J/24 Worlds XXX

South Americans triumph yet again, Brazil's Santa Cruz wins 3rd time!
(Annapolis, MD- April 3-10)- The sun came out at last, the wind finally arrived and the 2009 J/24 World Championship came to an exciting end with three races jammed into the final day of competition.
With the vital worst-race throwout in play once the sailors had completed the day's first contest, standings shuffled quite a bit, and as 1996 World Champion Chris Larson of Annapolis and his National Sailing Hall of Fame team finished third in that race thet took the lead by the narrowest of margins, tied on points with Canadian Rossi Milev and his Clear Air crew.
With a third-place finish in the next race, Larson and his team, which included Dave Hughes, Moose McClintock, Steve Frazier, and Curtis Florence, pulled ahead a bit more, establishing a 2-point lead over 2006-2007 World Champion Mauricio Santa Cruz and his Brazilian team on Bruschetta, who now found himself winning the tiebreaker with Milev and setting up the final race as a real nail-biter to see who would emerge at the top of the highly competitive 76-boat fleet.
In the end, Santa Cruz and the Bruschetta crew, with a third in the seventh race to Larson's 11th and Milev's 14th, came away with a third J/24 World Championship, making him the second-most successful J/24 skipper in class history (Ken Read still holds the record with six titles) and the first non-US sailor to win a Worlds in this country. More info @ J/24 Worlds site. For cool videos check out Sailgroove.com or the T2P Video sites.

RayMarine Warsash Spring Series

Superb climax to this classic spring series warm-up in England
(The Solent, England- April 25-26)- There could not have been a better finale to the seventh Raymarine-sponsored Warsash Spring Series - glorious sunshine and a decent south-easterly breeze that built gradually during the day. They were ideal conditions for close and challenging racing for the 220 boats entered. The weekend also saw the final two days' racing in the Spring Championship for "Big Boats", J/80s, J/105s and J/109s.

The Black Group fleet were set long courses, using much of the central Solent, from a start line at Flying Fish buoy. John Patterson in the J/122 PANACEA had taken a healthy points lead into the day's racing and while he finished behind all the bigger boats, he was close enough to the leaders to recoup his time and take the IRC1 handicap honors. This gave him the IRC1 Series win by six points from Bill Blain's BATFISH III, a well-sailed J/133. The Big Boat class included J/133s, J/122s and other competitive IRC designs - Comet 41, Farr 52, TP52, Ker 39 and Corby 40 and new Santa Cruz 37.

The remaining Black Group one-design classes enjoyed a largely similar course. The J/109s had a general recall and were sent to the back of the sequence but all other starts were clear. In the 19-strong J/109 class only Adam Wright's JOUSTER/ VELVET ELVIS won two races. The title went to David and Kirsty Apthorp in J-DREAM who counted no result lower than third.
In the final J/105 race, Charles Rolls forsook his own J/109 BARBAROSSA to helm Andy Hill's ONLY JUST to victory by over two minutes. In the Series there was only one point between each of the top three boats: FAY-J (Paul Griffiths), VOADOR (Simon Curwen) and JAVA (Rob Dornton-Duff).

With the wind in the southeast, the White Group courses could be laid head to tail along the Meon shore. The J/80s had enjoyed some very tight racing during the Series but usually behind JOYSTICK (Vic Gregory and Rob Larke), who won 13 of the 17 races completed. Like many scorelines, this fact belies the closeness of the racing. Often victories were by a handful of seconds. The main opposition came from Charles Somerset's LOUDWATER and Ian Atkins' BOATS.COM. In the final reckoning they were a single point apart in Somerset's favour. For more news and scores see the Warsash Spring Series site.

J/97 Cruiser/Racer Launches in France

The first weekend of May saw designer Alan Johnstone & J/Europe project manager Frederic Bouvier put the new J/97 through its paces off Les Sables d'Olonne, France. With the Bay of Biscay serving up a variety of conditions from flat water and offshore breeze to large rolling swells with a brisk onshore thermal, there was a good variety of conditions and three beautiful days of sailing for the initial trials. Upwind, reaching and downwind the J/97 performed beautifully with a light touch on the helm, terrific acceleration out of the tacks and a downwind ease and simplicity under her blue asymmetric spinnaker.

The new J/97 will make a perfect couple or family boat for weekend cruising plus has the versatility to compete on the race course. With an open, innovative interior design, aft head, six foot standing headroom and sleeping for six it can comfortably accommodate the whole crew. Please take a look at the latest gallery of photos of this exciting new cruiser/racer.

J/Europe will be conducting both press and demo sails in Les Sables De Olonne during the month of May and the first boat is expected to arrive in the US this summer. Please to contact your dealer to learn more or visit the J/97 web site here.

J/95 Demos Rolling in FL/ CT

Experience an Awesome Shoal-Draft Daysailing 31 footer!

Come on down and experience what the early reviews have been raving about-- tremendous performance with a "big boat feel", big comfy daysailing cockpit and amazing boat-handling- you can turn the boat on a dime heeled over at 20 degrees!

J/95 #1 arrived in Sarasota, Florida and CrossCurrent Marine is busy with demo sails and open houses. J/95 #2 is launching May 10th in Barrington, RI and will spend the rest of May in Stonington, CT. Meet J/Boats' famous designer Rod Johnstone for demo sails-- then, relax afterwards at Clay Burkhalter's renowned watering hole, The DogWatch Cafe, for a refreshment or two. We encourage you to contact us to arrange a demo in Sarasota, FL or Stonington, CT and a factory visit to Bristol.

Spring Heat @ American Spring Series

Light air, start and stop conditions (and some very hot sun) were the rule for the first weekend of the two part AYC Spring Series in Rye, NY. on Western Long Island Sound. J/Boats are literally everywhere on both courses. One design appearances include the J/105, J/109, J/122, and J/44 classes, with four J/120s and two J/133s in IRC Div 3. George Petrides, with his newly -modified for IRC- J/120 'AVRA' is in the lead by one point after four races. New J/100 owner Joe Matteo bounced back quickly from a 7th in race #1 of the series to 2nd overall after 4 races in PHRF division 4. Other J's in attendance include another J/100, J/29, J/35, and even the J/80. Results & Info.

90 J/80's Entered for Spi Ouest 2009

The J/80 class dwarfs all the others with a remarkable tally of ninety boats now entered for the 2009 Spi Ouest Regatta to be held over Easter Weekend in northern France at La Trinite.

The huge turnout for the first European event of the season bodes well for the upcoming 2009 Worlds to be held in Santander, Spain in early July. According to Paul Heys at J-UK, there could be as many as fifteen boats from the UK in Santander for the Worlds. Pro rata that figure for other European countries and add in other expected overseas entries and the worlds could top 100 boats. With 78 boats entered to sail at the J/24 Worlds in Annapolis next month, one-design racing is alive and well! J/80 World's website J/24 Worlds website

J Boats Launches Innovative Design

It didn’t take but 30 seconds into the first sail on the new J/95 for designer Rod Johnstone to call for the centerboard to be fully raised. Moments later, the boat was sailing upwind at about 6.5 knots in about 12 knots of wind. The boat then tacked and easily fetched inside 90 degrees on the opposite board, all while the helmsman enjoyed finger-tip response on the wheel. Let’s see – design a 31’ boat that draws as little as 3’ and then make sure it not only performs upwind, but is really fun to drive? Check off that box.

Over the next four days, the praise for the J/95 kept pouring in from all who sailed her. Most could not believe how smooth the boat was to drive, or how much of a “big boat” feel the boat has for being only 31’. This is a lot of sailboat for the length and a boat that has to be sailed to be believed.

Rod Johnstone - "the balance is perfect......I'm psyched, I've got to have one of these....my best design ever.”

Al Johnstone - "fantastic -- she's the little big boat.”

Ben Hall, Hall Spars - "I thought I was driving a 60 footer. She's so stable -- steering is really easy and precise."

Peter Nielsen, SAIL Editor-In-Chief - "How refreshing, something truly innovative and worthwhile to talk about."

Visit the J/95 homepage to see more photos.

J Boats Responds to Farralones Incident

INSPECT YOUR KEELS
A Notice to J/80 and all J/Boat Owners from J Boats
We learned this morning that a 1994 J/80, racing offshore in a rough Double-handed Farralones Race off San Francisco lost its keel about 8 miles from the finish. Thankfully, both crewmembers were safely rescued by the Coast Guard.

In the absence of a specific incident such as a collision, hard grounding or drop from a crane, a failure of this kind is highly unusual without some kind of warning sign. In the only other keel loss incident among 1,150 J/80s worldwide, the composites surveyor judged the boat to have had significant longitudinal crazing visible at the exterior hull fairbody/ keel sump juncture that predated the failure by a substantial period of time.

No sailboat is going to last forever without some updating and repairs, particularly if campaigned hard. We do not know what factors over its 15 year life may have led to the failure on J/80 hull #45. But we strongly urge all J/80 owners, indeed all J/Boat owners, to routinely inspect keel stringers and keel sump areas, both internally and externally with frequency and most importantly prior to entering an offshore race. Owners should specifically look for any longitudinal (fore/aft) cracking that appears on the outside of the hull and/or on the turn of the bilge, as well as any issues with the fiberglass tabbing attaching the stringers to the hull. Any compromise to the stringer tabbing, due to any number of reasons, can severely weaken the overall sump system. If you find cracks, do not assume that it’s OK, without confirmation from an expert surveyor.

For all boat owners, the keel sump and stringers, along with other high stress areas, such as rigging attachments, chainplates, rudder pintles, mast step, mast partners and primary bulkheads should be inspected at least once per year. As this unfortunate incident reminds us, one can not be too vigilant. Pro-active inspection of the key structural elements of the boat are part of keeping oneself, family and crew safe.

Owners should contact their local J representative if they need assistance.

J/105 WINGS - Overall NOOD Champ

by Stuart Streuli, Sailing World
(Mar. 23, 2009) - Dennis Case isn't the most famous D.C. that sails out of the San Diego YC. But with a consistent crew and a well-run program, he's had Dennis Conner-like success in the J/105 fleet. Dennis and Sharon Case don't exactly agree on the secret to retaining good crew. But they certainly agree on its value. "People fail to understand that [sailing] is really a team sport like basketball," says Dennis Case, a semi-retired real estate investor from San Diego who took the overall win at the 2009 Sperry Top-Sider San Diego NOOD Regatta in his J/105 Wings.

The Cases have been sailing together since before they were married 22 years ago. Jim Dorsey and Dave Loysen, main and spinnaker trim, respectively, joined the team 16 years ago. Bob Capita and Dan Aeling round out this crack crew, which handled Saturday's light and shifty conditions just as smoothly as it did Sunday's big waves and gusts to 24 knots... more

J/122 hits the Jackpot in Australia

Ray and Sandra Entwistle’s J/122 ‘Jackpot’ is turning heads in Sydney’s IRC racing circuit. ‘Jackpot’ tied for first place in the Short Ocean Point Score Series, a six race series sailed off the Sydney coast and run by the CYCA. Sandra shared this report:

The first race in the series was the 173rd Australia Day Regatta, the oldest continuously-conducted sailing regatta in the world, held on January 26, the day the City of Sydney was founded in 1788. We had a great day sailing, a perfect 28c and 15-20kt breeze for the 35nm mile race to Botany Bay and back. This was our first serious race, and the J/122 behaved just as we had hoped, a smooth beat down the coast, and an effortless but exciting run back with the 155m2 kite. We came 3rd on IRC in this race, but couldn’t believe it when we found we had missed 2nd place by 1 second in the 4 ½ hour race. The fleet of 35 yachts were the cream of Sydney’s highly competitive racing circuit, attracting TP52’s, Swan 60, 47.7’s, and a trio of Cookson 12’s to name a few.

The rest of the series were windward-leeward courses and the boats performance improved as we fine-tuned the stock J/122. Our local sail maker ‘Ian Short Sails’ did a superb job on the sail wardrobe, particularly the running kite allowing us to sail at 165 TWA.

Our worst result was a fourth, and the last race was down to the wire with 4 yachts within 1 point of each other. It was a nail-biter from start to finish with some exciting tactical racing and all the yachts performing at their peak to try and take the top prize. In the end ‘Jackpot’ scored equal first in the series with a professionally skippered Swan 60.

We are extremely pleased with the J/122, and like our prior J/109 she has proved to be exceedingly competitive out of the box. We are now looking forward to fitting the dodger and taking her cruising over the Easter holiday break whilst we decide which winter race series to enter.