NEW! J/99 Short-handed Offshore Speedster!

(Newport, RI)- J/Boats and J/Composites are pleased to announce the new J/99, a 9.9 meter (32.9’) crew-friendly, offshore-capable speedster currently under development at J/Composites in Les Sables d’Olonne, France.

The J/99 is the newest addition to the J/Sport range, combining headroom and comfortable interior accommodation with the tiller-driven responsiveness of a sport boat. The sail and deck plan are optimized for easy handling with fewer crew, and incorporate the latest developments from the award-winning J/121 and the new Offshore Sailing World champion J/112E. The interior features twin aft cabins, a proper sit-down forward facing nav station, an L-shaped galley, and a private forward head with sail locker.

Now more than ever, sailors are attracted to adventure-filled, signature events (Fastnet, Middle Sea, Chicago-Mac, etc.) where straight-line speed, sail handling, strategy and weather routing are all equally put to the test. The J/99 is designed to excel in these events (both fully crewed and short-handed) while delivering the exhilarating, family-friendly experience the J Sport range is known for.

“The J/99 opens up a wide range of sailing possibilities,” commented designer Alan Johnstone. “The versatile sail plan, balanced hull form and efficient cockpit will work as well for short-handed offshore sailing as for weekend sailing with friends. The J/99 packs a lot of performance and versatility into a manageable size and budget.” For more J/99 Offshore Speedster sailing informationAdd to Flipboard Magazine.


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J/88 Great Lakes & CanAm Regatta Preview

(Youngstown, NY)- The Youngstown YC will be again hosting one of the most enjoyable regattas in western Lake Ontario. The fun and games include an “impromptu” (but, very serious) hockey game along the waterfront parking lot between Canadian and American sailing teams; bragging rights for North American supremacy in this department has flipped back and forth over time. Nevertheless, the sailing offshore just east of the famous Niagara Falls is every bit as intense and, perhaps even more fun on the water!

The event features the J/88 Great Lakes Championship as well as one-design classes for J/22s, J/70s, and a fleet of PHRF handicap racing sailboats.

The seven boat J/88 Great Lakes includes an unprecedented three woman skippers leading top teams that could easily sweep the leaderboard, which is how good their performances have been in the past. In no particular order, those woman skippers include Iris Vogel’s DEVIATION, Laura Weyler’s HIJINKS, and Cindy Goodin’s QUIXY.

With a half-dozen boats in the J/22 class, the racing will be tight, but watch for the leaderboard to include Mark Sertl’s MONEY FOR NOTHING and Vic Snyder’s MO’MONEY.

The largest fleet in the event is the dozen boats sailing the J/70 class. For sure the leading crews include the famous Travis Odenbach leading his USA 40 crew as well as Tod Sackett’s FM. There will be four Canadians taking on the Americans, hoping to bring on an upset of epic proportions; such as Rick Veale’s EL JEFE, Rich Jones’ MAVERICK, and Mark Wolff’s JAM.

In the world of PHRF handicap racing, the PHRF Spinnaker division includes two of those potent PHRF weapons- the J/35s CRIME SCENE (Paul Angus Bark) and LOYALIST (Andrew Koolman). They will be joined by the J/124 FUTURES (John Reinhold), the J/80 LIFTED (Ed Berkhout), and the J/24 SQUIRMY (Alex O’Brien). In addition, the PHRF Non-Spinnaker division includes the J/35C ROGUE WAVE (Doug Clarke) and the J/34 SOUND WAVE (Fred White). For more J/88 Great Lakes and CanAm Regatta sailing informationAdd to Flipboard Magazine.


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Ugotta Regatta Preview

(Harbor Springs, MI)- The most popular sailing event to attend on an annual basis has to be Little Traverse YC’s famous “Ugotta Regatta” that is sailed on the pristine Caribbean-blue Little Traverse Bay on the upper northwest part of the Michigan peninsula. The regatta is host to a J/70 fleet (popular with the local youth sailors) as well as fleets of offshore boats sailing ORR and PHRF that have been refugees and survivors from the two equally famous Mackinac Races that took place in the previous three weeks (Bayview and Chicago). The regatta takes place from July 27th to 29th and features a combination of round-the-cans as well as random-leg courses for the fleets. Not surprisingly, the most popular one is the “Round the Bay Race”.

Sailing in the nine-boat ORR C fleet are five J’s, including Jack & Jim Toliver’s J/109 VANDA III, Geoff Brieden & Jeff Clark’s J/120 SCOUT (recent Mac Race winner), Matt Songer’s J/122 EVVAI, Bob Mampe’s J/122 GOTTA WANTA, and Bob Klairmont’s J/133 SCIROCCO 3.

There are six J/crews sailing in the eleven-boat PHRF B fleet, including four J/88s (Andy Graff’s EXILE, Rich Stearns’ HOKEY SMOKE, Scott & Jim Sorbie’s LEGACY, & Ben Wilson’s RAMBLER). In addition, they will be up against the famous long-distance cruising couple and local hotshots- Bill & Judy Stellin- on their J/42 JAYWALKER and Gary & Susan Stewart’s J/32 ZONE.

By far the largest fleet in the regatta is the popular J/70 class, with twenty-one boats having made the trek from across the Midwest and farther; in fact, as far as Chicago, IL; Kansas City, KS; Atlanta, GA; and Larkspur, CA! Several boats should be near the top of the leaderboard, such as Sarah Renz’s BERTEAU GROUP from Chicago, IL; Bill McKinley’s DENALI 0.5 from Harbor Springs, MI; Scott Sellers’ TRES BURRITOS from Larkspur, CA; and Dick Lehmann’s WIND CZAR from Paradise Valley, AZ.

Finally, a very talented fleet of five J/111s is racing as a one-design class, including the Chicago-Mackinac Race class winner- local hero Dave Irish and his team on NO SURPRISE. In addition, attending are past J/111 Great Lakes Champions- KASHMIR (Karl Brummel, Steve Henderson, & Mike Mayer). For more LTYC Ugotta Regatta sailing informationAdd to Flipboard Magazine.


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Santa Barbara to King Harbor Race Preview

(Santa Barbara, CA)- The 2018 edition of the Santa Barbara to King Harbor Race is shaping up to be another notable event in the southern California offshore season. With eighty-nine boats registered in the giant PHRF division, it will be a “who’s who” of the SoCal offshore fraternity that will be vying for both class and overall honors. Hosted by Santa Barbara YC as the starting point and the King Harbor YC as the finishing point off the gorgeous Point Loma peninsula off Los Angeles, the fleet will always be engaged in the classic elemental battle of how to win, what appears on paper, to be a very simple race.

The standard “formula”, if there is one, breaks down into four basic strategies: (1) sail the first part from Santa Barbara to the Anacapa Passage as low as possible on starboard tack, as the wind that funnels down Santa Cruz Island from the northwest favors those coming in “hot” from further east/ southeast; a distance of roughly 30.0nm at 154 degrees. (2) rounding Anacapa Island is always a challenge, the decision to go offshore vs. inshore causes all kinds of anxiety and consternation for any navigator/ tactician. In short, the goal is to get around it as efficiently as possible and if often includes elements of both. (3) Anacapa Island to Point Dume on the Malibu Riviera is the “classic play”, a distance of 32.0nm at 92 degrees. The reason why it “works” is because any northwesterly flow of any type down the Santa Barbara Channel at all accelerates like crazy against the 3,000 ft tall mountains just inshore and then gets curved around the point. However, the effect lasts for about 10.0nm going into Point Dume on port tack, then as the NW flows gets “bent” around the headland, it’s often best to simply head straight for the King Harbor entrance on starboard tack about 26.0nm distant at a bearing of 113 degrees. Why? Because, for most boats that get to Point Dume before sunset, the thermal onshore breezes are still strong that are getting sucked into the greater Los Angeles regional basin off to the east (with 5,000 ft mountains still hot and drawing in the cool ocean breeze late into the night). This year’s will be light, so those effects coming into the L.A. Basin may be even more pronounced than in past races.

Starting on July 27th will be a strong fleet of J/crews, representing most of the top sailing clubs across the Southern California region. Those teams include twin J/125s (Dr Laura Schlessinger’s WARRIOR and Viggo Torbensen’s TIMESHAVER); Glenn Griley’s J/122 TKO; three J/111s (Bernie Girod’s ROCK & ROLL, Doug & Jack Jorgensen’s PICOSA, & Ken Kieding/ John Vincent’s ARGO 3); two J/120s (Tom & Teri Manok’s POLE DANCER & Jack Rose’s PRIVATEER); two J/124s (Seth Hall’s MARISOL & Scott Torrance’s FORGIVENESS); Jack Mayer’s J/109 ZEPHYR; David Gorney’s J/105 NO COMPROMISE; Eric & Steve McClure’s J/35 MACS; Doug Stelck’s J/100 JIB & TONIC; Fred & Suzanne Cottrell’s J/33 TIGGER; two more J/105s (Chuck Spear’s TWELVE BAR BLUES & Dan Murphy’s CUCHULAINN); Brian Kerr’s J/92 DOUBLE DOWN; and Tom Hinkle’s J/40 WHITE LIGHT. That is quite the J/Tribe headed down the SoCal coast from Santa Barbara to LA! For more Santa Barbara to King Harbor Race sailing informationAdd to Flipboard Magazine.


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J/35 North American Championship Preview

(Cheboygan, MI)- The North Star Sail Club in Cheboygan, MI will be hosting the fifteen-boat J/35 fleet for their 2018 North American Championship on the beautiful northeast shores of Michigan on the verdant green waters of Lake Huron. From July 27th to 29th, the racing promises to be extremely competitive as many teams have had a chance to fine tune their crews in the two classic Great Lakes offshore races- the Bayview Mackinac Race and the Chicago Mackinac Race over the past three weeks- both amongst the most popular offshore events in the worlds.

Past winners of the J/35 N.A.’s that are participating this year, include such Midwest legends like “Wild Bill” (Bill Wildner) sailing his MR BILL’S WILD RIDE from Detroit, MI; Bruce, Eric & Chris Metcalf’s BOZO’S CIRCUS from Chicago, IL; and Larry Schell’s TOUCH OF GREY from Chicago, IL.

There are many aspirants to the N.A. Champion throne, including Rick Stage’s ALPHA PUPPY from Chicago, IL; Larry Taunt’s BAD DOG from Muskegon, MI; Mitch Weisman’s successful FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER from Chicago, IL; and Cheryl Miller’s DEAN’S LIST from East Tawas, MI. Should be incredibly fun and close racing amongst this “glitterati illuminati” of the Great Lakes J/35 world. For more J/35 North American Championship sailing informationAdd to Flipboard Magazine.


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Marblehead NOOD Regatta Preview

(Marblehead, MA)- The 2018 Helly Hansen Marblehead NOOD Regatta is being hosted by the famous triumvirate of yacht clubs in the area- Boston YC, Corinthian YC, and Eastern YC. Primarily hosted on the grounds of EYC as “base camp”, hundreds of sailors will yet again enjoy the tremendously warm reception provided by the membership of the three clubs. The forecast looks promising, with mostly southerly winds in the 8-12 kts range from Thursday through Saturday. Then, a potential front flowing through Saturday night that produces a northwesterly flow that is light in the morning and switching at some point midday to an onshore seabreeze from the southeast in the 5-8 kts range.

Dozens of J/Sailors enjoy this very popular regatta from up and down the New England & Atlantic coast, from Maine down to South Carolina. There are one-design fleets of J/24s, J/70s, and J/105s.

An enormous, record-breaking J/70 fleet of fifty-six boats has registered for this year’s event. No doubt, with several foreign entries participating, many in the fleet are sailing as part of their training program for the upcoming J/70 World Championship that will be hosted by Eastern YC in September 2018.

Many of the top teams that have led the fleet in the past few regattas will be testing their crews and latest sail designs. Amongst those teams are Jack Franco’s 3 BALL JT, Jud Smith’s AFRICA, Joel Ronning’s CATAPULT, Glenn Darden’s HOSS, Ray & Jenn Wulff’s JOINT CUSTODY, Bruce Golison’s MIDLIFE CRISIS, Heather Gregg & Joe Bardenheier’s MUSE, Bennet Greenwald’s PERSEVERANCE, Peter Duncan’s RELATIVE OBSCURITY, Brian Keane’s SAVASANA, Will Welles’ SCAMP, Bruno Pasquinelli’s STAMPEDE, John & Molly Baxter’s TEAM VINEYARD VINES, and Tim Healey’s USA 2; just to name a few of the top boats!

A number of leading foreign teams are showing up, including the 2nd place team in last week’s United Kingdom J/70 Nationals- Martin Dent’s JELVIS (also a J/111 World Champion). In addition, there is Brazil’s Selmo Nissenbaum sailing HIGHLANDERS, Argentina’s Geronimo Galvan skippering JUICY, and Switzerland’s Massimo Soriano.

The dozen-boat J/105 class has amongst its constituency several notable local crews that have led past NOODs. Those teams include Charlie Garrard’s MERLIN, Steve Hollis’ SIROCCO, Mark Lindquist’s STERLING, Mark Masur’s TWO FEATHERS, and Peter Isaacson’s UPROAR.

Finally, in the nine-boat J/24 class, there will be several top teams from past Marblehead NOODs. Those teams include John Denman’s AIRODOODLE, Chris Clancy’s LITTLE MARTHA and John Wells’ SHELDON J. In addition, the J/24 Class Youth Team will be sailing USA 423, skippered by Kira Munger from Newport, NY.
For more Helly Hansen Marblehead NOOD Regatta sailing informationAdd to Flipboard Magazine.


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J/105 North American Championship Preview

(Harbor Springs, MI)- From the 26th to 29th of July, the J/105 North American Championship will be hosted by Little Traverse Bay YC in Harbor Springs Michigan. The fifteen-boat fleet will be part of their famous Ugotta Regatta that has taken place for over a decade in the spectacular Caribbean-blue-green Little Traverse Bay on the northwest side of the Michigan peninsula. The J/105 teams that are participating from across the USA and Canada and will feature most of the top teams from the past five years.

Two-time J/105 North American Champion, the Canadians Terry McLaughlin & Tod Wilmer, from the Royal Canadian YC in Toronto, Ontario will be hoping to continue their string of winning in their last two events they participated in- Toronto and New York. Furthermore, hoping to upset their goal is also a two-time J/105 North American Champion is Bruce Stone’s GRYPHON from St Francis YC in San Francisco, CA. As usual, it should be an epic battle between the two teams. In addition, after winning their class in the past two Mackinac Races (Bayview and Chicago), Mark Symonds’ PTERODACTYL will shift from offshore mode to round-the-buoys mode and test their skills against some of the world’s best J/105 sailors. For more J/105 North American Championship sailing informationAdd to Flipboard Magazine.


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Round The Island Memories- How to Win It!

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- Memories were strong for a number of J/Boats owners after their fantastic success in the recent 60nm-long Round Island Race; that fabulously popular blast around the Isle of Wight with 1,000+ boats sailing. 

Here are some descriptions of their sailing experiences on the J/111 JOURNEYMAKER II, the J/109 JUBILEE, and J/97 JAYWALKER.

J/109 JUBILEE
Victoria Preston’s J/109 JUBILEE were the winners of IRC2A, the fifteen strong J/109 class, and the extracted J Boats results. Victoria said “The Jubilee team with Bill Edgerton on helm, Felix Trattner on trim and myself on nav, sailing with a crew of family and friends, were delighted with our victory in a long and exciting race, despite periods of little wind. Overcoming a slow start, the crew kept focused and were rewarded with the J-trophy for fastest J/J109 and the Yeoman Bowl for best in IRC Class 2."

J/97 JAYWALKER
Bob Baker, owner of J/97 Jaywalker who won the IRC2D class, described the tough conditions; "It was a good race, I think it would’ve been even better if we hadn’t sailed into two horrible wind holes. One just before the Bembridge ledge buoy trapped a few yachts ahead of us and then completely stopped almost all the IRC2 class, we went left and finally managed to escape quicker than the rest. The second lasted 30 or 40 minutes. Again we went left and had slightly favourable drifting tide. As the sea breeze restarted we were drifting over the edge of Ryde sand with about 0.2 m clearance! But this position left us well ahead of the rest of IRC2, except for the two fastest J/109s who presumably went round just before either wind hole opened. It was really great to win the group, and the crew, boat, and new sails performed very well."

J/111 JOURNEYMAKER II
The J/111 JOURNEYMAKER II sailed by Chris Jones and Louise Makin was the 10th boat overall out of a fleet of 1,200+ boats across the finish line in the recent Round Island Race, hosted by the Island Sailing Club- it’s a 60nm adventure around the famous Isle of Wight, with an early morning start in the Solent on the Royal Yacht Squadron starting line.

Tenth in a fleet of 1,200+ sailboats up to 100 feet long is an extraordinary achievement, especially for a J/111- just a 36 foot long boat!  Here is the story from Chris Jones on how they managed their amazing feat!

“For a slow race it went pretty quickly. The start was not too crazy; at 07:30 it only meant we had to be off the dock at 06:30. Plenty of time to make the bacon baguettes that we would need to maintain morale down to the Needles. The early wind was Southwest, so we were looking at a light wind beat with up to 6 knots of tide underneath us.

As always, the strongest tide was close in to the Island shore at the start line, but with the light wind we had to trade off the normal short tacking route staying in the stream with the loss of speed on every maneuver. We got a good gap on the line and with a long fetch we only had to do one tack off the Island shore. By the time we reached the entrance to Beaulieu River (on the north side of the Solent) we were already getting into the back of the fleet in front.

We had class zero, all the multihulls, the Open 40’s and the entire Sunsail fleet starting in front of us. We wanted to get through the Sunsail fleet before The Needles as they can become a bit of a roadblock when they all converge and luckily, we were clear of them by Yarmouth. The optimum route from Hurst Castle to the Needles is along the north side of the channel by the Shingles Bank. Always spooky to see the water swirling around invisible underwater obstructions at 4 to 6 knots, often it is the lumpy bits where it is deep and safe and the tempting glassy flat bits are where danger lies!

We got a good line down to the Needles with a little bit in hand and sailed over a few more boats as we slowly freed up on starboard and the boats close in to the Island shore ran out of wind. Then the tricky decision, inside or outside of “the wreck?”

As we were now able to get the A2 up, we decided on a low risk loop around the outside of the wreck that worked well and we kept the kite full. The next leg to St Catherines Point is against the tide (the southwestern-most point of the island. The tactical choice is how far inshore to go given the light onshore breeze was lifting off the sea to go over the land. Watching our SOG closely to try to judge how much tide to avoid, we worked our way down to St Cats. It did look like there were not many boats in front of us, but we assumed at this stage that the early starters must have just got away on the last of the gradient wind and we were not going to see them.

The usual route at St Cats is as close inshore as you dare, as there is significant adverse tide. However, there was a large shiny patch extending up to a mile offshore, no apparent explanation, but we had seen a couple of boats flirt with it and stop dead. The bulk of the fleet went for speed and headed out into the channel on starboard. As we approached, it looked like the shiny patch was reducing and we decided to gybe early, just skirt the shiny patch and try to get the inshore tide relief. It turned out we were luckier than we could imagine. Not only did we manage to keep moving in the right direction, but the boats that went offshore found there was never a good route back towards land and were stuck on a long track all the way to Bembridge Ledge buoy on the eastern end of the island.

As we passed along the south coast of the island, we alternated between the Southwest sea breeze and the building Southeasterly. Each time they clashed, there was a 1/4-mille dead patch to try to cross. There were several kite up, kite down, kite up events with out any change in heading.

By the time we rounded Bembridge Ledge, we were in a steady Southeast breeze and still with the A2 up, we gybed up the eastern shore of the island. There are several traps for the unwary here, especially as everyone is a bit jaded by this point.

There are a series of Napoleonic Forts, circular structures built in the water, and now converted into exclusive hotels. These “guard” the entrance to the Solent, but there is a small gap in the underwater wall connecting Horse Sand fort to the island marked by a red post. (We are not red right returning here!). There is just enough water to sneak through and minimize the tide, and then you have to avoid Ryde Sands along the northeastern shore of the island.

The SE breeze was still with us until we passed Ryde. We could see that the breeze had held for a Class 40 that took a route close inshore all the way to Osbourne Bay and we wanted to go that way, but there were some bigger boats that we could not afford to get to leeward of and so worked our way down the shallow water to the north of the island without getting too far inshore. By now, the more westerly weather stations in the Solent were showing 10-15 kts of wind from the west, while we were in 2-5 kts of SE. Some of the fleet headed north to try to reach the new wind first, but they struggled to get through the boundary shut down and had a lot of adverse tide.

We stayed with the boats on the Island side, hoping that we would be able to get through the 100m or so of absolute flat calm in reasonable time. We could see the new wind coming and had watched it develop for nearly an hour. When the change came, we barely had time to get the kite off deck and wished we had been braver to call for the J2 rather than leave the J1 rigged. We only had a couple of miles to go to the finish by now and figured we would make the best of it.

We lost out to a Class 40 and a Class 0 boat that had taken a more northerly route on the finish line, missing 8th place by only a few seconds. However 10th over the line in the largest yacht race in the world is a once in a life time moment!!

The bacon baguettes went down really well; wrapped in foil in a thermal bag they kept nicely warm for a couple of hours. The new A0/3 is still in its bag! We sailed 3 sides of the island with the A2 spinnaker, never done that before! But, there is no substitute for looking for the good breeze and a nice helping of good luck.”

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UK J/80 National Championships Update!

(Lymington, United Kingdom)- The U.K. J/80 Nationals will be hosted by the Royal Lymington Yacht Club from Saturday, August 18th to Monday 20th August. Preparation work for the event has entered its final stage and generous sponsorship has allowed the organizers to offer competitors an excellent on the water and social program.

The Club looks forward to welcoming back the J/80s to compete in Christchurch Bay, one of the finest race venues in the UK. To celebrate their return to Lymington after a hugely successful 2016 Nationals, the Club will offer competitors the fabulous local Ringwood beer at just £1 a pint!!

Lymington’s twenty-two strong J/80 fleet has been practicing hard for the J/80 Nationals- eighteen have competed in the summer-long weekly race series, with 12-14 boats routinely on the starting line.  Never to late to join in on the fun!  On-line entry, event information and tickets for social events can be found on the Club’s website. Add to Flipboard Magazine.


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J/122E JOYRIDE Eclipses Vic-Maui Race!

(Victoria, British Columbia, Canada)- The Victoria to Maui International Yacht Race, hosted by the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club and the Lahaina Yacht Club, got underway July 1st. The 2,308nm course went from Victoria, British Columbia to Maui, Hawaii.

The lone J/Crew sailing the race was the gorgeous J/122E JOYRIDE from Seattle, WA skippered by her owner- John Murkowski from Seattle YC. They are one of the most successful offshore racing teams in the Pacific Northwest.

In the end, JOYRIDE took not only Class I honors, but she also won the Vic-Maui Race Overall.  JOYRIDE finished at 0959 hrs in the morning of July 14th- Saturday; completing the course in 13d 2h 59m and corrected out ahead by 3h 6m. This was JOYRIDE’s first Vic-Maui and adds more silver to the trophy room after winning the Round Saltspring Race earlier this year!

It was a gorgeous morning in Lahaina, and after hitting the dock to the traditional call of the conch shell and the welcome of their families.  The JOY RIDE crew then celebrated with a swim off the transom. It was all fun until one of the family threw in a bar of soap as a reminder!

“The trip of a lifetime and everything that was promised” is how John, navigator Bron Miller, and Alex Fox all described their first adventure across the Pacific.

The only negative came from Bron, who described the plastic littering the ocean as more intense than he remembers from past trips- a sad reminder to us all.   Follow the Vic-Maui Race here on Facebook  Watch “live” real-time tracker of the fleet here   For more Vic-Maui Offshore Race sailing informationAdd to Flipboard Magazine.


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J/Teams Win Round Ireland Race!

J/122 Leads IRC 2, J/109 Tops IRC 3!
(Wicklow, Ireland)- July has brought sizzling good fortune to J/Teams in the United Kingdom & Ireland, with tremendous success in the granddaddy of all offshore races on the Irish sailing calendar- in fact, the longest competed for on a regular basis.

"A hidden gem and a perfect fit for the island nation."  That’s how the 700nm Volvo Round Ireland Race can be summed up by veterans and newcomers alike.  Far from the popular image of blazered “yachties” lolling aimlessly around the marina, this is a tough challenge involving few creature-comforts and plenty of rigor for the best part of a week at sea. But, the upsides are worth it and even if only one boat can win, judging by the celebrations in Wicklow Sailing Club at the end of previous races, just completing the course is considered a huge achievement.

This year’s event was one of the more remarkable on record.  Why? Because the fact was, that this crazy event- dominated weather-wise by unprecedented High pressure over the Northeastern Atlantic Ocean- went along its 700-mile course, there were times when the pundit’s predictions seemed woefully off the mark, as in completely askew!

Mostly northeast winds dominated the early part of the event, sometimes with very considerable strength, becoming nor’westerly and then southeasterly at the end.

Southeast of the line from Fair Head to Mizen Head, the conditions made for reasonably fair and manageable racing. But northwest of that line, out along the Wild Atlantic Way, it was unfair in every way.  It was a slogging match in which whoever could slog the hardest and the mostest and the fastest and in the best direction was ultimately going to come out top. Because, that meant they were soonest back into reasonable conditions where they could make sailing hay and live again.

It meant that at different stages, many boats had their moment in the sun of success in addition to being in sun-factor-50 conditions of bright, if hazy ultra-sun from dawn to dusk.

Eight J’s entered the bi-annual Volvo Round Ireland Race, where the rule is simply to leave Ireland and her islands to starboard.

First J/crew into the finish line off Wicklow Harbour after the brutally demanding race, like punching upwind in 45 kts and 10 foot seas off the rugged northwest coast of Ireland, was Chris & Pat-Anne Power Smith’s J/122 AURELIA from Royal St George YC.  As a result of their tremendous crew, they pulled off a win in IRC 2 class and took third in IRC Overall!

Chris commented, “A class win was our strong ambition against very experienced and tough competition, including the X41 and the JPK 10.80.  After five strenuous days and nights of relentless close quarters sailing over the 704nm course, we finally managed to cross the line 150 meters ahead of the higher rated X41 for the Class win. The icing on the cake was that we won top ISORA boat of 18 starters, and third overall in the 52 boat IRC Fleet. The J/122 performed flawlessly and comfortably on all points of sail in winds from near calm to over 25 knots.”

For the J/109 teams, as ever, there was much at stake. Ireland’s Defence Forces were represented by Commandant Barry Byrne (originally from Wicklow) and navigator Mick Liddy with the J/109 JOKER II. Like every other boat in this demanding 700-mile race, JOKER II has had her moments of glory and her times of frustration. But, as they approached the finish line off Wicklow in the late afternoon, the dying seabreeze wasn’t helping them much. JOKER II slowly crawled to the finish to win the Services Trophy Overall, take 1st in IRC 3 Class, and the silver in IRC Overall!  A fantastic performance for the Irish Defence Forces team!  For more Volvo Round Ireland sailing informationAdd to Flipboard Magazine.


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J/122 BLITZKRIEG Blitzes Bayview-Mackinac!

(Port Huron, MI)- The “slowest race in decades” implies and defines the light winds that plagued the 2018 edition of the Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race, which began on Saturday, July 14. Over fifty boats had dropped out of the race, many due to the consideration they wanted to complete the delivery all the way to Chicago for the start of the Chicago-Mackinac Race!

199 boats started the 93-year-old race. The largest brand represented in the fleet was J/sailors from across the Great Lakes- thirty-three crews in total; virtually all of them sailed the 259nm Cove Island Course.

The Overall winner and Class E winner was Matt Schaedler’s J/122 BLITZKREIG from Tecumseh, MI.  His crew included Zack Rush, Mike & Chris Cyrul, Terry Reid, Brian Goldberg, Rick Rothenbuhler, Bruce Huddleston, Paul Healy, and Chris Edwards.

Schaedler commented on their performance, “We got the boat this spring. It’s phenomenal, a great sailing boat, comfortable and fast. We sailed with 10 people.  Great race, fast crew, we were in the right place at the right time. We sailed down the rhumbline, either stopped or going slow all the time. We did 31 headsail changes, but kept going and never let up, always looking for wind. We’d see it and got to it, that’s what made the difference for us.”

Taking seventh Overall and the J/105 One-Design class win was Mark Symond’s PTERODACTYL, with crew of Matthew Morin, Arthur Rose, John Quinlan, Kevin & Mike Morin, Thac Nguyen, and Duane Rose.

Then, in ninth Overall and the J/109 One-Design class win was Jim Murray’s CALLISTO, with crew of Juan Lois, Brad Stocker, Douglas Wolfe, Katie & John Davis, Sam Kashy, and Rob Evans.

Division I- Cove Island Course
Class D was comprised of only J/111s and J/120s, fourteen-boats in all.  In the end, it was the J/120s that won bragging rights this time around.  The J/120s swept the podium- winning was Geoff Brieden & Jeff Clark’s SCOUT, followed by Mike & Bob Kirkman’s HOT TICKET, and J-HAWKER (Dave Sandlin, Ken Brown, Mark Pikula).

Sailing in the eleven-boat Class E were seven J/Teams. It was yet another sweep by J/teams.  Winning, of course, was Matt Schaedler’s J/122 BLITZKRIEG.  They were followed by Mark Symonds’ J/105 PTERODACTYL and Jim Murray’s J/109 CALLISTO.

The dozen-boat Class G (the “Level 35” class) had ten J/35s.  The top J/35s were Cheryl Miller’s DEAN’S LIST in second and Ed & John Bayer’s FALCON in third (btw, a team with 200+ years of Bayview-Mac experience on board, having won class 3x and the J/35 NA’s 5x!).

Perhaps the most amusing (or scary, depending on your point of view) element of this year’s race was the “Special Notice” that was posted on the Notice Board for all competitors.  In short, it read:

“We have been notified by the United States Air Force that a special training mission will be taking place on Monday, July 16th after 1400 hrs. in the special military training box noted on Lake Huron chart #14860 that lies 13 miles east of Thunder Bay. This exercise will involve dropping inert bombs from very high altitude B-52 aircraft (e.g. from 30-45,000 feet high).

Any BBBMR racing boat that is in that box after 1400 hrs on Monday will be escorted out of the box by the USCG cutter Bristol Bay. Failure to obey the USCG, US Air Force, or any other military or law enforcement representatives may result in those persons and vessel being taken into custody and/or fined. This warning supersedes the Racing Rules of Sailing and any other BBBMR race documents.”

Needless to say, given that it was a light air race and a large number of the Shore Course boats would be in the vicinity, many boats made sure they were well inshore of the “bombing box”!  For more Belles Beer Bayview Mackinac Race sailing informationAdd to Flipboard Magazine.


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Whidbey Island Race Week Preview

(Whidbey Island, WA)- An annual right of passage in the Pacific Northwest is to attend what many consider to be the “adult summer sailing camp” of the year- the infamous Whidbey Island Race Week.  It’s not hard to see why it’s so popular with sailors from the state of Washington and the province of British Columbia.  The entire week is predicated on having fun and the social calendar is heavily populated with all kinds of fun events.

That there are twenty-eight J’s racing of 68 boats registered (1/3 the fleet) is a testimonial to the broad popularity of the event. Sailing in PHRF 1 Racing are three J/109s (Ed Pinkham’s JEOPARDY, Tolga Cezik’s LODOS, & Stu Burnell’s TANTIVY), Chris Johnson’s J/120 WITH GRACE, three J/29s (Veli-Juhani Levaho’s AMELIE, Christie Nelson’s SLICK, and Pat Denny’s HERE & NOW), Rex DuPuis’ J/30 GADZOOKS, Jay Pyles’ J/33 DASH, and David & Vernice Cohen’s J/90 EYE & EYE.

The ten-boat J/105 Class includes Tom Kerr’s CORVO, Jerry Diercks’ DELIRIUM, Chris Phoenix’s JADED, Jim Geros’ LAST TANGO, Erik Kristen’s MORE JUBILEE- in other words, the creme’d’la’creme of the Pacific Northwest J/105 fleet.

The J/80 class continues to expand.  This year there will be six boats, including Mike Poole’s JOLLY GREEN, David Schutte’s TAJ MAHAL, Mike Gridley’s CRAY IVAN, and Lek Dimarucot’s UNDERDOG.  Finally, in PHRF 9 Cruising enjoying the festivities will be Steve Kirsch’s J/35C WILDFLOWER.  For more Whidbey Island Race Week sailing informationAdd to Flipboard Magazine.


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Travemunde Week Youth SAILING Champions Debut!

(Travemunde, Germany)- Eighteen clubs from seven nations will be competing in the Youth SAILING Champions League for three days of racing in Travemünde Bay in the Baltic Sea.  Those teams come from across Europe- Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and Switzerland.

Nynne Desirée Ammundsen, General Secretary of ISLA, told us why Youth SCL is such a great innovation for the sport: “Following up on the successful Women’s SAILING Champions League event held in Kiel, ISLA is plowing full speed ahead with another important category of sailors, the youngsters. Now we dedicate our attention to the launch of a Youth SAILING Champions League for sailors in the age range of 16 to 23 years. We see many activities for youth sailors in our ISLA nations and especially in Russia, Denmark and Germany. It delivers inspiration and gives young sailors the possibility to step into a keelboat just when they are coming to the end of their dinghy career. The youth is the future and therefore ISLA can only applaud all the great work that has been done so far to make the Youth SAILING Champions League event happen."

Jens Kath, Sports Director of Travemünder Woche, is welcoming Youth SAILING Champions League to debut as part of Travemünder Woche: “Youth SAILING Champions League unites multiple characteristics of Travemünder Woche and therefore is a perfect addition to our event. Supporting youth sailing is one of our major objects for a long time now, what we have shown in the last year when we hosted all German youth championships. In the German Sailing League, we are involved since the start because we are totally enthusiastic about the concept. And we are always open to new ideas and concepts and willing to implement them together. Travemünder Woche and Youth SAILING Champions League: it just fits!”

The participating youth sailing club teams are the following: Croatia (Val Sibenik), Denmark (Kongelig Dansk Yachtklub, Skolerne i Oure, Hellerup Sejlklub, Roskilde Sejlklub), Finland (Nylandska Jaktklubben & Esbo Segelforening), Germany (Bayerischer Yacht Club, Berliner Yacht Club, Munchner Yacht Club, Bodensee Yacht Club Uberlingen, Lubecker Yacht Club, Konstanzer Yacht Club), Italy (Circolo della Vela Bari & Club Velico Crotone), Netherlands (WSV Giesbeek), and Switzerland (Zurcher Yacht Club & Regatta Club Oberhofen).  Sailing Photo Credits: Lars Wehrmann.  For more Youth SAILING Champions League informationAdd to Flipboard Magazine.


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HOTEL PRINCESS YAIZA Wins 5th J/80 Worlds!

Spanish Teams Win the Battle Over the French
(Les Sables d’Olonne, France)- The Sports Nautiques Sablais YC in Les Sables d’Olonne, France hosted the J/80 World Championship from the 9th to the 13th July.  The seventy-boat fleet enjoyed a tremendous variety of weather conditions, but in the end the full-on battle between the top French and Spanish teams at the top of the leaderboard saw the Spanish prevail, as they have done for over eight previous J/80 Worlds in the past.

After fourteen races, the remarkably poised team from Spain, Rayco Tabares’ HOTEL PRINCESS YAIZA, managed what no other J/80 crew have done, win an unprecedented, record, fifth World title!  Rayco Tabares commented on their performance, “this was a very tough championship. We piled the pressure on “Garatu” yesterday and today we enjoyed a virtually flawless day, compared to our direct rivals, getting off to some solid starts. We’re very happy to pocket a fifth World J/80 Champion title here in Les Sables d’Olonne. The J/80 Class is great as it’s really the crew, tuning and trimming the sails that make the difference. Amazingly, we’ve won all five World Championships on charter boats!! For my part, I’m now going to focus on the J/70 Worlds, which will be held in the United States in September at Eastern Yacht Club in Marblehead, MA.”

Below are the daily reports on how Tabares’ HOTEL PRINCESS YAIZA crew managed to overcome their slow start and, ultimately, climb up the leaderboard onto the podium yet again.

Day One
Under the leadership of the Race Committee (managed by Corinne Aubert), the fleet was treated to three closely fought races around the cans.  What made it more challenging was the particularly fluky northeasterly breeze of around 5-10 kts in glorious sunshine.

The provisional standings at the end of the day saw the Spanish crew “IBO.ES”, fifth at the 2017 J/80 Worlds, headed by Javier Chacartegui, leading the regatta with an amazingly steady 3-3-3 record!  In second place, was another Spanish Iberian boat, GARATU skippered by Iker Almondoz, and sitting third was French Finistère sailor Simon Moriceau, skippering ARMEN HABITAT.

Javier Chacartegui on IBO.ES said, “we’re satisfied. Obviously, it’s been a great day, as we’ve taken the lead in the Worlds. We posted consistent performances in today’s three races by ensuring we were always well placed for some sound tactical moves. Things have kicked off in the best possible way for us, but there’s still a long way to go until Friday.”

Day Three
After three days of competition and eight races, the fleet continued to enjoy great racing conditions.  Today, it was an easterly breeze of 10-15 kts, blowing offshore, so much shiftier than the onshore sea breezes.

Chacartegui IBO.ES lost their pole position to Almondoz’s GARATU; they are now leading the fleet by 12 pts over Tabares’ HOTEL PRINCESS YAIZA, the reigning J/80 World Champions.  Fifteen points behind in third is Juan Luiz Perez’s PUENTE ROMANO MARBELLA. So, the top three are all Spanish teams!

Frenchman Simon Moriceau’s ARMEN HABITAT, with multiple Tour de France à la Voile winner Pierre-Loïc Berthet calling tactics, is currently lying in fourth place. Meanwhile, the Russian Alexei Semenov’s NEW TERRITORIES (with Hugo Rocha aboard- a J/80 World Champion and 470 bronze Medallist in the Atlanta Olympic Games) is lying in fifth position.

Marc Reine, top sailing coach for the French Sailing Federation commented, “there are two coaches at these Worlds including myself and Benoit Charon. Our aim is to make sure a French crew wins the Worlds. We’ve been hunting down this title for some years now. The Spanish crews have several things in their favor, which makes them a little bit better than our ‘top’ crews. In my view, they have slightly more stabilized teams, namely they’ve been sailing together a long time and they’re more opportunistic in certain sailing phases. Even though they’ve got the overall ranking well covered, we’re going to do everything we can to get them.”

Day Four
The fourth day of competition saw another very beautiful day of sailing on the Bay of Biscay, with the thermal sea breezes producing onshore winds of a steady 18 kts.

Maintaining a slim lead was the Basque skipper, Iker Almondoz on GARATU.  Closing the gap and putting a lot of pressure on their Spanish colleagues was the Canary Islands crew of Tabares on HOTEL PRINCESS YAIZA. Still maintaining third by a very slim margin was Paez’s PUENTE ROMANO MARBELLA.

Tabares commented, "here is another beautiful day for our crew! We return to be amongst the leaders and we are now in the capacity to win the Worlds! Our DSQ for a premature start a few days ago, hopefully, should not pose a problem for us!”

Meanwhile, the French contingent, big fans of the J/80 class, just don’t seem to have found the magic ingredient in the Vendée with which to break the Iberian hegemony; and that is despite repeated efforts from the crews of Simon Moriceau, winner of one race today, Vianney Guilbaut on “AG+ Spars” and Sylvain Pellissier on “Intuitive Sails”.

Rayco Tabares, “Hotel Princesa Yaiza”, 2nd: “What a great day for our crew! We’re back on the top spot in the overall ranking and we’re now in a position to win the Worlds tomorrow. Our disqualification for overshooting the start a few days ago, hopefully, is not an issue.”

Day Five- Finale
The final day had nice breezes again and it was clear from the outset that it was going to be an epic HOTEL PRINCESS YAIZA day.  Starting smart and fast, Tabares’ crew smoked the fleet for two bullets to win their 5th J/80 World Championship by a margin of seven points!

Rounding out the podium was the Spanish Almondoz’s GARATU in second and the top French team- Moriceau’s ARMEN HABITAT- in the bronze position.  Notably Moriceau’s crew got themselves going a day too late, posting the best record of any crews of a 6-1-2-6-3 in the last five races.

Moriceau commented on their performance, “we began the day with a second place, which enabled us to catch up with our direct rivals in the overall ranking. After that, we continued on a roll by being opportunistic and we achieved our goal of finishing on the podium. We’ll be in Bilbao, Spain in 2019 in a bid to win the next Worlds from our friends in Spain!”

The winner of the Corinthians Division was Paez’s PUENTE ROMANO MARBELLA from Spain, also taking a 4th in the Open Division. Second Corinthians was another Spanish crew- Chacartegui’s IBO.ES, the early regatta leader.  And, third was the French Jeremy Jean’s APCC EQUIPE JEUNE IXINIA (also the top Youth team).

In the MIXED Division (50% women), it was Claire Ferchaud’s ELITE APRIL MARINE- SN SABLAIS that won.  She commented, “it was a superb championship, superb weather, superb Race Committee, superb sailing area. We’ve had an absolute ball throughout the whole week at these Worlds. We’re happy with our result, which matched up to the objective we set ourselves.”  Taking second in that division was Remy Hurdiel’s DUNKERQUE VOILE- WHITE SAILS and third Claire Montecot’s STARTIJENN.

In the MASTERS Division (average age 46+), it was the British team of Jon Powell’s BETTY that took the honors.  Second was an Irish team, Dan O’Grady’s JAMMY. And, third was the Dutch team on LED2LEASE skippered by Otte Jan Golverdingen.

The WOMENS Division (all women’s team) was an all-French sweep of the podium.  Taking the crown was Elodie Bonafous’ ECOLE NAVALE/ CDV 29, followed in second by Clara Scheiwiller’s CLICK & BOAT- LADIES NORMANDIE, and third was Isabelle Maggiar’s LES MISSMERS DE L’OUEST.

The YOUTH DIVISION was also an all-French affair on the podium.  Winners were Jeremy Jean’s APCC EQUIPE JEUNE IXINIA, with Theo Carayon’s VITEL COTES D’ARMOR SAILING TEAM in second and Oussama Lotfi’s MERITIS TEAM SRR in third.

Bernard Devy, President of the Organising Committee for the J/80 Worlds, said, “we’re delighted as we feel as if we put on a great World Championship for the numerous competitors, who were full-on both on land and at sea. The atmosphere was great throughout the week. The organizing committee has been working on the organization of this competition for a little over a year. Thank you to all the volunteers and obviously our partners, which include the town of Les Sables d’Olonne and its suburbs, the Vendée department, the Pays de la Loire region and Port Olonne... Finally, the SN Sablais congratulates all the racers and the winners of the different rankings.”

Ludovic Gilet, President of the French J/80 Class remarked, “it’s a fantastic result: perfect weather, competitors who fought to the very last. Since yesterday evening, there was just one point separating the first and second placed teams. We couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome. I think I can safely say that all the competitors had fun on the race course in Les Sables d’Olonne. Unfortunately, the Spanish dominated proceedings once again, but our French crews were valiant throughout the competition. I’d like to express my heartfelt thanks to the SN Sablais who, together with the French Class, organized these Worlds. The volunteers from the SN Sablais, Les Sables d’Olonne and the Class have been fantastic! Thank you, too, to the umpires, the Race Committee and its PRO Corinne Aubert. Finally, I’d like to add that Rayco Tabares’ crew sailed these Worlds on a new J/80 supplied by J/Composites- a completely standard boat! That just goes to show that you don’t need a boat specifically prepared for the Worlds to secure victory!”  Sailing photo credits- Pierrick Contin.

Winners interview- Rayco Tabares- Princess Yaiza Hotels
https://www.facebook.com/j80worlds2018/videos/2098030790437076/
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