YOUNGSTERS II Takes Danish Youth League Act III

(Skovshoved, Denmark)- The Danish J/70 Sailing League created their Youth League two years ago and it continues to grow in popularity with young kids at sailing clubs across Denmark.  The combination of young girls and boys competing on the water and socializing ashore has made it fun and exciting for them. Last weekend, they enjoyed great sailing with racing managed by the Skovshoved Sailing Club.

This year, it was the YOUNGSTER II team that won the event at Skovshoved- the second time they have done so. The team consists of brothers Jeppe & Nikolaj Borch, Amanda Ulmdal, Mathias Rossing and Nikolaj Rasmussen.

The skipper- Jeppe Borch- talked about the close sailing they experienced over the weekend, “it was very close sailing each day.  In fact, we did not win until we beat the SUNDBY MARLINS in the last race, on the last run to the finish! We luckily pulled the longest straw!  Thank goodness! The SUNDBY MARLINS got a few penalties at the start, so we got a little distance on them right from the beginning. It was great that we could finish the weekend standing at the top of the podium!”

The second place SUNDBY MARLINS, consisting of Josefine Boel Rasmussen, Kristian Schaldemose, Søren Andersen and Marc Wain, beat their previous best position in the Youth League by taking a podium for the competition. Before the competition, the team hoped for lots of fun and good wind, and they got what they came for!

SUNDBY’s female skipper- Josefine Boel Rasmussen- said that, "we were happy with the weekend. Our not so good results in some races were mainly due to our mistakes or situations where we had fouled other teams. So, when we managed to get off with free wind, it was good to sail the boat fast, get a few good wind shifts, and hit it right, even winning some races!”

With only one point separating the other teams on the podium, the game was a tough battle through the final race. The BANDHOLM WHITETAILED EAGLES team, that included skipper Bo Schulein, Ole Lindberg, Christian Torp and Peter Ammundsen, ended up landing on the podium at the last minute, even though they nearly threw away that opportunity several times. Sunday’s last race 4th place was due to the fact they had to do circles to exonerate themselves from a penalty incurred during the race; had they taken 5th, they would have finished 5th!

The balance of the top five included the DTU SAIL RACING TEAM in 4th place and the THURO PIRATES in 5th position.  Follow the Danish J/70 Youth Sailing League here on Facebook  For Danish Youth Sailing League video highlights  For more Danish J/70 Sailing League information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Women On Water (WOW) Regatta Preview

(Sundby, Denmark)- The WOW organization has now joined the Danish J/70 Sailing League and will have their first event in Sundby, Denmark from September 22nd to 23rd.  The format will be the same as the open sailing league, eighteen teams of five women on board each boat, with teams rotating on each flight.

“WOW is expecting to get more women on the water, securing the next generation of girl sailors, and creating strong networks among women,” says Josefine Boel. "There has been a lot of support, from Sundby Sailing Association there are two teams. Henriette and I sailed a major European event last year, where there were more women. And, then we talked about how we get more women with in this.  When we spoke to the Danish Sailing League organizers, we created the WOW concept and created this event. We hoped for ten teams, but ended up with eighteen, and we even have four on waiting list! It's very overwhelming!”

The WOW concept is off to a flying start. Over 200 women have joined the network - and it does not stop there.

"Both Henriette Koch and I have an elite sailing background, but it was not what we wanted. The most important thing is to get more women sailing,” said Josefine. “Henriette is somewhat older than me, and she was the one girl I looked up to, she often beat all the boys.  I have seen many girlfriends stop sailing because they did not fit into the elite and Olympic sailing environment. There are many skilled young girls. But, there are no fun opportunities (or divisions like in soccer) for those who are not the top five percent. That is what we will try to improve. So, this is not just about sailing, but just as much to have fun, get together, and help each other. We tried to mix the teams, so there are veterans- including Dorte Jensen with a host of Olympic campaigns behind her- and young girls mixed together," continued Josefine.

Dorthe Alvang is part of one WOW team in Sundby. She was born on the island and sailed in Roskilde before she returned to Amager. And, she has missed such an initiative women. Said Dorthe, ”I’m what you can call an ordinary sailor, there are lots of us! There is not much activity in sailing for women.  So, if you do not go all-in, there are not many opportunities to go sailing on a small sailboat.  For this WOW event, I formed a team with other women better than me. So, now we train for the competition every weekend. It is often the case in sailing that the men are very active and the women are so strangely withdrawn. So this is a perfect way to turn it up a bit and get out on the water!”

The WOW organizers invite women to the WOW meeting on Thursday, September 20th, entitled "Women on the Podium”, at HORTEN Lawyers in Tuborg Harbor.

"I've learned more about team dynamics by sailing than by going to work over the years. I have used my sailing experiences a lot in my work life. And, this is about focusing on the fact that there are too few women represented in boards and management positions in Danish businesses. Subsequently, the participants from the Thursday meeting are invited to sail at the WOW event in Sundby the following weekend. Here the participants could get a ride on a J/70 with some of Europe's best women sailors; and, further the opportunity to strengthen their network. So, it's not just about sailing together, but also helping each other in relation to the things we do- networking and collaboration," explains Josefine.
Follow the WOW Women’s sailing event on Facebook   Facebook video highlights   For more Danish J/70 Sailing League information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

KDY SHARKS Lead J/70 Danish Sailing League

(Skovshoved, Denmark)- This past weekend, the Skovshoved Sailing Club, together with the Danish Sailing League, hosted the third of four events in their season series off Skovshoved.  The eighteen teams that were participating had good weather all three days.

Winning the third event and cementing their position at the top of the leaderboard for the season was the KDY SHARKS.  The team consisted of Michael Hestbæk, Thomas Hartvig, Henning Lambertsen and Niels Gramkov. After decimating the fleet in Skovshoved, they now count a 2-1-1 tally for a total of 4 pts for the season series.

KALØVIG COBRAS made a big jump in the last day and secured 2nd place as they got two bullets in the last two races. It was undoubtedly a very good event for the KALØVIG COBRAS team (Lars Vilhelmsen, Sophus Jarvig, Nikolai Tiedemann, & Jesper Vogelius). The FAABORG FALCONS ended in 3rd place, 9 points behind.

As a result of the third round, the top five positions in the Danish J/70 Sailing League are the following:
1. KDY SHARKS (4 points)
2. FREDERIKSHAVN SEAHAWKS (11 points)
3. KALØVIG COBRAS (13 points)
4. SEAHORSENS (13 points)
5. AARHUS SHARKS (16 points)

Follow the Danish J/70 Sailing League on Facebook   Facebook video highlights.   For more Danish J/70 Sailing League information
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Sunny, Summery Ted Hood Regatta

Healy Tops J/70s, Masur Takes J/105s
(Marblehead, MA)- The annual Storm Trysail Club Ted Hood Regatta took place from August 24th to 26th for fleets of J/70s, J/105s, and a variety of ORR-EZ/ PHRF handicap racing teams.  The regatta was significant for the forty-seven J/70s since was the last major event prior to the upcoming 2018 J/70 World Championship being hosted by Eastern YC in late September.

What was remarkable about the regatta for the J/70 class was the fact that every team in the top five had at least one or two double-digit finishes, which is how tough the fleet was over the three days.  Winning was Tim Healy’s NEW ENGLAND ROPES with a 5-11-2-6-3-3-4 tally for 34 pts, handily winning the event. Second was Brian Keane’s SAVASANA, the only boat to win two races, with a record of 1-22-4-5-5-1-8 for 46 pts. Then, third was Umberto de Luca’s Italian crew on MASCALZONE LATINO with a scoreline of 10-3-15-1-2-7-10 for 48 pts. Winning the Corinthians Division was Jim Cunningham’s LIFTED from San Francisco, CA.

The J/105s enjoyed good racing off the east of Children’s Island.  Winning that fleet with four bullets in their scoreline was Mark Masur’s Texan team on TWO FEATHERS.  Second, was Ken Bowden’s KNOTLESS and third was Jon Samel’s BLOWN AWAY.

In the ORR-EZ Division 1, Gary Weisberg’s J/111 HEAT WAVE took third, followed by Fred de Napoli’s J/124 ALLEGRO MALVAGIO in 4th, Tom Mager’s J/122 GIGI in 5th, Chris Lund’s J/133 JUMP in 6th, and Ed Kaye’s J/111 PRAVDA in 7th.

J/Crews faired better in ORR-EZ Division 2, with Dan Boyd’s J/109 WILD THING winning with Ward Blodgett & Liz Smith’s J/33 SIROCCO in third. For more Storm Trysail Ted Hood Regatta sailing information

Breault Takes 3rd US Women’s Match Race Title!

(San Francisco, CA)- Nicole Breault ran the table at the 2018 U.S. Women's Match Racing Championship, hosted by St. Francis Yacht Club, August 24-26. Without a single loss, Breault and her St. Francis Yacht Club (StFYC) crew of Molly Carapiet (San Francisco, Calif.), Hannah Burroughs (San Francisco, Calif.) and Karen Loutsenheiser (Santa Cruz, Calif.) successfully defended their 2016 title.

Allie Blecher (San Francisco, Calif.), sailing with Ali Blumenthal (Bethport, N.Y.), Beka Schiff (San Diego, Calif.) and Molly Noble (Hood River, Ore.) for Cal Sailing Club, fought hard for second in a tiebreaker semi-final against Janel Zarkowsky (Annapolis, Md.).

"It was the frosting on the cake, to have run the table, but it wasn't my expectation. I knew either Allie and Janel, coming out of the semi-finals, would be tough. We had to be ready," said Breault.

Breault, along with Carapiet and Loutsenheiser, also won the Allegra Knapp Mertz Trophy in 2015.

With the win, Breault is invited to compete at the 2018 U.S. Match Racing Championship, hosted by the Chicago Yacht Club on October 19-21, 2018. She had already qualified to represent the U.S. at the 2019 Nations Cup Grand Final. Breault is the #1 ranked women's match racer in the country and #8 in the world.

Eight teams were whittled down to two during three stages of match racing on San Francisco Bay. Commencing Friday with a round robin to determine seeding, racing was initially delayed due to light winds – a rare occurrence on these waters. This allowed for a little extra practice in the J/22s provided by StFYC. By Saturday there was enough breeze to power the teams rapidly through the rounds, with Breault picking off one after another to remain on top.

Blecher's team said they were enjoying the bay's breeze-on conditions and sorry to see the Race Committee remove spinnakers when the wind reached upper limits, "though it was the right call," said Blumenthal.

Sunday once again dawned light and shifty for the semi-finals, which would determine seeding for the final and petit final. Marilyn Cassedy (Los Angeles, Calif.) won her pair against Stephanie Wondolleck (San Rafael, Calif.) to advance, but lost against Breault, finishing fourth overall.

The battle between second and third came down to a tiebreaker between Blecher and Zarkowsky. Blecher led during the first upwind and gained further when Zarkowsky scored a penalty on the downwind run. A tacking duel on the second upwind made for a close rounding and sailing down the course. Just short of the finish, Zarkowsky dropped the chute and smoothly executed a jibe, but it failed to fully clear the penalty, allowing Blecher to advance to the finals against Breault.

"I should have waited but my heart was racing and I knew what was on the line," Zarkowsky recounted. "We're glad we gave her a hard time and we're glad she'll be at the Nations Cup."

The light, shifty winds settled into a steady 15 knots heading into the final, where the first race was a textbook example of Breault and her crew's prowess. Blecher had the better start and a solid lead, but Breault clawed up her back, tack for tack, eventually seizing control and owning the first rounding. Her dialed deck crew had the spinnaker set and filled to lock in a solid lead they held to the finish.

"We've got to be really aggressive," Breault said of her mindset on that first upwind. "We initiated a tacking duel and we knew were tacking better and gaining. It was like, 'We're behind, let's fight right now.'"

Race two again saw Blecher control Breault through the pre-start and carry the lead all the way to the windward mark. Breault, on the hunt, shadowed her chute forcing her off to starboard.

"As soon as I saw her spinnaker collapse the second time, I knew we were going to reel her in," said Breault. "But it's always a struggle. We'd come out of the jibe at a crazy angle and the kite would pop and we'd ratchet forward a couple of feet."

Breault capitalizing on every micro error, took down Blecher in three races. "I felt like we were a triple threat. We had a clear advantage, being in home waters, sailing as an experienced team in boats we know," said Breault. "They gave it their all and did good match racing. From the grassroots women's sailing standpoint, there was a really good vibe. There was camaraderie among competitors and it bodes really well for the regatta going forward."

Blecher was awarded the Mrs. Charles Frances Adams Perpetual Trophy, and as the top finisher of the event who hadn't previously qualified for the Nations Cup, she will be nominated by US Sailing to participate in the 2019 regatta, also hosted by St. Francis Yacht Club.

"We had potential, we just lost to them upwind. We just don't have the time together in the boat," said Blecher. "It was nice to spice things up at the starts and it was definitely fun racing."

The U.S. Women's Match Racing Championship was sponsored by Gill, with prizes for top finishers provided by Hobie Cat and gifts for the umpires from Cameron Hughes Winery.

Randy Smith conducted a match-racing clinic with the participating sailors on Thursday, August 23.

Previous winners of the U.S. Women's Match Racing Championship include an impressive list of the top women's sailors in recent U.S. history. Cory Sertl, Betsy Alison, Sally Barkow, Anna Tunnicliffe, Stephanie Roble, Genny Tulloch, Liz Baylis, and Debbie Cappozi have all won this US Sailing National Championship.
For more US Women’s Match Racing Championship sailing information

2018 J/70 Worlds- Most Competitive Keelboat Regatta Ever?

(Marblehead, MA)- The J/70 World Championship may be the most competitive event in the sport of sailing. Ninety-eight teams from 19 different nations have qualified to compete in the 2018 WEST MARINE J/70 World Championship. After three days of inspections for the strict one-design class, racing for the championship will commence on Tuesday, September 25th. Five days of action are scheduled with up to three races per day. The Open and Corinthian Class Champions will be crowned on Saturday September 29th, at an Awards Ceremony at the Eastern Yacht Club.

The inaugural J/70 World Championship was held in 2014, and today more than 1,700 fast planing J/70 sportboats have been sold worldwide. Three American skippers have won the championship and all of them will be racing in Marblehead: Tim Healy (Sail Newport), Joel Ronning (Wayzata YC), and the defending J/70 World Champion, Peter Duncan (American Yacht Club). The 2018 J/70 North American Open Champion, Tom Bowen (Annapolis YC), will also be competing, as will the runner up from the 2017 J/70 World Championship, Brian Keane (Beverly Yacht Club).

Eight American skippers will be representing the Eastern Yacht Club, hosts for the 2018 J/70 World Championship, including Jud Smith, part of Peter Duncan's winning team last year, but racing his own J/70 Africa for the World Championship at his home club. “I am so excited to share my home club with these elite racers from around the world,” said Jud Smith. “Wind in September should be great, as long as there are no hurricanes, and we should see some really competitive racing.”

Nearly half of the extraordinary fleet will come from overseas, including the best teams from Europe. The current J/70 European Champion Alberto Rossi (Circolo Canottieri Aniene, Italy) and his daughter, the 2016 & 2017 J/70 European champion, Claudia Rossi (YC Costa Smeralda, Italy) will both be competing. Notably, Alberto himself is two-time Farr 40 World Champion. Top Spanish teams include the 2018 J/70 Corinthian European Champion, Luis Bugallo (RCN Vigo, Spain), and Jose Maria Torcida (RCM Santander, Spain) who has won the J/80 World Championship twice. Top teams will be competing from Great Britain including two-time (2015 & 2018) J/111 World Champion Martin Dent (Royal Southern YC).

Six teams from Mexico will be racing including, Javier Navarro (Club Izar), third in the 2018 J/70 North American Championship. J/70 teams will be competing from all over South America including; Argentina Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay. Teams will be travelling thousands of miles to compete at the 2018 J/70 World Championship from as far away as Australia, Germany, Japan, Monaco, Russia, Sweden and Turkey.  For more West Marine J/70 World Championship sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

JELVIS Repeats @ J/111 World Championship

(Breskens, The Netherlands)- The 2018 J/111 World Championship was hosted in conjunction with the Breskens Sailing Weekend in the Netherlands.  A dozen J/111 crews participated from five nations (Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, Netherlands, & Switzerland). The teams raced offshore on the North Sea along the famous Benelux beaches and seashore.

Hosts for the Worlds were Watersportvereniging Breskens, Royal Yacht Club of Belgium, Koninklijke Roei & Zeilvereniging De Maas, Koninklijke Nederlandse Roei en Zeilvereniging Muiden, Koninklijke Antwerpse Watersportverenging SRNA and the Royal Netherlands Yachting Union (RNYU).

As anticipated, the powerful British J/111 contingent would prove formidable over the course of competition.  In the end, it was Martin Dent’s JELVIS that loved the big breeze and big winds and repeated their win from 2016 to be crowned the 2018 J/111 World Champion.

The first day of competition was already going to separate “the men from the boys” due to the big breeze, big waves, and difficult steering conditions in the chop that builds offshore of Breskens due to the current.  For those that relish the breeze (e.g. like the Solent sailors), they had a lot of fun offwind in the planing conditions.

The second day produced even tougher conditions than the first, with a steady 20-plus kts of wind and huge waves.  Spinnaker runs saw boats easily hitting 14+ kts boat speed most of the way down the track to the leeward gates.

Dent’s JELVIS team scored an impressive, perfect 1-1-1 on the day.  The only downside was that Simon Bamford’s team on KESTREL had a massive collision with RED HERRING during the first race of the morning.

On the third day, the windspeed was gusting up to 23 kts and waves up to 8 feet high against the current!  Britain still ruled after three days of racing, with Dent’s JELVIS in an untouchable position for the final day.

In the end, the JELVIS crew won their second J/111 World Championship with a very consistent performance, reveling in the breezy, choppy conditions.  Taking second was Tony Mack's McFLY and the battle for 3rd place was won by the “Flying Dutchmen” aboard Paul van Driel's SWEENY (they were also declared the J/111 Worlds Corinthians Division winner).  For more J/111 World Championship sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

World University Sailing Championship Preview

(Cherbourg, France)- The 2018 edition of the FISU World University Sailing Championship will be taking place from August 30th to September 6th on the inner harbor of Cherbourg, France.  The event is being hosted by YC de Cherbourg and supported by the FISU (International Federation of University Sports), World Sailing, and FFV (French Sailing Federation). The YC Cherbourg PRO will be Roland Galliot from France with real-time, on-the-water umpiring of all races.

A total of nineteen teams are participating from ten nations, all racing a matched fleet of J/80 one-design sailboats supplied by the organizers.  The Open Division includes the following nations and number of teams: Australia (2), Austria (1), China (1), France (2), Italy (1), Japan (1), Netherlands (1), Singapore (2), South Korea (1), Spain (2).  In the Women’s Division, the following nations are participating: France (2), Netherlands (1), Singapore (1), South Korea (1).

There will be an overall World University Sailing Champion for all teams participating.  In addition, there will be a Nation’s Champion for the best combined scores of the Open and Women’s Division, plus there will be a Women’s Champion trophy.  Watch the introductory World University Sailing Championship video here on YouTube  For more FISU World University Sailing Championship information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

SAILING Champions League Finals Preview

(St Moritz, Switzerland)- Thirty-two of the world’s best sailing clubs representing twelve nations are set to fight for the prestigious silver trophy in the SAILING Champions League Final 2018, due to take place in St Moritz from August 30th to September 2nd. Whoever ends up earning the title of “Best Sailing Club of the Year” will quite literally feel on top of the world, as the winning crew will be celebrating on top of a podium that stands 1,856 metres above sea level, on the shores of Lake St Moritz.

The host club of Sailing Club St Moritz has been working closely with the city of St Moritz and the region Graubünden to make sure that this gathering of international talent is given a world-class reception in this beautiful corner of Switzerland, high up in the Alps. The 32 clubs that have made it to the Final qualified through highly competitive Semifinals, the first held in the warm winds of Porto Cervo back in June, the second in St Petersburg when the Russian city put on some very strong and challenging winds.

Quite what conditions will meet the competitors in St Moritz is anybody’s guess; it could be cold and light airs like last year’s event, or St Moritz could show its other side with warm, strong breezes as the predominant theme. Whatever St Moritz sends their way, the best sailors are those that are most adaptable to changing conditions in 15 flights of eight identically-prepared one-design sportboats.

This year’s Final will be the first time for running a four-boat Final Series which was successfully trialed a month ago in Travemünde at the inaugural Youth SAILING Champions League. The top four boats from the Qualifying stage go through to the Final Series, carrying forward their ranking from Qualifying as a single race score. So, the winner of Qualifying would carry through a race win, the runner-up would carry through two points, and so on. In the Final Series, the teams will race against each other until one team has won two races. If the winner of Qualifying wins the first race of the Final Series, they become the outright winner of the SAILING Champions League 2018. On the other hand, the maximum number of races that could take place is four, if the race wins have been evenly distributed across all four teams.

The aim of the format is to provide more of a climax for the spectators whilst retaining a format that is fair to those who have performed consistently over the previous days of competition. Emil Kjaer, helmsman of Kongelig Dansk Yachtklub, runner-up at Youth SAILING Champions League, commented, “The new format makes the event really exciting for the spectators and for us sailors. We like to sail under pressure.”

Based on the outcome of the first two events, the following clubs should be near the top of the leaderboard; Circolo della Vela Bari (Italy), YC Bregenz (Austria), Club de Voile Saint Aubin Elbeuf (France), Regattaclub Bodensee (Switzerland), Segel-und Motorboat Club Uberlingen (Germany), YC Monaco (Monaco), Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (Germany), Deutscher Touring YC (Germany), three from Russia (Navigator Sailing/ Lord of the Sail- Europe/ Lord of the Sail Asia), and Societe Nautique de Geneve (Switzerland).

Martin Berthod, Director of St Moritz Tourism, welcomes the sailors and visitors: “This event is an absolute high point of the year. For those that have not visited us before, I think St Moritz will take their breath away, and not just because the air is thinner up here! We believe it’s a spectacular place to stage the big SAILING Champions League Final. Thanks to the legendary Maloja winds, St Moritz and the Upper Engadine have become world-renowned sailing destinations. Furthermore, I would like to extend a special thanks to our sponsors and partners, without whose support this event would not be possible.”

The SAILING Champions League is proud to be supported by a number of key partners: Juvia, KRAFTWERK, DEDON, Breitling, Badrutt’s Palace, DKSH, SAP and Marinepool.

Livestream and results by SAP
As with all SAILING Champions League events, the final two days of racing on Saturday and Sunday will be live broadcasted by SAP from 12:00 hrs (UTC+2), with expert commentators providing blow-by-blow analysis of the racing, aided by the detail provided by SAP Sailing Analytics. The final races are schedules for Sunday, 14:00 hrs (UTC+2). The SAP Sailing Analytics provide 24/7 additional statistics and data for sailors, fans, spectators and media like GPS tracking, real-time analysis, live leaderboard combined with 2D visualization. You find all results on sapsailing.com!  Watch the SAILING Champions League Finals promo video here   For more SAILING Champions League Finals information

Howarth Tops J/24 Canadian Championship

(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)- Thirteen teams took on the 2018 J/24 Canadian Championship held August 18-20 in Kingston, Ont. Michael Howarth’s crew started hot, winning three of the first five races, and held off a late charge by David Ogden to take the title. Ogden’s team won the final four races but still finished five points back in the 9-race series. Peter Dixon finished one point further back in third overall.

Rounding out the top five were Jean Levac in fourth with 38 pts and Edmond Rees in fifth with 42 pts.  For more Canadian J/24 Championship sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.