May 28th, 2014
Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta Preview(Scheveningen, Netherlands)- The Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta is the largest Dutch sailing race event on the North Sea, from May 27th until June 9th, 2014. The 110 nm Vuurschepenrace from Scheveningen to Harwich on 27th May opens the annual Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta. After a day of rest in Harwich the IRC and ORC classes return to the Netherlands, sailing the 180nm RORC North Sea Race.
During the following Whitsun weekend about 25 classes race on the Scheveningen coast, including big yachts, Olympic classes, catamarans, open boats and surfers. Apart from being well known for its yearly races the Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta is also known for its side event in the Hellweg Harbour going by the name “North Sea Kitchen”- a culinary heaven of delicacies await the sailor’s each day, so long as the crowds ashore haven’t gobbled it all up! The best cooks from the Benelux/ Netherlands region present you the best food, bands will play great music and the youngsters get entertained in the kids program. Truly a regatta for the whole family!
On Tuesday 27 May, the traditional Vuurschepenrace begins with forty-five participants on the starting list; including a record number of fifteen entries in the Double-handed Division. The race promises to be a very tactical crossing, characterized by little wind from various directions. The Double-handed Division starts at 1900 hrs.
There are excellent J double-handed teams sailing from the Netherlands and Great Britain, many with championship winning pedigree. Starting with the J/105’s, we find the teams of FAY-J (Wilko Seelt & Max Seelt), HARPOEN (Harry Rek) and DREAM MACHINE (John van Veen) dueling for 105 supremacy. Next up is the J/109 ARETHUSA (Kees Mijs & Camille Mijs) trying to one up her sisterships. Then the two big boats, the J/122 JUNIQUE sailed by Chris Revelman & Pascal Bakker and the J/133 BATFISH (http://www.batfish.nl/) sailing with double-handed veterans Bart Desaunois & Gerard de Boer, either team are capable of winning. The Netherlands-based JUNIQUE team (Revelman & Bakker) were the 2013 Double-Handed Award winner in the Netherlands and are already in training-mode for the 2015 Fastnet Race!
In the ORC 2 Offshore division, there is a trio of J/109’s participating in the fully-crewed portion of the race, including J-BORNET (Alain Bornet), JETTJE (Floris Waller) and YETI (Paul van der Pol).
There will be “live tracking” provided for most of the participants in both the Vuurschepenrace and the RORC North Sea Race. Follow your favorite teams on YellowBrick. For more Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta sailing information
GPEN France PreviewJ/22 Europeans & J/80 Coupe de France III
(Cameret-sur-Mer, Brittany, France)- Grand Prix L’Ecole Navale (GPEN) returns for another magnificent Edition XII, during the Ascension weekend, from Thursday May 29th to Sunday June 1st 2014. The primary host, l’École Navale (French Naval Academy) are conducting the races on three sites- the bay of Crozon-Morgat, the bay of Camaret and le port du Château in Brest (Brest marina). The J/22s are hosting their European Championship and the J/80s are out in full force for the third stop of their Coupe de France season long championship. Ready to compete on three exceptional sites and coming from a dozen countries of the European Union are more than 600 crew.
The nearly sixty boat J/80 class, the largest at GPEN by far, have many familiar faces sailing in this fabulous racing venue on the west coast of France. As one might expect, with a World Championship taking place in Annapolis, MD in October a number of these teams are gearing up for the event. Top of the class must be Eric Brezellec’s team on COURRIER JUNIOR, hoping to repeat their excellent showing last year in Marseilles. Challenging them will be Herve Leduc on PIERRE OCEANE, Simon Moriceau on INTERFACE CONCEPT, Salomon Matthieu on CHARIOT PLUS- VANNES UTILITAIRES, Luc Nadal on GANJA, and four women’s teams- Maxime Mesil on CO PILOTES- NORMANDY ELITE TEAM, Sophie Riot on LE HAVRE LADIES NORMANDIE, Alice Metais on CHARLY, and Maxime Rousseaux on CN ST CAST GRAND OUEST ETIQUETTES. Of note, the British Royal Navy has also been invited and are sailing CRUNCH GNR1 & CRUNCH GBR 2 against their friends on the French Navy boats.In the J/22 Europeans, there is a mix of French (14), German (3) and Netherlands (3) participating in the twenty boat class, a great turnout for J/22s on the continent! Amongst the notable French teams are Bernard Andre on MAJIC, Patrick Huet on EUROPEAN HOMES, Ludovic Senechal on LULU LA NANTAISE and Charles Michaux on JAZZY. Taking up the challenge in their home waters are top German teams like Bernhard Kleinefeld’s CAMPAGNOLO, Thomas Loesch’s JOULOU 3 and Christian Rieckborn’s JOLLY JUMPER. Netherlands teams hoping to make a trip to the podium include Michiel Eijsink’s RANGER, Jelle Nijhuis’s HISTOS JR and Peter van Doornmalen’s GAP. With such an excellent cross-section of continental European J/22 teams, it will be interesting to see which teams have benefitted from their spring training sessions and which ones are still in “catch-up” mode. For more Grand Prix L’Ecole Navale (GPEN) sailing information
Italian J/24 Nationals Preview(Tirano, Lake Como, Italy)- This coming weekend the J/24 sailors in Italy are in for a treat for their upcoming Italian J/24 Nationals. On Italy’s largest freshwater lake, Lago di Como, the President of Circolo Velico Tivano di Valmadrera, Giuseppe De Luca, is welcoming the creme’d’la’creme of Italian J/24 sailors from 29 May to 2 June for their Nationals.
The event will take place in the Bay of Pare Valmadrera in the southern portions of Lago di Como, a glacial lake basin, one of the most suitable areas of the lake for sailing regattas due to the presence of the winds of thermal origin and the “Breva Tivano” that alternates throughout the day (e.g. think of Lago di Garda but with a more moderate mountain lakes adiabatic wind pattern).
Amongst the leading Italian teams participating are renowned boats like Luca Macchiarini’s TALLY HO, Pietro Diamanti’s JAMAICA (recent J/24 circuit winner), Ignazio Bonanno’s LA SUPERBA (another recent J/24 circuit winner), Pierluigi Puthod’s SPLENDIDA and Fabio Mazzoni’s KONG GRIFONE.
There are several special “guest stars” participating from around the world, including three German teams, like Stefan Mais’s RUNNING MAN, Stefan Karsunke’s SULLBERG and Feuerherdt Tobias’s MS EUROPA 2. Another continental team showing up from Hungary is Mate Kakas’s ZULU. A friendly American team from Seattle’s Corinthian YC is also making a guest appearance- Keith Whittemore’s gangsters on FURIO. Watch this space, the Italians have strong teams but their “guests” make throw a monkey wrench into the top five standings overall! For more Italian J/24 Nationals sailing information
Bayview One-Design Regatta Preview(Detroit, MI)- Over the past few years a “new” regatta has continued to grow in prominence in the greater Detroit region that encompasses Lake Huron, Lake St Claire and Lake Erie. It’s often hard to draw sailors from all three lakes together, but if there’s ever a yacht club that can do it, then Bayview YC’s famous location off Detroit does it better than most. Don’t forget, this club also hosts the Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race, a highly popular Great Lakes distance race on Lake Huron.
The Bayview One-Design Detroit Regatta now encompasses over a dozen classes that range from Lightning’s up to J/120s as well as a few PHRF classes in the mix to keep it all on the fun-loving side!
The J/120s continue to enjoy themselves sailing on the grand’ole Great Lakes. In the “day’twah” area in particular, the 120s are having a bit of a renaissance with nine teams sailing in this year’s event! Many new faces, plenty of old veterans are in the crowd. Frank Kern’s CARINTHIA, Bill Bresser’s FLYIN’ IRISH, Mike Kirkman’s HOT TICKET, Dave Sandlin’s J-HAWKER and Henry Mistele’s NIGHT MOVES will be doing their level best to keep their noses above water, stayin’ out of trouble (on and off the water) and hoping for some silverware at the end of the weekend.
In PHRF 1 class, you have infamous sailing teams like Bill Wildner’s J/35 MR BILL’S WILD RIDE hoping to keep up their winning ways as well. They not only have a lot of fun (perhaps more than most) but remarkably, after a few years of sailing, still know how to get around the race track and win more than their fair share of “pickle dishes” for the dusty trophy case now occupying their entire house! Giving them a run-for-the-roses are Bill Jenkins J/35 DOUBLE SHOT, Ed Bayer’s J/35 FALCON and Don Harthorn’s J/105 SNAKE OIL. This 35-foot class promises to be a good’ole butt-whippin’ kind of place— careful all!
Over in PHRF “Warhorse” class, the beautiful J/44 SAGITTA sailed by a few past commodores and led by Jon Somes & Larry Oswald will be doing their best to post a good performance. Likewise, in PHRF 2 Terry Stuck’s J/29 BARON will be trying to stick it to some S2 9.1’s in a somewhat “level 30” class. Formore Bayview One-Design Regatta sailing information
Susan Hood Trophy Race Preview(Mississauga, Ontario)- Since 1955, yachts have been taking up the challenge of a spring offshore race on Lake Ontario known as the Susan Hood Trophy Race, named after Port Credit YC member Doug Hood’s brand new bouncing baby daughter Susan at the time. The course was Port Credit to Oakville to Port Dalhousie and back to Port Credit. Today, the Susan Hood Trophy is presented to the yacht winning PHRF overall, with other trophies for the division winners.
The race is scheduled to run on Friday, May 30th at PCYC and amongst the fleet of 92 boats are eleven J’s sailing across various classes. In the single-handed class PHRF-LO is Geoff Cornish’s J/124 ROULEUR from Royal Canadian YC in Toronto. In IRC 1 Class is Murray Gainer’s J/109 LIVELY from Toronto as well. The IRC 3 Class includes the J/35 JAEGER sailed by Leszek Siek’s crew from host club PCYC and Andrew Sharp’s J/92 SWITCH from Olcott YC in Burt, NY.
The PHRF-LO Flying Sails I class is the J/120 THE CAT CAME BACK, sailed by Graham Toms from Toronto. In PHRF-LO Flying Sails II class is past overall race winner, Bob Eckersley’s team on the J/109 BLUE STREAK from Toronto and another top boat, Geoff Clarke’s J/105 CASUAL ELEGANCE. Joining them is Mike Pietz’s J/35 SHORTHANDED PCYC team from Brampton.
A tough class of 30 to 35 footers will be PHRF-LO III class with the two J/105s sailing “class” configuration- Ed Berhout’s ALI-KAT and Peter Wolniak’s ANOTHER HAZARD. Then in PHRF-LO IV class is the J/30 NORTH CAUGHT sailed by Simon Krall from Welland hoping to dominate fifteen other competitors in what amounts to the largest fleet in the race. For more Susan Hood Trophy Race sailing information
Southern Bay Race Week Preview
(Hampton, VA)- With eight-nine boats participating, the Southern Bay Race Week has undoubtedly enjoyed a more prosperous participation level than it has seen in recent year. Taking place from May 30th to June 1st in Hampton, VA there is a happy coincidence that taking place on the harbor as well is the “Blackbeard Pirate Festival” and the “Hampton Block Party” hosted by the City of Hampton!
In other words, with visitors from all over the country enjoying the sights and sounds of 18th century Hampton overrun by “pirates” (and pirate-wannabe’s), Hampton’s waterfront gets a bit wild and crazy. The waterfront comes alive with dozens of pirate re-enactors, costumed in historically accurate garb, who transform today’s Hampton into the busy seaport of yesterday. Led by “Blackbeard the Pirate” himself, re-enactors help visitors step back in time and re-live the history and legends of 1718 Hampton. The Festival offers a variety of children’s activities, live musical entertainment, fireworks, period vendors, arts and crafts, and much more! Learn more here- www.blackbeardfestival.com
So, were we talking about sailing? Yes, “avast’ye’matey’s”, the J/70s are making a huge debut in this year’s event. Perhaps the reason why participation has massively increased? Nine J/70s are sailing with several top traveling teams in the mix. Top of the box (e.g. the podium) candidate has to be Blake & Lud Kimbrough’s NOSTALGIA and giving them a run for the money are experienced 70 veterans like the VORTEX Racing Team’s two boats, GETMYBOAT.COM and VORTEX. Noel Clinard’s LOONATICTU and Clark Dennison’s CAT’S PAJAMAS will be sure to give them all a battle over the weekend.
J/24s are not far behind with a half-dozen boats dueling for class bragging rights, including Mike Verladi’s QUICKY, Francis Ford’s ROCKET J and Alan Bomar’s ROUNDABOUT. How about a quicky roundabout with rocket J across the vortex of a racing tide? Yup, all J/24 boat names. The world hasn’t changed there, has it?
In PHRF handicap world, PHRF A-1 has various 35 foot J teams fighting for supremacy. Two J/109s are sailing, Craig Wrigth’s AFTERTHOUGHT and Sam Mitchenor’s DOUBLE EAGLE, both from Fishing Bay YC. The J/35 BUMP IN THE NIGHT is sailed by Maury Niebur from West River, MD and the J/36 SEA STAR will be helmed by Vernon Eberwine from Hampton YC.
Over in PHRF A-2 are three J/105s, Dave Clark’s CORRYVRECKAN from Fishing Bay YC, Don DeLoatch’s SPECIAL K from Virginia Beach and Rick Payne’s FLYING COLORS from Hampton YC. Doing their best to upset that shopping trolley is Phil Briggs’s J/36 FEATHER from Hampton YC.
It looks like Ben Weeks’s J/29 RUMBLE from Yorktown, VA is the lone J wolf sailing in PHRF B-1 class hoping to hold up “J” honors against a raft of 26 to 35 footers. And, doing the same in PHRF B-II are Rusty Burshell’s J/30 COOL CHANGE from Yorktown, VA and John Wanding’s J/27 REBECCA J from Carrolton, VA. PHRF Non-Spinnaker Double-handed has Ben Ritger’s J/30 BLEW-J from Virginia Beach taking on all comers while in PHRF Cruising we see Jim Champman’s J/37c JENERAL’s LADY also from Virginia Beach taking on a thirteen boat class! For more Southern Bay Race Week sailing information
Delta Ditch Run PreviewA Cannonball Rally For Huge J/70 Fleet!
(Stockton, CA)- The Richmond YC and Stockton YC are hosting their incredibly fun, infamous, outrageous race that runs for 67 nm up the “delta” that forms the northeastern part of San Francisco Bay and heads off into the estuaries of the “flatlands”. Notoriously windy most times, it’s a mad dash up the Sacramento River from Richmond YC’s starting line in NE Bay to Stockton YC’s finish in the muddy estuaries of the San Joaquin River.
With a fleet of 125 boats registered so far, it looks to be a full-on, crazy, wacky race. With 30-40 foot carbon catamarans whistling down the straits at 75 kts, avoiding mudbanks along with J/22s, J/70s and dozens of others, you can bet there will be stories to tell after this event (e.g. groundings, dismastings, cart-wheeling humans into marshes full of mating snail-darters, etc, etc).
Last year, a number of J/70s did the race and nearly won the entire thing despite making all kinds of rookie mistakes in boat-handling and boat-speed. This year, there is an entire armada of experienced J/70 teams tackling the race hoping to beat the fable Moore 24’s who’ve been a stalwart of the race for years. This year’s rogues gallery of competitors include DIVERSION (Chris Gabriel from Santa Barbara YC), the famous ZERO TO 60 (Karl Pomeroy- Newport Harbor YC), PERFECT WIFE (Chris Andersen- St Francis YC), CAKE (Scott & Leslie Deardorff- Santa Barbara YC), ECLIPSE (Mike Drammer, Shaun Hughes, Andrew Nunn- Santa Barbara YC), SPITFIRE (Tyler Karaszewski- Santa Cruz YC), 1FA (Scott Sellers & Geoff McDonald- St Francis YC), SUGOI (Mark Nelsen), DFZ (Eric Kownacki & Tom Jenkins- Monterey Bay YC), BOTTLE ROCKET (David Schumann & Jeff Thorpe- from San Francisco YC), and LOOSE LUCY (Justin Kromelow- St Francis YC). God Speed to this group! My God how much fun could that possibly be planing downwind for 67 nm in perfectly flat water!?As for their big brothers & little sisters in the event, joining the J/70s are the J/120 SAETTA skippered by Ludovic Millin and the J/35 JARLEN sailed by Robert Bloom. In the next class down are the two J/105s BREEZE (Kurt Jordan & Peter Campfield) and SEA ROOM (Ralph Wessel).
The ultra-fast downwind machine, the J/90 RAGTIME (Rodney J’s old boat) will be sailed by Trig Liljestrand from San Francisco YC. He will be battling the “classic” J/24s for overall honors as well- Chris Corbin’s JAGERMEISTER and Pat Brown’s CHEAP TRICK. Then, one must not discount capability of a “turbo’d” J/22 in the form of MAJIC DRAGON guided by her master Mike Hopper. Fun and games for who’s top J/Team? Might be worth a magnum of Veuve-Clicqout champagne!?
Better yet, there’s a famous BBQ combined with one of the top classic and blues bands in Northern California that finish off the day of racing in grand style! The party band, for over a decade the “Blue-a-Fuse” gang has been one of the top classic rock and blues bands in Northern California. They go back to the roots of modern music. They cover fun, upbeat, danceable tunes by great artists like Santana, Van Morison, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, and many more…this band ROCKS!
Even better yet, for you armchair-racing fans, there is a new race-tracking “app” on the Android or iOS devices that are being provided by RaceQs for the Delta Ditch Run. Totally cool stuff. Even Manhattan YC in southern New York City uses RaceQs for their Tuesday night races! Check out some Manhattan YC races here. For more Delta Ditch Run sailing information
J/Sailing News
The Sun Never Sets on J’s Sailing Worldwide
The last weekend in May produced dramatic sailing, particularly in the world of offshore racing both in Europe and in America. The European offshore community are now in full swing with the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s Season Points Series, an all summer long circuit that crisscrosses the English Channel (e.g. La Manche) several times as well as taking crews up into the North Sea and as far southwest as Plymouth, England. Teams from France, Netherlands, Belgium that border the Channel all participate. Recently, J/Teams sailed well in both the first two events, the Cervantes Trophy Race (a lightish affair) and the Myth of Malham Race (a rather blustery windward-leeward offshore). While the RORC participants along the eastern parts enjoyed a bit of breeze, the International Paints Poole Regatta was taking place in Poole, England. The Parkstone YC played host to the U.K. Nationals for J/70s, J/80s and J/24s as well as IRC handicap boats.
Simultaneously, about 6 to 9 time zones behind, the Americans on the East Coast were enjoying a lightish Storm Trysail Block Island Race— an adventure that starts in Stamford, CT in Long Island Sound and goes east to west and back using Block Island as the mark. J/Teams had quite a good show overall. Then, while the B.I. Race teams were rounding Block Island on Saturday morning, another fleet of 206 boats was starting at 10 am to sail the infamously fun FIGAWI Race, a 25 nm dash from Hyannis to Nantucket Island off Cape Cod— really a sprint to the party Saturday night on Nantucket! Finally, out in the Pacific Northwest, the very famous Swiftsure Lightship Race was taking place, hosted by Royal Victoria YC in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Several veteran offshore J/Teams participated and were amply rewarded for their efforts, several managing to collect some silverware for their trophy cases.
Read on! The J/Community and Cruising section below has many entertaining stories and news about J/Sailors as well as cruising blogs about those who continue to enjoy the Caribbean and the South Pacific, staying warm while others are trying to stay warm up north. Check them out! More importantly, if you have more J/Regatta News, please email it or upload onto our J/Boats Facebook page! Below are the summaries.
Regatta & Show Schedules:
May 27- Jun 9- Delta Lloyd North Sea Week- Scheveningen, Netherlands
May 28- Jun 1- J/22 Europeans- Cameret-sur-Mer, France
May 29-Jun 2- Italian J/24 Nationals- Tirano, Italy
May 30- Susan Hood Trophy Race- Mississauga, ONT, Canada
May 31- Delta Ditch Run- Stockton Sailing Club- Stockton, CA
Jun 6-8- Chicago NOOD Regatta- Chicago YC- Chicago, IL
Jun 6-9 Norseewoche- Heligoland, Germany
Jun 9-15- Normandy Sailing Week- Le Havre, France
Jun 13-22- Cleveland Race Week- Cleveland, OH
For additional J/Regatta and Event dates in your region, please refer to the on-line J/Sailing Calendar.
J/Teams Ice Swiftsure RaceJ/122 & J/120 Win Cape Flattery Race!
(Victoria, BC, Canada)- While this year’s Pacific Northwest classic offshore yacht race- “the Swiftsure”- may not go down in the history books as the fastest ever, it will surely go down as an eye-opener for the fleet to see so many J/Teams excel in the highly variable conditions they raced in. Starting off with a 5-10 kts breeze from the SE swinging slowly to SW, the fleet was split on how to play breeze over adverse current. Some boats stayed along the northern shores along British Columbia while others made the mad dash across the Juan de Fuca Straits over to the southern shoreline along the Olympic Peninsula. Ironically, both strategies seemed to work as winners came from both sides! “Dose crazy yotsmen” seemed to make it all work!
The highly popular Cape Flattery Race attracted a flock of thirteen J’s that certainly knew their way around the race track. The top performers were Tom Kelly’s J/122 ANAM CARA from Portland YC (Oregon) and Bob Brunius’s J/120 TIME BANDIT from Orcas Island YC together; they dusted the entire Cape Flattery Race fleet, taking 1-2 both in L-1 Class and Overall! Quite a feat to achieve in the largest race against some of the best offshore sailors in the Pacific Northwest. Not far behind them was another J/120, Johnson & Liffring’s WITH GRACE, taking 4th in class.Another Portlander from Portland YC, Scott Campbell’s J/46 RIVA took 6th overall and won H-1 Class! It seems their epic race in the Oregon Offshore was good preparation for the focus and navigational challenges required to succeed in the race.
Then, 8th overall and 2nd in L-2 Class was Jerry Diercks’s J/105 DELIRIUM! Just behind them in L-2 Class were George Leighton’s J/35 TAHLEQUAH in 4th and Jim Geros’s J/105 LAST TANGO in 5th.
In the Cape Flattery IRC Unlimited Division, Ron Holbrook’s J/133 CONSTELLATION from Corinthian YC- Tacoma took home the silver both overall and in class.
The Juan de Fuca Race proved to be popular with the J/30 gang; both entries from Sloop Tavern YC were clearly match-racing all the way around the course since they finished within 5 minutes of one another at the finish off Victoria, BC! Taking 2nd in L-2 Division was Ulf Georg Gwildis’s IMPULSIVE and settling for the bronze on the podium was CONRAD J skippered by the two partners- Geoffrey
Wolf & Adrien Felon. Todd Rutter’s J/32 BLUE JAY sailed well in H-1 Division to grab 4th place and Jim Prentice’s J/109 DIVA sailed incredibly well to take not only 3rd in L-1 Division, but also take 4th overall in the entire Juan de Fuca Race! Finally, the Swiftsure Inshore regatta saw the J/80 SW sailed by Kevin Reath from Royal Vancouver YC win Division 2 and also take 3rd overall in the 21 nm race! Taking 2nd in Division I and 10th overall was the J/33 CORVO skippered by Tom Kerr from Corinthian YC- Seattle. For more Swiftsure Race sailing information
Lovely, Windy Poole RegattaGreat Sailing for J/70, J/80 & J/24 Nationals
(Poole, England)- This year’s International Paints Poole Regatta was blessed with great breeze and awesome race committee work, making it fun and exhausting for all! The regatta is a huge bi-annual event held over the three days of the late May Bank Holiday Weekend. In addition to the U.K. National Championships for J/24s, J/70s and J/80s being run as part of the regatta, there was excellent IRC handicap racing, too.
First, the J/70 and J/80 Nationals. The report from Paul & Marie-Claude Heys comes from the perspective of sailing their J/70 JOSEPH’S COAT: “The regatta is run by a consortium of the Poole Yacht Clubs and was a brilliant example of how a regatta should be run; swift launching of trailerable boats by the Parkstone YC travel hoist crew, excellent on-the-water race management, a prompt results service and a delightful clutch of socials spread between Parkstone Yacht Club, Poole Yacht Club and the Royal Motor Yacht Club. Congratulations and thank you to the hardworking army that made it all happen.
Race day 1 was planned as a four race day, the morning races were sailed in 10-12 knots which was enough to see the J/70s planing downwind. There is a big difference in the downwind sailing styles of the J/70 and the J/80, with the 70s opting for an aggressive crew weight aft, bow up ‘hot angle’ mode and the 80s sailing in a deeper displacement mode. PRO Peter Sexton set the J/70s on their way six minutes ahead of the J/80s, this worked really well with no resulting traffic issues.
The first bullet for the J/80s went to Ben Richards and Andrew and Julia Dallas on Boysterous, with new class chair Mike Lewis second on Jester.
Races 2-4 of the J/80 series were won by Patrick Liardet’s Aqua- J which when added to a third in race one left Patrick sitting on a solid overnight lead.
In the meantime, on the J/70 circuit, defending National Champion and European Champion, Ruairidh Scott, having now teamed up with Ian Atkins to own and sail Boats.com, took the first two bullets. Ian Southworth helming Simon Ling’s Team RAFBF Spitfire won races 3 and 4, with Boats.com taking two seconds and thus the overnight lead. Team RAFBF Spitfire appeared to find the lighter conditions in the afternoon very much to their liking. Other noticeable results on day one were a second place in race one of the J/70 series for Charlie Esse’s Baby J, and class chairman Simon Cavey’s pair of thirds on Just 4 Play.Race day 2, the Sunday, was again to be a four race day. The wind had increased to 15-22, which meant both fleets were planing downwind, with the J/70s sailing at 15 knots+ of boat speed for long periods. Others were drifting sideways with their keels horizontal for brief and embarrassing periods!
Boats.com showed the benefit of their experience and the hard work that they have put in during training to score an outstanding four firsts, Team RAFBF Spitfire took four straight seconds, the lead pair now opening up a points gap on the rest of the fleet. Charlie Esse’s Baby J completed the podium for the day with a flush of thirds.
In the J/80 fleet, day two saw two boats tied with the best score of the day; Alan Higgs’ Team Juicy and Chris Taylor’s J.A.T. Aqua J added two firsts, a third and a sixth. Local sailor Dave Evans sailing Last Chance, won race six.
The final day was, as forecast an ‘off the land’ 8 knots, making Poole bay nice and calm, thus giving the sailors some respite after a windy Saturday. For the third day in a row, PRO Peter Sexton got the fleet away on time. In the J/80 class, any one of three boats, Juicy, J.A.T. and Aqua-J, could win the series, so the pressure was high!
Aqua-J’s overnight lead was eroded by their worst pair of results – a seventh and a sixth. J.A.T. scored a pair of fourths, putting them on equal points with Aqua-J. Juicy also had their worst pair of results with an eighth and a ninth, costing them a podium spot as the hard charging Last Chance delivered a 2-1 knockout punch. Boysterous returned to form with a second and a third, whilst Brian Denney sailing Jalapeno had his best day with a first and a third.
Thus, Patrick Liardet sailing Aqua-J became the 2014 National Champion defeating 2013 winner J.A.T. on countback, after one of the closest competitions in class history. J.A.T’s consolation was to win the Corinthian trophy. Last Chance took third overall finishing just one point behind the top two.
For the J/70 title Boats.com only needed to punch in one good result from the two final races, with a second as discard they were in a strong position. Their only possible challenger was Team RAFBF Spitfire who looked solid for a top two result. First to the top mark in race nine, was Joseph’s Coat helmed by Marie-Claude Heys, who had predominately worked the right hand side of the course. Boats.com assumed their normal position at the head of the fleet just before the end of the run. Team RAFBF Spitfire was a little further back in the pack. On the next upwind leg, Boats.com placed a general cover on the bulk of the fleet whilst Team RAFBF Spitfire headed hard left and found a nice shift that propelled them into a big lead at the final windward mark. Boats.com reeled them in on the final run closing them down but not passing.That second place was enough for Boats.com to
take the title, so they sailed in, to beat the queue for the crane leaving Team RAFBF Spitfire to pick up a fourth bullet in race ten, followed by Dave Atkinson sailing Jawbreaker in second and then Just 4 Play in third.
Boats.com were the deserved winners, with Spitfire a very solid second and Ian Wilson’s Wilson Covers being helmed by Geoff Carveth knocking Baby J out of third.
For the J/70s as a young fleet, techniques are still being developed to get the best out of these fast-planing machines, the build up to September’s inaugural World Championship continues with Boats.com looking the class act.
At the final prize giving, Boats.com was awarded the Kleinwort Benson ‘Boat of the Regatta’ trophy as an accolade to their tally of twelve points from ten races. Top boat out of 180 competitors, well done Ian Atkins, Ruairidh Scott, Dan Brown and Ben Field! Oh, and to their coach, the legendary Q.P. Saltonstall!”
The J/24s had one of their local hotshots from Parkstone YC take class honors, Duncan McCarthy sailing the mighty MADELEINE to a dominating win with just 18 pts net. Bob Turner & Ian Brown’s SERCO from Castle Cove SC took second place followed by another local PYC boat, Nick Phillips’s CHAOTIC in third.
The IRC Class managed to get in seven good races offshore. Winning three races and taking second overall were Jackie and Rob Dobson’s J/133 Jeronimo. Stalking them around the course for the entire series was the J/109 BLUE JAY sailed by Alan & Lis Bennet. Their OCS in Race 1 hurt their chances at doing better, nevertheless they sailed a solidly consistent series to take third on the podium! Sailing photo credits- David Harding For more Poole Regatta sailing information
Kids Win Block Island Race!J/105 YOUNG AMERICAN Win PHRF & Best Performance!
(Stamford, CT)- The 69th Storm Trysail Club Block Island Race, which started on the Friday (May 23) of Memorial Day Weekend, attracted 69 boats. While George David’s custom 90 footer- RAMBLER- won IRC on both handicap an elapsed with a fully professional crew, the polar opposite was true of the J/105 that won the hearts of everyone at the awards ceremony on Sunday. That team was YOUNG AMERICAN, the J/105 that won PHRF 1 and represented American Yacht Club with its junior offshore team aboard. According to the team’s coordinator and adult crew member, Peter Becker, “the seven Young American juniors are part of the club’s junior big boat program, which sees 35 kids between the ages of 14 and 17 spending a huge amount of time on the water learning sailing and seamanship skills.”
“Beating out the Sound, we were under-powered, and there was a funny sea wave,” said Becker, “but they magically called a couple of shifts, got inside some big lifts and were in good company. The biggest problem was the big boats, which were in better wind and better current, while the smaller boats had the current turn on them. Coming back we were in foul current, which was not enjoyable at all.”
Finishing around 4 a.m. on Sunday, the Young American team thought they had done horribly but soon learned they were first in PHRF Class 1 and third overall. The team also won the Harvey Conover Memorial Overall Trophy, “awarded to the boat that has won her class and, in the judgment of the Flag Officers and Race Committee, had the best overall performance.”
Peter Becker’s son, Key Becker, who was one of three designated skippers onboard, summed up the experience by saying, “It was pretty light, but instead of getting frustrated, we held it together, worked as a team, shared our ideas and made it work.”
The largest brand in the IRC 1 Double-handed Division were the J’s with 5 of the 12 boats sailing. So dominating were their performance that they took 4 of the top 5 spots! Leading the charge in 2nd overall was multiple Block Island Race and Bermuda Race One-Two winner, Jason Richter, on his famous J/35 PALADIN. The “newbie” to the double-handed group was Mike Piper’s J/111 EAGLES DARE from Marblehead, MA, putting on a good show and taking 3rd overall in this incredibly competitive class. Next up were the two J/120s, both proven offshore winners. Taking 4th was Hewitt Gaynor’s MIRIELLE followed by Gardner Grant’s ALIBI.
The two J teams sailing in the IRC 3 Division had a rough go of it in the 8 boat class. In the end, the J/133 MATADOR sailed by Dale and Michael McIvor took 5th and the J/122 RED SKY skippered by John Pearson took 6th.
Finally, the J/44 One-Design Division had great sailing, as usual in this closely-spaced fleet. Taking the gun was Phil Gutin’s BEAGLE, followed by Harry Devore’s team on HONAHLEE in 2nd and Len Sitar’s VAMP in third. For more STC Block Island Race sailing information
Classic RORC Myth of Malham Race(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- Over the May Bank Holiday the third event in the RORC Season’s Point Series was the challenging 230 nm Myth of Malham Race. A fleet of approximately 40 yachts, from five different nations, took part with 10 yachts racing in the Double-Handed class. The course can be a described as a long windward-leeward, starting from Cowes with the top mark as the Eddystone Lighthouse, approximately 12 miles SSW of Plymouth Sound, and finishing in the Solent. The lighthouse was built between 1878 and 1892 and is mentioned in Herman Melville’s epic novel “Moby Dick.” At 49 meters (161ft) high, Eddystone’s light is visible from 22 miles and, along with Bishop Rock, it is the tallest lighthouse managed by Trinity House.
The end of May is typically a time of changeable weather in the UK and the Myth of Malham Race shaped up to be a real tactical challenge. The south coast of England has complex and significant tidal flows, measuring as much as five meters at the Eddystone Lighthouse and weather forecasts are predicting varied wind speed and direction along the route. Correctly anticipating whether to stay offshore or come inshore will be a big factor in any team’s performance. As it all turned out, this year’s event was a “classic” Myth of Malham Race.
The fleet started from the Royal Yacht Squadron Line under grey skies and a south-westerly wind of ten knots. All 40 yachts got away to a good start with the Royal Armoured Corps Yacht Club’s J/109 WHITE KNIGHT 7 and Christopher Palmer’s J/109, J-T’AIME, judging the line close to perfection. In the second start Chris Radford’s J/122, RELENTLESS ON JELLYFISH also got away well. Ahead of the fleet was a beat of well over 100 miles to the Eddystone Rock and the somewhat gentle conditions at the start were later replaced by a strong breeze with foul tide causing a significant swell, especially on the first night near Poole Bay. However, the fleet enjoyed a blistering run back to the Solent, with big breeze and warm sunshine providing wonderful conditions.
As one of the sailors described it, “The beat was slightly testing near the start in about 15-20 knots but later we saw up to 24 knots on the beat, which was hard work but that was worth it for a very quick reach home in about 12 hours from Eddystone to the finish. We had foul tide from Portland on the return and to escape the current at St. Albans Head we were just 200 yards from the cliffs surfing the overfalls in 20 knots of wind. It is usually a tactical race out to Eddystone and more often than not we have a fast run or reach home in waves and interesting tides which make it memorable. All in all making a classic race.”
The dozen or so J’s enjoyed the conditions, reveling in the winds and seas for the long first beat out to the Rock. Sailing very well in the incredibly competitive IRC 2 Class was the J/122 RELENTLESS ON JELLYFISH sailed by James George. She took 3rd in class and 9th overall!
As for IRC 3 Class, it was pretty clear the six 35 foot J’s had a smashing good time. Top of the heap was the J/109 JUMBUCK sailed by John Allison, taking 3rd in class and 8th overall! Just behind him were the J/109 J-T’AIME skippered by Chris Palmer in 5th, the J/105 DIABLO-J skippered by Nick Martin in 6th and also taking 5th in Double-Handed Class. In 7th was the J/109 ME JULIE helmed by Dom Monkhouse at Summit Sailing; 8th was J/109 JUMPING JELLYFISH helmed by David Richards and in 9th was the J/109 WHITE KNIGHT 7 crewed by the Royal Armoured Corps YC. Thanks for the article contribution from RORC’s Louay Habib. For more RORC Myth of Malham Race sailing information
Fast FIGAWI Race!(Hyannis, MA)- The 43rd Annual Figawi Race did not disappoint the 206 boats and 3,000+ sailors making the annual pilgrimage from Hyannis to Nantucket Harbor nearly 25.0nm away. According to Brad Mascott on the J/105 TWO IF BY SEA,
“Big wind and big seas made for a fast sleigh ride to Nantucket for those brave enough to carry their chutes. Wind was 15-20 knots from NE, which made for a broad reach on port tack for the spinnaker fleet on Course #5 on their way to Tuckernut Shoal Bell #1.
As the J/105s started, Dark n Stormy had a great start, popped the chute and never looked back on their way for a 3peat win in its division. Another J/105 to my starboard had trouble with another spinnaker boat as they both nearly broached with a t-bone and then when the dust settled the J/105’s spinnaker exploded on the forestay! While other boats also blew spinnakers and halyards, it was reported that several crew members lost their breakfast over the rail – yes, it was rough but I am sure they had too much fun at the Hyannis YC pre-race party and then late night at Baxter’s- a favorite local pub.
We chose not to fly our spinnaker as we had our cruising crew onboard and still thoroughly enjoyed the fast and easy ride at 7-9 knots surfing down the waves!
Our 2nd leg was a “head bashing, lose your dental work” slog upwind to #15 north of great point and thank God it was only approximately 4 miles long in some huge waves. The J/105 took it in stride. The J/122 PATRIOT trucked past us as they looked to be in fine fighting form. Both PATRIOT and the J/44 SPICE popped their chutes one last time to the finish and both looked good on the nearly dead downwind final leg.Really hard to complain with sunny skies all day, strong breeze and temps in the 50s-60s leading into a raucous scene at the wharf. The “BaHa Brothers” band were in fine form in the tent as crews and friends told stories, danced and drank the night away. Late night burrito at “Tacos Tacos” capped off a great day!”
As for how the J/Navy did in the race? Quite good overall. Not surprisingly, a J/105 was 3rd overall on the long course and the J/29 was 4th! In Division A the J/46 WINGS sailed by Rick Egan, a long—time veteran of the FIGAWI took 5th and Lauren Burke’s J/44 SPICE finished 5th.
In Division C, the J/29 SEEFEST sailed by Ira Perry took 2nd place in class and 4th overall! In Division G Non-Spinnaker the J/40 SMITTEN skippered by Bill Jones took 4th.The sprit boat division crews could not have been grinning wider after the finish, an epic race indeed for this fast-moving crowd! In Division S1 Spinnaker, the J/120 M-SQUARED sailed by Gordon Mack took first followed by the two J/122s finishing together in third & fourth, respectively- Peter Duncan’s PATRIOT and Jim Maseiro’s URSUS MARITIMUS (exactly 60 seconds apart!). All three boats finished within 8 minutes of one another.
The Division S2 Spinnaker saw the J/105 DARK’N’STORMY sailed by Joyce & Wagner Reservitz win followed by Jonathan Bloom’s J/105 BEAR SPIRIT in 3rd, Diana Brown’s J/105 CLIO in 4th and Bill Kneller’s J/109 VENTO SOLARE in 5th. The top four boats all finished within a 2 minute time span! Wow, that was fun, close racing! For more FIGAWI Race sailing information
J/109s Sweep RORC Cervantes Trophy(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- The domestic season for the RORC Season’s Points Championship kicked off with a test of tactics and endurance for the international fleet of yachts racing from Cowes to Le Havre for the Cervantes Trophy. The main tactical conundrum was a windless area in the middle of the Channel. After over 24 hours of racing, a large number of the fleet were compressed in a tight pack, flying spinnakers into the finish line with many yachts finishing within minutes of each other.
One of the skippers in the race commented, “The Cervantes Trophy Race was very light at the start and the tactic we used to make an advantage was to take a trajectory that was not in a straight line but to the east, curving below the other boats. We knew that our Code Zero is an excellent sail and this line would allow us to use it. In addition, with this position on the course, the predicted loss of wind mid-Channel would probably fill in from the east first and we would be closer to the new wind than the other boats. The Code Zero proved to be an excellent weapon and we took the advantage in the middle of the Channel.”
With 21 entries, IRC Three was by far the largest and most competitive class in the Race. When the spinnakers all came down at the finish line, everyone knew the final tally was going to be close for the top five boats. Though first J/109 across the line on elapsed, Robert Stiles’s DIAMOND JEM had to settle for second in class; just 7 minutes shy of first on corrected time. Taking the IRC 3 Class win and 9th overall was fellow J/109 classmate JUMBUCK skippered by John Allison. Following them were Kevin Armstrong’s J/109 JAZZY JELLYFISH in 4th and David Aisher’s J/109 YEOMAN OF WIGHT, skippered by Richard Sheldon, taking 5th place. For more RORC Cervantes Trophy Race sailing information
J/Community
What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide
* Now that all things great and good are taking place in world of spring commissioning for boat owners in the northern parts, we usually get some amusing reports from J/Boat owners east and west about their projects (e.g. one year it was “how to install a keg-erator into a J/24”)! Lately, it seems the small J/Navy on Lake Pleasant in Arizona are having their version of “spring cleaning”, too. Here is the latest report from Victor Felice from Phoenix, AZ. It seems his J/24 MERMAID RESCUE has arisen like a phoenix from her ashes! Victor commented on their process:“The grand overhaul of the J/24 MERMAID RESUCE is finally over! Just over five weeks of ‘as soon as I finish this, I’ll work on the boat’ – pretty quick! New everything from top to bottom. For Christmas, I want the West Marine box of 1001 stainless steel nuts, bolts, and washers!When I was young, I always had to write an essay titled “What I did this summer”. This is what I did this spring, watch this video documentary (quite an amazing transformation) –http://www.mermaidrescue.us/officially-finished/
As soon as the racing season ended last fall, out she came for a full overhaul. I am spending a very long weekend in San Diego on a friends boat. Then, off to Lake Pleasant to see what we can break! All the best, Victor”. Here’s the J/24 MERMAID RESCUE blog and website
As soon as the racing season ended last fall, out she came for a full overhaul. I am spending a very long weekend in San Diego on a friends boat. Then, off to Lake Pleasant to see what we can break! All the best, Victor”. Here’s the J/24 MERMAID RESCUE blog and website
J/Cruising Community
J Cruisers continue their adventures around the world, below are a selection of most excellent “blogs” written by their prolific publishers. Some terribly amusing anecdotes and pearls of wisdom are contained in their blogs. Read some! You’ll love it.
* Jim & Heather Wilson just completed a circumnavigation of our “blue planet Earth” in June 2013 on their J/42 CEOL MOR. Said Jim, “The odyssey of CEOL MOR is over, for now. We completed our circumnavigation on our J/42 when we crossed our outbound track in Britannia Bay, Mustique. We were, however, still 2,000 nautical miles from home. So we continued on through the Windwards, the Leewards, and then through the British Virgin Islands. After a farewell ‘Painkiller’ at the Soggy Dollar, and a last meal at Foxy’s, we made the 1,275 nautical mile passage to the Chesapeake and completed our port-to-port circumnavigation when we arrived in Annapolis on June 28, 2013. We had been away 1,334 days, completed 259 days of ocean passages, and sailed 30,349 nautical miles (34,925 statute miles). Read more about their adventures in their well-documented blog here: http://www.svceolmor.com/SVCeolMor/Welcome.html
* J/160 AVATAR headed for the Caribbean, again! We LOVE these updates from our cruising J sailors that continue to criss-cross the Seven Seas. This one comes from Alan Fougere, sailing his beloved J/160 AVATAR. Alan sent us an email update commenting on their passage south this winter, “In mid-December AVATAR completed her sixth transit to her winter Caribbean home, Grand Cruz Bay, St. John, USVI (seen above) from her home port in Quissett (Falmouth), MA. A crew of three, Captain Alan (e.g. me), Crew Pablo Brissett and Mark Conroy, covered the 1,500 nm trip in in her best time to date- 7 Days 5 Hours, averaging 8.7 kts, that’s about 208 nm per day! Amazing passage it was! Rainbow at right far offshore was some of the amazing phenomenon we experienced on this fast offshore passage.AVATAR will participate in the BVI Sailing Festival/Regatta again in 2013, where last year she won the Nanny Key Cup Cruising Class race around the Island of Virgin Gorda. Here are some photos for you to share with the J/Community at-large. Enjoy!”
Best, Alan Fougere/ AVATAR
* Bill & Judy Stellin recently had an interview about cruising on their J/42 in the Wall St Journal called “Retiring on the Open Sea”. The Wall St Journal asked Bill to reply to dozens of questions that flooded into the WSJ’s Editor desks. Here’s the update:Retiring on the Sea: Answering Readers’ Questions
Advice about selecting a boat, ocean crossings, itineraries and safety
The article in our WSJ Online December retirement report about eight years spent sailing the Mediterranean— “Retiring to the Open Sea”— prompted many questions and comments from readers. We asked William Stellin, who wrote the story, to answer some of the most common queries.WSJ- “What kind and make of boat did you use? Looking back, would you have picked a different boat?”
Bill- “In 1995-96, J/Boats of Newport, RI, came out with a new cruiser/racer model, the J/42. We bought hull No. 6 of this popular 42-foot sailboat and named it JAYWALKER. This was our fourth boat since beginning sailing in 1975.
Although long-distance cruising wasn’t what we had in mind when we purchased JAYWALKER, it soon became apparent it had the ability to carry us easily and safely anywhere we wanted to go. Because the boat is light, it sails well in light winds, which means very little motoring is necessary.
People often ask (and argue) about what boat is best for cruising. Any boat that is strong, safe, fast, comfortable and easily handled by two people should fit the bill. One thing for sure, fast is fun—and important when trying to avoid bad weather.”
READ MORE ABOUT BILL’S INSIGHTFUL COMMENTARY AND THOUGHTS ON WSJ ONLINE HERE
* The J/42 JARANA continues their epic voyage around the Pacific. Continue to read about Bill and Kathy Cuffel’s big adventure cruising the South Pacific headed for New Zealand. Their blog is here:http://www.svjarana.blogspot.com/
* John and Mary Driver are sailing their J/130 SHAZAM for e
xtended cruising in the Atlantic basin. At this time, John and Mary finished their double-handed crossing of the Atlantic, landing in Portugal on their J/130 Shazam after completion of their ARC Rally. Read the latest news athttp://www.sailblogs.com/member/shazam/.
* Several J/160 owners are island hopping across the world’s oceans, fulfilling life long dreams to cruise the Pacific islands, the Caribbean islands, the Indian Ocean and all points in between. Anyone for Cape Horn and penguins?? Read more about their adventures and escapades (like our J/109 GAIA, J/42s PAX and JAYWALKER and J/130 SHAZAM friends above).– Bill and Susan Grun on the J/160 AVANTE are also sailing in the Pacific archipelago, read more about their great adventures on their blog (http://web.me.com/susangrun). Read about their latest adventures as they’ve gotten to New Zealand- “Avante Cruises the Pacific”.
– Eric and Jenn on the J/160 MANDALAY also sailed the Pacific archipelago, read more on their blog at http://www.sailmandalay.com. Eric and Jenn are J/World alumni took MANDALAY up and down the West Coast (Mexico, CA), then to the South Pacific and New Zealand. MANDALAY is back in San Francisco now, and in the J/World fleet–she is available for skippered charters, private instruction, and corporate/executive groups.