J/111s Sweep Bayview-Mackinac

(Mackinac Island, MI)- It was a fantastic tour'de'force for the 35 foot J designs in this year's Bell's Beer Bayview-Mackinac Island race.  Winds for the 221 boat fleet were as predicted for the 87th sailing of the Bell's Beer Bayview Race to Mackinac. They were light to non-existent at the starts, causing three delays in getting the boats off. Racers out on the race course reported  there was little or no wind, especially for the boats with earlier starts.  Most people were hoping that thunderstorms predicted for later tonight and Sunday night would bring more wind. Getting wet isn't a problem; they expect to get wet at some point during this race. But they also want some wind to help make the race more fun.  Earlier, it was a warm and overcast morning when the boats were leaving Port Huron's Black River for the annual Bells Beer Bayview Mackinac Race.  An announcer called out each boat as they passed on their way out to the race course on Lake Huron. A bagpipe band on the balcony of the Port Huron Yacht Club piped the sailors out on their voyage.

After their terrific performance in the Chicago-Mackinac Race (3rd in class), Harbor Springs, MI native Dave Irish and his team also sailed their J/111 NO SURPRISE in this year's Bayview-Mac.  Said Dave, "After a slow start, boats enjoyed much better conditions for sailing in the early hours Sunday. Some thunderstorms did materialize late Saturday near the tip of the Thumb area (SW part of Lake Huron) but missed the vast majority of the boats headed northeast up the track.  But the storms did bring some much needed wind, which was welcome after an agonizingly still race day on Saturday.  Winds approached 15-25 knots for most of the day Sunday, from the east, which helped boats considerably.  We spent a whole lot of time in the light running on Saturday, mostly on starboard.  I don't recall that we saw SW, maybe during the night, but most of that was done with the wind backed into the Easterly Quadrant, which became brisk with jib reaching/fetching in a strong easterly breeze.  After the Cove Island buoy up near the Canadian Manitoulin Islands, we ran west towards Mackinac Island with fresh NE wind using our North 2A "middle chute" (the big one).  From there, with the wind shutting down gradually to a light NE, then light NW, then at dawn the Westerly filled for a two-sided beat into the finish line for us."

Overall, J's did incredibly well, taking into account the fact that all boats had to sail in the variable winds beating, reaching and running-- the strong suit of good all-round designs. Leading the pack into Mackinac was the J/145  VORTICES sailed by Chris Saxton and crew, getting second in IRC B class and 5th overall IRC, covering the long Cove Island course in 37:49:17.  Not too far behind VORTICES were a trio of J/111s sailing in IRC C Class.  Remarkably, the J/111s swept IRC C class taking 1-2-3 on the podium and were led home by Dave Irish's NO SURPRISE in first (14th Overall IRC), followed by Steve Dabrowski's NIGHT HAWK in second and Tim Clayson's UNPLUGGED in third.  In IRC D Class, Jimmy Mitchell's crew on the J/109 VANDA III simply crushed their class, winning by a corrected time of 6:35:49 and finishing 16th overall behind the J/111 NO SURPRISE.

Sailing photo credits- PhotoElements.com- Martin Chumiecki   For more Bayview-Mackinac Race sailing information

  

Cowes Week- The Pinnacle of J-UK Summer

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- Since 1826 Cowes Week has played a key part in the British sporting summer calendar and is one of the UK’s longest running and most successful sporting events. It now stages up to 40 daily races for around 1,000 boats and is the largest sailing regatta of its kind in the world.  Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week, as the event is now known, is a fusion of many exciting elements, with its great mix of competitive sailing and social activities. The 8,500 competitors range from Olympic and world class professionals to weekend sailors.  In excess of 100,000 spectators come to watch the sailing, enjoy the parties and live entertainment, and to experience the unique atmosphere. It is genuinely a one-of-a-kind event.

In attendance are throngs of J sailors sailing on eighty-six J's ranging from J/80s to J/133s looking forward to the challenging racing on the capricious Solent, renowned for its wild currents and eddies, and engaging in the navigational puzzles every day of "what's the course and where's the bloody mark"!?  Many a Cowes Week has been blown either by misguiding the rounding of a mark in 5 knots adverse current or simply missing one altogether!

IRC Class along will have 32 J's sailing in a fleet of 207 boats, or about 15% of the fleet.  Sure to be a factor will be the two J/111s, SHMOKING JOE (Duncan McDonald and Phil Thomas- recent IRC Class winners in the Round Island Race) and the newly launched J-XCENTRIC (John van der Starre & Robin Verhoef who will also be sailing the Fastnet Race Double-handed!).  Then, the winning J/122 JINJA (Ian Matthews) will keep everyone honest and perhaps win a race or two and take a podium finish! Two other well-sailed J/133s- JINGS (David Ballantyne) and JIVARO (Yves Grosjean) have proven their capabilities to win races both around-the-cans and offshore.  This group is a tough one to put down a "betting line" on since just about everyone has won something in the recent past!   For more Cowes Race Week sailing information

  

The J-Cup 2011 – A Channel Island Idyll

(St Peter Port, Guernsey)- The J-Cup 2011, our tenth anniversary regatta, was brought to you by the principal event sponsors B&G, Dubarry of Ireland, Lombard Marine Finance, North Sails, Universal Marina and Nautical Guernsey, and was supported by Ray and Scott, Zenith Watches and Harken. The indisputable stars of the show were, as ever, the 350 J Boat owners and crew who made it happen. The J-Cup 2011 was won by Andy Howe, Annie Kelly and the crew on the J/92 Blackjack. The 2011 Lombard Marine Finance J/97 UK National Champions are Grant Gordon and his team on Fever.

The final day of racing at the J-Cup 2011, hosted by the Guernsey Yacht Club, took place on Thursday in The Little Russell just off St Peter Port. The breeze was a light 6 to 10 knot north westerly. Whilst the PRO had planned to run three races for each of the four competing classes but the dying breeze and the fact that the fleet had their monster J-Cup Prize-giving Party scheduled for later in the day meant that two races were sailed and the fleet were sent home in good time for tea and medals at 1300 hours.

The two top boats in IRC 1 as set off for the two final races on Thursday were Nigel and Donna Passmore’s J/133 Apollo 3 in first place and Rob Craigie’s J/122 J Bellino in second, each tied on nine points. Key Yachting’s J/111 J Spirit was in third with twelve points and Colin Wall’s J/111 True Love had fourteen points. Tricky, sticky, light stuff for two races and it was ‘All Change’ in IRC 1 at the end of the seven race series. True Love won both races on Thursday which shot them into the top slot for IRC 1. Apollo 3 finished second in class, on equal points with the winner and only losing out to True Love on the count-back for number of race wins! J Bellino took third in class. The North Sails Boat of the Day Prize for IRC 1 was presented to David Cule’s J/122 Mint Julep.

As the 350 J-Cup 2011 prize-giving party-goers took their seats at their dinner tables on Thursday night, everyone of course knew who had won each of the competing classes, and the champagne duly flowed freely. However, those who have never attended this epic event in the past were blissfully unaware of the sheer number and variety of seriously significant prizes and awards that were yet to be presented to a whole host of winners.

As supper commenced so did a game of ‘Heads and Tails’ the like of which most of us had never previously experienced. Ray and Scott (a specialist jeweller and diamond specialist on Guernsey) had arranged with Zenith Watches to offer a beautiful and extremely valuable Zenith Watch in response to donations from the J-Cup fleet for their chosen charity, Toe In The Water. Everyone present made a donation to Toe in the Water by way of an ‘entry fee’ to the game  and then 350 sailors stood on chairs to make their ‘heads or tails’ calls as the coin was tossed by Jeff Fox of Ray and Scott. After much hilarity, Paul England of the J/122 Majic won the Zenith Watch. However, the real winners here are the injured servicemen and women whom Toe in the Water help to rehabilitate through the sport of Sailing. Toe in the Water is £1773 better off today, thanks to the generosity of Zenith Watches, Ray and Scott and the J-Cup fleet. What a way to go!

The presentation of the main prizes commenced at 2130 hours and all of those who had achieved third or better in their class were presented with silver, glass and goodies. The beautiful, silver Lombard J/97 UK National Championship Trophy was presented to Grant Gordon and his crew on Fever. The Dubarry Boot for Endurance went to Andrew Given and his crew from J/109 High Tension, long term stalwarts and supporters of the J/1089 fleet and Martin Pound of the J/92 Moby-J was presented with the Dubarry Boot for Outstanding Achievement. The Best Newcomer Trophy went to Stuart Sawyer and his Cornishmen on the J/97 Black Dog. The best two boat team was that of J/109 Victric and J/111 True Love and they took home the Musketeer Trophy, a double champagne ice bucket. Jackie Dobson and the crew from J/133 Jeronimo won the stunning Ray and Scott Prix d’Elegance Trophy. Universal Marina gave away a year’s free berthing at their exquisite facility at the top of the river Hamble to Jamie Arnell for his J/109 Jeez Louise, who was the eventual winner of their photo competition.

And so, that just left the presentation of the J-Cup itself, the overall and most coveted prize of the whole regatta. In ten years of running the J-Cup regatta, the J-Cup has never been awarded to the same boat or the same team, twice. It’s just a very simple piece of silverware but it embodies the soul of the J-Cup regatta and of the unique spirit of friendship, competition and camaraderie which exists between J Boat owners. The winners of the J-Cup in 2011 were Andy, Annie and the crew from Blackjack: for their win in IRC 2, for their support of the J/92 Class over the years and for their unfaltering friendship to all newcomers to the J Boat family. Isn’t that what our sport should be about?

The J-Cup 2012 will be hosted by the Royal Southern Yacht Club in Hamble from Wednesday 18th July to Saturday 21st of July. You have to be in it, to win it.   For more J-Cup sailing information.  Sailing photo credits- Tim Wright/ Photoaction.com

  

J/111 KASHMIR Wins Epic Chicago-Mac Race!

(Chicago, IL)- This year's Chicago to Mackinac Island 289 nm dash was a tale of two races, the "haves" (the big fast boats) and the "have nots" (the smaller boats).  For the 361 sailboats entered (about 1/3 J/Boats), the first 30 hours after the starts at noon Saturday were near postcard perfect, Chamber of Commerce sailing. No bugs, plenty of breeze from the right angle, a kindly sea-state, warm air and brightly colored spinnakers punctuating the horizon as far as the eye could see. Nothing broken about this picture at all-- yet.  However, about midnight Sunday/ early Monday the dogs came howling off their chains and the lights went out. At the time, the 18-22 knots southwest breezes saw a large part of the Mackinac fleet sailing on port gybe headed from the Point Betsie turning point up through the Manitou Island Straits and headed to Grey's Reef Lighthouse- a 50 mile stretch of water.  Then, all hell brook loose and the maelstrom struck. Sheet lighting started illuminating the sky and it became a mad scramble aboard most boats to get the spinnakers down and either batten-down the hatches (and crew) or hoist heavy-air sails and press-on regardless through the storm.

Sailing on the J/111 NO SURPRISE was legendary Great Lakes yachtsman (and winner of multiple Mac Races), Dave Irish from Harbor Springs, Michigan.  Dave's commentary is both insightful and helpful:  "The race started with 230 miles more or less of running, from light to over 20kts of warm and pleasant wind. In the higher wind, with good sea running, we heated the angle significantly up to 150-155 TWA, and using the waves, sailed at speeds in the teens. We made significant gains on boats sailing conventional downwind angles. Fun and active too.

The real story of the race was the weather at the north end of the lake. The whole middle of the fleet, maybe over 100 boats, were hit with severe weather in the middle of the night, which resulted in the loss of two lives.  My call is that we had a 60 knot hit. The wind would move your body, it was necessary to hold on. The big wind was preceded by an hour of incredible electrical activity. It was clear we were in for a "pasting", but as usual it is difficult to tell when it will hit, especially when it's pitch black outside, and in the meantime there was racing to be done.

As the inevitable neared we got the spinnaker off, the #3 jib on, and of course Spinlock deck-vests on with tethers. The wind came and the boat laid down, rig near but not in the water. Lots of white water in the air and no clear line between. I won’t claim actual control, but the boat took care of us until there was a little moderation and it was possible for the crew to move and act.

Reefing: We have only one mainsail reef, and it is 2.5 meters deep, big enough to make a difference. So two crew members proceeded to pull in the reef, one easing the halyard (on a winch), and one grinding in the single reef line, (also on its own winch). We had opted for the Antal cars on the luff so that part of the sail was under control as well. It is just a routine operation to reef the boat in those conditions, with no-one outside the cockpit. I think we partially rolled the jib. But within a short period of time the boat was all snugged down and we were back at work sailing towards Grey's Reef.

I have known fear on the water, but not this time, and not in this boat (have sailed over 60 years).  The J/111 was amazing.  It was under us, did not demand that we do dangerous things to manage it, and only had to be taken out of race mode for a few minutes. This weekend we race the Lake Huron Mac race, the boat arrived in Port Huron last evening, and we are ready to go. Bring it on, we have the weapon to play this game!"

From another perspective was the team on the J/111 IMPULSE sailed by George Miz, Peter Dreher and Mark Hatfield.  Said George, "This boat certainly had the fun meter pegged in the 'red' all of Sunday afternoon on the Mac. We had 3 consecutive drivers hit 18+ kts in 20-25 kts of breeze and in full control. The boat just likes to go fast with none of the drama we've dealt with on previous boats (George is a former Farr 395 owner)."

Adding to George's commentary was Karl Brummel on KASHMIR, stating that "the boat was fantastic in a variety of conditions. Saturday we were doing 6-7 kts boat speed in 4-5 kts wind with Code Zero. Sunday we were killing it 10-15 kts downhill in 20-28 kts wind with the 2A asym up.  Sunday, after we went storming by a well-sailed Farr 395 at 11-15 kts boat speed/ 155-165 TWA, I said, 'We should have named this boat HORIZON JOB.'"

During the early stages of the race, it was apparent the strategies that were unfolding for the sailors headed north were the following:  a) sail the classic rhumbline of 21 degrees from Chicago to Pt Betsie,  b) sail West and up the Illinois/ Wisconsin shoreline in a "thermal" scenario based on various forecasters prognostications, or c) toss everything out the window (ignore all forecasts) and sail at least as high as rhumbline and head east overnight to be on the eastern lake/ west Michigan shoreline to take advantage of southerly breezes accelerating along the shoreline due to the massive heating of the Michigan sand dunes during Sunday's sailing.  Post-race analysis showed the best scenario was a combination of the 1st and 3rd options-- a very bizarre circumstance considering the pre-race forecasts from leading offshore weather routers that recommended staying west of rhumbline and away from the middle of the lake at night!  The boats that worked further east saw more easterly breezes (75-110 degrees) with more pressure until it went light, swung south and accelerated Sunday morning.  The boats that worked west saw the forecasted SSW winds of 7 to 14 knots and sailed mostly 6.5 to 8.5 knots all night long (albeit on a much longer routing).

Off the starting line for the J/111's it was clear the fleet was split on strategy as outlined in the 3 approaches to the race above.  KASHMIR sailed by the team of Brummel/Henderson/Mayer that won Class 3 started at the starboard end with a Code Zero and simply sailed down rhumbline and ultimately worked further east.  Near them was Steve Dabrowski's and Tom Edman's team on NIGHTHAWK that finished 7th.  Going north/northeast just west of rhumb was NO SURPRISE sailed by Dave Irish that finished 3rd, but Dave made it pay by sailing more aggressively downwind (as mentioned above) when the wind hit the high teens/ low twenties and they moved into "planing mode" to pass other boats like they were pylons on a race course.  Near them was Thomas and Carol McIntosh's team on MISTY that finished 10th, sailing a bit more conservatively than most and apparently not taking advantage of "planing mode" to make large gains.  Headed the most westward, heading due north after the start were MENTAL and IMPULSE.  MENTAL was sailed by Paul Stahlberg, Richie Stearns and father Dick Stearns, taking the northernmost route and finished 14th (modified based on a time award for helping with the rescue efforts of the capsized boat WINGNUTS).  IMPULSE, sailed by George Miz, Peter Dreher, Mark Hatfield started north, but bailed at Sheboygan and played gybe angles across the lake to Pt Betsie, ultimately sailing for over 80 nm on starboard gybe at speeds up to 18 knots before having to gybe down the Manitous Islands channel northeast of Pt Betsie, finishing 11th in class.

 For more Chicago-Mackinac Race sailing information

  

Ugotta Regatta 35' One-Designs

J/111, J/105, J/35 Racing!
 (Harbor Springs, MI)- How do you spell fun?  Jump into one of three generations of 35 foot J racers in one of the prettiest regatta venues on the planet- Little Traverse Bay near Harbor Springs, MI.  Imagine pristine light blue Caribbean-colored waters, good sea-breezes most days and a great program for on-shore festivities and entertainment, you just can't miss.

The annual Harbor Springs Regatta, renamed to Ugotta Regatta, reflects the camaraderie and enjoyable spirit of Midwestern sailing on the Great Lakes.  With such a short summer sailing season of only three (max 4) months, Midwestern sailors absolutely make the most of any good weather and awesome sailing conditions Mother Nature dishes out for them.  More often than not, the town of Harbor Springs rolls out the red carpet for sailors and, coincidentally, the sometimes capricious Midwestern weather seems to cooperate.  Let's hope for more good stuff for this event.

For the first time,  there will be fleets of J/111s, J/105s and J/35s sailing as one-design classes in one event.  The same six J/111s that sailed the Chicago-Mackinac Race will also be lining up to determine who's the around-the-cans champion after their long offshore tests the previous weekends.  While KASHMIR won the Chicago-Mac Race (and the SW NOOD Regatta), expect to see IMPULSE, MENTAL, MISTY, NIGHT HAWK and, especially, local favorite and local sailing hero Dave Irish give them all a run for the money on NO SURPRISE.

In the J/35s, you'll see Larry Taunt's BAD DOG, Ed Baye's FALCON, Melia Carter's SPECIAL K, Larry Schell's TOUCH OF GREY and Gregg Whipple's WHIPLASH all fighting it out for the podium, all equally capable of grabbing the brass ring.

The J/105s will see Kevin Farrell's BANSHEE, Carter Williams' CREATIVE DESTRUCTION, Clarence Holman's EXIT STRATEGY, Bill Petzold's GREEN FLASH, Mary Symonds' PTERODACTYL and Richard Lehmann's WIND CZAR also having fun trying to overcome CREATIVE DESTRUCTION's and GREEN FLASH's local knowledge to bring home some silverware and pickle dishes.   For more Ugotta Regatta sailing information

  

J/111 JAKE Cruises Australia Debut

(Sydney Harbour, Australia- July 8th)- With clear blue skies and a gusty westerly wind averaging 13 to 16 knots, the first J/111 into Australia managed to fit in one of the last winter series club races before the season ends and still allows time to participate in the Sydney International Boat Show. There was time for a quick test sail during the week to make sure all was working after commissioning and tweak the rig with a superb set of sails from the Ian Short sail loft.

The crew met at the CYCA dock and interested sailors passing by delayed departure time for the race with Sydney Amateurs Sailing Club based in Cremorne across the harbour but we made the start line in Athol Bay close to Taronga Zoo just in time.

With a mixture of forty-plus footers to well sailed modified sport boats in the division before we knew it we were off.  Great start at the committee boat end and heading West up the harbour trying to spot the club top mark in Neutral Bay. We took a conservative middle lane while concentrating on trimming the boat and getting the feel of her. It was soon apparent we had great speed and height and were first around the top mark. Bear away set onto a starboard run down the harbour to Rose Bay and staying in the channel of wind we noted on the beat. Kite up and pulling then no wind, the channel of wind was moving  north, no problem lets gybe--- calamity, “we can’t gybe” comes  the call  from the bow.
The starboard  sheet has tangled and requires re running.  We stay on our current course sailing into an ever decreasing wind pattern  in the  shifty Sydney Harbour westerly and watch as the boats behind set spinnakers and power down the harbour in the new wind lane. A few minutes later we gybe and the race is well and truly on again.

Back in 6th place but in the same pressure as our competitors the J/111 starts to light up and we rapidly start to gain on the front runners.  Into the Rose Bay bottom mark dousing the spinnaker we find ourselves in 3rd place.

We settle into the beat back up the harbour and find the sweet spot of the J/111. Despite the gusty weather we are tracking between 7.1 and 7.5 knots and pointing high. By the second time around the top mark we are back in the lead and no mistakes on the run/ reach  back towards Sow and Pigs reef where a gust gave us a glimpse of 14 knots boat speed with the 130 sqm. running kite set.  We round the bottom mark and are close reaching towards the next mark at Shark Island.  Another potential calamity but this time in the form of a Flying Tiger on port tack in a wild broach coming down the run on its side but still scooting across the water.  Thanks to our extensive avoiding maneuvers it missed us by a few feet (barely!!). 

We leave Shark Island to starboard and look for the finish line close to the zoo. The next boat through is 6 minutes later. We’ve been racing for 88 minutes and wishing the race had another lap.

A resounding success for the J/111’s first race in Australia. Our warm glow and total enjoyment of the boat is fueled by the fact we know there is more performance to come as we learn this easy to sail 36 foot speedster.

If you would like to have a closer look at this exceptional boat she will be on the J/Boat stand in  the Sydney international Boat show alongside the J/80  in pen 35 & 36  on the Cockle Bay side of Darling Harbour.  Or alternatively call YachtSpot for a private viewing.

  

Wicked Good Round The Island Race!

J/111 & J/122 Lead Around The Vineyard
(Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard)- Edgartown Yacht Club held its first race around Martha’s Vineyard Island in the summer of 1938, and except for the years of the Second World War the race has been an annual event since then.  The 52 nm course is a splendid sail.  It is reminiscent of the race around the Isle of Wight in England, which was the course of the first America’s Cup.  The distance around Martha’s Vineyard is similar (only a few miles longer); both courses have views of cliffs, headlands, villages and open water; and the tidal currents and wind effects are important in both. The course around the Vineyard passes in sight of the seven lighthouses of Cape Poge, Gay Head, Tarpaulin Cove, Nobska, West Chop, East Chop and Edgartown.  In the morning the fleet sails between Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket along the east beach of Chappaquiddick. At midday they are in the open Atlantic Ocean with views of the south coast of the Vineyard.  In the afternoon, rounding the gorgeous cliffs of Gay Head, the fleet sails up Vineyard Sound which was the second busiest body of water in the world during the age of sail.

The report from Doug Curtiss aboard WICKED 2.0 gives you a great perspective on what it's like to sail the race: "After a short upwind beat, we sailed down the channel between MVY and ACK with chutes set.   We reached the sea buoy ahead of the larger faster J/122 PUGWASH sailed by David Murphy.  She became our sparing partner for the rest of the day.

The breeze freshened out of the West, so we had a long beat to windward for the 22 miles down the South Shore.  We made the turn at Gay Head about 3 minutes behind PUGWASH which put us in very good spot as she owed us about 10 minutes corrected time after a 52 nm race.

We tacked down wind along the North Shore. We held our own until PUGWASH caught some extra tide lift at Middleground by going outside near the shoal where the tide runs stronger.  She lead by about 4 minutes as we came past East Chop and headed to Edgartown.

Then disaster.  The steady 10 knots out the West we had enjoyed all day began to die, and we saw the big boats out ahead starting to dump their chutes.  The breeze came in from the East Northeast almost 180 degrees the opposite direction, with a big calm doldrums in between.  We held our spinnaker as long as possible in the old breeze, but then got parked for almost 30 minutes with very little movement.  PUGWASH was to windward and in the new breeze.  She sailed off out of site to the finish.

We were very happy with a second at the end of the day.  Anytime you can knock off a Jim Swartz TP52 VESPER that sails away over the horizon, that is a good day.  But the real test was against the larger and faster J/122.  Dave Murphy's PUGWASH is a well sailed boat and we were in the hunt till the very end.  Hoping for a rematch at Buzzard's Bay Regatta in August!"

After PUGWASH's victory and WICKED 2.0 finishing second in PHRF class, other J's sailing in PHRF A included 3rd place finisher URSUS MARITIMUS, a J/120 sailed by Jim Masiero, beating out the world-famous VESPER/QUANTUM RACING TP52 sailed by Jim Swartz (a California VC renowned for making the first investment into FACEBOOK!).  Fifth was yet another J/120, Stephen Besse's APRES.

In PHRF B, Ted Herlihy's J/109 GUT FEELING walked off with handicap honors in their class.  Lying sixth was Nick Aswad's J/105 CLIO and in eighth was Bill Veno's J/130 WALTZING MATILDA.

In PHRF C Non-spinnaker cruising division, the two J/42s sailed all the way around the island seemingly glued to one another.  Gaining the upper hand at the end was Tom Townsend's WINDSLIPPER, giving the slip to their earnest colleagues, Kent Nicholas' PANASEA, to finish 4th and 5th respectively.   For more Round the Island Race sailing information

  

J/111 Speedster @ San Diego Show

(San Diego, CA)- This weekend, from July 14th to 17th, JK3 Yachting will be hosting an on-going introduction party at the San Diego Boat Show for any of you who wish to take an up close and personal look at the J/111 in San Diego.  For anyone in southwest America, it's a great opportunity to drop in and talk to J/111 sailors who can describe that rare and unique experience that is J/111-- a truly modern, fun, fast, easy-to-handle "offshore sportboat" that has 6 foot standing headroom and enough room to have a party comfortably in the main cockpit or down below around the enormous main cabin.  Take a peak, you won't be disappointed!  For those who've experienced 15-23 knots offshore downwind on a J/111, they simply cannot believe that comfort and speed like this could ever co-exist!  Truly a next-generation offshore speedster and one-design class. For more information, please contact JK3 Yachting- Jeff Brown- ph- 619-224-6200 or email- jeff@jk3yachts.com

  

Great Lakes Offshore Classics

(Chicago, IL and Toronto, ONT)- Coming up next weekend is a "head-to-head" battle between the "classic" or the "longest" Great Lakes race in the great American Midwest.  On Saturday, July 16th, two huge events start.  The "grand dame" and perhaps the most prestigious is the Chicago to Mackinac Race- a 289 nm classic that basically pits the best-of-the-best offshore sailors from the western Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie) and the other is the Lake Ontario 300- a 300 nm race around buoys in Lake Ontario.

CHICAGO-MACKINAC RACE
The fleets to follow will be the fourteen J/105s, fourteen J/109s and the J/111s.

Amongst the new J/111s, sailing in Section 3 will be six very well sailed boats.  It's not certain amongst this new group who will factor into the lead boats, but certainly all have amongst their teams crew who've won several Chicago-Macs amongst them, both in class as well as overall!!  On MENTAL sailed by Paul Stahlberg (pictured here) you have multiple Mac winners Richie and Lori Stearns and Richie's father Dick Stearns.  On KASHMIR sailed by the team of Brummel/Henderson/Mayer you have local J/105 class and Mac champions racing the boat.  On NO SURPRISE, you have renowned, legendary Great Lakes offshore sailor Dave Irish from Harbor Springs.  Finally, on IMPULSE sailed by George Miz, Peter Dreher, Mark Hatfield you have Stu Johnstone helping on tactics/navigation.  Quite an impressive line-up and along with them are also Thomas and Carol McIntosh's team MISTY and Steve Dabrowski's team on NIGHTHAWK who have put together equally strong crews.  It should be interesting as all boats are fast enough to take class, if not division or overall.

PORT HURON-MACKINAC RACE
Following these two big Lakes races is the Port Huron-Mackinac starting on July 23rd.  The longest consecutively running freshwater long-distance race since 1925. Of 222 boats entered, J's sailing in IRC B include the J/44 SAGITTA (John Soames/ Larry Oswald), J/145 VORTICES (Chris Saxton); in IRC C there will be THREE J/111s, including NIGHTHAWK (Steve Dabrowski), NO SURPRISE (Dave Irish) and UNPLUGGED (Tim Clayson); in IRC D the J/109 VANDA (Jim Mitchell and Jack Toliver) and the J/33 (Dick & Dan Synowiec); eight J/35s sailing in the Class 35 Class including MR BILL'S WILD RIDE (Bill Wildner); six J/120s including class leader ex-Bayview YC Commodore Frank Kern's CARINTHIA in the J/120 Class; five J/105s in the PHRF C Class; and a smattering of J's in other classes including a J/100, J/42 and J/40.    For more Port Huron-Mackinac Race sailing information

  

SHMOKING Round Island Race

J/111 Wins IRC 1 Overall!
(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- The famous Around Island Race, an epic 50 nautical mile adventure that is also the original "America's Cup race track", was run this year with nearly 2,000 entries from all over the world (1,908 to be exact).  And, the brand-spanking new J/111 SHMOKING JOE really did "smoke" the fleet around the 50 nm race-track, and with a no-guts, no-glory approach nearly pulled off the overall win for the Gold Roman Bowl-- missing it by just 11 minutes!

Weather is always a major factor in a race of this size and stature. Saturday's forecast was particularly important given the vast number of yachts starting off the Royal Yacht Squadron's famous starting line in front of Cowes' equally famous waterfront walk- "The Parade".  Although some of the smaller boats felt it best to withdraw owing to threats of bad weather, the bulk of the record-breaking fleet of 1900 plus yachts turned up to take part in this historic event, the fourth largest participation sporting occasion in the UK. Some 16,000 sailors faced wind speeds of up to 28 knots and there were huge swells up to 20 feet to contend with off the Needles and at St. Catherine's as the record-breaking fleet undertook this most famous westabout Island circumnavigation on Saturday.  In short, the race was a blast through waves upwind to the infamous Needles, then flying downwind at enormous surfing speeds down around St Cats to the Forts and a final near fetch home to the start/finish line off Cowes-- one of those rare races where the weather Gods simply provided epic conditions and record speeds around one of the world's best "round island" races.

At the end of it all, it was an "epic first voyage" for the brand spanking new (barely 24 hours old in the water) J/111 called SHMOKING JOE sailed by sailed Phil Thomas and Duncan McDonald-- they not only managed to finish first overall in IRC1 division and 1st in IRC Division 1A, they were also 6th overall in a fleet of 400+ IRC boats! Read more about their story in the riveting account outlined below in the J/Community section by Paul Heys- an able and willing deck-hand aboard that maiden voyage.  Just behind them in IRC 1A was the French J/122 NUTMEG IV sailed by Francois Longnone finishing 4th and 14th was the J/133 JERONIMO sailed by Julian James.

 For more Round Island Race sailing information.    A fun YouTube sailing video of the Round Island Race.

  

J One-Design Fun @ BIRW!

J/111 PARTNERSHIP Wins
(Block Island, RI)- It was an epic event, no matter how you looked at this year's Rolex STC Block Island Race Week. The weather Gods tossed just about everything including the "kitchen sink" at the sailors and the PRO/RC all week long.  It was about a tough a BIRW to run for everyone in recent memory, a bit of a Catch-22, "damned if you do, damned if you don't."  Nevertheless, some excellent race management and great PRO work prevailed across all three races courses- so refreshing to see "upfront and personal" communications with the sailors to keep the ball rolling and ensure their opinions and perspectives were addressed--- after all, such events live and die on keeping the sailors happy!  Everyone came to sail and they weren't disappointed.

The Storm Trysail Club’s (STC) 24th biennial Block Island Race Week presented by Rolex by all indications hasn’t lost one bit of charm or competitive appeal in a history that spans more than four and a half decades.  In fact, the five-day competition, originally patterned after Cowes Week, is one of the last true Race Weeks remaining in America, with a dominant theme of hard racing and fine competition supported by a subtext of daily camaraderie in complete informality. The event hosted 134 boats sailing in IRC (four classes), PHRF (five classes) and One-Design (J/44, J/111, J/109 and J/122).

The sailing for the event could not have been more challenging to both competitors and the PRO's alike.  For the first two days, light winds caused delays, but nevertheless resulted in some fantastic sailing conditions late afternoon that, "thank Heaven", the PROs saw to running as many races as possible in the 8-14 knot southerly sea-breezes.  As a result, by the end of day two five races had been run for most courses.  Wednesday was never going to be good day with a rather weird setup for storms, fog, no wind, more rain and more thunderstorms.  Give the PRO's credit for trying, but it was a "no go" rather obviously and rather quickly as racing had to be canceled for more than one reason- no wind, then lightning, then fog, then you name it!  The "onshore" forecast for this day was the classic Block Island libation, the "Mudslide" that flowed by the gallon at Payne's Dock, The Oar Restaurant and Bar and Champlin's Marina-- the famous evening watering holes at the Yellow Kittens and Captain Nicks were over-flowing with fun-loving revelers.  "It is what it is," said Kevin Burnham (Coconut Grove, FL), a Rolex Yachtsman of the Year, top J/24 sailor for years and 470 Men’s Olympic Gold Medalist in the Athens Games sailing in IRC 2. 'We’re here for fun, not for sailing in the rain, so they made the right decision."  Thursday dawned with hung-over crews but a great breeze from the northeast at 10-20 kts being fed by a strong Low offshore-- simply classic conditions for the Around Island Race- a beat to 1-BI bell off the northern shoal, running clockwise around with a fast blast spinnaker reach on the east and south sides followed by a beat to the finish on the west side.  Despite somewhat grey skies, Friday made for great racing in a lingering Northeaster to finish off the week with two solid races across all three race courses.

The four J/111s in PHRF 1 had a great time racing one-design for the first time as a fleet on the East Coast.  Leading after the first two days, David and MaryEllen’s (Fairfield, Conn.) J/111 PARTNERSHIP  (pictured at right) with a 2-2-2-3-3-1 division record for 13 points narrowly lost out on overall division winning, but secured the J/111 one-design win over her three sisterships.  Just 4.5 points back was Doug Curtiss' WICKED 2.0 with a 4-4-1-2-4-2.5 for 17.5 points.  Third was Paul Strauch's ANDIAMO with a 3-3-4-5-2-2.5 for 19.5 points. 
   
For more Rolex STC Block Island Race Week sailing information   Sailing Photo Credits- Rolex/ Daniel Forster and Onne Van Der Wal Photography

  

J/111 SHMOKING JOE- So Young Yet So Fast!

Here's Paul Heys' report on what it was like to sail a brand-spanking new J/111 in that famous Round Island Race (Isle of Wight):  "The new J 111 # 20 arrived a little late from the builders yard J Composite of Les Sables D'Ollonne, France. J Composite had originally hoped to begin delivery of J 111's in April. However in an effort to refine the details of the boat and to "industrialise" the production line so that the boats could be built more accurately, quickly and profitably, more time was taken and hull 1 for Switzerland was only delivered early in May, Hull 2 went to the French Atlantic Coast, Hull 3 was commissioned at the new Key Yachting Scotland base on the Clyde, Hull 4 from France and # 20 of the overall model run, was to be the new Shmoking Joe.

Shmoking Joe is a replacement for the J 90 hull # 1 Joe 90, which since its launch in 1998 had achieved massive success. Sadly a dehumidifier fire caused massive structural damage to Joe 90 last Autumn.

The late delivery of the J 111's meant that the boats maiden regatta kept changing until 10 days ago, it seemed just possible that she would make the Round the Island race which would run on June 25th.

J Composite told us to send the truck in to collect the boat on the 22nd which would result in a delivery to Hamble on Thursday 23rd giving us 2 days to fit electronics and rig and commission her. Then on Wednesday a new problem: the boat was ready the trucker was not. Delayed on another job he would only arrive at the Yard in Les Sables after normal business hours on the 22nd. The yard stepped in and stayed late to get her loaded, ready to roll on Thursday at first light.

With new wide load restrictions in place in France, the trip to the ferry port in Caen took all day Thursday, so we now had a new eta at Hamble of 0700 Friday. This ratcheted up the pressure another few notches.

Pacing the yard like a bunch of expectant fathers at 7 the next morning were the Commissioning team, not knowing that the hauliers had one more delay for us... they had to change tractor units and finally rolled in the door at 8 am. This was 21 hours before she would have to leave the dock for the start of the race.

Now the experience of all involved kicked in, under the watchful eye of Duncan Mcdonald one of the two owners, the Tacktick transducer was mounted with the boat on the truck and in the water she went. The engine fired, the Volvo guys jumped on to inspect and the rig was stepped and dock tuned, 8 guys worked hard that day to install, commission, calibrate, test and inspect.

It went well: the rigging lengths were millimeter perfect, the mast wedge was a little on the tight side, the Tacktick gear fired up first time.

At 4pm after an 8 hr shift we were ready for the sails. 5pm as planned a week earlier, we left the dock on the maiden voyage, to find 20 knots in Southampton Water up went the main.... Perfect fit, then the J3 and we were off. Duncan on the helm, his longtime friend and shipmate Kevin Sproul monitoring the sails produced by his Ultimate loft.

How's the rig Kev? It looks great on starboard, lets check it on port. How's it look on port Kev, perfect. What?? No change required? No the tune put on the dock is absolutely bang on!

6.30 back on the dock, ace electrical Paul Knights was waiting for us with a new chart plotter that had been rushed down from Winchester. Plug her in fire it up. Bingo we are now ready to race.

8pm co owner and fellow medic Phil Thomas arrives from the operating theatre with the safety gear. The team retire to the bar or bed !

RACE DAY-  The forecast was showing a 20-25 knot South Westerly, off the dock at 5:15 motor 100 yds.. Where is the navigator? He was first on board at 4.30 now he's gone missing, back in to the dock to the amusement of our fellow J sailors. Robin ambles down, we hustle him on board, gun it and go.

Duncan makes the introductions, not only a brand new boat but a bunch of people that have not sailed together, however it is a strong team. Duncan allocated the roles, Kevin is to helm for the start and the first part of the beat.

Putting our nose round Calshot and entering the Solent it is clear that the forecast is correct, Kevin calls for the code 3 jib and the code 3 spinnaker, these would be the sails we use all day.

Racing in the Solent, playing the tide is critical, and as ever on this race you want to start in the favourable tide which is strongest on the island Shore.

There are several hundred boats on the start line a great many of them much larger than us. Kevin won us a nice front row start, however not wanting to get gassed by the bigger faster-to-windward boats we initially played the middle of the course trading some tidal advantage for clean air.

Making good progress in the front 10-15% of the fleet, a huge bang resulted in the jib dropping half a metre, as the mast foot halyard block exploded and disappeared. Stuart Miller our commissioning guru had expressed his view that the 6mm pins were inadequate, I had given him my light-boat=light-loads response. Stuart was correct. We re-reeved the halyard through the reef line block and set out to regain the 3 or 4 places lost in the incident. We clamped vise grips to the jib and main halyard blocks to prevent them splaying and a re-occurrence.

Fast progress was made on the beat down the Solent and as the traffic thinned we started to make progress on the pack of 39-43 footers that surrounded us, we arrived at the Needles about 10th of our group.

Bearing away for St Catherines point, the wind was now blowing the forecast 25kts and at 110 true, too far forward for a kite, so with the jib on an outboard lead we set off with the boat-speed around 12 knots.

Moving away from the Needles a bay opens up, we expected that this topography would allow the wind to back in addition to allowing more sea room to drive off in the puffs.

The code 3 spi was set the crew was shuffled aft and we took off, sailing at 140 true was as hot as we could go, the layline for St Catherines point was marginal. Spinnakers went up on the boats in front, at least on those equipped with A sails. Shmoking Joe was now full living up to her name smoking through our own fleet as well as the sportsboats and the slower end of the multihulls and larger IRC boats that had started ahead of us.

Kevin was giving a masterclass of downwind steering when he started to complain about slack in the steering system, yes the brand new cables were stretching in. Hanging upside down in the lazarette whilst the boat is doing 17 knots, trying to adjust cables on a rapidly moving quadrant is a great new game, throw in the fact that there is not enough room to use a normal length spanner makes the game impossible. Those lock nuts could not be moved. Wedging a small spanner between the lock nuts and the quadrant and taping it in place, reduced the play sufficiently to make the helmsman happy.

Less than half the course gone and 2 vise grips and a spanner in permanent use, the tool-bag is starting to look empty!

Being unable to weather St Catherines and with a closing speed of 15 knots we doused the chute with half a mile to go, heading up onto a 2 sail reach it felt like we were parked, yep we are down to a miserly 12 knots.

We expected the wind to accelerate around the point and were not disappointed. 25 became 30 and as we bore away it came much further aft.

Just as we were about to re-hoist, a trimaran pitchpoled a 100 metres to weather, as the closest boat we radioed a Mayday, whilst in dialogue with the coastguard, a spectator RIB arrived and took over the situation so we were free to blast on. Now able to sail at a TWA of 155 and with the extra pressure of 30 knots we took off, long bursts of the high teens were capped by a 22.5 peak, just a tenth slower than I had seen on the J 111 sistership Arabella. We absolutely smoked past all around, nobody passed us.

It was very much on the edge sailing and fantastic fun, we broached three times in total, blowing the spi halyard got us back on our feet and we were able to re-hoist and carry on each time.

At this stage we were pretty sure that we were leading our class, as we rounded the leeward mark at Bembridge we were in company with an Oyster 82, a Class 40 and some big multihulls, all of which had started before us.

The leg from Bembridge into the Solent was a flat water fetch, the wind was still in the 20's. Hardening up for the 7 mile beat home, we traded tacks with a 28 ft tri and stepped away from a class 40. We could see the second boat in our fleet Tokoloshe some 5 minutes behind and knew that she would be eating into our lead and so it proved, Tokoloshe finished 3 minutes behind us which increased to 10 minutes when the handicaps were applied.

Upon arriving ashore we found that we had won both our class and our 125 boat group and initially were lying 3rd overall sandwiched between 2 TP 52's. Later in the day, as the small boats arrived carrying favourable tide, a Contessa 26 took the top prize and we were shuffled down to 6th out of the whole IRC fleet of 450 boats. A very good maiden race.

Now we can get the boat out of the water, do the bottom job, have here weighed and measured for an endorsed rating and look forward to more high octane days.   Cheers, Paul Heys