Summer Sailing In Hamble Winter Series

J/97 JIKA-JIKA Leads the IRC3 Pack
(Hamble, England)- The recent stunning weather lasted long enough to bathe Sunday’s Garmin Hamble Winter Series racing in a beautiful sunshine and light breeze. All classes enjoyed some close racing and many remarked on the champagne sailing conditions that felt more like a summer’s day than the distant end of November.

After an hour’s postponement to allow a thick "pea-souper" fog to clear enough for the race committee to see their own start-line, racing got underway in 9 to 12 knots of breeze, which oscillated from 090 to 110 degrees.

Some over-enthusiastic jockeying by the combined IRC 0 and IRC 1 starters saw a General Recall and the use of a Z flag on the restart. Nevertheless, the J/133 JINGS! managed to stay away from the fray and post a good score to stay in the top five in IRC 0, snagging their fifth 4th place in a row to maintain, appropriately enough, fourth place overall (and are just 2 pts out of third).  In IRC 1, Ivan Trotman's J/122 JOLOU sailed a good race to finish 4th and fourth position in a tie with Chaz Ivill's J/111 JENGA VI.  In fact, 2nd to 8th are all within 7 points of each other, making it the proverbial horse race for the second and third spots on the podium, presuming of course the leader doesn't' stumble too badly.

The J/109s followed suit, jumping the gun but finally getting a good race off.  This time it was David Richard's JUMPING JELLYFISH showing up for the first time all Winter Series long and managed to post a first, beating series leaders, Richard and Valerie Griffith's OUTRAJEOUS by 40 seconds.    Third in the race and still second in the series was Dave and Mary McGough's JUST SO.  This last race puts the next three teams in a nearly three-way tie for third overall-- it's getting tougher to maintain consistency for some of these teams over the course of four fortnights!  In their current order are 3rd, Paul Griffiths' JAGERBOMB with 21 pts, fourth David Jobson's AUDAJIOUS also with 21 pts and fifth is David McLeman's OFFBEAT with 23 pts.  Showing improvement over time has been Owain Franks' JYNNAN TONNYX, getting their best finish to date in the series with a fourth place.

IRC 3 was dominated by the up-and-coming J/97 class, with Mike and Jamie Holme's JIKA-JIKA beating Richard Watney's JEOPARDY 2 to take first place.  Five J/97s are racing in IRC 3, with JIKA-JIKA winning class by a wide margin, followed by Nick and Adam Munday's INDULJENCE 2nd in J/97s and 6th overall.  Third in the J/97s is Gillian Ross' INJENIOUS.  The two J/92s' are also having fun racing, with David Greenhalgh and John Taylor's J-RONIMO sitting in 5th and Andy Howe and Annie Kelly's BLACKJACK in 7th.

Back in a packed clubhouse, Race Day Sponsor Elvstrom Sails’ Jeremy White presented prizes for the podium positions. Next Sunday sees a full program of racing, with the first start at 1000 and the day sponsors are our Media Partners Y&Y. Let’s hope that the balmy weather holds for the rest of November!  Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth.  For more Garmin Hamble Winter Series sailing information

J/111 BLUR.se Sailing Test

(Kappeln, Germany)- Last weekend during the eponymous "happy-lucky" date of 11-11-11, Peter Gustafsson (founder of blog website "blur.se") and friends hopped aboard the J/111 PIRANHA in Kappeln, Germany to go for a test sail on the Baltic.  Thanks to Henning Mittelmann, the German J/Boats dealer- Mittelmann’s Werft, the "boys" went out and had a great sail in nearly perfect weather.  As the successful owner of the J/109 BLUR from Gothenberg/Marstrand, Sweden, Peter's commentary below provides good perspectives for those who've raced various J's in the 35-36 foot range over time (J/35, J/36, J/34 IOR, J/105, J/110, J/109):

"I’d never been to Kappeln in northern Germany before, but it turned out to be a charming little town that's probably bustling with tourists in the summer. Understandably, mid-November was a bit slow but we hadn’t come to spend time on the beach or party. We found the boat parked right outside our hotel, and as the date was 11-11-11 we took that as the sign to get serious about the 111.  After dinner we checked in to our hotel, Pierspeicher Gästehaus, an beautiful old industry building right at the harbor that’s been renovated for five years and now have a distinct marine theme. And it’s hard to beat the view from my hotel window.

Saturday morning dawned pretty cold and with ice on deck.  But, the forecast was for southerly wind 14-18 knots decreasing during the afternoon. And sunny. So we couldn’t have asked for better weather.  The boat looks fast already at the dock. Low, light, slender and functional. Just like a parked sports car longs to get driven when it’s parked. Very much “the speedster” that J/Boats referred to when they presented the design.

It had been blowing Friday, so the sea state was still pretty messed up. With a new boat, different sails (the sails was from local sailmaker Tommy Sails) and an crew not used to the boat it was hard to find the groove at first.  At first I tried to sail it the same way as my J/109, that’s a weaker boat. But as soon as I put the hammer down, accepted a bit more heel and went for speed the boat light up and reached the target speed 6.9-7.1.  Naturally you need time in the boat to be able to keep your average speed up, but it shouldn’t be hard to find the right settings.

My theory was that the J/111 would make an excellent shorthanded boat for Scandinavian waters. Small enough to be handled by two. Easy setup with furling jib and asymmetrical spinnaker on a retractable sprit. But racing in our waters it’s not uncommon to have 16-18 knots sea breeze during the afternoon, and then just 2-3 knots during the night, so you need to be able to perform at both ends of the scale.

So the J/111 performs OK upwind. Check. But that’s not why people buy this boat. It’s for the downwind experience. Moderate displacement (4,200 kgs), and +130 m2 kite could lead to big smiles in a blow.  We’ve seen many videos and stories about 111's topping 20 knots.  Everyone was a bit careful at first, starting out with a smaller kite. Shape (and color) was a bit different from what I’m used to, but to get a feel for the boat, it was close enough. With the waves coming from the side it was hard to get going, but after a jibe and some bigger waves we took f and did 12-13 knots.  Big difference compared to the J/109, the 109 really loads up before getting up to speed. On the 109, we usually can make 10-11 knots quite steadily but it’s hard to go faster even in a blow. Our record is 20 knots in extreme conditions, and that ended when the R5 exploded in a big broach!

As the wind came down we shifted to the bigger kite and the boat was fun to drive in just 12 knots. At the end of the day we did 6.6 knots in just 6 knots of breeze when we heated up. Nice!  The J/111 is much more like a J/80.  Slippery and responsive to both puffs and handling and I’m sure it will be fun downwind throughout the wind register.

All in all, a great sailing boat with everything set up right to go sailing without any hassle.  Just like a station wagon from Audi, BMW or Volvo that are both practical and great drive when the whole family are heading for the ski slope. But they can’t beat a Porsche or Aston Martin for that weekend drive. The J/111 doesn’t pretend to be everything for everyone."   For more BLUR.se Sailing Review of J/111 PIRANHA   And, here's a Slide Show of J/111 Sailing in Germany

Love That Sunny SW J/Fest!

(Houston, TX)-  Hosted by Lakewood YC on Galveston Bay, the 2nd annual J/Fest Southwest was a huge success!  There were fifty boats on the line with J/80's and J/24's leading the way with 15 boats in each class, followed by the J/22's with 10 and the J/105's with 7 boats.  A norther blew through on Friday leaving light and fluky winds for Saturday's racing.  As usual PRO Dwight Bengston's RC did a superb job of getting two races off on each of the two lines before the winds died for good mid-afternoon.  Not to worry, the Lakewood YC had it going on shoreside with a live band, a Cajun feast, Kattack replays of the day's racing, and streaming photo's. The sailors were gathered around the various TV sets enjoying the photo's and Kattack well into the night.  Rod Johnstone also attended and talked with just about everybody on-hand, providing pearls of wisdom about having fun cruising on J/95s or J/105s or sailing J's faster-- conversations enjoyed by all!

Sunday's weather forecast looked pretty grim, but fortunately the weather man was wrong!  The fleet headed out for a 10am start and when rounding the corner to head out the cut by Kemah Boardwalk the wind was blowing well into the high teens! In fact, with the wind on the nose and the foul current, it made getting through the cut a challenge for the sailors headed out to sea!  Once on the race course, skippers were uncertain whether the wind would hold, strengthen, or die as predicted! Do we back off the rig, expecting a dying breeze or crank it on a few turns in case the wind stays?  The wind stayed and both fleets got off a couple races, much to the delight of all the sailors!

The racing was tight and a lot of fun.  This year saw two "repeats", not "three-petes yet, but Bill Zartler sailing his j/105 SOLARIS won his class for the second year in a row while Terry Flynn/ David Whelan also won the J/80 class on their boat GULF COAST RACING.

The J/22 fleet got obliterated by a DC Comic book hero, the GREEN FLASH!  Sailed by Chad Wilson from Royal Dickinson YC, the Flash-Men sailed over the horizon to a remarkably consistent, conservative scoreline-- four 2nds and one 1st!  With just nine points, FLASH topped Ruthie Lambert's team sailing OUT OF SIGHT from Galveston Bay Cruising Association by four points.  Ruthie's team sailed a respectable 3-2-1-4-3 for 13 pts.  Rounding out the podium was a J/22 class veteran of many one-design wars, Farley Fontenot sailing RINGO from Houston YC.  Farley's team managed a 5-5-4-1-4 for 19 pts to take third.

While MR HAPPY didn't rule the roost again in the J/24 class, it was the RUMLINE gang that took the gold from them.  Bryan Dryer's RUMLINE from way, way up north in Texas (Fort Worth Boat Club) came down south to show the Houston honky-tonk crowd how it's done- starting off with a bullet and never letting the pressure off the fleet- amassing a 1-2-3-5-2  for 13 pts to win their class.  Bobby Harden's team on MR HAPPY from way West in Texas (Austin YC) managed to win two races, but it wasn't enough to overcome the challenge laid down by the boys from the North.  HAPPY's 4-5-1-1-6 was good enough for 17 pts and second place.  In fact, there was a "bad moon rising" behind MR HAPPY most of the regatta!  Kelly Holme's team from generally around Dallas, TX were sailing BAD MOON and the "Moonies" were, in fact winning (or tied) for winning the regatta going into the last race!  But, it seems the hangovers from the wild festivities at LYC the night before took their toll, with the Moonies taking the big fade on the last race-- their 3-1-4-2-8 tally gave them 18 pts, securing the bronze for sure on the podium (but less beer to celebrate with, too)!

The J/80s were graced by the presence of mondo J/80 World Champion/ North American Champion Terry Flynn and Dave Whelan sailing their boat GULF COAST RACING.  These boys from Ft Worth Boat Club sailed to three 1sts and one 3rd for a total of six points-- ouch!  Looks like they schooled the fleet pretty badly, winning by 10 pts.  Behind them was a real battle for 2nd and 3rd, not resolved in fact until the last race!  And, at that in a tie-breaker!  Getting the short end of that stick was Bill Rose on KICKS while Greg Buck and crew on LICKETY SPLIT won the luck of the split! Of special mention, J/Boats designer Rod Johnstone was sailing with a "pick-up" crew on FIRED UP and still managed to win a race!

As usual, the J/105s all seem to go the same speed, making for some fun racing and tight mark roundings.  The fleet standings would jumble up and down rapidly depending on boat-handling errors or (doh!) mental errors.  While the "Z-man", Bill Zartler, and crew aboard SOLARIS set the standard for the top of the podium with an impressive 2-2-1-1 scoreline, behind them it was anything but "clear as mud" (or Galveston Bay) as to who would take the next four spots.  Ever heard of the saying, "off to the races like a herd of snails in a dust-storm"?  Well, that's what happened, things were going nowhere fast and you couldn't see anything-- it was totally unclear who would arise to lead this pack.  Seemingly glued together anywhere they went, the "gang of four" had a heckuva fun time racing for the silver and bronze.  Winning the tie-breaker for second was Mark Masur on TWO FEATHERS with a 1-6-4-2 while Matt Arno sailing BLUE FLASH had to settle for third with a steady 3-3-3-4 for 13 pts.  Just behind them were Uzi Ozeri sailing INFINITY into 4th with a 7-1-2-5 for 15 pts and JB Bednar on STINGER getting stung for 5th place with a 4-4-7-3 for 18 pts.

The "big boys" in J/PHRF saw the mighty yacht GAMBLER, Doug Shaffer's J/122, sail around the course in fine fashion with some Gucci-looking North 3di sails to beat the sleek J/111 "007" sailed by Scott Spurlin in their weekend-long match race.

Finally, a big "Thanks" to the J/Fest's two biggest sponsors- the City of Seabrook and Parkway Chevrolet.  Furthermore, the LYC volunteers did a phenomenal job running the event.  It was a lot of fun and all of the participants will be back!  Ya'll come back by and join us too, ya hear!?   Sailing photo credits- John Lacy Photos   For more J/Fest SW sailing information and results

NEW! J/111 Speedster Sailing Video

(Newport, RI)- Since August, we'd been waiting for the perfect day to do a video/photo shoot of the J/111 off Newport with world-renowned yachting photographer Onne Van der Wall in a helicopter.  Incredibly, the intersection of wind, light, sea and tide conditions didn't materialize until the second Friday in October.  The results were stunning.  Spectacular photos and video of the J/111 sailing in 15-20 knot SSW winds off Newport, in big seas with an ebb tide flowing fast past Castle Hill and Brenton Reef.

As Onne remarked on the radio after 90 minutes in the air (they were about to run out of fuel), "it's a wrap, perfect day, the best!"  Little did we know how good it was.  Later, Onne said, "I've never seen a boat sail to windward so smoothly, the bow just lifts so naturally, leaving little spray or waves rolling over the deck, it's just magic! And, you guys were sailing in at least 3-6 foot seas with breaking waves!  Plus, it was obvious from the air the 111 just accelerates like a scalded cat downwind with that big red spinnaker!  How fast were you going?"  To answer Onne's question, while sailing in just 15-20 kt wind and waves, the J/111 was easily planing along at a steady 10-12 knots with bursts to 16 knots!  Quite a remarkable performance, an extraordinary experience many 111 owners already had in the past year!  See it for yourself in the latest J/111 YouTube video here.   Video and sailing photo credits- Onne Van der wal   For more J/111 sailboat information.