San Diego & Santa Barbara Epic Opening Days

J/105's Smoke the Fleets
(California, USA)- The tradition has been a long-standing one for yacht clubs around the world to have an "opening day", symbolic of the start of a new year, a new sailing season, re-affirmation of belonging to the "local tribe", participating in various "tribal rites of passage" with lots of pomp, circumstance, dressy stuff and good-natured bantering fueled for the most part by good food, drink and friends.

Nowhere is the tradition more laid-back than it is on the West Coast of America.  After all, watching sunsets on the beach is a right of passage, as is surfing to Hawaii on massively fast "sleds", and blasting down the Cal/Mex coastline to some destination called La Paz, Ensenada, Cabo or PV.  This year, two of those opening days were in for a treat, atypical conditions that challenged the best of the best in San Diego and Santa Barbara.

San Diego YC's opening day was an eye-opener.  "Fresh to frightening" or "epic" may have been adjectives assigned to massive chop, 18-30 knot winds and a bit thrill ride of for some.  Of course, the J/105 teams were simply licking their chops, knowing their erstwhile competitors might be doing the wrong kind of "pole dance" as they spun around in broaches all day long!  The SDYC opening day event is an incredibly fun "pursuit race", where slowest start first and fastest last.  In fact, J/22s started first and TP 52s were last!

After the fleet crashed and bashed, surfed and broached their way home, it was the J/105s that swept the fleet- WINGS (Dennis & Sharon Case) that finished first, followed by AIRBOSS and TRIPLE PLAY in 2nd and 3rd, respectively.  As was commented by one of their crew- " Surfing and planing on the downwind leg and having control in the beats were the keys to success and how much fun was THAT!"  Awesome stuff.

On the Santa Barbara YC opening day side of things, their classic "WNW" breeze blew in fresh and fast making for a spectacular afternoon of sailing.  With J/105s, J/29, J/92, J/100, J/145, J/22 and J/24s all making a go of it, it was the J/105s that had a spectacular showing.  Leading the fleet home were SHORT SKIRT followed by Ken Kieding's new ADVANCE (the old ROCK'N'ROLL) and ESCAPADE.

For more SDYC (http://www.sdyc.org) and SBYC (http://www.sbyc.org) sailing information.

BRILLIANCE Radiates At Chester Race Week

Big J/29 & J/24 Fleets Scrum For Class Honors

(Chester, Nova Scotia)- Every summer, several boats from the Northeast
in America use the Marblehead-Halifax Race to extend their summer
sailing adventures along the gorgeous bay and islands that dot the
waters off Chester, Nova Scotia.  In early August, the fog banks for the
most part burn-off fast or are non-existent and the weather Gods
certainly seem to smile on the hardy group of sailors who have grown to
love Chester Race Week.  This year, the fleet was again blessed with a
few days of gorgeous weather.



In
the A2 PHRF fleet, Colin Mann's J/92 POOHSTICKS nearly pulled off a
race week win, but their 6-5 in the last two races dashed all chances of
winning the brass-ring this year.  Instead, they had to settle for
third overall just three agonizing points away from the top of the
podium.  Fourth in their class was the J/35 SUMROO skippered by Gary
Sullivan, seventh was the J/29 sailed by Jeremy Wood and eighth was the
J/35 J-HAWK sailed by Thane MacDonald.



In the D1 PHRF fleet, the J/120 BRILLIANCE sailed brilliantly by Richard
Calder managed a 1-1-3 tally to win with only five points!  Other than a
slow start, the J/111 BLAST skippered by Mark Surette won the last race
to add to their earlier 5-7 to finish with 13 pts.



The most remarkable fleet growth has been the fractional J/29s and the
J/24s.  The J/24s had a great turnout with eight boats  having great
sailing around the bay and in the buoy races.  Dale Robinson's team on
SLAM IN 29 SECONDS sailed to six 1sts and two 2nds in nine race total to
win by 3 pts.  Second was Greg Burden's ADRENALINE RUSH with 13 pts. 
Kim Drisdelle's BLACKJACK was third, fourth was Ross Romney in RUSH HOUR
and rounding out the top five was Brian Storey on MUFFIN.



The
twelve (yes- 12!) J/29s were a very colorful site on the water since
most all boats had colored spinnakers!  Like their J/24 brotherhood, the
J/29s also had a top dog being the "alpha puppy" of the gang.  Chris
MacDonald's crew on SCOTCH MIST IV had four 1sts in nine races to win
with 14 pts (including drop).  Andrew Childs had the SILVER WOMAN team
rocking in most races and managed to also get two 1sts to place second
with 23 pts.  Third was Andrew Orr's FEED ME with 33 pts, narrowly
beating out Scott and Matt Christie's COLMONELL in 4th place.  Fifth was
Evan Petley-Jones driving SATISFACTION.



Of special note was that long-time North Sails consultant and designer
Andreas Josenhans was Regatta Chairman.  Helping Chester YC put on a
great show and helping out considerably on race management.  Andreas
also had many pearls of wisdom for the sailors, offering some of the
extensive knowledge prior to and after each day's racing.  In fact,
here's a great YouTube video of some of Andreas' bits and bobs-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoZTYbr6xU0    More sailing news and results on Chester Race Week FB page

    

J/80s & J/24s Grand Prix du Crouesty

(Crouesty Arzon, France)- It was a busy day for the 113 competitors in the Grand Prix when they started the regatta, nearly 50% of the fleet were J's- 42 J/80s, 7 J/24s, the J/97 J-LANCE in IRC 4, 3 J/109s in IRC 3 and the J/122 JOLLY JOKER in IRC 1.  "We are satisfied with the number of boats. We have very high quality sailors here, the best are present in J/80 and with 42 boats it should be very good racing," said Jacques Fily, President of YCCA.

The weather was absolutely perfect for the sailors.  Saturday, there were 3 races that were contested in a wind of ten knots and under a bright sun. The race committee abandoned late in the day the fourth race due to an unstable breeze.  For Sunday, there were 3 races also in a wind of between 15 to 25 knots and large seas, offering magnificent surfing downwind.  By Monday, there were two more races to settle out the winners in the Grand Prix, sailing in winds of 8-10 knots, a masterful job running the races by PRO Jean-Paul Vallegand.

For the J/80s, it was clear the fleet was decidedly too eager to do battle on Saturday. First start was a general recall, then black flag with eight competitors having to pay the cost, including Eric Brezellec's Interface Concept 2.  Under these competitive conditions, consistency is an important asset and it is no surprise that Voilerie All Purpose, led by local Sylvain Pelissier was the winner of the first day with two second places and one fourth place. They were followed by Atlantis (Laurent Sambron).

By Sunday, it was clear that Pelissier's team were not going to easily sail away with the gold medal.  Laurent Sambron sailing ATLANTIS sailed beautifully on the windy Sunday to tie Pelissier with 12 pts after six races.  Lying with striking distance of these two was Eric Brezzellec on INTERFACE CONCEPT 2 with 9 pts.

However, on Monday the VOILERIE ALL PURPOSE team skippered by Sylvain Pelissier with crew Sébastien Simon, Damien Changey and Joris Cocaud were going to win by sailing so consistently compared to their competitors.  The ATLANTIS crew of Laurent Sambron and INTERFACE CONCEPT 2 sailed by Eric Brezellec completed the podium.  "For us it is a fantastic opportunity to sail with Sylvain, he teaches us so much each year," said the crew made up of youth aged 20 to 21, who usually sail F18, 420 and match racing . "We won only one race, but it pays to be consistent," says Sylvain, who won only  b a little bit, but fully enjoying the pleasure of beating the invincible Eric Brezellec, the early favorite to win the regatta.

In the J/24s, is became a "jackpot for MARTA".  At the beginning, MAJIC sailed by François de Herce was an early contender for the lead, having won a race on Saturday.  However, Pierre-Antoine Lemaistre and his classmates sailing MARTA were eager to get going on Sunday morning to enjoy the big breeze and big waves.  Sure enough, they won three straight races. With big smiles on their faces, Pierre-Antoine commented, "We had top speeds of 12 knots, we were never getting in trouble at the roundings. First race? Impeccable. Second race? Impeccable. Third race? Impeccable! Yes, it was an impeccable day! For us, it's conditions we dreamed about! The race committee was really great, we wish to take our hats off, it was just a fine day!"  After that extraordinary day of sailing, MARTA ended up winning the J/24s in "grand prix style".

Also sailing impeccably was Didier Le Moal on-board his SPI Ouest-France winning J/97 J-LANCE-R.  Didier's team started out winning the first race on Saturday and never looked back.  J-LANCE-R won their IRC Class 4 in "grand prix style" as well, winning their class by a large margin.   For more Grand Prix Crouesty sailing information

  

J/92 & J/109 Dominate Corinthians Race

(San Francisco, CA)- In the second of their series, the Singlehanded Society of San Francisco (SSS) held their 18-mile Corinthian Race (named for the Corinthian Yacht Club who hosts the start) on Saturday, April 2nd.

All boats could either sail single or double-handed, the entry list for the Corinthian Race included 18 J/Boats, which as we all know are perfect for this kind of racing!  Dispersed amongst the fleet were the following J's- J/80, J/92 (2), J/100, J/105 (5), J/109 (2), J/120, J/35, J/32 (2), J/30, J/29 and J/24.  While only two J's sailed singlehanded, all the rest sailed doublehanded.

As Bob Johnson, owner/ skipper of the J/92 RAGTIME, reports, "After a long series of Pacific storms, some local damage from the tsunami and general cabin fever, it was apparent skippers are anxious to get back out there and race around the central Bay."  And, indeed they had a good time.  Bob managed to sail a reasonably fast race and won the Singlehanded PHRR Class 3.  Just behind him was the J/105 LARRIKIN sailed by Stuart Taylor from St Francis YC.

Doublehanded PHRF Class 11 was a near sweep for the j's in the largest class of the race, 21 boats competing and J's getting 8 of the top 10!  First was the J/109 SYMMETRY sailed by Howard Turner from Santa Cruz YC.  Third was another J/92, Tracy Rogers' RELENTLESS from CPYC. Fourth was the J/105 LIGHTWAVE sailed by Richard Craig. Sixth was the J/105 RACER-X sailed by Rich Pipkin. Eighth was the J/105 AKULA skippered by Doug Bailey. Ninth was the J/120 TWIST sailed by Timo Bruck.  And, tenth was another J/109, Jim Vickers' JOYRIDE.

In Doublehanded PHRF Class 12, the J/80 PAINKILLER skippered by Eric Patterson was second, followed by the J/32 PARADIGM skippers by Luther Izmirian.  Lying eighth was another J/32 sistership, Ed Ruszel's FLICKER.

Not to be left out of the silverware was the lone J/24 DOWNTOWN UPROAR, raced by Darren Cumming in Doublehanded PHRF Class 13.  Finally, in Doublehanded PHRF Class 16, the J/30 IONE sailed by Peter Jermyn finished a respectable fourth and the J/29 AUDACIOUS captained by Scott Christensen finished 5th.   More sailing information is available at Singlehanded Society of San Francisco site.   

J/111 @ Charleston Race Week

(Charleston, SC)- The J/111 VELOCITY sailed by Wayne Jackson and crew from the Chesapeake Bay will be racing their new 111 for its first test during Charleston Race Week sailing in PHRF B class.  Please stop buy and say hello to the boys and take a look at the boat- they'll be on Dock C in Slip # 1  right next to the bulkhead at Patriot’s Point.  They'll be having a small "greet and meet" on Saturday evening after the races.

For the rest of the 89 J's sailing (the largest brand represented at 1/3 of the entire fleet of 270), they will be divided into one-design and handicap PHRF fleets.  PHRF A class has two J/130s sailing, including Noel Sterrett's SOLARUS from Hanahan, SC and David Hackney's SUGAR MAGNOLIA from Folly Beach, SC.  Also racing with them will be Doug Curtiss' J/124 WICKED from Branford, CT just up from Florida after sailing at Key West Race Week.

PHRF B is shaping up to be one of the most competitive offshore PHRF classes with 5 of the 7 entries being 36-41 foot J's- J/111, J/120s, J/122s.  The J/111 VELOCITY will have to work hard to stay in the hunt against this tough group of hombres.  The two J/120s, local fleet champion John Keenan's ILLYRIA from Mt Pleasant, SC and Rick Moore's MOOSE DOWN from Summerville, SC know the local waters well and given the right conditions will be surely be in the hunt.  The two J/122s will be amongst the leaders as well, both strong sailing programs with great teams aboard.  Doug Shaffer's GAMBLER from Kemah, TX is a past J/122 North American Champion and Robin Team's TEAMWORK has won the Ft Lauderdale-Key West Race and also a top three finisher at Key West Race Week.

PHRF C class includes the J/35 ARROW sailed by Willy Schwenzfeier from Charleston, SC, the J/109 HOODOO sailed by Rick Campeau from Summerville, SC and three J/105s- Joe Pitcavage's BIG BOOTY, Joe Highsmith's DEAD ON ARRIVAL from Blufton, SC, and Bill Bremer's HIGH VISIBILITY from Savannah, GA.  Like their bigger sisters in PHRF B, this class will also see some very competitive sailing amongst the largely 35-foot class of boats.

PHRF D promises to be a donnybrook between the fast 30 foot J's.  The three J/29s, including Jim Mackevich's FOR SAIL from Edison, NJ, the infamous Esposito brothers (John and Tony) from Mohegan Lake, NY learning to sail HUSTLER all over again after mothballing it (was going too fast, we heard, and was in danger of disintegrating from harmonic vibrations at the speed of light) and arch-nemesis Steve Thurston from Bristol, RI on the MIGHTY PUFFIN--- this will be an interesting group to watch, all well-sailed boats and all masthead/outboard 29s, the fastest version of them ever made. Giving these 29s a run for the money will surely be Mr GILL North American himself, David Pritchard on AMIGOS racing his J/92 from Buford, GA-- a very fast team that gets lots of practice up on Lake Lanier (when there's water in it!).

In the J one-design world there are seventy-two boats competing from J/22s to J/24s to J/80s a big jump up from last year's event, particularly for the J/24s and J/80s.  The seventeen J/22s are led by past World Champion Greg Fisher now living in Mt Pleasant, SC and coaching College of Charleston sailing team, Chris Doyle from Youngstown, NY (recent Midwinter Champion) and champion woman sailor Cory Sertl from Rochester, NY practicing for the upcoming Rolex Women's Worlds held later this year in Rochester.  The twenty-seven J/24s are led by very strong local teams from Charleston and class champions like Mike Ingham from Rochester, NY.

The new course for the J/22 and J/24 classes is laid out close to downtown Charleston’s waterfront. Organizers expect it to provide exciting viewing from the Battery and Waterfront parks for locals and tourists alike, who “should be able to see and hear tons of racing action, almost as if they were on the boats,” said James Island High School sailing coach Ryan Hamm.

The largest contingent of J one-designs are the J/80s.  Twenty-eight J/80s will be led by top teams like Al Terhune from Annapolis, MD, Bruno Pasquinelli from Dallas, TX, Tom Klok from Copenhagen, Denmark (see here flying downwind at 20 knots off Newport, RI in the 2010 Worlds), Mike Sudofsky from Marion, MA, Chris Bulger from Brookline, MA and past World Champion Kerry Klingler from Larchmont, NY.  Amongst the luminaries in the class will be Don Trask from Mooresville, NC, renowned for starting the Laser and J/24 franchise on the West Coast of America; and Kristen Robinson from Annapolis, MD, the current J/80 class Treasurer and Chris Johnson also from Annapolis, the current J/80 Class President.

Sailing Photo Credits:
Paul Todd/ Outside Images New Zealand
Tim Wilkes/ Tim Wilkes Photography
For more Charleston Race Week sailing information.   

Coors Light Island Double

J/133 JAMMY DODGER Leads Fleet Home

(Southampton, England)- It's 30 years since Neil Cox of Solent Rigging organised the first Double Handed racing at the Royal Southampton Yacht Club. Since then the series has continued without a break and grown in popularity.  And, it has to be one of the most challenging of the famous "around island" races anywhere in the world, especially shorthanded.

The tides for this year's Coors light Island Double were more suited to the east-about circumnavigation of the Island instead of the more usual west-about course - If only the boats had enough wind to get over the line. The forecast, and the actual conditions were very light but the Race Committee made the right call by getting the boats away, some of whom were swept OCS by the tide. The fleet of over 100 boats flying spinnakers of all descriptions made a great sight as they ran, slowly, down towards the forts in the bright morning sunshine.

All tactics were used to get down to Bembridge with some boats following the mainland shore and taking a long, wide sweep east and others hugging the Island shore and sometimes getting caught in wind holes from where they watched others further north overtake them.

Once at Bembbridge the very light wind slowly picked up but immediately became so flukey that it was hard to know which sail to hoist or which tack to take. Eventually the conditions settled down with the earlier boats taking full advantage of the favourable tide to make the Needles in two tacks. The later boats were robbed of that option and had to take the inshore route but at least then found the tide in their favour in the Needles Channel.

The western Solent delivered winds that hadn't appeared on any of Friday's forecasts and strengthened the nearer the boats got to the finish where the Race Committee were on station to the south-east of Williams Shipping buoy, setting a line that was a near straight run from Sconce. From there the main question then became, if we raise the kite will we get it down again? The hardy souls that took that risk had an exhilarating, surfing run to line.

Here is Neil Martin's and Deb Fish's report from the J/133 JAMMY DODGER:  "With just over an hour of flood tide left, the race committee sent the fleet East down the Solent for a clockwise circumnavigation. Neil got us a good start at the Squadron end of the line, where we could stem the lighter tide until it was time to turn for the line. Seconds before the start we hoisted the light runner and set off in the forecast light NWly winds. We gybed all down the Solent, generally staying away from the lighter winds on the Island shore and gybing between mid channel and the mainland. The patchy wind became a bit steadier and we found ourselves leading the fleet by some margin by the time we reached the forts. We crept inside No Mans Land fort, deep inshore to get out of the foul tide, and the wind died before shifting dramatically. Fortunately the fleet of Redwings racing off Bembridge allowed Neil to anticipate the new wind, and we soon had the kite down and were beating to Bembridge Ledge.

The wind soon shifted to the SW and built to 17 knots, and we tacked along the middle of the course to Dunnose, trying to keep out of the bays and in the stronger tide, but stay right in anticipation of the wind veering. (At least, we think it was stronger tide - having tossed Winning Tides overboard in the spinnaker drop at Bembridge, we were relying on the tide atlases in the Almanac...) By St Cats the wind had veered and we could just lay the Needles on port tack. Visibility was amazing - halfway between St Cats and the Needles, both looked just a couple of miles away, and we could see Anvil Point and Portland Bill really clearly. The sea had built with wind over tide, so I was in for a soaking on the bow to clip the spinnaker on. I managed to cut my finger, covering the deck with blood - unbelievable how such a tiny cut can cause so much mess. We passed the wreck, bore away and hoisted the kite in 20 knots of breeze. Gybing the light runner on the J133 down the Needles Channel then the Solent double-handed was hard work, with the boat on the edge, but we managed to avoid wraps and stay in control somehow. We still led the fleet around the Needles, but the two multihulls that had been drawing ever closer finally overtook us in the Needles channel.

Conscious of stemming the strong tide in the middle of the Solent, we gybed in to the mainland shore, but I had failed to notice the shallow waters further along our gybe out on the small screen on the hand-held chart plotter and we held our breath as the depth decreased to 0.0m and we touched the bottom with full main and spinnaker up doing 10 knots. Mercifully we got through the shallow patch and out of the other side.

The final drama was finding the finish buoy just upwind of the Bramble bank and getting the kite down quickly (listening at the race committee's urgent calls to one of the following boats to beware the Bramble bank!)."

Besides winning elapsed time overall, JAMMY DODGER also managed to finish fourth in Class 1 on corrected time behind the two well-sailed J/109s.  Finishing second was the J/109 JAGERBOMB sailed by the team of Paul and Mark Griffiths, just missing first place by 52 seconds on corrected time!  Ouch, now how many places were there on the race you could make up 52 seconds?  Just off their pace was the J/109 JANGADA TOO, well-sailed by the team of Richard Palmer and Jeremy Waitt to get third in class.  Finishing ninth was the OSTAR class winner (and nearly overall), the J/122 JBELLINO, ably sailed by experienced offshore sailing veteran Rob Craigie with Charles Allen as part of his team.  For more Island Double sailing information.  Sailing Photo Credit- Paul Wyeth
  

Blustery Stone Cup Regatta

J/120 DESDEMONA and J/105 JAM SESSION Win

(San Francisco, CA)- Under grey skies and blustery winds the St. Francis Yacht Club's Stone Cup event was held this past weekend of May 15-16. The racing was tight in each of the J one-design divisions.  Typical San Francisco Bay weather greeted the Stone Cup sailors for two days of racing hosted by the St Francis Yacht Club. The Marine Layer that had been missing all year showed its presence over the weekend ensuring the fleets would have plenty of wind for racing. With a strong flood tide providing flat water, at least flat by San Francisco standards, and 15-25 mph of wind from the first gun, each day of racing would have been perfect it wasn't so darn cold!

The 16 boat J/105 class was missing local scratch boat GOOD TIMIN' but the competition was still fierce in this hotly contested one design class. Three different boats each won one of the four races held, but it was Adam Spiegel's JAM SESSION that came out on top. Bruce Stone's ARBITRAGE took second and Scooter Simmons on BLACKHAWK took third. Each of these two boats also won races individually with BLACKHAWK winning race 2 and 4 and ARBITRAGE winning race three. Simmons probably has a story to tell about his 10th place finish in race one. With a 10-1-3-1 scoring line something dramatic happened, gone shrimping?

In the 40ft J/120 class DESDEMONA owned by John Wimer took the victory while MR. MAGOO helmed by Steve Madeira from Northeast Harbor, ME took second. The podium was rounded out by DAYENU in third but only by the narrowest of margins did the Donald Payan boat miss second place. It went down to the last race in which MR MAGOO took the bullet and put two boats between himself and DAYENU (fourth) and even then it went to a tiebreaker with MR MAGOO taking second by virtue of that low score first place finish.  For more St. FYC Stone Cup sailing information     Photo credits- H20Shots.com/ Erik Simonson  

San Diego J/Fleet Having Fun!

Sailing Anarchy's Scot Tempesta continues his efforts to grow and "save sailing" in the SoCal 'hood.  Here's a quickie on what they've done with the local "paper" yacht club- Cortez Racing Association- to enjoy the gorgeous conditions often found off San Diego.  Says Scot, "We haven't done a local knowledge piece from here in Dago for a long time, and here's one about the Cortez Racing Association's Opening Day race. CRA is a 'paper club' that has been running fun, mostly bay races here and on ANARCHY, we have sailed a bunch of their races this (and last) year, because they, maybe more than any other SD club, have the fun factor nailed down.  This race was a 53 boat, 12 mile mostly light air bay/ocean pursuit start that was a kick because it had a little of everything long beats, long runs, actual need to navigate and the fun of passing boats all race long. (Is passing boats never not fun?).  As much as the multi-day, 5 or 7 race series are challenging, the CRA races are for us, just more fun and that's why we race sailboats, isn't it? It would be great to get more of the sporty-type boats out for their races - just six showed up for this one... In addition to their fun Beercan series starting May 26, there is the West Marine Challenged America - a great cause if there ever was one.  So this is the call out to get as many SD boats, sporties and otherwise, out for this event. No excuses. Sign up, be a part of a worthwhile event, and have some fun! Photo credits- Dennis St. Onge (Da-Woody) and story here.  

Sparkling Solent for Warsash Finale

J/122 JINJA Sets the Pace With 2nd, 3rd

(Southampton, England)-  Warsash Sailing Club was a busy place over the weekend of 24th/25th April when the Warsash Spring Series and Spring Championship reached their final stages. Conditions in the Solent were ideal and provided some of the best racing so far this season.

For the second weekend of the Warsash Spring Championship, the J/80s completed 12 races, each of between 40 and 60 minutes. Again there was a distinct winner in John Cooper’s OI! which had never dropped below fifth place. Terry Palmer’s JUST DO IT and Steve Chappell’s JANGO FETT were only five points apart coming second and third. Seven J/109s competed. Although J/DREAM (Kirsty and David Apthorp) counted six first places, Adam Wright in VELVET ELVIS had not dropped below second place and took the Championship trophy by two points.  In the Big Boat IRC division, Ian Matthews' team on the J/122 JINJA sailed well to garner third overall.  Neil Martin's J/133 JAMMY DODGER managed to get seventh followed closely by the J/122 JERONIMO sailed by Jackie and Robert Dodson.

The multi-week Warsash Spring Series finally came to a stunning, gorgeous conclusion, basking in near glam St. Tropez like conditions with sun-a-plenty and good breeze to boot.  At 0830 when the committee boats left the Warsash Sailing Club pontoon for the final day of racing in the Warsash Spring Series the day was grey and drizzly, with poor visibility. It seemed very unlikely that the superb conditions of the Spring Championship the day before would be repeated but slowly, as the first start time approached, the rain died and by 1000 the south-westerly breeze was starting to fill. By midday the Solent was basking in sunshine and the breeze was up to 15 knots – a perfect way to finish the country’s premier early season racing event.

The Black Group race team had a particularly complex day’s racing. Not only was there the normal schedule for the Spring Series, but the Spring Championship was also to be concluded which meant two races for Spring Championship entries in IRC1 and IRC2. The steady wind direction made course setting reasonably straightforward and all classes could share the initial legs on a beat to South Bramble with the tide followed by a gybe at Flying Fish and run to a laid mark. Finishing was also at a common mark and the overall length of course was adjusted as appropriate to the time scale. Going into the final day, only a few classes, including the J/109s,  were a foregone conclusion and even then final places further down were still in contention.

IRC1’s first start was subject to a general recall and postponed until after IRC2 whilst other classes got away cleanly. In the end, Ian Matthews' J/122 JINJA sailed a nice series to get second overall.  Team Jellyfish sailed their J/122 JOLLY JELLYFISH into fifth overall after being a contender for top three over earlier weekends.  Neil Martin's crew on his J/133 JAMMY DODGER started slow but picked up some steam to ultimately get eighth overall in a large, competitive fleet.

It was a topsy-turvy day in IRC3. The pre-race leaders like the J/97 JIKA-JIKA (Mike and Jamie Holmes) finished well down the fleet but they were able to retain second place overall.

In the J-Boat one design classes, the J/109 J-DREAM had already secured the series win going into the day but she had a real tussle with VELVET ELVIS (Adam Wright) for the first half of the race before pulling out a four minute lead at the line. OFFBEAT (David Mcleman) managed to overtake VELVET ELVIS for second place.

The first three boats in the J/105 class had been separated by a single point so Rob Dornton Duff’s second consecutive win in JAVA ahead of JOURNEYMAKER 5 (Chris Jones) was sufficient to take the series win. Paul Griffiths’ FAY-J did not compete on the final day but finished third overall.

JAMMIN won the last J/92 race but a second place for Rory and Cathy Staunton on JAYA secured them the series title.  Third was a tie between WIZARD (Bill Howard) and JEKYLL (Dominic Horner) with twelve points a piece, with WIZARD winning the tie-breaker.

On White Group things went straightforwardly with course setting in the steady wind. In the J/80 class, competition has been very close. This weekend saw Ian Atkins back in action with  O.N.B.i.P(Our New Boat is in Poland). They were sailing in a borrowed boat as their new J/80 had been delayed. He proved not to have lost his touch with a 2-1-1 score line for the day. In the overall series John Cooper had a purple patch of four wins on the trot in OI! and that was just enough for him to finish ahead of the RAF boat TEAM SPITFIRE and Terry Palmer’s JUST DO IT.  Full results on the Warsash Sailing Club's Regatta Website      Photo Credits- by Eddie Mays  

J/Fest West 2010

Stormy, Grey Weather Thrashes the Bay

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

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

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

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

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

Warsash Spring Series Week 4

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Close Racing in Warsash Spring Series

J/97  JIKA-JIKA Racing Fast!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SPI OUEST Starts With 430 Boats

Monster J/80 Class with 93 Entries

(La Trinite Sur Mer, France)-  A cast of thousands have descended upon the quaint, beautiful seaside village of La Trinite for this Easter weekend.  Renowned not only for its premiere sailing event but also for its soothing thassolotherapy spas along the seashore, La Trinite will serve up yet another fantastic weekend of sailing for some of the top sailors in France and the rest of Europe.  The J/Fleet is enormous. Of the 430 boats racing, over one-third- about 125- are J's ranging from ten J/24s to ninety-three J/80, a smattering of J/92s to J/97s and over twenty J/105s, J/109s and J/122s.  Sailing on Circle B will be the J/105, J/109 and J/80 classes (only J/Boats- a first in French sailing) and on Circle C will be the three IRC Classes- 1-2-3. More than ten nationalities will be represented with crews from Germany, England, Spain, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Russian and Sweden.  Within IRC1 with 32 boats starting on the line will be 5 J/122s, including last year's winner Philipe Delaporte's champion PEN AZEN.  For more SPI OUEST Sailing information.  

J/Fest NW Celebrating 27 years

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

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

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

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

UK Warsash Spring Series

Perfect Start for J Sailors

(Hamble, So'ton, England- Mar 14)- Glorious sunshine and a steady breeze made for a perfect first day of this year’s Warsash Spring Series on 14th March. Competitors in the 170-strong entry list were out bright and early, some putting into practice lessons learned during a Jim Saltonstall training session organised by the Royal Southern Yacht Club the day before.  Black Group comprises four IRC classes plus one design starts for J/109, J/105 and J/92. The committee boat set up station between East Bramble and Universal Marina buoys.

The family of J/Boats in Black Group has increased this year by J/92s joining the J/105 start. Interestingly the finishing times of the two classes overlapped, showing that a better sailed small boat can keep up with the larger J/Boat design. The class wins went to JOS OF HAMBLE (Roger Williams) and JAMMIN (Andrew Campbell). In the J/109s David and Kirsty Apthorp continued where they left off last year by sailing J-DREAM to victory.  In IRC1, the J/122 JOLLY JELLYFISH sailed to a solid third overall.  Expect to see more competition in this class when Ian Matthew's J/122 JINJA, Neil Martin's J/133 JAMMY DODGER and Jackie and Robert Dodson's J/133 JERONIMO get cranked up for the series next weekend.

Following the successful pattern of the past couple of years, White Group is split into two separate courses. The J/80s area under the care of Jon Spencer. In the J/80s another trophy holder from 2009 was competing but sadly this time Charles Somerset in LOUDWATER had to retire from the final contest having gained third place in the preceding races behind Terry Palmer’s JUST DO IT and ELLE S'APPELLE helmed by Thor Askeland. Mark Baskerville and Steve Sault took the final victory on board HOOLINGKAZAN.

Back at Warsash Sailing Club after racing, the weekly class winners were presented with champagne whilst everyone enjoyed a well-earned rest and time to catch up with sailing friends at the beginning of the new season. The Warsash Spring Series runs on Sundays until 25th April, with a break for Easter. New entries are welcome and enquiries can be made to Warsash Sailing Club on 01489 583575, admin@warsashsc.org.uk or visit  www.warsashspringseries.org.uk.