J/109 North Americans

The inaugural J/109 North American Championships lived up to its billing as the pinnacle event for the rapidly growing J/109 class, as 19 boats from 8 states competed in a 10 race, no discard series during the New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport. Jon Halbert and his all-Texan crew (Dallas, TX) aboard VITESSE aced the last race to end up on top, ahead of Al Minella's RELENTLESS (Greenwich, CT) and Ted Herlihy aboard GUT FEELING from South Dartmouth, MA. The competitors saw the full range of conditions as Tropical Storm Beryl produced large swells for the first two days. In other race week action, Tom Coates and MASQUERADE topped a competitive 22 boat J/105 fleet, with Phil and Wendy Lotz on INDEFATIGABLE and Joerg Esdorn on KINSCEM finishing 2nd and 3rd. http://nyyc.org

Darden Wins J/80 Worlds

Texas is famous for having the biggest and best of many things. Now they can add J/80 talent to the list. After 10 races and four days of racing at Corpus Christi Yacht Club, Glenn Darden emerged as the 2006 world champion, out gunning fellow Texans John Kolius, Scott Young and Rick Schaffer plus the rest of the international fleet. Windy conditions prevailed for most of the event and the leaderboard was deep, with notable former class champions Kerry Klingler (USA), Ruairidh Scott (GBR) and Jay Lutz (USA) finishing up 5th, 7th and 9th respectively. http://www.j80worlds.com

J/109 NA's @ NYYC Race Week

New York Yacht Club at Harbour Court in Newport RI, will host the first ever J/109 North Americans as a part of NYYC Race Week (one design) which begins with registration on July 19 and runs from the 20-23. The championship event is presented by Rolex and will attract some very talented J/109 crews... With all but the final late entries to be counted, 20 J/109 teams have now registered and are currently preparing for the highlight regatta of the year. This is the largest fleet of J/109s ever assembled in the US and the first major championship for the rapidly growing US class. The J/105 class will also be well represented at the event. Please visit www.nyyc.org for regatta details.

J's Dominate Mills Trophy

J Boats cleaned up in this year's Mills Trophy Race, one of the oldest and most prestigious events in western Lake Erie. Frank Kern in his J-120 "Carinthia" was 1st in PHRF-A and 1st Overall in PHRF, winning the Mills Trophy, and took 2nd in IRC. Harry Bloom in "Dirty Harry - Do You Feel Lucky?" sailed hard on the 54 mile Governor's Course with only two other crew in his J-105 to take 1st in Class, 1st Overall and the coveted Budweiser Eagle Trophy for best corrected margin in the fleet. J-Hawker, a J-120 sailing JAM with 2 adults and the rest kids, took 1st in Class and 1st Overall on the President's course. Talk about a rout!!

The race was sailed in cold north winds that were steady in the 18-22 kt range shifting from NW to N. There were big waves that kept coming all night, a lot of wind chill, and a few gear casualties. On the 75 mile Mills course, the long 1st leg beat started in 12 kts and soon built to 22 kts. The equally long 2nd leg to Cedar Point was a blast reach. The shorter 3rd, 5th, and 6th saw jibs cracked-off and the 20 mile 4th leg was a dead beat into big Lake Erie waves that never seemed to end. Kites didn't go up until the final 12 miles of the race.

J/Fest Fun in Seattle & Annapolis

Reports from the recent J/Fest Seattle & J/Fest Annapolis are all positive. In Seattle, the two-day event held at Corinthian Yacht Club over the weekend of June 17-18 attracted 47 J/Boats in seven classes. While some light conditions on day 1 delayed the fun on the water, the party Saturday night went off without a hitch. Sunday began with light winds again but the sea breeze finally arrived to make it all worthwhile. In Annapolis, (June 30-July 1) the "skippers meeting" wine tasting event, by J/Vineyards, put everyone in the right mood for the fun non-spinnaker pursuit race to follow the next day. 33 J/Boats and 128 skippers and crew enjoyed a most beautiful Chesapeake Bay day with sunny skies and 10-15 knots of breeze. Several family crews were on hand for the low key race and the entire fleet finished within 10 minutes of each other. All in all...a great time. Thanks to all of the participants, volunteers and J/Fest sponsors! http://www.jfest.org/

Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week

Up and down conditions at Long Beach provided for some exciting one-design racing as five J/classes including the J/120, J/109, J/105, J/29 & J/80 were on hand. In all J/Boats represented 32% of the 168 boat fleet.

Gary Mozer's ‘Current Obsession 2’ recovered from a Saturday mini-slump with a second place behind Lowell North to edge Dennis and Sharon Case's ‘Wings’ by two points in the 20-boat J/105 class - the largest class at the event.

North, sailing his new ‘Triple Play’, won the final race to prove he still has some of what it took to win four Star class championships among several other world titles. "It was a good regatta," said North, who was 10th overall. "The race committee did a good job, and the hors d'oeuvres afterward were especially good."

Mozer’s win was enough to help his LBYC Team 3 win the Yacht Club Challenge Trophy for the event. Chuck Nichols aboard ‘CC Rider’ took the J/120 class, Tony Whetherbee on ‘Commotion’ took first for the J/109s, Eric & Steve McClure aboard ‘Macs’ topped the J/29s and Roland Fournier on ‘Blue Moon 2’ won the J/80s. complete results.

J/s Win 12+ Trophies in Bermuda Race

June 26, 2006...J Boat owners and crew made the best of the challenging conditions by winning four divisions and earning 8 other top three divisional finishes in the 2006 Centennial Bermuda Race, one of the longest lasting races in event history. Even the 98 foot Maximus took over 4 days to complete the 636 mile course.

Only two classes, J/44s and J/42s, qualified for their own division starts, with 11 and 9 boats respectively. The first four J/44s crossed the line in a span of 10 minutes, with Dr. Eduardo Salvati’s Mabuhay II taking the ORR division trophy, while Scott Dinhofer’s Brown Eyed Girl won under IRC. The J/42 class was won by Henry Morgan on Dolphin.

J/120s dominated Class 6, with David Askew’s Flying Jenny V and John Niewenhous’ Loose Fish, taking 1st and 3rd under both ORR and IRC scoring. Other great performances include the J/130 Christopher Dragon (Andrew Weiss) winning Class 7 IRC, the J/133 Antidote (Ron Richman) capturing 3rd in Class 10 IRC; Gary Grant’s J/120 Alibi finishing 2nd in the Double-handed division; and Brad Willauer’s J/46 Breezing Up and James Brown’s J/133 Rumba finishing 1st and 3rd in the Cruising Class.

J/Crazy in Block Island

While most media attention focused on the slow going of the Centennial Bermuda Race, the fleet at Block Island Race Week enjoyed some great sailing conditions, managing 9 races in 5 days. J/Owners were out in force with over 60% of the fleet, including starts for both the J/105 & J/109 one-design classes.

Top handicap performances included PHRF division winners Tom Lee sailing J/120 RICOCHET, John Esposito on J/29 HUSTLER, and Kel Webber with his J/34c RASCAL.

In the J/105 Class, with16 boats entered, many well known East Coast boats were on hand including Savasana, Eclipse, Kincsem, Kima and Ghost. Brian Keane and the crew of Savasana took first for the week over Joerg Esdorn in Kincsem and Damian Emery in Eclipse. The top six finishers also happen to be the some of the most widely traveled boats around, having participating in events like Key West Race Week, Charleston Race Week and Block Island Race Weeks over the past several years.

In the 14 boat J/109 fleet, Ted Herlihy and his J/109 team of Gut Feeling built a comfortable lead after the first two days of racing, managing to hold off a five boat pursuit for the rest of the week. Six different owners won a race in this competitive class. The event was a warm up for the upcoming J/109 North American Championships in Newport on July 20-23 where as many as 25 J/109s are expected. See results at http://www.blockislandraceweek.org/

J Boats Shine at NYYC Annual

June 13, 2006, Newport RI. Strong westerly winds greeted the fleet for the New York Yacht Club’s 152nd Annual Regatta, presented by Rolex. A total of 132 yachts, including 33 J Boats, sailed in the event, which for the larger boats served as the last warm-up before the Newport-Bermuda Race.

John McLeod served early warning as he and his Canadian team aboard the new J/133 Hot Water took the 14 boat IRC Class 4 over Andrew Weiss’s J/130 Christopher Dragon. Len Sitar’s Vamp was the top J/44 in IRC Class #5 with J/44s taking the 2nd, 3rd and 4th places. The J/92S made its New England debut finishing 2nd in IRC Non-Endorsed class behind Bill Sweetser on the J/109 Rush. In J one-design action, Phil Lotz and Indefatigable topped the J/105 Class, as Pete DuPont sailing Miss Marvelous won the inaugural J/100 East Coast Championships, with Bob Johnstone on Tern and Michael Wallace on Astrid finishing 2nd and 3rd. www.nyyc.org

High Seas Battle of the Brands

Among the list of 274 Newport-Bermuda Race applicants as of June 5th, the world's two leading performance brands account for 32% of the Centennial Fleet with J/Boats (44 boats) and Swan (44) leading the pack. Among classes: J/44s (12) and J/42s (9) have earned their own starting divisions. J/120s (7) and J/133s (6) with asymmetric spinnakers and retractable bowsprits are close behind along with the Swan 45s(7) . The next five brands each have less than a 5% share, with Beneteau (12 boats) and Hinckley (8) next, followed by X-Yachts (7) , Baltic (7) and C&C (7) tied for the 5th spot. http://www.bermudarace.com/2006/entrylist.php