Key West Shines on J Sailors

With only three races in, two days cancelled, and the fleet in a 3 hour postponement, it wasn’t looking pretty 11am Thursday during Acura Key West Race Week. But then the ON switch was activated, and Peter Craig’s expert race management team ran off five races in the last day and a half, to ensure another successful week at Key West. Incredible results were turned in by the J fleet, in both one-design and handicap classes.

In one-design action, Tom Coates and his team from San Francisco aboard MASQUERADE, won their 4th J/105 Midwinter title in champion fashion by 42 points over Damian Emery on ECLIPSE, Joerg Esdorn on KINSCEM and the rest of the 34 boat fleet. John Storck of Huntington, NY aboard RUMOR captured the J/80 Midwinters over perennial champion Kerry Klingler and Magnus Tyreman from Sweden. Storck, with son Eric driving and daughter Katie trimming, managed an impressive 6 bullets in 8 races. The J/109 Midwinter title came down to the final race, with Don Filippelli (NY) on CAMINOS edging out Bill Sweetser (Annapolis) on RUSH, and Jim Powers (TX) on SEATRIAL. Three points separated the top 3 boats.

Of the six handicap divisions that included at least one J Boat (5 PHRF divisions and 1 IRC division), J owners dominated the leader board, winning 44% of the top three class trophies. Jim Madden (Newport Beach, CA) on his J/125 STARK RAVING MAD won the PHRF-1 performance sport boat class. Will Hanckel (Charleston, SC) dominated PHRF-2 in his J/120 EMOCEAN. And Robert Armstrong of St. Croix, USVI commissioned his new, red J/100 BAD GIRL in time to take PHRF-4.

In the closely contested IRC-2 class, racing came down to the wire, with Jim Bishop’s J/44 GOLDDIGGER making the most of the final day’s windy conditions to edge out Andrew Weiss’ J/122 CHRISTOPHER DRAGON and Robin Team’s TEAMWORK for 2nd. Both J/122s won the prior day of racing and TEAMWORK was awarded the Boat of the Day by Premiere Racing. The top two boats were the Swan 45 and J/44, with the J/122’s leading the rest of the fleet of 37-41 footers. Results here

J/42 Completes Transat Passage

Returning from the latest family cruising excursions in Europe, Peter Willauer and crew officially went “Off Watch” upon arrival to Nelson’s Dockyard at English Harbor, Antigua… a relatively short 70nm sail from their destination of Nevis in the Caribbean. This passage which took place between Nov. 28 through Dec. 15th was a bit more challenging than most with high winds, high seas and excitement. The crew completed the 2,863 nm TransAtlantic crossing in just 16 days, 23hrs and 40min, averaging 7kts... which must be a new J/42 record… Peter & Carol Willauer’s J/42 Eight Bells has easily logged more ocean going miles than most J/s over the past 6 or 7 years with the boat serving as home away from home. Peter reflects on this most recent and memorable voyage. Learn more about Eight Bells at their site www.eightbells.org

Cruising J/46 to the Remote Arctic

Experienced offshore sailor Ned Cabot recently published a story of the latest adventure aboard his J/46 ‘Cielita’ in Ocean Navigator magazine (Jan/Feb ’08 issue). This is a must read for J/Cruising enthusiasts. Since 2003 Ned and some well seasoned crew mates have explored many areas in the northern latitudes visiting Labrador, Greenland, Scotland, Iceland, Ireland and most recently Norway, sailing through the Norwegian Sea and touching on the Arctic Ocean within 600nm of the North Pole... that’s about as far north as one can sail on earth! An abridged picture-less version of his 2007 cruise is available at Ocean Navigator Online here. To see some great pics, go out and get a copy of Ocean Navigator at the newsstand, it’s on page 32. Also there are some neat photos and more info on past voyages at the Cielita sailing blog.

2007 – A Look Back @ A Record Year

It’s been a record year for J/Boat owners with major offshore racing wins across the US and Europe. The introduction of the new J/122 built by J/Europe has taken the IRC circuit in France, the UK, the Netherlands and the USA by storm achieving several overall wins both inshore and offshore. J/Boat owners were class and overall champions of numerous offshore events including Ft. Lauderdale-Key West Race, Pineapple Cup, Bayview Mac Race, Annapolis-Newport Race, Charleston Bermuda Race, Transpac (overall winner J/125 Reinrag II pictured here), Chicago Mac, and several RORC offshore races. J/133 was awarded “Best Series Produced Yacht” and the J/122 won IRC 1 class overall for the entire season in the 2007 RORC series. J/80 production raced by the 1,000 hull milestone now with over 1050 boats built. A record 120 J/80s sailed at the World Championships in La Trinite France. The J/105 Class set attendance records on both US coasts culminating in a 69 boat fleet at the North American Champs in Annapolis. J/105 also won the RORC 2-handed season trophy. J/109 class activity is thriving in the US and UK. Clay Burkhalter successfully sailed his Rod Johnstone designed Mini 6.5 ‘Acadia’ across the Atlantic from France to Brazil finishing 12th overall out of 89 entries. The J/80 debuted at the Asian Sportboat Championship placing 1st and 2nd overall. J/Europe increased factory capacity by 40% thanks to increasing demand worldwide for new J/Boats. Then several more J/Owners are actively engaged cruising their boats through the oceans of the world. That’s really just the tip of the iceberg. Congratulations to J/Owners for an incredible year!

J/Owner: US Sailing Sailor of the Week

As Commodore of Larchmont Yacht Club in New York, Jan Smeets knows a thing or two about the inner workings of a yacht club. Following the path that's common at many yacht clubs, Jan climbed the ranks at the club and is now halfway through his two-year term as commodore. A lifelong sailor who learned to sail as a kid growing up in Curacao, Jan has owned his share of boats over the years. He's currently the proud owner of a J/133 named Bacchanal. According to his wife Anne-Mieke, the name for the boat follows Jan's mantra of enjoying life and having fun. A few weeks ago, Jan celebrated his 60th birthday at the club with plenty of friends and family in attendance. When everyone asked him what he wanted for his birthday, Jan responded with "Please make a donation to US SAILING." Read more.

J/80 Across the Atlantic

“The rough wind had brought up some nice waves rolling in from astern and with storm jib and main our J/80 was constantly planing with top speed above 15 knots. The full moon gave full control over the big waves and I could freely choose which waves to surf down. I thought that this night’s sailing alone was worth all the effort and hard work preparing for this trip when I suddenly see something dark by the side of the boat. It takes a few seconds before I realize that the boat is surrounded by dolphins. Sometimes three to four dolphins jump just in front of the bow, sometimes side by side with the boat. I am actually playing in the waves with the J/80 together with the dolphins. Amazing! I woke Andreas down below (who hadn't been able to sleep anyway in the racketing noise) he looked up and realized where the whistling and clicking noises he had heard actually came from.”

Two good friends and fellow sailors Jens Utbult and Andreas Granberg from Sweden have taken on the challenge to sail to the West Indies from Portugal aboard their J/80 Roxen.com and are just now nearing completion of the crossing/odyssey. Why, you might ask? “The idea of sailing to the West Indies was born during a warm summer night on our way to Fårö. A J/80, is an eight meter long racing boat with the same conveniences as a two-man-tent and is so fast that it even leaves some 40-feet boats behind. J/80s have been sailed in races like Gotland Runt and other ocean races many times but still, no one has crossed the Atlantic Ocean in one. We will change that during 2007.” Follow their adventure here.

J Owners Recognized at RORC Prize Giving

Last month’s Royal Ocean Racing Club’s annual awards dinner was anything but a quiet affair for J owners, who wore a path to the podium to collect an impressive array of silver: Chaz Ivill won the Jazz Trophy for IRC overall in his J/133 JB3; Nick Martin won the Alan Paul Trophy for consistent high performance in IRC in his J/105 DIABLO-J; Philippe Delaporte received the Emily Verger Plate for first place in IRC 1 in his J/122 PEN AZEN; Mike West and Paul Worswick won the Psipsina Trophy for first place in the Two Handed Division in J/105 JUNEAU; Jean-Eudes Renier and Patrick Baune won the J/109 RORC Trophy in JEE-RAFT; Marcus Wilson and those magnificent RAF men in their flying machine, the J/109 RED ARROW were awarded the Haylock Cup for Best British service Yacht in IRC; Chaz Ivill took a second bow and sailed away with the Serendip Trophy in his J/133 JB3 as Best Series Produced Yacht in IRC; and an encore performance for Philippe Delaporte in J/122 PEN AZEN who returned to France with the Stradivarius Trophy for Best Overseas Yacht in IRC. Well done all!

J/80’s 1-2 in Asian Sportboat Champs

The J/80 recently debuted in Asia at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club's Maersk Asian International Sportboat Championship, where two out-of-the-box J/80 yachts took the top two spots, finishing ahead of a mixed fleet of custom and production built sportboats from China, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. Jeff Johnstone of J Boats and his all-Hong Kong crew edged out colleague Jeff Brown of San Diego to complete the one-two sweep. Brown, with partner Hudson Wang, recently opened the J Boats Asia dealership with an office in downtown Hong Kong and with plans for a mainland China office in 2008.

The Asian debut comes at a time when J/80 activity is booming worldwide. The recent J/80 World Championship in La Trinite-sur-Mer, France had 124 competing teams - a record for the Class, and momentum continues to build. "The J/80 is a solid all-around performer that’s really easy to sail," Johnstone said. "It's more stable than most sportboats, and so attracts and rewards sailors from a wider age and ability range."

Brown is equally enthusiastic about the J/80's Asian debut. "We see Hong Kong, China, and Asia as great opportunities for J/80 sailing and for the J/80 Class," said Brown. "There is no better small keelboat for new sailors - the J/80 combines the speed and responsiveness of a small boat with the comfort and stability of a larger yacht. With momentum so strong around the world, we're hoping to host the J/80 Pacific Rim Championship in a few years!"

The J/80 will be on display at the Shanghai International Boat Show next April.

J/80 2007 NA Championship

Kerry Klingler sailing his J/80 Lifted with crew including Doug Lynn, Neil Bresnan & John Bowden recently won his second consecutive J/80 North American Championship and third J80 NA title overall by winning the final show-down race where a single point separated the top three boats.

Just six weeks before the J/80 NA Championships the J/80 Class organization faced a terrible problem. Lake Norman, N.C., where the regatta was scheduled to take place was drying up because of the severe drought in the southeast USA. With too little water to launch boats and race it was panic time! The class’s first call was to Kristen Robinson to ask if Eastport YC, in Annapolis, could host the regatta. The club accepted and started organizing a first class event in record time. The class embraced the move and teams from as far away as California changed plans. The end result was a true championship regatta, raced by 33 competitors who love the boat… Complete wrap-up.

J/109s 1-2 @ IRC East Coast Champs

Bill Sweetser’s J/109 Rush dominated his IRC Class 4 followed by fellow J/109 owner Steve McManus sailing Saykadoo (thumbnail courtesy of wavelengthstudios.com) to second in the Storm Trysail Club 2007 IRC East Coast Championship recently held in Annapolis. With finishes of 1.5,2,1,1,2,1,1 for a total of 9.5 points after throw-out, Sweetser & crew achieved the lowest point total for all IRC classes at the event! While the overall IRC award somehow eluded Rush and the Class 4 group, overall it was a great showing for both the Rush & Saykadoo teams!

And speaking of teams, Robin Team’s brand new J/122 Teamwork sailing in her first out of the box event finished a respectable 2nd place in IRC Class 3. With no wind during the practice race to tune up and then breeze-on for day 1, the Teamwork crew put their new boat and team on a steep learning curve, improving each race and eventually taking at least one first and a couple of second place finishes for the series….next stop, Key West. In total 45 boats, divided into five classes competed in this the final event in the 2007 IRC Gulf Stream Series. Results.