as marks of the course; Guadeloupe, Saint Martin and Saint-Barthélemy.  The weather forecast was surprisingly accurate, most northeast winds ranging from 15 to 25 kts, making for a very fast, “reachy” race track for the top boats. As a result, RAMBLER 88 set a new course record with a mostly all New England/ Newport team.

In CSA 2 and IRC Two were two J/122s that were ready for this challenging race course.  In fact, it was a perfect challenge for them, including a grueling 70nm beat against big winds and big seas along the south coast of Guadeloupe from the rocks of La Grande Anse northeast to the next turn off La Desirade. This leg was tailor-made for the strong all-around offshore design that is the J/122.

Going into that leg, Pamala Baldwin's LIQUID from Antigua and the classic offshore J/44 cruiser/racer, Kevin McLaughlin’s SPICE with a largely New England team, were dueling for a podium finish in their respective classes.

However, after rounding La Desirade, the J/44 took off on a powerful fast reach, as did the J/122.  In the end, the J/44 SPICE took 16th overall IRC, third IRC 1 Class.  Baldwin’s J/122 LIQUID took 18th overall IRC, fourth IRC 2 and then in CSA took 9th Overall and 4th in CSA 2 Class.  A good showing in a very, very tough race.  Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth/ PWPictures.com For more RORC Caribbean 600 Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Pretty Grenada Sailing Week

(St Georges, Grenada)- Grenada Yacht Club and Prickly Bay Marina in St Georges are the host venues for our 2016 edition, giving participants a taste of Grenada’s beautiful bays and marine services. Race courses are set off the calmer West Coast and the challenging current-filled South Coast, with a variety of conditions to test racing performance.

The sailing week starts January 28th and finishes February 2nd.  The mixture of racing and course styles is one of the regattas most attractive features.  Looking forward to that challenge in CSA Racing Class will be Peter Lewis’ J/105 WHISTLER from Barbados YC.  Then, in the CSA Racer-Cruiser Class, Hal Slentz-Whalen’s J/125 EAGLE’S WINGS from New Bern, NC will vie for class honors with a team from Great Britain- David Ballantyne’s J/133 JINGS! from Cowes.

Continuing their winter tradition of having fun in the far eastern Windward Islands will be the J/24 class in Grenada and Barbados.  Sailing this year’s event include Fredric Sweeney’s ATTITUDE from St Lucia YC, Robbie Yearwood’s DIE HARD IWW from Grenada YC, Gus Reader’s GLORY DAZE from Barbados YC, and Greg Webster’s PHOENIX from Barbados YC.   For more Grenada Sailing Week regatta information

Le J/111 JBOSS Eclipses Guadeloupe Sailing Regatta!

(Pointe-a-pitre, Guadeloupe)- A follow-up from our friends in the Caribbean sailing the J/111 JBOSS in Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe. Here’s the report from the local French newspaper/ website on Guadeloupe:

“The second edition of the Jeff Campana Cup (formerly the Triskell Cup) saw the victory of Martinique sailor Eddy Chalono, whose crew won many races over the three-day weekend.

Twenty-three teams raced for the Jeff Campana Cup and all had a chance to win it in both categories- CSA Racing 1 or CSA Racing 2. However, Eddy Chalono’s J/111 JBOSS and its crew of nine members had won five races! An excellent ratio that ensures the ultimate success!

Victor Jean-Noël, one of the members of that impregnable fortress describes life on board the winner; "It's a great competition and it is with pleasure that I respond to the invitation of my friends in Martinique. We have a fast boat and smart sailors who came from France, too. They brought us real added value; particularly in boatspeed! We have handled our boat well and we had really good technical and strategic analysis for each race. This allowed us to have good cohesion on board with specialists in each position. So, this is an excellent result!  And on Sunday, the conditions were very good."

The last word comes back to Jean-Michel Marziou, the Jeff Campana Cup event organizer. "The number of vessels was not significant, but it was the quality of sailing on the water; especially with the presence of boats from St. Maarten, Antigua and a large fleet that came from Martinique.   Even if the number of boats participating has decreased in recent years, the competition is still very popular with sailing enthusiasts! Thank you to everyone for sailing in this year’s Jeff Campana Cup and also to our wonderful sponsors- Primea Hotels, Atran Antilles, Capes Dole, and OnDeck.”  For more Jeff Campana Cup sailing information.

J/111 JBOSS Tops Jeff Campana Race

(Marina Bas-du-Fort, Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe)- One of the first regattas of the Caribbean winter sailing circuit (e.g. post-hurricane season) is the Triskell Cup and the many prestigious trophies that are associated with the event.  In the Group CSA 1 Racing division, everyone was participating in the Jeff Campana Regatta for the overall Triskell Cup.

As they did in 2014, the J/111 JBOSS owned and skippered by Eddy Chalono from Martinique managed to take on many of the top offshore racers in the Windward Islands to win the Jeff Campana Race.  They were often racing boat-for-boat with their top competitors that included TAZ (an Extreme 37 from Antigua), FISER (a Farr 40 custom from Martinique) and LIPTONIC (a custom A40 from Guadeloupe).

Half of Chalono’s crew consisted of the French team on the J/111 LE JOUET, including skipper Stephane Blanchard.  Together they have compiled an excellent track record in the Caribbean in the last few years, including class wins at Voiles de St Barths in the past two years.  For the Jeff Campana Race, the won the regatta by three pts by accumulating a record of 1-3-1-2-3-4-3 for 17 pts total over seven races.

Look for this well-oiled machine to again participate in a number Caribbean winter circuit regattas like the Heineken St Maarten Regatta and Voiles de St Barths in 2016.   For more Jeff Campana Race/ Triskell Cup sailing information

J-BOSS Loves Triskell Cup

(Pointe a Pitre, Guadeloupe)- What may be the first regatta of the 2014/ 2015 Caribbean Winter Sailing Season is the Triskell Cup hosted on the island of Guadeloupe.  Sailing a series of races off the quaint French-inspired village of Pointe a Pitre, the fleet of boats enjoyed a broad range of “post-tropical depression” conditions; meaning that clear skies and steady 8-15 kts of breeze could often be punctuated by sudden squalls developing rapidly with rain, 20-30 kts winds and massive changes in wind direction.  Such is the difficult life of sailing in the tropics with temperatures ranging from an extreme of 65 degrees up to 85 degrees F!

After the smoke cleared, Eddy Chalono’s J/111 J-BOSS finished second in the Triskell Cup 2014, but the crew is extremely proud of their result after having to fight off one of the world’s most famous Figaro Sailing Champions- Gildas Morvan.

As reported by Eddy’s crew, “the big problem of this regatta was in particular to avoid the huge patches of sea-grass that had the tendency to drop our boat speed of 1.5-2.0 kts— impossible to see them sometimes!  So, we needed very frequent stops and back-ups that penalized us on our handicap times.”  Hmmm, sounds like J-BOSS needs a classic “SoCal Kelp-Cutter”!!   For more Triskell Cup sailing information