J/24 Europeans & Monaco Match-Race Championship

(Monte Carlo, Monaco)- More great news from Prince Albert's sailors at Yacht Club de Monaco! Twenty years after welcoming the J/24 European Championship to the Principality for the first time, the YCM will host the J/24 Europeans in Monaco once again, uniting the international elite of this series, considered to be of the world’s most important events for the J/24 Class.  The regatta will be held from October 5th to 12th at the spectacular, new clubhouse of the YCM situated on Monte Carlo's Port Hercule.

Also, from March 8th to 10th, the YCM is organizing a new Monaco Match Race Regatta.  The event is a collaboration with Bruce Hebbert and Ian Ilsley, who's very active and successful on the European Team Racing circuit-- getting on the podium on many occasions, including the Cowes Team Race (since 2006) and second during the Cumberland Cup in 2010 (Royal St George Yacht Club taking the victory).

The Cumberland Cup was organized by the Royal Thames Yacht Club of London, England and now the key challengers from that event are coming together again for the edition organized by Yacht Club de Monaco.  The YCM Match Race Regatta is open to "Twinned" and "Reciprocal Clubs" of the YCM.  The primary focus of the regatta is not individual performance and winning, but instead on overall team’s performance and learning. This highly tactical contest in J/24s will bring together ten Yacht Clubs comprising two teams each including at least three women (a requirement).    For more J/24 Europeans and Monaco Match Race sailing information

J/24 Sailing- Gybe Broach Curtsy?

(Casco Bay, Maine) - We received a rather amusing note from John Denman recently, he's a J/24 sailor on Casco Bay, Maine. John had this to say about a recent J/24 sailing experience in a Maine regatta this fall:

"In the 'Photos of the Week' section in Scuttlebutt last Friday, we'd like to say thanks for including the J/24 photo sequence from the Downeast Regatta on Casco Bay, ME. We were the beneficiary of that late gybe broach; I was driving #2109 and we were just yards from the finish line when "Mr. Hankey" was kind enough to take a detour and let us past. They are very generous up there in Maine--- with a great Clambake dinner, free beer and drinks, and letting the visitors pass right before the finish line!!

By the way, the gusts to 30+ knots on Hussey Sound in Falmouth, Maine led to this unplanned jibe (and swim)."  Thanks John!  Sailing Photos by Ann Blanchard.

ONLINE Blitzes J/24 Spring Cup

(Lago San Roque, Cordoba, Argentina)-- High in the Argentinean side of the Andes along its western borders their lies a simply spectacular lake set into the foothills of the Andes Mountain range.  In winter (the northern hemisphere summer) many Olympic ski teams from around the world head south to the famous town of Bariloche and places nearby to continue their year-round downhill ski-training programs.  While Argentinean sailors can often be found on the slopes themselves, they look forward to their spring-time sailing on simply spectacular lakes at the base of the Andes Mountains in quaint mountain village towns like Cordoba's Lago San Roque (http://goo.gl/maps/nnJGy) or San Carlos de Bariloche's Lago Nahuel Huapi (http://goo.gl/maps/vxM58).  It's a bit like the South American version of Italy's famous Lago di Garda in Italy's northern region bordering the southern reaches of the Austrian/ Swiss/ Italian Alps.

Recently, the J/24 fleet in Cordoba held their Spring Cup and had a solid turnout of sixteen boats to experience the rather chilly waters, amazing winds and spectacular vistas of Lago San Roque-- at least that's what the local Chamber of Commerce usually predicts for this time of year.

On the first weekend of racing the fleet was confronted with not too much wind.  In fact, it was uncharacteristically light for this time of year when the fronts are still raging around the South Pole and often the northern fingers hit the Andes and produce some monstrous winds.  Nevertheless, the RC managed to run three races with much effort, despite the wind at times blowing in from the Northeast, dying and then returning back again from the East.
The first race went to the ONLINE Team sailed by Adrian Bongioanni at the helm with his brother Saul on the sheets.  Second went to CALEUCHE sailed by Matías Arrambide, Gringo Betendorf and Pedrito Lozada.  Third went to Team CAMBURY skippered by Alvaro Abate.

In the second race, SAMA skippered by Frank Pesci, Mariana Buteler in the bow, Ezekiel Despontin in sheets and Carlos took the lead from the start to cross the line first!  They were followed closely by J-MAC sailed by Spoceti Gabriel, his son Paul, Adrian Berelejis on the sheets and Marcelo Romero at the helm.

The third and final race of the regatta went to ONLINE in first, with SAMA in second.  At the end, ONLINE's 1-3-1 for 5 pts total meant the Bongioanni brothers were crowned Spring Cup Champions in Cordoba!  Second was Team SAMA with a 5-1-2 for 8 pts for Frank Pesci and crew.  Rounding out the podium ws J-MAC's team led by Spoceti Gabriel with a 7-2-6 for 15 pts.  The balance of the top five was CALEUCHE winning a tie-breaker with a 2-5-10 for 17 pts over CLICK with a 6-3-8 for 17 pts.  If you're ever in Buenos Aires, be sure to take a trip out West to Cordoba and volunteer to  crew on a J/24 in this spectacular setting!

J/24 sailboats are also racing on Lago "Nahuel Huapi" in the foothills of the Andes Mountains, quite a bit further south of Cordoba and next to the famous Andes ski areas WSW of San Carlos de Bariloche. Take a look at this YouTube video of a regatta from Cumelen Bay on the NE shore of the lake to Piedras Blancas near San Carlos de Bariloche.

For a backgrounder on the 7 Lakes District around Bariloche take a peek at this GEO TV video.   For more J/24 Spring Cup Argentina sailing results

J/24s Love Hot Rum Class 4

(San Diego, CA)- The last major San Diego YC racing event came to a close on the first day of December with the final of three races in the Hot Rum Series. The fleet of 130 boats in 6 classes enjoyed gorgeous sunny, warm "winter" sailing conditions on the 11.9 nm  pursuit race course located off the majestic Point Loma.

Race 1 was simple enough with nice sun and a great wind, and the usual inquisitions and opinions over ratings.  The conditions favored the smaller sport boats and the early finish line looked a little like a J/105 regatta. But you know what they say about the Hot Rum, one "nice day", one "light day".

And so, the fleet experienced "the light day" for Race 2.  Sunny, yes, but very light winds.  There was enough breeze (6+ knots) to whisk everyone out to the half-way mark in the Roads, but the wind evaporated from there. The larger boats, that have 50+ feet of mast and sail up in the air, managed to make enough breeze to ghost to the finish.  A last little puff of wind just before the 1600 deadline brought the front of the other five fleets to the finish, but in total, only 57 of the registered 130 boats finished.  Several boats received ratings adjustments that reduced their handicaps (estimated their speed faster) at the start of Race 2, and after a protest hearing, those boats were given redress (RDG) of a time credit for that race and their ratings were returned to those posted for Race 1. The redress did not change any of the results.

And the last part of the saying about the weather for the Hot Rum says "one stormy day".  But despite the low clouds and rain through the night, a really nice day popped out of the clouds around 10 am.  At noon, fluffy white clouds with 10+ knots of wind got the race going in perfect Hot Rum conditions.

Class 5 had several of the J/Classics sailing.  Getting third overall was Mark Clements' J/24 BRIGADOON with a 4-3-6 record for 13 pts.  Finishing behind them was the J/22 GOOD ONE! sailed by Shala Lawrence and the J/24 IRIE sailed by Jeremy Miller.

Many thanks to Mount Gay Rum and San Diego Yacht Club and the Race Committee for their support of this hallmark event.  Mark you calendars now for next year's Hot Rum (Nov. 9, 23, Dec. 7)!  Sailing photo credits- Bob Betancourt and Bronny Daniels/ JOY Sailing.   For more San Diego YC Hot Rum sailing information

J/24 "Superman" Experiences Heavy Weather Sailing

(Sydney, Australia)-  Simon Grain and crew Down Under are rarely short on great stories and fun & games sailing their J/24s.  Recently, Simon had this commentary from Chris Furey (in the YC bar or pub?). Simon said that Chris is an ex-J sailor and a great J friend from Sandringham.  Said Simon, "he shot this pic and info to me this afternoon, thought you might like to see it. Taken by Chris off Williamstown in the early 80’s, this is Athol Lidgett’s J/24 JAILBREAK seen here on the burst in classic J style."  Chris says, “It was during a JOG regatta out of RYCV when the race officials decided it was far too windy to race, so several of us J sailors decided we would go for a blast anyway. The guy on the deck in the blue jacket is John Hooper, the sail maker. John and his brother, Olympic Coach Buster, both sailed on the boat.

JAILBREAK met an unfortunate end when sailing back from a Mornington race into a strong  northerly that built to well over 35 knots. Athol decided they had taken enough punishment in the strong wind and seas and reached off into the lee of Rickets Point where they picked up a mooring just off the old Keefer’s Boatshed near Beaumaris Motor Yacht Squadron.  The crew were picked up and taken ashore but that night the wind suddenly switched to an equally hard south westerly with enormous seas. The boat was torn from its mooring and smashed to unrecognizable pieces on the rocky Beaumaris shore just below the Beauy Pub. Somewhere on the rocks not far offshore  there is a J/24 lead keel!”

Sad, but entertaining story, nevertheless.  We can only hope the boys Down Under continue to have fun sailing their J/24s!   For more J/24 Australia sailing information

PACEMAKER Takes J/24 NSW State Championships

(Sydney Harbour, NSW, Australia)-  The Royal Prince Edward Yacht Club hosted this year's 2012 NSW J/24 State Championships and, again, the club, its volunteers and RC/PRO did an amazing job running another great regatta.  The very light breeze on Saturday slowly built during the day and overnight to a decent 15 kts by the end of Sunday.  Consequently, all the sailors were delighted to get in six good races under gorgeous, clear blue skies and all round great weather! As Simon Grain (owner of CODE VIOLATION) commented, "To All NSW owners, we apologize that the Trophies again went to Victorians, Dave Suda and crew on PACEMAKER are hard to beat, but let's keep trying!"

"Many Thanks" to Janette Syme, skipper of the totally fab all-girl crew sailing on WHISPER, for contributing her version of events at the NSW J24 Championships.  Here is Janette's awesome commentary:

"Friday – the day before the regatta – boats arrive at RANSA from various points on Sydney Harbour, Victoria and one from South Australia. There is a mixture of crews, skippers, boats (owned, begged, borrowed, stolen – pieced together)!  And, crew all keen– boats sleek, shiny and cleaned. Soon thereafter their launching, they were all ferried around to moorings outside RPEYC.

RPEYC has a magnificent aspect of the harbour at Point Piper. Essentially an historic building, oozing character, it was comfortable and welcoming. We all sat waiting for the wind on Saturday morning, perched on the verandah, or reading books in the lounge or feet up on the lawn (as you do at regattas!).  After a couple of weeks of sea-breeze, southerly busters and generally plentiful wind, there was nothing, and grey clouds (think it must have been the Mexican Margarita's influence)!

Nonetheless off we all went at first puff and bobbed around within a couple of start line shifts until a reasonable Easterly settled in at 5-10 kts. So the first day, we only managed 2 races but it was hotly contested in the light airs.  Dave Suda (Sandringham YC) in PACEMAKER secured a win as did Sean Kirkjian (RPEYC) in SAILPAC. The racing was set around mid harbour– across the channel– all windward/leewards. Sean Wallis (Perth ) sailing KAOTIC was first to the windward mark in race 1 only to hit it– they lost 4 places doing penalty turns.  Creditable sailing from ACE (MHYC), VORTEX (MHYC) , KICKING BOTTOM (Sandringham YC) and EL FIDELO (SA CYC), CODE VIOLATION (Sandringham YC) and BY THE LEE (Sandringham YC) to fill the places.

Sunday started with a 10 kts sea breeze from the NE– sun shining– the harbour littered with the usual power boats, ferries , speed bumps etc. Definite western shore lift and turning tide run out – affecting all boats up and down stream especially races 5 and 6. The wind lifted to 15-20 kts NE, perfect sea-breeze and great sailing.  Downwind legs generally favoured the shoreline and boats mostly headed for the starboard gate. Ferries had a habit of splitting the fleet with many boats gaining or loosing a place because of a ferry or two.  All in all, the series was predominantly clearly contested which is great to see.

So after 6 races I think we could all feel our arms, shoulders and hands and wore a generous amount of sea spray and wind burn. But for the most part everyone was smiling.

Congratulations to Dave Suda and the Pacemaker crew who deservedly won the NSW title again. To Sean Kirkjian and crew on SAILPAC a fabulous 2nd and Sean Wallis and crew in KAOTIC (Arthur Crothers) that rolled into third.  Handicap winner was JAGGED EDGE (Leon Ratner REPYC), 2nd BY THE LEE (Brendan Lee Sandringham YC) and 3rd WHISPER (Janette Syme with fab all-girl crew from Manly-Man YC).

The NSW Women on Water trophy went to Sophie Kennedy for her continued support of the class, over the years racing on various boats from Sailpac, Kaotic, Wildfire and Whisper.

Many thanks to NSW committee especially Sean Kirkjian for organizing a great regatta – see you next year same time same place! Thanks also to Danny, AJ and James for your help with tenders and photos!"  For more J/24 NSW Championships sailing information

J/24 "Reality Sailing" In California

(San Diego, CA)- Manuel Morenos has been working with friends to create a unique new sailing, adventure and experiential organization called "Reality Sailing Adventure org".  Says Manuel, "Our group is embarking on an ambitious project and we need all the help we can get.  We have a dream of creating what we call the first bi-national sailing campus.  A campus which will have a variety of activities ranging from sailing instruction, adventure sailing voyages and a place for university students geared to marine biology and the research for cleaner technologies perform their studies. The development of this institution has given us the opportunity to reach to world leader in the nautical industry, and to sailing, research and governmental institutions in both the US and Mexico, generating an all around positive program. 

Our organization’s concept is simple, positive, and sustainable. Sailing is synonymous with a healthy environment. Don’t we all disapprove oils spills, pollution, punctured atmospheric layers created by carbonic emissions? Yes, we have to stop depending so much on this non-renewable fuel which is only damaging us. Sailing in the other hand utilizes the wind, currents, weather patterns and even solar energy to move from point A to B causing less harm to biospheres and so to the planet. Sailing also provides a great quiet pleasurable travel, at the same time promoting healthy life styles and good economies around it.

Help us create consciousness in the preservation of the magical waters of the Sea of Cortés and at the same time have fun doing it. Our developing organization is composed to the most part of sailors and a group of  visionaries  looking forward to create an innovative program. Additionally,  we would like to offer more opportunities for American cruisers to safely and responsibly sail this part of the world.

Part of our program is geared to connect the youth interested in sailing with other sailing schools, yacht clubs and he sport of sailing itself. This involvement game the opportunity to help direct a junior sailing in San Diego, CA for CVYC. By this community outreach program the Coronado Yacht Club offered a sailing class to (3) of my top sailing students. Opportunity which gave us the chance to meet former national champion in this class, you might remember Jon Rogers. He currently teaches sailing at the Coronado yacht Club.

Rogers who previously worked as an instructor for a J-World school in Newport, RI conducted one of the most educational and exciting class the kids and myself included ever had aboard a nice J-24 race sailboat. He gave the juniors the ins and out of this magnificent racing vessel. That confirmed what lots of people say about J boats, “They’re fast”.  Jon is a great guy and outstanding sailing instructor. We all enjoyed the class and hopefully in the near future we could have the opportunity to have one of this fast racing vessels in our fleet too."     For more information on Reality Sailing Org

Healy Wins J/24 East Coast Champs

(Annapolis, MD)- The Hillman Capital Management J/24 East Coast Championships hosted by the Severn Sailing Association (SSA) is held in the fall around Halloween and has the reputation of providing big breezes with cool temperatures, three days of competitive racing, and a great party. The 34th edition of this fall classic, however, featured mild temperatures, a shifty breeze that ranged between only 5 and 15 knots, and the impending arrival of Hurricane Sandy for the incredibly talented forty boat fleet.

With the final day of racing cancelled, the highly experienced SSA Race Committee successfully set off seven races, and it was enough to crown Tim Healy and his 11th HOUR RACING crew as this year's J/24 East Coast Champion. Having just placed 2nd at this year's J/24 World Championships in Rochester, NY, the former World Champion quickly established his skillful management of the shifting conditions. Healy left no doubt as the top competitor of the event, having no finishes worse than 4th place in a fleet of 34 boats.

Healey's record for the seven races was impressive enough, scoring one 1st, five 2nds and a 4th for a total of only 15 pts, well clear of his next competitors by 24 pts.  Second was Mark Hillman's team (the title sponsor of the event), starting out slow but coming on strong for the rest of the event, gathering finishes of 14-1-6-6-3-1-8 for 39 pts.  There was quite a battle for third place overall with Rossi Milev sailing CLEAR AIR for Port Credit YC, Ontario, the top Canadian boat, narrowly defeating the next competitors.  Rossi's team amassed a 5-15-4-5-1-4-10 for 44 pts.  Fourth was the HONEY BADGER team with a score of 21-4-1-2-9-3-7 for 47 pts and fifth was Will Welles on ANGRY DRAGON with scores of 6-9-8-1-7-7-12 for 50 pts.

Once again, SSA was able to accommodate everyone even while undergoing a major renovation of the clubhouse. After each day of racing, sailors were met at the docks by fleet volunteers with smiling faces and trays full of Copperhead Ale and Bud Light. There was also an unlimited supply of Dark and Stormys at the tent party to satisfy even the thirstiest sailor.

The event also treated racers to a traditional Maryland crab soup and a fresh oyster bar, which featured the two‐time U.S. National Oyster Shucking Champion, George "The Oyster Guy" Hastings. Besides the epic games of flip cup and corn hole, the tent party was highlighted by the event raffle that gave away over 50 items and featured a new J/24 Quantum mainsail won by Peter Bream.

Plans are already under way for next year's event and it promises to be even bigger and better. Come on out if you've never been to the East Coast Championships or haven't been in a while. You won't want to miss out on one of the most premier sailing events on the East Coast.   Sailing photo credits- Dan Phelps/ SpinSheet.com   For more J/24 East Coasts sailing information

Martha Stewart Loves Sailing!?

(New York, NY)-  Martha Stewart thinks sailing and boating is fun!?  Yes. Martha, the doyenne and fashionista of all things for home lifestyle, design, food, clothes and gardening also happens to be a lifelong boater, sailor herself.  When she heads up to Mt Desert Island for brief moments of respite to recharge her batteries, like many of us do, she relaxes in her beautiful home that overlooks Seal Harbor and the Eastern Way towards Little Cranberry Island (a.k.a. Islesford).  In fact, her self-professed "best lobster roll ever" happens to be at the Islesford Dock Restaurant, who's proprietors are Dan and Cynthia Lief (themselves refugees from the madness of working in New York City and working at Goldman Sachs).  How does she enjoy her time in Maine?  Martha often hops into her 36 ft Hinckley Picnic Boat with a pile of friends and dashes around the gorgeous Maine islands in Frenchman's, Blue Hill and Penobscot Bays, trying the lobster rolls in Islesford, Frenchboro, Stonington and Northeast Harbor-- all of them hard to beat since they're so delicious.  She also hops aboard various friend's beautiful sailboats to go out for daysails around the Cranberry Islands, the Ducks or simply for a picnic on the famous Marshall Island sandy beach or at the famous "Dancing Rocks" on Baker Island.

This past weekend found Martha down in New York city supporting the New York Harbor School.  There she found common ground with long-time J sailors Dawn Riley and local Newporter/ Jamestowner Hannah Swett-- both of whom have cut their teeth sailing J/22s and J/24s for decades as they grew into the talented, world-renown women sailors they are today.  Martha was in "good hands" with Hannah and Dawn and thoroughly enjoyed her weekend with these gals and, most importantly, supporting a wonderful program supporting dis-advantaged public high school kids from New York City's various burroughs- the Bronx, Manhattan, Harlem and so forth.  Here is Martha's account on her "Martha Blog" of her recent experience:

"I have become very interested in The Urban Assembly New York Harbor School, a wonderful small public high school located on Governors Island (in Upper New York Bay just off the southern tip of Manhattan Island), founded by Murray Fisher.

The school partners with New York City's maritime community (such as sailing Manhattan YC's red J/24s) and uses New York Harbor's marine resources to create an extraordinary public high school experience that instills in its students the skills and ethic of environmental stewardship. Harbor School's mission is to graduate students prepared for success in college and who have earned a technical credential in one of the six marine fields: Aquaculture, Marine Biology Research, Marine Systems Technology, Ocean Engineering, Professional SCUBA diving, and Vessel Operations.

Last Thursday I had the thrilling opportunity of sailing in the second annual Harbor School Regatta to benefit the Harbor School. Hannah Swett, one of my Godchildren, who comes from a very famous sailing family in Rhode Island, invited me to sail with her and her mother, Ellie Burgess, upon the historic America's Cup 12-meter boat, Intrepid.

I first met Ellie many years ago when were neighbors in New York City. I had many exciting sails with her and her family and learned what I know about sailing from them. Hannah's sailing credentials include Collegiate All-American, multiple World and National champion, Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year, America's Cup Sailor, and was nominated for Rolex World Sailor of the Year. Please enjoy these sailing photos of the Regatta (MYC J/24s and the 12 Meters INTREPID and AMERICAN EAGLE) taken by photographer Lori Hawkins.

J/70 Flies Around Island

(Jamestown, Rhode Island)- There are few regattas on the Narraganset Bay yachting calendar that have a greater following and are looked forward to with greater anticipation during the course of the "Newport Summer" than Conanicut YC's Around Island Race.  While Newport enjoys multiple "around Jamestown Island races" during the course of the summer, from little boats, to big boats, to classic yachts (like really big ones), the Granddaddy of them all has always been the Labor Day Weekend romp around the 18-21nm course on Sunday.

This year 100 boats competed in the 85th CYC Around Island Race for both the new elapsed time trophy as well as the PHRF handicap corrected time trophy.  Plus, there were one-design classes competing, including J/22s and J/24s from the local Narraganset Bay fleets.

The forecast for the day was a bit variable, but suffice it so say the SSE winds of 8-12 kts ultimately developed such that the fleet was treated to yet another classic around the island romp.  While fleets A to F started in light winds with a massive "ebb current" flushing them out of the start area just off Conanicut YC, the combination of current "wind" and actual "wind" conspired to push the small boats out to the first major turning mark off Beavertail Lighthouse at a rapid speed of current + wind of about 3 kts VMG.  The RC's PRO wisely decided to postpone the "big boats" for 45 minutes until the wind re-established itself.  At that point, it was going to be clear that the overall elapsed and corrected time silverware was going to be a run-for-the-money by the "big boats".  The fleet was treated to a "classic" Bay sea breeze, building up to 15 knots so the sailors could enjoy a fast downhill ride down the West Passage to the northern part of Jamestown (against the strong ebb current) before turning back upwind into the moderate southerly against a tide that changed to beat (guess what) back into the flood tide!!  Ouch.  Can't win some days, but the current/wind Gods conspired so the fleet was basically fighting against the current all the way around the island!!  Little boats got crushed in the standings, big boats dominated by a country furlong.

For the one-design boats, none of the wind/ current stuff mattered-- whomever beat who got the ultimate bragging rights. In the J/22 class, 1st was LUCY sailed by Cory Sertl, 2nd was WHARF RAT helmed by Matt Dunbar and 3rd was MACHBUSTER led by Jeff Westcott.  In the J/24s, it was "girl power" again like their compatriots in Hong Kong!  This time is was Lindsey Turowski winning with BERLY MOVIN, followed in 2nd by Bob Lambert's BARFLY and 3rd was Newport J/24 class veteran Mike Hill on OBSTREPEROUS.

In PHRF handicap world it was an eclectic bunch of boats and fleets that made up the rest.  Starting with Class B the J/24 NIGHTHAWK finished 3rd with Richard Barker and Mike Ryan.  Class F saw two J/29s taking two top spots with Dennis Nixon's LYNX in 3rd and Steve Wood's BIG TAZ in 4th.  Class G was a tough fleet, but the J/109 PICANTE sailed by Dr Rob Salk led the J teams home with a 2nd, followed by Paul Grimes' J/35 BREAKAWAY IN 4th and EC Helme's J/92s SPIRIT in 5th.

In PHRF Class H, it was "sports-boat" shootout with J/80s, a J/70, a pair of VX-One's and others.  In the end, the J/70 J-HAWK sailed by Stu Johnstone and Julia Langford (sailing double-handed) were first across the line elapsed amongst the smaller boats but ended up 3rd on PHRF corrected (sailing with a 111 PHRF rating).  Winning the top two slots were the J/80s GROMIT sailed by Andy Burton and GOOSE in second sailed by Chris Bulger.  Fifth in class was Peter McCarthy and gang on the J/80 EAGLE!  A great performance overall by the J/Sports boat gang.

Finally, in PHRF Class J, finishing third was the custom J/44 WHITE GOLD sailed by Jamestown "hommie" and CYC member Jim Bishop.

The trophy winners for the event included a proverbial J/Alumni list of owners, including Phil Lotz (J/24s and J/105s) sailing his Swan 42 to the Fastest Elapses Award and Malcom Gefter (J/105s) on his Melges 32 winning the Handicap Award.  Plus, the Eads Johnson Trophy (large boat, fastest corrected time) went to Jim Bishop's J/44 custom WHITE GOLD and the Robert A. MacLeod Rear Commodore Trophy (day-sailer, fastest corrected time) went to Cory Sertl's J/22 LUCY!!   For more CYC Around Island Race sailing information

City Sail--Young Sailors Learn the Ropes in Record Numbers!

(Hudson River, NJ)-  What could be more incredibly cool than that?!?  City Sail--a series of one-week instructional programs Hudson River Community Sailing hosts for local youth each summer- enjoyed its highest enrollment ever this year, with nearly 200 kids showing up to learn maritime skills, leadership, and have some fun on the water.

The program incorporated various themes this summer. The America's Cup and the Olympics both served as rallying points, as students learned the history of the events and competed in races of their own. An ecology-themed program saw kids testing water samples and examining them with microscopes under the guidance of Hudson River Park naturalists.

An important objective of the program is to plant the seeds of leadership in young people. Will, an 8th grader from Manhattan, described it this way: "I liked that we learned how to do everything on the boat ourselves and at the end of the week [I] could do every job on the boat." Each of the ten individual week-long camps runs a total of 35 hours, Monday through Friday from 9am to 4pm. Students are primarily from the 6th- 8th grades, with some high school attendees rounding out the mix.

A significant proportion of students attended with the help of scholarships provided by HRCS with funds raised from events such as the "Dark and Stormy". One parent, convinced she could not afford even a subsidized rate, was assured that scholarship funds could cover the difference. Realizing that her child would be able to join in this fantastic experience brought her to tears on the phone with Program Director Alex Baum. "We really work hard to try make sure every kid who really wants to get out and do this, can have the opportunity to do so," says Alex.  Thanks for the contribution from Seth Stephenson

Learn more about Hudson Community Sailing-- contributions always Welcome!

J/24 Worlds Preview

(Rochester, NY)- Over 100 J/24 teams are breathlessly anticipating the start of the first "open" J/24 Worlds in decades.  Starting September 13th, a strong American contingent will be doing battle against a cadre of past World, European, North American, South American, Canadian, Bermudian, Brazilian, Argentinean, Chilean, Peruvian and Japanese Champions.  Hosted  by the Rochester Yacht Club in Rochester, NY, located on the south shore of Lake Ontario, the teams are anticipating how best to get out of the starting blocks with over 100 boats on one huge line with multiple line boats calling the start and keeping the aggressive teams in check.

On the American side of the equation, the "open" registrants has encouraged a lot of the "old guard" from past J/24 wars to jump into the fray and test how far the world of J/24 sailing has progressed over the course of time.  Additionally, it has also encouraged a number of young, college-experienced sailing teams to jump in with minimal budgets and determine whether they're competitive at a global level.  Amongst the veterans are Pat Toole's 3 BIG DOGS from Santa Barbara, CA, Tony Parker's BANGOR PACKET with Geoff Ewenson as tactician from Annapolis, MD, Al Constant's BLITZ from Long Island Sound; and John Gjerde's PERSISTENCE from Lake Minnetonka J/24 Fleet #1!!  Amongst the next generation teams are a powerful group from Newport, including Will Welles' COUGAR, Tim Healey's 11th HOUR RACING and Peter Levesque's ORANGE BLOSSOM with Charlie Enright as tactician.  Other top champion teams include Mike Ingham's USA 5448, Travis Odenbach's HONEY BADGER, Darby & Jud Smith's DARBY from Marblehead, MA, Mike Sudofsky's BOB DYLAN, Kevin O'Brien's FUGUE STATE (with Moth World Champion and Melges 24 Champion Bora Gulari from Detroit, MI as tactician).  Finally, the "unofficial" Sailing World team from Newport is sailing on their thoroughbred CRACK OF NOON with Ian Scott, Herb McCormick, Stu Streuli, Dave Reed and Charlie Zechel on-board.

After the Americans, the second largest contingent by far are the Canadians with twenty-five teams participating.  Amongst their top boats will be John Wynacht's STICKY FINGERS, Tom Barbeau's NAVTECH.CA and Mike Howarth's MR H.

The next largest contingent are the extremely competitive teams from South America, with nine teams headed north to vie for top "Americas" honors, too.  Leading that charge are the top Argentineans (Nicolas Cubria's ELVIS and Matias Pereira's LUCA) and past multi-world champion Mauricio Santa Cruz from Brazil sailing yet another BRUSCHETTA.  Rounding out the South Americans are three boats each from Peru (Javier Arribas Leigh's HAWKY, Luis Olcese's SCARAMOUCHE & Tania Zimmerman's JITANA) and Chile (Raul del Castillo's LA BANCA, Vernon Robert's JOYITA & Matias Sequel's GURU).  Amongst the "island nations", sailing are Bermudian champ Trevor Boyce on NO SKIRT REQUIRED, Barbudan Neil Burke sailing IMPULSE and Japan's Mikio Tokano sailing HANSELKAI.

Finally, the European contingent is perhaps the least represented in the "J/24 Nation", with single entries from France (Nicolas Mabboux's TEMPUS) and Germany (Frithjof Schade's EL SCHLACHTSCHIFF).  Noticeably absent are top Australian, British, Mexican, Irish and Italian J/24 teams in this year's worlds.  For more J/24 Worlds sailing information

J24s Sailing Fun at Coronado YC

J/24 teams and the local sailing school are having fun at Coronado YC!  Said one committed J/24 team, "I give a bit of my involvement in community outreach program for a local yacht club. And just yesterday some of Juniors I teach sailing to went aboard one of your nice J24’s taking a class from a national champion in this class, you might remember Jon Rogers. He mentioned to us that he worked for you in Newport, RI at a J World school and asked me to say hi for him. Jon is a great guy and outstanding sailing instructor. He gave the juniors the ins and out of this magnificent racing vessel.

Our club organized a get together with the Coronado Yacht Club where Jon teaches and he kindly offered a day class to 3 of my top students. Luckily I went as well and confirmed what lots of people say about boats “They are fast”. We all enjoyed the class and hopefully in the near future we could have the opportunity to have one of this fast racing vessels in our fleet too."

India J/24 Women Sailor Promoting Sailing

India's top J/24 women sailor and women's match racer, Ayesha Lobo, is helping grow the sport of sailing in one of the world's largest developing nations.  With millions of miles of shoreline, many gorgeous harbors to sail out of and lots of "natural amphitheaters" to promote the sport on the water, Ayesha and friends are doing their best to promote sailing to a whole new generation of sailors in India.  And, they're making the efforts work in the most extraordinary ways.  Here's a quick report from Ayesha on her recent activities-

"Congratulations on the J/70 its a beauty, I can't wait to sail it sometime soon.  This is mail is long over due as I have been caught up with university and sailing. Just to give you a quick update- the link here is an article which I got them to do as a part of
developing the Adventure Sports Groups who are interested in water-based sports in India (a national promotion/ tour agency).

In our huge country, the percentage of people that know about sailing is not even one percent!! I’ve decided to explore all possible dimensions of fun on a J/Boat.  We are opening up the J/Boat experience to everyone and expanding the field to more buyers.

MTV India (yes, the big music television channel) wants me to collaborative with them, so I am currently working on ideas for outdoor sports & activities that combine music, beauty and sailing!

We are taking our J/24 down to Hyderabad, where we will conduct a "Discover The J Experience" for the next few months (June to August). If this is successful I am planning to visit other centers and maybe create a few new ones.  I find there is so much about the J/Boat I need to learn and I am looking forward to this very exciting experience, and I am all pumped up about it. Best regards, Ayesha"

For more Indian Women's Sailing information and more information about Ayesha's experiences.

PACEMAKER Wins J/24 Australian Nationals

(Adelaide, South Australia)-  In a nail biting finish that went down to the last race finish positions, Dave Suda and his crew of Herschel, Luke, Sam and Rachel sailing PACEMAKER won a well deserved 2012 National Championship by one point from Ben Lamb sailing Alyn Stevenson’s FUN 2 with last years Nationals winner Sean Kirkjian sailing SAILPAC.

In PHS the winner was local sailor Jamie Goode from fellow SA sailor and national Measurer Peter Stevens and Dave Suda. As customary the the PHS placings can’t be won by OD place getters so third on PHS goes to Melbourne sailor and previous Nationals winner (10 years ago) Hugo Ottaway.

The racing was keen and extremely competitive for the fifteen boats that showed up to establish the top J/24 teams in Australia.  The Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia did a fabulous job running the event.  In glorious sunshine and shirts and short weather with a calm 8 knots building to a 15 knot sea breeze the fleet enjoyed superb sailing conditions.  Four races were sailed on the first day and another four are planned for the second day with two on Monday.

On day one, the team on FUN 2 sailed by Ben Lamb and Arthur Crothers had a bonanza day, starting out "slowly" with a 6th, then finishing with a flourish of three 1sts for a total of 9 points. Sean Kirkjian on SAILPAC also from NSW was lying second with a 2-6-2-4 and Adam Evans on SDM from Victoria was in third with a steady 3-4-4-3.

Dave Suda in his new-ish Italian boat PACEMAKER cleared out in the first race to win by nearly half a leg and must have been feeling pretty good, but by the end of the day with two OCS calls was back down the results. Hugo Ottaway on BRUSCHETTA VI was also having an average series so far and dropped one of his crew over the side in the last race to add a less than perfect touch. However, the Italian boats seem to have good speed as shown by both Dave and Ben.  Back in the pack, chomping on the heels of the winners, was a very close group of very good sailors. The racing is extremely tight and one small mistake takes you to the back of the pack very quickly.

By the second day, racing had gotten a lot tighter, with the fleet now counting 7 of 8 races (including a drop race).  At this point, Dave Suda on PACEMAKER went on a tear with two 1sts and four 2nds to get back on track and was now tied on points with Ben Lamb on FUN 2 with 10 pts apiece.  Third was Adam's SDM with 17 pts, fourth was Sean's SAILPAC with 18 pts and fifth was Steve Girdis' CONVICTS REVENGE with 27 pts.

It was pretty the regatta was going right down to the wire on the last day of racing between the two teams tied on points for the lead- PACEMAKER and FUN 2.  In the end, FUN 2's 5-1 was no match for PACEMAKER's consistent 2-3, giving the match to Dave Suda's team by one point!  There was also a helluva match for third on the podium, with the nod going to Sean's SAILPAC team with Adam's SDM team getting fourth.  Rounding out the top five was Steve's CONVICTS REVENGE.  For more J/24 Australian Nationals sailing information

A Mexican Sailing Extravaganza

(Riviera Nayarit, Mexico)- For two-time Copa Mexico regatta participant, Chris Snow from North Sails San Diego, this past week of sailing provided him and his team a lot of fun memories, great racing and some great lessons on J/24 racing in general.  Here's an account of Chris's epic journey into parts unknown "south of the border":

"On my way home now from the 2012 Copa De Mexico regatta held this last week on Banderas Bay, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. What week it was both on and off the water!

The Copa de Mexico is a two and half week long sailing extravaganza that combines three events. First is the finish of the 1200 mile long San Diego to Puerto Vallarta race. Second is the event J/24 event which I participated in which is a World Championship style event sailed over 5 days (10 races) on Banderas Bay. The third event is MEXORC which is a big boat event also over 5 days that  combines closed course racing and medium distance races around the bay.

The venue, Banderas Bay, is the largest bay in the world and combines stunning mountain backdrops with warm water and good wind. The event is staged from the new Marina Rivera Nayarit in a small village on the north side of the bay called La Cruz. All crews are housed at the Marival Resort a short bus ride away in Nuevo Vallarta which is large development of resorts with good security and all the amenities.

The event is heavily subsidized by the state of Nayarit, the Mexican federal government and the Mexican Tourism board. This helps to make it quite affordable for more crews, and creates a whole fleet of ambassadors for Mexico and the region. 52 J/24s participated in this edition with crews coming from the U.S., Sweden, Monaco, Italy, Chile, Germany, France, Brazil, and of course Mexico. Charter boats are provided for all out of country sailors.

I was fortunate to have a great crew (pictured here) who sailed with me for the week. We had a great time, made some great new friends and renewed friendships with many others. For the week I had doing bow, George Witter from Santa Barbara, CA. George normally sails with recent NA Champions THREE BIG DOGS. Doing  the mast, calling the wind and providing Spanish translation was Dave Reed from Newport, Rhode Island.  Dave is the editor of Sailing World and will hopefully be doing a feature story on the event.  Doing tactics and lightening the mood onboard was Chuck “El Chucko” Allen.  Rich Bowen trimmed sails and helped a lot with boat speed.

Sailing conditions for the regatta were varied from a full day of 18 plus knots on the practice day to races sailed in 5-6 knots-- Sunny skies and warm temps were the rule each day. Some of us put on spray tops but only very briefly.

With a large fleet, the starting line was quite long placing a real premium on starting at the correct end. With fairly shifty conditions it was important to be in phase right away with clear air, if you could do this big gains could be made if not it was very difficult to break out of the pack.

On board our boat our strategy was to be conservative, get good starts and let our speed work to our advantage over the long time.  My rusty starting skills were a challenge in the beginning of the regatta but got better as the event went on. Also we unfortunately were OCS on the “Z Flag” start which cost us a few extra unneeded points. In the end we were pleased to finish a solid third and look forward to the Spring and Summer season coming up.

Here are some thing I learned over the week that might help you in your J/24 Sailing:
- Always set the rig up for conditions at the start, don’t worry about the rest of the race speed off the line is essential
- When starting allow plenty of time coming back on port to find a hole. Keep going on port until you find one. Starting with a boat directly to leeward is practically impossible
- If in doubt set the boat up for the lulls
- In choppy conditions always sail the boat flat-- even if it feels slow-- The boat does not sideslip when flat.
- Downwind in choppy rolling seas spread crew weight as far as you can side to side. This helps a lot of stabilize the boat.
- If port tack jibe is favored and you are towards the front of the fleet be careful about jibing under all the starboard boats approaching the weather mark-- Better to go a short distance and jibe in clear air.
- At downwind gates-- If they are evenly favored go to one the one that will have less downwind traffic"
For more Mexican J/24 sailing information

J/24 Octopussy Graphic Option?

Holy Monster Tentacles! Canadian J/24 Class President Dale Robertson recently made a splash in Halifax, Nova Scotia, when he took advantage of a Hip Hop festival organized by the City of Halifax. "Live Art" is a component of the hip hop culture and the organizers were looking for a boat to paint. World renowned artist Aaron Li-Hill, from Toronto, was flown in for this event and Dale's boat became his canvas at the Nova Scotia Art Museum in September, and then the next day at the Halifax Commons. Thousands of people witnessed Aaron and local Halifax artist Christian Toth, also well known, turned the J24 into the remarkable artwork that can be seen in these photos. Dale then had Luke Porter, a local boat repair expert, paint a clear coat of urethane over the art to protect it. Dale's boat is now an attraction at Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron, both on and off the water. Photos courtesy of Billy, and thanks to Greg B for the story in Sailing Anarchy/ Home page- http://www.sailinganarchy.com

  

BUBBLES Wins Ugotta Regatta Wayzata!

(Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota)- J/24 Fleet #1 is the first and oldest J/24 fleet in the world. They held their Ugotta Regatta last week at Wayzata Yacht Club, one of the oldest clubs in Minnesota.  Chairman Josh Bone sent in his report of the event.

"We had a great showing of out-of-town boats and regatta participation was up 30% over last year for the Ugotta on October 7-9. A special thank you to: 2XS, MIJAH, STRANGE CREW, CONTEXT, “2”, U-LA-LA and INSATIABLE. Boats came from Duluth, Chicago, and other parts of the Midwest. One skipper came from Florida, another from Chicago and there was even one crew member from Spain! We even have our very own Olympic Medalist racing out there, Billy Allen. This is THE place to be. While Scows are known here, there is also a great keelboat scene. We also have the only real racers’ party of the year up here (I say that to challenge others to step up their game!).  We do a full bar (out of an old E-Scow, no less!), sponsored beer and a community shrimp boil, no fancy tablecloths for us, and all for 10 bucks per person.

The J/24 district qualifier for the 2012 J/24 Worlds had 20 competitors and excellent race management from our inspiring PRO Blake Middleton – a true racers’ PRO. Blake had been on a whirlwind tour of the globe just before the event, and we were lucky to have him back on Lake Minnetonka.

Our Race Committee and competitors raced 5 races on Saturday in winds from 7kts to 17kts. Sunday was very light in the morning. The call was made to wait. The wind came in with 10 minutes to spare on the limit. The race was won by Terry Neff and his crew aboard "BUBBLES". Job well done Terry! It was in the 80's both days.

This race was also a true tiebreaker between BUBBLES and ZOOM. Zoom had some issues with the pin due to an unforeseen additional left shift. It was awful to see them get tangled with the mark in such an important race. Terry was above him. Terry bought the left side big, followed closely by John Heaton on USA 592 Mijah. Motorhome went right, or really just on port because the left was really big for a long time. Bubbles rounded in first, Motorhome in 2nd, Mijah in 3rd. Zoom was really deep, but blasting thru the fleet, always a contender. Motorhome was passed by Mijah at the first leeward gate. Bubbles had launched, at one point I couldn't see them. Then we saw them on the 2nd downwind leg, 250 yards ahead of us. We started to open a delicious Surly Furious, when a puff nearly knocked us over. The wind had gone very hard to the right, 25 - 30 degrees. Bubbles rounded the right gate in first, Mijah followed in second, and Motorhome went to the left gate. It was a thrilling race. At the final cross Bubbles crossed Motorhome by only 2 boat lengths. Motorhome cheered for them when the gun went off, continued to hike for a 2nd place in the race. Mijah was 3rd. Guess who was 4th? ZOOM!

BUBBLES won the regatta by 2 points. Picture is attached of them with their trophy full of delicious Surly Brewing Co.'s amazing product.  The "Spanking Award" went to co-winners Mark Soya and Dave DeSanto (they were very bad boys)!

"We were fortunate to have good wind and the boat was set up for it. And we had the benefit of sailing districts in Maine (40+ boats) a few weeks before. I got the bad starts out of my system. You need to have things go your way. And that's what happened." - Terry Neff (Owner and Helmsman of BUBBLES). BUBBLES crew was: Terry Neff, Sean Delaney, Paula Neff, Mark Oppen and Paul "Jake" Jacobs.

WYC hopes to see you all again next year. They also welcome you to the 2013 J/24 National Championship!  Thanks for contribution from Sailing Anarchy-  Photos from Mark Puariea

  

J's Invade Annapolis NOOD

The Battle (and the Party) Rage On!
(Annapolis, MD)- After last weekend's Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week, there will be plenty of scores to settle at the Sperry Top-Sider Annapolis NOOD.  Next weekend's STS Annapolis NOOD will see 221 teams racing in 16 one-design divisions. An enormous turnout of 138 J's (62% of the entire fleet!) are sailing in seven fleets, including thirty-seven J/22s, thirteen J/24s, twenty-nine J/80s, fourteen J/30s, twenty-eight J/105s, seven J/35s and ten J/109s.

The 37-boat J/22 class will be the largest in Annapolis. Expect a good battle between Todd Hiller's LEADING EDGE and Travis Odenbach's INSTIGATOR teams; Hiller and Odenbach finished third and fourth, respectively, in Charleston.  However, some additional hot sailors locally and from the Newport contingent will certainly be factors on the leader-board, including Tim Healey's SAILORS FOR THE SEA from Newport, RI, a past J/24 and J/22 champion; Carol Cronin sailing HPS, a past Women's keelboat champion from Jamestown, RI; Allen "Albie" Terhune from Arnold, MD; Kevin Doyle and Victor Snyder on MO'MONEY from Youngstown, NY; and Jeff Todd on HOT TODDY from Annapolis, MD.  Shaking off some ice and rust from the Great White North will be the long-distance travelers from Toronto, ONT, Stu Lawrie on CATCH 22.

Of the 29 teams registered for the J/80 division, 12 competed at CRW, including top-five skippers Kerry Klingler from Larchmont, NY; Will Welles from Newport, RI on RASCAL; Bruno Pasquinelli from Dallas, Texas on TIAMO; Thomas Klok and Will Crump on GULDFAXE from Copenhagen, Denmark and Annapolis, MD; and John White from Annapolis, MD. However, upping the ante considerably will be the presence of past World and Key West Champion Glenn Darden from Ft Worth, TX sailing LE TIGRE, fresh off the Texas J/80 Circuit.

In the 13-boat J/24 division, expect Chris Jankowski's STREET LEGAL crew to be hot coming off a second-place finish last weekend.  But, giving them a serious run for the money will be Mark Hillman sailing WIP and class centenarian Tony Parker on BANGOR PACKET (showing the kids again how to get it done!), amongst others.

Within the J/105 fleet will be several strong teams that will all factor during the races and some of whom will be on the leader board at the conclusion of racing on Sunday.  Amongst those teams will be several top Annapolis J/105 sailors like Peter McChesney sailing THE MYSTERY MACHINE, Carl and Scott Gitchell steering TENACIOUS, Bob Reeves on A-TRAIN, Jack Biddle on RUM PUPPY, Chris and Carolyn Groobey on JAVA and Andy Kennedy on BAT IV.  Solid out-of-town teams that also had success in regional and National J/105 events include Jim Rathbun on HEY JUDE from Toronto, ONT and John Gottwald racing EAGLES WINGS from Chicago, IL.

The J/109 teams are all looking forward to another competitive, but fun, regatta.  Said Steve McManus on SAYKADOO, "Bill Sweetser is a great guy, and his boat RUSH is the top boat in our fleet. He is also very understated. At any rate, Bill is hosting a party at his home in Annapolis for the J/109 crews on the Saturday evening.  Last year, all the skippers and crew were there!!"  Say no more, these guys know how to have a good time!  Two good out-of-town teams joining the fun will be Craig Wright's AFTERTHOUGHT from Raleigh, NC and Adrian Begley's MAD DOGS from Atlantic Highlands, NJ.

The J/35s have several familiar faces showing up at the OK Corral to determine who's going to win the gun-fight.  Amongst them are names like AUNT JEAN sailed by Jim Sagerholm from the Naval Academy Sailing Squadron, Peter Scheidt's MAGGIE and Chuck Kohlerman's MEDICINE MAN.

Big brother of J/24 lives!  As #2 in the J family of boats, the J/30s continue to enjoy a renaissance and this year is proving to be one of the strongest J/30 one-design class reunions post last year's well-attended J/30 Nationals in Marblehead, MA.  With fourteen J/30s on the line, there will be some strong competition.  As in last year's NOOD and Annapolis Race Week, amongst the leaders will be Bob Rutsch and Mike Costello on BEPOP; Larry Christy's BIG KAHUNA team; Ron Anderson sailing INSATIABLE, Bob Putnam skippering BETTER MOUSETRAP and George Watson racing AVITA.  Thanks for Mike Lovett/ Sailing World for contributing to this story.  Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes Photography- http://www.timwilkes.com  For more Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Annapolis sailing information.   

Manhattan YC- Launches Corporate Sailing League on J/24s

Manhattan YC is launching the Corporate Sailing League to sail on Thursday nights. Made famous many moons ago (remember MYC's been going for 25+ years), after the corporate raiders of Wall Street fought in boardrooms across the world, they'd relax in the afternoon and go sailing on J/24s right off the South Street Seaport Waterfront.

Today's version is undeniably more fun, much, much more affordable, easy-going and, in fact, more entertaining!  After all, now there are nearly FORTY (40) J/24s (versus just 12 in the old days) sailing out of North Cove Marina at the tip of Manhattan (just north of Battery Park) and with lots more potential for fun and games with fellow New Yorkers blasting around the NYC waterfront.

How can you not appreciate spectacular sunset sails in front of THE City, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty- the Goddess of Freedom herself!?  You owe it to yourself (and your business colleagues) to enjoy this rather extraordinary experience.

Call Mike or Emily at 212-786-3323 or email- mike@myc.org.  BTW, he's on Dennis Conner's speed-dial list, too.  Read more about this cool sailing experience- the Corporate Sailing League.