J/BOATS ARMADA FOR ROLEX FASTNET RACE

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- Forty-Seven J Boats teams have entered the 2021 Rolex Fastnet Race, the largest number of entries by a single boat brand by far in the world’s largest offshore race! A record entry of over 500 yachts is expected to start the race in Cowes, on 8th August 2021. 

Notably the first entry was a J/Boat! Eva Herman’s J/122 JULIET ROMEO. She is clearly excited to get out on her boat and have "a star to steer her by". 

For the last four decades, J/Boats have featured in every edition of the race. For the 49th edition, 12 different designs of the J/Boats range will be racing. #jboats #jcomposites #RolexFastnetRace #rorc #sailboat #sailing    Learn more about the Rolex Fastnet Race here Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/Crews Garner Silver @ Rolex Middle Sea Race

 

J/109 CRUSHES IRC DOUBLEHANDED CLASS!

(Gzira, Malta)- The 41st edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race that started on October 17th will go down in history as one of the longest on record and replete with stories of "stop & go" driving. The Royal Malta Yacht Club (RMYC) was grateful they could host a fleet of fifty boats and have them race the famously spectacular 606nm course around the volcanic island of Sicily in the Mediterranean.

 
Principal Race Officer Peter Dimech basically summed up the race experience in his pre-race commentary, “the north west breeze will get them to Capo Passero on the southeast corner of Sicily on Saturday evening or night. Then, they may have a problem as the wind is set to die overnight.” No truer words could have described what basically happened in the entire race. The Straits of Messina turned into a giant wind hole. And just about every island mark the fleet went around produced even more wind holes.


Sailing in IRC 4 Class, Russian Alexey Moskvin's J/122E BURAN sailed an amazing race despite the anxiety-prone sailing conditions.  This experienced Russian offshore sailing team took the silver in their class, missing the gold by a mere one hour after five days of sailing!


Winning ORC 6 Class was the J/109 JARHEAD entered by the Jarhead Youth Foundation and skippered by Lloyd Hamilton. It was a stunning win for this youth team, taking their class by a huge margin and winning by 3+ hours corrected time. 

In the IRC 6 Class, the J/109 class reigned supreme, taking three of the top six spots. Italian Leonardo Petti on his J/109 CHESTRESS took the silver, while their colleagues JUBILEE (the French duo of Boess & Bordas) and JARHEAD youth team took 5th and 6th in class, respectively. 


In the IRC Doublehanded Class, Gerald Boess and Jonathan Bordas’ J/109 JUBILEE took home the John Illingworth Trophy for first on corrected time. Gerald from Austria & Jonathan from France met on the 2013-14 Clipper Round the World Race. 

Jonathan said: “The leg from Messina to Stromboli went very well for us and was a key component in our performance, we went to the right and got the lift. Racing with other boats fully crewed was also an advantage, especially the great sailors on Hakuna Matata.” 


Gerald commented: “Preparation is very important, especially sailing double handed. Everything from stowing the provisions on the boat to organizing a watch system. You also need to be thinking ahead about what is coming. Trust in one another is also very important, as you can have proper sleep during the race.”  For more Rolex Middle Sea Race sailing informationAdd to Flipboard Magazine.

Rolex Middle Sea Race Preview

 

(Gzira, Malta)- The 41st edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race is scheduled to start at 11:00 local time on Saturday, October 17th. The Royal Malta Yacht Club (RMYC) confirmed that everything is in place. The relief is palpable for the organizers and crews. Despite the club’s conviction that race could and should go ahead, if at all possible, it has been a long and uncertain wait. The fifty boats registered to set off on the 606nm course are proof that the conviction was well-reasoned.
 
Principal Race Officer Peter Dimech is probably the most relieved individual in Malta. “It’s an achievement, in the present circumstances, to have a fleet of 50 boats starting from Grand Harbour tomorrow,” he commented. Dimech is quick to give some context, “we are probably the last truly international race of 2020, a year of cancellations, so pulling this off is quite something.”


The race start looks fairly straight-forward, with a force 4 to 5 north-westerly to power the fleet off the line. “The north west breeze will get them to Capo Passero on the southeast corner of Sicily on Saturday evening or night,” continues Dimech. “Then, they may have a problem as the wind is set to die overnight.”

The fleet will be divided into seven start groups with the smallest yachts scheduled to cross the line first. Sailing in IRC 4 Class will be Russian Alexey Moskvin's J/122E BURAN, a recent podium finisher at Les Voiles de Saint Tropez in France. 

In IRC 6 Class will be Italian Leonardo Petti on his J/109 CHESTRESS. Joining them will be the J/109 JARHEAD that will be sailed by a youth team from the Jarhead Youth Sailors Foundation of Malta. Furthermore, sailing in IRC Doublehanded and IRC 6 Class will be the French duo of Boess & Bordas on their J/109 JUBILEE.  For more Rolex Middle Sea Race sailing informationAdd to Flipboard Magazine.

VOTE Now for Rolex Yachtsman & Yachtswoman of the Year 2020!

Two well-known J sailors are in the final running for the 2020 Rolex YoY Awards for men and women sailors.

VOTE now for Willem van Waay and Nicole Breault for the People's Choice Award for Rolex YoY in their respective categories! Click here.

Willem Van Waay Profile:
Hailing from Coronado, California, Willem proved his wide array of skill sets again in 2019 for several teams across many events and various classes. The tactician’s year was highlighted by a win at the J/24 World Championship in Miami with skipper Keith Whittemore aboard Furio. Van Waay and crew outlasted the fleet of 79 to claim the first-place prize by 16 points through 10 races. They won two races, including two of the last three of the regatta, and posted six top five finishes. The stacked fleet featured five former J/24 World Champions. In addition, Willem has also been J/70 World Champion as trimmer and in 2019 was the winning tactician in the J/70 Midwinters, the Rolex Big Boat Series J/70 Class, the San Diego NOOD J/70 Class, and the Marblehead NOOD J/70 Class.

Nicole Breault Profile:
Sailing most of her year on the famous San Francisco Bay, renowned match racer Nicole has always been a well-rounded and versatile sailor. Her skills as a tactician aboard Good Trade were on full display at the 2019 J/105 North American Championship, held last September in Marblehead, Mass. at the Corinthian Yacht Club. Breault and the crew on Good Trade defeated the fleet of 18 teams. They posted 18 points over eight races and won by an eight-point margin. They won three races, including the final race of the regatta, and never placed outside the top five. Plus, she won the U.S. Match Racing Championship Women's Division racing J/22s and also too the silver in the Nation's Cup Match Racing Championship Women's Division, emblematic of the Women's Match Racing Worlds.
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J/133 Dominates Sydney-Hobart Race Class!

(Hobart, Tasmania, Australia)- Congratulations to Jason Close's Sandringham YC team on the J/133 PATRIOT! They had a remarkable performance in the 2019 ROLEX Sydney-Hobart Race.. winning IRC 5 Class (IRC Overall 9th) and winning ORC 4 Class (ORC Overall 10th).

Jason's team included Lex O'Connor (navigator), Greg Coutts, Jordan Sunkel-Lozel, Stu Shafer, Cathy Furey, Graeme Smith, Pete Chalkley, Brett Averey, Stu Moseley, Andy Mcgrath, and Marissa Chalkley. The crew are members of Sandringham Yacht Club, with four of them having lots of International 14-foot skiff experience.

Clearly, their skiff experiences helped on this fast-reaching race... the J/133 PATRIOT was the only production boat in the top 14 overall; all the rest were flat-out, carbon-fiber racers that were professionally-sailed; TP52s went 1-2-3 (8 total in top 14), and the others were all 62 to 69 feet extreme carbon machines. Not bad company for a 15-year-old boat!


Here is the commentary from owner Jason Close on their race-winning performance:

"Our Rolex Sydney-Hobart campaign started with the Sydney-Gold Coast race in July. We had a good result, placing in both our divisions and we had a good look at our opposition.

Our race plan was to sail at, or as close to, 100% polars for the entire race and leave nothing in the tank.

With our fantastic pre-race routing and forecasting prepared by weather and climate expert Jess Sweeney, we set off confident of a good result.   

After a great start, we exited Sydney Heads with two Farr 40s and were at the front of our division.

The first night consisted of some solid downwind sailing, which the J/133 really excelled in, and it enabled us to put a big break on our division and work through boats 2 or 3 divisions higher!

We found ourselves pretty well match-racing with an extremely well-campaigned Cookson 12 named Sail Exchange. We both pushed each other up the fleet and well into the overall IRC contention.

We had a number of challenging navigational decisions around Gabo Heads, with the strong current, in particular. But, we stuck with our pre-race strategy and made some significant inroads on the fleet.

The next night, we saw 20-25 knots of breeze downwind, with a very confused sea state, but the boat cut through it like butter with the assistance of some high-quality helming by the team... the skiff sailors loved it, diving from trough to trough as long as they could!


The next phase of the race was challenging, with many wind transitions to deal with. We managed to keep the boat moving and got through the wind transitions well. Unfortunately, from our perspective, the TP52 carbon racers at the front of the fleet (all the guys that won their class and overall) did not encounter the light weather that we did, so they all put a fair amount of time on us.

Coming into Storm Bay with the Cookson still hot on our tail, we had another light period before catching a decent sea breeze. Thankfully, the moderate sea breeze carried us through to the finish and allowed us to keep our nose in front of our opposition, at least in our class.  However, that sequence of light patches, getting becalmed, and waiting for the seabreeze to build cost us a shot at the overall title.

To win both ORCI and IRC in our divisions was what we set out to do, and we were extremely happy we achieved this. Nevertheless, to finish 9th IRC Overall and 10th overall in ORCI in a big boat race against fully professional outfits in our production J/133 was nothing short of remarkable. It was a credit to our great team and our awesome boat! This was one for the little guys!!"   Sailing photo credits- ROLEX/ Kurt Arrigo  For more Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/111 Wins ORC Class in Rolex Middle Sea Race

(Gzira, Malta)- The 40th Edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race, hosted by the Royal Malta Yacht Club, will go down in the history books as the tale of two races. After the calm conditions for the first half the course, increasingly rough weather in the second half of the course posed enormous challenges for the fleet, with winds gusting to over 30 kts with steep, mountainous seas that looked more like walls to most sailors. 

As described by one sailor, “the last 24 hours were hell. We were soaking wet with water coming in everywhere. No matter how good a sailor you are, in those conditions you were miserable and cold.”

Another famous skipper, Gerry Trentesaux, explained, “the course conditions were the reverse of last year, with downwind to Messina and then upwind from Trapani to the finish. The race was more difficult, especially the second half. At Stromboli, we were about 2.5 hours behind our main competition. And, the J/111 Blur was also sailed really well too.” Because of the severe wave conditions, over seventeen boats had officially retired from the race, nearly 20% of the fleet.

Weathering the extreme conditions were a crew of battle-hardened Vikings from Sweden, Peter Gustafsson’s crew on the J/111 BLUR.SE. It was their first time sailing the Rolex Middle Sea Race and it is clear they were both well-prepared and well-trained for the conditions. It helps that Gustafsson’s crew know the boat well, having raced BLUR.SE for over three years on the northern European J/111 and offshore circuit, often sailing in winds of up to 40 kts. They knew they were up to the challenge, but were surprised by the steepness of the breaking seas in just 20 to 30 kt winds.  In the end, their perseverance paid off, winning ORC 5 Class and taking 3rd ORC Overall. On the IRC handicap side of the ledge, they scored third in IRC 5 Class and 10th IRC Overall. A great showing by an experienced offshore team. For more Rolex Middle Sea Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

40th Rolex Middle Sea Race Preview

(Gzira, Malta)- The 40th Edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race, hosted by the Royal Malta Yacht Club, is ready to start a fleet of around 115 boats for this year’s race. 

Commodore Godwin Zammit had this to say, “The club is really pleased to once again be welcoming such a large fleet. It will comprise the traditional mix of professional and Corinthian crews, some experiencing the race for the first time and others returning to better previous results or just enjoy the adventure.”

Although the 2019 fleet is slightly lower than last year’s record of 130 boats, the range of yachts competing will ensure the race is as exciting as ever. “Crews will be looking forward to the challenging conditions typical in this area of the Mediterranean at this time of year,” said Commodore Zammit. “At some point, it is likely tough weather will test the skills and determination of all competitors.” 

Some 23 nations will be participating in the race, according to Commodore Zammit with entries from as far afield as Australia and Argentina. Italy is the most represented with 22 yachts.

Royal Malta YC Principal Race Officer and Race Committee Chairman, Peter Dimech, outlined the forthcoming event programme. “We kick off on Wednesday, with the Coastal Race, starting and finishing in Marsamxett Harbour, and a good dress rehearsal before the main event,” Dimech advised. “The Coastal Race is a perfect opportunity for international and local crews to give their boats a final shakedown before Saturday. The current weather forecast suggests the most likely course will be up to Comino and back.”  

Dimech added that there are a number of social events for crews, including the Owners’ Reception on Wednesday evening, which incorporates the Coastal Race Prize Giving and is co-hosted by Yachting Malta; the famous Crew Party on Thursday and, on Friday morning, a Question & Answer session featuring a number of participants. On Friday evening, Race & Weather Briefing takes place at the Grand Hotel Excelsior.  

Turning to Saturday’s October 19th departure of the Rolex Middle Sea Race from Grand Harbour, Dimech confirmed there will be seven starts, with the first class, the Multihulls, starting at 1100 CEST. The remaining groups will follow at 10-minute intervals, with the guns of the Saluting Battery marking each start. Proceedings will be coordinated between the Royal Malta Yacht Club, Transport Malta and the Armed Forces of Malta. 

“It is one of the best, most dramatic race starts in the offshore racing world,” remarked Dimech. “Grand Harbour is blessed with a vast number of accessible viewing points both high up and low down. The crowd can feel really close to the yachts without the need be on the water. We are expecting a huge number of spectators.”  

There are nine J/Teams participating in the event across four classes. In the IRC Doublehanded is the J/109 2HARD (Martin Hartl from Austria) and the J/122 LINEA ROSSA (Onur Tok from Istanbul, Turkey).  The IRC 4 Class/ ORC 4 Class includes the J/121 JACKHAMMER (Andrew Hall from the United Kingdom).

The IRC 5 Class includes a very famous offshore ocean racer from Scandinavia, the J/111 BLUR.SE owned and skippered by Peter Gustafsson from Sweden. Also, participating in this class is Tok’s J/122 LINEA ROSSA.

The IRC 6 Class might as well be classified as a “J/109 Class” as a quartet will be lining up on the starting line on Saturday. Those teams include Leonardo Petti’s CHESTRESS from Italy, the Jarhead Young Sailors Malta from the host nation Malta sailing on JYS JAN, Martin Hartl’s 2HARD from Austria, and more Jarhead Young Sailors from Malta on JYS JARHEAD.  For more Rolex Middle Sea Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Rolex Fastnet Race Preview

(Cowes, England)- For the previous four editions of the Rolex Fastnet Race, the elation of overall victory has been enjoyed by a team racing a yacht in the 35 to 42 foot range. In the 2013 and 2015 editions of the 605.0nm offshore race, the top three boats overall came from IRC Three and Four. This year, currently 340 teams will race under IRC for the overall win and over half of them will be competing in IRC Three and Four. The vast majority of the 3,000-strong competitors in the 400-boat fleet are passionate amateurs, racing on a huge variety of boats, with 88 different designs found in these two classes. A majority of the J/Teams participating in the race are in the IRC Two, Three, and Four classes.

For all of those J/Crews, the big decision everyone has been strategizing for the past week is weather routing decisions up and down the track.

Whether to go inshore or offshore, how long will it take, will it be a ‘big boat or small boat’ race, how to handle the powerful tides and will I need an anchor and an umbrella?

The answers for this year’s Rolex Fastnet Race are profoundly different according to whether you are on an monster 130 ft trimaran or one of the vast armada of J/109s.

In essence, the forecast for this year’s race is starting Saturday at the beginning of the ebb tide in an unusual southeasterly breeze (rather than upwind in the normal prevailing southwesterly).

According to Rolex Fastnet Race meteorologist Libby Greenhalgh, overnight for the leaders, or well into Sunday for the tail-enders, the crews will have to negotiate a “transition zone” that will see the wind drop before filling in from the southwest, a scenario that may benefit being north (in search of thermal breeze close to the coast) or offshore and south (to get to the new gradient pressure first), as always, also dependent on the state of the tide.

“Faster boats will tend to dig further south towards the Casquets TSS (Transportation Separation Scheme- a ‘no-go’ zone) and will be the most southerly,” continues Greenhalgh. “For everyone else it will be of more rhumb line or just south of the rhumb line route.”

In a “typical” Fastnet Race, the choice between going west or east of the TSS off Land’s End is significant. However, earlier in the week the only way to go was west, maintained Greenhalgh. However, this has since changed with the easterly route opening up for the slower boats.

The good news is that after this the scenario becomes more straightforward with a reach across the Celtic Sea to the Fastnet Rock and back to the Scilly Isles, in southwesterly or WSWerly winds and in pressure that will vary between 15-25 knots according to the timing. At present, it seems very unclear if the overall prize will go to the smallest boat in the race, which will get held up least in the transition zone or one of the bigger boats.

One IRC Doublehanded navigator, Henry Bomby, had some thoughtful perspectives on race strategy. “I did quite a bit of pre-race analysis and whenever an IRC Three or Four boat does well it is because they just make it through the tidal gate at Portland Bill,” says Bomby. “Normally you are upwind through there, but we’ll be straight line sailing. There appears to be more wind in the south where the transition is also shorter, but then you end up more upwind anyway. So, our route will take us quite close to the Casquets and we’ll be offshore for the transition, then tacking and getting lifted.

After the transition, we’ll be fully upwind, pointing at Penzance, but then eventually getting lifted. That will be quite a tricky thing– when you start getting the new breeze filling in. The more west you get, the quicker you’ll get through it, but the chance of sailing extra miles because you overlay is quite high. That will be a critical part of the race. For boats in this size range the crossing of the Celtic Sea will still be a reach but in a more moderate 12-14 knots, routing suggests a time of 3 days 12 hours.”

IRC One Division
The massive 64-boat IRC One fleet has boats that range from the high-rating boats of custom Ker 46 to low-raters of a First 40- a pretty extreme range. As the lower-rating boats, the trio of J/121s will certainly enjoy the challenges associated with the current weather forecasts as outlined above with winds forcing sailing a variety of sailing angles. Those three 121s include the recent Class and Overall Winner of the recent RORC Channel Race- Mike O’Donnell’s Irish team on DARKWOOD. Joining them to press their class hard will be Nick Angel’s ROCK LOBSTER and Andrew & Sam Hall’s JACKHAMMER.

IRC Two Division
The 60-boat IRC Two class has a number of highly competitive J/Crews, all proven offshore champions in recent years.  For starters, there is the J/122E AJETO that is also qualified to sail in the IRC Doublehander class, she will be sailed by joint owner-skippers- Robin Verhoef and John van der Starre- from the Netherlands. The engineer and dentist from The Hague have been Dutch IRC champions four times, and were European J/111 champions in 2015 with a previous boat, Xcentric Ripper, with which they won class in the 2015 Fastnet. It's the fourth Fastnet for another the J/122 JUNIQUE RAYMARINE Sailing Team, especially adapted for shorthanded sailing and a proven performer in the hands of Chris Revelman and Pascal Bakker who took 3rd in class at the 2018 Round Britain and Ireland race.

Up to the challenge will most certainly be the two J/133s from France- JIVARO and PINTIA.  Gilles Fournier & Corinne Migraine have sailed PINTIA to the RORC Overall Seasons Points Championship last year and are a contender again in 2019.  Plus, PINTIA has won and podiumed on a number of RORC season races criss-crossing southern England and the Channel over to France.  Yves Grosjean’s JIVARO has also podiumed in a number of French events like the SPI OUEST France Regatta in La Trinite sur Mer, France and winning IRC 1 Class in the Cowes-Dinard-St Malo Race.

Four other J/122s are joining this incredibly talented group. Moving fast up the “tune-up/ training” program on the Solent and a few RORC offshore races have been Chris Daniel’s JUNO, Clive Miles’ JANGLE, Alain & Marie Catherineau’s LORELEI, and David Richards’ Russian team on JOLLY JELLYFISH.

Joining the battle are two J/111s- Sebastien de Liedekerke’s DJINN from Belgium and Simon Grier-Jones’ SNOW LEOPARD. Additionally, Andy Middleton & Alex Fisher’s J/120 SUNSET from the USA will be well-sailed by a veteran offshore team.

IRC Three Division
A massive number of boats are sailing IRC Three class- eighty-five yachts on the starting line! 46 from Great Britain, 18 from France and also Belgium, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, and the USA.

Sailing their hearts out off the start to gain early advantage will be Philippe Baetz’s J/112E MUSIX from France, Philippe Girardin’s J/120 HEY JUDE from France, and a veritable armada of J/109s.

Sixteen J/109s will be competing in IRC Three and IRC Four. The 35ft bowsprit design has its own prize, the J/109 RORC Trophy!! The leading J/109 for the RORC season is David McGough's JUST SO, overall winner of the 2019 Morgan Cup with 85 teams racing under IRC. JUST SO won the J/109 RORC Trophy in the 2015 Rolex Fastnet Race.

The British Armed Forces have a long history in the race and this year, four teams from Her Majesty's Armed Forces will be racing in the J/109 fleet. The RAF with RED ARROW, the Royal Naval with JOLLY JACK TAR, the Royal Engineers with TROJAN, and the Royal Armoured Corps with AJAX.

JOLLY JACK TAR’s skipper- Lt Tom Thicknesse RN- started yacht racing with the Royal Navy; this will be his second race, and first as skipper. "Whatever the weather, we are expecting a mentally and physically draining race that demands everything from the crew. We have our sights set on the Inter-Regimental Trophy for the best service yacht and aim to be in the top five J/109s overall," says Thicknesse. "Offshore sailing has been a key element of Royal Navy sport and adventurous training for many years as the mental and physical challenge gives the opportunity to develop the endurance, leadership, teamwork and courage of our crew. The race epitomizes this challenge," continued Thicknesse.

IRC Four Division
This giant 87-boat class not only has the aforementioned J/109s, it also has Jerry Freeman’s J/105 JUILETTE and Chris Miles & Mike Sellers’ J/97 HIGH JINKS.

IRC Doublehanded Division
Over the last few editions of the Rolex Fastnet Race, the IRC Doublehanded class has shown steady growth from 45 entries in 2013, to 53 in 2015, and 57 in in the last race. At the time of writing, 63 doublehanded competitors were entered this year.

Back again are the other podium placers from the IRC Doublehanded class in the last race, including Dutch aces Robin Verhoef and John van der Starre once again on AJETO. “We have more experience with the boat and her performance since the last Fastnet and we are really looking forward to another tough and good competition, especially after becoming Dutch Two-Handed champions for a fifth time in a row,” says van der Starre. “The RORC North Sea Race went very well for us, beating the famous Frenchman Gery Trentesaux with his new, IRC-optimized JPK 11.80 in IRC 2. We won both IRC and ORC Doublehanded Divisions!”

For Christopher Preston, sailing with Austrian yacht design student Felix Trattner on the J/109 JUBILEE, this will be his tenth Rolex Fastnet Race, but his first double-handed. “I did the Round Britain and Ireland non-stop in 2000 doublehanded and absolutely loved it,” he says. “It was a challenging and interesting race. I loved the combination of helming and tactics and organization.” Having sailed Jubilee fully crewed with his old Clipper crew in 2017, racing it doublehanded is something of a bucket list affair. Over the winter he and Trattner has been optimizing the J/109 for double-handing in terms of the sail set-up and internal ballasting.

The biggest competitors to these two top teams will be Revelman & Bakker’s J/122 JUNIQUE RAYMARINE Sailing Team, Kees Mijs’ J/109 ARETHUSA, Joppe Schepers & Jasper Heike’s J/109 JOMALIJA, Alistair Doughty’s J/109 JELENKO, David & William McGough’s J/109 JUST SO, Jerry Freeman’s J/105 JULIETTE, and the Miles/ Sellers duo on the J/97 HIGH JINKS. Not surprisingly, given the state-of-the-art in technology and boat-handling equipment in offshore double-handed racing, do NOT be surprised if a number of these experienced J/Duets produce good results!  For more Rolex Fastnet Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/70 Sailor Jud Smith Honored as Rolex Yachtsman of Year

(Newport, RI)- Congratulations to Jud Smith! He was named 2018 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year!

J/70 World Champion Jud Smith (Gloucester, Mass.) was selected as Rolex Yachtsman of the Year for his sailing performances in 2018.  He follows another J/70 World Champion receiving the award in 2017- Peter Duncan.

The selection follows the announcement in January of the three men who were shortlisted for these prestigious awards and recognized as sailing’s top performers of the year by US Sailing.

The slate of finalists, nominated by members of US Sailing and determined by US Sailing, was presented to a panel of 28 accomplished sailing media professionals and past winners of the awards, who analyzed the merits of each finalist and individually voted to determine the ultimate winners using a weighted point system (1st place vote – 5 points; 2nd place vote – 3 points; 3rd place vote – 1 point).

For the first time ever, it was an all J/Boats slate for the final trio: Jud Smith tallied 116 points, including 20 first place votes. Placing second was 2018 J/22 World Champion, Zeke Horowitz (Annapolis, Md.), with 86 points and seven first place votes. Will Welles (Portsmouth, R.I.), 2018 J/24 World Champion, finished third with 50 points and one first place vote.

Smith will be honored on February 28 at the Rolex YoY Awards Ceremony hosted by the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco, where he will be celebrated by family and friends, teammates and crew, past winners, 2018 finalists, sailing dignitaries, and representatives from US Sailing and Rolex.

He will also be presented with specially engraved Rolex timepieces and designed picture frames of the winners commemorating their outstanding 2018 accomplishments.

At the age of 62, Jud Smith (Gloucester, Mass.), becomes the oldest winner of this esteemed award. He was 61 at the time of his team’s win at the 2018 J/70 World Championship. Smith is now a two-time winner of the award, earning his first Yachtsman of the Year award in 2006.

“I do consider my age as my biggest challenge,” said Smith. “However, I just have to work on my fitness and health much more than in years’ past. Instead of worrying if I’m good enough to be competitive, I worry if I am fit enough to be competitive. I now spend much more time in the gym, since that’s my limiting factor. Mentally, the game is less daunting than when I was younger.”

Smith continued his assessment of where he is in his competitive sailing career and how it remains, more than ever, a team sport to him. “To be competitive at the top level requires sailing with the best young sailors in the world. There a lot of 25 to 50-year-old talented sailors that make it possible for my generation to continue to compete. It’s a pleasure to be able to race with such a talented and committed group of young sailors. If it wasn’t for them, we’d be playing shuffleboard.”

The win at J/70 Worlds in 2018 was his second consecutive win at this highly competitive regatta. In 2017, Smith won the J/70 Worlds as crew for Peter Duncan, who went on to win Yachtsman of the Year honors in 2017.

“I had the opportunity to campaign in 2017 with Peter Duncan, along with Willem van Waay and Victor Diaz for the J/70 Worlds in Porto Cervo (Italy). It was not only a privilege, but a daily clinic with such a talented team, and it served as an ideal vantage point to know how to prepare my own team and boat for the 2018 Worlds at my home club.”

The 2018 J/70 Worlds, once again, featured a deep fleet, including 91 teams from 18 countries. On the final day of the event, the wind failed to deliver sufficient breeze and the standings were deemed official. The top three teams in the final standings were separated by only three points through 11 races.

Consistency truly paid off for Smith and his crew aboard AFRICA. They didn’t win any races, but they placed in the top 10 in five races and top five in two. Smith edged Bruno Pasquinelli by one point and Jack Franco by three. Duncan, last year’s winning skipper, placed fourth overall.

“We have the utmost respect for all of the other teams,” said Smith. “Anybody could have won this regatta, and we respected that. I would like to thank my team. We have worked really hard, training for this event all year long, and we have been together through thick and thin. It was a real privilege to race with such a talented group of sailors in a World Championship at my home club for an opportunity of a lifetime.”

Smith posted podium results at other top J/70 events in 2018, including first place out of 57 boats at the Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta in Marblehead, MA; second place out of 47 boats at the Bacardi Cup Invitational Regatta in Miami, FL; and third place out of 27 boats at the Newport Regatta in Newport, RI.

Sailing has always played an important role Smith’s life. He grew up in Marblehead, Mass. and started sailing with his father, David Smith, at a young age. David was also an accomplished racing sailor. He won an Olympic Gold Medal at the Rome 1960 Games in the 5.5 meter event as crew.

“Sailing was such a big part of my life growing up at Pleon Junior Yacht Club during the summers and frostbiting Interclub dinghies in the winters,” added Smith. “I met my wife, Cindy, frostbiting in Marblehead. She’s a very good sailor herself and serves as our J/70 fleet secretary.”

“We continue to race the J/70 together in Marblehead every chance we get. Massachusetts Bay and Salem Sound is still my favorite place to sail, where no two days are the same. There’s always a new wrinkle to work out, which makes it challenging.”

Previous J/Sailors that have won the award since the 1977 introduction of the J/24 include, Dave Curtis, Ken Read, Ed Adams, Betsy Gelenitis (Allison), Bonnie Shore, Susan Dierdorff Taylor, John Kostecki, Lynne Jewell, Allison Jolly, Larry Klein, Jim Brady, Kevin Mahaney, Cam Lewis, Ed Baird, Dave Ullman, Augie Diaz, Hannah Swett, Sally Barkow, Kevin Burnham, Bill Hardesty, Brian Porter, Terry Hutchinson, Stephanie Roble, and Annie Haeger.  Not bad company to keep for Mr Smith!! Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes.com/ Alan Clark- photoboat.com Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/Trio Top ROLEX Yachtsman of the Year Awards!

(Newport, RI)- Three J/Sailors are finalists in ROLEX Yachtsman of the Year Awards 2018, based on winning recent World Championships in a J/Boats class - J/22, J/24 and J/70!

This historical occasion marks the first time in the history of the ROLEX Yachtsman & Yachtswoman of the Year awards that a brand has “swept the podium” in the most prestigious individual yachting award in America. Congratulations to Zeke Horowitz (J/22 World Champion in Annapolis, MD); Will Welles (J/24 World Champion in Lake Garda, Italy); and Jud Smith (J/70 World Champion in Marblehead, MA)! May the best man win!

Once again, the annual rundown of the year’s “best in the U.S.” represents a wide range of accomplished sailors from various disciplines and at different stages of their respective careers. The finalists for US Sailing’s 2018 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year award are:

- Zeke Horowitz (Annapolis, Md.) – The versatile sailor came out on top at the closely contested J/22 World Championship (Annapolis, Md.) in his home waters. He captured the Flying Scot North American Championship (Rockwall, Texas) and was second at the Viper 640 North American Championship (Kingston, Ontario, Canada).

- Will Welles (Portsmouth, R.I.) – A second J/24 World Championship (Riva del Garda, Italy) title in five years places Welles back on the shortlist for 2018. Welles was the runner-up at the J/24 North American Championship (Charleston, S.C.) and later in the year he dominated the fleet of 89 boats at the J/24 Worlds.

- Jud Smith (Gloucester, Mass.) – The 2006 Yachtsman of the Year returns to the shortlist after besting the fleet of 91 boats at the J/70 World Championship (Marblehead, Mass.). Smith added another win to his 2018 resume by placing first at the Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta in Marblehead.

The nominees and their 2018 sailing resumes will be reviewed by a panel of noted sailing journalists and past winners of these awards that discuss the merits of each sailor’s racing results before voting to determine U.S. Sailing’s 2018 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year.

The winners will be announced in February and honored on Thursday, February 28, 2019, during a luncheon at the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco, when they will be presented with specially-engraved Rolex timepieces.

Established in 1961 by US Sailing and sponsored by ROLEX Watch, U.S.A. since 1980, the annual presentation of U.S. Sailing’s ROLEX Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year awards are considered the sport’s ultimate recognition of an individual’s outstanding on-the-water achievements for the calendar year.

Over its history the coveted awards have been presented to 44 men and 35 women, including these distinguished sailors that have claimed the honor multiple times: Ed Adams, Betsy Alison, Sally Barkow, Dave Curtis, Dennis Conner, JJ Fetter, Terry Hutchinson, Allison Jolly, John Kostecki, Buddy Melges, Lowell North, Jan O’Malley, Jane Pegel, Ken Read, Cory Sertl, Lynne Shore, Jody Starck, Anna Tunnicliffe and Ted Turner.  

NOTE- the highlighted names sailed J/22s, J/24s, J/70s, J/105s, or J/80s at Championship events.  In other words, Zeke, Will and Juddy are in good company!  For more ROLEX Yachtsman of the Year Awards 2019 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.

Stormy, Gear-buster Rolex Middle Sea Race

(Gzira, Malta)- The 50th Anniversary Rolex Middle Sea Race will go down in history as yet another stormy, challenging race.  While not nearly as strong as last year’s mistral that clobbered the fleet with up to 45 kt winds and enormous 10-15 ft seas, this year’s 606nm blast around Sicily and the islands was no picnic.  The fifty-five boat fleet started off Malta last Saturday and most of the fleet was finished in five days. 

Countries represented in the 2018 Rolex Middle Sea Race included Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom and the United States. Amongst the fleet of nine J/Teams, eight countries were represented!

The J/109 Jarhead Young Sailors Malta rounded Favignana on the fourth day of the race, with 250 miles to go, the crew of teenagers backed by the Jarhead Young Sailors Foundation- a Maltese non-profit organization with the principal purpose of educating youth in the sport of sailing- was making the most of their testing experience. “Happy to be round Favignana.... And heading for home!” blogged Jarhead. “It has been a tough 36 hours, but the young guys are doing well and in high spirits, now we are blast reaching south!” 

Yves Grosjean’s J/133 JIVARO called in while passing the island, 185 miles from the finish: “We are tired, but our spirit is good. Every year we do this race, it is never the same. We love coming back because it is a well-organized, magnificent race, with a beautiful course, which is always mysterious.”

Then, George David on the Maxi RAMBLER 88 reports, “this was a challenging race. There were a couple of notable points including a big squall north-west of Trapani, about 40 knots for us, and a bunch of park ups when we were ahead of everybody. The summary for the race is zero knots to 40 knots and winds from east, west and north, but no south! South was the one direction we didn’t see on the compass rose this time!”

In the ORC 4 Division, Yves Grosjean’s J/133 JIVARO finished 4th on handicap scoring, followed by Matt Stokes’ Canadian team on the J/133 BLUE JAY III in 6th position, and then Andrew Hall’s British team on the J/121 JACKHAMMER took 7th.

In the ORC 5 Division, Nicolas Ibanez Scott’s J/122E ANITA took 3rd on the podium, followed by Cascino Giuseppe’s Italian team on the J/122 JOY RC YACHTING in 5th place. 

In the IRC 5 division, Ibanez-Scott’s J/122E ANITA took 5th place, while Grosjean’s J/133 JIVARO placed 7th.

Then, in the IRC Doublehanded Division, the J/109 2HARD took the silver, sailed by the Austrian pair of Hartl & Wolf.  For more Rolex Middle Sea Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Rolex Middle Sea Race Preview

(Gzira, Malta)- Malta has often been described as the ‘crossroads of the Mediterranean’. The fleet gathering for the 50th Anniversary Rolex Middle Sea Race may well help change that description to the ‘crossroads of the world’, certainly the sailing world. Some 55 yachts, representing 25 countries from as far afield as Australia, Canada, Chile, The Philippines, and the United States, have entered to date. There is nothing unusual in this spread of nations. The race, which this year starts on 20th October, has always attracted a polyglot fleet and a walk along the dock is a cultural affair.  

Nicholas Ibañez Scott, skipper of the Chilean entry ANITA, a J/122E, is returning to the race for a second time having made his debut in the tough conditions of 2017. ANITA was one of only 35 yachts out of 104 starters to complete the 606nm last year. Testament to high quality and construction of the J/122E and the tough streak running through a crew used to the southern straits of Patagonia. One of the elements that struck Scott the most about their first encounter with the race was a sense of belonging. “We feel very much at home here,” he said before the start, putting this down to the warmth and professionalism of the Royal Malta Yacht Club along with the attitude and quality of the competing sailors.

Countries represented in the 2018 Rolex Middle Sea Race so far include: Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom and the United States. Amongst the fleet of nine J/Teams, eight countries are represented!

In the IRC Class 4/ ORC 4 Division, three teams are sailing, including the J/133 BLUE JAY III sailed by Matt Stokes from Canada, the J/121 JACKHAMMER sailed by Andrew Hall from the United Kingdom, and the J/133 JIVARO sailed by Yves Grosjean and his French team (note- this boat has been an RORC Offshore Season winners and also Fastnet Race class winner).

In the past, the IRC 5/ ORC 5 division has twice been won by J/122s that have also won the Rolex Middle Sea Race as Overall Champions.  This year’s group includes the J/122 JOLOU sailed by Sergey Senchenko from Russia (double-handed winners in 2017), the J/122 JOY sailed by Cascino Giuseppe from Italy, the J/122 OTRA VEZ sailed by Sean Arrigo from Malta, and the J/112E ANITA sailing with a Chilean team led by Nicolas Ibanez Scott.

Then, in the IRC 6 Class, there are two J/109s vying for class honors; 2HARD is also sailing in IRC Doublehanded class with Martin Hartl from Austria on the helm and JARHEAD YOUNG SAILORS MALTA is a group of youth sailors from the local hosts- the Royal Maltese YC.  For more Rolex Middle Sea Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.