XCENTRIC RIPPER Rips Breskens Weekend

(Breskens, Netherlands)- The tenth edition of the Gaastra Breskens Sailing Weekend was blessed with great weather and, especially, big breeze and big seas almost all weekend long.  With gorgeous sunny days on Friday and the finale Sunday punctuated by a rainy, cold front early on Saturday morning meant the sailors could go home happy after sailing hard in seven races over three days!  In fact, the Chairman of the Gaastra Breskens Sailing Weekend, Roy Aller, said "unlike the past few years, we were blessed this year with great weather!"

A number of J/Teams sailed in the J/111 One-Design class as well as IRC handicap divisions.  The five-star performance of the weekend goes to John van der Starre's famous J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER, simply dominating their class with straight firsts.  Sailing fast up the learning curve was K. van Vliet's SWEENY, taking mostly 2nds in the four boat fleet.  Third overall was K. Cleeren's J-BIE just 1.5 pts back.  Sailing photo credits- Anusjka Martens   For more Breskens Race Week sailing information

J/111 Adelaide Winter Series Champion!

(Adelaide, Australia)- South Australian based J/111 HOROPITO scored an impressive 1st in the Royal South Australia Yacht Squadron Nautilus Marine Winter Series and 2nd overall in the combined series with their close neighbors The Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia.

From the owner Mark Robertson- "We have just completed our second winter series here in Adelaide in our J/111, HOROPITO that was launched in 2012. This 6 race series is a PHS format with a mix of windward leeward and fixed mark races that saw 10-15 combined RSAYS and CYCSA Division One boats turn out fortnightly for some keenly contested racing.

Our crew had been getting progressively more comfortable with the systems on HOROPITO through the summer IRC racing and, with that confidence, had begun to extract more speed and consistent performances as we headed into the winter racing. Our competition was a competitive mix of Sydney 38’s, First 40’s and 45’s and a couple of 47.4 foot Benetaus to name a few, drawn from the combined fleets of the Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron (our club) and the Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia. Winter sailing in Adelaide can be challenging from a wind perspective. The normally reliable sea breezes depart and are replaced by either 2 knots or 25 knots depending on the weather systems that roll in from the Great Australian Bight.

We had a great series and were first equal on handicap as we headed into the penultimate 3 lap windward leeward race held on Sunday the 11th August. The day turned out to be a cracker with an 8-14 knot breeze out of the North a sign that spring is just around the corner. After a conservative start we were second around the top mark and gave little away as we worked down-wind to the bottom gate. The longer boats started to eat into us upwind  on the second and third legs as the breeze built but we held on to third across the line after sailing a pretty much flawless race in terms of positioning the boat on the course and executing transitions. It turned out that we were giving too much time to a couple of the bigger boats but came away really happy to have secured 1st place in our own club results by 5 points and 2nd place by one point for the overall combined club series series.

It is a credit to the J/111’s great design that an inexperienced group can quickly get up to speed and extract the obvious potential that the boat has. Sailing HOROPITO has been fun and always rewarding. We are now looking forward to summer racing with the Adelaide – Port Lincoln race firmly in our sights."

The Port Lincoln Race is South Australia’s premier ocean racing event.  Nearly eighty boats leave Outer Harbour to compete in a 156 nautical mile race that takes them south west to Marion Reef at the foot of York Peninsula along the foot to the spectacular Cape Spencer then North West past Wedge and Thistle Islands and Dangerous Reef to the welcome of Port Lincoln nestled on Boston Bay.   For more Royal South Australian Winter Series sailing information

J/111 SYMMETRY Smokes Windjammer Race!

(San Francisco, CA)- This past weekend was the occasion for one of the most popular offshore classics in the San Francisco/ Monterrey Bay region that take place all summer long.  The Windjammer Race is the late summer dash of 67nm from San Francisco, past Año Nuevo, down the picturesque California coastline to the sunshine of Santa Cruz. For many, it's a great way to enjoy a Labor Day holiday weekend in the sun and join in with the "Day on The Bay" charity organization to support the "Big Brothers" and "Big Sisters" organization.

Celebrating more than most this past weekend may have been Howard Turner's brand new, fresh out-of-the-box, J/111 #91 called SYMMETRY.  Indeed, there was good "karma" for this team from Santa Cruz YC, as all the commissioning bits & pieces all magically came together in time to sail their first offshore race!  And, what a ride it was!

Up against the creme'de'la'creme of the Northern California offshore racing community, Turner's J/111 team on SYMMETRY simply blew the doors off their competition to take both class honors and overall fleet honors!  Their sleigh-ride down the California coastline was described as "breathtaking"!  With spinnakers up and all kinds of "laundry flying", the J/111 flew down the track and when the breeze came on they were just sitting at 20-22 kts boat-speed for minutes at a time, totally planed-off and "hauling the mail" down to Santa Cruz!

SYMMETRY's win was all the more astonishing since they beat the pants off other well-known, famous Left Coast sleds like the SC 50 ROLLER COASTER in 2nd, Greg Slyngstad's J/125 HAMACHI in 3rd, the SC 50 HANA HO in 4th and the infamous R/P 45 CRIMINAL MISCHIEF in 5th.  One can only begin to hear the drumbeat of why J/111's are so effective offshore-- this "newbie" crew simply proved it, again.  Given most conditions, the J/111 is simply a "roller-skate" once the wind is aft of abeam when it's smoking, or when it can launch a Code Zero and simply disappear on any fleet.  No wonder it's such a wildly successful, popular boat for the Chicago-Mackinac Race (a largely reaching race).  For more Windjammer Race sailing information

The B&G J-Cup Enjoys Dramatic Finale

(Plymouth, England)- With gusts close to 20 knots ripping through the race area in Plymouth Sound, the final day of the B&G J-Cup 2013, produced some ballistic action for the forty-five J/Teams that were in attendance. Hosted by the Royal Western Yacht Club, the J-Cup was also the venue for the Lifedge J/109 UK National Championship and the 2013 edition produced the closest finish in the 10 year history of the event. It was a fitting end to another fabulous weekend of sailing-- the sailors enjoyed near-perfect sailing conditions for most of the regatta, closing with an epic final day of sailing.

Day One Report:
The first day of racing could best be described as the "Champagne Opener".  A building sea breeze, topping out at 15 knots provided great sailing for the 300+ sailors that competed in four races, inside and outside of the Plymouth Breakwater. With several one designs taking to the race course, there was plenty of thrilling boat-on-boat action.

Tony Mack's McFly produced the goods on the first day, scoring three bullets in the J/111 fleet but Jamie Arnell's J/111, Jeez-Louise, which won the J/111 Class at Cowes Week, led IRC 1 at the J-Cup.

“We weren't very consistent today but we were bloody determined and we made up very well from poor positions, especially downwind.” said Jamie Arnell. “The crew work today was excellent, typified by the penultimate mark in the last race. It was a spinnaker drop to harden up with a lot of tide and the maneuver went like clockwork, super-fast, that gave us that few vital seconds but tomorrow we will need to improve if we are to succeed. Well done to Tony (Mack), he has had a bit of bad luck at Cowes Week and the European Championship, so it was great to see him score so well today.”

Day Two Report:
Day two was perhaps the trickiest day for sailing on Plymouth Sound. In stark contrast to the previous day's sublime sailing conditions, racing was delayed by lack of breeze.  Eventually, everyone got underway in the early afternoon, once a light and just race-able breeze stabilized. All classes got one good race in but the second was abandoned, as light rain killed off the gradient wind completely.

Jamie Arnell's J/111, Jeez-Louise continued to excel in IRC One, winning the day's race to open up a three point margin at the top of the leader board. Tony Mack's J/111, McFly wasn't far behind and with one more day to go, McFly could still catch Jeez-Louise. IRC Class One is likely to be won by one of these two yachts. However, there was a close battle for third place. David & Kirsty Apthorp's J/111, J Dream was lying third but four other J-Boats were still in the hunt for third place; Martin Miller's J/111, Velvet Elvis, Ian Dewhurst's J/133, Jump, Richard Barnes' J/111, Biela Munkenbeck and Jackie & Robert Dobson's J/133, Jeronimo.

Day Three Report:
The final day of racing was filled with drama, with lots of anxiety faced by tacticians on how best to handle their blood-thirsty competitors in the 15-20+ kts of big breeze and big seas.

In IRC One, Jamie Arnell's J/111, Jeez-Louise finished the regatta in style, winning the last race to take the class title from Tony Mack 's, J/111, McFly. Jackie and Robert Dobson's J/133, Jeronimo reveled in the big breeze winning race seven and finished third in class.

The official prize-giving was held at the National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth with a fine buffet supper celebrating the B&G J-Cup 2013. Surrounded by the UK's biggest collection of marine life, the regatta came to a close and the organisers are not aware of anyone ending up in the shark pool!  The organisers would like to thank the principle sponsors of the regatta; B&G, Fusion, North Sails, Fastnet, and Grapefruit Graphics. Thanks also to our supporting sponsors SLAM, Peters & May, Lombard, RS Divers, Ocean Safety, Lifedge and Harken.  Thanks for story contribution from Louay Habib.  J/Cup sailing video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9obIieub90w    Sailing photo credits- Tim Wright/ Photoaction.com    For more B&G J/Cup Regatta sailing information