Giant J/70 Fleet Storms Bacardi Week

(Coconut Grove, FL)- Attracted by a highly-regarded race management team and the area’s renowned racing conditions, elite sailors will again be on hand when the fifth annual running of BACARDI Miami Sailing Week (BMSW) presented by EFG Bank is held March 6th to 8th for the International J/70 Class and five other classes, from the regatta headquarters at Kennedy Park in Coconut Grove.

There are 192 boats registered across the six one-design fleets, with competitors from 15 foreign nations (Australia, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Ukraine) travelling great distances to compete against American sailors.

The ever-growing popularity of the J/70 class will again be in evidence at BMSW where entries are up over 100% from their strong debut in last year’s event.  The 40 boat-strong class will see Brian Keane (Weston, MA.) on SAVASANA work to defend his title against 2013 J/70 North American Champion Heather Gregg-Earl (Boston, MA.) skippering the famous MUSE and 2006 Audi Etchells World Champion Jud Smith (Marblehead, MA) driving AFRICA towards the front of the fleet.  Sounds like the Boston Mafia of sailing, perhaps? Maybe, may be not.  This trio of Boston-based teams will be up against a formidable array of talent as teams continue to focus on qualifying for the first J/70 World Championship being hosted in September by New York Yacht Club in Newport, RI.

On the short list of Top Ten competitors will be a “rogues gallery” of teams like BLACK RIVER RACING (Doug Strebel), 20/20 RACING (John Arendshorst), CONVEXITY (Don Wilson- class newcomer and past J/105 & Farr 40 Champion), EXTREME (Don Cheresh with Taylor Canfield- current USA #1 in Match-Racing), HOT MESS (Rob Britts- Corinthian winning team), GEMINI (Blane Shea- top young sailor from Chicago YC), LIFTED (Jim Cunningham- Jaguar Etchells 22 winner), PERSEVERANCE (Bennet Greenwald- multiple J/70 regatta winner), RASCAL (Will Welles- general rock-star), RELATIVE OBSCURITY (Peter Duncan sailing with the one and only

famous “Moose” McClintock), RIMETTE (John Brim- famous offshore champion on “monster” RIM), RUNNING WILD (Peter Vessella- some guy who knows how to sail STAR’s fast!), SPRING (Dave Franzel- a Corinthians winner), and SUGAR DADDY (Mark Ploch- who needs no introduction, but for those of you who are historians and not suffering amnesia, he’s the first J/24 Midwinter champion in 1978 with Stu J and two bro’s from Annapolis— pictured here!).

There are a number of foreign teams participating, many with World & European championship credentials as well as past dinghy & keelboat experience.  Do not count out these teams as top ten spoilers as some have the capability of, given the right circumstances, even podium finishes!  Amongst these teams “in the hunt” may be ROCAD RACING (Ingemar Sundstedt- Sweden), REX (Scott Weakley- Toronto, ONT, Canada), NN (Eivind Astrup- Krakeroy, Norway), BRA 493 (Jose Vita & Mauricio Santa Cruz- J/24 Brazil & World Champions- Sao Paulo, Brazil), ELUSIVE (Chuck Millican from Bermuda- past Sunfish North American Champion), SOS VENEZUELA (Victor Diaz/ Tomas de Hornos- recent J/70 Chesapeake champions), and TOUCH2PLAY (Rob & Sandy Butler/ Martie Kullman- a top Canadian team and also J/70 Great Lakes Champion).

As if notable teams in the fleet and foreign competition were not enough, the J/70 class has attracted numerous top women sailors that have proven themselves to be contenders, too.  In addition to Heather’s MUSE team (North American Champions), there’s Jamestown, Rhode Island’s JUNKANOO (Suzy Leech), Annapolis’s MOJITO (Cat Evans) and Chicago’s famous offshore team called NIGHTMARE (led by skipper Amy Neill).

During BACARDI Miami Sailing Week sailors will enjoy the hospitality lounge, BACARDI Rum tastings, as well as a special showing of the film “07-07-07 Amorita’s Unlucky Day”.  A special exhibit, “Wynwood Sails Color the Grove”, will feature the work of 10 artists of the graffiti and street art genre taking inspiration from the sea and sailing to create a work on canvas shaped like the jib of a sailboat.  The art will be displayed at Coco Walk, the iconic open-air shopping, dining, and entertainment destination in Coconut Grove.  In addition, select images from the previous regattas, from the lenses of respected marine photographers Franco Pace of Italy, Onne van der Wal and Cory Silken of the USA, will be displayed alongside the canvasses created specifically for “Wynwood Sails Color the Grove” to juxtapose “the City meets the Sea” for this unique art event.   For more BACARDI Miami Sailing Week information

J/70 @ Moscow Boat Show!

(Moscow, Russia)- With a successful launch of their J/70 program last year in Russia, the J/Russia dealer team of Grigory Aksenov and Dmitry Zaritckii have covered thousands of miles promoting the J/70 across Europe and Russia.  First sailing in the Y.C. Monaco’s Primo Cup in 2013, they returned again  in 2014 with two Russian teams for a weekend of great sailing and camaraderie with fellow J/70 sailors from across Europe.

This dynamic duo will again be presenting the J/70 at the Moscow Boat Show from March 11th to 16th and will likely take another “victory tour” around Moscow’s famous Kremlin Square, hopefully not in a blizzard like last year!  For an appointment or more information, please contact Grigory Aksenov at Kitira Ltd (http://www.kitira.ru), phone- +7-495-540-4529 or via email- aksenov.grigory@gmail.com  Sailing photo credits- YC Monaco/ Carlo Borlenghi.   For more Moscow Boat Show information

J/Teams Smoke Border Run!

J/111 Tops San Diego, J/124s Leaders in Dana Point
(San Diego, CA)- On Saturday, February 22, hundreds of sailors set sail to race to Dana Point and San Diego in the 2014 annual Border Run International Sailing Event. Everything was set in place— the boats, beautiful warm weather, a half moon for night-time sailing, plenty of dolphins and whales and a spectacular sunset - everything except the wind. But that did not stop sailors that came from far away as Arizona, Texas, New York and Maine, from having a great time. In the end, a total of 11 diehard crews out of 94 crossed the finish line before the race deadline.  And, it was three well-sailed J/Teams, in the most demanding sailing conditions, that led most everyone home at the top of their divisions!

It all started off on Friday night at the Balboa Inn in Newport Beach at the Pre-Race Send-Off party with live music, good food and guest speaker, Gino Morrelli, from Morrelli & Melvin yacht designers of America’s Cup fame. Gino gave Border Run sailors a first glimpse into the new AC boat and the possible venues of the next America’s Cup. It was a great way to start the event.

“Gino was awesome! He explained the differences between Team New Zealand and Team ORACLE USA from the technical side and the future of the next America’s Cup with a great visual presentation. During the ‘question and answer’ part of the presentation I could see the reaction of the sailors - they were really into the discussion,” said Randy Reynolds .

The next day was race day. At 11:00 AM off the Balboa pier in Newport Beach, the 6th annual Border Run fleet started off in a southwest wind heading toward Dana Point and San Diego. The race committee from South Shore Yacht Club started all classes in flawless form. In keeping with the Border Run’s theme “Where Everyone’s Invited”, boats of all kinds and sizes, ranging from 14 ft to 70 ft, crossed the starting line to take on the challenging course.

There were boats of every size and shape competing on the race course. The fleet included some of the highest profile yachts on the West Coast. Boats ranging from sleds, cruisers, dinghies, sportboats and multihulls - all were represented.

High profile sailors were also lining up at the start – spectators were craning their necks to see Dennis Conner (of America's Cup fame) sailing his beloved wooden boat classic SPLENDOR and Cam Lewis sailing the fastest boat on the course, Enloe’s MIGHTY MERLOE (Editor’s note— both veterans of J/24 sailing wars in the past!).

After the start, just four hours into the race, most the fleet were carrying their spins or code-zeros when the wind switched to a south/southeast wind direction. That meant sailing to weather in very light winds in only 2-4 kts of breeze. Eventually, this took a toll on the fleet and crews started to drop out like flies on a hot summer day, one by one they radioed and headed back to homeport. Out of the 94-boat fleet, only six boats finished the Dana Point course and only five finished the 70-mile San Diego course.

At the Trophy parties in Dana Point and San Diego, the event ended with sailors trading sea stories about the great competition before the wind shut off.  They spoke of the clear night skies with a bright half moon, the abundance of dolphin and whales swimming through glowing phosphorescence and an incredible sunset complete with the elusive "green flash". Even without wind, sailors on both courses expressed that the event was a great time and the adventure of sailing in light conditions was worth the trip – saying that they will be back next year.

And for the eleven boats and their hearty and tenacious crews that finished the challenging course, they can take pride that they finished the 2014 Border Run, going into the record books as sailors that won’t give up. John Marshall of South Shore Yacht Club, Race Chairman, said this about the event, “anyone can sail with good wind – only the best sailors can race and win with light winds.”

Of those eleven boats, three were J/Teams- 28% of the finishers!  Imagine that.  In fact, these teams reveled in the light-going despite the challenges faced by others.

Taking 1st in PHRF Light B in the San Diego race was the J/111 STAMPEDE, sailed by Glenn Griley and friends from King Harbor YC.  This was the first test of the STAMPEDE team in SoCal offshore racing and may prove to be an auspicious beginning for this new West Coast J/111 team.

In the Dana Point race, the two J/124s dueled one another all day and all night long.  In the end, Seth Hall’s veterans on MARISOL took second and beat their stablemate CIRRUS, sailed by Tim Harmon, home by just a half-hour.  Remarkably, MARISOL just missed finishing first overall by a little over one minute corrected!  Good grief.  Next time Seth may toss a few more heavy items onto the dock before leaving for the next race!  For fun, check out the YouTube sailing video posted by Tim Harmon’s J/124 CIRRUS from another regatta.   Sailing photo credits-  Bronny Daniels/ JOYsailing.com   For more Border Run International Race sailing information

Join The Pacific NW J/Rendezvous!

Featuring a "Poker Rally", “Best In Show” and Massive BBQ Hosted by "BBQ Bob"
(Seattle, WA)- Sail Northwest is excited to announce the first ever J/Boats Rendezvous for the Pacific Northwest, scheduled for June 28th, 2014 at the Brownsville Marina.  Bring your cruising boat, bring your day sailor, bring your race boat – bring any J you have sailing in the area (we hope it floats!), we promise that you will have a lot of FUN and get to know much more of the J/Clan— an amazingly diverse, talented and fun-loving group of passionate sailors!  We want YOU in Brownsville! Remember, there are no regatta conflicts! And, because it's summer-time, there are no business or school issues, either!

Boats can begin arriving in Brownsville at 11am Saturday to start the stern-tie line-up inside the breakwater.  The day’s festivities will include a “Poker Rally and “Happy Hour” tours of the attending boats incorporating a “Best In Show” competition done by popular vote.  This will be followed with a talk by industry professionals, then a massive BBQ and potluck side-dish dinner pier side, followed by awards and an evening around the camp fire on the bluff.  Refreshments and the main course for dinner will be provided; you only need to bring a side dish and whatever emergency rations you’ll need (e.g. more refreshments).  For anyone that needs a “racing fix”, the West Sound Sailing Association runs their series finale Brownsville race that day and you are more than welcome to enter if you have that urge.

Please RSVP and get your first two cards for the Poker Rally and/or learn more about the event from the friendly people at Sail Northwest.  Contact Ben (ben@sailnorthwest.com) or Bob (bob@sailnorthwest.com) or just call them at ph# 206-286-1004 and ask what’s on the menu for the BBQ!

HELLY HANSEN J/24 Midwinters Champs!

(Coconut Grove, FL)- This year’s J/24 Midwinters were highlighted by somewhat fabulous, near postcard-perfect sailing conditions and with some extraordinary entertainment both on and off the water.  For one of the “side-shows”, there were hundreds of noisy offshore powerboats criss-crossing the course area with bikini-clad girls hanging out as they tried to score big in the Miami Boat Show “Poker Run” down to Islamorada.  Nevertheless, focusing like laser-beams on the job at hand (and, never a stray eye wavering to acres of scantily-clad “flesh” flying by), the formidable duo of John Mollicone on the helm and Tim Healy calling tactics (along with crew Geoff Becker, Leon Collin & Gordon Borges) on Team HELLY HANSEN managed to repeat their prior year’s performance— taking a ten point lead to the house and crowned the 2014 J/24 Midwinter Champions, again!

The regatta started off on a high note, with Regatta Chairman Marc Pincus describing it as “a chamber of commerce day”.  The weather was beautiful with a light chop and sunny skies.  Plus, there were No “black flags” during the four races, despite the reputation of the regatta being the “inventor” of the notorious “Black Flag” back in 1984 (remember Mario Bustamante, P.R.O. from Coral Reef YC??). The 27 teams got off to an early start in Miami’s 80 degree weather. However, paradise is never perfect. The wind died during the second race causing the RC to shorten the course, but the breeze came back enough to have two more races.

For the Newport-based HELLY HANSEN team, it was self-evident after the first day they were determined to do no wrong and may have had, in fact, a “crystal ball” on board (apparently they were sailing with almost “clairvoyant” capabilities).  Brown University Sailing Coach John Mollicone stayed out of trouble, kept his lanes clear, and managed to post three bullets on the first day for 8 pts total.  No one could match them.  Miami’s Robby Brown on USA 799 and his team Ron Hyatt, Mark Liebell, Jeff Rubin and Arthur Blodget finished in second with 10 pts and Travis Odenbach on HONEY BADGER sailing with Patrick Wilson, Rossi Milev, Chris Morgan and Emery Williams were in third with 16 points.

When the RC Signal Boat “GOLDILOCKS” went out for the morning of the second day of racing on to Miami’s Biscayne Bay waving a huge “Jolly Roger” flag, you could tell it was going to be a great day. The Coral Reef YC R.C. was relaxed and looking forward to another glorious day of sailing. The wind was 6-9 knots and steady with no shifts. The race course was set west of the infamous “Stiltsville” (houses built on stilts on the shoals south of Key Biscayne Island). The day’s final tally saw Team HELLY HANSEN extend their lead to 7 points. The big move of the day was Peru’s Luis Olcese sailing SCARAMOUSH, climbing into second with two first places for the day. His crew Christian Sas, Joel Raffo, Joaquin Razetto and Alek Stewart passed Davis Island’s Robby Brown’s team and Travis Odenbach. Odenbach’s HONEY BADGER (with crew Patrick Wilson, Rossi Milev, Chris Morgan and Emery Williams onboard) held on to third place only one point behind SCARAMOUSH. Needless to say, the evenings CRYC regatta dinner was abuzz with stories about the day’s events.

For the hosts, they couldn’t have scripted a nicer ending to the regatta, albeit with a few entertaining “twists” thrown in for good measure.  The last day dawned with yet another clear, sunny day with a mild 6-9 kts breeze and light chop.  Perhaps the most memorable part of the day for most was the hundreds of “visitors” that kept criss-crossing the race course area; including the Miami Boat Show “Poker Run” participants (40 very fast and extremely loud offshore “Cigarette-type” boats with bikini-clad gals on the bow on their way to and from Islamorada); a massive pod of incredibly happy and frolic-some dolphins; and a slew of Biscayne Bay Yacht Racing Association racers getting yelled at about every imaginable sailing rules infraction possible!

It was like old times in the 10th race. After a failed attempt at a start, PRO Jaime Ramon called for the Black Flag. In order to make it more authentic and bring back memories of the 1984 J/24 Midwinters where the Black Flag and bow numbers were first used to “discipline the fleet,” 1984 CRYC RC Chair Mario Bustamante was called down from the bridge to perform the black flag duties. As Mario raised the flag, he complained that “it was a puny little black flag with no character and that the big Jolly Roger would have been a better choice.”  Regardless, the Black Flag worked, the sailors were very well-behaved and it was an all clear start for the last race of the regatta.

Despite all the distractions, Team HELLY HANSEN won yet another race on the last day and sealed the deal to be crowned Midwinter Champions with five 1sts in their 9 race score card.  Mollicone is a busy man this year.  The plan is for John to skipper HELLY HANSEN in the upcoming regattas in Newport, RI in July, do the Pan American Trials, the Nationals in Marion, MA and the J/24 Worlds in Newport, RI in September.  On top of all that, John says that his Brown University Sailing Team will start practice first weekend of March, weather permitting, commenting that “the team is anxious and wants to sail!”

The race for second place was very exciting and close. Unfortunately, for the well-sailed (and outfitted) SCARAMOUSH team from Peru, they “punted” their last race, scoring a 10th and dropping into a tie-breaker with Odenbach’s HONEY BADGER, losing that to drop to third overall!  “Oh my goodness”, or words to that effect, must’ve come to Luis’s mind as they were crossing the finish line in the last race. Not! Nevertheless, Odenbach’s HONEY BADGER crew stepped up to the challenge and managed to win the last race to hop onto the podium and snatch second place!

Two Davis Island, Florida teams took 4th and 5th. The 4th place team was Robby Brown’s USA 799 sailing with Ron Hyatt, Mark Liebel, Jeff Rubin and Arthur Blodgett. In 5th place was John Poulson’s LONG SHOT with Nate Viladabro, Doug Fisher, Rob Brills and Stephen Kaidos.

The MidFleet Award was won by Coral Reef YC sailor Jim Bill skippering SCOUTS HONOR with Eamonn deLisser, Tim Banks, Isabel Galvin, Jillian Aydelotte.

The very proud Corinthian teams were:

1. ZIA’s Patrick Frisch, Lori Dillard Rech, Stephen Marshall, David Rech and John Humphreys from Miami, FL.
2. VELOCIDAD’s Christopher Stone, Tim Fitzgerald, Patrick Murphy, Brad Russell and Doug Tooney from Middletown, NJ
3. LIFTED’s Ben Maloney, Erwin Naidoo, Evan Oulahen, Katrina Leighton and Hugh Layton from Halifax, Nova Scotia
4. MUYMUY’s Patricio Sly, Claudio Mintzias, Ernesto Mendoza, Lorie Sein-Messer and Atilio Renam from Miami, FL
5. JOE COOL’s Lionel Baugh, Pilar Sanchez, Mauricio Ferres, Christina Urquiola, Andres Villar from Miami, FL.

Regatta Chair Mark Pincus reports, “the CRYC Race Committee team for the regatta was made up of PRO Jaime Ramon who is also CRYC RC Chair, Timer Jane Anne Pincus, Scorers Penny Tannenbaum and Sue Nichols, Landside Sharon Bourke and a cast of thousands with Mario Bustamante’s GOLDILOCKS as the Signal Boat.” The last word from the Signal Boat was that if you were not out boating today on Biscayne Bay, you did not deserve to own a boat.  Sailing Photo Credits- Chris Howell.  For more J/24 Midwinters sailing information.

J/70 West Coast Circuit Update

(San Francisco, CA)- The West Coast is getting busy, particularly since the hottest ticket in town is becoming the next boat and crew to qualify for the 2014 J/70 Worlds in Newport.  Fleet growth in San Diego/ Los Angeles in SoCal; in the greater San Francisco Bay area; and in the Pacific Northwest around Seattle, WA has increased dramatically in recent months.

San Francisco Report- from Sail California
“The J/70 class has grown rapidly on San Francisco Bay, with 11 boats already sailing and with more arriving all the time.  Most importantly, the J/70 Fleet 19 has outlined a great series of races that include the World’s qualifiers.”  Here are the events:

• Mar 8-9- Big Daddy Regatta- Richmond YC
• Apr 5-6- J/Fest San Francisco Bay- St Francis YC
• May 17-18- Elite Keelboat Regatta- San Francisco YC (Worlds Qualifier)
• May 31- Delta Ditch Run- Richmond, CA- Single-handed Sailing Club
• Jun 27-29- Long Beach Race Week- Alamitos Bay YC (Worlds Qualifier)
• Jul 19-20- High Sierra Regatta- Fresno YC
• Aug 16-17- Summer Keelboat Regatta- San Francisco YC
• Aug 30- Jazz Cup-  SBYC
• Sep 11-14 Rolex BBS StFYC
• Oct 25-26 Great Pumpkin RYC

Seattle Report- from Sail Northwest
“The Pacific Northwest has 3 qualifying spots! J/70 Fleet 17 has 2 qualifying berths at the Seattle NOOD's Regatta and one berth for the Northwest Championship (TBD).

And, if that isn't enough to entice you into competing in the exciting new sportboat fleet that is taking the country by storm you will also have your very own official Pacific N.W. J/70 Worlds photographer following you around the course in Newport, Rhode Island!

Jan Anderson (a renown Seattle yachting photographer) and her boat-boy “Skip” will be on site and making an effort to capture your boat in the excitement of sailing the first ever J/70 Worlds!

The J/70 is exploding in growth worldwide with 86 (nope, this is NOT a typo) boats racing Charleston Race Week. This is nothing short of amazing given that two years ago there were none in existence. J/70’s are reserved through hull #630 as of today! I can only imagine what will happen when McConaghy Boats gets up to speed with their production in China!”  Sailing photo credits- Onne Vanderwal/ Jan Edney

PILGRIM Takes Chilean J/70 Nationals

(Lake Panguipulli, Chile)- The inaugural Chilean J/70 Nationals took place this past weekend on one of the world’s most picturesque lakes.  Situated on the Puyumén Peninsula, Lake Panguipulli is surrounded by the majestic peaks of the famous Andes Mountain range.  While sailing in shirts, shorts, & shades, skiing on snow-capped mountains is happening in some of Chile’s famous ski resorts!

On the first day, the fleet of J/70 sailors were met by high temperatures, clear skies and moderate winds ranging between 7-11 knots from 250 degrees with minimal shifts of 10 degrees, conditions that were near perfect for sailing on the lake. In fact, the weather was so nice, a small navy of motorboats gathered around the fleet to watch racing for most of the day!


The R.C.’s P.R.O. managed to deliver three races and, when the results were tabulated, there were few differences between the teams.  The first race of the day began with a dominating performance by Nadja Horwitz, followed by Juan Eduardo Reid’s BLACK JACK and PILGRIM skippered by Benjamin Grez. In the last two races it was clear the PILGRIM/ MBI VOLVO team led by “los hermanos Grez” had figured out the formula for success and managed to score two bullets to take over the regatta lead with just 5 pts.  Eduardo-Reid’s team on BLACK JACK also sailed consistently well enough to hang onto second with a 2-3-3.  Another boat that also figured out the “formula” was Jorge Gonzalez and his team on ALLEGRO, posting a 5-2-2 to jump up to third place for the day.

The second day of sailing dawned with a gorgeous sunrise, but light winds that never exceeded 5-6 kts; it was clear the forecast was somewhat accurate and that meant it was going to be difficult to get in more than 2-3 races.  Despite a number of valiant attempts at getting more races going, the P.R.O. could only manage to get one fair race in for the day.  And, it was one unbelievably close race, clearly upsetting the standings for nearly everyone in the top three!

The team of Benjamin Grez, Christopher Grez, Miguel Perez and Jorge Lama, aboard PILGRIM/ MBI VOLVO just managed to stay out of trouble by finishing 4th in the last race to be crowned the first J/70 National Champions in Chile!  Just behind them by only one point was a tie-breaker, the result of a titanic battle for the silver between Gonzalez’s ALLEGRO and Eduardo-Reid’s BLACK JACK.  Getting the upper hand at the finish was the very happy ALLEGRO team, winning the race and, as a result, winning the tie-break on 10 pts to snag second overall.  Third place then went to the BLACKJACK gang.

The regatta was organized by the J/70 Class Chile and WindMade, with support from the Municipality of Panguipulli and LAND ROVER Chile as a sponsor.  Interestingly, this was also the first J/70 National Championship to be held outside American soil anywhere in the world!   Sailing photo credits- Berni Grez
For more J/70 Chilean Nationals sailing results.

J/111 West Coast Circuit Update

(San Francisco, CA)- This year the J/111 class has burst onto San Francisco Bay with a one-design schedule for the new Fleet 5 racing season.  It looks like 7-8 boats will be on the line. Three new boats are in various stages of development and “Mental” (now renamed BIG BLAST) is just landing from her long ride out from Chicago. Here’s the J/111 schedule for 2014:

• Mar 15-16- Spring One Design Regatta- St Francis YC
• Apr 5-6- J/Fest Regatta- St Francis YC
• Apr 26-27- Vallejo Race-  Vallejo YC
• Jun 7-8- June Invitational- St Francis YC
• Aug 2-3- Second Half Opener- Encinal YC
• Aug 22-24- Aldo Alessio Regatta- St Francis YC
• Sep 11-14- Rolex Big Boat Series- St Francis YC
• Oct 25- Great Pumpkin Regatta- Richmond YC

One of the newer boats in the fleet, MADMEN Racing, was out on the Bay putting their J/111 through the paces last year.  Check out some of their YouTube sailing video action from Frisco right here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcKqYQie6NE

For more information regarding the J/111 Fleet 5 one-design program, please contact Norm Davant at Sail California- ph# 510-523-8500 or email- norman@sailcal.com

J/70 Worlds Announcement

(Newport, RI)- The inaugural J/70 World Championship will be held in Newport, R.I. from September 8th to 13th and hosted by New York Yacht Club.  Races will be sailed on either Narragansett Bay or offshore on Rhode Island Sound, depending on weather conditions.  Principal hosting partner for the event is Sail Newport, where boats will be docked for the event.

Stu Saffer, the Event Chairman, comments: “New York YC is honored to host the inaugural J/70 World Championships in Newport, RI, this September. We look forward to welcoming sailors from around the world to Harbour Court, our on-the-water clubhouse, and hope they enjoy all the services and amenities our club has to offer. The initial growth of the J/70 class is remarkable, and we are anticipating an extremely competitive regatta on Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound.”  Harbour Court will be the site for the skipper’s meeting and kick-off party, the Wednesday dinner and the Final Awards.

There is a fleet limit of 120 boats. Due to the high level of interest, qualifying events around the world will determine which teams get to sail in the World Championship. U.S. teams should visit the U.S. J/70 Class Association website (http://www.j70class.com) for detailed information on qualifying regattas. Foreign teams should refer to the International J/70 Class Association website (http://www.j70ica.org) for qualification and registration requirements.

Charter boats will be available for international teams, please contact Kendra at J/Boats (ph# 401-846-8410 or email- info@jboats.com) for further information. Rooms are being held at area hotels for Worlds competitors.  For more information on housing, qualifying or the regatta in general, please visit the J/70 World Championship website.

The Flying Russians- Sailing off Monaco

(Monte Carlo, Monaco)- The Flying Russians!? Not on trapezes in the Moscow Circus nor Rudolf Nureyev leaping about in the Moscow Ballet, but the waterborne version!  Sailing in this year’s YC Monaco Primo Cup- Credit Suisse Regatta were two Russian J/70 teams, one from Kaliningrad and the other from Moscow.

The “veterans” of the Primo Cup were Grigory Aksenov and Dmitry Zaritckii sailing on their now famous J/70 MOJO.  If you recall, last year Grigory and Dmitry picked up their J/70 at J/Composites European boat-building headquarters in Les Sables d’Olonne, France and drove to Monte Carlo, Monaco for their first J/70 regatta ever.  In fact, they were un-packing the boat and learning how to piece everything together as they rigged MOJO to go sailing for their first time! TEAM MOJO loved their experience at the Primo Cup Regatta and promised to return.

In the meantime, Grigory and Dmitry drove the 1,100 miles back from Monaco to Kaliningrad, Russia, at the easternmost reaches of the Baltic Sea— in a snow storm!  If that weren’t enough travel for one month, this dynamic duo then took the mighty MOJO to display the J/70 in the Moscow Boat Show!  It was, in fact, the first time a J/Boat has ever been displayed in the Moscow Show.  As they left Moscow, it was only appropriate they create another “first” for the J/70 and proceeded to befriend the local Moscow Police and took a “tour” of the famous Red Square and took photos of MOJO in front of the Kremlin!!

With a successful year of promoting J/70s in Russia, Dmitry hitched up MOJO again and took her down to Monaco for their second appearance in the Primo Cup. TEAM MOJO sailed well and managed to finish eighth. Perhaps equally as important is that Igor Raspopov, Founder and CEO of the MARC Sailing Club in Russia, chartered a J/70 to also participate in this year’s Primo Cup.


According to Raspopov, “We’re really proud to be a part of the worldwide J/70 sailing family! More than that, we are doing our best with friends to develop the J/70 class in Russia and to invite fellow Russians to sail J/70s in Russia and throughout Europe.

We founded a Russian-Italian sailing club called M.A.R.C. (http://www.marcsail.com) that is based on Lake Garda in Italy and I have been working closely with my friend Dimitry from Kaliningrad.  As we participate in upcoming J/70 events in Europe and Russia, we will provide you reports about our team’s activities!

We also sail J/80s and will organize an amateur Match Race event from April 2nd to 6th at Riva del Garda with the support of Fraglia Vela Riva del Garda, together with the other J/80 events during the year on the French Riviera and Italy.

Also, we plan to participate in some IRC regattas like Giraglia Rolex Cup in St Tropez, France and San Remo, Italy and Copa del Rey in Palma Mallorca, Spain on a J/109 and J/122. Such events enable us to give to give our MARC Sailing Club beginners a unique opportunity to try sailing J/Boats. This is our goal! Growing sailing in Russia has been fun and people LOVE it once they discover how fun it can be!”

In the end, both Russian J/70 teams can bring back memories of an absolutely epic sailing experience on the last day, with “fresh to frightening” conditions with ginormous 10-12 ft waves and 15-25 kt winds.  Those memories have been forever captured by “the Master”, Carlo Borlenghi, the world renown yachting photographer who was on-hand shooting photos for YC Monaco.  Also on hand were Team MOJO’s friend “Elena”, she captured some poignant moments of Team MOJO in the yacht harbour.  Sailing photo credits- YC Monaco/ Carlo Borlenghi and Elena Otekina- https://www.facebook.com/elena.otekina.

Please contact Igor Raspopov to learn more about Sailing Club MARC and their sailing programs.  Contact Igor at email- gorazionelson@gmail.com