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 Sailor Katie Burns- SA Interview

*  Katie Burns ("KB24")- J/24 bow goddess. We had to include this heartwarming story about a U.S. Army veteran discovering what it's like sailing J/24s.  Katie Burns, a.k.a. "KB24" on Sailing Anarchy provided SA updates on her recent escapades.  Katie had this to say, "With the advent of some of the most advanced yacht racing in the world during the 33rd America’s Cup, I decided to start my 2010 sailing year quite a few steps back from the huge multihull monsters. If you guys remember, I had quite the ride in 2009. From sailing with Quantum Racing in the 2009 Audi MedCup to gaining a lot of sportboat experience on Pete Hunter’s Wairere, and the many other exciting opportunities I had (including working with Sailing Anarchy during the Melges 24 Worlds in Annapolis), I came out of 2009 with some definitive objectives. There were definitely a few times when I found that I was in over my head, but I persisted to pitch myself into every opportunity without abandon because I just have too much pride to do it any other way. The truth is that I discovered a newfound competitive edge in sailing last year, but I was struggling to keep up with it. And since I have a severe problem with not being really good at the things I like to do, I decided to start 2010 by retraining in technical knowledge. Here’s how: J/24 one-design racing.

I knowwwwwwww. I know. Believe me, I know. Everyone proclaims to hate J/24 sailing, but listen to what I have to say. See, I raced on Paul Van Ravenswaay’s MILLENNIUM FALCON (#5350) from Annapolis in the J24 Midwinters at Davis Island Yacht Club and also in the St. Pete NOODs the following weekend. We pretty much raced that J/24 for 9 days straight, and it was excellent training. Yes, I got really bruised. Yes, I was really freaking cold. Yes, I’m pretty sure my organs began to liquefy. But it’s all good. I had an opportunity to race in a competitive one-design fleet, so I took it. And let me tell you about the competition:

The J/24 fleet in Tampa and St. Pete was laden with some of the top guys in the class and even the industry, which proved to be tough racing. As a relative newcomer to the class, I didn’t have as much to offer as guys like Charlie Enright, Tim Healy, Will Welles, Tony Parker, Chris Snow, or Chuck Allen, but they were all nonetheless encouraging and the fleet as a whole created a great environment for one-design sailing. I also have to mention Brian and Kat Malone for acting as both hosts and competitors, and I would like to congratulate Charlie Enright and crew for winning the 2010 J/24 Midwinters. In the end, it was the perfect event for honing skills, opening my season, challenging the crew, and getting out of the snow-covered North.

After getting used to the boat and the crew (Paul Van Ravenswaay, Mike Zinkgraf, Eric Haneberg, Jarrett Hering – a great group from Annapolis), I really started to learn more and get a little more aggressive in my role. I wanted to contribute to the team, but I also was completely out of my sportboat comfort zone. See, the J/24 has this thing called a “cabin-top” to crawl over during tacks, and that alone was a pretty big feat. I honestly think I’ve low-crawled through Army infiltration courses that had more clearance than the J/24.  Once or twice, I actually had to be pulled across by my crew, which was a pretty big blow to my ego. I even think at one point I screamed like a little girl when I found myself caught on leeward with no chance of pulling myself to the other side. That was hilarious. But, I can adapt and overcome what I have to, so what I once said about TP-52 sailing also applies to the J/24; “A boat is a boat, and I can do at least that much.” I figured it out.

Here is another way to learn something on the water:  While rounding the top mark, get hit really hard on your port side by the bow of a leeward J/24. It’ll put a nice chunk of a hole in your hull, and you’ll have to figure something out about your boat, and quick! This happened to us at the NOOD regatta, and we had to retire from the race to address the puncture wound. Thankfully the hole was nicely above the waterline, so Eric made some quick work with the duct tape, and we were able to compete in the last 2 races of the day. We hauled the boat out afterwards, and Mike did an overnight fiberglass job to get us back out on the water.  Honestly, we probably should have all left our fenders on, especially those last 2 days. There was a lot of bumper-boat action out there. J/24 sailors are a scrappy bunch, eh? At times, I came out of a race feeling like we had been in a bar fight. It was aggressive, and I liked it that way. (By the way, no hard feelings to the boat that hit us, considering they actually sailed very well otherwise. We all know that accidents happen, and we all know that it’s a part of the learning process. Adapt and overcome, you know!?  Oh, and props to Tim Healy sailing his J/24 for the overall win of the St. Pete NOOD regatta.

So, now I am exhausted, dehydrated, and bruised, but I’m also a lot more proficient and I had a lot of fun. A racer CANNOT move to upper levels of sailing without learning the basics first. Just don't do it. I had to learn how to shoot a rifle before I could learn how to shoot a grenade launcher, and I wore an expert marksman badge in both at one point. It’s not different in sailing. J/24 racing is a great way to sharpen skills. Next step: BOR 90 … ??? Haha, just kidding.   Much love,  Katie Burns  

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.  

Sailing World NOOD- St. Petersburg

Tim Healy's J/24 Wins St. Pete Overall

(Feb. 12-14- St. Petersburg, FL)- This year's SW NOOD St. Pete was an excellent kickoff to the nine-stop 2010 NOOD Regatta series, with ninety six keelboats boats contesting six quality races—which is pretty good considering the light-air conditions that have challenged this regatta venue over the past several years.  Of the ninety six keelboats attending, the largest sailing fleet were the J/24s with twenty-three racing around the track, followed by the fifteen J/80s participating in the second stop of the J/80 USA Tour and four happy-go-luck J/22s enjoying all the festivities.  In short, with forty-two J's sailing, they constituted 44.0% of the SW NOOD fleet-- nearly a J/Fest Southeast!

As the final day of racing progressed on Tampa Bay on Sunday, the towering smoke stacks on the eastern shore hinted at what was to come: the morning's horizontal streaming plumes slowly giving way to vertical trails. Luckily, the 0930 warning signals at the Sperry Top-Sider St. Petersburg NOOD Regatta's three circles allowed the race committee to squeeze in two more races before it all went kaput.  And in the dying northeasterly that defined the day's sunny but cold conditions there were all sorts of puffs, lulls, shifts, and holes and to avoid. There was no predictably to the breeze whatsoever. Even a few competitors that came out on top in the day's races admitted that conditions were of the mind-bending sort.

For the J/24s, one smart move by Tim Healy netted his team the overall win in St. Pete and a trip to the Caribbean later in the year for SW NOOD Championships.  Healy, a sailmaker with Quantum Sails, Rhode Island, went into the last race with a slim lead over Argentinean champion Joaquin Doval sailing U2 for YCA (Yate Club Argentina in Buenos Aires), and approached it with a pretty simple plan: beat Doval and keep his nose clean in the process. That later element would later be critical.  "We didn't want to be over early or hit anyone," says Healy. "We just wanted to be conservative."

Healy, with crew John Mollicone, Steve Lopez, Dan Rabin, and Gordon Borges, got a decent jump on Doval's U2 squad on the first beat, but their focus on the Argentineans almost cost them the regatta. "We sailed ourselves pretty deep into the fleet, and we gave them the opportunity to put a lot of boats between us," says Healy. "We should have sailed our own race and just stayed in phase with the shifts."

At the ensuing leeward mark rounding, some heads-up logic saved their bacon. Approaching the mark on starboard, and with inside rights on a multiple-boat pile-up, they quickly realized that taking advantage of their right-of-way wasn't going to do them any good. "We would have stuck it in there and either hit the mark or other boats," says Healy. Instead, they sailed around the entire pack and got in on the tail end of the pinwheel. "It definitely got pretty bad."

He estimates they rounded 20th (while Doval was top-five), but they worked the right side of the race course hard on the following beat, where they were banking on better pressure. They passed enough boats to make it nearly impossible for Doval to put enough points between them, and Healy's eighth to Doval's fourth gave the New Englanders a 1-point win and a trip to the Caribbean in November to the Sperry Top-Sider Caribbean NOOD Championship.  Finishing just behind these two were another Argentinean Champion Nicolas Cubria racing JESUS LIZZARD for Real Club Nautico, winning the last race but not nearly enough points to knock the other two off the podium.

For the J/80 class, J/80 champion Kerry Klingler won this important tune-up regatta for the October J/80 Worlds in Newport. After establishing primal supremacy over the fleet, starting off with two bullets, Kerry and crew onboard LIFTED rattled off three thirds and a last race first to win the regatta by a healthy margin of six points.  Two fellow Long Island Sounders also sailed solid series to further establish the primacy of their light air, shifty wind sailing skills.  In second was John DiMatteo racing CHRISTE and just off the pace in third overall was John Storck and family sailing RUMOR. 

The J/22s apparently had some fun despite the low turnout.  Everyone won races and in the end they nearly all finished tied!  How's that for some healthy racing!  Nevertheless, it was a tie-breaker for first place with Jackson Pentith sailing DELERIUM winning the regatta by having more first places.  In second on the short end of that stick was Jim Chorostecki racing THREE'S COMPANY.  Finishing third was Daniel Kresge on board JABBERWOCKY.  Photo Credits:  Tim Wilkes   For more Sailing World NOOD Regatta and sailing information.  

Sailing World NOOD- St. Petersburg

J/80 2nd Stop of USA Tour

(St. Petersburg, FL- Feb 12-14)- The Sperry Top-Sider St. Petersburg NOOD is pleased to host the second stop of the J/80 World Championship Tour.  Premiere Racing's Nautica Key West Race Week, the first stop of the tour, saw nineteen J/80s on the starting line and the St. Pete NOOD is sure to see a strong showing as well with fifteen boats already registered. The J/80 tour will be heading up the East Coast throughout the spring and summer including a stop at the Annapolis NOOD and concluding with the J/80 World Championship hosted by SailNewport in Newport, RI during October of this year.  Look for class leaders like John Storck on RUMOR; Kerry Klingler on LIFTED; Al MInella on RELENTLESS; and Henry Brauer on RASCAL to be contenders for the podium-- all of them had flashes of brilliance at  Key West Race Week.

J/24s will also be participating with a twenty-two boat strong showing, one of the largest classes at the SW NOOD event.  Many of the J/24 Midwinters participants racing this past weekend at Davis Island Yacht Club will be racing in St. Petersburg, too.  In addition, the J/22s will have a fleet racing, too, with mostly local sailors and a team from Toronto, Canada looking forward to sunny Florida sailing.  For regatta and sailing news go here.

Sea Scouts at St. Peter NOOD

The St. Pete NOOD is pleased to welcome members of the Sea Scouts who will be racing two boats in the J/22 class and one boat in the J/24 class. All participating Sea Scouts are members of Ship 185, based out of Apollo Beach, FL. Don St. Amour has been an adult skipper for Ship185 for about 6 years. Sailing World is happy to have The Sea Scouts, a non-profit youth organization, participating in the event. Jabberwocky, a J/22 sailed by 3 young adults ranging in age from 14 to 20, will be skippered by Ryan Kresge, the Ship's Bos'n. Don will be skippering J/24 Black Magic. Don hopes to increase the number of Sea Scout boats racing in the St. Pete NOOD for 2011.

Sea Scouting is a part of the Boy Scouts of America, and is a co-educational program offered to young adults between the ages of 14 and 21. Sea Scouting is organized to promote citizenship, improve boating skills, increase knowledge through instruction, promote water safety, enhance outdoor, social, and service experiences, and expand knowledge of our maritime heritage.   For more SeaScout information.  

J/24 Midwinter Championship

Enright Wins Nail-biter In Last Race

(Tampa, FL- Feb 6-10)-  The Davis Island Yacht Club offers a great escape from the February temperatures, a famous laid-back social atmosphere, and an an inviting venue for the 2010 Midwinters regatta. Februrary in Tampa Bay typically includes some excellent weather for sailing and an excellent way to spend your winter vacation.

Thirty three boats were on the line and amongst them include class notables such as veteran J/24 sailor Tony Parker of Annapolis, MD on BANGOR PACKET, Kirk Reynolds of Skaneateles, NY on OLD CROW, class stalwart Mark Pincus from Miami, FL on SCOUTS HONOR, strong contenders such as Charlie Enright, Peter Bream, Will Welles (fresh from J/80 Midwinters) and from Buenos Aires, Argentina, champion sailor Nicolas Cubria racing JESUS LIZARD.

By the fourth day of the regatta, Charlie Enright from Bristol YC (RI) kept the team of John Mollicone/ Tim Healy from getting in front of them in the last race to win the regatta by two points, they finished first and second respectively.  Just behind them in 3rd, 4th and 5th places, respectively, were Will Welles, Peter Bream and Tony Parker, each having won at least one race each.   For more J/24 Midwinters regatta and sailing information.  

J/24 Åustralian Sailors Growing Fleets

J/24 Australian sailors are growing their fleets and having a lot of fun.   Recently, Simon Grain, from Melbourne, sailing MAKE MY J, had some thoughtful hints on "Get out and revamp your old boat, it's worth it!".  As Simon explains, "One of the huge benefits of sailing a windward leeward course is, it evens out the boats. At the 2006 Melbourne World Championships, many of the top performers were boats with a minimum age of 15 years. None was more noticeable than Mike Ingham who shipped a 20 year old J out from America, whilst not in the top 3, his top 5 finish was excellent. He then went on to come second at the 2007 Worlds in Mexico in the same boat. At the 2009 J Worlds in Sardinia last year, the majority of the fleet were boats 10 years+, just with new rigs and fast as ever. Since then in Melbourne we have seen older J’s revamped and now competing at the front of the fleet. Ron Thompson’s AUS 1324 “Kicking Bottom” ( 20+ years old) has won several races at the beginning of the season, and Micheal Lewenhagen has just put AUS 1687 “Excite your Senses”, back in the water after a major rebuild. In addition, 3 boats have new rigs and 2 have upgraded 2nd hand rigs. The end result of all of this effort, is improved performance across the fleet.

This was driven home when the J fleet sailed in the Audi Victoria Week at Geelong. Out of the 4 races that weekend the J’s got line honours in 3 and a 2nd in the 4th. A fantastic effort out of 50+ boats all of whom were bigger. In past years the S80 design yachts would have sailed past the J’s, this year, none of the 10 S80’s beat a J24 for line honours!  In South Australia several owners have revamped old J’s. Some of these boats were past Australian champions, were cheap to buy, cheap to clean up and revamp and are now sailing at the front of the national fleet again.  J24’s in Australia, can be brought up to race speed with a minimum of effort and experience. With the racing opportunities now offered, the excuse that your boat is no longer competitive no longer holds water. There are around 200 J24’s in Australia and most can be revamped into a competitive boat.  Over the next few months I will be listing hints on how to get old J’s fast, by reducing weight and getting rid of the huge amounts of junk found down stairs.

So, to all the owners of J’s not currently being used because of a notion that they’re no longer competitive, get out there and fix them up and see how quick they still can be.  Just maybe, your boat may have been one that started a legend…. and …. one that could start another. A revamped active fleet maintains the investment we all have in our boats, increases the enjoyment and interest in the class. So get the spanners out, find the screw driver and start taking off all that old crap.  Read more about sailing J/24s in Australia/ Tasmania