J/24 Sailboat Screen Prints

(Charleston, SC)- This Holiday season, surprise that sailing fanatic who already has everything with a gift they're sure to love, a custom handmade J/24 sail print. Each 18"x24" J/24 print is screen-printed on recycled sail cloth and is hand-signed and numbered by the artist (and avid sailor)- Chad Covert. Made locally in Charleston, SC, this print makes a wonderful gift—but hurry, as these are limited-run prints. Customize the print with your very own sail numbers for a small charge. Each print retails for $80.00. Please order at- http://www.etsy.com/shop/BattenCreative

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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J's Enjoy SW NOOD Detroit

J/120 CAPERS Wins Class

(Detroit, MI)- As usual, the Bayview Yacht Club did an extraordinary job to host yet another fun-loving Sperry Top-sider NOOD Regatta.  Can't argue with the fact that BYC members led by their perennial Commodore (well, kind-of) Frank Kern and his happy-go-lucky crew on the J/120 CARINTHIA put out the red carpet for all those who wish to participate in this annual event to have fun, enjoy the racing on that crazy body of water everyone knows as Lake St. Clair, just north of "Motown Detroit".  Remember, Detroit invented not just cars (some guy named Henry Ford, remember (?)), but hip-hop, trip-hop, funk, rap, soul, rhythm and blues, dance hop and just about all other forms of downbeat and upbeat music one can imagine.  Against that backdrop of musical innovation Frank's gang at BYC have done there own bit to keep the drumbeat rolling in the Detroit area to continue to have fun and grow the sport of sailing, welcoming one and all to their corner of the world with open arms.

This year's extravaganza had 154 boats show up from the four corners of the Great Lakes.  The J Crew were well represented with very good fleets of J/105s, J/120s, J/29s and J/35s showing up to lay their claim to some cool Sperry Top-sider gear and nice swag. 

The J/120s were well represented with seven boats enjoying some great one-design racing.  Kudos to Frank Kern and his CARINTHIA team for welcoming all competitors to yet another nice weekend of sailing.  In the end, Donald Hudak from MHYC was the winner on CAPERS.  Keeping Donald honest was David Sandlin on JHAWKER in second from Lake Shore Sailing Club.  Lying third was Marvin Ihnen from CSYC in his cleverly named IHNSANITY.

The seven boat J/105 fleet also had some good racing.  By winning the first race the rest of the fleet should've taken notice and run for cover, nevertheless Jim Sminchak's IT from LYC ran off with the first place prize.  Second was Don Harthorn's SNAKE OIL (wished he had some more of it?) from Lake Shore Sailing Club and third was Mark Symonds' PTERODACTYL. 

What seems to be a renaissance in the making are the passionate, enthusiastic and fun-loving J/29 owners around America.  Ira Perry took his J/29 SEEFEST across from the East Coast to the Detroit event on their truck and trailer to go have some great fun in this event.  Hailing from New Bedford YC in Massachusetts, Ira and his team were rewarded with a first overall in the J/29 class!  Giving them a run for the money was John Bullga/Amyot from LMYC racing BLITZ! in second place.  Brian Rice and his crew from Dalhousie YC were third sailing ROOSTER TALE.

The J/35s race as a class mixed up with a few other 35 footers.  What was cool was to see that the J/35 NIGHT TRAIN sailed by Chris Herriges from North Star Sail Club won over this very competitive fleet.

Despite all the fun and games, there was an unfortunate, fatal accident at BYC on Saturday night.  An automobile accident injured several sailors and resulted in the death of a fellow J sailor (most unfortunately, a member of Frank Kern's CARINTHIA crew)- Mike Badendieck.  It is with tremendous sorrow that we deliver this news and all those in the J/Family wish Mike's friends and family our deepest condolences, prayers and warmest wishes-- may the Good Lord Be With You All. Said a Tufts classmate of Stu Johnstone, BYC Commodore Bruce Burton, “We are deeply saddened by this accident that injured nine people and fatally injured a tenth person. Our first priority and thoughts are for Mike Badendieck’s family, who died from this accident. Our prayers go out to all of those who were injured and their families. Our hearts and prayers go out to them and to all Bayview members. This is a family club and a close group of friends. This is a tragedy and we are all in distress.”  For more Sperry Top-Sider SW NOOD Detroit sailing information.  Photo credits- Tim Wilkes.com
  

J/24 Victorian State Champs

(Melbourne, Australia)- Good things come in small packages, just ask Jeanette Syme. She helmed SCOTT SALISBURY into 3rd place at this weekend’s Victorian State Champs at Sandringham YC in Melbourne.

Jeanette couldn’t have seen much of the race out in front as she is only half the height of Pete Stevens who spent the weekend right in front of her doing the trimming, but she is beaming. Big brother Ron, sailing KICKING BOTTOM sailed very well and although the green machine was up near the pointy end of the fleet a lot of the time, he could only manage 5th.  We suggested Jeanette should rename her boat “KICKING RON”.

In fact, the whole KICKING BOTTOM/ SCOTT SALISBURY relationship is an interesting tale. The Melbourne fleet is undergoing something of an explosion of interest and in the last few months we have seen two new boats join the fleet and we have another 3-4 people genuinely interested in buying boats. Warren Campbell who has been sailing on KICKING BOTTOM for the last two owners, jumped out and bought SCOTT SALISBURY from Adelaide a couple of days before the regatta. Peter Stevens very kindly brought the boat over and sailed on it with Arthur Crothers and Jeanette Syme and crew who came down from Sydney. So Warren, still sailing on KICKING BOTTOM watched his new boat sailed by his skipper’s sister fly by to finish ahead!  Got all that!  Need more?

Simon Grain was the bridesmaid again and Dave Suda, who didn’t even make double digits in his series score was very clearly the winner and deservedly so. He had an almost clean sweep with 5 wins and a second – guess to who – Yep “Kicking Ron”.  Good things do come in small packages, although she did say the crew were brilliant, too.  Of course the “Kicking Ron” crew stayed at Warrens!

What it does very clearly show is that you can take an older boat, set it up in half a day and be very competitive in the fleet.

A very noticeable change this year was the calibre of the fleet, with close racing, and boats that have been out the back, now right up in the pack. Boat speed was generally up on last year and so Ron Thomson’s KICKING BOTTOM, Mike Lewenhagen’s EXCITE YOUR SENSES and Doug MacGregor’s CRACKERJACK all lifted themselves into 5, 6 and 7 respectively. The HYPERACTIVE BABES had an up and down regatta and finished fourth.

The weather co-operated with 5 – 15 knot northerlies, a little shifty and patchy at times but great sailing and with this sort of weather for many of the last years comps, the Vic States really is the “Balmy Regatta”.

Although we had expected 4 interstate boats, it turned out to be two and the other boat was Terry Wise from Sydney who brought down STARPAC with a very keen sailing school crew who really enjoyed the glamour Melbourne weather experience, flat water and warm sunny skies.  The tail end of the fleet was rounded out with new owners Andrew and Chris Hely on VERTIGO, Jack Crawford’s SANGUINE and another new owner Rowan Pollard on TWO DOGS.

Glam weather also allowed the social side of things to go very well indeed, with a huge BBQ at Lisa Simonov’s house ("THANK YOU" Lisa) and virtually the whole regatta crowd were able to have a great night outside in the warm weather. Terry Wise gave a presentation on the upcoming Gosford “Legends Regatta” that is shaping up to be a very big event.

You’ve probably picked the name missing from the results. Hugo Ottaway was unable to make it this year due to his son doing the big 21 party and the bleary eyed master did struggle down on the Sunday to say hi – “lights on, but no one home” look!

The class is on fire and next year at the rate we are going we could very well have 20 boats on the start line, so book early if you want a bed in Melbourne!    For more J/24 Australia sailing news and results    

J/Fest West 2010

Stormy, Grey Weather Thrashes the Bay

(San Francisco, CA)- The fleet of J's that gathered together for this year's J/Fest were greeted by stormier than normal weather and with breeze directions that were nowhere near the norm for San Francisco Bay.  Here's an account of what it was like to race in the J/105 fleet from the winner, Bruce Stone sailing his boat ARBITRAGE- "It rained and was cold and gusty, up to 25 knots, out of the southeast, so they put the starting line between Harding Rock Buoy near Angel Island and Alcatraz, and ran us to the south near Aquatic Park, a routing I have never done before, across the shipping lanes and across the tide...and the wind near the shore was in the 8-11 range so setting the rig tension was tricky.  Needless to say it was our kind of cockamamie race. We had a good start, duked it out with 4-5 boats who also sailed well, and ultimately won the race. It rained quite hard toward the finish, the front went through and they sent us home.  The wind died after we hit the dock!"  Photo Credit- Erik Simonson/ h2oshots.com

In the 22 boat strong J/105s it was a donnybrook as usual for the top five sailors.  Who won was determined by the finish of the last "cockamamie" race with St. Francis YC's ARBITRAGE avoiding a bad race and just beating Tiburon's Scooter Simmons on BLACKHAWK, getting a first to Scooter's ninth.  Bruce's team on ARBITRAGE won with a 1-6-3-1 1 tally, beating by four points Scooter Simmons sailing BLACKHAWK with a 4-1-1-9 record. Lying third was Phil Laby and Rick Pipkin's RACER-X from Alameda just two points back....again with a mathematical chance to win in the last race despite their 9th place in the third race.  Photo Credit- Erik Simonson/ h2oshots.com

The J/120 class also saw spirited competition with eight boats.  Racing with several "ringers" from the New England area was Northeast Harbor's Steve Madeira on MR MAGOO, winning by just two points over Harry Lewis' team on CHANCE from San Francisco (see the J/Calendar photo of them!).  Both boats had nearly identical records, MAGOO with a 1-3-1-1 record and CHANCE with 3-1-2-2!  Just off these two boats blistering pace was Don Payan's DAYENU from San Francisco with a 2-4-5-3 score to capture third on the podium with fourteen points.

The J/24s had a blast as usual amongst the seven boats.  Berkeley's Mike Whitfieldon aboard TMC RACING won with a strong 1-1-2-1 record, winning by five points over Darren Cummings' DOWNTOWN UPROAR from Treasure Island with a 2-2-3-3 score to garner second place and Don Taylor's ON BELAY from Brickyard Cove finishing with 4-4-1-2 to get third overall. 

The J Handicap fleet had six boats.  The winner was definitely not determined until the closing minutes of their last race.  The J/22 called CHEESEBURGER became the giant-killer in this fleet.  The CHEESEBURGER gang led by Peter Lane from Paradise Cay won on a squeaker, and a tie-breaker, over Trig Liljestrand of Belvedere Cove on RAGTIME, the super-fast J/90- a downwind flyer in most conditions.  Third was Cam Lewis of Monterey, CA sailing his J/22 TRINITY.  Share For more J/Fest sailing information

J's Enjoy Gorgeous Sailing At Charleston Race Week

J Sailors Love Southern Hospitality!

(Charleston, SC- Apr 9-11)- After the first two days at 2010 Charleston Race Week brought winds of up to 20 knots, the final day of racing eased up to just 8-12 knots of warm wind blowing across the harbor. For the 184 teams competing, not a frown was seen on the hundreds of faces at the awards ceremony on Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina's sandy beach. "The city, the weather and the event organizers couldn't have presented this town any better," said local sailing coach Ryan Hamm, whose J/24 PIGS FLY TOO finished in 6th place. "The competition is stiff, and it's great to see so many sailors learn to love Charleston.

Chilly temperatures greeted the record fleet of racing sailboats on Friday. Braving 55 degree-morning temperatures and a wind-chill driven by the 20-knot breeze made the racing "a serious adrenalin rush", as competitor Peter Crawford put it. Temperatures reached the 70s by noon, providing picture perfect sailing conditions to start race week off with a bang. "I don't know if conditions could be any more perfect than today," said Christof Wieland, who traveled all the way from Germany to compete in his second Charleston Race Week.  By Saturday morning, more nice wind, warm sun and waves graced Charleston with picture-perfect conditions. For the second straight day, winds up to 20 knots propelled the J fleets across all four courses.  Sunday dawned with a big change to the previous two extreme sailing days, with just 8 - 12 knots of warm wind blowing across the harbor.

The J/80s had a tough twenty boat fleet, with many serious North American and Worlds contenders vying for the top spots.  After the smoke cleared, past World Champion Kerry Klingler skippering LIFTED just beat out the Roger/Welan team sailing B-TEAM on a tie-breaker, each finishing with 22 points, taking seven first places of the ten races between them.  Key West Race Week winners Glenn Darden and Reese Hillard finished third in LE TIGRE, fourth was Bruno Pasquinelli on TIAMO and fifth was Henry Brauer and Will Welles on RASCAL.

The seventeen boat strong J/24 fleet had a great turnout for this event and they certainly enjoyed the breezy conditions racing inside Charleston Harbor.  Chip Till on MURDER INCORPORATED managed to hang onto the lead on the last day to win by one point over Joe McDonald on REX.  Chris Jankowski finished third.  The top three were a tough bunch, garnering all ten first places distributed amongst them!

The J/105s had a small but highly competitive class of six boats.  The top three were trading off the fleet lead all three days, race to race.  At the end of their scrum, Jackson Benvenutti's LITTLE BOOTY prevailed on yet another tie-breaker over veteran J/105 campaigner, Damian Emery and the beautiful flag blue hulled ECLIPSE.  Bill Zartler and crew aboard SOLARIS sailed great on the last day, getting two bullets, but not enough to take on the fleet leaders, finishing just three points back in third. Like the J/24s, this tough bunch took all eight firsts places in the regatta.

In the first ever IRC fleet at this race week, the J/122 TEAMWORK that won last year's handicap class sailed nicely to finish third overall.  Seemingly, the crazy currents, tide lines and wave conditions conspired to favor the larger boats, the winner was a custom IRC RP52 called VINCITORRE with straight firsts.

In PHRF A, Will Hanckel's J/120 EMOCEAN sailed the offshore course, finishing just one point out of first.  On the last day, a soul-satisfying 2-1 got them into the hunt, but not enough to win the event, having to settle for second place.  In PHRF B, Willy Schwenzfeier's J/35 ARROW had fun sailing to a fourth overall.  In PHRF D, the three masthead J/29s were having a ball racing against each other.  At the end, Jim Mackevich's FOR SAIL beat out perennial Key West Race Week participant (and often winner) Steve Thurston's MIGHTY PUFFIN from Rhode Island.  Miles Martschink's MONGO didn't sail the first day but still managed a fourth in fleet.   For more regatta/ sailing information on Charleston Race Week.  

Warsash Spring Series Week 4

(Hamble, So'ton, England)- Back after an Easter break, the Warsash Spring Series continued on April 11 with the entries topping 200. There were challenging conditions for Week 4 with the wind ranging between 9-14 knots. The general mean direction was from the northeast, but local conditions prevailed on the three separate race tracks.  Jon Spencer, in charge of the White Group J/80s was closest inshore and reported the wind moving to the east each time it faded. In the middle of the Solent at ‘Flying Fish’ buoy, Black Group CRO David Greenway found the wind sufficiently stable to set the same basic course for all the keelboat classes, with only a minor adjustment for the smaller boats. The only interruption to a smooth start sequence came between the J/109 and IRC3 starts, when a second outer distance mark was laid to achieve a square line.

IRC1 got away on time and JINJA, Ian Matthews’ J/122, took a flyer from the pin end of the line and established a winning lead within the first 10 minutes of the race.   JINJA is the fourth different winner in IRC 1 so the class is wide open with two races to go. Another J/122 JOLLY JELLYFISH has sailed consistently well to remain second overall in the series standings.

Unusually, the highly competitive J/109 class was slightly reluctant at the start. This gave David McCleman helming OFFBEAT, who had perhaps been watching the earlier starts, the golden opportunity to grab the favoured position at the pin end. He achieved an immediate lead. David Apthorp on J/DREAM gained on the first beat and, although never far away, could not get close enough to cause danger.  The seventeen J/109s saw Kirsty and David Apthorp's J-DREAM continue to separate themselves from the pack with a 1-2 this past weekend to be ahead by ten points.  David Mcleman's OFFBEAT has jumped into second ahead of James Arnell's JEEZ-LOUISE.

IRC3 and the combined J/105 and J/92 starts were subject to individual recalls. As the wind lightened towards the Island shore, rounding Prince Consort buoy against the tide caused a few problems and the fleet became very spread out.  JIKA-JIKA, the fast J/97, took second place on handicap. Charles Wittam’s Juno has now won three of the four races and holds a good lead in the class. At the back of the fleet Domaine and Gambit ran out of time but benefited from the “out of time” provision in the Sailing Instructions.

The combined J/105 and J/92 starts were subject to individual recalls. As the wind lightened towards the Island shore, rounding Prince Consort buoy against the tide caused a few problems and the fleet became very spread out. The J class was finished early at the last windward mark. Rob Dornton-Duff in his J/105 JAVA ended a run of third places with the J/105 win. Things are extremely tight at the top of the leader board. Anyone who can put together two more good results over the remaining two weeks could change things dramatically.  For J/105s, there is still what amounts to a three-way tie for first place.  And, they're still only separated by a point!  Chris Jones JOURNEYMAKER 5 is now third in a tie for second with Paul Griffith's FAY-J and Rob Dornton-Duff's JAVA that was in third is now first!  The battle continues, more news next week...hold on to those keyboards!

On the same course, the J/92s continue to have very tight class racing amongst the top competitors.  Leaping into the overall series lead after a slow start is Bill Howard's WIZARD.  Yes, it did take some mastery of Hamble/ Solent wizardry to win two races in a row against this hard fought class.  The trio of Andrew, Matt and Peter Campbell sailing JAMMIN are now down to fourth. Dominic Horner's JEKYLL in second and  Rory and Cathy Staunton on JAYA are third.  Anyone who can put together two more good results over the remaining two weeks could change things dramatically.

The J/80s are also having some great one-design racing in a wide variety of conditions. Not sailing this weekend was Terri Palmer on JUST DO IT dropping to third in the standings after a dominating performance the previous weekends.  The fly-boys on TEAM SPITFIRE are now in first after some good sailing, just leading John Cooper's OI! John Cooper in Oi! took the first race but the RAF TEAM SPITFIRE made the best start of the second race. They managed to stay ahead of both OI! and Charles Somerset’s LOUDWATER down the run but a poor spinnaker drop let both the others through. At the same time, Katie, working foredeck on Jannine Stoodley’s WAIRUA thought of having a quick swim but after testing the water temperature decided against it and stayed on board. At the end of the third beat, JAVA NANO had made up a large deficit to round the mark in the lead but a poor tactical decision on the final run put her back in the pack. In the end, LOUDWATER took the gun a few boat lengths ahead of OI! TEAM SPITFIRE had their revenge in the final race establishing a small lead to the finish. LOUDWATER and OI! finished virtually level, only two seconds separating them.  Full sailing results on the Warsash Website   Sailing Photos by Eddie Mays  

J's Dominate BVI Spring Regatta

BAD GIRL is Bad, CAYENITTA is Grande!

(Roadtown, Tortola, BVI)- Once again, it was a picture perfect day in the British Virgin Islands for the last day of racing of the BVI Spring Regatta, with sun and wind all day long. There were a number of battles out on the race course which were fought to the very end providing plenty of action on the SOL, Norman and LIME One Design Race areas.

BAD GIRL, St. Croix's Rob Armstrong's J/100, won Racing Class C.  BAD GIRL sparred with the BVI's Dave West's Melges 32, Jurakan, all weekend in Racing C. "In the first race today," says BAD GIRL trimmer, Carlos Skov, we definitely let Jurakan back in the game. Just one point separated us. The second race, we put our heads down, sailed well and ended up beating the two Melges in the last five minutes. It was like that all weekend. The level of competition has really come up and we think its because we all push each other."

In Racing D Class, the J/80 OTRA KOSA sailed by Kike Gonzalez and buddies from Puerto Rico took 3rd. The well-sailed classic J/27 MAGNIFICENT 7, kept in great shape by Paul Davis from USVI finished 4th.  The brand spanking new J/95 SHAMROCK VIII sailed all over the Caribbean this winter by Tom Mullen finished a respectable 5th for a shoal-draft, centerboard cruiser!

A steady presence on the Caribbean circuit has been Rick Wesslund's crew sailing his J/120 EL OCASO.  Having put thousands of miles on their boat, they're insistence on having fun is infectious.  They were rewarded for their efforts again by taking second overall in Racing E- Racer/Cruiser.

The competition in Racing F- Racer/Cruiser was tough! The J/105 UMAKUA sailed by Julio Reguero from Puerto Rico finished 3rd- Julio was winning class until they got DSQ'd in race 6.  The other J/105 ABRACADABRA, raced by another crew from Puerto Rico and Carlos Camachio finished 4th. The J/40 NEPENTHE sailed by Bob Read from Barrington, RI managed a 6th for a pure cruising boat.  And, the girls sailing the J/33 BOOMERANG- Pat Nolan- had a wonderful last day and managed to get a respectable 7th.

As noted above, it just seems that Tony Sanpere is on a roll-- perhaps far longer than anyone can imagine!  Tony's J/36 CAYENITTA GRANDE simply took all the marbles in BVI Performance Cruising Class-- winning by a significant margin with three firsts!  And, it also looked like a J/Cruising class!  Third was the J/46 MISS MAJIC sailed Jim Baus and lying 5th in the J/160 AVATAR was Alan Fouger.

As usual, the most intense, nail-biting finish came from the IC/24 course. It came down to the final rounding of the leeward mark in the last of 21 races to determine the winner in the IC/24 class. "I saw the door open and I took it," says Puerto Rico's Fraito Lugo, about the maneuver that put the necessary three boats in-between his ORION and closest competitor, TEAM LIME, to win the class by one point.  TEAM LIME, sailed by the BVI's Colin Rathbun, had a three-point advantage going into the last race. "We had a horrible rounding and then a big shift," says Rathbun, who finished second by one point. "But, it was exciting and a lot of fun." INTAC, raced by the BVI's Mark Plaxton, finished third in the nine-boat class.

Seventeen-year-old BVI sailor, DonTae' Hodge, is no stranger to sailing IC-J/24s. He's crewed aboard the modified J/24-design since he was a pre-teen and last year took first as a skipper in the Premier's Cup and third in the Nation's Cup, two events raced out of Tortola. What was different about sailing this weekend is that Hodge met his crew for the first time this morning on the dock before the races started. "I started communicating more as the day went on and I got my confidence and we all worked in sync together," says Hodge, who raced aboard Latitude 18.

This year, members of the press were invited to sail in the IC/24 fleet. Two journalists, San Francisco's Paige Brooks from SAILING ANARCHY and Efrain Rivera from the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, were among Hodge's crew. "This is the first time I've seen the boat," says Brooks. "I don't like the J/24, but I love the open cockpit in the IC/24." Rivera added, "It's my first time sailing an IC/24. DonTae' is an excellent driver, so it was fun. It's real hands on. You're in the whirlwind of everything. It's a great idea to put the press on these boats." See Paige Brooks account below in J/Community.

Not at the top of the heap in Racer Cruiser Class but first at the weather mark in the second race on the last day, Pat Nolan's J/33, BOOMERANG, and her all women crew, were leading by a full minute. "It was great," says Nolan, who operates Sistership Sailing School in the BVI. Her crew are all former students. "The competition in our class is very keen and we're largely inexperienced," says Katie Sharp, from northern Virginia. "Don't get me wrong; we like sailing with the fellas, but, it's also nice to kick the boy's butts too."

Of note, the BVI Spring Regatta is the last race in the CORT (Caribbean Ocean Racing Triangle) Series. Winners of the series are as follows:  Spinnaker A- 1st- BAD GIRL- Robert Armstrong's J/100; Spinnaker B- 2nd- MAGNIFICENT 7- Paul Davis' J/27; Performance Cruising: 1st- CAYENNITA GRANDE- Tony Sanpere's J/36; IC-J/24- 1ST- LIME- Colin Rathbun.    For more BVI Spring Regatta sailing info.    Photo credits: Yachtshots BVI

J/24 "BITBURGER" North Americans

(Seattle, WA)- Over two weekends in May, J/24 sailors will compete for up to four berths in the 2011 World Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and slots for two countries in the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. The World Championship and Pan Am berths will be awarded as follows:  (1) at NOOD, berths will go to the top boat from the “Western Region”—boats hailing from Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, California, Arizona, Nevada or Utah (e.g. this event doubles as the Western Regional Champs); (2) at the North Americans, one berth will go to the top previously unqualified boat regardless of the country of origin. In addition, the top two U.S. sailors who have not previously qualified will get invitations; (3) the regatta has been named a Pan-Am Games country qualifier because J/24s will be used for the keelboat competition at the 2011 games.

For more information on the J/24 NA's and NOOD Western Regionals.  

Jen Edney Photography- she did a magnificent job of shooting the J/24s in the recent Regata Copa Mexico event in March.  She dropped us a quick note since some of here girl friends in the area also started sailing on J/24s in Valle de Bravo, Mexico.  Said Jen, "I had the incredible opportunity to photograph two amazing female athletes. Both Olympians, Tania Elias Calles and Lisa Ross. A top Mexican sailor, Tania  just recently achieved a new Guinness Record for distance by sailing by wind alone in a laser sailboat from Los Cabos to Riviera Nayarit. Her next step is to sail from Cancun to Puerto Progreso in 2011, as part of her route to the Olympic Games in London in 2012. After competing in the 2004 Olympics in Athens and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Lisa is currently sailing and training full time, working towards the goal of representing Canada at the 2012 Olympic Games. Their coach, Rosie Chapman is an incredible athlete herself and is the new Nova Scotia Sailing Team Coach. Rosie, is from the UK where she was a member of the Great Britain national Sailing Team and has a number of years of coaching experience. Cheers ladies!"

To see some cool photos of the girls sailing Lasers and more of the J/24s in Bahia de Banderas, Mexico, please go to- http://jenedney.wordpress.com/  

Close Racing in Warsash Spring Series

J/97  JIKA-JIKA Racing Fast!

(Hamble, So'ton, England)- The third week of Warsash Sailing Club's Spring Series saw the first south-westerly breeze of the season. The wind stayed true in direction with the strength varying from 10 to 14 knots, providing near ideal sailing conditions if still cold. Despite the clocks going forward, competitors were out early for practice with new entries joining the fleets.

The Black Group committee boat anchored near Hamble Yacht Services buoy and used Air Canada, close to the Bramble Bank, as the first windward mark with a finish at East Knoll. Adjustments were made to the lengths of the courses with IRC1 completing 15 miles and IRC3 12.5 miles. IRC4 used a White Group start line but also finished with the other Black Group boats at East Knoll after a course covering over 10 miles. High water occurred during the start sequence, so competitors had the favoured combination of beats with the current and runs against it. Tacticians kept careful watch of the depth to benefit from or dodge the tide.

The number of "Big Boats" competing in IRC1 has increased as their Spring Championship after Easter approaches. In IRC1 the J/122 JOLLY JELLYFISH sailed to an uncharacteristic 7th, but still remained in second overall in the standings.  the J/133 JAMMY DODGER raced by Neil Martin sailed a great race to get a third to move into fifth place overall.

In IRC3, the J/97 JIKA-JIKA sailed by Mike and Jaime Holmes again made another jump up in the standings from this past week to move into second overall!

For J/105s, there was an unprecedented three-way tie for first place last week.  And, in short, they're still only separated by a point.  Chris Jones JOURNEYMAKER 5 is now first one point ahead of a tie for second between Paul Griffith's FAY-J and Rob Dornton-Duff's JAVA.  Bet everyone's relieved to not have to race Easter Weekend!

The J/109s saw Kirsty and David Apthorp's J-DREAM start to separate themselves from the pack by winning this weekends race to be ahead by two points.  James Arnell's JEEZ-LOUISE is now second and moving up the standings with a well-deserved third place was David McGough's JUST SO.

The J/92s continue to have very tight class racing amongst the top competitors.  The trio of Andrew, Matt and Peter Campbell sailing JAMMIN are now in second, just behind Dominic Horner's JEKYLL.  Rory and Cathy Staunton on JAYA and Bill Howard's team racing WIZARD are just off the pace.

The J/80s seem to have a new class standard to live up to since the leader by a wide margin is Terri Palmer on JUST DO IT with twenty one points after nine races, just over a second average!!  The fly-boys on TEAM SPITFIRE are now solidly in second with thirty three points and John Cooper's OI! has dramatically risen in the standings with three firsts this past weekend to jump into third place with forty five points.    Full results on the Warsash Website.  Photo by Eddie Mays- http://www.eddiemays.com.  

J/Fest NW Celebrating 27 years

Sail Northwest would like to invite all J Boat owners and their crew to join us at the 27th annual J/Fest Northwest regatta June 19th and June 20th hosted by Sail Northwest and Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle.

Fleets expected this year are J/22, J/24, J/80, J/29, J/30, J/105, J/35, J/109, J/PHRF and J/Cruising.

The J/Cruising Class, J/28, J/32, J/35c, J,37c, J/40, J/120,  J/42, J/130, J/44, J/46, J/160, and any other J that wants to do a casual one day race on Saturday.  PHRF ratings will be assigned for flying sails and no flying sails.  Last year the J/Cruisers had a great time joining in on the festivities and we expect a large turnout this year.

Saturday evening will be the ever popular J/Fest dinner and door prize give-away.  Join us to make this 27th J/Fest one you won’t want to miss! For more information you can call Sail Northwest at (206) 286-1004 or email us at sales@sailnorthwest.com or go to http://www.sailnorthwest.com  

J/24 World Military Sailing Championship

Italians Beat the Russians!

(March 22, 2010) - Bahrain Sailing Club hosted this years 44th edition of the World Military Sailing Championships.  Imagine  that!  Just after Woodstock's famous rock and roll festival in New York that rocked the world, the boys in dress blue were chomping at the bit to determine who were the leaders in the Cold War World.  After a period of time, contestants included ALL sailors in ALL militaries around the world who simply wanted to get together and have a great time sailing against one another.  Without getting into too much detail (embarrassing perhaps to some countries), it's clear everyone has had a fantastic time at these events.  J/Boats have been a significant sponsor and supporter of the World Military Sailing Championships over times, having supported them with J/22s, J/24s and, of course, the European Military Sailing de-facto one-design sailboat, the J/80 International Class.

This year's event was hosted by another one of the renowned United Arab Emirates, Bahrain.  It was clear the kingdom was prepared to put on a remarkable show for ten days and no one was disappointed.  With great sailing conditions (yes, Ernesto and Ed Baird we do believe you) the teams and spectators were treated to 100+ races on the Gulf.    The week-long championship got underway with 21 teams, including six Arab countries - Oman, UAE, Tunisia, Qatar, Libya and hosts Bahrain. The remaining countries were Italy, France, Russia, Pakistan, Canada, India, Poland, US, Norway, Brazil, Turkey, Finland, Austria, Denmark and Spain.

Teams were divided into three groups of seven squads. The first stage featured round robin races and the top four teams from each group qualified for the second round.  The second round also featured a single round robin battle, with the best four countries reaching the semi-final knock-out stage.

At the end of the amazingly civil proceedings (after all, this IS the military), ITALY defeated RUSSIA to clinch the 44th World Military Sailing Championship which concluded recently at the Bahrain Sailing Club premises near Al Jazayer Beach, Zallaq.  It was a perfect finale to the 10-day event, organised for the first time in the Middle East with top sailing teams from across the world in the fray.

The final was held in strong winds starting from 15 to 20 knots and reaching up to 25 knots.  But it was the ITALIANS who proved the better side in the final race. The ITALIANS were coached by Ercole Petraglia and comprised of Romolo Emiliani, Fabio Montefusco, Pierlulgi Fornelli, Paolo Emilio Ciam and Giancarlo Simeoli.  RUSSIA, coached by Kanov Sergey, were spearheaded by Andrey Arbuzov, Sergey Budanov, Alexey Krylov, Vyacheslav Kaptyukhin and Petr Kochnev.  TURKEY, comprising Kemal Mujlubas, Kaan Ozooneng, Metin Yasamali, Mert Koseoglu, Baris Bilge and coached by Kani Vardar, finished third.  FRANCE were fourth, followed by NORWAY in fifth place, FINLAND sixth and DENMARK seventh.

Bahrain Maritime Sports Association (BMSA) president and organising committee member Shaikh Khalifa bin Abdulla Al Khalifa witnessed the final day's action with Italian Ambassador Enrico Padola and his Russian counterpart Ambassador Victor Smirnov.  Shaikh Khalifa thanked General Organisation for Youth and Sports president Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa for his support to sailing activities in Bahrain.  The BMSA chief also highlighted the significant role of companies and establishments which sponsored the event, adding that without their support it would have been difficult to have this championship here in Bahrain.

The event was sponsored by a star-studded group of regional supporters, including:  LURSSEN YACHTS, Trafco, Abu Dhabi Ship Building, Alba, Bapco, Batelco, MBDA Missile Systems, Banagas, Bahrain International Travel, Dadabai Travel and Yateem Air-conditioning.  Other sponsors included Jawad Group, Al Safeer Travel and Tours, Nadia Travel Agency, Turkish Airlines, AJM Kooheji Group, House of Travel, Bahrain Kuwait Insurance, GPIC and A A Bin Hindi.  For more World Military Sailing information.  

SW NOOD San Diego- Huge J Fleet

JAVELIN Dominates J/105s

(San Diego, CA)- Fifty-one J's sailed this past weekend's NOOD in San Diego, over 50% of all offshore keelboat fleets!  The weather was spectacular.  Postcard perfect perhaps.  Great winds.  Good race management.  Great parties.  What's wrong with this picture?  Hmm, yet another great spring weekend in San Diego, CA.  Ever wonder why more US NAVY Admirals retire on Point Loma and Coronado Island?  Go figure, find out for yourself why guys like Dennis Conner, Malin Burnham and other notables can't ever be convinced there's a better climate to live in worldwide-- heck, they oughta know since they've sailed everywhere.  Although, too much sun can't possibly do the soul too much good, does it?

There were more J/Boats represented at the NOOD than any other boat manufacturer! With 18 boats the J/105s took the honors of being the largest class at the regatta with J/105 JAVELIN having a nearly perfect regatta with four bullets and one second place finish. JAVELIN, owned and sailed by Pam and Doug Werner, didn’t miss a shift and consistently lead the two day event in their home waters. JAVELIN crew SDYC Commodore Bill Campbell and wife Sherri thoroughly enjoyed being out in front with the two couple crewed JAVLEIN.  One of the big challenges for the crew was trying to keep up with the NCAA’s and Sherri’s alma mater Syracuse University’s game on Sunday.  Second was Dennis and Sharon Case sailing WINGS and third was Gary Mozer on CURRENT OBSESSION 2. The top five boats sailed remarkably well, taking all podium finishes for the series. 

J/World San Diego also came out in full force, hosting tune up races on Friday and adding four J/80’s to the racing in the 12 boat J/80. San Diego’s morning fog took a little while to burn off and the first race of the day kept the J/Sailors racing in less 150 -200 feet of visibility at times. After the fog burned off typical San Diego conditions replaced the fog revealing a beautiful day with the breeze consistently at 7 – 14 knots and sunny skies.  J/Sailors were surprised with candy and treats being delivered on the water between races by J/Concierge Amanda Denton. The twelve boat J/80 fleet was won by Curt Johnson on AVET with nine points, six points ahead of Gregg Kelly sailing MERKIN.  John Steen sailing UNDERDOG was tied for third with Steve Wyman on HUNU, but UNDERDOG won by virtue of not "who beat who" but by most 1sts, 2nds and 3rds! 

On Sunday the wind built to 12 knots, however racing proved to be challenging with constant shifts. In a great example of Sportsmanship to help his fellow fleet members Tom Brott, owner of ELECTRA and Fleet Captain of J/109 Fleet, stepped up to help Daylen Teren, new to the 109 fleet and the owner of GREAT BALLS OF FIRE in his first ever high point regatta by sailing with him during Sunday's races. Tom Brott's ELECTRA did, indeed, electrify their competition, winning with straight bullets- five firsts!  Second behind that ELECTRA-fying performance was Steve Carter's GERONIMO beating by just one point John Shulze's LINSTAR who finished third.

In the nine boat J/120 fleet, a repeat winner scored top spot on the podium. CC RIDER sailed by Chuck Nichols won with a 1-1-2-1-5 record for 10 pts to win by nine points over CAPER, raced by John Laun and JIM, raced by John Snook.  It was tight, solid racing with podium finishers amongst 8 of 9 competitors!

The J/24s as always had a great time.  After all, can't kill the spirit of a class that has survived the test of time over 30+ years!  Eight boats showed up and RUMBLEFISH with Peer Fischel won a closely fought series by a scant three points over Charlie Fox's MOURNING WOOD.  Just off the pace was Norman Hosford on SUPER STRINGS.  Susan Taylor put in a nice performance getting fourth overall with TAKE FIVE.  For more Sailing World NOOD San Diego information.  Photo credits- Tim Wilkes Photography  

J/100 BAD GIRL Wins St Croix Hospice Regatta

Tony and Ellen Sanpere from St. Croix supplied this report: "We came in second in Performance cruising in my old J/36- CAYENNITA GRANDE. We also had J/27's in the race with one of them getting close to a podium finish. Also sailing was Bob Armstrong's J/100 BAD GIRL.   On the Buck Island Channel course, the J/100 BAD GIRL won the Spinnaker Racing class with an all-Crucian crew and six top three finishes. Though long-time J/24 sailor and helmsman Jens Hookanson was born in St. Croix, he has lived in the U.S. since age 16 and had never sailed in the annual SCYC regatta. He liked the race to Christiansted, followed by windward-leeward courses in the Channel. "Tactician Carlos Skov is key to the program," according to Hookanson. "Skov was especially touched by the win, as his mother was the first hospice patient on St. Croix, and Skov weighed in at eight cases of Cruzan Rum."  Armstrong and his J/100 crew also received an invitation to the National Hospice Regatta Championships, to be sailed in Rochester, NY in June.  

J/24 Copa de Mexico Regatta

Brazilians Winning After Two Days

(Puerto Vallarta, Mexico)- The fifty-three J/24 competitors are enjoying a very special treat sailing off Puerto Vallarta in Bahia de Banderas.  So, far the weather has held true to form with the midday westerly thermal winds 5-15 knots from 220-240 degrees giving way to the afternoon thermal breezes from 300-320 degrees.  The shifty, streaky winds make for challenging conditions and are keeping the tacticians on each team anxious to avoid significant mistakes going around the race track.

The current leaders include J/24 class veterans fighting it out for the podium separated by only three points after four races and two days of sailing.  It will be interesting to see if the top three can maintain the consistency they've managed to achieve so far with three more days of sailing left.  So far,  Maurizio Santa Cruz from Brazil, the current J/24 World Champion, is in first place sailing BRUSCHETTA to a 13-4-1-1 record.  After a slow start the first day, Maurizio and team were red hot the second day, getting two firsts in very tough sailing conditions.  Javier Arribas Leigh from Peru is second overall sailing PRIMERO to a consistent 1-8-4-8 tally.  Just one point back is Chris Snow, the current J/24 NA Champion, sailing "S" to a 10-1-5-6 record.  Chris and Javier were both in the top three going up the final leg of race four, leading the series until the wind got very shifty with puffs coming off the beach and down from the mountain ridges off Puerto La Cruz.  The top ten shows the diversity of international talent in the world's largest one-design keelboat class; Brazilians are 1st, 6th; Peruvians 2nd; Americans 3rd, 7th, 10th; Mexicans 4th, 9th; Puerto Ricans 5th; and Germans 8th.  

The sailing has been fun and challenging so far, but what a social event! Peter Wiegandt and Kenneth Porter have done a spectacular job for everyone to enjoy.  The Mexican Ministry of Tourism, the President of Mexico- Felipe Calderon (a sailor himself sailing on the lake of Valle de Bravo) and the Mexican Navy (with Optimist youth training programs at every facility) are all supporting sailing, the Regata Copa Mexico and the J/24 Class in particular.  And, the line-up of sponsors is extraordinary: MICROSOFT Office, Nyssen, Dos Equis XX Brewery, Nextel, Icon Vallarta, DELL Computers, Comex, Grey Goose, Coca Cola, Marival and Banamex.  The Marival Suites Hotel, an all-inclusive resort, has every amenity, activity, food and drink one could ever wish for in a beach-front complex- four pools, horseback riding, hiking in the mountains, sailing, surfing, paddling, shuffleboard, bocce ball pits, tennis, 18-hole golf course, world-class spa (mud baths, whirlpools), the list is endless.  Throw on top of that a spectacular sunset dinner on the beach and a Mayan-inspired evening show at the romantic and gorgeous Bahia Las Caletas on the luscious, mountainous south shore of Bahia de Banderas and you have a recipe for a fabulous event (read more about it below in an excerpt from SAIL's Kimball Livingston's blog).  For more Regatta Copa Mexico sailing information.  

J/24 "Regatta Copa de Mexico"

(Puerto Vallarta, Mexico)- The Mexican J/24 Class is hosting a remarkable event that may go down as one of the main fixtures on the spring sailing circuit in years to come.  In what is traditionally an event that marks the start of the MEXORC (Mexican Ocean Racing Circuit) with the San Diego-Puerto Vallarta Race, the J/24 class was invited to spice things up a bit and participate en'masse.  The response has been overwhelming.  Fifty-three J/24s registered from nine countries, including USA, Mexico, Brazil, Monaco, Germany, El Salvador, Italy, Puerto Rico, Peru.  Talk about some "time travelers", would do Dr. No proud to see this assemblage of talent.

Amongst the J/24 class notables participating are Chris Snow, the current J/24 NA Champion racing "S" and Maurizio Santa Cruz from Brazil- the current J/24 World Champion- who will be sailing TRES VELAS, heading up the Brazilian contingent that also includes Claudio Ruschel.  Furthermore, current J/105 North American Champion Bruce Stone will be sailing HOT TUB with tactician Stu Johnstone- himself a former J/24 World Champion tactician. Not to be outdone by other Latino-Americano firepower, the Mexican J/24 class has seven of their top ten sailors from their 2009 Nationals making an appearance, including three of the top five- Peter Colliard on KAWABUNGA, Mario Velasquez on VENDETTA and Luis Alvarez sailing TA'LENTO.    For more J/24 Mexico sailing regatta information.