J/133, J/92S Lead IRC at Hamble

The Garmin Hamble Winter Series is underway and already four races are completed with J/Boats on top of the two largest IRC classes. Organized by the Hamble River Sailing Club, this series attempts 8 race days with two races per day within the months of October and November with a mid-series break for a charity pursuit race. Currently at the top of the 26 boat IRC Class 1 are two J/133s, Neil Martin's Jammy Dodger and Stewart Hawthorn's Jump with only one point separating them. At the top of the 26 boat IRC 3 class is Marie Claude & Paul Heys aboard their new J/92S Java Lite. There is lots more J/Action in the one design classes. J/80s, J/105 & J/109. Visit the event site for more details.

47,000 miles and We still love the boat!

Proving that J/Boats are indeed great cruising boats, Leslie & Dick York from Rowayton, CT. have been living the dream and are nearing completion of a three year circumnavigation aboard J/46 Aragorn. Many of you may have met the York's at last year's J/Boat Mid-Winter Rendezvous where they presented some great slides and spoke about the voyage with J/Owners at the Pearson factory in RI. With visits to the Galapagos, South Pacific, survival of the Tsunami in late 2004 and much more, the Yorks are in a class of their own when in comes to experienced offshore adventure cruising. Recently, Australian web site Sail-World caught up with Leslie and Dick for an interview. There are more details and photos of the trip at the Aragorn web site.

J's Finish 1-2 in Rolex Middle Sea Race

J/109 Artie and J/105 Slingshot finished 1st & 2nd in class and nearly overtook 86-foot Maxi Morning Glory on corrected time for overall fleet honors at the 2006 Rolex Middle Sea Race. The pair finished an impressive 2nd & 3rd overall in the fleet of 63 yachts. Other notable J/ finishes were J/133 Jam of Italy finishing 3rd in class and the former Middle Sea Overall winner Strait Dealer, a J/125 who this year took line honors for the first Maltese yacht to finish.

J/109 skipper Lee Satariano far exceeded his expectations by bringing his Artie home in second place overall, with the youngest crew in the fleet – average age of 25 years. “For us we were a very inexperienced crew, but what we did well was keep our motivation all the way through the race. We didn’t sleep for the last two days. We kept working even when we were stuck in no wind. We went out and enjoyed the whole race. Everyone works well together, I really enjoy the team we brought together for this race.”

J/105 Slingshot was sailed by a team of two, Britons Shaun Murphy and Ric Searle. Murphy feels that fewer crew brings many advantages, although he conceded: “What would have worked out better is if we could have sailed the first part of the race doublehanded and the last 36 hours fully crewed. We lacked the weight on the rail to be able to sail fast in the stronger breeze, and that might have been the difference between winning and losing." Complete details here...

Perry Wins US Match Racing Champs

Dave Perry from Pequot YC defeated defending champion Brian Angle (King Harbor YC) in the fifth and final race to win his second U.S.Match Racing Championship for the Prince of Wales Bowl. Sailed at the Fort Worth Boat Club in J/22s, Perry’s crew was Terry Flynn (the recently crowned J/22 NA Champ) and Chris Museler. The Petit Finals also went the limit as past champion Nathan Hollerbach (Bayview YC) defeated Benz Faget (New Orleans YC) for the third place spot. Results & Info.

J/122 - A Dual Purpose Winner

Under construction now at the J/Europe factory in France, and scheduled for display at the 2006 Paris International Boat Show in early December, the new J/122 is 40’ of sailing versatility. Like her famous stablemates, the J/109 and J/133, the J/122 promises to be an IRC-friendly racer/cruiser with competitive performance, a simple and balanced sail plan, great looks, high quality SCRIMP construction as well as complete accommodations. Several of her key features include:

- A generous rig with 108% LP headsail and below deck jib furling.
- Carbon fiber bow sprit and A-sail for short-handed performance ease.
- Low VCG 7.2’ (2.2m) keel with swept leading edge for short-handed stability.
- Low maintenance deck configuration with minimized use of wood, large protected cockpit with long seats and high backrests combined with floor mounted mainsail traveler, below-deck mainsheet system, and large diameter wheel steering for comfortable daysailing.
- Choice of three cabin/single head or two cabin/two head interior layout with full headroom for live-aboard cruising, complete galley, proper navigation station, opening ports for ventilation and plenty of storage.
- Removable dock box at transom for easy race/cruise conversion.

Following the Paris Show, the new J/122 will be displayed at the London Boat Show in early January. The first USA arrival is expected in early February. Contact your J/Dealer for the latest information ...

Storm Trysail Intercollegiate Regatta

A record 240 college sailors participated in the Storm Trysail Club’s 2006 Intercollegiate Offshore regatta at Larchmont Yacht Club. Three of four classes were sailed in J/one designs including the J/44, J/109 & J/105. STC runs the regatta to introduce college dinghy sailors to the team work of big boat racing and to give college sailors who prefer big boat racing to dinghies a venue to participate. Thirty-three boats raced in four one-design divisions making the racing extremely close. Class winners were: St. Mary’s in the six-boat J/44 division, Web Institute in the eight-boat J/109 division, Georgetown in the Level 72 division and California Maritime sailing in the 12-boat J/105 division. – Full story and results

108 Race Boston Harbor Islands Regatta

This low key 12 mile benefit pursuit race for the Island Alliance is sailed on a figure of eight course amongst the Boston Harbor Islands National Park and drew 108 boats this year (an increase of 27% over the 2005 inaugural)! With a pre-race dinner at the Boston Harbor Hotel and post-race Redbones cookout at the fort, the program has attracted many local boats which don't normally race. A J/109 won the overall spinnaker fleet for the second consecutive year. Top non-spinnaker boat was Bill Beckett's Tartan 33. Hingham YC won the EOEA Secretary's Bowl as the top Yacht Club Team and the Courageous Sailing Center took home the SetSail Yachts trophy as the top City Sailing Club. Diane Kane and Sara Das won the top Female awards while Don Kavanagh and Larry Cannon took the Windward Investment and Clarkeson Trophies for Masters (65+) in their respective fleets. The O'Loughlins and Daz/Kurz boats won Gross and Burns Bowls for all-family crews. Among the 3 skippers sailing their first race, Craig Rolfe on the Cal 33 FRENCH WHINE won the Harbor Visions Bowl, placing 18 of 55 in Fleet 2. The varnished yawl BAREFOOT, an International 600 built in 1952, won the Sharma Trophy as the top Classic Yacht. Complete details here.

Summer Fun with The J/100

J/Owner and enthusiast Pat Kabris sent us this photo of his J/100 'Hurricane Bar & Grill' docked at his one acre island on Lake of the Woods.

Located between northern Minnesota and Canada, Lake of the Woods is considered North America’s other Great Lake. With over 14,000 islands and more than 64,000 miles of shoreline the lake has evolved into a premier outdoor recreation area for anglers, hunters, boaters, sailors and nature lovers. Pat's kids refer to this particular building on their island as "The Yacht Club". The J/100 is not only the perfect foreground prop but also a favorite platform for summer fun on the lake. (click the photo to enlarge).

Zepher Dominates J-30 NA Champs

The J/30 North Americans were held at Cedar Point Yacht Club in Westport, Connecticut, with 17 boats participating in the annual championship for the 26 year old class. 7 races were held in conditions ranging from 25 knots out of the east with a huge chop, to 5 knot light air battles. Boats came from New Orleans, Annapolis, New Jersey, Chicago, and Connecticut.

The New Orleans boat, Zephyr with skipper Scott Tonguis, dominated with 4 bullets to win their fifth consecutive North American championships, followed by Bebop from Annapolis, Fuzzy Wuzzy from New Jersey, Big Kahuna from Annapolis, and finally Smiles from Westport rounded out the top five. Racing was extremely close and competitive, with 10 boats scoring finishes in the top five. Complete details at http://www.cedarpointyc.org/

J/105 Best Series Yacht in RORC IRC

The J/105 has once again proved why it is the most successful mid-sized keelboat in the world. The J/105 has continued its success in the 2-handed RORC series during 2006 and has beaten fully crewed boats both on the water and on handicap. The championship winner for 2005 of the Psipsina Trophy, Slingshot (Shaun Murphy) has once again been crowned 2-handed champion. This year the J/105 has been even more successful as it finished 1st Overall IRC and 1st IRC Class 2, adding the Jazz Trophy and Grenade Goblet to the silver cabinet.

The J/105 was awarded the Serendip Trophy for the Best Series-Produced Yacht in IRC by RORC for 2006 and Slingshot won the Somerset Memorial Trophy for outstanding achievement of a 2-handed yacht and was named 2006 Yacht of the Year.

With over 650 boats sailing, the J/105 is not a new design, first touching the water in 1992, however it is thoroughly modern and offers a great blend of sailing performance. Designed for non-overlapping headsails she has a simple sail plan, which provides the performance without the costs. A retractable carbon bowsprit and asymmetric spinnaker provide the power downwind.

The J/105 is on display at the Southampton Boat Show on the “try a boat” stand and J-UK will happily arrange a demo sail and show the benefits of the boat that is RORC Best Series-Produced Yacht 2006.