J/99 For Sale in Houston, Texas

 

J/99 Hull #007 is a well outfitted capable and versatile J/99. ProFurl roller furling jib and code 0. Great B&G Instruments, Fusion Stereo and Speakers, North 3Di Main, 3Di med/hvy jib, 3Di light/med. jib, AirX A2 Asym, Code 0 NPL on roller furler, all safety gear. 

Factory options include: Upgraded interior cushions, 110v Shore Power, 12V DC refrigeration, Additional 100 Amp battery, 2 burner propane stove, Pop Up morning cleats. Instruments include: 3 Triton Mast mounted displays, 2 bulkhead mounted multi-displays, V60 VHF Radio, Nav Station mounted Chart Plotter, Triton, speed, depth, wind, GPS sensors. The blue stripes are a wrap and can be easily removed. New Lower price! Learn more here on J/Net Brokerage. 

Awesome J/Fest Southwest Regatta

 

(Houston, Texas)- According to Scott Spurlin, J/Dealer in Texas, "the J/Sailors in Texas needed this event!  The enthusiasm to get out on the water was over the top!  On Friday, the rain was coming down and the gusts were in the 40’s and people still trailered their boats in!  We delayed the start on Saturday to give them time to set up and launch. Then we had a full weekend of racing.  I will always think of this J/Fest as fondly as I remember the very first one!"


The J/Fest Southwest Regatta celebrated its 11th Anniversary and proved yet again it was a popular tradition among the J/Boat owners throughout the region with over 70 J/Boats. This 11th edition was a bit more challenging with the current Pandemic conditions. But Lakewood Yacht Club's team rolled out their traditional (and amazing!) red carpet treatment for the 250-plus sailors and made sure the event was fun, while complying with both State of Texas and US Sailing COVID-19 guidelines.


The two-day, six-race regatta had amazing attendance in every class, including seven J/70s, nine J/105s, five J/ORC boats, twenty-one J/22s, and fifteen J/24s! Many familiar happy faces were seen aboard the boats, overjoyed with being to get together safely and fulfill their wishes to finally sail their first regatta since the advent of the pandemic lockdowns back in March.  


Perhaps the most surprising outcome of the regatta was the win by Scott Spurlin's team on the J/70 YOLO. Despite the fact it was just a half-dozen boats, the fleet was riddled with National, North American, World Champions and Olympic Medallists! Apparently, it helps to have some "secret sauce" on board in the form of mainsheet trimmer and tactician Reed Baldrige (a National and World Champion sailor).  Scott's team had a remarkably consistent performance, rattling off a 2-2-1-2-3-2 record for a mere 12 pts! Just behind them it was truly a "shoot out at the OK Corral" for the balance of the top five. Taking the silver was Jay Lutz's MOJITO, after compiling an ever-improving performance with finishes of 4-4-2-3-4-1 for 18 pts. The bronze was determined by a tie-breaker at 19 pts each between two World Champion teams. Bruno Pasquinelli's STAMPEDE won the countback over Glenn Darden's HOSS. Taking fifth position was Dov Kivlovitz’s TURBO DUCK. 


The J/105 class also saw a few duels taking place at the top of the leaderboard.  Winning the regatta by just one point was Ken Horne's FINAL FINAL over Bill Zartler's DEJA VOODOO. Like the J/70s, the bronze medal battle went to the final race and ended up in a tiebreaker at 24 pts each. After the countback, the bronze was awarded to John Bell's KINDERSPIEL 2 over Bill Lackenmacher's RADIANCE. Taking fifth place was Uzi Ozeri's BONBON.

The huge J/22 fleet was extremely competitive and the battle at the top of the leaderboard raged all weekend-long. How tight was the fleet? Well, the top five were only separated by an anxiety-inducing six points! Like their brothers and sisters in the J/105 and J/70 classes, the showdown for the podium was not determined until the final leg of the final race! Starting off with a blistering 1-2, Larry Wise's crew on LET THE WOOKIE WIN faltered in the next four races, chalking up a 12-6-3-6 for a 30 pts total. Nevertheless, after surviving the onslaught from several National and World Champions crew in the J/22 class, Wise's team held their composure to win with 30 pts- a 5th average, the highest winning average of the regatta! Casey Lambert's crew on BLACKBURN MARINE RACING took the silver with a roller-coaster scoreline of 4-5-3-7-4-9 for 32 pts. Rounding out the podium in a hard-earned bronze medal was Mark Foster's PRESSURE DROP, posting a 10-3-1-4-5-10 for 33 pts (how did you bracket your record with two 10's??). The balance of the top five included Jim Freedman's MISS CONDUCT and Tom Meeh's MEEHEM in fourth and fifth, respectively. 

The only class to see what could only be defined as a "runaway shopping trolley" collecting all podium finishes was Chris Holmes crew on the J/24 BAD MOON. Holmes' team cruised to a 2-3-2-3-2-2 record for 14 pts. A distant second was taken by Gerald Rademaker's YIKES team, followed by Greg Newsome's SIXTY NINE (the sail number of his very old TPI-built J/24!). The rest of the top five saw Rod Favela's PHANTASM in fourth and Graham Gardner's SURPRISE in fifth position. 


Finally, the big offshore boats all sailed in the J/ORC class. Winning was Forbes Durdin's J/121 BEAR, closing the last four races with all bullets! Mark Funk's J/27 USA 23 was second and Bill Sutton’s fire-engine red J/35 LEADING EDGE. The rest of the top five included Dave Christenson's J/109 AIRBORNE in 4th and Albrecht Goethe's J/46 HAMBURG II (a beautiful "upgrade" from his former J/109 by the same name!). 

Enjoy the sailing highlights video on YouTube produced by Stuart Lindow/ Pelican Productions   Enjoy the sailing photos on Flickr   For more J/Fest Southwest sailing information

Eight Bells- Scott Self- J/22 Sailor Extraordinaire

* Scott Self, 70, passed away due to glioblastoma on June 30 in in Rockwall, TX. He was diagnosed May 19, 2020.


Scott Self was born to Dr. Stanley Allen and Gloria Rust Self in Victoria, Texas. In 1963 the family moved to Fort Worth, Texas where he graduated from Paschal High School in 1968. During those years in Fort Worth, Scott learned to sail a Sunfish sailboat and worked on the family’s cattle ranch near Saginaw, Texas.

Scott graduated from Texas Christian University in 1972 with an honors degree in Economics, where he was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. TCU is also where he met his wife, Jan, whom he married on June 9, 1973 in her parents’ backyard—-a 50’ magnolia tree as their altar.

Their honeymoon was spent sailing and racing Dick Williamson’s Swan 44 Stuart Little from Cowes on the Isle of Wight, England, then home to the states via La Rochelle, Lisbon, Gibraltar, Morocco, Canary Islands, and the Bahamas.

Upon their return, Scott worked for Merrill Lynch as a stock broker in Dallas. Four years later in 1977, he bought a company that produced Micro Brush, renamed it ProSoap, and moved the company to Rockwall.

He and Jan moved to Chandlers Landing and Scott was able to pursue his love of sailboat racing on Lake Ray Hubbard—-the best sailing lake in Texas due to its shape and orientation to the prevailing southerly breezes. He and Jan were immediately active in the community.

Scott founded Dallas Race Week, a regatta now in its 38th year. In 1985, Scott was the founding Chairman of Rockwall United Way. In 1986, he chaired the Rockwall YMCA Board and in 1987, he served as Commodore for Chandlers Landing Yacht Club. In 1988, he was chairman of the Rockwall Noon Rotary Board. And in 1989 he was Chairman of the Rockwall Area Chamber of Commerce Board. He loved to serve the community.

In 1990, Scott began his political career and was elected to his first office in Rockwall as County Treasurer in which he served seven years. In 1999, he was elected to Rockwall City Council, and in 2000, he was elected Mayor of Rockwall.

From 2003 until 2006, he served as Rockwall County Commissioner. His proudest accomplishments in these roles were doubling the size of Harry Myers Park and increasing the biking trails, starting the process of Hometown 2000, and keeping taxes in Rockwall the lowest in the Metroplex.

Scott never stopped serving his community. In 2001 at age 51, Scott began a five-year career as a volunteer firefighter for the Rockwall Fire Department and served as the President of the Rockwall Firefighters Association in 2005. He spent eight years as a Board Member of Rockwall County Helping Hands and recently served on the board of Women In Need, as well as serving in numerous other volunteer organizations.

Scott’s sailing career was as illustrious. Scott crewed on the winning boat in the 1973 North American Men’s Sailing Championship, known as the Mallory Cup. That same year, he competed in the 420 World Championships held off the coast of Israel during the Israeli 1973 Yom Kippur war with Egypt.

A story Scott liked to tell was that his crew had become ill and Scott was facing dropping out, so the Israeli sailing committee kindly offered a substitute crew. The substitute showed up and Scott asked what he did for a living. The sub responded, “I’m a fighter pilot. They told me if I could get here in time, I could sail with you, so I put on the afterburners and here I am!” Scott and his new crew placed ninth out of 75 of the best world-class teams.

Further admirable finishes in his sailboat racing career include racing the aforementioned Stuart Little in the Fastnet Race of Great Britain, placing sixth in the 1994 J/22 World Championship in Holland, and again in 1996, as well as placing second in the 2004 J/22 US Nationals.

In 2005, Scott and his longtime sailing partner Nigel Brown won the double-handed division of the Transpac race from Los Angeles to Hawaii aboard their Hobie 33, Soap Opera. Later that same year, he and Nigel were the Overall Winners of the Harvest Moon Regatta, which they came back to win overall again in 2006 and in 2012.

These are the highlights but in brief, Scott placed in the top 10 in every major class of National Championships from Sunfish to 60 footers.

In addition to his racing career, he also sailed open oceans. At age 17, he single-handedly sailed a small boat named Sprinter from Galveston to Corpus Christi, without any sea charts. He sailed across the Atlantic Ocean twice, once heading east, and again heading west.

And in 2007, Scott became a United States Coast Guard 100 Ton Masters Captain. He captained three sailing yachts through the Panama Canal: Erik Oisted’s Angantyr, Bobby Pryor’s Poetry and most recently a 70-foot catamaran, Chamonix, in February 2020.

Scott has introduced thousands of people to the love of sailing aboard Seawolf, a 25’ x 40’ catamaran he custom built himself inside his company’s warehouse. Over the past 12 seasons, Scott has taken over 30,000 people sailing and performed over 700 weddings. He built “Sail With Scott” to be a unique attraction for the DFW metroplex.

Scott was also physically very active throughout his life. He ran 10 marathons, including the prestigious NYC Marathon in 1990, the original Athens, Greece Marathon, as well as four Dallas Marathons.

He was also an avid cyclist with his wife Jan and rode the AIDS 3-Day Ride from Houston to Dallas three times. He completed the HHH Century (100 miles) bike ride in Wichita Falls three times, twice with Jan on a tandem bike. In 2018, Scott, Jan and daughter Chandler hiked and summited Mount Kilimanjaro together.

For most workdays of the past 16 years, Scott looked forward to having lunch with one of his best friends, consultant and confidant: his son, Billy.

Scott is survived by his wife Jan of 47 years, his children Billy and Chandler, his daughter in law Katie, his granddaughters Elliott, Julia, Alexandra and Isla, and his soon to be son-in-law, Matthew Tinley. He is also survived by his older brother Fred, his wife Suellen and their children, and sister Becky Doody, her husband Jack and their children.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Scott’s honor to Women-In-Need (http://www.wintexas.org).

J/121 Smokes Harvest Moon Regatta

J/Teams Sweep ORC Offshore Division!
(Port Aransas, TX)- The weather forecast for this year’s Harvest Moon Regatta race, hosted by Lakewood Yacht Club south of Houston, was either intimidating to some, or a thrill for others. An impending front that ultimately produced deadly tornados north in the Dallas/ Fort Worth region also produced 5-10 foot steep Gulf of Mexico “chop” with 23 to 45 kt winds. Not exactly a recipe for a family’s “walk in the park”, a 150.0nm race from Galveston Bay to Port Aransas down south towards the equally famous Corpus Christi region of the Texas Gulf Coast.

According to Scott Spurlin, “in the 60+ boat fleet, it was Forbes Durdin and his brand new J/121 BEAR that took line honors, won the Bacardi Cup in the ORC fleet overall, won their division and received the first annual J/Boats Award (courtesy J/Boats Southwest). The brand new J/99 YOLO finished 2nd in their ORC Division. Great showing by the two J/46's, the J/105's and the J/120!”

Reflecting on their fun-loving performance, Forbes Durdin had this to say, “great weekend aboard BEAR in the 2019 Harvest Moon Regatta. Monohull line honors— 16 hrs 22 minutes— Bacardi Fleet (ORC) win, matching division win and J/Boats Trophy. Water-ballasted J-121 is a rocketship! Love it!”

Perhaps, what was more remarkable was the fact that in the 22-boat ORC Division, by far the biggest in the regatta, was that J/Teams took six of the top 7 places overall!  Here is how that panned out: the J/121 BEAR in first, then Jim Demarest’s J/46 SODALIS III in second, Albrecht Goethe’s J/46 HAMBURG II in third, JD Hill’s J/122 SECOND STAR in fourth, John Barnett’s J/105 PESTO in sixth, and James Liston’s J/120 AEOLUS seventh.  Congratulations to all on such a remarkable performance!

In the class breakdowns, ORC A was won by the J/121 BEAR, with the J/122 SECOND STAR in second. In ORC B class, first was the J/46 SODALIS III, second the J/46 HAMBURG II, fourth the J/105 PESTO, and fifth the J/120 AEOLUS.

In the ORC C Class, second was the J/99 YOLO, followed by John Bell’s J/105 KINDERSPIEL 2 in third.

Finally, in the 13-boat PHRF Fleet, third in PHRF A Class was Rob & Stephen Epstein’s J/120 SCOUT, and taking 4th PHRF Overall. An excellent outcome for J/Crews across the board offshore in the Harvest Moon Regatta! For more Harvest Moon Regatta sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

HOSS Was Boss @ J/105 Midwinters

(Fort Worth, TX)– The J/105 Midwinter Championship returned to the calendar this year as eleven teams competed at Fort Worth Boat Club in Fort Worth, TX from March 7th to 10th. Locals Glenn Darden and Reese Hillard led the HOSS team to victory with 24 points. They racked up three bullets over the weekend and never finished lower than sixth. Following HOSS in second place was Bill Zartler’s DEJA VOODOO (30 points) and Kenneth Horne’s FINAL FINAL in third (33 points).

While being awarded the J/105 Midwinter Championship trophy, Darden commented, “It was a wild three days of tight racing with winds ranging from 3 to 30 knots. Eagle Mountain Lake always makes it interesting!

I would like to thank my HOSS team! First, my co-owner and long-time shipmate Reese Hillard!  Then, trimmer Jake Scott, tactics and mainsheet Tony Waldon, on bow Peter Philpot, and at the mast Lindsay Scott. They really guided and pulled HOSS to the top.

The Fort Worth Boat Club ran a top-notch event, and PRO Dwight Bengston and his race management team did an outstanding job in getting in eight quality races in three days!  Thanks to everyone again, it was lots of fun!”

Added Matt Arno, J/105 Chief Measurer, “It’s not often you get to race in three different seasons in three days. Winds from 0 to 40 knots and temperatures from 40F to 80F gave us the full range of conditions. Despite that, racing was tight for the whole regatta.”

Rounding out the top five was Dwight Horton’s BEAUTY in fourth place with 35 pts, just two points from third. Then, Rick Schaffer’s DOUBLE DARE took fifth with 38 pts. It was very close racing for the teams in 2nd to 5th place, the last two races seeing their positions flip fast like a game of “chutes and ladders”!  Sailing photo credits- Regattashots.com.  For more J/105 Midwinter Championship sailing information

J/105 Speeds, Tips, Tricks

(Newport, RI)- Going down to the J/105 Midwinters soon?  Here is a good compendium of speed tips, tricks, and how to sail faster from the North Sails J/105 team. 

It is a good “pre-season” primer and reference to get you and your team going in the right direction and faster, sooner!

Most of the ideas are quite practical and apply to whatever sails you may have.  Read more here. Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Weakley Tops 2018 Texas J/22 Circuit

(Houston, TX)- Texas is a stronghold for the J/22 one-design sailing; areas like Galveston Bay can see 18 boats on the line for Wednesday night racing, which makes for plenty of competitive racing. Sailing his J/22 consistently throughout the seven regattas making-up the Texas J/22 Circuit, Doug Weakley (Corpus Christi, TX) came out on top after winning four events and placing well in the remaining three.

The primary keys for his success were Doug’s relentless drive to keep his older boat (hull #24) and his crew competitive. Sporting a new suit of sails, combined with awesome crew-work, good speed, and extraordinary perseverance to do tactically well in all weather conditions, ultimately, led to their tremendous performance.  Here is Doug’s take on the season:

“2018 started out great with Jim Kondziela and Joe Mayfield sailing with me on HNL (#24) at the Houston Yacht Club’s Midwinter regatta. We were really fast throughout the event and starting with a bullet in race one. We were pretty excited about our 6th place finish in the 39-boat fleet, competitive fleet.

We then sailed using our new radial jib at Austin Yacht Club and took first in a competitive fleet made of locals and traveling boats.

We got back into the boat in the fall and took back-to-back wins at Corpus Christi and Canyon Lake yacht clubs and the HYC Heritage Cup. At Corpus, we sailed with the cross-cut jib for power through the chop and we used it again at Canyon Lake in the light conditions. Canyon is all about avoiding a really bad race in the shifty conditions there, and we were the boat that did just that.

At HYC’s Heritage Cup, we went back to the radial jib and we were very fast in all the conditions. Saturday started out in very light air and we were quick in the light stuff, coming back from a terrible start to win the first race. The breeze quickly built and our old boat was set up really well for it. The radial jib was great, the boat just felt really fast. We had great downwind speed also with the new spinnaker design.

We look forward to more success in 2019, beginning with the J/22 Midwinters at Ft Walton Beach in March!” Thanks for contribution from Adam Loory at UK Sails.  For more J/22 Class sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/Sweep @ Harvest Moon Regatta

(Seabrook, TX)- Lakewood Yacht Club hosted the 32nd Annual Harvest Moon Regatta from October 25th to 28th. This year's regatta had 119 sailboats returning to the usual finish line in Port Aransas after a one-year hiatus because of the extensive damage rendered to the city by Hurricane Harvey the previous year.

Hundreds of racers look forward to this event each fall. No matter their sailing skill-levels, novice to expert, the “Harvest Moon” is a fun offshore race that ends with a fabulous outdoor party with plenty of refreshments, excellent BBQ dinner, and live entertainment.

According to JD Hill, owner of the J/122 SECOND STAR, “it was a big weekend for J/Boats down here in Texas, as J’s swept the podium in the ORC division at Harvest Moon Regatta. In a 119 boat regatta, our J/122 SECOND STAR was the best monohull in ORC Overall, followed by John Barnett’s J/105 PESTO and James Liston’s J/120 AEOLUS.”

Here was the breakdown of this year's big winners:

In the ORC A Class, the “Bacardi Cup” was awarded to Hill’s J/122 SECOND STAR.  Taking 2nd in class was Liston’s J/120 AEOLUS.

Then, in the ORC B Class, winning was Barnett’s J/105 PESTO, followed by Charles Wielchowsky’s J/105 TEXAS RANGER IV in fourth place.

Finally, in the PHRF Spinnaker Division, taking 5th place was the J/46 SODALIS III sailed by Jim Demarest and crew from Lakewood YC.   Follow the Harvest Moon Regatta on Facebook here   For more Harvest Moon Regatta sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Spectacular J/Fest Southwest!

(Houston, TX)- J/Fest Southwest was a spectacular success this year! Sixty-two boats total; the J/22’s and J/24’s really came out in force! The sailors were treated to awesome sailing conditions both days; in particular, it was windy on Saturday with gusts in the high 20’s, which was tough on humans, sails, and boats.  Reported Scott Spurlin- J/Boats Southwest dealer- “we had a nice sustained downhill ride on the J/88!  Held 17.2kts for a loong time.  Crew was hooting and hollering!”

The J/FEST Southwest Regatta took place from October 12th to 14th, hosted by Lakewood YC.  The event started out with the newly famous “LEGENDS RACE” that was sailed in a “stadium-sailing” scenario right off BARge 295 on Clear Lake, right in front of the club. Five (5) video cameras recorded the live action, broadcast worldwide on YouTube!

As for the sailing, it was Danny Pletsch’s SKETCHY crew that won the fifteen-boat J/22 class by a Texas mile- winning six of seven races.  Taking second was Casey Lambert’s BLACKBURN MARINE RACING with 22 pts and third was David Bethancourt’s USA 1271 with 27 pts.  The balance of the top five was Farley Fontenot and son’s USA 707 in 4th and Dov Kivlovitz’s USA 951 in 5th position.

The seventeen-boat J/24 also saw a near clean sweep take place.  Certainly, the first four races looked like a runaway for Jim Freedman’s MISS CONDUCT crew, posting four bullets in a row.  Thereafter, they stepped off the gas a bit and closed the regatta with a 3-2 to win with just 9 pts. Sitting 7 pts back was woman skipper Natalie Harden and her crew on GIGGLES with a near reciprocal scoreline to MISS CONDUCT, posting a 3-2-6-3-1-1 to close the regatta with 16 pts total.  Taking the bronze was Frank Keesling’s THE DUMPSTER from Dillon YC in Dillon, CO. The balance of the top five was Josh Bowens-Rubin’s ZERO GRAVITY in 4th and David Broadway’s SUPERMAN in 5th place.

Winning the J/70s was not easy for Jay Lutz’s ZOUNDS team.  They were involved in a dogfight with Forbes Durdin MOJITO.  In the end, they both had all top four finishes and dominated the top of the leaderboard.  However, ZOUNDS had an amazingly consistent tally of 1-2-2-2-1-3-3 top score the gold, while the MOJITO boys popped for a 3-4-1-1-2-2-4 for 17 pts to take the silver. Glenn Gault’s SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE started strong with a 2-1-5-3-, but lost their “mojo” on the last day, dropping 5-8-5 to settle for third with 29 pts.

For the nine-boat J/105 class, it followed a similar story to the J/22s and J/24s, a near blitzkrieg for the top team.  In this case, it was John Barnett’s PESTO that started off with a 1-1-1-1, then forgot how to sail in race #5 and score a 2nd, then closed with a 1-1 to win with 8 pts total.  That was an extraordinary performance in what is normally a very tight, close-racing class on Galveston Bay. Taking the silver was Uzi Ozeri’s INFINITY with 19 pts and third was Dennis Kokkinis’ SPITFIRE with 24 pts.  Rounding out the top five was Brad Robbins’ RUMPUS in 4th and Bill Lackenmacher’s RADIANCE in 5th position.

Taking a page out of their J/one-design colleagues success was Jim Demarest’s J/46 SODALIS II. His team of Tom Johnston, Terrill Munkres, Don Lemire, Pedro Gianotti, Sally Thurner, & Scott Demarest won their J/PHRF Class with five bullets in seven races!  Second was JD Hill’s gorgeous J/122 SECOND STAR and third was Dave Christensen’s J/109 AIRBORNE.

In the random-leg J/PHRF Distance division, Alan Bates’ J/105 ZIPPITY took class honors, followed by Doug Love’s J/95 UP TEMPO in second and John McCutchen’s J/29 SUPERGIRL in third.

Watch the J/FEST Southwest highlights video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dbDLpQyzZY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd_wZludUZ8

For more J/FEST Southwest sailing and registration information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Eight Bells for J/22 Sailor- Julie Goetschius

(Houston, TX)- Eight Bells: Julie Goetschius- A long time member of the J/22 fleet, she passed away in Houston, Texas on May 6, 2018 at the age of 63. Julie led the J/22 Fleet 6 as Fleet Captain for many years, chaired countless events, and never missed the opportunity to teach new sailors.

She was the first woman to hold the title of Houston Yacht Club Champion in 2013, competed in the Adams Cup finals 4 times, the J/22 Worlds in Holland, the Harvest Moon Regatta (winner of the Luna Trophy in 2006), the US Sailing Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship, and many other circuit and national events.

Julie always included new sailors in her crew, no matter how big the event, and always gave back to the sport through supporting the fleet, coaching the Special Olympics Sailing Team at HYC, and being part of the local sailing community.

She was a counselor at Houston Yacht Club’s Windward Bound Women’s Sailing Camp every year, and so many women across Texas took the helm or flew a spinnaker for the first time on Julie’s boat, CRAYOLA. In 2017, she won HYC’s Fairfax Moody Women’s trophy with, as always, a new sailor as crew.

Julie’s love for the sport and mischievous sense of humor will be missed on Galveston Bay.  Thanks to Marie Wise for this tribute. Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Darden Crowned U.S.A. J/70 Corinthian Champ

(Ft Worth, TX)- The third annual J/70 Corinthian U.S. National Championship, was hosted by Fort Worth Boat Club in Texas from April 27-29, with sailing on Lake Ray Hubbard for fifteen Category I (World Sailing) amateur teams.  Racing was scheduled for Friday to Sunday.  After two light air races late in the day Friday, the group got shut out with no wind on Saturday. PRO Bruce Golison moved up the start time Sunday, and managed to run four races to cap off the event with six total races.

In the end, local sailor Glenn Darden and his crew on HOSS (Jake Scott, Brian Tyrrell and Tony Waldon), won the 2018 J/70 Corinthian U.S.A. National Championship, hosted by Fort Worth Boat Club in Texas

The regatta started out on Friday with winds of 5-8 knots under sunny blue skies. David Hiebert’s USA 546 grabbed the day one advantage, by way of a 4-1 in Friday’s two races. Dave Dennison’s PIRANHA was hot on his heels with 6 points, after posting a 2-4. Forbes Durdin’s MOJITO held third place with 9 points.

Eagle Mountain Lake provided a gorgeous setting as Glenn Darden’s HOSS began the Championship with a victory in the first race, trailed by Dennison and Durdin. Hiebert took the day’s second contest, while Elizabeth Barker’s YOUR MOM’S A HOOLIGAN and the Mark Allen/ Mike Welch team on HELIUM Racing completed the top three.

Saturday morning was gorgeous, with the sun rising over a misty lake.  However, conditions were less than satisfactory for racing.  In fact, the pool, the bar, and the famous Trey Sheehan/ Curtis HOOLIGAN RACING spontaneous combustion monster blender party was more like the order of the day when the “AP” over “A” flags were hoisted.  Sadly, the lake was a complete and perfect “glass out” with no forecasts for any “gradient” breezes to generate any hope for racing later in the day- this is a unique problem with Texas and Midwest lakes that do not have a Lake Garda-like “wind factory” to produce natural thermal “sea breezes”.

However, Sunday was another story altogether.  After Sunday’s four races, the Darden HOSS crew proved they actually know the lake (somewhat).  And, yet another local, namely Bruno Pasquinelli’s STAMPEDE, followed Darden overall with 15 points.  Taking third was Forbes Durdin’s MOJITO with 17 points. Dave Dennison on PIRANHA and David Hiebert on USA 546 rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth, respectively.

The event served as an incredible learning experience with sailmakers Tim Healy, Jud Smith and Bill Draheim on-site to conduct on-water clinics and briefings for the Corinthian sailors. With debriefs on Thursday and a nearly three-hour session on Saturday morning, these professionals shared immense amounts of knowledge and tuning tips. Next year’s Corinthian US National Championship will be in Harbor Springs, MI, and the sailmakers have already committed to an even higher-level training and education for the participants.  For more U.S.A. J/70 Corinthian National Championship sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/70 Corinthian Nationals Preview

(Fort Worth, Texas)- The Fort Worth Boat Club is hosting the 2018 J/70 Corinthian National Championship from April 25th through April 29th.  This will be the third time this event has been held and will be a World Qualifier!

The Fort Worth Boat Club on Eagle Mountain Lake was chosen because of the excellent weather and sailing in late April and its proximity to Club de Vela La Peña in Valle de Bravo, Mexico- they are hosting the J/70 North American Championship two weeks later from May 14th to 20th.  

As a Corinthian event, all competitors (owner, driver, crew) must have World Sailing Group 1 classification.

In addition to three great days of racing, the goal is to make the regatta an opportunity for all competitors to improve their performance and great amounts of information will be shared with top pro coaches on-site.   Furthermore, long-time Fort Worth BC friend and sailor- Bruce Golison- will be the Race Committee’s PRO.

So far, sixteen teams have registered for the event. There are many new faces in the crowd as well as several prominent J/70 class veterans in the mix.  Perhaps the most prominent of those teams is a past J/80 World Champion, J/105 North American Champion- Glenn Darden sailing HOSS from the host club.  In addition, the 2017 Quantum J/70 Midwinter Series Champion- Bruno Pasquinelli’s STAMPEDE- will also be sailing for his host club.  A top J/105 champion sailor will be trying his hand in the class- Mark Masur’s TWO FEATHERS.  The lone woman skipper is Liz Barker’s YOUR MOM’S A HOOLIGAN from Vermillion Boat Club in Rocky River, OH.   For all scoring and registration information   For more J/70 Corinthian Nationals sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/70 Texas Circuit Announcement!

(Austin, TX)- Huge news, cause for celebration!  After much debate, consternation, cogitating, planning, pleading, and brainstorming, the Texas fleet captains have created the J/70 Texas Circuit, sponsored by Parkway Chevrolet and J/Boats Southwest!  Please mark your calendars and go J/70 one-design racing all over Texas! Here are the dates and locations for each event:

• Apr 20-22- Fort Worth Boat Club- Annual Regatta
• May 19-20- Lakewood Yacht Club- Shoe Regatta
• Sep 22-23- Houston Yacht Club- One Design Regatta
• Oct 13-14- Lakewood Yacht Club- J/Fest Southwest
• Nov 2-4- Fort Worth Boat Club- Ol’ Man of the Sea Regatta

For more J/70 Texas Circuit sailing information, please contact Scott Spurlin at Mobile# 512-423-2179 or email- scott@jboatssouthwest.com. Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Southwest J/70 Circuit Announcement

(Corpus Christi, TX)- The 2018 Southwest J/70 Circuit is still in its formative stages, but so far here are two events that are to die for since they are on two of the more incredible places to sail in Texas- Corpus Christi and Austin.

Surfin Safari Regatta
Corpus Christi YC invites all J/70s to come join them to celebrate spring and the start of the 2018 sailing season at the 2018 Surfin Safari Regatta sponsored by Republic Distributing. Of note, this is also one of the MOST popular events in the J/24 Texas Circuit.

Why? Simple.  There will be beer, rum, nuking winds and good times had by all (or most).  Please note- this is not a statement of fact, but one of hope; the only thing they can actually promise is the beer and rum. Plus, the CCYC pool will be heated by then so you don’t have to miss the traditional CCYC after race pool party!  But, trust them, it blows like hell in Corpus Christi Bay and the sailing is amazing- shorts, shades, blowing hot at 20-25 kts every day. If there was ever a “perfect” venue for a J/70, this place is it! For any questions, please direct them to Josh Richline- CCYC Race Chair - jrichline@richline.cc.

Southwest Circuit Stop #1- Austin
The first Southwest Circuit Stop in Austin is coming up! Lake Travis is beautiful and ready for J/70 racing.  Beautiful fresh water racing and the same format as last year.  Lots of races!  For those that did not attend, your organizing committee- Bruce McDonald- requested that many races be held.  Everyone in attendance loved the format!  J/Boats Southwest is buying a keg from the local brewpub “Shiner Beer” for Saturday night refreshments!  Plus, as the home of the University of Texas, Austin’s nightlife, restaurants, bars and entertainment is truly world-class (maybe beyond world-class, like in a class of its own!   Be sure to sign up now! Go here and get'er done!

For more Southwestern J/70 sailing information, please be sure to contact Scott Spurlin- cell- 512-423-2179 or email- Scott@JBoatsSouthwest.com Add to Flipboard Magazine.

USA J/70 Corinthian Nationals Update

(Fort Worth, TX)- The 2nd J/70 Corinthian Nationals will be hosted by Fort Worth Boat Club from April 26th to 29th on Eagle Mountain Lake in Fort Worth, TX.  Come one, come all!  It is a venue unlike you have ever seen in your life!  Huge lake, lots of shifts, flat water, great sailing!  But, then there is the famous Fort Worth BC hospitality, starting with their notoriously friendly bar and restaurant that overlooks the lake and “the pool” (enough said).  There is no question FWBC club members know how to host a regatta and throw a party; many legendary stories abound that can only be told on the hallowed grounds of the club- just ask Glenn Darden, Reese Hillard, or John Kolius, for starters.

For those not inclined to trailer their boats to Texas, there are charter boats available for $2,000.  Please be sure to contact Scott Spurlin at J/Boats Southwest- (512)-423-2179 or email- Scott@JBoatsSouthwest.com.  For more J/70 Corinthian Nationals sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/22 Midwinters Preview

(Houston, TX)- The 2018 edition of the J/22 Midwinters is being sailed from March 16th to 18th and is being hosted by the Houston Yacht Club in Houston, TX; a club famous for rolling out the red carpet for J/Crews in their regattas!  That being said, it is amazing to see how positively the J/22 class has responded, with forty-four teams from across America and Canada escaping the clutches of winter to enjoy some fun, casual, but closely-fought, racing on the muddy, choppy waters of Galveston Bay.

What is refreshing to see is the many new faces in the crowd that have picked up good used J/22s, “dolled” them up, and are looking forward to honest-to-goodness fun one-design racing in the “little-est” J in the family.

Featured amongst the veterans are some past Midwinter, North American, and World Champions; such as Mark Foster’s PRESSURE DROP from Corpus Christi YC, Kevin Doyle’s MO’MONEY from Youngstown YC, Terry Flynn’s TEJAS from Fort Worth Boat Club, Chris Doyle’s THE JUG 4 1 from Youngstown YC, Mike Marshall’s BAD NEWS from New York YC (Jamestown, RI), and Travis Odenbach’s infamous HONEYBADGER from Rochester YC New York.

Perhaps the most exciting development is the number of J/22s owned and skippered by women.  This year there are five boats (11% of the fleet!), including Anne Lee’s HELMS A LEE from the host Houston YC, Nataleigh Perez’s FORGET ME NOT from Fort Worth BC, Andrea Zalte’s WOO HOO from Houston YC, Lynn Simpson’s BLING from New Braunfels, TX, and Jessica Lombard’s FOLKA from Hudson YC in Quebec, Canada.  For more J/22 Midwinter Championship sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/22 Midwinters Sailing Texas-style!

(Houston, TX)- Houston Yacht Club and J/22 Fleet 6 are excited to host the 2018 J/22 Midwinter Championship, March 16-18.

Houston YC’s warm friendly clubhouse nestled in Shore Acres, TX is a great place to have fun on and off the water. High temperatures average in the 70s and lows around 55. Fleet 6 is looking forward to this event and is planning to show off Texas hospitality. Facilities at the club include launching cranes, floating docks and plenty of paved trailer parking.

The harbor is open to the bay with quick access to the race area, and chop is usually only 1 to 3 feet on sunny, warm Galveston Bay. The racing will be fiercely competitive, however, it will be a fun regatta with no crew weigh-ins required. Registration begins Thursday, March 15, with racing commencing Friday through Sunday. 35-plus teams are expected...be one of them! For more J/22 Midwinters sailing & registration information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/70 Corinthian National Championship Announcement!

(Fort Worth, Texas)- The Fort Worth Boat Club is proud and excited to be hosting the 2018 J/70 Corinthian National Championship from April 26th to 29th, 2018 on Eagle Mountain Lake west/northwest of the “Big D” (e.g. west of the Dallas Cowboys gazillion-dollar stadium in Arlington, TX).  And, they want YOU to be there!

At Fort Worth BC, they are working hard to make this a world-class event. If there were ever a more gracious, accommodating, sailing-loving club, they would be hard to beat. 

Texas is serious about J/70 racing! And, they are expecting that EVERY J/70 owned in their great state converge on Eagle Mountain Lake at the end of April!! If you are not planning to be there, they’ll be “hookin’ horns” with you soon!

For those “not in the know”, Eagle Mountain Lake is an excellent place to sail.  A big, wide-open lake, it offers challenging sailing conditions not just for the locals, but also to anyone that loves and appreciates lake sailing at its best!  Trust us, locals have NO advantages sailing on their own lake; even though the club has such famous, recognizable sailing names in America such as the Darden family (Glenn & Toby), O.L. Pitts (some lovable America’s Cup guy that sailed J/24s on the lake), the Bass Brothers (J/22 owners), Kelly Gough (an old All-American sailor), and many other infamous “folk heroes” in the annals of Texas J/24 history over the past 40+ years (most of whom probably should probably remain nameless- other than some guys like John Kolius and Farley Fontenot, of course).

So, a number of them are all learning how to sail J/70’s.  Well, that’s a great thing for Texas sailing.  And, a not so good thing for the R.O.W. (rest of the world).  So, take ‘yer chances here, and register today for the J/70 Corinthian Nationals here.

If you have any questions, please contact J/70 Fleet 10 Captain- Jim Mitchell- email- jcm530@gmail.com
For more Fort Worth Boat Club sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/24 Texas Circuit Announcement!

(Houston, TX)- Ye Old “vente quatro” is seeing lots of love in parts down south. Check out their latest efforts here on - https://www.facebook.com/J24Texas/

Trust us….the Texas J/24 Circuit is a “lifetime”, “gotta do”, “bucket list” program…. IF you don’t do it, you are missing the world’s best BEANS, beer, tacos, ribs, beer, sailing, beer, quesadillas, beer, steaks, beer, pulled pork, beer, and… damn, what are we forgetting?? Yay— beer! NOTE- some of the best Texas microbreweries now are some of the worlds’ best down there.

The 2018 Texas J/24 Circuit includes the following events: 

• March 24-25 ~ Corpus Christi Yacht Club
• April 21-22 ~ Fort Worth Boat Club (SW Championship & Annual Regatta)
• May 19-20 ~ Dallas Corinthian Yacht Club (J/24 Corinthian Cup & Heritage Regatta)
• June 9-10 ~ Austin Yacht Club (J/24 Texas Championship)
• September 22-23 ~ Houston Yacht Club (HOOD Regatta)
• October 13-14 ~ Lakewood Yacht Club (J/Fest Southwest)
• November 17-18 ~ Canyon Lake Yacht Club (tentative)

If you got any questions, you need to talk to this wonderful J/24 “Wonder Woman”- Tonja.  Note- her philosophy on life is simple- "It isn't that life ashore is distasteful to me. But, life at sea is better!!”  Gotta LOVE her for that, you know what I mean??

To discuss your philosophy on sailing, call- Tonja E. (Sanchez) Holmes-Moon
J/24 Texas Circuit Representative / J/24 District 14 Governor & J/24 Class Measurer
phone# 940.808.6477 / email- tonja.sanchez@yahoo.com Add to Flipboard Magazine.

MOJO Smokes J/105 North Americans

(Seabrook, TX)- The 2017 edition of the J/105 North American Championship certainly had its fair share of surprises.  For starters, the weather in the fall in Texas can be fraught with weather fronts moving like freight trains across the prairies, mowing down everything in their path, yet the next day there can be no wind!

What was the first big surprise?  Plenty of wind for three of the four days!  And, the second one shocked most veteran J/105 sailors- what no one expected was the locals would lead a clean sweep of the podium after ten races run in four days!

Lakewood Yacht Club hosted this year’s regatta at Seabrook, Texas from October 25-29, 2017.  Twenty-two teams participated, nineteen of which hailed from Texas, while the other three very fast, championship winning teams came from California (2) and Bermuda.

In the end, it was Steve Rhyne’s local heroes from Lakewood YC that demonstrated a lot of chutzpah, guiding their appropriately named MOJO around the race track to six 1sts in the ten races sailed to win with a total of 23 pts, 26 pts clear of the next boat!  Crowned as the 2017 J/105 N.A. Champions, it is likely that no one has ever taken the title by such a significant margin.  Here is what happened on the mysterious, muddy waters of Galveston Bay.

Day One
Under sunny skies and with breeze at 10-15 knots, the teams completed four races on the first day. Local Steve Rhyne’s MOJO grabbed the early advantage with scores of 4-1-1-2 for 8 points. Bill Zartler’s DEJA VOODOO put together a solid day with a line of 1-3-4-4 for 12 points and second place. Rick Goebel’s SANIT from San Diego held the third position with 21 points.

Winds began at 10 knots, when Zartler kicked off the regatta with a victory, ahead of two Class Presidents (Past President James Macdonald’s DISTANT PASSION and current President Bill Lakenmacher’s RADIANCE). The breeze built throughout the day to 15 knots. Rhyne earned bullets in races two and three, ahead of Osmond Young and Zartler in the second meeting and in front of two Californians in the third (Bruce Stone’s GOOD TRADE and Goebel’s SANITY). Goebel took the final win of the day, as Rhyne and Rick Schaffer’s DOUBLE DARE rounded out the top three.

Day Two
As the spotlight shined on the Houston Astros for Major League Baseball’s World Series, so did the focus on Galveston Bay.  The locals, MOJO and DEJA VOODOO, continued to dominate the fleet, as seven races were now in the books of the no-throw-out series.

By way of a 1-5-1 on Friday, Rhyne held a nine-point advantage over Zartler (MOJO tallies 15 points to DEJA VOODOO’s 24). Fellow Lakewood Yacht Club member Bill Lakenmacher’s RADIANCE moved up to third overall with 35 points.

It was another solid day on the racecourse with winds between 12-16 knots and puffs into the 20s. Rhyne earned his first of two bullets in the initial contest, trailed by Zartler and Goebel’s SANITY. Stone’s GOOD TRADE seized the win in Friday’s middle battle, as Josh Richline’s VELOCE from Corpus Christi YC and Rick Schaffer’s DOUBLE DARE made the top three. The familiar Rhyne and Zartler were the one/two punch in the last race, followed by Lakenmacher.

Day Three
Rhyne’s appropriately named MOJO continued to cast a spell on the fleet on Saturday. Winds at 12-14 knots allowed an additional three races to be completed for a total of 10 so far, with one more on the docket for Sunday.

Rhyne and crew posted another two race wins and added a rare sixth to give the local helmsman 23 points total. With a 26-point advantage, Rhyne had already secured the Championship in a no-throw out regatta!! An extraordinary scenario, to say the least! Zartler’s DEJA VOODOO scored 4-10-11, but maintained a hold on second place with 49 points. Lakenmacher’s RADIANCE stumbled in race 9 with a 15th place, but recovered with a bullet to retain the third position overall with 57 points. Rhyne and Goebel’s SANITY locked in the gold and silver spots in Saturday’s first two contests, followed initially by Osmond Young and then by Stone’s GOOD TRADE. Lakenmacher ended the day on a positive note, as did James Macdonald’s DISTANT PASSION from Royal Bermuda YC in Hamilton, Bermuda and Uzi Ozeri’s INFINITY in the top trio.

Day Four
No races took place Sunday due to lack of wind, but it would not have mattered for Rhyne, who had already wrapped up the Championship.  His crew consisted of Brian Shores, Jake Scott, Joe Taylor, Alan Woodyard and Ryan Glaze. Fellow LYC members Bill Zartler on DEJA VOODOO and Bill Lakenmacher on RADIANCE completed the podium as 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

Rhyne only bought his J/105 in the past year, lured by the strong Fleet 17 in Galveston Bay as well as this Championship at his own club. The conditions did not disappoint over the three sailing days of competition, as winds held in the teens for the duration.

“These were physical conditions, but not unmanageable,” summarized Rhyne. “After we got the lead on day one, we went into conservative mode. We felt we had speed, so we just could not do anything stupid with a no throw-out series. It was about points management.” Rhyne gave all the credit to his team, saying, “Crew is everything on any boat. I think my crew could’ve stepped on any boat and won.”   Follow the J/105 Class on Facebook here   For more J/105 North American Championship sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.