Welles Crowned J/24 North American Champion

(Valle de Bravo, Mexico)- Who knew that the Mexican-hosted J/24 North American Championship would come down to two “gringos” from “el norte” that are “buenos amigos” from “el estado de Maine”. What? Yes! True story.

Having known each other from way, way “Down East” for well over three decades, it was more than ironic that the two leading protagonists for the 2019 J/24 North American Championship both hailed from the state of Maine, and had sailed against each other in J/24s at various events ranging from Portland to further Downeast in Southwest Harbor off Mount Desert Island! That they found themselves battling “hammer & tong” for the 2019 J/24 N.A. finale was a bit of a “back to the future” experience for both Will Welles on BRUSCHETTA and Tony Parker on BANGOR PACKET. No one was going to “pull the wool over the eyes” of the other boat, they both know each other all too well!

The 2019 J/24 North American Championship was hosted by Club Nautico Valle de Bravo on their gorgeous lake in Valle de Bravo, Mexico.  The twenty-seven boat fleet consisted of USA, French and Mexican teams from across the top fleets in the respective countries.

In the end, it was Welles’ BRUSCHETTA that withstood a hard-charging Parker on his BANGOR PACKET to return the J/24 North American Championship to Newport, RI. Welles, two-time J/24 World Champion and now four-time J/24 North American Champion, came into Friday’s final two races with a slight two-point advantage over Parker. With Mexican boat owner Aroldo de Rienzo aboard, as well as Rich Bowen, John McCabe and PJ Schaffer, BRUSCHETTA took the victory in Race 9, with Parker still hot on their heels in second. The pair dueled in the final contest, with Welles placing ninth and Parker 10th, giving Welles and team the Championship with 24 points to Parker’s 28. In third place overall, and top Mexican finisher, was Kenneth Porter’s “S” with 32 points.

Welles had never sailed in Valle de Bravo before this week, when he also competed in the Mexican National Championship (placing first overall). Although this marked the first time paired with local Valle de Bravo boat owner de Rienzo, the remaining crew are good friends from Newport, RI, who sometimes race together in the famous Newport Fleet 50 Thursday night races (considered the world’s “hottest” fleet since it has at least five J/24 World Champions sailing on some Thursdays!).

Welles summarized the conditions in Valle de Bravo, saying, “It’s funky out there. The puffs don’t move quickly, so you have to get to them. That doesn’t happen in Newport or other places we have sailed.”

As for strategy in the final two races, Welles said, “We focused on getting good starts, so we could go the way we thought we should.  The goal was to just keep Bangor Packet behind us!  Of course, we know them, and Tony is a great friend. Kudos to them for pushing us so hard!”

Rounding out the top five were top Seattle, WA sailor Mark Laura with buddy Mark Thomas onboard, sailing BABA LOUIE to 4th place.  Fifth was another Mexican team, one of the early regatta leaders- Javier Velásquez’s TRINQUETE.  For more J/24 North American Championship sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/99 Sailing Anarchy Report

(San Francisco, CA)- Norman Davant from Sail California sent this report to SailingAnarchy.com from the first sail of the new J/99 offshore shorthanded speedster on the west coast.  Norm and crew took her for a spin on the infamous San Francisco Bay to give it a good test after the Pacific Sailboat Expo boat show in Richmond, CA.  Commented Norm,

“We went thru several gyrations of everything, stretching and settling-in, and finally got the rig set up correctly. The headstay adjustment will be the key to the boat, keep the rig straight as the breeze comes up and then apply backstay.

Jeff Thorpe and Peter Cameron set the rig up as we went up thru the range; it sure helped to have these two guys along. We think we have good numbers in the 14-18 knots range, we need to sail in a bit more wind to make sure the headstay and shrouds are correct, they are close for sure.

We had six sailors on board. Amazingly, the J/99 is on “rails” up wind, totally balanced, beautiful touch on the helm.

We did not have anyone hiking; I wanted to see what the stability was like.  The boat is really stiff; you can sail with two upwind in breeze for sure.

As we were tuning, I did the old bear away trick to see if you can bear away with sails fully trimmed-in. No problem! There is no shortage of rudder size and control!

Downwind, we had a few nice 18-knot puffs and we were cruising along at 12 kts boatspeed with all the control you would want. Was I surprised with the way the boat handled and sailed? Not at all.  Designer Al Johnstone nailed the design and the build was exactly as expected out of J/Composites in Europe.

This boat will be a weapon for anyone that wants to go short-handed racing.”  Thanks for contribution from Norm Davant and SailingAnarchy.com Add to Flipboard Magazine.

SPERRY Charleston Race Week Preview

(Charleston, SC)- It is that time of year again, the weekend before Easter/ Bank Holiday, when it seems just about half the East Coast heads down to Charleston Harbor to sail in the amazingly popular SPERRY Charleston Race Week.  It is not hard to see why over 115 J/Teams are headed down to the historically famous venue (Fort Sumter is where the American Civil War started) for a long three-day weekend of sailing on six courses spread around the huge harbor.  The Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina serves as host for the event and the CORA organization provides all logistical and professional race management for the 750+ sailors.  While the on-water racing is fun, fast & furious, it’s the après’ sailing social activities on the beach ashore with loads of rum, beer, southern food, and live music that keeps sailors coming back for more fun-loving memories in the Deep South.

The regatta features six one-design J/Classes, including J/22s, J/24s, J/70s, J/80s, J/88s, and J/105s.  In addition, there are two “Pursuit-style” sailing divisions for both PHRF and ORC handicap rated boats that includes a J/30, J/35, J/109s, J/111s, J/120s and a J/122.

Starting with the biggest fleet in the regatta, the fifty-seven J/70s will have their hands full negotiating the shoals and currents and wildly shifting breezes on 3/4 mile windward legs (max!).  Despite the challenges, for most J/70 sailors, it is like a big college regatta, but on keelboats. Looking forward to that experience are many top J/70 teams, like John & Molly Baxter’s VINEYARD VINES from Riverside, CT; Doug Strebel’s BLACK RIVER RACING from Dallas, TX; Joel Ronning’s CATAPULT from Wayzata YC in MN; John Heaton’s EMPEIRIA from Chicago YC; Trey Sheehan’s HOOLIGAN: FLAT STANLEY RACING from Edgewater YC in Cleveland, OH; Marty McKenna’s RARITY from Annapolis, MD; Henry Brauer’s RASCAL from Marblehead, MA; Peter Duncan’s RELATIVE OBSCURITY from American YC; and Brian Keane’s SAVASANA from Boston, MA.

Top visiting teams from outside the USA include Tony Staples’ REDCOAT from Royal St Lawrence YC in Canada; Francisco Van Avermaete’s JUICY from YC Argentino in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Pedro Camargo’s MANCHA NEGRA from YC Rio de Janeiro in Brazil; Paul Wolman’s MENACE from Royal Hamilton Dinghy Club in Bermuda; and Vernon Robert’s MORENITA from Club de Yates Algarrobo in Chile.

After sailing two midwinter regattas in St Petersburg, FL, the ten-boat J/88 class is looking forward to solid, warm winds, and hot competition.  It is a star-studded gathering of the top J/88s from Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, and the Northeast. The leading teams should include Iris Vogel’s DEVIATION from Huguenot YC in New Rochelle, NY; Andy & Sarah Graff’s EXILE from Chicago, IL; Laura Weyler’s HIJINKS from Youngstown YC in New York; Rob Ruhlman’s SPACEMAN SPIFF from Lakeside YC in Cleveland, OH; and Mike Bruno’s WINGS from American YC in Rye, NY. Anyone of those teams is capable of podium finishes and have all topped the leaderboard in major J/88 regattas in the past.

There are six-boats sailing in the J/22 class, mostly comprised of “Warrior Sailing Teams” on four boats; the four skippers are Sammy Hodges, Jacob Raymond, Corey Hall, and Sammy Lugo. Joining them is Terence Young’s PUFF and the US Patriot Sailing Team on PATRIOT XXII.

Of the dozen boats sailing in the J/24 class, eight are from the local fleet and four are “out of towners”.  It is those “foreigners” that represent a formidable challenge to local knowledge, such as Carter White’s YouREGATTA from Portland YC in ME and Mike Quaid’s ICE CUBE from Mallets Bay Boat Club in VT.

The five-boat J/80 class may be dominated by a dynamic duo from Annapolis, MD. Those teams are Bert Carp’s ELEVEN from Annapolis YC and Bill & Shannon Lockwood’s SHENANIGANS from Eastport YC in Annapolis.

It will be an all-South Carolina turn-out for the five-boat J/105 class. Amusingly enough, it also features an internecine rivalry amongst them; Frickie Martschink & Bill McKenzie on RUMFRONT versus Miles Martschink & Ben Hagood on SKIMMER. Making sure that family blood doesn’t boil over will be Joe Highsmith on DEAD ON ARRIVAL, Bob Scribner on JOYRIDE, and the trio of Matt Self, Russ Smith, & Paul Jacques on RUCKUS.

It will be interesting to see how the ORC Hybrid Pursuit Division of fourteen boats turns out after three days of sailing. Half of the division is J/Teams.  Those boats include Andy Wescoat’s J/109 HARM’S WAY from Houston, TX; two J/111s (Rob Stein’s KINETIC from Charleston, SC and Ian Hill’s SITELLA from Hampton YC in VA); two J/120s (John Keenan’s ILLYRIA from Mt Pleasant, SC and Rick Moore’s MOOSE DOWN from Charleston, SC); Robin Team’s J/122 TEAMWORK from Lexington, NC; and Will Schwenzfeier’s J/35 ARROW from Charleston, SC.

In the “traditional” PHRF Pursuit Division, there are five J/Teams.  Those fun-loving crews include the J/120 EMOCEAN (Bill Hanckel from Charleston YC); the J/120 ROCKET SCIENCE (Rick Oricchio from Mt Pleasant, SC); the J/130 SCEPTRE (Bob Musor from CORA in Mt Pleasant, SC); the J/30 LAS BRISAS (Mark Swatta from Mt Pleasant, SC); and the J/36 SOUL (the College of Charleston Sailing Team).

The forecasts are for “breeze-on” for most of the regatta, starting Thursday practice day through the Sunday finale.  For more Charleston Race Week sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

THE Easter J/24 Regatta Preview

(Columbia, SC)- Sailed in J/24s since 1987, THE Easter Regatta has been one of the world’s most popular and enduring J/24 events. It offers an excellent mix of shore side events and world-class competition. Whether your’s is an amateur team attending your first regatta or a professional team contending for the top prize, you will find something that impels you to return year after year!

The Columbia Sailing Club offers first-class facilities. Everyone will appreciate the new Bath House at the beach and camping area, especially the campers! Their “never-leave-the-club” option offers free camping (first-come, first-served), meals every day, and parties galore! The beautiful peninsula and gorgeous beach provides an unparalleled camping experience.

Most importantly, the down-home southern hospitality ties everything together. This is the tradition that competitors have come to know and love.

Answering that “call to duty” for J/24 sailors are at least thirteen teams from across the cosmos of the J/24 universe.  Notable characters include such teams like Mike Palazzo’s JO MAMMA from Charleston YC; Steve Wood’s TASMANIAN DEVIL from Sail Newport, RI; Paul Abdullah’s TEAM TARHEEL from Jacksonville, FL; Corey Huseby’s BORK! BORK! BORK! from St Paul, MN; Rob Baldwin’s PIG from Central, SC; and Crisp McDonald’s LEVEL PELICAN from Charleston, SC.   Follow the J/24 Easter Regatta on Facebook  For more J/24 Easter Regatta sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

New England J/Fest Announcement

(Newport, RI)- The third annual New England J/Fest Regatta is being hosted by Sail Newport the weekend of August 9-11th 2019. This is the third New England J/Fest Regatta limited exclusively to J/Boat owners and crews with racing and social events scheduled throughout the weekend.

This event capitalizes on the very successful 2017 event and similar successful J/Fest Regattas held in other US regions where participation exceeded seventy boats. Event organizers anticipate more than seventy boats at the starting line for the 2019 New England J/Fest. Expected one‐design classes include J/22, J/24, J/30, J/70, J/80, J/88, J/105, J/109, J/121. The 2019 event will also include a class for J/Cruisers.

Narragansett Bay is considered a special “home waters” venue for the New England J/Fest as many of the sailboats were locally built in Rhode Island. Once again, Sail Newport has been selected to host the 2019 J/Fest Regatta. Sail Newport has an active racing program that includes a fleet of club owned J/22’s and counts numerous J/Boat owners as many of their most active members. Sail Newport is a State of Rhode Island resource that provides strong support for sailing and has the facilities to successfully host an event of this caliber. The shore side activities for the 2019 J/Fest will be held at the Sail Newport gorgeous new facilities located at Fort Adams.    J/Fest Registration is currently open.

Information regarding the regatta including logistics, mooring availability, social event signup and hotel accommodations are all located on the J/Fest New England regatta website: http://www.jfestnewengland.com. Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Warsash Spring Series- Weekend II Report

(Warsash, England)- The second weekend is now on the books for the Warsash Sailing Club’s famous HELLY HANSEN Warsash Spring Series. The fleet was blessed, again, with good enough conditions to get in one more race for the IRC handicap fleets and three more for the J/70s.

In the IRC 2 Class, now sitting in 2nd is Simon Perry’s J/111 JIRAFFE with a 1-2-3 for 6 pts, just one point shy of first place overall. And, hanging on to 4th is Chris Burleigh’s J/109 JYBE TALKIN with a 6-5-8 for 19 pts.

Meanwhile, in the IRC 3 Class, having not raced the third race, sliding down to 4th overall is David Greenhalgh’s J/92 J’RONIMO.

The hotly contested fleet of J/70s have now sailed nine races.  Sitting comfortably in 1st is Paul Ward’s EAT SLEEP J REPEAT with mostly 1sts and 2nds for 12 pts net. 2nd is Graham Clapp’s JEEPSTER with 39 pts, having not sailed the last three races. 3rd is Phil Chandler’s BLACKJAX with 43 pts. 4th Doug Struth’s DSP with 51 pts, having missed the 2nd weekend of races. And, 5th Martin Dent’s JELVIS with 53 pts, having missed the 1st and 3rd weekend of races.

To date, the J/88s have three races.  Leading is Gavin Howe’s TIGRIS with all bullets for 3 pts. 2nd Richard Cooper’s JONGLEUR with a 3-2-3 for 8 pts. 3rd Kirsty & David Apthorp’s J-DREAM with a 4-3-4 for 11 pts. Then, rounding out the top five is Dianne & Dirk Van Beek’s SABRIEL JR and Tim Tolcher’s RAGING BULL, in 4th & 5th, respectively.

The J/109s also have three races on the books.  Winning handily is Simon Perry’s JIRAFFE with all bullets for 3 pts. 2nd is Chris Burleigh’s JYBE TALKIN with a 2-2-3 for 7 pts. 3rd is Rob Cotterill’s MOJO RISIN with 30 pts. And, the balance of the top five are, 4th Bill Stock’s JENGU and 5th Chris Preston’s JUBILEE.

The all-encompassing J/Sprit division is dominated by J/88s.  They hold all top three spots; 1st is Howe’s TIGRIS, 2nd Apthorp’s J-DREAM, and 3rd Cooper’s JONGLEUR.  For more HELLY HANSEN Warsash Spring Series sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Australia Boat Show Announcement- Debut of J/121 & J/112E!

(Sydney, Australia)- The team at J/Boats Australia (Yachtspot) will be displaying at the Club Marine Sail Expo over the weekend of 27-28 April 2019.  The Sail Expo is to be held at Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, Newport, about 25km north of Sydney.  Yachtspot will be exhibiting the J/121, J/112E and J/70.  Also close by, Yachtspot will also have access to a J/97E and J/88 on another arm of the marina.

J/121 Australia Updates
The J/121 is Melbourne-based and will be sailing 600.0nm up the east coast in time for the show, and then venturing another 1,200.0nm up to the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland for some winter regatta racing at Hamilton Island Race Week.  The beauty of the J/121 is that she is fully ocean-capable, so offers the thrills and adventure of not only ocean racing, but also the journey to get to the World’s most beautiful sailing locations.

Also, on display will be the J/112E from the Elegance range, the epitome of ‘performance cruiser’ design for comfort, style and speed.

Plus the inimitable J/70, with representatives from the J/70 Australian Class Association on-hand to chat through why they love the J/70 and the benefits this International one-design class can bring to sailors from all ranges of experience, from beginning racers to the most experienced world-class Olympic Medallist.  For more information, please contact Ray Entwistle- ph- +61 2 9997 7158/ email- info@yachtspot.com.au   Follow J/Boats Australia (Yachtspot) on Facebook here Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/120s Duel @ Doublehanded Farallones Race

(San Francisco, CA)- Sixty-three boats registered to start the 2019 edition of the infamous Doublehanded Farallones Race, hosted by the Bay Area Multihull Association (BAMA).  This year, most of the top boats completed the picturesque, iconoclastic 58.0nm race between 9 to 10+ hours elapsed time (a not so fast average of ~ 5.8 kts to ~ 6.4 kts).

Going for it were seven J/crews from various Bay area sailing clubs and most all of them completed the circuit out and around the foreboding Farallones Island and rocks.

For the first time in recent memory, there was a “big boat” one-design class. The PHRF 3 Class was comprised of entirely J/120s. Winning that “mano’a’mano” battle by just five minutes was Sean & Jeff Mulvihill’s JAMANA in 8:49:14. Taking the silver was Mike O’Callaghan & John Verdoa’s PEREGRINE in 8:54:13.  Then about ten minutes behind them taking the bronze was Timo Bruck & Elaine Scott’s TWIST in 9:14:26. Rounding out the top five were Ludovic Milin & Philippe Jamotte’s SAETTA and Bridgitt Ahern & Gilles Combrisson’s ALCHERA in 4th and 5th, respectively.

Commented the winning skipper Sean Mulvihill from JAMANA, “a strong J/120 fleet enjoyed having its own division. JAMANI and SAETTA were over early in very light wind at the start, taking 6-8 minutes to re-cross. PEREGRINE had a perfect start, but were caught in a wind hole mid-bay. JAMANI and PEREGRINE traded the lead several times during the race, but JAMANI prevailed at the finish! An exciting race overall for all J/120 crews!”

Then, in PHRF 5 Class, taking second was Chris Kim & Carl Plant’s J/105 VUJA STAR in 9:29:04, about 45 minutes elapsed behind the lead J/120.  Fourth in class was Jim Hopp & Chris Cartwright’s J/88 WHITE SHADOW.  For SF BAMA Doublehanded Farallones entries and race results  For more SF-BAMA Doublehanded Farallones Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Gorgeous BVI Spring Regatta

Silver for Leading J/Teams!
(Nanny Cay, Tortola, BVI)- The sailors that participated in the 2019 BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival could not have enjoyed a better long weekend of sailing in the sunny Caribbean in the British Virgin Islands.  Hosted by the Royal British Virgin Islands Yacht Club and sailed out of the spectacular Nanny Cay Marine, the various members of the J/Tribe enjoyed racing the 48th edition of the regatta with 60-plus boats.

The Race week schedule included the traditional Round Tortola Race for the Nanny Cay Cup, followed by Scrub Island Invitational on day two of racing in the Sailing Festival. Then, three great days of racing followed for the 48th BVI Spring Regatta.

Like they have so many times before, the J/122s enjoyed more racing success in the Caribbean.  This time, in CSA Racing 2 class, it was Tony Mack’s J/122 TEAM McFLY/ EL OCASO that took the silver with a 3-2-1-3-4 for 13 pts.

In the CSA Racing 3 class, there was more silver to be garnered, this time by Mackenzie Bryan’s J/100 BAD GIRL taking the silver medal with a 1-1-2-2-4 for 10 pts. Fifth in class was Mike Feierbend’s J/24 BRAVISSIMO with a 5-6-3-3-5 for 22 pts.

Finally, in the CSA Performance Cruising, fourth place went to Kieran Duck’s J/120-mod ESCAPED AUSSIES~ JAGUAR with a consistent 4-4-4-5-4 for 21 pts.  For more BVI Spring Regatta sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Warrior Sailing Program Expanding to J/22s

(Fort Worth, Texas)- Warrior Sailing is expanding its Basic Training Camp program to include Fort Worth, TX where they have partnered with the Fort Worth Boat Club. Training will take place from May 14 to 16, 2019 on beautiful Lake Ray Hubbard on the club’s fleet of J/22s.

Coaches will instruct onboard J/22s with a crew of three warriors. The club has accommodations onsite for the coaches, so there will not be a lodging cost to the coaches or to Warrior Sailing. If any sailing coaches have an interest in helping out, please let them know immediately!

For more information, please contact- Cory Kapes/ Warrior Sailing Program Manager / email- Cory@WarriorSailing.org/ phone- (727) 773-6164.  Our Sails are Powered by the Wind, Our Program is Powered by Donations Add to Flipboard Magazine.