Cruising The J/111

By Barb Whited- J/111 BAD CAT

We recently took our new J/111, Bad Cat, on a 5 day cruise around the middle area of the Chesapeake Bay.  Cruising on the J was a real delight:  the boat went fast, it was very comfortable for two people, and it handled extremely well in strong wind conditions.  We cruised into Smith Creek off the Potomac River, Crisfield on the Eastern Shore, Reedville on the western shore.  We anchored out in Smith Creek  and Mill Creek in Reedville.  In Crisfield we stayed at the MD state operated marina.  We had no problems navigating through the various channels with our Expedition software.  For most of the passages we did not even turn on the Garmin Chart Plotter since the PC was so much easier to use.  

Provisioning the Boat

I worried a lot about having enough room for food since the icebox area is small on the boat.  But there was plenty of room.  And there was even plenty of room when you consider that we have added refrigeration to the boat using the Isotherm cold plate.  The refrigeration kept everything very cold and in good condition.  I  froze steaks, chicken, and hamburger patties ahead of time then placed them in the bottom of the fridge.  Then added whatever other items we needed to keep cold (beer, wine, etc).   We have divided the icebox into two sections with a Plexiglas shelf.  Zahniser’s Marina did a wonderful job making a perforated shelf that allows the cold air to flow from the bottom to the top section of the icebox.   We added drinks as needed each day.  That way we continued to have plenty of room for food stuffs:  sandwich makings, condiments, fruit, veggies.  We also carried an ice chest on the boat which we filled before leaving Solomon’s, MD.  This allowed us to have plenty of cold drinks and ice for cocktail hour.   We strap the ice chest to the mast over the keel.  Our refrigerator will keep ice for only about 1 day, so the ice chest was very handy.  We just got additional ice at the one marina where we stopped and it lasted for the second half of the trip.

Dry food storage was not a big problem – much to my surprise.  Between the storage under the settees, the slider storage in the galley, and the stowage areas under the quarter berths, we had plenty of room.  I also found that since we weren’t taking the racing sail inventory, I could have easily packed three times as much STUFF by just using large plastic storage boxes with lids and putting them under the sails up forward.  So, the boat could go for a much longer trip with no trouble.  You’d just get fresh meat, seafood as you traveled and keep that in the icebox.  All your other things can go in the various storage areas.  Lidded boxes would be necessary to keep things dry when stowing them in the sail area.

Sleeping, Clothing, etc.

 We pack our clothes in our sea bags and then stow those in the quarter berths during the day.  I always pack each individual berth’s bedding in its own large plastic contractor bag:  sheets, pillows, blankets, etc.  That way, you can clean up the bunks in the morning, repack into the bags, and stow them back in the quarter berths as well.  This keeps the main salon nice and straight and uncluttered.  Plus the quarter berths are very dry.  

Our sleeping areas have cushions that are made with two different layers of foam: a sturdy, solid layer on the bottom with a softer, cushier layer on the top.  They were made by Ken’s Canvas in Rhode Island and were extremely comfortable for sleeping.  I heartily recommend the two layer foam.  We had that on our previous boat and it was very nice.

Sailing the Boat

 It’s fast, what else can you say!  It was so fast that we outpaced our companion boat which was a traditional cruising boat.  Left  them behind in the dust.  In fact on day two, we towed their Avon inflatable dinghy to try and slow down.  That didn’t help much.  We checked with our friends to be sure it was okay for the dinghy to go over 7kts.

We had excellent wind all days and were usually sailing over 7 knots in speed on any point of sail.  Upwind I finally insisted that we flatten the boat out because climbing up and down into the cabin or from side to side when you are heeled 30 degrees is just uncomfortable.  So, we reefed the main, used the #4, that flattened the boat and it went even faster.   Our cruising main has Antal slides on it and is simple and easy to reef.  Just lower the Halyard and pull in the reef line, all from the cockpit, and the main is reduced.  We even reefed it with the main way out downwind and it worked like a champ.  And you can shake it out just as easily.  Two people had no problem handling the sails and trim from the cockpit.

Bad Cat is equipped with a Raymarine X10  self steering system that can follow the GPS or our computerized instrument system.  The drive unit is from Octupus Marine and is very efficient.  So, life was easy cruising Bad Cat with ‘Otto’ the autopilot during a lot of the work.  Only one addition here, we will add a remote control before the next cruise.

Heavy air downwind

We came home in strong downwind conditions.  It was gusting up to 20 most of the way home from Reedville.  We simply used the #4, the reefed main, and surfed up to 11.5kts going downwind.  We did not fly the kite because with just two of us, it would be extremely difficult to get down.  Going up wasn’t the issue, coming down in those winds was the issue with only two people.  Besides, why would we need a kite considering what the boat could do on the main/#4.  Surfing was lots of fun.  We could see the small waves coming and the sound on the transom is really cool.  The boat roars.  And by the way, the boat sings.  There is a harmonic that sets up when the boat is going over 6kts.  We know we are ‘doing good’ when she starts to sing.  We will be adding a Karver furler to the Asym chute for future cruising.  This should allow us to set and douse the chute double handed.

Head/Holding Tank/Head Area

Head/holding tank worked just fine.  The holding tank could be considered small – but for two people it is more than adequate for several days.  Besides, if you stop at a marina you can get it pumped along the way.

Storage in the sliders in the head was adequate for our personal items, towels, first aid kit, etc.  We also use the large bin under the sprit to stow lots of things:  safety gear, extra beverages, towels.  And, if you haven’t noticed – the sprit and its retrieval line make a great towel rack.

The one thing I’d like to add to the head is a mirror on the bulkhead wall.  It is really tacky having to bend half way over to use the mirror.  Maybe someday I’ll find mirror material that I can put on the wall.  And we decided you could build a removable seat to put on the edge of the sail locker to give you a place to sit down up front for dressing or whatever.

Cooking/Galley

We do not have an oven in Bad Cat, and don’t want one anyway.  We use a grill on the back of the boat and mounting the grill on the stern corner pulpit works out fine.  The alcohol stove heats quickly and supplied us with all the hot water, etc., that we needed.

Sleeping Crew for a Long Race/ Other thoughts

My observation is that 3-4 crew can sleep at a time on the boat for a long race.  Crew will share bunks with some of their gear, but I think it is doable.  You will need to install the lee boards on the settee bunks.   I would recommend stowing personal gear in the raised upper bunks with lee boards to free up sleeping space in the quarter berths.  The red night lights in the interior will make is easy for crew to sleep.  For a multi day race,  like Halifax, Bermuda, etc:  I think trash is an issue.  There is no convenient hiding space for trash and on a long race, you generate a bit.  It’s just something you will have to live with on the boat.  Meals will be served on your lap since there is no table.  But it can be managed.  We are used to being able to serve hot meals on ocean races, but that isn’t going to happen in the same manner on this boat.  You can still do it with ‘single pot’ meals that you assemble and heat on the cook top.  A hot meal restores a lot of energy when the ocean is fierce and it’s blowing and cold.

J/111 Sails Fast FOERDER Race

(Oslo, Norway)- What happens when you get 900 boats and a challenging course out through the Oslo Fjord?  Then, mix in a shifty, streaky, puffy breeze meandering down the fjords?  A pretty slow race with TWS mostly around 2-6 knots!  But, for the J/111 BLUE sailed by Peter Gustafsson and crew from Sweden, it simply meant a great opportunity knocking on the door to demonstrate to fellow Scandinavian offshore sailors what it's like to race the fun, fast J/111 speedster in demanding conditions.  As Peter described, "In 900+ boats, we were 15th fastest boat in some great company! Being 13 minutes slower than a GP42 and beating a Brenta 42, X-50, Dehler 41 and First 40 on the water after 20 hours isn't bad! :D

Friday offered brilliant sunshine and 2-3 m/s from SW. We had plenty of time and had a good track on everything. 1.5 hours before departure, we went out so that everyone got acquainted with our new Code 0.  We had had it up on Thursday on the way up, but it was important that everyone had a look at how it set as we'd be using it a lot this race!

Easy start where we were too early to windward.  After being sailing 10-12 perfect starts in Marstrand last weekend, it was like all the skills were gone! After a while (seemed like an eternity) we were able to sail our race and get down to the islands to the left. Several had had good pressure there, and I think it worked for us too. Teknova and 4-5 other fast boats chose this route for the same reason.

Easy check down past Dyna Lighthouse where we continued on the left. Stretch to Nesoddtangen Buoy where we got into a good groove with a little wind in the middle of the track.

We had a good track and were able to deploy our Code 0 just after the rounding.  We passed a First 40.7 with double the speed, it was quite hilarious.  Here, we also passed a number of boats, including the King 40 "Magic" and a Class 40, both boats were not shifting gears at the same rate as us.  Plenty of wind came in.  Then it was back to the jib ... and now we were in the game again. Just JV41R, Teknova and Karukera ahead of us, but lots of good boats just behind.

After a while, we were able to again use the Code 0 and step on the gas past the JV41R Karukera before the bottom at Slemmestad. Here we were caught up and passed another JV41R and a Landmark 43! But what good was it when Teknova worked hard with puffs on the right wing to the south. Incredibly difficult sailing some time before it filled in from the east.

This year we had an OK push through all the difficult straits. Frederick and Pelle on-board our boat were working hard. We started to the left to avoid the reverse current, then went down the Hallangstangen and towards Dröbak. Good fight with an X-41 that we finally hit but most of all we got in lots of distance on Teknova. I do not think we have passed the Straits in the best way ever, and the only thing that was better was a Landmark 43 and an X-50 that snuck inside the Oscar Borg and the Castle, but it felt like a high-risk maneuver.

Easy to check the south where we and Teknova continued fight on the right side. We had a little better speed, but especially picked some great shifts and we were gone.  Incredibly nice.  And good to have a good boat to run against.

After Filtvet, the wind increased and turned on the South so we switched to medium / heavy-jib. We wanted the left, but a little sloppy with shifts in the exchange so Teknova ran up again, but we kept them on pace. It eased back to 2-3 m/s, so switching back to ease the jib. Now, we significantly improved and was able to snatch back some distance. Then we picked a couple of good shifts and we were gone. Outside Gullholmen was X-50 and a few other boats parked in the doldrums, so we were a bit worried for a restart. But finally the wind filled in from the East to make it sailable again.

As the wind would eventually turn to the south, the choice was to go high and go slow but in the middle or to throttle-up and hope for a big shift in the wind towards the Foerder shore. Counter-current was the deciding factor, so we set the Code 0 again and flew down the inner part of Bolærerna.  At more than 5 knots boat speed, all crew on the rail in only a light 2 m/s wind is quite fun!  It was exciting as we passed lantern after lantern during the night's darkest hours.  It was hard to know what it was that we were passing so fast, so we all looked forward with great anticipation for morning light to find out what happened!

Just before Bolærerna the wind shifted.  Hoisted the medium / heavy jib and furled the Code 0.  Now we were definitely ahead of those that run on the outside of Bolærerna, but we were still nervous that we were the only boat on the right (except for two small boats). At Småkryssande we finally met boats coming from the left.  GP42 Al Capone, Brenta 42, JV41R and X-50 Jokerman. Wow! All had been well ahead at Gullholmen!!

The wind increased gradually and it was a tough final leg out to Tristein. Around Tristein up with A2. Fantastic sailing homewards with 10-12 knots and spinnaker fly fast. But not enough wind for the J/111 to go really fast. We had a fun time sailing her.  J/111 is truly an amazing boat to race offshore!"  For more J/111 BLUR sailing information

WINGS Flies In Rolex NYYC Regatta

(Newport, RI)- After a rousing 19-mile Around the Island Race on Friday, sailors at the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) 158th Annual Regatta presented by Rolex had to face light winds on Saturday and Sunday and a subsequently abbreviated race schedule where every move counted as critical to final results.  With 104 boats entered in Friday’s race (separately scored and optional) and 133 entered in weekend racing, this 2012 edition of what is revered as America’s oldest regatta will go down in sailing history as having its biggest fleet ever-- and, for some, the most intriguing last-minute victories.

In the IRC 5 Class, the expected competition between the J/111 and J/122s was tough.  Henry Brauer's J/111 FLEETWING was up against a quartet of exceptionally well-sailed J/122s and managed to finish in the middle of them, finishing 7th in fleet overall with a 6-7.  However, past J/122 North American champion Mike Bruno and Tom Boyle (Irvington, N.Y.) finished 2-1 in the regatta’s two races to take IRC 6 on his J/122 WINGS. Second in class was  Andrew Weiss' J/122 CHRISTOPHER DRAGON sailing to a 1-5.

Amongst the J/44s there were familiar top class teams in the lead of IRC 5 Class.  Leonard Sitar’s (Holmdel, NJ) J/44 VAMP took class honors with a 2-1 in his series.  Second J/44 and 5th in class was Jim Bishop's GOLD DIGGER with a 4-5.

IRC 7 Class has often been the domain of the J/109s taking the rest of their class to task for the top of the podium.  This year was no different, with the J/109s taking four of the top five! Winning with a 1-1 was past J/109 NA Champions like Bill Sweetser on RUSH with local champions Rob Salk and John Sahagian on PICANTE finishing 3rd with a 4-3, Rick Lyall's STORM in 4th and Paul Milo on VENTO SOLARE finishing 5th.

In PHRF Navigators Division, the J/105s sailed well with Fred Darlington's TONTO taking 2nd and Nelson Wiederman's KIMA taking 5th.  In the big boat Navigators Division, the J/160 TRUE sailed by Howie Hodgson finished 3rd in class.  For more Rolex New York YC Annual Regatta sailing information

J/111 IMPULSE Wins Chicago NOOD

(Chicago, IL)- The final day of the Chicago Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta greeted sailors with gorgeous weather and consistent 5-10 knot wind, setting the stage for a full day of racing on Lake Michigan. The sailors could not have been luckier.  For the third straight day, the crews had been enjoying unseasonably fabulous sailing weather.  If you recall, last year's event was punctuated by a epic front spitting massive thunderbolts, squalls, hail, horizontal rain and pouring "cats & dogs"!

Enjoying the wonderful sailing was none other than the J/111 IMPULSE sailed by Dr. George Miz, Pete Dreher and Mark Hatfield.  With a 1-5-6-1-3-1-2-4 record for 23 points, they won their first major J/111 regatta on a tie-breaker over Steve Dabrowski's NIGHTHAWK, with a record of 4-4-3-3-2-3-1-3 also for 23 pts.  With a half-dozen entries, the J/111 class had very competitive fleet racing one another, as evidenced by very close scores.  With two races to go in the eight race series, it was anyone's guess as to what the podium would look like when the spray cleared on the race course.  Past NODO Regatta winner, KASHMIR sailed by Karl Brummel, Steve Henderson and Mike Mayer, finished only 1 pt out of first place!  KASHMIR's 5-3-4-2-1-5-3-1 for 24 pts was good enough for the bronze.  Fourth place just 1 pt back was Paul Stahlberg's MENTAL with a 2-2-1-4-5-2-4-5 for 25 pts; a strong start but slow close on the last day meant they finished just out of the money.  Win-Place or Show in the last race sealed the deal for the top three!

For the J/105s, this year again saw one team simply dominate the regatta, with some new faces on the top of the heap.  Blane Shea and crew on STRIKING started off strong and never let up on their classmates.  STRIKING knocked out a striking scorecard of four 1sts, two 2nds and two 5ths to win with 18 pts, four pts clear of Tom and Gyt Petkus' VYTIS-- a past regatta winner.  Third was Clark Pellett's team on SEALARK scoring two 1sts, four 4ths, a 3rd and 6th to finish with 27 pts to grab third place.  Like their J/111 brothers, the 105s also saw the last spot on the podium come down to the final race.  In this case John Weglarz's crew must've had the inmates already running THE ASYLUM as their last three races of a 4-3-7 sunk their chances for a bronze, finishing just 2 pts back from 3rd overall.

In the J/109s, the top three also had a tough three-way battle for the top three.  Again, the last two races made all the difference as some teams stepped up to the plate and "closed the deal" while others faded a bit and tumbled down the standings.  In the end, Dave Gustman's team on NORTHSTAR won the battles and the war, scoring a 3-2-1-2-2-2-6-3 for 21 pts to win class.  Second was Don Meyer's CERTAINLY with a 1-7-5-3-1-3-4-2 scoreline for 26 pts and 2nd place.  Just missing second by one point was Kevin Saedi's MOMENTUS, finishing third while collecting three 1sts along with a 2-3-6-6-7 for 27 pts.

In ORR3, Mitch Padnos' new J/122 SUFFICIENT REASON sailed a very strong regatta to finish 2nd overall with a 2-5-2-3-2-1-3-1 tally for 19 pts.  Mitch's new J/122 replaces his J/124 which he raced for years in the Chicago-Mackinac Race.  The new SUFFICIENT REASON was previously SKYE, which has won the Chicago-Mackinac in Class and Overall three times, once as a fully-crewed boat and twice as the overall Double-handed Class winner.   For more Sperry Topsider Chicago NOOD Regatta sailing information

Rolex Giraglia Cup Update

(St Tropez, France)- When St Tropez rolls out the red carpet, with gardens in full bloom, surrounding hills of the Baie de St Tropez lush with fragrant flowers, fabulous cafes serving up an orgy of delicious seaside cuisine, crystal-clear skies dotted with puffy white, cottony clouds and warm Mediterranean breezes sweeping down the picturesque coastline, it's awfully hard to beat.  And so far the sailors have been treated to nothing but the best St Tropez has to offer.

Spoiled after four days of exceptional weather conditions sailing the inshore racing portion of the event, the teams are now headed out into the challenging 242-nautical mile race from St Tropez, France to Sanremo, Italy via the Giraglia Lighthouse sitting on a rocky outcrop off the northern tip of Corsica.  Of course, can't be too bad if you're simply going out to sea, turning left and going from the French Riviera's hot-spot to the Italian Riviera's ho-spot, right?  Think again.  The forecast is for 20-30 kts and by Thursday blowing up to 40 knots in a classic Mistral-like condition.  “It will be very demanding with a lot of wind throughout today,” explained Francesco de Angelis, former J/24 World Champion in Capri, Italy and tactician onboard the 62-foot NATALI–B2. “For tomorrow we are forecasting a certain drop in conditions and some changes of direction bringing lighter winds. It will be a difficult race for everyone although, as always, you can never predict what is going to happen.”

Few boats will be as experienced and up to the challenge as the J/122 ARTIE from Malta, owned by Lee Satariano and co-skippered by Christian Ripard. In their previous competitive offshore outing the combination were the first Maltese in ten years to win the hugely demanding 606-nm Rolex Middle Sea Race. Keeping them honest will be Giancarlo Ghislanzoni on his J/122 CHESTRESS 3.  Also, in the hunt will be Olivier Parchet's J/122 NOISY OYSTER and Edward Gatt Floridia's J/122 OTRA VEZ.  With four J/122s racing, one of them is certain to revel in the conditions.

After the first four races in IRC A with 73 boats participating, the top J/122 is Giancarlo's CHESTRESS 3 sitting in 6th place, just 20 points out of third going into a double-counter race.  Just behind in 10th is Olivier's NOISY OYSTER and 11th is Lee's ARTIE RTFX.

In IRC B, with 55 boats participating, the top J is Antonio Marcri's J/39 SCINTILLA J sitting in 9th place.  The J/109 JAVA BLEUE 3 sailed by La Forest Bardaille sits in 12th place and another J/109 JET LAG sailed by Richard Burton (not the movie actor!) is lying in 20th place. With the forecast for a solid breeze and waves, look for the J/109s in particular to make a quick climb up the ladder and be further up the standings after the Giraglia Race.   For more Rolex Giraglia Race sailing information

J/111 Wins Nova Scotia Opener

(Halifax, NS) - The Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron celebrates its 175th year this season and the Opening Regatta was run in bright sunshine and breezes from 12-18 knots.

Racing in the A1 fleet was the J/111 BLAST sailing against a Farr 11m, a Soto 40, a Farr 40, a 1D35 and two Mumm 30's. When the weekend ended, BLAST sailed by Mark Surrette's crew finished in 1st place.

John Whynacht sailed his J/24 STICKY FINGERS to a 1st in class while John Heseltine's few onboard J-ZEUS II-9 won the very competitive J/29 class.  LULA, a J/22 finished 2nd in B class.

Please note, in August, the Lunenburg Yacht Club will be hosting the North American J/29 Regatta!

BLUR Wins Marstrand Big Boat Race

(Marstrand, Sweden)- Amongst sailing cognoscenti, Marstrand is considered to be one of the world premier sailing locations. Currently, the Stena Match Cup and RC44 Sweden Cup draws the rock stars of our sport, but many remember the famous Skaw Race, the J/24 Worlds and the Dragon Gold Cup.

This year the Marstrand Race Committee, together with blur.se and North Sails, invited all sailors to the first edition of "Marstrand Big Boat Race". The format was simple-- two days of intense windward/leeward racing as well as some great parties.  Hard to beat that proposition in one of the world's sexiest places to go sailing!

The starting list featured 37 boats from western and southern Sweden and a "who's who" list of offshore racers. From the current ORC European Champion Salona 37 Feelgood and Farr 30 European Champion Farrbar II (with Olympic sailors Martin Strandberg and Mattias Rahm on board) to X-50 Krabat with Lars Idmyr as helmsman.

Challenging conditions with up to 24 knots of wind on Saturday, and the notorious steep waves of the Marstrand fjord, rewarded crew work and small errors resulted in spectacular wipe-outs. One boat broke their mast after a huge surf going 16-18 knots before the fun ended with a bang. Late afternoon the wind increased even more and the third race was canceled and everyone was relieved to go back to the surprise dock party and a huge regatta dinner.

Even better conditions Sunday. Sunny and 12-18 knots of wind. A shorter windward/leeward course and many general recalls made everyone work hard and the race committee easily pulled off three races. With many OCS in the last two races, the final results were unclear until they were posted online.  With a dominating 16.5 points margin, it was self-evident the J/109 BLUR with Peter Gustafsson as skipper won the regatta.

"We know we're fast in these conditions, so we sailed conservatively and didn't take any chances. Also, we're on the third seasons with the same crew which helps when it's blowing +24 knots. I'm so happy to be able to compete with all those great sailors!" said Peter Gustafsson.

"We've had some amazing racing with the J/109, but now we're focusing on the J/111. We started out with Spi Ouest and have done a lot of training, but still there's much work to get 100% out of the new speedster. On some of the downwind runs this weekend I really missed the 111 - going 18 knots instead of 12!!"    Sailing photo credits- Dan Sjunnesson - Studio CA   For more J/109 BLUR sailing information

Challenging Sailing In Colors Regatta

J/111 KASHMIR, J/109 KIII, J/105 THE ASYLUM Win Class
(Chicago, IL)- For the past several years, the Columbia Yacht Club hosts their "Colors Regatta" as the "warm-up" for the summer offshore racing season in Chicago.  The event has continued to grow in popularity simply because it has become the "fourth" regatta on the summer sailing calendar locally, an important one to grind out the old rust from the winter, tune up the boat and the crew and basically get the wheels greased before they simply spin off the shopping trolley before you can collect ANY silverware! Rest assured, the CYC Support Crew at this event bend over backwards to make sure all sailors are having a fun time, hard not to. With a wonderful dinner and entertainment Saturday night on the afterdeck of their ship (literally!) moored on Chicago's fabulous waterfront and a trophy presentation on the docks after Sunday's sailing, it's hard not to enjoy the sights and sounds of sailors enjoying the best that Chicago has to offer.

Continuing their strong sailing over the past season in the J/111 class, the trio of Brummel/ Henderson/ Mayer on KASHMIR have continued to lead the class, but only barely.  After the first day of racing, Paul Stahlberg's crew on MENTAL were leading the fleet with a 1-1-1-2 for 5 pts.  The KASHMIR crew had managed a 3-2-2-1, showing improvement every race.  Sunday dawned with an even shiftier, crazier wind pattern from the WNW.  In the end, the KASHMIR boys led by their ever-present Spinnaker Goddess, Karen Gottwald, managed to strike a 1-2 in the last two races to "seal the deal", winning the regatta by 2 pts.  Paul's crew on MENTAL had a bit of a "brain fade" on Sunday, managing a 4-5 to swing their delta from a 3 pt lead to a 2 pt loss.  Steve Dabrowski's NIGHTHAWK sailed a consistent series to grab third.  Fourth was George Miz's IMPULSE.  And, J/111 newcomer Rich Witzel on ROWDY managed to be a "spoiler" on Sunday, racking up a 2-1 to throw a curve-ball into the class standings.

Amongst the J/109s, Irv Kerbel's team on KIII put a dent into the usual pecking order to win by 3 pts over the rest of the madding crowd.  KIII's 1-3-2-2-2 tally for 10 pts was remarkably consistent despite the crazy, shifty, puffy conditions the fleet experienced off the Chicago waterfront just off the famous McCormick Place (a.k.a.- the place where NATO members and Osama-bama recently had a chat with some protestors nearby).  Don Meyer's CERTAINLY managed two bullets, but not enough to overcome Irv's crew, amassing just a 5-1-1-3-3 for 13 pts.  Kevin Saedi's team on MOMENTUS were always in the hunt with a 3-4-3-1-4 for 15 pts.

As the J/105 fleet continues to evolve in Chicago, new faces in the crowd pop-out of the woodwork and put their stamp on the local fleet.  So it seemed it was the case in this regatta and time will tell if this holds true for the balance of the Chicago NOOD Regatta, Chicago-Mackinac Race and the Verve Cup during the season.  Nevertheless, Jon Weglarz's team on THE ASYLUM certainly showed it was NOT the "inmates running the asylum", it was the inmates ruling the roost!  Their 1-1-1 was, to say the least, pretty good?  Not bad?  OK?  A schooling? A spanking? Just plain luck?  Whatever one's opinion, they sailed "well".  Congratulations to the ASYLUM gang.  Another up and comer was Clark Pellet's crew on SEALARK sailing a perfect "3"- all 3rd to grab 2nd overall.  Past champs Tom & Gyt Petkus on VYTIS sailed a 4-2-5 to snare 3rd.  Mike Newman's VALHALLA was 4th and JohnnY Moore's HERE'S JOHNNY was 5th.   For more Colors Regatta sailing information

Chicago NOOD Preview

(Chicago, IL)- One of the biggest regattas that exists in the Sailing World NOOD events circuit is the Sperry Topsider Chicago NOOD.  It has consistently drawn fleets of over 200 boats and is a central part of the Chicago summer-time sailing season, the first part of the "Big Three" must do events- NOOD, Chicago-Mac and Verve Cup.

J/Teams have been strong supporters of the event and this year sees that level of involvement in fact increase with a growing J/111 One-Design Class.  Stalwarts like the J/105s, J/109s and even the J/30s and J/35s in Level Classes continue to have great competition with good fleets in attendance.

With a half-dozen entries, the J/111 class has a very competitive fleet racing one another, as evidenced by how the fleet has improved over the course of the past year.  Top Key West Race Week finisher, Paul Stahlberg's MENTAL, will be applying some of their lessons learned against the best Grand Prix teams down South to remain in the hunt.  Past NOOD Champion and Mac Race podium finishers, KASHMIR sailed by Karl Brummel, Steve Henderson and Mike Mayer will certainly be a factor for the top three.  It will be a tough call to say how this fleet ends up as even the smallest shift with a bit of velocity is producing big gains for boats even on the periphery of the pack upwind, so no one gets away with breakaway wins.  With good crews on all boats, Steve Dabrowski's NIGHTHAWK, George Miz's IMPULSE, Rich Witzel's ROWDY and Tom McIntosh's MISTY will all win races during the course of the regatta.

For the J/105s, this year again sees the return of good teams, led by past champion Tom and Gyt Petkus on VYTIS and upcoming fast teams like Jon Weglarz's THE ASYLUM and Clark Pellet's SEALARK.  In the J/109s, several top teams are in attendance, include past champion Kevin Saedi's MOMENTUS and Irv Kerbel's K-III.  In the Level 35s, look to see Larry Schell's J/35 TOUCH OF GREY and Bruce Metcalf's BOZO'S CIRCUS near the top of the leader board. In ORR3, Mitch Padnos' J/124 SUFFICIENT REASON will be a factor in this division.   For more Sperry Topsider Chicago NOOD Regatta sailing information

Rolex New York YC Regatta Preview

(Newport, RI)- The oldest and longest running regatta in America, New York Yacht Club’s Annual Regatta presented by Rolex will be held for the 158th time from June 8th-10th in Newport, Rhode Island.  Racing starts on Friday, June 8th, with the Around-the-Island Race. This classic 19 nautical mile race around Conanicut Island offers the sailors many challenges and beautiful scenery. J sailors will be racing both handicap and one-design during the event.  With 25 boats of the 133 entered, J's represent the largest brand participating in the regatta, nearly 20% of the total boats sailing in IRC, PHRF and One-Design.

In the IRC 5 Class, expect to see some spirited competition between the J/111, J/122 and J/44s.  Henry Brauer's J/111 FLEETWING will be up against a quartet of exceptionally well-sailed J/122s and J/44s.  In the 122 group are past NA Champions and Offshore Champions, like Mike Bruno and Tom Boyle's WINGS, Andrew Weiss' CHRISTOPHER DRAGON, Dave Murphy's PUGWASH and George Shaw's TUMBLEWEED.  Amongst the J/44s are familiar top class teams like Jim Bishop's GOLD DIGGER, Len Sitar's VAMP and Jason LeBlanc sailing the US Coast Guard's GLORY.

IRC 6 Class has often been the domain of the J/109s taking the rest of their class to task for the top of the podium.  Over the last several years, the J/109s have won their class and often take up much of the top three.  Look for past J/109 NA Champions like Bill Sweetser on RUSH and Rick Lyall on STORM to be dueling for class leadership.  And, local champions Rob Salk and John Sahagian on PICANTE along with Paul Milo on VENTO SOLARE will certainly be in the hunt for silverware in this competitive class.

In PHRF, the J/105s will have Dudley Norstrands JADED, Nelson Weiderman's KIMA and Fred Darlington's TONTO fighting for the top spots.  Jose Manuel Ugarte from Santiago, Chile recently bought SCIMITAR, last year's J/105 North American Champion boat to ultimately go sailing in Chile's booming J/105 fleet-- it will be interesting to see how Jose's team sails on Newport's often challenging weather conditions.

A fun addition to the regatta has been the PHRF Navigator's Race, a "tour" of Narragansett Bay and even Rhode Island Sound for a large fleet of boats that include the J/33 SIRIUS sailed by Mike Sullivan, the J/42 ARROWHEAD skippered by Mike Chapman, the J/92s SPIRIT sailed by EC Helme, the J/160 TRUE fresh off the FIGAWI Race sailed by Howie Hodgson and the J/24 NIGHTHAWK sailed by Rich Barker and Mike Ryan.

Saturday evening after the racing, the Annual Regatta always has a fabulous dinner on the lawn in front of the club along the waterfront.  Be sure to join the crews for some fun and entertainment, which includes the famous, hot local group featured on Thursday nights at the delicious Mexican restaurant "Perro Salado", Steve and friends from "Honky Tonk Nights"!  For more Rolex New York YC Annual Regatta sailing information

J/111 Wins North Sea Regatta

(Scheveningen, Netherlands)- The Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta in Scheveningen had a brilliant start on Friday, May 25 under a clear blue sky with more than 250 yachts ready to go racing. The sailing conditions were perfect, although the strong, gusty northeasterly played many tricks on the sailors. With gusts up to 27 knots, there was a lot of damage to several boats-- sails torn, genakers and spinnakers blown out, big shots broke booms and blocks ripped off decks!  Yes, a lot of carnage on day one, but a lot of fun sailing for those who could handle the spectacular, sunny conditions.  However, the perfect conditions persisted for just one more day, with the last day being "fogged out" with little wind for any of the fleets.  In the end, John Van der Starre's J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER dominated IRC 2/3 Class.  In the J/22s, it was Kolleman Wouter's team that ran away with top honors.  And, in the J/24 class it was Erik Jeuring's team that also ran away with the gold.

For the first day on the IRC 2/3 course, the gang on the J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER made it known they were going to be a factor in their twenty-one boat class, by far the largest and most competitive offshore class at the North Sea Regatta.  XCENTRIC's skipper John Van der Starre immediately led the team to two bullets today. Co-captain Robin Verhoef said, "We had some dangerous situations at times.  We hit 13-15 kts at times as we simply flew away from the rest of our fleet.  We practiced a lot in April at the SPI Ouest Regatta in La Trinite-sur-Mer and learned a lot. There we sailed one-design class and we learned how to be more competitive and much faster sailing against other J/111s.  We discovered the very subtle differences, e.g. in the settings of the mast and the boat and sails to extract maximum performance.  It helped us a lot!"

For the J/22 class, it was a day with more and less wind pressure across the course. In a field of eleven J/22's, Kolleman Wouter's team ran the table, getting two first places.  It was difficult sailing, especially because sometimes the waves came from all sides. "It was a sloshing wave," says Kolleman. "This increased the difficulty. We do like a lot of wind, so we had no problems. But because he always had massive changes in wind strength, you had a lot of pressure and then suddenly no pressure. Usually we sail on inland lakes, but we are quite used to power sailing."

After the first day of sailing, it was quite the festive closing.  Entertaining musical performances by the bands "Kissing the Girl" and the "Crazy Pianos" with great spinning of disks by "DJ Ruben" later in the evening.  The sailors played late into the night enjoying the beautiful weather and a festive atmosphere.

The second day of inshore races were characterized by nearly perfect sailing conditions.  There was less wind than the day before, so there was less damages too! During the day the wind averaged 5-15 kts and was very shifty.  For the offshore classes, the second day was traditionally an offshore course around the buoys.  But, with lighter wind conditions that could die-off, the RC decided to hold only inshore races around the buoys.

For IRC 2/3, the J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER continued to dominate their class.  And in the one-designs, the J/22s saw Wouter's J/22 team rattle off a few more firsts to also consolidate their lead.  And, in the J/24 class, Erik Jeuring also posted some more firsts to extend their lead in their fleet.

One of the highlights of the second day was the J-Class RAINBOW visiting Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta.  This forty-meter classic sloop went sailing Sunday, May 27th with guests from the Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta.

On the final day of sailing, the shores were dense with fog hanging over the Hague without a breath of wind, forcing the RC to cancel sailing for the day.  As a result, the regata results for the first two days that included seven races counted for the final results.  Congratulations go out to the J/22 team of Wouter and the J/24 team of Jeuring for near perfect scores, winning their classes by significant margins.  Congratulations also go out to a phenomenal performance by the J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER team led by John Van de Starre and Robin Verhoef, winning the most competitive IRC division by a whopping 10.5 points, counting five 1sts in their scoreline.  Kudos also to the J/109 CAPTAIN JACK sailed by Bert Visser.  For more North Sea Regatta sailing information

J's Sail Fast, Epic Swiftsure Race

J/109s Crush Juan de Fuca, J/80s Win Inshore
(Victoria, BC)-  This year's running of the "Swiftsure" was another epic, challenging race, with all types of weather thrown at the sailors as they criss-crossed the Straits of Juan de Fuca seeking advantage over their fellow competitors.  For many the race really starts once they past "Race Rocks", a symbolic, but not official mark of the course. The iconic black and white stripped lighthouse is the divide between the Juan de Fuca strait and the coastal waters off Victoria and it’s where the true strategy and tactics of Swiftsure begin. The sailors then face open ocean swells, stronger currents, and hopefully, more wind. On the return trip back to Victoria, Race Rocks is the “almost there” point when the city lights of Victoria come into view.

Unusually, the weather conditions were close to what the Canadian weather services were predicting-- a steady wind filling in from the West with a high-wind warning for the Strait of Juan de Fuca with winds in excess of 25-35 knots overnight.  Remarkably, they got this forecast and more, some sailors reporting gusts to 40 knots and breaking waves.

The race started off nicely enough, sunny, light winds, with the current pushing the fleet towards the first turning point, Race Rocks.  Thereafter, with a strong ebb, the top teams sailed upwind into the Northwesterly breeze playing large shifts and staying in the middle of the Straits to take advantage of a strong ebb current pushing the fleet to their faraway turning marks.  Most of the fleet ended up on the western shore about halfway up the Olympic Peninsula (that wild place where the famous "Sasquatch" man/animal lives).  By midnight, most of the fleet in the Straits were sailing in 20+ knots of breeze and by morning many were sailing downwind under spinnakers flying down the waves and trying to avoid a massive broach or "sending it down the mine" in a submariner's dive into the trough ahead.

In the classic Swiftsure Race division that goes out of the Straits of Juan de Fuca for 139 nm- the 24 boats participating from the start to Swiftsure Bank and return had to beat the "wind shutdown" that often happens at the opening of the Straits.  The big boats made it, the small boats didn't.  In the end, the gorgeous J/160 JAM sailed by John McPhail finished 5th in Class I and 6th overall.  And the speedy lightweight flyer, the J/125 WARRIOR skippered by Greg Constable finished 2nd in Class 2 and 8th overall!

The popular Cape Flattery Race division that goes for 103 nm had 75 boats going from the start to Neah Bay and return.  In the Unlimited Class, the J/145 DOUBLE TAKE sailed by Tom Huseby (his second J/145!) finished 3rd in class and was not far behind the leaders for the top of the podium.

The successfully campaigned J/122 ANAM CARA (Tom Kelly- from Portland YC in Oregon) sailed an incredibly good Cape Flattery Race despite breaking their boom in a 40 knot gust and gybe-broach downwind in the Straits with all the laundry flying!  Reports Bob Ross who was a crew member aboard ANAM CARA, "we were winning our class boat-for-boat and on corrected time with about 40nm to go to the finish, when we tried to do an 'inside gybe' on the A3 spinnaker down big waves and a big puff.  Broke our boom and broached.  Not a good idea.  It took awhile to wrestle in the mainsail after taking down the chute.  We proceeded in under a smaller chute and jib to the finish-- quite an amazing and unexpected outcome to get 2nd in Class and 2nd Overall!"  Always a top contender in class, and past winner, was the J/120 TIME BANDIT (Robert Brunius), sailing a great race to finish 4th in class and 6th overall.  Sailing in their inaugural offshore race was the new J/111 ADALGISA (Lynn Adkins), sailing to a 5th in class and 11th overall!

In the Cape Flattery Heavy division, the J/46 RIVA sailed by Scott Campbell sailed a great race and managed to finish 2nd in class and 4th overall.  Just behind them was the J/37 FUTURE PRIMITIVE sailed by Ron Mackenszie getting a 4th in class and 6th in fleet.

The Juan de Fuca Race division that goes for 80 nm had 44 boats sailing from the start to Clallam Bay and return to the finish off Victoria's waterfront.  The J/109 teams simply cleaned house.  Winner in class and overall in the Juan de Fuca Heavy Division was DIVA (Jim Prentice) followed in second by TIPPY (Peter McComb) and 4th was JEOPARDY (Ed Pinkham).

In the Inshore Racing along the waterfront, the much vaunted battle between SWISH and JOYRIDE, a pair of J/80's, saw SWISH beating JOYRIDE by just under a minute on a 22 nm course with a wind ranging from 3 to 10 knots all day long.  Elapsed time for this pair was about 5 hours and 10 minutes.  As a result, in the Battle of the Sexes, Commodores (men) vs. Commodores Wives (women), the boys prevailed.  Congratulations to the Commodores from Royal Victoria Yacht Club (Jeremy Smith), Royal Vancouver Yacht Club (Guy Walters) and Seattle Yacht Club (Chuck Lowry) that raced SWISH.  And, "good on ya gals" to their wives- Tara Smith, Barbara Picton and Pam Lowry that raced JOYRIDE to a solid second in the large class of competitors!  For more Swiftsure Race sailing information on Facebook   For more Swiftsure Race sailing information