J/24 Velas Pan-Americana

(Puerto Vallarta, Mexico)- In 2011, Mexico will be the Host of the Pan-American Games - from the Arctic Circle in Canada down to the tip of South America near the Antarctic Circle and across the Central States to the Caribbean, athletes will arrive to compete with the best of the best.  The beautiful Bahia de Banderas will be the location of the Sailing events.

From October 20th to 24th,  Bahia de Banderas off the Mexican Riviera City of Puerto Vallarta is again going to be awash with flotillas of dinghies and keelboats plying the seas alongside whales and dolphins as sailors aim to become qualifiers for next years 2011 Pan-American Sailing Games being hosted by Vallarta YC.  Yet again, the Mexican Sailing Federation will be rolling out the red carpet for sailors around the Americas.  You gotta see it to believe it!  The Copa Mexico was a sailing extravaganza beyond belief.  Even if you don't sail, you'd want to represent any nation in the Americas to go!

This regatta will allow competitors to become familiar with the waters of Banderas Bay, where winds typically range from 12 - 20 knots during the afternoon to provide near perfect sailing conditions.   This provides an opportunity for competitors to race in the same racing grounds, understand the tides and winds, and be prepared for the "big" games in 2011; an unparalleled  venue for competitive sailing on the Pacific coast of Mexico.

The Vallarta Yacht Club is the Host for this sailing Event, and headquarters are at the Paradise Village Resort and Marina.  The facilities for berthing and staging provide the perfect venue for this large scale event.  Situated in Nuevo Vallarta directly at the channel entrance, this modern marina features 200 slips from 20 to 240 ft.  This luxury marina plays host to small daysailors as well as ginormous mega yachts.The Vallarta YC is an experienced host to many international competitions, including the J/24 World Championships, Copa Mexico, the biannual MEXORC Series, Banderas Bay Regatta, and other world class championships.    For more Pan-Am Sailing Games Qualifier info.

  

J/35 Wins MAYOR'S CUP In Boston

(Boston, MA)- Jeff Kent sailed his Class D J/35 BLACK SEAL to an impressive 4:08 overall win over Ralph DiMattia’s NM 40 Shamrock Sensation in the non-spinnaker fleet of the Boston Harbor Islands Regatta to win the Mayor’s Cup for best performance. This is a popular 12 mile, figure-8 pursuit race around the islands that benefits the Harbor Islands National Park. 98 boats participated in what can be a model for cities around the country. The idea is to get everyone out! Half the boats don’t have current PHRF certificates and there was everything from a Cape Dory Typhoon rating PHRF 294 to the NM 70 Denali at -69.

The event was sailed in a 10-20 knot, warm, dry offshore southwesterly breeze.  Chris Zibailo’s  J/109 SUPERSTITION was the overall winner of the spinnaker fleet, nipping Barry Bessette’s well-sailed Class C S2 7.9 Club Car from Hyannis by only 2 feet at the finish. The S2 had started 20 minutes earlier.  Other class winners were: (B) Bob Cunningham’s J/30 RUFFIAN (E) Richard Tubman’s O’Day 31 Charisma; (F) Ralph Vinciguerra’s Pearson Vanguard Blue Angel; (G) Ed Marcus in a Courageous Sailing Club J/22. Constitution YC won the Yacht Club Challenge.  Top Female Trophies went to Elizabeth Lamb in her Aphrodite 101 and to Linda Hoskings in her C&C 40.  Top Masters were Chet Osborne in a Melges 24 and Ralph DiMattia in his NM 40.  The Jody Grauls won the all-family crew award in a Sabre 36.  Top community sailing trophy when to the Boston Sailing Center.  Full story and sailing results of Boston Mayor's Cup Regatta.

  

Kenny Read- SW October- "Life Offshore"

* Kenny Read also reflects on how life has changed being part of the PUMA Volvo 70 Race project.  Check out the latest Sailing World, October issue.  Kenny's article on the Volvo 70 PUMA campaign is particularly enlightening.  He describes how different the world is sailing offshore for days and weeks at a time versus his earlier experiences racing around the cans in J/24s and other boats.  No fresh water shower and an ice cold beer after the end of each day for these guys!  Photo at right shows how wet it can be--- for days at a time you, too, could be taking an ice cold salt water shower (a.k.a. "the fire hose").  More information at Sailing World- http://www.sailingworld.com
  

Welles Takes J/24 US Nationals

(Marblehead, MA) - The three day J/24 U.S. National Championship was hosted by Corinthian Yacht Club, with a very strong fleet of 48 boats competing in eight races. After the seventh race, the teams led by Jens Hookanson on SALSA (2004 World Champion) and Will Welles on FAWN LEIBOWITZ were the only boats to still hold all top ten scores, and fittingly were tied on points with one race to go. But it was Welles who had the hot hand on the final day, rolling a 2-3 to take the title with Hookanson finishing second and Carter White winning the final race to move into third.

A wide range of conditions from 17 knots and waves to 6 knots and flat water provided a perfect playing field for the 48 boats at this years championship.  Day one included a 17 knot north easterly breeze with chop and swells, making getting off the line challenging, that diminished to 10 knots by the end of the day.  Three long championship length races ranging from 1.7 mile legs to 1.4 mile legs were run. Tim Healy and crew fresh off their win a J/24 Worlds came out strong posting a 1, 3, 3 to post an early lead but just ahead of Jens Hookanson by a point and Will Wells by three points.

On day two the swell and chop calmed down a bit but not completely.  A light easterly wind with large oscillations from northeast to east and major pressure differences from the left and right sides of the course provided difficult choices to make upwind and down for the competitors.  Jens Hookanson and team on SALSA had the best strategy and amazing speed posting an awesome 1,2,1 to claim the lead after day two.

Day three brought a decent southwest breeze and a bit of lump from the previous two days of easterly type winds.  However three quarters into the first race the southwest breeze died and a southeast sea breeze started to build.  During the wind shift a few boats got caught in a hole and missed the time limit as TEAM MOOKIE with Pete Levesque had legged out to a convincing and fast win. Will Wells and crew on FAWN LEIBOWITZ were the most consistent on day three posting a 2nd and 3rd to win the regatta by four points.

Final results saw the Welles team eking out a win over Hookanson.  Carter White finished third overall, finishing the regatta with a first in the 8th race.  Fourth was Levesque and 5th was Mark Hillman.  Current J/24 World Champion Tim Healy couldn't maintain their first day's performance, not making sense of the shifty, streaky Marblehead  breezes to finish 6th-- fame is fleeting, as they say!  For more J/24 US Nationals sailing information.  Team sailing photo credit- Leighton O'Connor.

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RELOADED Ices J/24 UK Nationals

(Cornwall, England- A strong turnout of twenty-two J/24s showed up the the classic Autumn Cup Championship in Falmouth, doubling as the J/24 UK Nationals 2010.  A few class stalwarts attended, including long-time class champion Stu Jardine racing the latest incarnation of STOUCHE.  

The Royal Cornwall YC were wonderful hosts, ensuring the sailors had plenty of food, drink and racing, though not necessarily in that order!  The RCYC PRO conducted an fantastic series, getting in ten races over three days of racing off the gorgeous, undulating  green coastline of Cornwall.  Good breeze, reasonable seas made for good close racing.  

Nevertheless, it was G Watson's team on RELOADED that showed top UK 24 sailors how it's done, starting off the first day with three straight bullets and picking up two more on the second day to lead the regatta by a comfortable margin.  In fact, RELOADED didn't sail the last race on Saturday as they'd won the regatta by race 9.  

Not to be denied from a strong podium showing was Stu Jardine sailing STOUCHE, himself a multiple J/24 UK Champion.  After sailing a solid series in races 1 thru 7 and leading the regatta, Stu and crew took an unfortunate nose-dive in race 8 (getting a 16th) and after a 5th in race 9 couldn't recover enough to win the event, finishing second just three points shy of first.  Third was Roger Morris sailing the well-known JOLLY ROGER.  Fourth, Duncan McCarthy on MADELINE and fifth Nick McDonald on LEAGEL ALIEN.  For more J/24 UK Nationals sailing information

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Australian 2010 J/24 Worlds Report

You have to read this report from an Australian crew that sailed the recent J/24 World's in Malmo, Sweden.  If you thought Moose's accounts were fun and informative, Hugo's account is simply hilarious-- particularly for any of you that have traveled to foreign events and chartered boats.  Here's his account:

Part one – pre regatta.  Our 2010 Worlds campaign started 12 months ago, this included organizing a crew who would sail in the 2010 Nationals and commit to the worlds. We had all won nationals and competed in many world championships.

With this depth of experience the work required to prepare for a worlds was spread amongst all the crew. This involved finding a good boat, sail design that was suitable for the Swedish conditions and covering every issue that can and has impacted on past campaigns. We seriously looked at all the things that had worked or failed in previous campaigns.

We included a Danish sailor in our crew who sailed in Malmo Sweden in J’s and is regarded as one of Denmark’s finest.  Our Danish crew assisted with local logistics, finding bikes, driving us around to get sails repaired, hotels and advising on the local conditions which included a current that changed direction during each day.

We discussed our sail design with local Olympic sailor from North Sails who discussed the best designs with his counterpart from North Sails one design in San Diego. We ordered the latest Kevlar Genoa and spinnaker from North’s which was made by the One design loft in U.K.  We shipped an equipment box to Sweden which had spare parts, sheets, blocks and sails. Our accommodation and flights were secured 6 months prior to leaving. Our “Special” Charter boat was investigated and secured early in the charter pool.

When we arrived and inspected our charter boat, we discovered that our boat which had great results under its previous Italian owner, had a "very special custom" set up.  After sailing in so many J regatta’s I had never sailed a “special J/24″, and as such didn’t understand what “Special”(in the European context) meant.

I strongly encourage you to read the rest of the story here--- too funny to be true-- especially the account of one boat getting into a collision and also losing two outboard engines overboard!

  

O'Driscoll Earns Irish J/24 Title

(Dublin, Ireland)- An exhibition of how to win sailing races on the second day of the Irish J/24 Championships saw Flor O'Driscoll and his crew from the Royal St.George YC on HARD ON PORT deservedly win the national title by the impressive margin of 19 points at Howth Yacht Club near Dublin, venue for the 2011 J/24 European Championships.

Three bullets on day two, including one which required coming from behind to outfox former champion Stefan Hyde by the final leeward mark, was sufficient to give the pre-event favourite the championship. O'Driscoll's cause was certainly helped when overnight leader and defending champion Mickey McCaldin on MURDER PICTURE (LEYC) was one of five boats 'black-flagged' on the first race start after PRO David Lovegrove imposed the penalty following a couple of general recalls.

That effectively ended the Ulster crew's challenge and it was followed by two other poor results which ultimately dropped them to 6th overall. The black flag decision also had a significant impact on other overall results, with another Lough Erne entry, Diarmuid O'Donovan's SAYONARA jumping four places to earn the runners-up spot, thanks to two second places and an 8th. It was enough to edge past clubmate and J/24 Class President Robin Eagleson who wasn't as effective as on the first day but did more enough to justify 3rd overall and also first in the silver fleet for the older boats.

The 17-boat fleet, one of the biggest J/24 fleets in recent years, augurs well for the J/24 Europeans at Howth next year, with around eight nations already confirming their intention to compete.  Final results were HARD ON PORT first with a regatta dominating 13 points, followed by O'Dononvan's SAYONARA with 32 points and Robin Eagleson's LUDER TOO in third with 34 points.  Just off the pace by a tack or two was Fergus O'Kelly's JIBBERISH in fourth with 35 points and incredibly only one more point back was Andrew Mannion's JEB STUART with 36 points in fifth.   Could've bet more than a few points of Guinness on that one as to who was the luckiest Irishman of the bunch, eh?!  Great regatta to all...watch out to all those arriving next year for the Euro's!    Sailing Photo Credits- FotoSail    For more Irish J/24 Nationals sailing information.

  

J/Fest Annapolis Race Week!

RUM PUPPY Wins J/105s

(Annapolis, MD)-  Annapolis Race Week has been held on the Chesapeake Bay over Labor Day weekend for more than four decades. Organized by the Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association, the popular three-day regatta has become a local tradition - albeit solely within the local sailing community. “People around Annapolis that didn’t own a sailboat or weren’t competing had no idea when Annapolis Race Week was held or what it was all about,” said Bobby Frey, former CBYRA president and on-water regatta chairman.

CBYRA officials believe the 44th annual Annapolis Race Week will greatly increase awareness among average Annapolitans that a major sailing event is being held in their midst. Headquarters for Annapolis Race Week have been moved to City Dock and that increased visibility should benefit both the city and the regatta. “For the first time in its history, Annapolis Race Week is really going to be part of Annapolis,” Frey said. “If you go to the race weeks in Key West and Charleston, the city is a big part of the charm. I think this move has the potential to be a really positive thing for both the city of Annapolis and CBYRA.”

Annapolis Race Week has always been a top-notch operation on the water and this year will be no different with upwards of 160 boats expected to compete in 18 classes. There was tremendous participation from the J contingent with solid turnouts from the J/105, J/80, J/24, J/35 and J/30 fleets!  Nearly half the fleet!

In the fifteen boat J/105 fleet, Jack Biddle's RUM PUPPY simply took off and seemingly never looked back, rattling off a 1-2-1-4-1-2-3 series to win by 11 points over the second place team of Carl and Scott Gitchell sailing TENACIOUS.   Third was Chris and Carolyn Groobey's JAVA just five points back.  Seems that a bit of practice aboard the J/100 TERN in the Downeast Race Week cruise helped Chris' speed on downwind gybing angles!

The J/35s had a great turnout with twelves boats from all over Chesapeake Bay.  Bill Wildner's MR BILL'S WILD RIDE also dominated their class, winning a few too many races and getting a fantastic record of 3-1-4-1-1-1-1 to win by 16 points!  Ouch, hurts to get spanked soooo bad!  In second was Peter Scheidt on MAGGIE and in third was Charles Kohlerman on MEDICINE MAN.

The J/80s were in great competitive form amongst their seventeen boat fleet.  A number of teams attending the J/80 North Americans in Buzzards Bay and also headed to the J/80 Worlds were using it as a tune-up regatta.  Ultimately, Allen Terhune on 221 won by an astonishing 25 points over his fellow competitors!  A sign of things to come in the NA's and Worlds?  We wonder.  Allen had seven firsts and a fifth.  OMG, perhaps this was a worse spanking than competitors received in the J/35 class?  Lessons learned perhaps for some.  Lying in a tie for second was Dan Witting on EMOTIONAL RESCUE and John White on 1162, with the tie broken in favor of EMOTIONAL RESCUE.

The seven boat J/24 fleet was incredibly competitive amongst the top three.  Just two points separated all of them at the conclusion of the regatta.  Just squeezing ahead of the cluster was Pete Kassal on SPACEMAN SPIFF, second was MILLENIUM FALCON and third was Brent Ellwood's SANE ASYLUM. 

Incredibly (and kudos to them all), the J/30 class had a fantastic turnout with nine boats going for the gold.  Gotta love these passionate owners having a ball with "son of J/24" (the J/30 was the 2nd boat J/Boats ever built).  So many of these boats have been reconditioned, many of them look nearly new!  Bob Rutsch and Mike Costello on BEPOP bopped everyone over their heads and took the gold with four firsts in their score, winning by ten points.  The battle for second was going to the final heat between four boats and the last two races proved to be a topsy-turvy affair.  Falling just shy of throwing it all away and hanging in there by their chinny-chin-chin was Larry Christy's BIG KAHUNA team getting second with a thundering 6-5 for their last two races.  Yikes.  Breathing down their necks were Ron Anderson sailing INSATIABLE, Bob Putnam skippering BETTER MOUSETRAP and George Watson racing AVITA, finishing 3rd, 4th, and 5th, respectively.  For more Annapolis Race Week sailing results

Sailing Photo Credits- Tim Wilkes

  

J Sailors Big In New York YC Invite Qualifiers

The New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup U.S. Qualifying Series, where 24 preeminent yacht clubs in America will compete, will be held in Newport, RI next week on September 7-11. The top three U.S. teams from next week's event will join the top six teams from the 2009 Invitational Cup.

Among the competitors, who must be amateurs (Corinthian) sailors and members of the yacht clubs they represent, is Bora Gulari, skipper of the entry from Bayview Yacht Club, founded in 1915 in Detroit. Gulari is the 2009 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year in America on the strength of his win in the Moth World Championship in 2009. “This is a great honor to be invited to compete. I’m very excited to race against other U.S. yacht clubs. This is like an amateur championship in the States. I hope to do well, but this is not my usual type of sailing," explained Gulari who sails a fast-singlehanded hydrofoil-equipped dinghy. "I look forward to representing my club Bayview and am going to give it an all-out effort."  Bora is good friends with Frank Kern's gang on his J/120 CARINTHIA...after all, good sailors who have fun are a small crowd in "Day-twah".

The skipper for the team from Eastern Yacht Club in Marblehead, Mass. is Bill Lynn (pictured above), who is no stranger to the Sonars and J/22s. Billy is the 2007 Sonar World Champion and 2004 North American titleholder. Eastern Yacht Club was founded in 1870 and fielded three successful defenders to the America’s Cup: Puritan, Mayflower and Volunteer in 1885, 1886 and 1887, respectively.  Billy is a classmate of the Editor, an All-American, a great J sailor (J/22, J/24, J/105, etc) and will be a force to reckon with.

The St. Francis Yacht Club Team from San Francisco is skippered by Russ Silvestri, who sailed a Finn in the 2000 Olympics and competed in the 2009 NYYC Invitational Cup for this same yacht club team, which finished seventh. The St. Francis Yacht Club, founded in 1869, is the oldest yacht club on North America’s Pacific Coast and boasts a number of Olympic and America’s Cup sailors. Russ is a long-time J sailor and friend having raced amongst others the J/22, J/24, J/105-- and is using ex-J/24 North American Champion Ed Adams as his coach-- we're expecting big things from you guys!
Other notable J sailors and friends helping guide their steeds fast around the track include:  Peter Duncan from American YC; Peter McChesney and Scott Snyder from Annapolis YC; Teddie Moore and Larry Rosenfeld from Boston YC; Travis Weisleder and Rob Whittemore from Fishing Bay YC; Jamie Hilton, Chris Lash and Stu Streuli from Ida Lewis YC; Chris Raab from Newport Harbor YC; the Dellenbaugh's from Pequot YC; Bill Campbell from San Diego YC; Alan and Dave Constants from Seawanhaka YC; and John Jennings and Tito Vargas from St. Pete YC.   Should be quite a show and a LOT of FUN!  :)   For more information regarding J Sailors in the New York YC Invite.