Fast Sailing JAKE Snakes Sydney-Newcastle Race

(Sydney, Australia)- The longest race of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Ocean Pointscore Series (OPS) from Sydney to Newcastle, nearly 70 miles north of Sydney along the coast, was held on the 18th February 2012 . The J/111 JAKE was the smallest boat in the 26 boat fleet that lined up for the start at 9am Saturday morning. Here's the full-on race report from Ray and Sandra Entwistle from aboard JAKE:

"We certainly felt small during pre-start maneuvers amongst the smorgasbord of bigger boats which included the famous BRINDABELLA (a Jutson 80), MERLIN (the Cookson 50 footer), a Corby 49, Sydney 47, Rodgers 46, Beneteau 45, Sydney GTS43, Kerr40 and a pair of Cookson 12s, to name a few.

A 10 to 15 knot south westerly dictated a spinnaker start in Sydney Harbour and we were delighted when JAKE emerged out of Sydney Harbour Heads in 5th place on the water (e.g. boat-for-boat!). We settled down and concentrated on our race strategy of hugging the coast to keep out of the current and playing the 13 to 18 knots of breeze as it occasionally drifted either side of south. We knew we were doing well with some of the bigger boats still behind us and it wasn’t until Pittwater 25 miles north when one of our main competitors, ST JUDE (the Sydney 47) managed to pass us. After a mistake at the start AFL MIDNIGHT RAMBLER (the new Ker 40) also managed to creep by. There were still a lot of boats behind us that owed us time on IRC and we were having a great sail as the day progressed and miles slid effortlessly by. Thanks to some great asymmetric designs by Ian Short Sails we were going as deep and in some cases deeper and faster than conventional rigged boats.

One of JAKE's crew made a comment how good everything was going and the boat was simply flying as we saw our final headland in the distance-- "Nobby's Head"- now famous due to the grounding of the 76 thousand tonne “Pasha Bulka”  bulk carrier in 2007 when she ran aground during a huge storm. All was going to plan and JAKE's crew were looking forward to finishing in daylight, and few beers with dinner.  We were still ahead of many much larger boats and still crossing gybes with the larger Sydney GTS43 OCCASIONAL COURSE LANGUAGE. About 5 minutes later the breeze dropped to 5 knots, by 6pm it had  had petered out completely and we had a a complete "glass-out", much to our chagrin (we figured we may have been winning overall at the time).

Trying every trick in the book, we could not stop ourselves from slowly going backwards as the tide turned and darkness enveloped the fleet. We started to hear the retirements come through on the VHF an hour later and were surprised to hear how far back some the boats were. Between 7 and 8 pm, a slight whisper of a southwester began to filter through, only a few knots but enough to harness in JAKE's sails and make headway once again. With the spinnaker back up we ghosted past one of the Cookson 12s, as we completed our final gybe to head into Newcastle Harbour, we crossed with the Sydney GTS 43 for the last time and through the finish line at 9.30 pm.

With Newcastle yacht clubs staff and volunteers welcoming the finishing boats with a tot of rum as we tied up and quick calculation we knew we had done ok in the longest race so far in our potent J/111 rocketship.

Before we retired for the evening it was confirmed we were second on IRC to our friend and competitor Julian Farren Price who has sailed a faultless series. We were advised we were second on PHS to the famous Jutson 80 BRINDABELLA but a few boats were still at sea with a building breeze. The next morning we learnt our final position was a fourth in PHS.

The story doesn’t end there, however. With most of the crew having to drive back to Sydney due to family commitments, Sandra and I, just two up, had a fantastic sail back the Sydney the next day-- yet again proving how versatile and easy the J/111 is to sail shorthanded with husband and wife!   For more Sydney-Newcastle Race sailing results

Vice Admiral's Cup Regatta- J/111 & J/109 Classes

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- The eighth edition of this hugely popular regatta will feature classes for 44-46' series production boats (minimum 4 produced) with a maximum IRC rating of 1.240 and a max SPA of 181.5 sq meters, the J/111 Class, the J/109 Class and two other classes.

In addition it will provide the inshore element for the 2012 GBR Team trials for the Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup (the offshore element being the Royal Ocean Racing Club's Morgan Cup Race on 5 May). The RYA's Selection Committee will be using the regatta to help them identify three teams of three boats with IRC Endorsed ratings of between 1.020 and 1.230 with the proviso that only one boat in the team may rate 1.150 or above.

Racing will take place on two separate courses in the central Solent with Class 0 (Commodores' Cup trialists), Class 1 (44-46') and the J/111s racing on one course and the J/109s and two classes on the other. The courses will be predominantly laid windward-leeward format with up to eight races scheduled over the three days of racing.  Sailing photo credit- Paul Wyeth- pwpictures.com  For more information about sailing the 2012 Vice Admiral's Cup  or contact Jo Chugg email- jo@rcyc.co.uk

JAKE Sails To Double Victory in Royal Sydney YS Event

(Sydney, Australia)-   Following the great success of the Sydney-based J/111 JAKE in the offshore summer series, JAKE headed back to the harbor to compete for the first time with Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron.  In keeping with their remarkable performances to date, the Ray and Sandra Entwistle have this to report from their recent escapades flying around Sydney's gorgeous harbor.

"On Saturday the 4th February, JAKE was joined by two other casual entries to boost the Division One fleet to 19 boats. The fleet consisted of a wide variety of boats including a Sydney 60, Jutson 50, Lyons 49 to name a  few plus the regular spread of  Beneteau 45s, 40s, Sydney 36s, Elan 350 RP, Farr canting-keel and other high performance one-offs.

It was looking like a potential glass-out (no wind) just 30 minutes before the start but then the wind began to fill the course with a shifty 8 to 13 knot southeaster.  JAKE was buried on the start by some of the larger boats so took an early port tack out of the traffic into more favorable tide and wind heading up Sydney Harbor from Kirribilli to Neilson Park.  It was then a short run to Taylor's Bay followed by another beat to "Sow and Pigs" buoy.  We thought the criss-cross harbour course which included some legs which were simply power reaching under jib would be detrimental to the J/111 amongst the larger boats, but she held her own admirably with the much bigger boats in town.

It wasn’t until the last spinnaker reach the Jutson 50 “Braveheart” managed to ease past JAKE and went around the Kirribilli bottom mark for the last time, dropping spinnakers just 10 seconds ahead. The last beat back up the harbor was a case of keeping out of the 50 footers dirty air as he covered our every move. JAKE powered through the line just one minute forty seconds 40 behind him and enjoyed a wonderful sight behind as most of the fleet were still on the last spinnaker run.  It was amazing to see some 40 to 50 footers behind us on the water with some of the other similar sized boats up to 15 minutes behind, JAKE's crew knew they had done well.

JAKE scored a first on IRC by four minutes 22 seconds and a first on PHS by four minutes 34 seconds in its first harbor sail at Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, proving like here European and American sisterships the J/111 is as devastatingly quick inshore as she is offshore."   For more J/111 sailboat information

J/111, J/97, J/80 Sailors Lead Weekend Frostbiters

(Southampton, England)- It was a cold overcast day with 10-12 knots of wind from the NNE swinging by 10-15 degrees.  While snow had been a possible forecast the fleet were fortunate; it remained dry with 35 boats braving the conditions. The committee boat set up south of Deans Lake and set a course cascading up Southampton Water for race 5 of the Frostbite Series.

With minimal tide all classes had good starts with the first leg to Hovercraft 1. Conditions near the Netley shore were challenging with lighter and variable wind in pockets. Several positions changed here.  For race 6, the wind dropped to 6-8 knots and the direction was generally NNE but varying by as much as 30°. Temperature had also dropped and the race committee made the decision to use a shorter cascade course. The line was also reset.  Although tide was minimal for the majority of the race it had started to ebb by the finish and with wind pockets appearing across the course the conditions were very challenging with positions changing as the holes were wrongly read.

Class 1 was won by Kirsty and David Apthorp’s J/111 J-DREAM. Their record of 3-1-1-1-3 is giving them a clear lead in Class 1 division, leading by four points so far.

Class 2 winner was Nick and Adam Munday's J/97 INDULJENCE finding the lighter conditions to their liking and rapidly climbing the learning curve in Southampton Water, an often tricky place to sail since winds are always shifty coming off the shore and current is a key consideration from a tactical and strategic standpoint.  Their two bullets raced them up the ladder to have them just 2 pts off the podium in a four-way tie for fourth!

In Class 4- J/Class, it was the J/80 J'AI DEUX AMOURS owned by Stewart Hawthorn who took two bullets, making their tally of 1-2-1-1-1 look even  stronger than last week, increasing their lead over the fleet to fourteen points!  The J/92s J'RONIMO has leapt into second place over the weekend by virtue of scoring a 2-3 and are winning over a tie-breaker on 20 pts with another J/92 JUST ENOUGH.  The J/92 BOJANGLES has now dropped to fourth with a score card of 4-1-6-5-6 for 22 pts.  For more Royal Southampton Frostbite Series sailing information

J/111 One-Design Offshore Sailing Events 2012

(Newport, RI)- The International J/111 Regatta Schedule for 2012 is outlined below for one-design and offshore events for J/111s located in Europe (UK/ Ireland/ France/ Sweden) and for the Americas (East, Pacific, Great Lakes).

The J/111 has already achieved phenomenal race results under IRC, ORR and PHRF handicap systems including class wins at the Round the Island Race, Cowes Week, Key West Race Week and Annapolis Race Week, to name just a few.  However, the intention has always been to launch an International One Design Class as soon as a viable number of J/111s had been sold and were out on the water racing. This point has now been reached: over seventy-five J/111s have been sold and fifty of these are already sailing!

The J/111 Class has been created as a true one-design Class where the real test when raced is between crews and not boats and equipment.  The fundamental objective of the J/111 class rules is to ensure this concept is maintained. J/111 hulls, appendages and rigs are only be produced by a licensed manufacturer (every single boat is weighed on a load-cell prior to leaving the factory) and all J/111 sails measurement will be controlled under the ISAF Certification system.

The J/111 Class Association will initially be administered by both J/Boats in Newport and Key Yachting Ltd in the UK for the J/111 owners on an international basis.  The intent is to have the formalized J/111 Class organization operating by Fall 2012 by J/111 owners. For more information on the J/111 or on the regatta schedule detailed below, please contact Becci Eplett at Key Yachting Ltd or J/Boats Newport.

The primary J/111 Championship events for each "region" are the following: Europeans (Cowes Week), Great Lakes (Harbor Springs), East Coasts (NYYC Annual, Newport) and Pacific Coasts (Rolex Big Boat Series, San Francisco).  Please look at the schedule and links below to help organize your 2012 summer schedules.  In addition, we suggest you look at Peter Gustafsson's BLUR.SE (http://www.blur.se)(he's sailing the European circuit) and the French LE JOUET (http://lejouet.eu) websites for an example of how teams are organizing in Europe.  A J/111 Class website will be on-line soon.

England/ Ireland/ France:
Mar 18-Apr 29  Warsash Spring Series- http://www.warsashspringseries.org.uk/
Apr 5-9         SPI Ouest France- http://www.spi-ouestfrance.com/
Apr 28          Tour de Belle-Ile- http://bit.ly/zg9jWa
May 18-20     Vice Admiral's Cup- http://www.rcyc.co.uk/da/13094
May 25-28     Grand Prix Crouesty- http://www.ycca.net/
Jun 1-5         Record SNSM- http://www.recordsnsm.com/
Jun 9-10       Royal Southern YC Regatta- http://www.royal-southern.co.uk/
Jun 30          JP Morgan Round the Island Race- http://www.roundtheisland.org.uk
Jul 7-13        Cork Week- http://www.corkweek.ie/
Jul 25-28      J-Cup 2012- http://www.royal-southern.co.uk/
Aug 11-18    Cowes Week (J/111 Europeans)- http://www.aamcowesweek.co.uk

East Coast Circuit:
May 4-6      Annapolis SW NOOD- http://www.sailingworld.com/nood-regattas/annapolis
Jun 8-10     NYYC Annual Regatta- http://www.nyyc.org
Jul 13-15    SailNewport Regatta- http://www.sailnewport.org/regattas/newportregatta/
Jul 18-22   NYYC Race Week (J/111 East Coasts)- http://www.nyyc.org       
Aug 3-5       Buzzards Bay Regatta- http://www.buzzardsbayregatta.com
Aug 17-18   Ida Lewis Distance Race- http://ildistancerace.org

Great Lakes Circuit:
Jun 2-3       Colors Regatta- http://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=583
Jun 8-10     Chicago SW NOOD- http://www.sailingworld.com/nood-regattas/chicago
Jul 21-24    Chicago-Mackinac Race- http://www.cycracetomackinac.com/
Jul 27-29   Harbor Springs Regatta (J/111 Great Lakes)- http://ltyc.org/sailing/regattas
Aug 10-12   Verve Cup Regatta- http://www.vervecup.com

Pacific Coast Circuit:
May 4-6       Yachting Cup- http://sdyc.org/yachtingcup
May 25-26    Spinnaker Cup- http://www.sfyc.org
Jun 13-17    Coastal Cup- http://bit.ly/wmZa5H
Jun 22-24    Long Beach Race Week- http://www.lbrw.org
Jul 27-29     Aldo Alessio Regatta- http://www.stfyc.com
Sep 5-9       Big Boat Series (J/111 Pacific Coasts)- http://www.rolexbigboatseries.com

Future International Regattas:
2013    J/111 European Championship, France
2013    J/111 World Championship, USA
2014    J/111 World Championship, UK

New J-DREAM Leads Frostbite Sailing

(Southampton, England)- Since the Royal Southampton YC started its Doyle Sails Frostbite Series on 8th January, it's been apparent the Apthorp's have not lost their winning touch sailing their latest J-DREAM, a magnificently fast new J/111.  "A boat that slips through the water so fast and so quietly that she hardly seems like she's touching the water", a familiar refrain heard in Newport's Candy Store, Key West's Green Parrot and England's King & Queen.

This past weekend, the vagaries of the wind were challenging both the RC/PRO and sailors alike.  It was a bright morning with a steady 11 knots of breeze from 260 degrees when the committee boat set up adjacent to Hover 2 and set a course cascading down Southampton water for race 3 of the frostbite series. As yet, no sign of frost with another mild day in store and gentle wind, or so we thought.

With the minimal tide all classes had good starts even though the wind had started to freshen a little after the warning signal and one or two were shortening sail. By the end of the starting sequence the wind gradient was up to 22 knots and a solid force 6 with some stronger gusts.  What the heck!?  What forecasted this?!  It sure made it lively for the Class 1 boats running back to Hover 2 from the windward mark off Solent Refit at Hythe. The wind started to back and increased further as the race progressed resulting in some spectacular broaches and as the committee boat positioned herself for the second race we were reaching a near gale with a gradient of 30 knots and the gusts blowing dogs off chains from the Pitcher & Piano and across our bows!  Well, the decision was easy- NOT! The decision not to continue racing was never in doubt with such conditions especially as the highest reported wind speed was in excess of 40 knots.

Class 1 was won by Kirsty and David Apthorp’s new J/111 J-DREAM which hit 19 knots on return to the Hamble. Their record of 3-1-1 is giving them a clear lead in Class 1 division, leading by five points with a total of five points!

In J/Class it was the J/80 J'AI DEUX AMOURS owned by Stewart Hawthorn who took the bullet, making their tally of 1-2-1 look pretty strong.  The J/92 BOJANGLES is now in second with a score card of 4-1-6.  Third is JAMIN, John Cooper and Ian Townsend’s J/92, with a 2-4-6. So, other than first place, the racing is close indeed for the 2 to 5 slots on the leader board, only four points separating BOJANGLES, JAMIN, JUST ENOUGH and J'RONIMO.   For more Royal Southampton Frostbite Series sailing information