Silvestri Dominates J/22 Cal Dreamin Match!

(San Francisco, CA)- The St Francis Yacht Club hosted the California Dreamin' Match Race Regatta this weekend. Eight teams from across the West Coast got wind in the low double digits, sun, and a fair bit of tide.  The St Francis YC Race Committee managed a full double round robin, plus the championship round starting with quarter-finals and ending with the top two teams in the finale- a good time was had by all!

The 2017 California Dreamin’ Series – match racing at San Diego YC, Long Beach YC, and St. Francis YC – finished this past weekend at the St. Francis under sunny skies and light winds that delayed the starts but then filled in nicely, leading to action-packed, close matches.

In the San Francisco finale, the third of the three regattas, it was two St. Francis YC teams, Russ Silvestri and Nicole Breault that finished first and second, with Russ winning all of his matches and Nicole losing only to Russ.  Third place went to Dave Hood of Long Beach YC.

The overall winner of the J/22 California Dreamin' Series was Long Beach YC member Shane Young due to his second place finish at SDYC and his victory at LBYC, the second stop.  Sailing photo credits- Chris Ray  For more J/22 California Dreamin’ Match Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Italian J/24 Series Reports

(Rome, Italy)- For many of the J/24 fleets across the Italian peninsula, the conclusion of their winter series over the past few weeks has meant just a short breather.  Now, some of the fleets have started up their official 2017 summer series.  Here are the latest reports on that activity.

Marina di Carrara
In the “Gulf of Poets”, as it is referred to, two days of great sailing have taken place.  For the ten teams sailing off the breakwater of the Marina di Carrara, six races were held.  It is pretty clear that one team is dominating the proceedings, with ITA 215 MOLLICONA, sailed by Vincenzo Mercuri and James Del Nero, compiling a 2-1-1-5-2-1 for just 7 pts net.  Despite their excellent record, just two points back is Italian J/24 Class President Pietro Diamanti, sailing ITA 212 JAMAICA to a 1-2-4-1-3-2 tally for 9 pts net.  Sitting in third is IRA 202 TALLY HO, sailed by Roberta Banfo and Luca Macchiarini.

“We had two beautiful days of sailing and sun during which we sailed six good races,” commented Pietro Diamanti. “All crews were very happy. A big thank you to all those who worked on the Race Committee for their most excellent race management."

Pare Valmadrera/ Lario
With three victories in six races, there are no questions that ITA 503 KONG GRIFONE sailed by Marco Stefani has a narrow lead in their series; their tally so far is 1-1-2-1-2-3 for 7 pts!  However, keeping close tabs on them is Roger Spreafico’s ITA 476 DEJA VU, posting scores of 3-2-1-3-1-1 for just 8 pts!  Sitting in third position in the cheap seats is Mauro Benfatto’s ITA 352 with 15 pts.

“It was amazing racing over the two days on the lake water of Parè Valmadrera!  Plus, we had admirable organization by the Circolo Vela Tivano, they deserve a big Thanks from the Fleet,” commented Mauro Benfatto. "The next stage is scheduled for March 25th & 26th at the Navy League of Mandello del Lario. Here we will designate the winner of our series in Lario.”

Anzio & Nettuno/ Rome
The Roman J/24 fleet concluded their Trofeo Roberto Lozzi series with a flourish; four races were held over the weekend, two on Saturday and two on Sunday. Not surprisingly, it was ITA 416 LA SUPERBA that won the series; she was skippered by Ignazio Bonanno and crewed by Simone Tarjeta, Alfredo Branciforte, and Francesco and Vincenzo Picaro.  Sailing faster and smarter all series long was the Hungarian team on HUN 1622 JUKE BOX; their crew was Miklòs Rauschenberger, Balmaz Litkey, Tamas Peter, Akos Pecsvaradi, & Tamas Richter.

"On Saturday we had a nice strong wind of 18 kts,” explained Federico Miccio.  “In fact, by the time we started racing it was gusting up to 25 kts!  Loving the 100% blade jib conditions were the Hungarians on JUKE BOX, they posted a 1-2 on Saturday’s racing.

Then on Sunday, we were presented with totally different conditions.  There was no sirocco wind as forecasted; instead, we had a light breeze of 5-6 kts, true 150% genoa conditions! The conditions were a bit crazy. In fact, on the first race we had a 70-degree shift to the south (from the original easterly direction), so the teams on the right side of the course simply sailed away into the lead!  In particular, ITA 40 ALBA CHIARA, skippered by Stefano Ventures (with crew of Raffaele Venditto, Alessandro de Julio, Luciano Tricarico and Eugenio Aurisicchio) sailed over the horizon to win the race, followed by ITA 447 PELLE NERO (with the Hungarian Farkas Litkey steering) in second and JUKE BOX in third place.

With the wind now positioned at 190 degrees, the RC started the last race of the series.  Winning was ITA 447 PELLE NERO followed by ITA 210 JULIUS CAESAR, then JUKE BOX.

As a result, the final standings for the series was LA SUPERBA first with 21 pts, followed by PELLE NERO in second with 37 pts and JUKE BOX in third with 38 pts.  Rounding out the top five were ITA 428 PELLE ROZ in fourth with 80 pts and JULIUS CAESAR in fifth with 86 pts.

"This year, both the Trofeo Lozzi and the series gave us many surprises,” commented Miccio. “Not only did we have the honor to host the Hungarian crew that won the Trofeo Lozzi, but Farkas Litkey was able to give the crew of LA SUPERBA a hard time for the series.  It was the first time any team had challenged them so hard for the top of the podium! This is a great sign that our fleet is getting more competitive and we hope that will show in the upcoming J/24 European Championship in the home waters for the Hungarians- Lake Balaton.”  For more Italian J/24 fleet sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

St Thomas International Regatta Preview

(St Thomas, US Virgin Islands)- For years, the grand-daddy of all Caribbean regattas was “the Rolex” in St Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, proudly hosted by St Thomas YC in Cowpet Bay on the northeastern shoreline of USVI.  It was not unusual to have fleets of well over 100 keelboats packed into the Bay and competing for that rarest of commodities, a dinghy tie-up at the club.  Since that time, the regatta continues to maintain its strong heritage of hosting world-class sailing on the magnificent aquamarine waters off the eastern end of USVI.  The trade-winds are almost always turned-on and the sailors look forward to a magnificent four days of sailing.  What is fun and challenging about this event is that the StYC provides a range of courses for the fleet, from windward-leewards offshore to random-leg courses around the fabulously beautiful islands and rocks that grace the eastern part of the island chain.

This weekend, the fleet of forty-seven boats will be competing in one-design as well as IRC and CSA handicap rating rules.  Other than the thirteen teams sailing the IC24s (the modded J/24), the biggest field of J/Crews will be in the CSA Spinnaker class of eleven boats.  Leading charge around the track each day should be the famous J/122 EL OCASO, chartered by Bob Hiller from Lake Geneva YC.  Chasing them hard on handicap will be the J/88 TOUCH 2 PLAY RACING, skippered by Canadian Rob Butler from Collingwood, Ontario; Jordan Mindich’s J/105 SOLSTICE from Huntington, NY; and Angle Ayala’s J/80 SUNBUM II from Carolina, Puerto Rico.  In the CSA Non-Spinnaker division, Ben Jelic’s J/120 JAGUAR from St Maarten will be vying for class honors with six other teams.

The weather forecast for this year’s regatta remains a bit mixed.  While the sailors remain hopeful, it looks to be overcast to partly cloudy skies with occasional rain and light winds from the southeast from 5-12 kts. This is due to what NOAA describes as the following scenario:

Wednesday to Friday- an upper level ridge southeast of the area will continue to weaken as a trough pattern aloft builds from the west through the end of the week. At low levels, a prefrontal trough is forecast to move over the islands on Friday. As this trough pattern unfolds, moisture will continue to pool across the area and the intensity and coverage of showers and isolated thunderstorms will increase each day.  From Friday to end of racing on Sunday- the Long wave trough across the western Atlantic is still forecast to deepen and extend southwards into the west and central Caribbean through the end of the week. As a result, a moist south to southeasterly flow should persist through Friday and into the weekend. All model guidance supports a very moist and unstable pattern across the region for the next several days with good tropical moisture advection.  Bummer. In short, light winds and wet at times.  For more St Thomas International Regatta sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Big Daddy Regatta Silver For J/Teams!

(Point Richmond, CA)- Not surprisingly, the first major offshore event on San Francisco Bay hosted by Richmond YC- the “Big Daddy”- produced great results across the board for J/Teams in their northeast corner on the Bay.

Eleven J’s (about 1/3 of the fleet) from across all points of the compass on the Bay had a fun time sailing their unofficial start of the 2017 sailing season.  In PHRF B, it was Jack Clapper’s J/44 PHANTOM that took home the bronze in their class.

The PHRF C Class was full of hot racing boats and a trio of J/88s.  In the end, it was Gary Panariello’s J/88 COURAGEOUS from Sausalito YC that took the bronze, while stablemate Marc McMorris’ crew took 4th place and Jimi Hopp’s J/88 WHITE SHADOW from the San Francisco Singlehanded Society cruised home in 6th.

Taking home the gold in PHRF D class was Brian Richards’ J/109 LA VIAJERA from the San Francisco Singlehanded Sailing Society.  Fifth in class was Charles Pick’s J/105 BOX OF RAIN from San Francisco YC.

Finally, rounding out the J/Crew haul of silverware was Richard Stockdale’s classic J/24 FROG LIPS, blasting off three straight bullets to simply crush their class. The Olsen 24, Melges 20, Open 5.70 meter, and Moore 24 in their class simply had no chance against this class act!  For more Big Daddy Regatta sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Open J/70 Nordic Championship Announcement

(Hankø, Norway)- Welcome to Grundig Hankø Race Week! The event will take place from June 28th to July 2nd and it will also be hosting the J/70 Open Nordic Championship. The racing area just outside the island of Hankø offers one of the best race courses in Norway, some would say one of the best race courses in the world! The race course is exposed to sea breezes from the southwest and generally offers very good and fair sailing.

Sailing has been an important activity and has made the island internationally well known. For many years, King Olav stayed most of the summer at his summer house on the island or on the Royal Yacht “Norge” parked in front of the harbor. Hankø offers tennis courts, areas for swimming, forest walks and horse riding.

The Royal Norwegian YC cooperates with Hankø Yacht Club (HYC), a private club, which was founded in 1954 by senior members of KNS aiming to promote international yacht racing at Hankø. The club has picturesque clubhouse and a protected harbour on the island a few hundred metres from the mainland. Participating boats will be moored along the berths just outside the clubhouse. The berths are new and offer fresh water and electricity. Wireless internet access is available at HYC on your arrival.

Charter boats are available at very favorable rates and are owned by Norwegian Sailing Federation. Approximately 10 to 12 boats will be available.  Please contact the class on Norwegian J/70 Class Facebook  For more Grundig Cup Hankø Race Week sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J’s Cruzan Miami to Havana Cuba Race

(Miami, FL)- The second Miami to Havana Race fleet started on March 15th, Wednesday, off Miami, Florida.  Hosted by the Coral Reef Yacht Club and Hemingway International Yacht Club of Cuba, along with SORC as Race Committee, they sent the horses down the track and across the Gulf Stream to Havana, Cuba on a nice windy day.

It was a pretty fast race overall. The fastest J/crew down that trail took just 24 hours to get there in a 160nm+ race.  Taking 2nd in PHRF A Class and 3rd overall was Frank Atkinson’s J/125 RAISIN CANE with a corrected time of 1:04:46:31, missing out on first overall by just 30 minutes.  A gybe here, a gybe there, that was all the difference.

In PHRF 2 Class, Gary Weisberg’s crew from Marblehead, MA sailed their J/111 HEAT WAVE fast & furious, finishing in a corrected time of 1:06:23:55 to take 2nd in class and 4th overall.  For more Miami to Havana Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

The Future of Offshore Distance Racing

Presented by North Sails’ Ken Read and J/Boats’ Jeff Johnstone
(Annapolis, MD)- Mark your calendars now!  More importantly, sign-up now!!  On Thursday, April 13th, North Point Yacht Sales, North Sails & J/Boats present an evening presentation and discussion by two of the sport's most influential voices on the growing trend towards adventure and destination sailing.

Experience the Maxi 100 footer COMANCHE on its record breaking Trans-Atlantic run and a recap of Vendee Globe IMOCA 60 flying foilers excitement via video and Ken’s first-hand experience sailing such insane offshore speed machines.

Ken and Jeff J. will discuss the growing trends in adventure racing, what effect it is having on sailing, and how the industry is responding.  From J/Boats’ perspective, Jeff will describe the evolution of such innovative offshore designs like the new J/121 and how it fits into recent offshore trends.

Where? The event will be at the Annapolis Maritime Museum, 732 2nd St, Annapolis, MD 21403.

The schedule for the evening will be:

• Meet & Greet with Cocktail Hour- 6 to 7pm (cash bar, free munchies)
• Presentation by Ken and Jeff with open Q&A- 7 to 9pm

Ticket Price Includes 1 Free Drink.  Space is limited. Advance ticket purchase is recommended!  Advance tickets are $10, but at the door $15!  NOTE- Junior (17 and under) sailors admitted FREE!  BUY your tickets here.   For more North Sails information and J/Boats information.  Presentation courtesy of North Point Yacht Sales. Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Rozenauers Family Win J/70 NSW State Championship!

(Sydney, Australia)- The J/70 Class held its NSW State Championships during this year’s Sydney Harbour Regatta held by Middle Harbour Yacht Club.  Although typically raced between North and South Head at the opening of the harbour, Sydney's uncharacteristic blustery conditions found the fleet of nine J/70's racing in Middle Harbour this year.  Over the March 4th weekend, the weather was atrocious with an east coast low-pressure system arriving that resulted in rain and very strong winds.

Due to some engine trouble on the starter boat on Saturday (where it nearly washed onto the rocks), unfortunately only one windward/leeward course was raced on the first day instead of the scheduled three. Here is the story of what it was like to sail and win the regatta by Nick Rozenauers (skipper of the Rozenauers’ THE JACKAL):

“Our first taste of J/70 racing proved to be intense.  However, our family-based crew of Anne Rozenauers (Mother ’Boss’), Alex Rozenauers (Son) and Zac ‘Rozenauers’ Quinlan took it in stride as we faced 25+ knot winds.

With the combination of Zac and Alex picking the shifts particularly around the top mark, we were able to stay around the top end of the fleet. Ultimately, it came down to better gust management on the downhill leg, avoiding costly broaches that secured us the win.

It has to be noted that during the final run of the first race all the crew experienced their top speed on a boat with The Jackal hitting upward of 18-19 knots on one particular gust!! As one onlooker remarked- we were about to take off!    (Editors note:  the Rozenauers only took delivery of their J/70 just one month ago, so have done extremely well to handle the tough conditions and competition).

Sunday brought more of the same conditions with moderate to heavy breeze. With suburb trimming from Alex, we were able to develop a nice downwind mode and create some gauge with other boats that were able to sneak away from us on the upwind. As Nick (Skipper) and Zac found their groove within the shifts on the course, we were able to edge away from the competition. Importantly though, all onboard were fueled by Anne's ANZAC biscuits (with her secret ingredients) that played a huge role in keeping all the crew on their toes and full of energy.

I would like to thank Ray, Sandra and the J/70 class for welcoming us with such open arms and Middle Harbour for running such a smooth weekend!”

Last year’s winner, Tim Ryan from JAMES, congratulated the JACKAL crew, saying “they sailed extremely well and deserved the win!”  Taking second for the NSW States was JUNO with Reg Lord skippering and holding on for the bronze was Tim Ryan’s JAMES.  For more J/70 speedster sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/88 JIYUU Winning Hobart Offshore Double Series

(Hobart, Tasmania)- The J/88 JIYUU, owned by Peter & Karen Davis, have been sailing their boat in the Hobart Doublehanded series on the Derwent River.  This past weekend, they had an opportunity to sail a 12.0nm race up and down the river in the always tactically demanding conditions on the river- there are some big hills (mountains & cliffs!) that cause amazing cat’s-paws and tornado-like puffs to whirl down the river!  Here is Peter’s report on their most recent adventures:

“We had a great day on the river today. Karen and I have entered JIYUU in the Doublehanded Long Race Series and today was the first race.

Finally, we had a lovely sunny day with a light sea breeze that started at 5 knots and gradually built to about 12 knots- perfect for a short-handed J/88!

The race was a windward and return down the Derwent, finishing through the famous Sydney-Hobart finish line with our new A2 spinnaker on display.

We ended up 2nd across the line boat-for-boat!  In fact, we were only 11 seconds behind the Marten 49 "Tilt" after 3 hours of racing!  Incredible!  As a result, we finished 1st on AMS, and 5th on PHS (the smaller boats ran up behind us with the freshening sea breeze).

This picture was taken by one of Matthew's friends who was the crew on Tilt as we crossed gybes just before the finish line!  Needless to say, they were amazed at our overall performance! Cheers, Peter”  For more J/88 family speedster sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Misty Start To Warsash Spring Series

(Warsash, England)- Last year the first race of the Helly Hansen Warsash Spring Series took place in unseasonably glorious sunshine, but this year (Sunday 12 March) entrants were faced with drizzle, mist and light winds. Not ideal conditions, however, crews were undeterred and some good competitive racing was still enjoyed.

With light fair tide beats and foul tide runs, the latter were always going to a challenge, and both the White and Black Groups boats found that avoiding holes downwind was the main priority of the day.

It was a challenging day also for line and course setting for the committee boats.  The winds reported on Bramblenet were 7-10 knots South West, but Dock Heads was reporting 7-10 knots North West.  In the end, North West predominated, but 10 knots was rarely if ever seen.

On the White Group, Race 2 had to be abandoned when the wind switched through 90 degrees or more and dropped below 3 knots.  However, another two races were completed and as Race Officer Peter Knight noted, the same boats were up at the front.

At the end of the days racing, the J/70 SOAK RACING (Marshall King and Ian Wilson) was leading the J/70s and the combined White Group with the J/70 JENGA 8 (Andrew Barraclough) in second place and BETTY J/80 (Jon Powell) in third place and leading the J/80s.

IRC1 was won by JITTERBUG (J/111 - Cornel Riklin) with KESTREL (J/111 - Simon Bamford) third.  In IRC2 it was J'OUVERT (J/1112e - Peter Symons) second.

The J/109s had an interesting tussle, with many place changes, but the final result was JYNNAN TONNYX (Owain Franks) first and JAGO (Mike & Susie Yates)) second.

The J/88 fleet was won by JONGLUER (Richard Cooper) with EAT SLEEP J REPEAT (Paul Ward) second.  For more HELLY HANSEN Warsash Spring Series sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.