J/111 Sailing RORC Offshore

(Cowes, IOW, England)- There are over 100 boats bound for Le Havre, France this coming weekend.  Amongst them is Nial Dowling's J/111, ARABELLA making its offshore debut for The Cervantes Trophy.  The race starts Saturday, April 30 from RYS is organised by RORC in association with the Société des Régates du Havre and the Royal Yacht Squadron. The Cervantes Trophy Race marks the start of the RORC European race circuit with eleven races scheduled for destinations in Northern France, Holland, Ireland and many ports of call in the United Kingdom.

The majority of the RORC fleet for the Cervantes Trophy is an eclectic mix of performance cruising boats.  In IRC-2, it has no less than 20 types of yachts, including RORC Commodore Andrew McIrvine's boat. The much travelled Nial Dowling will be racing his new J/111 ARABELLA for the first time offshore and could have a close battle for line honours in class with several other notable 39-42 footers.  An impressive line up in IRC-3 has nine J/109s, including proven competitors such as Robin Taunt's JIBE and Paul Griffith's JAGERBOMB.  The Two-Handed Class, an increasingly popular discipline, has attracted nine yachts for The Cervantes Trophy Race, including Rear Commodore Nick Martin's J/105, DIABLO-J, which won the Cherbourg Race at the end of the 2010 season.  For more RORC Cervantes Trophy sailing information.  Sailing Photo credits- Paul Wyeth- www.pwpictures.com
  

Windy J/Fest San Francisco

Tie-breakers, Tight Racing Define Leaders For J/24s, J/105s, J/120s

(San Francisco, CA)- This year's J/Fest San Francisco with very competitive fleets of J/24s, J/105s and J/120s started out on a typically benign morning for the Bay.  A bit of fog, some sun and forecasts for a "good breeze".  For anyone of you who've ever experienced a "good breeze" in most parts of the world, that usually means something less than the Saffer-Simpson hurricane scale of I and perhaps more like the Beaufort scale of 4 (a nice 13-18 knot wind).  While the first race may have been near forecasts, the afternoon race was anything but-- more like a "gentle gale" in the 22-32+ knot range.  A report follows from Bruce Stone- one who usually sails his own J/105 ARBITRAGE, but turned it over to Nicole Breault while he suffered from pneumonia on a posh Protector RIB.

"Day One of J/Fest on San Francisco Bay started with wind in the high single digits and finished in the low 30’s, taking out quite a few boats along the way with a typical assortment of broaches, breakdowns and shrimped kites.  Bullets in the first two races were scored by Rolf Kaiser’s DONKEY JACK, who lead by impressive margins.  In the last race, BLACKHAWK, skippered by Scooter Simmons, nailed the pin, caught the relief along the shore, and led wire to wire. However, the day belonged to ARBITRAGE skippered by Nicole Breault, she scored three deuces and led by three points over Adam Spiegel’s JAM SESSION, with DONKEY JACK in third.

Day Two was completely different.  The forecast was for lighter winds, mainly high teens, with gusts ONLY hitting mid-20’s-- ya’ gotta love SF Bay!  Big problem for the racers Sunday-- the race committee called for starboard roundings, which made no sense given the tides.  Almost every boat approached windward mark from starboard, had to weave through the boats setting their kites, most of whom wanted to jibe to the flood on the shore-- so picture the route being kind of like a bow-tie.  And, it created too many opportunities for wipe-outs and collisions."

For J/105 sailor Lou Scannon, they had another report for the madding crowd. "J/Fest Day 1 was quite exciting - Race 1 - we led to the first mark both times, but lost at the finish because we went toward the wrong side of the RC and only realized it when it was at 315° or less off the bow and 200 m away.  Crash jibe and lost the kite (started the race in 8kts but it was blowing a steady 20 then) and lost 3 boats.  We would have won.  New crew - 4 new folks on-board so it was a pretty understandable mistake.  We were beating boats that did not take last year off in Taiwan and the guy we were dicin' with has a professional on board, and we had on the old sails, so I am pretty pleased with our speed and boat handling.  She's a fast boat!

At the start of Race 2 we had put up the jib and headed for the pin end for a very conservative start as we were so underweight by then (blowing 25 w/ gusts to 30+) that my goal was survival and to stay clear of everybody.  I have only once sailed in a stronger breeze on the Bay - it was nukin'.  There was a very strong ebb (all the snow melt in the Sierra) with some of the weirdest currents I have ever seen.  A new boat to the fleet decided to try a port-tack start and apparently did not see us.  I hailed starboard 3 times very loud, but they could not hear us.  At the last moment I switched from "Starboard" to "Oh crap &#$%*@--- kaboom".  I pondered heading down, but in hind-sight that would have likely been especially catastrophic as it would have likely been a very high-speed bow-to-bow and rigs might have come down and hull-deck-joins destroyed.  I headed up, tacked and we got hit in the port stern as my boat was rolling over to port in the avoidance tack.  The 3 bow guys got ejected under the lifelines (I did not see or know about it until later - they all hung on and got back on board quickly (without me knowing anything).  We flipped over to port to get the hole up off the water, dropped the jib and then called the RC.  We told them that we needed a tow as the starboard tack back the St Francis YC would have sunk us.  We got towed in and taped up the hole and covered it with the Rolex sticker.  I feel like I should have thrown a handful of Vicoden into the keel sump for the old girl."

After all the chaos and coping with nukin' conditions on the Bay, it was Jeff Litfin and John Case on their J/105 MOJO that keep their nose clean and managed to pull off a 4-5-4-2-1 record for 16 points-- starting out the day in fourth and rising to the top in the difficult conditions on day 2.  Second in the 105s was Scooter Simmons on BLACKHAWK with a 5-7-1-4-4 record, another phoenix arising from the ashes of the first day to rocket from fifth day one to silver on the podium.  Only Adam Spiegel's JAM SESSION managed to stay on the podium after the first day-- holy batman, lotsa carnage day two.  The JAM boys got 4 3rds and 9th to tie Scooter but lost on the tie-break.  Fourth was Rolf Kaiser's DONKEY JACK, after seemingly racing untouchable out of the blocks in the first two races with a 1-1, Rolf's gang must've let it get to their heads, amassing a brick-laying record of 8-7-7 to miss third by three points.  And, the luckless maiden getting the real short-end of the stick was Nicole Breault.  After sailing brilliantly on the first day when it was absolutely howling, blowing dogs off chains in the Marina, all kinds of APBs going out for "fifi la piu" the mini-poodle and fair maidens in short-shorts getting blown into the water, it was Nicole who could not overcome a head-to-wind luffing match with an out-of-control J/105 at the last windward mark when she was in third place.  Nicole's 2-2-2-6-14 record was a tough nut to swallow, "watch out", says women sailing's "Terminator", "I'll be back"!!

Having every bit as much fun as the J/105s were the fleet of J/120s that were starting in front of the J/105 madness.  Behind all of them witnessing the carnage were the J/24s.  One the first day, the J/24s had a ball, nothing if not used to the nukin conditions, the teams sailing these boats had all seen it before.  Though not a "yawner", they did manage to toss in a few broaches for a few green crews getting used to the ropes again.  Rising above the crowd day one happened to be the top three boats fighting it out with each other for braggin rights.  Basically, the top three were all TIED after the first day of two races.  Mike Whitfield's TMC RACING, Don Taylor's ON BELAY and Darren Cumming's DOWNTOWN UPROAR all had four points each.  Scores would have to be settle on the last day.  Indeed, they were.  Mike's TMC RACING team simply took off and got two bullets, scoring a 2-2-1-1 to win with 6 pts.  Second was Don's team ON BELAY with a 3-1-2-3 record for 9 pts and third was Darren's team with a 1-3-3-4 for 11 pts.

The J/120s are a remarkably tight fleet, just about all of them have won the Rolex Big Boat Series at one time or another.  Depending on conditions, crew and solar flares or karma (remember, lots of Northern Lights this past week due to a solar storm enshrouding us all), one team seems to do better than the others.  This weekend it happened to be the MR MAGOO team led by Steve Madeira from Northeast Harbor, ME.  Steve's team led by only a point after the first day, but hung tough on day two to win by four points with a 4-2-1-3-1 record.  John Wimer on DESDEMONA and Don Payan's DAYENU were tied after day one.  But it was John's DESDEMONA team that won the final tie-breaker on the last race!  They had a 5-1-2-1-6 for 15 pts, just to keep everyone on their toes!  Third was Don's DAYENU with a 1-3-4-5-2 for 15 pts.  Only 1 point back was Barry Lewis' CHANCE.   Ultimate Yacht Shots Ultimate J-Sailing photos.  Ultimate Videos/ slideshow from Ultimate YachtShots.  For more J/Fest West San Francisco Bay sailing results  

Strong J Fleet Blasting to Ensenada

(Newport Beach, CA- April 15-17)- A West Coast classic, a 125.5 nm overnight race that provides the perfect mix of fun and adventure as racers decide whether to head off-shore for stronger winds or to sail the rhumb line towards the finish. With over 50 trophy categories and numerous classes the opportunity to "take home the silver" makes this race appealing to all levels of participants. Whether you are a first-time racer or an experienced pro, this one is for you.

The race is sandwiched between some really fun events – something that all sailors like. Enjoy the "Send-Off" Fiesta at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club the night before the race, a long-standing traditional that must be experienced to be believed. The post-race party atmosphere Saturday and Sunday at Race Headquarters, the Bahia Hotel in Ensenada, will definitely make you smile. Plus, a lucky raffle winner will get to ride around in the new Tesla Motors all-electric Roadster for the whole bloody weekend!! By Sunday afternoon, the city of Ensenada pulls out all of the stops and puts on a huge fiesta for racers, crew, family and friends. In the courtyard of the Bahia Hotel, the music rocks, food and drink flows and everyone parties to all hours of the night.  Most importantly, get your picture taken riding the burros! A Kodak moment to memorialize for your Facebook pals you actually went there to race, not to party.

Amongst the 175 entries is a large and strong contingent of J sailors.  Perhaps leading the charge down the coast for the J/Fleet will be the four "superfast" J's in Sprit A class.  Never to shy away from a fun challenge is perennial front-runner Tom Holthus on his well-campaigned, TransPac winning J/145 BAD PAK from San Diego YC.  Yet another J/145 vying for honors will be Santa Barbara YC's team of Poppe/ Parks sailing with a good crew aboard SEQUOYAH.  Nipping at their heels like a mad dog with a bone in its teeth will be Mark Surber's J/125 DERIVATIVE from CORYC.  Cruising in serious comfort and giving all these J "sleds" a case of anxiety attacks (depending on conditions, of course) will be Paul Marais's gorgeous J/160 INDIGO from SYC-LB.  And, just to keep these trophy-hunters honest will be a J/130 sailed by yet another good crew from Santa Barbara YC, Chuck Browning and gang aboard BEBE.

Leading the charge in Sprit B class will be two J/120s, BARAKA sailed by Janet Mostafa from Balboa YC and FEE EVENT raced by Chuck Wert from BCYC.  Along with them will be two J/105s, ROCINANTE's Juan Lois from SBYRC and LUCKY STAR's Mark Wyland from ALYC.  Spread across other parts of the PHRF classes are the following:  Seth Hall's J/124 MARISOL from CYA, Larry Leveille's J/29 RUSH STREET (last year's Kings Harbor Race Winner) from Santa Barbara YC and Tom Lehtonen's J/30 EGGEMOGIN from SBYRC.  Any one of these boats has the ability to upset the proverbial "apple cart" for the big boys-- won't be the first time a J/29 or J/30 has spoiled the party.   For more Ensenda Race sailing information  

Warsash Spring Championship Enjoy Champagne Sailing

(Warsash, Southampton Water, England- April 9-10)- It was a busy weekend for Warsash Sailing Club when Saturday racing for the Spring Championship was added to the penultimate gathering of the Spring Series on Sunday. On Saturday the Solent provided “champagne sailing” – a sparkling day with a perfect sailing breeze. Sunday was a time for patience.  The weather forecast for the weekend proved very accurate, promising quite different conditions for the two days. Saturday brought a south-easterly 10-15 knots blowing in from the Nab Tower direction. Overnight the high pressure built and Sunday morning saw the same blue skies but with very little wind.

The Spring Championship got off to an excellent start with testing but ideal conditions. Course setting was comparatively easy for the race officers in the steady breeze. The Black Group Spring Championship classes were divided into Big Boats 1 and 2 and J/109s. Race Officers David Greenway and Peter Bateson used laid marks to adjust the length of the beats and runs for the different classes and efficiently completed four races. Peter Knight was overseeing the sportsboat classes for J/80s with a race track set up in the entrance to Southampton Water.  Again the full schedule finished just in time for everyone to be back in the clubhouse to watch the Grand National.

In Black Group the tightest competition came in BB2’s second race with Jammy Dodger (J/133 – Neil Martin) getting third by two seconds. In the J/109s Velvet Elvis and J/Dream could not be separated with identical score-lines of two wins and two second places.

In White Group, three boats opened up a small advantage in the J/80 class after their four races. Patrick Liardet (Aqua-J) led by one point from Dan Brown (Henri Lloyd Shockwave) with Tony Hanlon’s RAF team on Spitfire a further point away.

On Sunday, the television reported that the temperature in Bournemouth was higher than in Bermuda!! In the Solent the high pressure system resulted in brilliant sunshine but virtually no wind. Competitors and race officers had a long wait whilst some skippers carried out housekeeping jobs aloft on the rig and others read the Sunday papers. During long postponements like this it is customary for some crews to enjoy a swim, but not usually during the Spring Series when the water temperature is 10 degrees Celsius!

It was an agonizing time for the race officers hoping for the breeze to be sustained above 5 knots and from a steady direction. The mark laying boats were constantly being sent off in readiness only to return when the fickle breeze spun round and back. Just after noon, Black Group PRO David Greenway and his team stationed near Universal Marina buoy took the brave decision to get racing underway in a very localized south-easterly gusting to 6 knots. Classes were combined into three starts with the time limit extended to two and a half hours. IRC1 were set a laid windward mark just north of the Ryde Middle Bank followed by a run to Fastnet, beat to North East Ryde Middle and three further laid marks finishing near the start.

The first start comprised IRC1 and both “Big Boat” classes. The ODM end of the line was favored by many. Two were caught out as OCS but only Neil Kipling’s J/122 JOOPSTER failed to return although she is contesting this. On the next start, for IRC2 and the J/109s, the committee boat end held the most attraction but with such a large number of boats, the fleet was spread evenly along the line by the gun. Finally, at 1250 it was the turn of IRC3 who got clean away. The breeze held whilst the boats were beating and, with a weather-going tide, everyone made the top mark in reasonable time. The bigger boats in the first race made good progress but as they started their second beat the wind was already fading and their course was shortened at the end of the next run which enabled everyone to record a valid finish.

For the smaller boats in the second and third starts, life was more difficult. The boats were slowing down by the windward mark and progress was painfully slow on the run which sometimes turned into a shy spinnaker reach to Hamble Yacht Services where the course was shortened.  Two factors were critical. Gaining clean air was vital with so many boats sailing lower trying to gain an advantage only to find that the wind shadows from the boats above them extended much further than normal and the increased adverse tidal flow held them back. The other element was to choose the correct time to gybe along the mainland shore. Those that got it right made significant gains.

For the J/109s, VELVET ELVIS winning scoreline was a 1-2-1-2-2 for 8 pts.  Second was David and Kirsty Apthorp's team on J-DREAM starting to hit their stride and get a tally of a 2-1-2-1-5 for 11 pts to just lose out on the last race of the weekend.  Lying third was Richard and Valerie Griffith's OUTRAJEOUS with a 3-3-5-4-3 record for 18 pts.

Amongst the Big Boats, the J/122 JINJA sailed by Ian Matthews managed to get a consistent 2-8-2-3-4 score for 19 points.  Short of a regrettable "toss race" with their 8th, they sailed solidly enough to be a winner for the Spring Champs.

The fourteen boat J/80 class saw the Spring Series leader AQUA-J sailed by Patrick Liardet continue to show their winning form in the Spring Championship.  With a 2-1-1-4 score for 8 pts they just nipped out Dan Brown's up and coming HENRI LLOYD SHOCKWAVE team that had a 1-3-2-3 score for 9 pts.  Showing renewed vigor and aggressiveness, the Royal Air Force Team on SPITFIRE led by Tony Hanlon came out firing on all cylinders, getting a 4-2-3-1 to show strong improvement over the course of the weekend to get third with 10 pts.  Fourth was fall Hamble Winter Series champion John Cooper on OI! with a 3-5-4-5 tally for 17 pts and fifth was Paul Heys and Stew Hawthorn on JUMPIN JENGA with a 6-7-5-2 score line for  20 pts.   Sailing Photo Credits- Eddie Mays.    For more Warsash Spring Series sailing results.  

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.