Summer Fun with The J/100

J/Owner and enthusiast Pat Kabris sent us this photo of his J/100 'Hurricane Bar & Grill' docked at his one acre island on Lake of the Woods.

Located between northern Minnesota and Canada, Lake of the Woods is considered North America’s other Great Lake. With over 14,000 islands and more than 64,000 miles of shoreline the lake has evolved into a premier outdoor recreation area for anglers, hunters, boaters, sailors and nature lovers. Pat's kids refer to this particular building on their island as "The Yacht Club". The J/100 is not only the perfect foreground prop but also a favorite platform for summer fun on the lake. (click the photo to enlarge).

Zepher Dominates J-30 NA Champs

The J/30 North Americans were held at Cedar Point Yacht Club in Westport, Connecticut, with 17 boats participating in the annual championship for the 26 year old class. 7 races were held in conditions ranging from 25 knots out of the east with a huge chop, to 5 knot light air battles. Boats came from New Orleans, Annapolis, New Jersey, Chicago, and Connecticut.

The New Orleans boat, Zephyr with skipper Scott Tonguis, dominated with 4 bullets to win their fifth consecutive North American championships, followed by Bebop from Annapolis, Fuzzy Wuzzy from New Jersey, Big Kahuna from Annapolis, and finally Smiles from Westport rounded out the top five. Racing was extremely close and competitive, with 10 boats scoring finishes in the top five. Complete details at http://www.cedarpointyc.org/

J/105 Best Series Yacht in RORC IRC

The J/105 has once again proved why it is the most successful mid-sized keelboat in the world. The J/105 has continued its success in the 2-handed RORC series during 2006 and has beaten fully crewed boats both on the water and on handicap. The championship winner for 2005 of the Psipsina Trophy, Slingshot (Shaun Murphy) has once again been crowned 2-handed champion. This year the J/105 has been even more successful as it finished 1st Overall IRC and 1st IRC Class 2, adding the Jazz Trophy and Grenade Goblet to the silver cabinet.

The J/105 was awarded the Serendip Trophy for the Best Series-Produced Yacht in IRC by RORC for 2006 and Slingshot won the Somerset Memorial Trophy for outstanding achievement of a 2-handed yacht and was named 2006 Yacht of the Year.

With over 650 boats sailing, the J/105 is not a new design, first touching the water in 1992, however it is thoroughly modern and offers a great blend of sailing performance. Designed for non-overlapping headsails she has a simple sail plan, which provides the performance without the costs. A retractable carbon bowsprit and asymmetric spinnaker provide the power downwind.

The J/105 is on display at the Southampton Boat Show on the “try a boat” stand and J-UK will happily arrange a demo sail and show the benefits of the boat that is RORC Best Series-Produced Yacht 2006.

Kerry Klingler Wins J/80 NA's

J/80 Fleet One hosted a fleet of 29 boats for the J-Jamboree 2006 J/80 North American Championship Regatta held on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire on September 8, 9 and 10. Friday’s racing was cancelled due to lack of wind, but breeze slowly arrived on Saturday and less so on Sunday to make for some challenging racing. Kerry Klingler of “Lifted” took first place overall with 8 points, followed by Blake Fleetwood of “USA 352” in second place with 9 points and Les Beckwith of “FKA” in third place with 19 points.

At the awards ceremony winners were presented granite trophies in the shape of New Hampshire, along with other J-Jamboree items. Bob Knowles was commended with a plaque for his leadership of the event. Bob thanked the attending boats and praised the volunteers who helped make the event a success. www.j-jamboree.org

Terry Triumphs at J/22 NAs

Terry Flynn of Texas added another J/22 championship to his collection as he prevailed over 58 other teams at the 2006 J/22 North American Championship. With a total score of only 15 points spanning seven races, Flynn’s consistency dominated the regatta despite very puffy and shifty conditions on Lake Minnetonka. Flynn’s previous list of victories in the J/22 includes a World Championship in 2001 and North American Championships in 1998, 1996 and 1995. The 1996 event was held also held on Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota. Additionally, he won the 2003 and 1998 Midwinter Championships.

J/22 Fleet 1 hosted the regatta from September 13-15 at Wayzata Yacht Club, although the first day of racing was abandoned due to a lack of wind. The two days of racing that occurred featured breezes ranging from 7-18 knots. Chris Doyle of New York won the award for top amateur sailor, finishing with 42 points and two bullets. Complete results may be found at http://www.j22northamericans.com

The 2007 North American Championship will be hosted by Cleveland Yachting Club in Ohio from September 18-23.

J/92S to Make Fall Boat Show Debut

The new J/92S will be making its US fall boat show debut at the Newport Boat Show (Sept 14-17), followed by the Annapolis Boat Show (Oct 5-9). Owners are raving at the speed and stability of this 30 foot sprit model. In just its first year of sailing, the 92S has already logged impressive results, with a 1st Place in IRC-3 at the 2006 Obelix Trophy, 2nd in IRC-3 at 2006 Spi Ouest, and winner of IRC-1 in the Royal Southampton Double-handed Regatta. If a family oriented, performance sprit boat with weekending accommodations sounds appealing, we invite you to visit us at one of the upcoming boat shows.

The J/92S will also be on display at the Southampton Show (UK) Sept 16-24 and the La Rochelle Show (FR) Sept 20-25.

J-UK Reports: The 2006 Season, So Far

J/Sailors are enjoying a banner year of successes and milestones throughout Europe and more specifically the UK and Ireland. J/133 Owners posted wins at the Hamble Winter Series, Round the Island Race, St. Pete Port Double, and the Blenheim Triangle Race to date. And recently, Stewart Hawthorn’s ‘Jump’ just narrowly missed a first place class win at Skandia Cowes Week in IRC Class 2. In J/105 action the class one-design circuit is starting to fire on all cylinders with renewed enthusiasm for class racing at Deauville International Week in June, the J/105 UK National Championships in July, the just completed Skandia Cowes Week & later in August, J/Cup. J/105 Owners are also posting some impressive wins in RORC series events. In the J/109 group, it is not unusual for twenty or more boats to now enter most major class events. Of the 300 J/109s worldwide that are sailing, over 65 are located in the UK and Ireland... With the introduction of the new J/92S, the J/100 daysailor and continued success of the J/80 class, we expect the year to continue to please J/Owners. For more of the latest J-UK news visit http://www.j-uk.com

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.