J/105 For Nantucket Community Sailing

(Nantucket, MA)- While Nantucket is a wonderful vacation resort, the families who live on the remote island struggle to make ends meet.   According to Diana Brown, President of Nantucket Community Sailing, “our organization was founded to help island children have access to the water that they would otherwise not be able to afford.  We are honored to serve that mission.  Nantucket Community Sailing has dozens of enrollments in our youth programs each summer, 30% of whom are local island children and we give them scholarships to make it affordable to sail.  A third J/105 would be a huge improvement to our youth sailing programs, and also give more Nantucket kids access to the waters surrounding our beautiful island.”

One of the NCS members, Susan Farm, comments that, “NCS currently has two donated J/105s in our keelboat program. Both boats are used for youth sailing programs and this past summer we experienced demand higher than we could support for the program. We also race the boats in a local PHRF series and travel to local regattas. The kids race one boat, and I  leased the second boat with an all female crew (Diane is on the crew). This summer, the kids program took precedence over our use, and we were out of a boat!  But what a nice problem to have. (The boats are also used to take seniors out for leisurely cruises).”


Susan continues to say that, “we had 128 kids enrolled in the one-week J/105 programs on the two NCS J/105s, ranging in age from 9–18.  The programs are at capacity, so the addition of a third boat would allow more children to experience the thrill of big boat sailing. The older children were able to participate in Wednesday night PHRF racing and in three days of PHRF racing during Nantucket Race Week.  The J/105s also compete in the famous FIGAWI Race in the beginning of the summer; they are crewed by members of the Nantucket High School sailing team. Finally, NCS also uses the J/105s for community outreach, specifically with the “Old Salts” program (seniors from the Salt Marsh Center) and the patients and caregivers from PASCON (Palliative and Supportive Care of Nantucket).

Please contact Diana Brown for further information about the Nantucket Community Sailing program- work ph. 508-228-6600 or email- diana@nantucketsailing.org.  Learn more here on their NCS website

Eight Bells- Steve Black- Sailing the Caribbean Forever

(Charleston, SC)- Steve Black, founder of the Caribbean 1500 rally, long-time friend of the J/Family (he and Bob J sailed a J/35 together to win the New England Solo/ Twin Offshore Race one year), died March 17, 2014 following a long personal battle against cancer. He was 71 years of age.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Black moved to Michigan where he ran an educational publishing company. He started sailing recreationally in his mid-30s in regattas hosted by the Grand Haven Sailing Club. Black learned the sport from single-handers and has always preferred this aspect of sailing.

Over the years, Black has made three single-handed transatlantic voyages. In the Legend Cup, he set a multi-hull record time of 15 days aboard his Newick 40′ trimaran. Black’s third single-handed transatlantic voyage was in 1992 in the Europe I, where he sailed his 40′ IOR racer, Caribbean.

Black also undertook volunteer tasks such as founding the Lake Michigan Single-handed Society, where he ran the races and conducted seminars to educate interested sailors. This led to the end of his 15-year publishing career and a three-year stint as executive director of the US Sailing in Newport, Rhode Island.

“I retired from US Sailing in 1988, but I didn’t retire from sailing,” Steve said in a 2010 interview. His next endeavor was to manage the Sailing World NOOD (National Offshore One-Design) Regattas in four regions around the country.

However, his biggest legacy will be the Caribbean 1500 Cruising Rally, which first set sail in 1990, with a fleet of 50 cruising boats sailing from Newport, Rhode Island and Norfolk, Virginia to Virgin Gorda, in the British Virgin Islands.

The impetus for the rally started when Steve saw that cruising sailors outnumbered offshore racing sailors, but there were virtually no organized events for cruisers. The Caribbean 1500 Rally offered the chance to sail in company, combined with preparatory seminars taught by sailing experts, an SSB radio safety net at sea, and of course a great deal of fun and socializing. Always leading from the front, Steve sailed with the rally, helping to inspire and trouble-shoot the fleet at sea.

Support Sarasota Youth Sailing!

(Sarasota, FL)- Calling All J/22 Owners!  Sarasota Youth Sailing Program needs used sails, equipment, stuff for their J/22s!  The Sarasota Youth Sailing Program, a local charity in Florida serving under-privileged youth, has a fleet of four J/22s and in November 2013 they started a youth keel boat program. Please make donations of used sails and equipment. If shipping is an issue, they can pick up whatever is available in the New England area this summer and bring it down to Sarasota by trailer at the end of the summer.

Their program runs from “community learn-to-sail” to “USA Olympic sailing team” development. Two of their juniors, Sam Armington and Ravi Parent, have been named to the USA Olympic Sailing development team.  You will see that Sam got started sailing in the Sarasota sailing summer camp after 4th grade.   To make J/22 sailing equipment donations, please go to their website

Annapolis Hospice Cup- Sailing Report

(Annapolis, MD)- Dan Phelps from SPINSHEET.com in Annapolis, Maryland, sent us this report on the recent Hospice Cup Regatta held on Chesapeake Bay:

"There are some great charity regattas in Annapolis, but one of the longest running, at 32 years, is the Hospice Cup Regatta which helps support Hospice programs in local communities around Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.  To date sailors competing in the Hospice Cup have helped to raise more than $7 million in support of these programs.

Last weekend, sailors were met with 18-22 kts of breeze, building ahead of a massive cold front that stretched from Montreal to the Gulf of Mexico.  J/105s and J/35s were representing well.  Of course, beyond the weather being perfect for these sailors to come out and support a great cause, that breeze also made for great photos.  More here:  http://spinsheet.smugmug.com/SpinSheet/2013-Events/2013-Hospice-Cup.