FREDO Wins J/80 Mundialito Regatta

(Santander, Spain)- The Real Club Maritimo Santander in Santander, Spain hosted the 2019 J/80 Mundialito Cup Regatta off their famous setting in front of Spain's Pyrenees on the northeastern shoreline of Spain, located on the Bay of Biscay.  The fleet was treated to good racing when the breeze was over the weekend, but it was not without its challenges for the RCM Santander's PRO!


In the end, it was a past J/80 World Champion- Jose Maria "Pichu" Torcida-Seghers that won the regatta on the fabulous FREDO!  Taking second was Alfredo Gonzalez's EDIFICIO and rounding out the podium was Jose Azqueta-Arrue's BIOBIZZ that took the bronze medal.  The balance of the top five in this always hyper-competitive fleet was determined by a tie-breaker at 10 pts each; winning that countback was Rafael Malo's HATUEY in fourth place and Ignacio Camino-Rodriguez’s ESP 899 in fifth place. For more J/80 Mundialito Regatta sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

All-women's J/92 Team Triumph on Great Lakes!

(Grand Traverse Bay, MI)- This past summer, an all-women's team sailed on the J/92 KNOCKOUT with owner/ skipper Libby Tomlinson from Quantum Sails in Traverse City, MI. They had a very successful season sailing on Grand Traverse Bay.... here is Libby's report on the fun times and the challenges they face...


"I’m excited to share that our J/92 KNOCKOUT was named Yacht of the Year at Grand Traverse Yacht Club, in Traverse City, Michigan! The all-women crew of KNOCKOUT came together seven years ago after the husband of a good friend of mine recognized that his wife wanted to get more involved in sailing but felt uncomfortable being the only woman on the boat (typically).  So, we got to talking, and Rob suggested that we go in together on a boat, “for the girls”, and we decided a B-25 would suit the needs and budget nicely.  The name KNOCKOUT came after a long, hilarious, democratic process to name an all-girls boat.


During the six seasons on the B-25, we enabled over 25 women to get out on the water for Wednesday night racing, a little cruising, and some weekend short-distance events.  At the start of it all, only myself and my foredeck, Petra, knew anything about sailing!  Coaching from the helm, while driving and trimming main, and Petra coaching from the bow, we managed to get everyone up to speed in their positions.  Our first season was also our most successful, being named Yacht of the Year and winning our Intermediate level fleet.


Being a Knockout crew is something special, and everyone onboard has become part of the team by asking to be there.  We’ve never recruited.  Nonetheless, we’ve grown over the years a bit, in numbers and skill level, and Rob and I both have had children who we wanted to introduce to sailing on a more family-friendly boat.  That led us to wanting a J/92.

I joined the forum and kept watch for boats coming up for sale.  One day last fall, the opportunity came:  Bob Johnston on San Francisco Bay listed his beloved J/92 RAGTIME, hull #18.  I jumped, and about a week later, after a glowing survey, she started the journey across the country from San Francisco to Michigan.  Yes, fall isn’t the best time to buy a boat in Michigan!  She went into heated storage, amongst the area’s most prized auto collectors’ treasures, presiding high.

Come to find out, hull #18 has some special history.  Originally owned by Rod Johnstone himself and named RAGTIME! Yes, the co-founder of J/Boats had sailed her for two summers in the Stonington, CT sailing circles, Off Soundings, Block Island, etc.

Bob Johnston bought RAGTIME in November 2002.  She was in Marion, MA and owned by a former J/24 sailor, Joe Moore.  Joe was/is an engineer and meticulous.  Being in the Northeast, the boat (then called Acrobat) was kept inside for 5 months every year.  Joe sent many photos of every bit of the boat and they had some good conversations, such that Bob bought the boat sight-unseen.

Bob and RAGTIME had many great adventures in their 16 years together, including double-handing to Hawaii once, and single-handing 4 more times!  Besides the Hawaii races, Bob and "Rags" have been the singlehanded season champions in the SSS (200 members), won the local ocean series (most recently singlehanded in 2016 and doublehanded in 2017), and had success in many other races on San Francisco Bay and the coast.


So, we on the KNOCKOUT crew had a bit of a legacy to live up to!  Our season started out slowly, learning the changes needed to our crew work and positions, adjusting to the bigger loads and honing our teamwork, and getting our rig tuned for our new suit of Quantum sails.  The boat was a delight to sail from the get-go.

We attended every Wednesday night race all summer, finishing the Spring series in second and the Summer series in third.   About mid-season we seemed to hit our stride with a string of bullets in August.  Our biggest competitor, an Express 34 fitted with a bowsprit, had been leading the season and we were quickly coming from behind.  It came down to the final race of the year, winner-take-all, and we managed to take line honors that night!  We also enjoyed a fun race mid-season and dressed up like Rosie The Riveter(s).  And our kids really enjoyed Knockout too!

Hamble Winter Series VII Report

(Hamble, England)- The past weekend proved to be a bit of an anti-climax for most teams sailing the Hamble Sailing Club's annual Hamble Winter Series. The lack of a race did little to clarify the remaining positions in the IRC classes. While a number of the prize-winners are now set in stone, or at least Solent mud, there are a number of podium places still to fight for.

In IRC 2, Simon Perry's J/109 JIRAFFE has also been safe at the top for a while. Gavin Howe's J/88 TIGRIS in second is some ten points adrift. Third place will be one of next Sunday’s big battles, including Dirk Van Beek's J/88 SABRIEL JR and Mike and Susie Yates's J/109 JAGO-- a three-way match race" as one old wag put it. How JAGO must wish they could have got rid of that 13 points from Race 6, last week.


The other big scrap will be at the top of IRC 1, where Ian Atkins Icy and Chaz Ivill's J/112E DAVANTI TYRES have been slugging it out all series. They both have the same four first places and a three two split in second places in favour of Icy. Will the J/112E that has won the class for the two previous years ultimately triumph? Time will tell.

The good news is that the forecast is showing some 15-23 knots of breeze for Sunday. The bad news is that it will be from that tricky NE direction, producing very shifty, streaky, offshore breezes!

As well as the overall prizes, this coming Sunday finale will see the "Yacht of the Series Trophy" presented and the "Paul Heys Trophy", to the best J/Boat, in memory of Paul who was such a great supporter of the HYS Hamble Winter Series. For more HYS Hamble Winter Series sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Award-winning J/99 @ Paris Boat Show!

(Paris, France)- The 2019 edition of the Salon Nautique Paris will be taking place on the southside of Paris in its usual location at the Parc d'Exposition from December 7th to 15th.  The J/Composites team from Les Sables d'Olonne, France will be in attendance with the award-winning J/99 shorthanded offshore speedster at Pavillon 1, Stand 1-G-64.  For Salon Nautique Paris boat show information

Since its debut one year ago, the J/99 has been critically acclaimed by many of the world's leading sailboat analysts as an exciting new entry into the mid-size offshore cruiser-racer marketplace, with a focus on offering an exceptional experience for those focused on short-handed sailing- doublehanded offshore or a family wishing for a fun, fast, easy-to-sail, weekday evening "beer can" racer.  The J/99's pedigree is without peer and her performance is enough to get anyone out for a spontaneous sunset sail with family and friends in comfort and style.  For more J/99 offshore shorthanded speedster sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/99 Wins SAIL Magazine Awards Best Boats- Performance Boat 31'+!

(Boston, MA)- Eleven of the nominees for SAIL Magazine’s 2020 Best Boats Awards have been advanced as winners for this annual recognition.

“Once again, the boatbuilding industry has shown how it never seems to run out of fresh ideas—something that is clearly evident in SAIL’s Best Boats contest,” says SAIL’s executive editor Adam Cort, who was joined in judging by associate editor Lydia Mullan, cruising editor Charles J. Doane, charter editor Zuzana Prochazka, veteran boat-reviewer Tom Dove and SAIL’s contributing editor Tom Hale.

One of the winners of SAIL’s 2020 Best Boats Awards was the new J/99- awarded the Best Performance Boat over 31ft! Here is the commentary from the SAIL Best Boats Judges:

"It was a fun year for SAIL’s Best Boats judges with a number of mid-sized performance boats to sail trial. Alas, the downside to having so many boats to choose from is also having to pick a winner. This was especially tough because of the variety of boats involved. How do you compare, for example, our winner in this category with, say, the Sun Fast 3300? In the end, though, our judges decided to give the J/99 the nod for two reasons: build quality and breadth of sailing ability.

With respect to the build quality, the J/99 is wonderfully constructed: top to bottom, stem to stern. Topsides, the boat continues designer Al Johnstone’s use of plumb ends and elegantly sculpted cabin trunk to create a look that is all business, yet still elegant.

Belowdecks, the saloon and accommodations are well laid out, with just enough woodwork to keep things from looking sterile while still saving owners a lot of maintenance headaches. The rig is aluminum with a fixed sprit for flying an A-sail. The layup, overall finish and hardware installations are top-notch.

With respect to sailing ability, what most impressed our judges was the combination of performance and versatility, all in a surprisingly low-key package. While some of the other boats in this space very much wear their performance cred on their sleeve in the form of a welter of halyards and control lines, the J/99 is a fairly simple platform by comparison. Not that there’s anything wrong with complexity. On the contrary, for an awful lot of sailors out there, it’s all part of the fun. However, there are also an awful lot of other sailors out there, not to mention friends and family when out daysailing, for whom it’s not, and it’s here that the J/99 truly excels. On the one hand, with its tiller and carefully apportioned cockpit, the boat is perfect for such offshore events as the Chicago-Mac race, whether fully crewed or shorthanded. On the other, it’s also the perfect boat for beer-can racing or just tooling around the harbor on a sunny day. Successfully combining these two types of sailing in a single 32ft sloop is no mean feat— and the reason our judges chose the J/99 as the winner in a very strong field."  For more SAIL Magazine's Best Boats 2020 Awards information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Eights Bells- Dr. Scott Piper- owner of J/160 PIPEDREAM IX

(Miami, FL)- A friend of Dr. Piper's- Tom Byrne- had this to say regards his recent passing:

"It is with deep regret that I inform you of the passing of William “Scott” Piper III, M.D. of Miami Florida on Monday, December 2, 2019.

Scott Piper was a world class sailor, with five circumnavigations to his name, with a detailed memory of the hundreds of people and places he had encountered in his life time.

Scott was the 2008 recipient of the Cruising Club of America's "Blue Water Medal" and was planning his next Atlantic crossing with his wife Mary on his beloved J/160 “PIPEDREAM IX” at the time of his passing.

Scott included 100's of “friends” in his adventures and inspired sailors and non-sailors alike to push themselves to live their lives to the fullest. We will miss Scott. Our best wishes and condolences to Mary and the rest of the Piper family." Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/99 Wins British Yachting Awards- Best Performance Boat!

(London, England)- Key Yachting, the UK, Ireland, and Channel Islands distributor for J/Boats, enjoyed a glamorous evening at the Royal Thames Yacht Club on Monday night, for Chelsea Magazines’ British Yachting Awards. Marie-Claude Heys, Hannah Le Prevost, and Gemma Dunn represented Key Yachting and were joined by J/Boats President Jeff Johnstone, and a few British J/Boats owners.


The new J/99 was crowned Racing Yacht/ Sportsboat of the year, a tough category. Voted for by readers of Sailing Today and Yachts & Yachting, presenter Rob Peake stated that upon her launch the winner had proved an instant hit in a string of successes for the shipyard. Accepting the award with Marie-Claude and daughters Gemma and Natalie were there to receive the award. Jeff Johnstone described how the boat was inspired by the growth of the double-handed racing scene, particularly in the United Kingdom. He continued by saying that Paul Heys was instrumental in driving the yard to fill a growing need. This is the first award for the boat, which is currently nominated for four international awards, including the prestigious European Yacht of the Year.

The final award of the evening was a new category, Lifetime Achievement sponsored by GJW Direct. This was awarded to Paul Heys and accepted by Paul's widow Marie-Claude. Before the presentation, Jeff delivered a wonderful and emotive speech, detailing the success of the “consummate salesperson”, who unlike other yacht brokers, relished gatherings of owners to compare notes and stories, because this was how the J/Family in the U.K. was established and flourished. Jeff himself stated, “the boat has little to do with it, it’s all about people. Energy breeds energy, and Paul was the energizer!”

For more information on all the categories, contenders, and of course the winners, check out the official British Yachting Awards website. Add to Flipboard Magazine.

San Francisco/Annapolis Team Wins U.S. J/70 Youth Championship

 
(St. Petersburg, Florida)- Eleven teams vied for the third annual J/70 U.S. Youth National Championship, hosted by St. Petersburg Yacht Club in St. Petersburg, FL from November 22-24. The weekend was dominated by the teams of San Francisco Yacht Club/Annapolis Yacht Club, led by James Golden, and Cal Maritime, led by Kyle Collins. Although they were tied on points heading in the 11th and final battle, it was Golden’s team who earned the victory by four points, with crew of Luke Koerschner, Hannah Sellers and Caleb Yoslov. They ended with 23 points to Collins’ 27. Golden and Koerschner are from Annapolis YC; Sellers and Yoslov from San Francisco YC. The Cal Maritime team consisted of Collins, plus crew of Justin Zmina, and brothers Brock & River Paquin.


Light winds prevented racing on Friday, but conditions allowed all 11 intended races to be completed over the next two days.

The goal of this event has been to help develop and build leading-edge junior keelboat sailing programs across America. Youth teams (representing CA, CT, FL, GA, MA, MD, MI, NJ and SC) competed on provided J/70s with class sails. Boats were identically rigged and tuned at base settings recommended by the sailmaker.


As teams gathered on Thursday for a practice race, local J/70 expert Marty Kullman conducted on-water coaching and classroom lessons at SPYC. Each youth team was permitted up to five crew, age 20 or younger as of December 31, 2019.

These were the eleven teams that participated in the event:

• Augusta Sailing Club (Georgia)- Nathan Bowen skipper, with crew of brother Mike Bowen, Isabel Smith, and sisters Ellie & Lucy Spearman
• Brown Sailing (Rhode Island)- Jack Murphy skipper, with crew of Blaire McCarthy, and siblings Chase & Julia Reynolds
• Cooper River YC (New Jersey)- Zack York skipper, with crew of Sean Groskoph and friends
• Eastern YC (Massachusetts)- Haley Andreasen skipper, with crew of Jack Dalton, Phil Jeffries, Anders Kearney, Anna O'Conner
• Lauderdale YC (Florida)- Joey Meagher skipper with crew of Garret Dixon, Sam Juskiewicz, and Bobby Rielly
• Little Traverse YC (Michigan)- Trip Wagner skipper, with crew of Caroline Grin, Maren Matthews, Jack Miller, and Kate Moran
• Mudratz Youth Team (Connecticut)- Lily Flack skipper, with crew of Jack Derry, Dylan Flack, Jonathan Gardner, Tanner Kelly
• San Francisco YC (California)- Jim Golden skipper, with crew of Luke Koerschner, Hannah Sellers, and Caleb Yoslov
• South Carolina YC (South Carolina)- James Thurlow skipper
• St Petersburg YC (Florida)- Heather Kerns skipper, with crew of Emily Allen, Heidi Hicks, and Emma Shakespeare
• TS Golden Bear (California)- Kyle Collins skipper, with crew of Justin Zmina, and brothers Brock & River Paquin.

For more U.S. J/70 Youth Championship sailing and results information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Wirth Munroe Ocean Race Preview

(Palm Beach, FL)- The Sailfish Club of Florida's 63rd Annual Wirth M. Munroe Ocean Race is set for Friday, December 6th. In 2018, the race added a 40-mile course called "The Sprint", from Fort Lauderdale to Palm Beach, which complemented the existing 60.0nm Miami-to-Palm Beach track, known as "The Classic". Last year, five boats entered The Sprint race and 23 raced on The Classic course.  

The Sprint will start off Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, while The Classic will start off Government Cut in Miami Beach. Both courses will finish off the Palm Beach Inlet. All crews will be welcome at the Sailfish Club’s legendary Rum Punch reception, buffet dinner and awards ceremony. The Classic Course will be scored as part of the SORC's "Islands in the Stream" series, which includes the Miami-Nassau Race, the Lauderdale-Key West Race, the Miami-Havana Race and the Pineapple Cup from Miami to Montego Bay. The Sprint Course will not be scored as part of the series. 

First sailed in 1957, the race begins the winter ocean racing circuit in South Florida. The course presents challenging conditions as yachts must consider the vagaries of the Gulf Stream and the passing of the season’s first frontal systems. In 1957, members of the Florida Station of the Cruising Club of America, led by Dick Bertram, decided to sponsor a race from Miami to Palm Beach and to hold it in early December as racing yachts from the north had arrived by then in preparation for the Southern Ocean Racing Conference held in January and February. In 2016 the Club partnered with the Storm Trysail Club. After the race, the sailors finish the evening with a world-class awards banquet at the Sailfish Club of Florida.

There are a number of J/Teams that are looking forward to their first winter blast up the spectacular, cobalt-blue, Gulf Stream.  In the ORC A Class, Seth Hall & Tom Pollack's J/124 MARISOL from Newport Harbor Yacht Club in Newport Beach, CA will be taking on a very mixed class of the globe-girdling Mills 68 PROSPECTOR down to a Farr 40!

In the ORC B Class, Joe Brito's J/121 INCOGNITO from Newport, RI and Chris Lewis's J/44 KENAI from Seabrook, TX will be taking on another kaleidoscope of sailboats ranging from a GP 26 to an old Aerodyne 38.

The PHRF A Class includes Tom Anderson & Hanson Bratton's J/120 KAIROS from Bayview Yacht Club in Birmingham, MI. Then, in PHRF B Class Bradley Stowers's J/92 HILLBILLY from Indian River Yacht Club in Melbourne, FL will be up against a raft of cruisers like a Little Harbor 54, Baltic 38DP, and Jeanneau 479. In PHRF 7 class is John Kearn's J/88 LOOSE CANNON from Castaways Sailing Club in Jupiter Island, FL.
For more Wirth Munroe Race sailing information and scoring Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/122 Wins 100nm West Coaster!

(Perth, Western Australia)- The J/122 JOSS from Perth is starting the new season the way they finished the last – winning!  Last weekend’s race was 10.00nm West Coaster Ocean Race from Fremantle to Yanchep and return, the race was hosted by Fremantle Sailing Club (FSC).


100.0nm may not sound too bad, nor terribly challenging. However, with very light winds forecast, a very "un-Perth-like Freemantle Doctor", the race turned into an endurance contest. The race took 23hrs 55mins, which meant the focus was on endurance, concentration and keeping the boat moving.

Owner Ian Clyne commented, “JOSS had a long, at times frustrating, but very rewarding FSC West Coaster Ocean Race.  There were huge holes along the route, so the focus was to just keep moving. The J/122 keeps going even in 5 knots of wind, so we knew we were in with a chance, and were very happy with the result. Knowing the forecast was for light winds, we were conscious of crew weight, and kept the sail wardrobe to a minimum. The A1.5 kite is just a brilliant sail as well as the Code Zero.

The race started in North Fremantle and headed due west to pass to the south side of Rottnest Island. Then, we headed north to round a virtual turn mark at Yanchep, then a zig zag SE, North, SE back to Fremantle.

On the final leg, there was zero wind along the beaches and zero wind off Rottnest Island, but a small line of breeze in the center, so the crew took full advantage and tacked back and forth to keep within the narrow breeze band. JOSS finished a clear 37minutes ahead of the competition on IRC."

JOSS is currently leading the Blue Water season point score. Add to Flipboard Magazine.