Brian Thompson- J/24 offshore sailor

(Weymouth, England)- Brian Thompson, a J/24 sailor from England, has been setting sailing records for a long time.  Recently, he set a sailing world record as crew on the 130 foot French trimaran BANQUE POPULAIRE of under 45 days.  Just this past week, Brian sailed the MOD 70 one-design trimaran class in a record for under 100 foot sailing craft across the North Atlantic, going from New York to a mark gate off Land's End, near Plymouth, England (about 2,900nm) in under 5 days!  Then, proceeded to take a right turn, literally, to head south to Brest and still beat the record in 5 days 6 hours!!  Brian Thompson on his fastest Transatlantic yet- "It was a very nice finish, everyone is very happy.  This is my best ever-Atlantic crossing, just over 5 days from NY to Brest. I was probably waiting for five months of my life on PlayStation hoping for good weather and we never really got it, certainly not this good. The weather was almost ideal, we did not take the rhumb line past Newfoundland but went further south from the first day and then it was pretty much a straight course from there. We sailed a few more miles but we were always going fast, pretty much 25 knots or more the whole time.

I think I have done about 30 Trans-Atlantics and I think this is up there with winning the Quebec St. Malo on Sergio Tacchini and the other one was winning the OSTAR in 1992 on my own, my first Transat. This was a great race. if it hadn't been the for the foil breaking up, I am sure we would have been pretty close to the other boats.

I think we really did learn a lot. It was much harder to sail without the foil. Very easy to overpower the boat and nosedive, and so we were fine tuning that. If you had too much power the leeward hull would bury and you would stop dead. We were doing a lot of nose dives. It was a really good exercise.

The crew were awesome. Mohsin is more experienced and did quite a lot of driving and ran the pit (halyards) and was a real stalwart, and Fahad we knew was a really strong trimmer, but he turned out to be a really good helmsman. He could go very very fast, now over the next few months - he has really got the knack for it - and that adds to his skills, how to trim the boat, how to balance the boat, working out where the limits are, all things which take experience, he has the good the helming ability he has just not got the miles yet because he only started sailing three years ago and he really has come on incredibly." For more MOD 70 sailing information

PROZAK Wins Rolex Ilhabela

(Ilhabela, Brazil)- The 39th edition of the largest ocean sailing event in Latin America, Rolex Ilhabela Sailing Week, saw some great duels unfold on the waters of the Sao Sebastiao Channel off YC Ilhabela, host for the event.  The sailors were treated to an incredibly wide range of conditions, what is now becoming a routine for sailors in this event.  Conditions ranged from light to heavy and sunny with very shifty winds funneling around the island, to massive rain squalls and stormy conditions forcing postponements back to the final day with gorgeous 12-14 kts wind enabling all classes to get in two races out on the Sao Sebastiao Channel.

In ORC 700, the J/24 PROZAK sailed by Marcio Finamore) had a tough battle with the "Argentine Sea & Sailing".  However, after seven races with one discard, Marcio's PROZAK crew amassed a 1-2-4-1-1-4-2 for 11 pts to crush a fleet of more modern boats like the Mastracchio 24.5s and Skipper 21s.

Of note, other renown Brazilian J/24 sailors from the past were winning skippers or tacticians in other divisions.  Eduardo de Sousa Ramos, past Brazilian National J/24 champ won the Soto 40 class on his boat PAJERO while J/24 Pan-American champion Mario Buckup was responsible for the tactics to become the top 30 Class boat.  Said Mario, "We are very happy. Winning the Rolex Ilhabela Sailing Week is important for all Brazilian sailors. The races are always very close, and requires full attention on the race course."  For more Rolex Ilhabela sailing information

EVIL DONUT Wins Bacardi Newport J/24s

(Newport, RI)- For the forty-nine J/Teams sailing in this year's Bacardi SailNewport Regatta, the weather was hot and so was the competition.  With temperatures ashore hovering in the high 80s, low 90s, the sailors were assured of the fact that no matter what the breeze was like in the morning, it would most assuredly develop a good sea-breeze by midday and provide the sailors but inside Narragansett Bay as well as those outside with some good sailing.

Not surprisingly, the very hot J/24 class provided some of the closet competition in the regatta.  After leading the first day, the team of WATERLINE SYSTEMS sailed by Will Welles could not hold off the hard-charging current J/24 US Nationals Champion, John Mollicone, from taking the overall prize with the infamous boat EVIL DONUT.  In fact, the regatta outcome hung in the balance on the last race of the ten race series.  Up until a disastrous 14th in race 8, it looked like the Well's WATERLINE SYSTEMS team had the regatta "in the bag".  Also in the same predicament was Mike Ingham's 11TH HOUR RACING, scoring a DNC/28 in the same race.  As a result, both Will and Mike had to use those two as their "drop" races, just about handing the regatta to Mollicone's EVIL DONUT.  In the end, the "donut boys" just had to stay within one place of the Welles team in the last race to win, which they did by snagging a 5th to Welles' 4th.  Third for the series was Mike's 11TH HOUR RACING team, fourth was Greg Griffin's GIZ and fifth was the craftiest "old man of the sea", Tony Parker on his famously-named BANGOR PACKET.

The other three classes- J/22, J/80 and J/105s- produced quite the opposite outcomes.  All three had near "runaway" winners that dominated their classes after slowly getting into the swing of things on the first day of sailing.

In the J/80s, Bruno Pasquinelli's TIAMO from Texas had four 1sts and two 3rds to win by four points over Jeff Johnstone's LITTLE FEAT from Newport with a 1-3-2-3-3-2 record for 11 pts.  Third was Brian Keane's SAVASANA just 3 pts back.  Fourth was Ray Wulff on USA-251 and fifth was local Newporter Andrew Burton on GROMIT.

The J/22s were swept by the Rochester sailing mafia!  Chris Doyle won every race, taking 6 straight firsts and not sailing the last race!  Second was the Sertl family with Nick Sertl sailing the boat, taking a 2-2-2-4-3-2-1 for 12 pts.  Third was Mark Stuhlmiller with an equally consistent record of 3-3-4-2-5-3-3 for 18 pts.

Starting out slowly on the first day but finishing with a flourish in the J/105 class was past J/105 North American Champion Duncan Hennes and Joerg Esdorn on the well-campaigned KINCSEM.  Second after the first day behind Harald Edegran and Jeremy Henderson's CONUNDRUM, KINCSEM managed to accumulate a 1-3-dnc-1-1-1-1-2 for a total of 9 points, easily winning by five points.  Second was CONUNDRUM, sailing smart and fast to score a 2-2-1-2-3-4-4 tally for 14 pts.  As has been the case with the J/105s, third place was a tightly fought affair by familiar faces.  Separated by only four points, Damian Emery's ECLIPSE sailed to a 3-1-2-3-5-5-6 for 19 points to take the last spot on the podium.  ECLIPSE narrowly beat out by one point Sean Doyle's KESTREL in fourth and Kevin Grainger's GUMPTION3 in fifth with 23 pts.  For more Bacardi Newport Sailing information

Read's Puma Wins Volvo Inshore

(Galway, Ireland)-  Ken Read's PUMA Mar Mostro Wins Volvo Inshore Title!  A PUMA team decked out in Irish rugby shirts rounded off the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 in style on Saturday, securing victory in the In-Port Race series with a win on the waters of Galway on a day that saw Franck Cammas's GROUPAMA celebrate the overall win in the Volvo Ocean Race.

Ken Read's team scored a commanding first place in the Discover Ireland In-Port Race, their ninth podium finish of the 10-race inshore series and a first victory.  An electrifying scrap for second between CAMPER and Groupama saw the two teams virtually inseparable right to the end of the 8.2-nautical mile course with Chris Nicholson's team stealing the runners-up prize on the day, and in the series as a whole.

Driven to score their first in-port win, there was no stopping Kenny and the PUMA gang as a flawless performance saw them extend their lead at the first mark, holding on to take the win around the 8.2 nautical mile course by one minute and 19 seconds and secure the overall in-port title.  “It tastes very sweet,” said Ken Read who punched the air in delight as he steered Mar Mostro over the finish line.  “To race against the best offshore sailors in the world and come out on top is all we can ask for.”

Thank goodness all that practice winning five J/24 Worlds paid off over the course of time!  Congratulations to Ken, the Puma Team and Kimo Worthington for job well-done!  Time to retire and go for a cruise to Cuttyhunk and Canada with Kathy and Tory for a bit of R&R and family time.  Next up?  Ken is going sailing on the Chicago-Mackinac Race on his first Volvo 70- Puma il Mostro (a bit of a "busman's holiday", eh?)!  No rest for the weary.

J/24s Sailing Rolex Ilhabela Week

(Ilhabela, Brazil)- Some J/24 teams are looking forward to yet another spectacular week sailing in one of the world's more beautiful and exotic islands off the coast of Brazil.  The Rolex Ilhabela Sailing Week is considered the largest in Latin America and the numbers prove it. There are 150 boats between the major classes of ocean and more than 1,400 sailors from three countries - Brazil, Chile and Argentina - and nine states - Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Parana, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Espirito Santo, Brasilia, Minas Gerais and Bahia.

Hosted by YC Ilhabela, the teams start the event off with their biggest challenge, a race of 55nm on a spectacular route back and forth to the island of Alcatrazes. The race for Eldorado Alcatrazes will be played with winds ranging from 8 to 25 knots towards the south and predominantly temperature below 20 degrees C, i.e. the boats competing in the largest ocean sailing competition in Latin America will have rough seas and medium to strong wind.  "The boats will go upwind to Alcatrazes. This makes sailing more difficult. The race is always a different adventure, since most conditions are not repeated year to year. Every sailor who runs the race gains from that experience," said meteorologist John Hackerott.

Certain to be factors in the ORC 700 Class will be two well-sailed J/24s with top Brazilian teams leading the charge.  The J/24 CALA will be sailed by Gabriel Coussilas and J/24 PROZAK will be skippered by Marcio Finamore.  For more Rolex Ilhabela sailing information

J/24 Sailors Dominate Americas Cup Match

(Newport, RI)- In the America's Cup World Series Newport sailed on the AC 45 cats, it was past J/24 World Champion Terry Hutchinson that won the Match-Racing Series overall. Congratulations to Terry and crew on Team ARTEMIS for winning what amounted to the prologue to the America's Cup Match Race that will take place on the monster AC 72 catamarans with their towering 125 foot tall wing sails on San Francisco Bay in the summer of 2013.  If you're the type that slows down to look at car accidents, this may be THE sailing event for all you rubber-neckers! Flying bodies, broken boats, equipment and sails may be the norm if these 72 ft cats have to sail in 20-30 kts nuking out on the Bay.  For more America's Cup World Series sailing information

J/Classes Sailing Bacardi Newport

(Newport, RI)- 2012 marks the first year that Bacardi Brands are supporting the SailNewport Regatta as primary sponsors.  It promises to be another banner year for the event with 200+ boats participating, with 49 J/Teams participating representing about 25% of the total fleet in J/22, J/24, J/80 and J/105 classes.  The weather forecast looks promising for some great racing both in Narragansett Bay as well as offshore for the bigger one-design fleets.

The J/22s are going to have an incredibly competitive fleet, with Rochester's ring leaders factoring into the overall scheme of things.  Mark & Cory Sertl call both Newport (Jamestown) and Rochester as "home base" and will be tough competitors due to their "local knowledge" from hundreds of beer-can races in Jamestown YC's Tuesday evening races.  Not to be outdone will be Chris Doyle on US 1649, a top notch competitor on a world-class level.

Sailing in the J/24s, not surprisingly enough, are enough World, National and Regional Champions that one could not possibly predict any outcomes other than the fact that all will be competitive and it could be the "Old Man of the Sea" that clobbers them all!  On that note, it's wonderful to see Tony Parker on his BANGOR PACKET continuing to have fun in the middle of an American Presidential election year (ask him why in the beer tent after sailing)!  Never underestimate this wily old fox, having made some Melges 24 World Champions and J/24 World Champions in the past wonder why they ever tangled with him in the first place!  Certain to give Tony a run for the money will be some young bucks like Will Welles, Tim Healey, Travis Odenbach, Mike Ingham and Matt Herbster, amongst others-- their collective pedigree as champions are undeniable!

J/80 world also sees a few ring leaders amongst the core of the fleet.  A combination of world-class sailors are distributed across the fleet and there's no telling how it will all end up in the final tally as all have proven in various Worlds, Key Wests and North Americans to play or win at the top of the heap in various classes.  Chief amongst the top teams will be Bruno Pasquinelli from Houston, Texas; Brian Keane from Buzzards Bay, MA (multiple J/105 Key West Champion); and some tough "Newport locals" like Andrew Burton, Chris Bulger and Jeff Johnstone.

The J/105s may have one of the most competitive J/Fleets rolling.  With past champion 105 sailors participating like Nelson Weiderman, Joerg Esdorn and Duncan Hennes on KINCSEM, Kevin Grainger on GUMPTION3 and Damian Emery on ECLIPSE, it simply means the battle lines will be drawn early and fast amongst the leaderboard in this trio of gunfighters.  For more Bacardi Newport Sailing information

Ken Read 3rd in Volvo Ocean Race

(Newport, RI)- The Volvo Ocean Race had an unpredictable outcome for the last race from Lorient, France to Galway, Ireland. After winning about 85% of the race and leading the fleet into the turn towards Galway Bay, Newport's Ken Read sailed into a massive hole and finished 3rd on Leg 9, thus finishing 3rd overall.  The big winner were the French team led by Franck Cammas on GROUPAMA, finishing 2nd on Leg 9 to "seal the deal" and win the Volvo Ocean Race on their first attempt!  A rather unprecedented outcome for GROUPAMA, surprising not only themselves but the rest of their competitor and pundits, too!  With a bit of luck, Ken may be able to use some of his J/24 World Championship and one-design experience to pull the proverbial "rabbit out of the hat" and win the Inshore Series for the Volvo Ocean Race this coming weekend.  Best of luck from the J/Crew!  For more Volvo Race sailing information

Mollicone Wins J/24 US Nationals

(Dillon, CO)- The "Two-Mile High" J/24 Nationals took place this past weekend in Dillon, Colorado.  Answering the call to race in true "nose-bleed" mountain high territory were an amazing range of thirty-six J/24 teams from across America.  World, North American, National and Regional Champions in the J/24 class made the migration to the Rockies for some fun and frolic.

Over the course of the regatta, the conditions ran the full gamut from sun and 80 degrees to hail and 55 degrees, not atypical of the sailing experience on Dillon-- where "pop-up thunderstorms" materialize in hours, go around the mountains one way and come back at our in a curve-ball on the other side of the range!!

Eight races were completed, but John Mollicone only needed the first seven of them, building a 21-point lead to lock up the title. Pat Toole's 3 BIG DOGS team from Santa Barbara, CA were second with Chris Snow's BOGUS from San Diego, CA in third.  For more J/24 Nationals sailing information

Sailing J/24s & J/105s in Chile

* Juan Eduardo Reid, the J/Dealer from Santiago, Chile, gave us a 4th of July report- "Have a great holiday and a very nice celebration!   I was sailing J/24 on Saturday, very nice to come back after 3 years away from the class, very nice winter condition (north breeze, some choppy and few showers, 12 to 15 knots). 3 first placed boats in tight with one 1 first, 1 second and 1 third each. Vernon Robert, Raúl del Castillo and Carlos Pérez where the final sequence, same as the last race of the day. I was driving for Carlos. Vernon and Raúl are very active in J/24 (and J/105 as well), both building a J/24 at Waterline Systems in Newport for the J/24 Worlds in Rochester, New York. Carlos Perez is in a retiring process to go onboard the Canadian J/105 #642 that he bought used that will arrive to Chile in September. Patricio Seguel was also racing (very active in both J/24 and J/105).  Only 5 boats in the water, due to rough weather forecast (showers and windy) and most people went to the mountain last weekend for skiing in the very snowy Andes Mountains at this time of year-- Portillo, etc. Also it was the last day of racing of the season, class racing and much more sailing coming back in September!"

Great J/24 & J/80 Kieler Woche Regatta

(Kiel, Germany)- This past week saw one of the largest regattas in Germany finish with a flourish with some great sailing for both the J/24 fleet participating and a growing J/80 class.

In the fifteen boat J/80 class, there were Polish and German crews sailing a good series.  Dominating the class was Germany's Martin Menzner from Kieler YC, winning with a remarkable six 1sts and four 2nds to simply crush the class, eight points clear of second place finisher Malte Christopherson, also of Germany.  Third overall was Thomas Dehler, fourth was Fyn Terveer winning a tie-breaker over fifth place finisher Karsten Thode.

There was a fantastic turnout for the J/24s, with 33 teams attending from Sweden, The Netherlands and Germany.  The J/24s also saw a top team dominate the proceedings, with Kal Mares winning with 29 pts, followed by Frank Schonfedlt in second with 43 pts.  Rounding out the podium was past champion Manfred Konig with 50 pts.  Top Swedish team was Per-Hakan Persson in 7th overall.  For more Kiel Week Regatta sailing information

J/24 US Nationals Preview

(Dillon, CO)- The "Two-Mile High" J/24 Nationals are taking place this weekend in Dillon, Colorado in one of the most picturesque settings in America's Rocky Mountains, if not the world.  Dillon Reservoir has to be one of the world's more challenging places to sail, like any mountain lake at a maximum elevation of 9017 feet (2,748 m) the winds come flowing over the mountains from every direction, often forming their own "micro-bursts" as you're sailing upwind or downwind.  Sometimes on the same leg, you're planing downwind under spinnaker while the boats around you are beating upwind with jibs up!! The activity for many can literally leave them breathless at such altitudes-- imagine a J/24 Worlds on Lake Titicaca in Peru at 12,000+ feet!

The J/24 teams sailing Dillon Reservoir are on a naturally formed lake that remained unnoticed until the mid-19th century, when gold was discovered in the area. Upon this discovery, the trade post town of Dillon was formed. The town of Dillon was on the bank of the Blue River and was the most populous area in Summit County. In the mid-20th century, ski resorts were becoming popular, outweighing the mines in the economy of the area; the town lost many residents to them. The lake became a target for expansion by the city of Denver, who deemed it necessary to have a water reserve in the high country.  The dam was constructed in 1961, enlarging the small finger lake into the massive reservoir it is today-- great for sailing!  The original town of Dillon was left to be flooded over and residents were forced to move.

For those who love sailing, the outdoors, majestic vistas and incredibly fun, but challenging mountain lake sailing, Lake Dillon ranks amongst the best in the world.  Answering that call are an amazing range of thirty-six J/24 teams from across America.  World, North American, National and Regional Champions in the J/24 class are all making the migration to the Rockies for some fun and frolic in nose-bleed territory.  Featured amongst the top teams will be Tim Healey's 11TH HOUR RACING from Newport, RI; Chris Snow's BOGUS from San Diego, CA; Pat Toole's 3 BIG DOGS team from Santa Barbara, CA; and the notorious Brian Simkins from Centerport YC sailing the appropriately named SHOULDA WOULDA COULDA .  For more J/24 Nationals sailing information