J/99 World Debut @ Paris Show

(Paris, France)- The much anticipated introduction of the extraordinary J/99 shorthanded offshore speedster will be taking place at the famous “Salon Nautique”- a.k.a. the Paris International Boat Show- this coming week from December 8th to 16th at the Port de Versailles on the south side of Paris. The J/99 will be on display in Hall 1/ Stand 1 G62.  For more Salon Nautique Paris boat show information
Learn more about the J/99 Offshore Speedster here Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Wirth Munroe Memorial Race Preview

(Palm Beach, FL)- The Wirth M. Munroe Memorial Yacht Race (a.k.a. the “Race to the Buffet”) is held on the first Friday in December. First sailed in 1957, the race begins the winter ocean racing circuit in South Florida. The course presents challenging conditions, as yachts must consider the vagaries of the Gulf Stream and the passing of the season’s first frontal systems.

In 1957, members of the Florida Station of the Cruising Club of America, led by Dick Bertram (famous as founder of Bertram Yachts), decided to sponsor a race from Miami to Palm Beach and to hold it in early December as racing yachts from the north had arrived by then in preparation for the Southern Ocean Racing Conference held in January and February.

In the 1960’s the Sailfish Club of Florida became a co-sponsor of the race and now hosts the well-known awards party following the finish- e.g. the “race to the buffet”- upon finishing the race, there is dockside cocktails and live music. Racers finish the evening with a world-class awards banquet at the Sailfish Club of Florida.

In 2016, the Club partnered with the Storm Trysail Club and decided to extend the course back to the Miami, FL. This year’s race will see the addition of a second course, from Fort Lauderdale to Palm Beach, catering to racer-cruisers, cruisers, and smaller racing yachts. The new course, called “The Sprint”, will be 40.0nm, and will complement the existing 60.0nm Miami to Palm Beach track, known as “The Classic”.

There are several J/Crews that have taken up the challenge for this year’s event, about 4x the number that had participated in the previous years. In the ORC Class are the J/109 HARM’s WAY (Andy Wescoat from Houston, TX), the J/92 HILLBILLY (Brad Stowers from Melbourne, FL), and the well-traveled J/44 KENAI (Chris Lewis from Seabrook, TX).  Then, in the PHRF Class will be the J/88 LOOSE CANNON (John Kearns from Jupiter, FL).

The forecast for ESE winds in the 10-20 kts range promises a fast race for all boats and both courses; a fast reach off into the Gulf Stream flowing north at 3-5 kts, then giant A2 spinnakers to fly north up the Stream to the Palm Beach finish line.  For more Wirth Munroe Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Big Battle @ Chilean J/24 Nationals

(Bio Bio, Chile)- The Chilean J/24 National Championship was sailed on the waters of the Bay of Concepción, based on Quiriquina Island. A beautiful location to host such an important regatta for the dozen J/24 teams that participated from across the world’s “longest” country (north and south).

A select group of famous South American J/24 sailors were invited to participate as crew aboard various boats. Chief amongst them was the famous Brazilian Mauricio Santa Cruz, multiple World and South American Champion. In addition, the Argentine Matias Pereira, multiple South American champion, Pan-American champion and multiple Argentine champion was crew.  And, finally Nicolas Cubria, former Argentine champion also sailed as crew. Each one of them sailed as crew with a top Chilean helmsman.

Positioning themselves comfortably in first place on the first day of racing was the Chilean Del Castillo and his crew (totally local); they won 3 of the 4 races!

In the first two days, the winds were mild. But, as the racing progressed and the wind increased, it was a classic trade-off in the J/24 class- top end genoa or go for the jib. A true test of offshore sailors, ironically enough!!

At the end of the last race, the teams of E. Fernandez and N. Cubría with the crew of Carlos del Solar and Mauricio Santa Cruz were tied in points.

As in the last regatta, Del Castillo won; he qualified as Chilean 2018 J/24 Champion. Second was Carlos del Solar with Mauricio Santa Cruz. Third was Patricio Rodriguez's team with Matias Pereira.  And, fourth was Raúl del Castillo.  For more Chilean J/24 class sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/88 MAI TAI Swedish Delivery- 865nm!

(Gothenburg, Sweden)- In a bit of a “Throwback Thursday”, the J/88 MAI TAI (now J88.SE) was bought by two Swedes in the Hamble, England in August 2017.  The two excited owners, Jonas Dyberg and Roger Ohlsson, decided they would do a doublehanded delivery back to Goteborg; it was an 865nm delivery in eleven days!

It was an epic adventure. Their delivery track took them from Hamble, across the English Channel to the Netherlands, then up the coast to the opening of the Elbe River in Brunsbuttel, Germany.  Then, they motored up the Nord See Kanal to Kiel, Germany, and then a straight shot north up the Baltic Sea to Gothenburg, Sweden! It was an epic journey and here are the videos to prove it! Top speed was 18.6 kts on their delivery cruise!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_PSCQnqDVo

Then, if that wasn’t an adventure enough, Jonas and Roger took their friend Peter Gustafsson from BLUR.SE fame on board to see if they could establish a “speed run” on the windy wavy Baltic Sea in October 9th, 2017!  It was a gorgeous sunny day, with a northerly breeze of 20-30 kts off Vinga, Sweden.  Here is how they went.

https://youtu.be/9nHglNNWM4Y

Davis Island J/70 Winter Series Preview

(Tampa, FL)- Like its counterpart in Monte Carlo, Monaco, the Davis Island YC has been running its winter series since the inception of the International J/70 class.  It has been a popular series from the beginning for J/70 sailors across America; this year at least 50 entries will be participating in one of the three events.

One of the most popular elements of the regatta is that all sailors are treated to an on-going “seminar/ training” program every day, held Friday afternoon before the regatta starts.  As an “upside down” club, the coolest part of DIYC is the fleet congregates upstairs around a massive central bar that is surrounded by an enormous covered porch.  With giant 60” plus TV screens everywhere in the ceilings, it is a multimedia extravaganza that is all turned over to sailing when needed (of course, football takes precedence at certain times of the day!). Many famous sailmakers from DOYLE, NORTH, QUANTUM and ULMAN Sails have contributed to the post-race de-briefs that include white board sessions as well as video/ photo analysis.

Not surprisingly, many J/70 crews look forward to participating in the DIYC J/70 Winter Series because it is a great training program for the skippers and crews. There are many top J/70 teams from across the country that are participating again this year. Some of those teams include; Doug Strebel’s BLACK RIVER RACING from Texas, Andrew Fisher’s BUTTON FLY from New York, Rob Britts’ HOT MESS from Tampa, Kevin Downey’s MR PITIFUL from Seattle, Will Welles’ NEW WAVE from Florida, Doug Clark’s POLAR for US Coast Guard, Bill Draheim from Texas, and Kevin Morgan’s WILD CARD from Rochester. Notably, there is a well-attended fleet of thirteen Corinthians teams.

The one major variable for the weekend’s racing will be Winter Storm Grace that is battering the USA’s West Coast on Thursday and is due to swing south across the Texas Panhandle region and across the top of the Gulf of Mexico Saturday evening and Sunday midday. Forecasts for Friday and Saturday show great breezes from the ESE feeding that frontal system; but Sunday may see anywhere from 15 to 35 knot winds from 6am to 1pm. Sailing on Sunday T.B.D.  For more Davis Island YC J/70 Winter Series sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/Love @ Väter­chen Frost Regatta

(Hamburg, Germany)- It may not rank as the world’s most notable “local” regatta, if there can be such a thing. However, it certainly ranks amongst the most competitive, picturesque regattas held on a lake in the middle of a major city in Europe. That is what the Hamburger Segel-Club was hosting this past weekend for a fleet of fifteen J/70s, nineteen J/24s, and eight J/22s that LOVE sailing on the gorgeous Alster Lake in front of the Hamburg city waterfront.

Klaus Brinkbäumer, winner of the J/70 class had this to say about their experience:

"Father Frost Regatta is becoming Father Late Summer! LOL. It was warm, and the moderate winds over the Alster Lake were spectacular. The wind was good, from the east, gusty and with many shifts, but that's how we know and like our lake.

We (tactician Carsten Kemmling, trimmer David Heitzig, bowman Florian Thoelen- all from Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) got off to a great start with our team on GER 958 BROOKLYN. It was a scramble at the start boat in the first race. We were over early, so had to restart. But, the races were long. Four laps. So, we were able to work our way up to third place. Then, we managed to get a 2nd and 1st, a perfect first day for us!

On Sunday, we made it exciting for us! We were a little early on the layline on the first windward mark. I misjudged it, and wrapped our keel on the anchor line! That was our discard race! Thankfully, we won the last race!”

Taking second behind them was Ulf Plessmann’s crew of Katrin Jahncke, Ohle Vollmer, and Anreas Benkert on GER 966 with a tally of 1-6-4-1-4 for 10 pts net.  Third was the top woman skipper, Johanna Meier’s crew of Heinrich Hader, Matthias Rummel, and Milena Muller with a 7-1-7-2-5 record for 15 pts net.

In the J/24 class, it was a “Tale of Two Cities”. The leaders and the almost leaders.  In a battle of “not torpedoing ourselves” were Fabian Damm’s GER 5316 and Frank Schoenfeldt’s GER 5412.  Both teams were experiencing an amazing roller-coaster ride all the way to the final finish.  Winning that battle was Damm’s crew on GER 5316 (Jannik Duehren, Moritz Boeoek, Jonas Lyssewski, Jan Eike Sihdiz) with a 1-6-1-8-1 for 9 pts net.  Wishing for a better outcome in their last race was Schoenfeldt’s crew on GER 5412.  In the end, their tally was the most consistent on the leaderboard, with a 5-1-2-3-4 for 10 pts net.  Taking the bronze was Stefan Karsunke’s team of Lina Nagel, Lars Hager, Lars Gibbe, and David Thompson.   Sailing photo credits- Johann Nikolaus Andreae  For more Väter­chen Frost Regatta sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Fall Italian J/24 Class Report

(Lecco, Italy)- The Italian J/24 Class continues to see good participation in many of its fall/ winter series championships across the country.  In particular, some of the fleet locations, like Lecco, Marina di Carrara, and Taranto, have been blessed with nice sailing conditions, from the Lakes District north down to the warm, sunny Mediterranean.  Here is one of those reports from Lecco.

Lecco (Lake Como)
ITA 499 Kong Griffin II, skippered by Marco Stefanoni, ended up winning the famous Interlaghi- Trofeo Canottieri Lecco- with a score of 1-3-1-2.  The regatta is a classic for the end of the season in the lakes district north of Milano, the first edition of the regatta started back in 1980 for the J/24 class.

Taking second place was ITA 476 DEJA VU, skippered by Ruggero Spreafico, posting a 4-4-2-1.  And, rounding out the podium was ITA 498 NOTIFYME-PILGRIM sailed by the fleet champion Lario Mauro Benfatto.

Five races were held over the weekend. On the first day, rain and bad weather did not stop the crews from racing.  Faced with a strong wind from the South that, at times, reached 16 to 20 knots, the fleet completed four races in about six hours on the water. At the end of a full and tiring day, the delicious aperitif in Canottieri, prepared by chef Alberto Galbani, was welcomed and inhaled in minutes by the hungry crews!

On Sunday, it was a completely different story.  The first race was held in very strong gusty winds from the North that were already hitting 20-plus knots, with big rain showers rolling across the race course.  However, as the winds built in squalls up to 25-plus knots, the Race Committee was forced to cancel the second race for safety reasons.

In addition to the winner of the regatta, a very special award was handed out- the Gino Cicardi Trophy (reserved for the oldest sailor). This year, it was awarded to Sergio Agostoni (born in 1938), helmsman and owner of the J/24 ITA 469 Bruschetta Guastafeste, fourth in the overall classification J24.  For more Italian J/24 Class sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Stanford Dominates The BIG Sail Regatta!

(San Francisco, CA)- In anticipation of the college football rivalry game on November 17 between the Stanford University Cardinals and the University of California- Berkeley Bears, the 15th annual The BIG Sail was held between the schools on San Francisco Bay. With five divisions competing on a slalom course in J/22s, Stanford took the title by winning four of the five matches. Hosting the event in their matched fleet of J/22s was the St Francis YC.

In the Varsity Division (e.g. “pro’s”), it was a nip and tuck battle.  Each school taking a win in the first two races. However, in the “rubber match” in race 3, it was Stanford all the way home to the finish line to take the victory in this prestigious division.

In the Women’s Alumni Division, it was not the “cat fight” that everyone imagined it might be between two very well-sailed all-women’s teams.  It was all Stanford, taking the division with a 2-0 record.

The Young Alumni Division was no different than the Women’s group. Stanford ran the table on U-Cal again with a 2-0 record.

It was a different story in the Master Alumni Division. This was the only “shining path” to victory seen by the rocket scientists at U-Cal Berkeley, taking their Stanford luddites to task with a 2-0 pasting.

In the end, it was all up to the Grandmasters Alumni Division to determine if U-Cal could save face, the northerners versus the southerners on San Francisco Bay.  It might as well be called “the Civil War”!  As some of these old guys may be old enough to remember what Grandpa told them about those crazy colonialists in the East.  Nevertheless, it was the Stanford Cardinals senior AARP cardholders and collectors of Medicare/ Medicaid that took home all the marbles in this division. Perhaps something to be said for living and going to school in warm, farm country down in south Bay!  For more The BIG Sail regatta information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Dutch J/22 Winter Series I Report

(Brassermermeer, The Netherlands)- The J/22 class in Europe has exhibited an extraordinary perseverance to hang tough and enjoy the camaraderie that comes with sailing a fun boat that is easy to trailer around the continent.

By far, the most popular J/22 series is hosted by the Dutch J/22 class on the famous Brassermermeer Lake.  Ten boats from France, Germany, and the Netherlands are participating in the 2018/ 2019 Winter Series.

In the first regatta, it was FRA 1444 (Brockerhoof, Michaux, Declercq) that are leading the series on a tie-breaker over the Dutch team of NED 1295 (Liselotte Verdoorn, Jan Dirk, Anneloes Rosemarijn).  Remarkably, these two teams are dominating the top of the leaderboard with a combined six 1sts, six 2nds, and four 3rds.

Third is another Dutch crew on NED 1223, led by woman helm Suzanne van Iterson, with crew of Frans, Suzanne, and Anne. They won the first race, but followed it with a 4-3-2-2-3-5-4 in eight races scored so far.    For more Dutch J/22 Winter Series sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/24 U.K. 2018 National Rankings Update

(Poole, United Kingdom)- The United Kingdom J/24 Class continues to enjoy good participation in its regional events this year and a total of twenty-three teams participated in the five U.K. events and twelve of those participated in the 2018 J/24 World Championship recently sailed on Lake Garda, Italy.

After eight events that include regattas in Fowey, Dartmouth, Poole & Saltash in the U.K., plus Kieler Woche and the J/24 Europeans in Germany, plus the Lake Garda Worlds, the leading team appears to be David Cooper’s JAWBREAKER from Royal Western YC with a Best of 4 total of 127 points (a high points total).  Sitting just five points back is Nick McDonald’s MOJOSI from Royal Western YC and then just arrears of them in third position is James Torr’s MAJIC from Saltash Sailing Club.

At this stage, the UK J/24 Rankings are important as they serve as the UK qualifiers for the 2019 J/24 World Championship being sailed in Miami, Florida and hosted by the Coral Reef YC. The UK can qualify six teams for that event.  So, in addition to JAWBREAKER, MOJOSI, and MAJIC, the next three teams are Duncan McCarthy’s MADELEINE from Parkstone YC, Iles Kysyk’s TEAM IMPACT (an Under 25 crew) from Parkstone YC, and Austen Davies’ JAM TOO from Royal Western YC.  For more J/24 U.K. Class sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.