J/100 Goes Transpac: Double-handed

California J/100 owner Tim Fuller and crew/navigator Erik Shampain completed the recent 2007 Transpac in just over fifteen days, finishing fourth in both class and the double-handed division. Afterward J/Boats asked Tim a few questions about his trip.

J/Boats: Congratulations on sailing to Hawaii on a 33 foot boat! What made you decide to do the Transpac in a daysailer?

Tim Fuller: "The J/100 is very easy to sail, which is one of the reasons I originally got it. I walked away from top tier ocean racing in the early 90's to concentrate on work and family. I have a six and a nine year old and I wanted to teach them to sail, so I bought the 100. Then I couldn't help myself so I got a PHRF rating. I've done well locally in 24 hour double-handed races, so 2200 miles wasn't really that much of a stretch. And seaworthiness was never a concern." …complete interview here.

J/105 Wins Chicago-Mac Overall

J/105 Vytis, owned by Tomas and Gytis Petkus of Chicago took the Mackinac Cup overall award and a first place in the J/105 Section of the 99th Running of the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac.

J/Owners took seven of the top ten overall positions in the Mackinac Cup Division. With J/105s finishing 1st, 2nd & 4th and a J/110 in third... in fact 7 of top 10 finishers overall in this division were J/Owners with five J/105s, the Metcalf family J/35 Bozo’s Circus who topped Section 6, and Don Meyer’s J/110 Certainly winning Section 7. In the Chicago-Mackinac Trophy Division, three of the top ten were J’s including J/109 class winner and runner up Zeitgeist & Guaranteed Period finishing 2nd & 3rd on corrected time behind only the MaxZ86 Windquest overall. Bill Schanen’s J/145 Mainstreet finished second in the big boat class, again only behind Windquest. In addition there was one-design for the J/120, J/109 and J/105 classes. It was reported to be one of the lightest Mac races in recent years… more.

J/122 Video Available Online

The J/122 has been turning heads all year in Europe and North America. Now you can hop aboard for a quick demo sail from the comfort of your living room or office. Join the J staff and friends for a nine minute sailing tour of the J/122 off of Newport, RI and see how easy this boat is to sail and get up to speed. Please click here to view online. Enjoy!

J/125 Wins Transpac Overall!

Tom & Kevin Garnier have won Division 4 and the Overall 2007 Transpac Race award aboard their J/125 Reinrag 2! The famous offshore downhill 2240nm marathon from Los Angeles to Honolulu is the third consecutive victory for the Reinrag 2 crew who have won Division 4 in 2003, 2005 & now 2007. Here is the Day 10 report from the Reinrag 2 blog posted last Saturday (7/21):

It was what we came for. The moon was out, we were headed straight for Diamondhead and we were surfing down 15 ft seas. About 20 - 25 kt winds and R^2 just dances. The boat starts off at 12 kts, picks up a wave and suddenly you're doing 15... then you come up on the wave in front, punch in with the spray going both ways and over the deck and you just keep going faster. 17kts? Sure... sometimes 20... feels like you've broken the sound barrier and speed no longer matters. After a while a lull comes or you bounce of a wave a little hard so you slow down.... Then you start all over again. You could spend millions to get a ride on a rocket, and not get the experience we had... Dr. D.

Transpac web site

J133, J122, J105 Lead RORC Series

With several 2007 RORC offshore races now complete, Charles Ivill’s J/133 JB3 and Philippe Delaporte’s J/122 Pen Azen have each compiled an impressive victory list and are currently in first place in their respective IRC classes and hold 1st and 2nd positions in the running for the 2007 RORC IRC Overall fleet points scoring. In the double-handed IRC Class, four of the top five boats are J/105s with Nick Martin’s Diablo-J currently in the lead. There remain four events in 2007 including the world famous Fastnet Race. It is clear that the crews on all of these J’s will be working hard to stay at the top of their game for the remainder of the season. Results & RORC news here.

J/122 2nd in Marblehead-Halifax Race

Fresh from a convincing class win at the US IRC National Championships at Block Island Race Week, George Shaw and his crew aboard J/122 ‘Tumbleweed’ finished their first offshore distance race with a second place in IRC 2 (the largest class of the event) finishing behind only the larger Swan 56 on corrected time. Third in class was Lawrence Glenn’s J/44 Runaway. The biennial Marblehead-to-Halifax Ocean Race is one of the pre-eminent ocean races of the North Atlantic and has a long and prestigious history. Congratulations to the Tumbleweed crew! more details…

Acadia Takes 3rd in Tune up Race

In a double-handed tune-up race off the coast of France, Clay Burkhalter of Stonington, CT finished 3rd in Open Sail Simrad Race sailing his carbon 6.5m Prototype ‘Acadia’. This is a 110 mile sprint race down the coast of France and is Acadia’s best result to date. Rod Johnstone, Clay’s uncle and Acadia’s designer, was the choice of crew for this race and the team proved to be among the best.

Clay is steadily improving with each tune up race this season and is looking forward to the start of the 2007 Mini Transat Race. This is a one stop solo 4250 nm race from France to Brazil in 21ft (very powerful and small) offshore race boats known as mini’s. Only 80 or so well qualified skippers are granted entry to this marathon race with the start in La Rochelle France on September 16, 2007. If you’d like to support Clay’s effort or learn more, please visit the Team Acadia web site.

J/109 ‘Sweet Chariot’ Wins Series

Report from Owner’s Ray & Sandra Entwistle, Hull 264, Sweet Chariot:

“After racing for the past 11 Sundays in Australia’s premier winter racing series (CYCA Audi Winter Series) we are delighted to inform you we have won the event.

We competed in one of the largest divisions giving between 5 and 25 minutes head start to the fleet. Our division comprised of 19 yachts in the 34 to 42 foot range. Although racing under PHS we were giving time to boats we know are rated similar and in many cases quicker than the J109 under IRC. In pursuit style racing we started last in every race and posted 7 fastest elapsed times over a wide range of conditions ranging from drifters to 35 knots.

The J109 continues to impress us, our colleagues, crew and competition. The elapsed times prove we have chosen the right boat as yet again this 35 footer shows she can mix it with many larger yachts on the race course continuing to show the competition her racing pedigree. The real secret of this boat however is the fact all we have to do to go cruising is top up the water tanks and fridge then decide north or south at Sydney Heads. Last Christmas in our two week leave we clocked over 460 nautical miles two up and no autopilot. Sailing from Sydney to Jervis Bay, Pittwater, Newcastle, Port Stephens, returned to Newcastle for the first twilight of the New Year and finally back to Sydney and reluctantly prized ourselves off our comfortable Chariot. We believe the J109 has the best interior in its class. Many who have viewed the boat during the winter series have been surprised how comfortable she is below decks which certainly belie her race winning performance. She is a delight to race and very easy to sail two handed. Her powerful asymmetric rig making her a flyer downwind even when short handed cruising.”

J/65 Makes East Coast Debut

Newport, RI…..The J/65 BRAND NEW DAY recently arrived from California and is soon to launch in Newport, RI for peak sailing season. Designed as the ultimate offshore performance cruiser, the J/65 features a carbon/vinylester infused hull and deck, Hall autoclaved carbon rig and a luxuriously appointed interior. If cruising at nearly the speed of the wind with minimal effort sounds appealing, we invite you to take a closer look at the J/65. More info...

Ole! Spanish Armada takes on J/80 Worlds

First a great showing at the America’s Cup, both as host country and a leading challenger, and now Spain has shown its stuff at the top of the one-design world with 3 out of the top 4 placings in the 2007 J/80 World Championship. Spain is the newest country to adopt the J/80 as its one-design keelboat of choice (100 new boats delivered in the past 14 months with another 30 on order) but you wouldn’t know it by the way they handled the windy conditions and a record 124 boat fleet off of La Trinite, France last week. Spanish skippers Jose Maria Torcida Seghers and Ignacio Camino battled against each other until the last and decisive 11th race. Torcida Seghers aboard ECC VIVIENDAS emerged as the new J/80 World Champion with an impressive 5 wins in 11 races.

"We came here with very limited objectives knowing we would face the word's best. We've only been sailing seriously and competitively in the J/80 since last October. We decided to train as a team with the entire 30 boat fleet gathered in Santander. All that hard work has paid off."

Germany's Ulrich Muenker's third place overall prevents the Spaniards from heading home with a unique grand slam in the J/80's World history. For the very first time, the Worlds winner did not come from the organizing country. The 2008 Worlds will take place in mid-July in Kiel, Germany.

Overall top six (results...)
1. Jose Maria Torcida Seghers, ESP, 29 points
2. Ignacio Camino, ESP, 46
3. Ulrich Muenker, GER, 57
4. Rayco Tabares, ESP, 61
5. Sylvain Pellissier, FRA, 65
6. Glenn Darden, USA, 66