Charleston Race Week Preview

(Charleston, SC)- From April 10 to 13, the Charleston Harbor Marina & Resort again plays host to one of the best one-design and handicap race weeks in America.  Taking place over a four day weekend, an enormous navy of J’s are participating ranging from the sporty J/22s up to the majestic J/122s. Fully 51% of the fleet are J/Teams (147 J’s in a field of 287 boats). Racing takes place on three one-design circles inshore and one PHRF handicap circle offshore.

The weather forecast looks promising, nearly postcard-perfect weather, with winds out of the south from 8-15 kts each day, sunny skies and minimal (for Charleston) currents. It’s no wonder Charleston attracts so many fun-loving teams in late spring, with magnificent beach parties each night, “JumboTron” video highlights of the day’s racing on a massive 20 ft wide by 10 ft high screen, and daily awards with world-class commentary from famous J/24 sailors like Ed Baird (an America’s Cup winner on ALINGHI), it’s a hard program to beat.  Plus, rumor has it that a massive “drone strike” on the fleet may be happening each day, with FPV video of teams “up close & personal” as they fly around the race track.

While the action may be pretty hot inshore, it may be even hotter offshore.  Heading out the shipping channel past the famous Fort Sumter (sight of the first shot that started the Civil War in America- ordered by a Johnstone relative, no less), we find three PHRF classes loaded with top J teams.

In PHRF A division there are four J/111s and two J/122s that will be fighting “hammer & tong” to claim bragging rights atop the podium.  Many familiar faces from Key West will be there, including some class newcomers.  Key West Class winner, Rob & Ryan Ruhlman’s J/111 SPACEMAN SPIFF may be leading the charge for the 111s.  They’re joined by classmates KINETIC (Rob Stein), John Yonover’s EVONNE.COM/3 from Lake Geneva YC, WI, and Doug Curtiss’s WICKED 2.0 from Buzzards Bay, MA.  Leading the J/122 charge for the top will be Robin Team’s J/122 TEAMWORK from Lexington, NC, winner of just about everything offshore south of the Mason-Dixon Line.  Their classmate is Jack Gregg’s J/122 TAHAMURA from Corinthian YC of Philadelphia, PA.  For more Charleston Race Week sailing information

J/111 SYMMETRY Wins Doublehanded Farallones

(San Francisco, CA)- A number of J/Teams sailed this years Doublehanded Farallones Race and performed quite well, with two boats winning their divisions- a J/111 and a J/105!  Here’s the report from Erik Simonson’s Pressure-drop.us blog:

“With the the 35th edition of the B.A.M.A. hosted Doublehanded Farallones race we kick off the 2014 offshore season. Run since 1978, the DH Farallones followed the SSS's Singlehanded Farallones by a year, providing an opportunity for those who like company, just not too much of it, when venturing out to the rock-pile.

It has been BAMA's contribution to the sailing community, and has for all intents and purposes, been dominated in number by monohulls. In it's prime, 1984, the Doublehanded Farallones attracted 144 competitors but has seen numbers decline after the economic bubble burst, removing numerous sailors from the affordability of owning and maintaining a seaworthy vessels, increasing costs and safety equipment required.  This year's 53 boats is five boats smaller than in the two previous years which each saw 58 attendees. That's still plenty, and keeps the volunteers working the race deck, the internets and positions up high in the Marin Headlands and Lands end monitoring and ready to relay communications in event of an emergency.

With an 0800 1st gun at the GGYC the Race Committee saw goose eggs on the wind-o-meter and went into postponement. Despite what some of the models predicted, the breeze was a no show for the most part, hoping for better conditions made sense. The ebb had maxed at 0730 and if the RC was to get the 35th running going, it was imperative to get the boats out before the tide reversed. At 0845 the Multis got their gun and it was a light air luff-a-thon to get out to favorable current, and at least get swept out the gate if you could not sail out. By about 0920 the 1st Tri's passed under the Bridge, ghosting along would be a generous description. 15 minutes or so passed before the largest monohull hull, California Condor would eek out in similar conditions.

About 1000 a slight southwesterly began to fill, aiding boats in the bay more than those who had exited earlier. What we saw then was a condensing of the fleets, and the light sportboats and ULDB's taking advantage of the conditions. According to some sailors, things actually looked good from Bonita with 10-12 knots showing, but by the time they reached the light bucket, it was down to 5-6 knots, and died shortly thereafter. The boats which were able to get in range of the Islands benefited the most.

T the J/111 SYMMETRY sailed by Howard Turner and Jay Crum took Class 3 honors, too.  Both boats won were considered to be the most competitive divisions in the race, proof again that the asymmetric spinnaker J’s like the J/111 and J/105 make for superior offshore performance in double-handed events!   Sailing photo credits- Erik Simonson- Pressure-drop.us   For more Double-handed Farallones sailing information

J/111 West Coast Circuit Update

(San Francisco, CA)- This year the J/111 class has burst onto San Francisco Bay with a one-design schedule for the new Fleet 5 racing season.  It looks like 7-8 boats will be on the line. Three new boats are in various stages of development and “Mental” (now renamed BIG BLAST) is just landing from her long ride out from Chicago. Here’s the J/111 schedule for 2014:

• Mar 15-16- Spring One Design Regatta- St Francis YC
• Apr 5-6- J/Fest Regatta- St Francis YC
• Apr 26-27- Vallejo Race-  Vallejo YC
• Jun 7-8- June Invitational- St Francis YC
• Aug 2-3- Second Half Opener- Encinal YC
• Aug 22-24- Aldo Alessio Regatta- St Francis YC
• Sep 11-14- Rolex Big Boat Series- St Francis YC
• Oct 25- Great Pumpkin Regatta- Richmond YC

One of the newer boats in the fleet, MADMEN Racing, was out on the Bay putting their J/111 through the paces last year.  Check out some of their YouTube sailing video action from Frisco right here.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcKqYQie6NE

For more information regarding the J/111 Fleet 5 one-design program, please contact Norm Davant at Sail California- ph# 510-523-8500 or email- norman@sailcal.com

SPACEMAN SPIFF Wins Key West!

(Key West, FL)- There was plenty of final day drama at Quantum Key West 2014 as the winners of several classes were determined during the last race. And, conditions could not have been better for those winner-take-all scenarios with the southernmost point of the United States delivering the strongest winds of the regatta. NNE breezes in the 18-25 knot range made for some spectacular racing on all courses and enabled all classes to complete 10 races for the five-day event.

PHRF 1 Class was up for grabs going into the last race and SPACEMAN SPIFF, the J/111 owned by Rob Ruhlman of Cleveland, Ohio, seized the moment by winning. This was the 13th trip to Key West and the first class victory for the SPACEMAN SPIFF program. “We’ve been trying to win this regatta for a while and it feels good to finally break through. It feels even better because of the quality of competition we faced. This is some of the closest PHRF racing in which I’ve ever participated,” said Ruhlman, who had his wife and son aboard. “We really had a blast this week. It was great sailing and all the people in the class are so friendly. We passed TEAMWORK on the way into the harbor and their entire crew applauded us.”

TEAMWORK, a J/122 skippered by Robin Team of Lexington, N.C., came up short in its bid to three-peat in Key West – finishing 4.5 points behind SPACEMAN SPIFF.  In fact, Robin’s team had to win a tie-breaker over Eddie Fredericks’ crew on the brilliant orange J/111 FIREBALL to capture second overall.  Mid-week, the TEAMWORK crew were on a roll, rattling off four straight bullets to jump up the ladder into contention, however a seventh race 7th position hurt their chances at grabbing the brass-ring.  Sailing very strongly all week was “Fast Eddie’s” FIREBALL team, trading the lead with the SPIFFER’s until the last two races when a 5-4 tally dropped them into the tie-breaker with TEAMWORK.  Sailing photo credits- Onne Vanderwal.

Sailing video interviews:

Rob Ruhlman- J/111 Spaceman Spiff owner and winner of PHRF 1
Robin Team- J/122 TEAMWORK owner, 2nd in PHRF 1 and past Key West champion.

For more Quantum Key West Race Week sailing information

Grevelingen Cup Report

(Marina Port Zelande, Netherlands)- This year’s Grevelingen Cup saw over 200 competitors participate across multiple classes in both ORC handicap racing as well as one-design classes.  Enjoying a strong turnout this year was the Benelux J/80 fleet sailing both in the Cup as well as sailing their J/80 Benelux Nationals.

The sailors were greeted with a real mixed bag of weather conditions that were very “un-fall like”.  Instead of fast-moving fronts bringing broken clouds, sun, plenty of wind and occasional rain showers (which is quite typical), the fleet was instead having to fight fog, gentle breezes and light air patches.  On Saturday the clouds did break up enough for a nice sea-breeze to fill in behind the fog.  Sunday was even more challenging as it was generally overcast and by later in the afternoon the wind simply quit.

The ORC world saw a number of Dutch offshore J/Teams sailing well.  GGPM Van Beers’s J/122 JAM SESSION took second overall while H Zwijnenburg’s J/111 SWEENY took fourth in their class.   For more Grevelingen Cup sailing information

J-DREAM Crowned J/111 Hamble Winter Series Champ!

(Hamble, England)-  For the last and final round of races for the Garmin Hamble Winter Series, the standings saw little change from the weekend before.  Some of the boats that had dominated throughout the series affirmed their overall leads and a few others that had their sights set on podium finishes actually managed to pull them off.

In IRC 0, David & Kirsty Apthorp’s J/111 J-DREAM continued their consistent series and maintained their solid record with a 5th this past weekend to hang on to their third overall in class as well as their gold position in the J/111 one-design class overall.  Some of the spoilers to the party on the last weekend were the arrival of Cornell Riklin’s J/111 JITTERBUG and David Ballantyne’s J/122 JINGS!, each taking a 3rd and 4th respectively in the final race.

Finally, David & Kirsty Apthorp’s J-DREAM were leading the J/111 class after the halfway point and never looked back, taking top honors for the series.  By virtue of winning the last race, Cornel Riklin’s JITTERBUG leapt into second overall while  Andrew Christie’s ICARUS placed third overall in class.  For sailing photo credits-  Paul Wyeth Pictures.  For more Hamble Winter Series sailing information

MOJITO Blasts Around Hong Kong Islands!

Veteran J/Sailors Love Windy, Wavy Conditions
(Hong Kong, China)- Hong Kong's largest and most inclusive sailing event, the Tommy Bahamas Around Island Race, featured more than 200 sailing boats, together with outrigger canoes and coastal rowing boats.  All teams battled it out over the 26nm course that is known as the “Round Island Race” (e.g. all around the islands that comprise Hong Kong)!  Cool race, spectacular vistas of the world-renown city and breathtaking views of the ginormous, lush, jungle green mountain-tops. Anyone looking out of their window in Hung Hom or Chai Wan on the morning of the start would see hundreds of boats converging on Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour from every point of the compass for Hong Kong’s biggest annual celebration of sail and paddle on the water.

The Around the Island Race became an annual event in 1983, however its origins go back to 1864 when six boats raced around Hong Kong Island to Starboard (clockwise) and Hong Kong’s sailors have since regarded this route as a tricky challenge with unpredictable wind shifts.  The race course features a 26nm circumnavigation of Hong Kong Island to starboard, which has been sanctioned by Hong Kong Marine Department since 2003. This year there was record-setting breeze, so the Royal Hong Kong YC PRO, Ms Inge Strompf-Jepsen, managed to fire off twenty separate starts for sailboats at RHKYC’s Kellett Island clubhouse.

With the replenishment of the northeast monsoon filling in overnight, many competitors took one look at the conditions and decided that prudence was the better part of valor.  This included the majority of the beach cat classes, where even the most battle hardened sailors took one look at the conditions whipped up by the 15-18kt easterly in the harbour and decided that the 25kts plus and two to three metre seas at Cape D’Aguilar were not for them or their boats.

With 258 entries, this was the biggest prospective fleet recorded for the 26nm circumnavigation.  With even Cyberport Gate getting a good 20-25kt blow and the relatively flat stretch along the south and south west of Hong Kong Island meant the entire fleet would likely be on record-setting paces for their respective classes.  Indeed, after the finish times were recorded and handicap times applied, it was pretty clear that most records fell from previous years.

Amongst the J/Teams, there were some excellent performances.  In the highly competitive IRC 2 Class, the J/111 MOJITO sailed by Simon Blore had a tremendous race, taking second overall and narrowly missing the overall win by a mere minute and a half!  For more Tommy Bahama Around Island Race sailing information

Peruvian J/111 Offshore Report

(Lima, Peru)- Since July 2012, the J/111 CHALLWA (means “fisherman” in the native Peruvian language), has being sailing and racing in Peru’s and Ecuador’s offshore racing circuits under the ORC handicap rule.  Their latest event, the Copa del Pacifico Regatta, belongs to a series of races between Peru and Ecuador that is held annually.  This particular event is sailed in Paracas Bay 150 miles south of Lima- the capital of Peru.

German Fuchs, sailing aboard CHALLWA, reports the following about their experiences in this year’s Copa del Pacifico: “We had a series of eight windward-leeward races and two offshore- one of 32nm and the other 28nm.  The fleet was quite competitive with teams from Peru, Chile and Ecuador.  We sailed in ORC Class A against a new Soto 48R, Sydney 46, Swan 45R, two Grand Soleil 42R’s and a Soto 42R.  Most of our races were sailed in 15-20 kts TWS, except one W/L was sailed in 6kts TWS. Our best results on the J111 were in light winds and running or reaching in 16-22 kts TWS.

For this regatta we opted to set a bigger spinnaker of 157sqm instead of the J/111 one-design class size of 130sqm.  This change for ORC handicap racing gave us very good results in light winds and we were able to get the boat into “planing-mode” (like the J/70) in just 16 kts TWS for best VMG downwind! In fact, we reached average 15kts boat speed with just 22kts TWS running downwind- this monster kite cost us only 1 sec/mi in GPH, that is nothing compared with the benefits gained!

From the racing perspective, we had great success against some of the top offshore teams in South America.  We managed to win both long distance races in ORC Class A and two W/L in light winds in Class A2.  We also managed to finish 4th in Class A and 2nd in Class A2 for the Regatta Series.  It sure helped to have Wally Cross and Kerry Klinger from Quantum Sails onboard to race with us, especially after their experiences in winning the J/111 North American Championship in Chicago!  By the way, we’re planning to race the 2014 Chicago-Mackinac Race in a J/111 as a preparation for the Galapagos 2014 Race that will be held in October 2014 here in Peru!  Looking forward to see other J/111 sailors soon in America!  Best, Germán”

J/111 Gone Fishin' in Middle Sea Race?!

(Gzira, Malta)-  We had an interesting update regards the performance of Massimo Colossimo’s J/111 J/STORM in the recent Rolex Middle Sea Race- the 606nm race that starts/finishes in Malta and goes around a series of islands in the Mediterranean that includes several active volcanoes like Sicily, Italy!  Said Colossimo about their race, “we had some bad luck on J/STORM during the Middle Sea Race.  After the fast run from Malta to the first mark in the Straits of Messina (between Sicily and mainland Italy), J/STORM was amongst the leaders of the race.  By playing the left of the course, we were able to hold nice speed before rounding Stromboli and were leading the ALL of the J/Teams in the fleet.

However, during the first night of the race, we caught a huge fishing net in the rudder and propeller.  I ended up jumping overboard at night to clean the bottom after we realized we had a speed problem!  You cannot believe what I found (see picture here of the offending nylon net and buoys)!!

The sad part for us was that the whole situation took place in light air and was much more complicated than we expected.  As a result, it took place long enough for us to lose contact with the leaders and, unfortunately, delayed us from catching the next good breeze.  Short delays, in a distance race, as you know, add more delays and more frustration!

The rest of the race became an uphill battle for our crew, but we never lost concentration and to catch back up with the leaders in the light air windward beat at the Lampedusa Island rounding.  In fact, we were ahead of the J/122 ARTIE RTFX and near the J/122 OTRA VEZ.  Then, we had one unfortunate tack that took us back out of the lead!  In any case, it was a Herculean effort and we hope next time to have a little bit better luck!”

Hamble "Winter" Series Update- Weekend III

(Hamble, England)- "Windy, wet and lumpy" was how one competitor described Sunday’s racing in the third weekend of the Garmin Hamble Winter Series. It was a breezy day indeed that saw a base wind of 23 knots and gusts of up to 30 that greeted the fleet as they made their way to the start on Sunday morning. A gusty breeze, combined with a steep Solent chop and intermittent heavy rain squalls kept competitors on their toes – and, occasionally, their boats on their sides in tricky conditions.

Ian Brown from One Sails, the day sponsor, was on hand back in the HRSC clubhouse to present day prizes to the exhausted crews as they enjoyed beer for £2.50 a pint and hot food. In many classes the challenging conditions shook up the overall results.

In the IRC 0 Winter Series class, the all J/111 class continues to see the team of David & Kirsty Apthorp on J-DREAM leading by virtue of their 1-1-1-2-1-1 record this past weekend.  Richard Barnes's BIELA-MUNKENBECK is very close behind having scored an equally impressive 2-2-2-1-2-2 to hold onto second place.  Lying third is the British Army team led by William Naylor aboard BRITISH SOLDIER.  These standings for the Winter Series scoring are virtually identical for the Big Boats J/111 One-Design Series scoring.

Next weekend hosts the final weekend of the Doyle Sails Hamble One Design Championships, as well as the fourth Garmin Hamble Winter Series race day.

Congratulations to all winners and competitors for some masterful displays of big-breeze sailing in what proved to be some challenging sailing conditions. Thanks to all the volunteers who braved the unpleasant conditions to man the committee boats and mark laying RIBs and to run the galley back in the club– the event couldn’t go ahead without them! Thanks for contribution from Ben Meakins.  Sailing photo credits- Malcolm Donald/ GHWS Ross Elliston/ HBBC Trevor Pountain   For more Garmin Hamble Winter Series sailing information

J'Taime Les Voiles de St Tropez!

J/97, J/109 & J/111 Win The Party!
(St Tropez, France)- For its 15th edition, from 28 September to 6 October 2013, Les Voiles de Saint Tropez offered thousands of sailors, skippers and owners of sublime yachts an idea, a state of mind, a certain experience of yachting, that was colored by the unique convivial atmosphere synonymous with the gathering of seafarers far and wide.  It's the "history" and the "future" of yachting side by side in Saint-Tropez. A dizzying, intoxicating mixture of fashion, parties, gorgeous people and fabulous sailing (usually) in the beautiful azure waters off the picturesque village of St Tropez.

The autumn’s major festival of international yachting lived up to its expectations for the sailors doing battle in the Gulf of Saint Tropez and the waters off Pampelonne Beach in front of the infamous Cub 55 (where beach clothing is often optional). A festival on shore, a sporting celebration at sea, it's a proven recipe for success that is synonymous with "la dolce vida" or, perhaps, "la vida loca" (as in Rio's Festival or New Orleans' Mardis Gras)!

Boasting Modern and Classic boats alike, the 300+ yachts brought the Baie of Saint Tropez to life. As always,  Les Voiles brings the magical spectacle of yachts hitting the water that represented over a century of yacht design and aesthetics.  After sailing, the heart of the event was the "Les Voiles Village"-- the event’s hub where sailors from across the yachting world and locals gathered ashore to enjoy evening festivities.

The sailors were greeted by an extraordinary mix of weather this year.  From fierce storms that swept down from the northwest bringing 30-45 kt gales to sublime, gorgeous days of westerlies with 10-15 kts-- perfect for a day's sail with friends after a long evening of entertainment with friends in the village of St Tropez or dancing at the Club 55 disco on the Pampelonne beach until dawn!

In the end, the event was declared "Unforgettable", according to Bruno Troublé, Louis Vuitton Cup master-mind and long-time J/80 owner and sailor in J/80 French, European and World Championships. It was a week full of contrasts, indeed, with a quiet start in calm weather, culminating with two fantastic sailing days on Wednesday and Saturday-- mostly remembered for excellent sailing conditions under a blazing sun. The 15th edition of the Voiles de Saint-Tropez proved once again the place to be and put an emphatic exclamation mark to the end of a great sailing season!! Good times ashore, with parties on board, and the great musical atmosphere of the Village were only rivaled by the excellent sailing on the spectacular Gulf of Saint-Tropez.

And, Saint-Tropez attracts the stars, both human and sailing machines. Many of them J sailors past and present (J/24s, J/80s, J/109s)-- Sébastien Col, Jan Dekker, Peter Holmberg, Jean-Pierre Dick-- they were all there, most sailing anonymously and enjoying one of the world’s greatest sailing festivals.

J/Teams had great fun sailing in the wide variety of conditions.  IRC D class had 40 boats participating and taking 6th was the J/111 MERLIN sailed by Michel Buffet, finishing just 8 pts from second. The IRC E class had 36 boats sailing.  Taking 10th was the J/109 JEDI skippered by Patrick Gouedart, 12th was the J/109 JAVA BLUE III helmed by Eric Bardaille who, in turn just beat by one point the 13th place team- the J/97 NO LIMIT led by Pascale Barbier.  Sailing photo credits- Gilles Martin Raget/ Marseilles, France.  For more Les Voiles des St Tropez sailing information

J/Teams Enjoy Youngstown Level Regatta XL

(Youngstown, NY)- 181 boats raced on five circles in the 40th and Final Youngstown Level Regatta on the weekend of July 27-28.  For most of its history the Level has been the largest weekend keelboat regatta on Lake Ontario, at one time hitting a monstrous 466 boats!   Those were the days of 50 boat J/24 fleets and one design starts for most of the J designs popular at the time.  Since then things had settled down to a more manageable size but the Level still held a prominent place on the calendar for most racers within hundreds of miles.  Youngstown Yacht Club finally decided 40 years was enough and the organizers and volunteers deserved a break, so this was the last Level, to be replaced next year with a new event with details to be announced this fall.

Sailors did not want to miss out on the fun of the final event so attendance was up by almost 40 boats over 2012.  Conditions were generally favorable, light to moderate with the exception of a brief squall that came in Saturday afternoon that curtailed racing for the day.   In IRC 0 Bob Hesse and crew aboard the J111 Lake Effect lost the tie-breaker for first place, settling for second as they had done in Key West in January.  They have been dominating local PHRF racing this summer.

The regatta was judged to be a terrific success with many fond memories being shared and praise was lavished on the volunteers for their years of hard work.  Everyone wants to know what YYC has our our sleeve for 2014 but we aren't quite ready to announce the sequel just yet. Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes @ TimWilkes.com.    For more Youngstown Level Regatta sailing information

J/Navy Sail Mac Race

(Chicago, IL)- "The Mac", as it's affectionately known, kicks off Saturday, July 13, 2013 with 3,000 sailors competing in this world-class sporting event. Although the Mac remains primarily an amateur event, the race has a proven track record of attracting some of the finest sailing talent in the sport. Sailors from 15 different U.S. states as well as Ontario, Switzerland, and as far off as Hong Kong, are preparing for the race of a lifetime – the 289nm Chicago to Mackinac, presented by Veuve Clicquot.

Gathering along Chicago's waterfront are some of the world's better sailors and certainly a remarkably strong contingent of J sailors from across the lakes.  Three J/One-Design classes are represented- J/105s, J/109s and J/111s. Plus, there are J/Teams spread throughout the Double-handed and handicap classes, many who've proven time and again they're not only champions in their own classes and divisions, but quite a few who've won the Mackinac Island races overall!

Starting with the one-design classes, it will be interesting to see if the J/111 class can repeat their outstanding performance in the 2012 Mac Race, where most of the class swept the top spots overall. There are eleven J/111s including all the top contenders from last year.  Amongst the top teams from Chicago, you have several winners of recent regattas, including Paul Stahlberg's MENTAL, IMPULSE (Dr George Miz, Peter Dreher, Mark Hatfield), KASHMIR (the Mayer, Henderson, Brummel team-- the 2012 class and overall winner), Tom McIntosh's MISTY, Tom Edman/ Steve Dabrowski's NIGHTHAWK, Len Siegal's LUCKY DUBIE, Bill Smith's WOOTON and Rick Witzel's ROWDY.  From Milwaukee, Wisconsin is the team of HOBGOBLIN led by Rick Hobbs. From Michigan is 2011 double Mac Race winner NO SURPRISE sailed by Great Lakes racing legend Dave Irish. Finally, Henry Brauer's FLEETWING, recent winner at New York YC's Annual Regatta in the J/111 class will be participating as "virgin" Mac racers!

For you armchair sailors, the Chicago YC has again contracted with one of the world's leading offshore sailboat tracking companies- Yellowbrick Tracking.  You can find that on the Chicago-Mac website.  For more Chicago Mackinac Race sailing information

J's Sweep Great Lakes Double-handed Races

(Chicago, IL)- Two popular short-handed events recently took place on the Great Lakes hosted by the Great Lakes Singlehanded Society, an organization established for the perpetuation of the sport of solo sailing. Its purpose is two-fold, the first being to encourage the development of and education concerning suitable techniques, equipment, and gear for shorthanded passage under sail; its second being the recognition of accomplishments of singlehanded sailors in the Great Lakes region. The camaraderie of like-minded sailors, borne of the competition on the race course, is the one of the greatest benefits the Society is able to bestow upon its members.

According to legend, it all began innocently enough when a group of sailors were having a few beers on a cold windy night back in the autumn of 1978. The place was "Brownies on the Lake" and as the rounds of brew piled up, so did the enthusiasm for a Solo Challenge to Mackinac from Port Huron. Meetings were held throughout the following winter, until the details were finally worked out for the inaugural Mackinac Solo Challenge held on June 9, 1979.

It was a dark, dreary day with overcast skies and a blustery wind out of the north at 15 to 25 knots. Twenty two skippers answered the starting cannon and seventeen hung on to finish at Mackinac Island. The seventeen finishers of that first race went on to become the charter members and nucleus of the Great Lakes Singlehanded Society. It was proclaimed that the organization would be dedicated to the promotion and development of shorthanded sailing on the Great Lakes. Membership would be extended only to those skippers who successfully completed the "Port Huron to Mackinac Island Singlehanded Challenge".

Recently, those members took up the challenge when both the Western Shore LMSS Double-handed Race took place as well as the "Mackinacs" Singlehanded Race.  In the Western Shore race the J/Teams swept the top three divisions and took four of the top six overall!  Tom McIntosh and Dave Michals, sailing their J/111 MISTY, simply smoked their fleet, winning by over 45 minutes corrected time in PHRF Division II and taking first overall.   For more Great Lakes Shorthanded sailing information

Fabulous Sailing @ Block Island Race Week

(Block Island, RI)- The 25th Anniversary of the Storm Trysail Club's biennial Block Island Race Week was celebrated this past week, and it seems that after almost five decades a good thing has only gotten better with age. First held in 1965, the five-day competition, originally patterned after Cowes Week, is one of the last true Race Weeks remaining in America.  The event proved it still can deliver on its time-tested tradition of good, challenging racing to over 1500 sailors competing on 182 teams while also embracing all types of racing sailors with a “something for everyone” approach.

Of the 182 boat fleet, J/Boats had by far the largest brand presence in the regatta with 80 boats participating (44% of the fleet!).  Six J one-design classes participated, including the J/111s, the J/80 North American's and East Coast Championships for the J/109, J/105s, J/44s and J/29s.  J/Teams also sailed in the IRC and PHRF handicap divisions.

The J/111 class had a closely contested event with five boats.  After winning the classic Around Island Race on Tuesday, Paul Strauch's ANDIAMO team never looked back to lead the class after finishing third on the final windy race on Friday.  Second was Doug Curtiss's WICKED 2.0 with 18 pts.  Class newcomer Mike Piper (Marblehead, MA) sailing EAGLES DARE were quick learners in the class, sailing better and more consistently every race to snag third on a tie-breaker over PARTNERSHIP (David & Maryellen Tortorello).   Sailing Photos by Allen Clark/ PhotoBoat.com and Stephen Cloutier/ BlockIslandRI.net.  For more Block Island Race Week sailing information

J/111 Triumps @ Round Farallones Race!

(San Francisco, CA)- Sailing a terrific Farallones Race was the J/111 AEOLUS sailed by Rob Theis from Santa Barbara YC.  Rob and crew managed to finish in second place in PHRF 2 and take fifth overall in PHRF on their first major offshore outing!  They managed to beat some downwind flyers like a Quest 33, Hobie 33, Farr 36 and an very experienced Express 37 crew.   Round Farallones Race sailing information

Block Island Race Week Preview

(Block Island, RI)- For many sailors in northeastern America and their friends from the around the world, Block Island Race Week is the highlight of the sailing summer.  Hosted by the Storm Trysail Club with professional, well-managed race committee's, sailors can count on fantastic racing for five straight days of sailing from June 24th to 28th.  Included in the schedule is another one of those fabulous "round island" races, the 25nm Around Block Island Race sailed mid-week.  While many enjoy the sailing, it's not unusual for many of the thousand-plus sailors to enjoy the renown "Block Party" that goes all week long, fueled by Mt Gay's famous rum and, equally as famous, The Oar Restaurant & Bar's famous "mudslides".

This year the sailing teams are looking forward to one of the largest fleets to assemble in years, with 183 boats registered to sail, J/Boats having by far the largest brand presence in the regatta with 80 boats participating (44% of the fleet!).  Six J one-design classes are sailing, including the J/111s, the J/80 North American's and East Coast Championships for the J/109, J/105s, J/44s and J/29s.  J/Teams are also sailing in the IRC and PHRF handicap divisions.

The J one-design teams are loaded with excellent sailing talent.  The J/111 class have a strong fleet of five boats, all of whom have won various handicap and one-design events over the past two years, including ANDIAMO (Paul Strauch), BRAVO (Sedgwick Ward), PARTNERSHIP (David & Maryellen Tortorello who are reigning STC BI Week J/111 champions), WICKED 2.0 (Doug Curtiss who's reigning BI Week 2012 champion) and class newcomer EAGLES DARE (Mike Piper from Marblehead, MA).   For more Block Island Race Week sailing information

J/111 KASHMIR Rocks Chicago NOOD Regatta

(Chicago, IL)-  Wind, waves, and sunshine greeted competitors at the first day of racing at the Sperry Top-Sider Chicago NOOD Regatta. This past weekend the Chicago Yacht Club hosted the annual NOOD regatta.  The wind was up on Friday, lightning a bit heavy on Saturday morning and the wind finally came in for the races on Sunday. The RC's PRO and team were able to get in 9 races in total, with 7 boats on the line for the J/111s. The J one-design classes on the other courses had similar experiences, with great breezes and good competition.

For the J/111 fleet, despite what the final cumulative score reflected, the Chicago NOOD's featured incredibly close racing all the way until the final day with 5 boats separated by only 7 points going into Sunday-- it was any one's regatta to win. With 4 separate boats scoring a first in at least one race and a consistent shuffling in the standings at the end of each day it goes to show how competitive J/111 Fleet 1 can be. The starting line and mark roundings were very interesting places to be every race and it forced every boat to sail with focus. One bad spinnaker hoist or douse had the potential to set a boat back 3 or 4 spots. On Saturday afternoon's last race, 5 out of the 7 boats were called over early, however 2 of those were still able to place 2nd and 3rd. The wind was as shifty as ever on Lake Michigan and was the cause for some exciting comebacks. It was a fantastic regatta where the J/111 really got to display all of its glory. In fact, every downwind leg on Friday's races was an amazing show for all on the course with 4-5 ft waves offering up fantastic surfing opportunities. The trio of Brummel/Henderson/Mayer on KASHMIR took first overall, followed by William Smith's WOOTON from Bay Harbor YC in second,  Steve Dabrowski's NIGHTHAWK in third, Paul Stahlberg's MENTAL fourth and Rich Witzel's ROWDY fifth.    Sailing Photo Credit- Tim Wilkes.com   For more Sperry Topsider Chicago NOOD Regatta sailing information

J's Dominates Round Island!

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- Saturday 1st of June was certainly a day to remember, a day of highs, and more highs and, it was a day for Round the Island Race records to tumble.  It was the day when Great Britain's most successful Olympic sailor, Sir Ben Ainslie (past J/24, J/80 and J/109 sailor/tactician) and his all-British crew aboard JP Morgan BAR, trounced the existing Round the Island Race multihull record, held for 12 years, by an impressive 16 minutes.  Equalling this awesome, impressive feat was Simon Ling's team aboard the J/70 SPITFIRE, just blowing away their 15 boat Sportboat Class by 15 minutes on corrected time and were declared winner of the prestigious Sir Edward Heath Trophy (named after a former British Prime Minister who dearly loved sailing).

As dawn broke over the Solent, a weak weather front was clearing away to the east, leaving clear skies and a northerly airflow in its wake. The wind strength peaked at 17-22 knots as the front passed over, reducing to 13-17 knots for the first starters. It was clear it was going to be a day to break records for all kinds of boats, especially with flat water and a good wind angle on every leg of the course.  A critical turning point in the race, St Catherine's Point, had a comfortable 15 kts with occasional gusts to 20-25 kts to make for fast surfing or planing for the lighter boats. It was nearly idyllic sailing conditions for the massive 1,500 boat fleet. However, by the time Simon Ling’s J/70 SPITFIRE, the leading sportsboat, was approaching Bembridge Ledge at 1030 hrs there were holes appearing in the breeze, with just 5-6 knots reported in places. Otherwise, conditions remain glorious on the water, with almost unbroken sun now warming the 15,000 sailors after a cold start to the day.

The many J teams that sailed enjoyed a fabulous day on the water, many having the opportunity to hop on the podium as well.  In IRC 1A with 28 entries were the five J/111s.  As J/111 champion and sixth in class was Tony Mack's McFLY.  Second J/111 and 10th in class was JITTERBUG.  Third J/111 and 14th in class was Rick Barne's MUNKENBECK.  Fourth J/111 and 16th in class was James Arnell's JEEZ LOUISE.  Fifth J/111 and 19th in class was the Belgian team DJINN sailed by Sebastien de Liedekerke.  The J/122 JACOB's LADDER was 21st in class.  Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth @ PWPictures.com.  For more Round The Island Race sailing information

J/111 Europeans Preview

Teams Sailing @ Normandy Sailing Week
(Le Havre, France)- From June 5 to 9, nine one-design J/111s will be participating in Normandy Sailing Week in Le Havre, France.  As part of this series, the J/111 will be sailing their first European Championships.  And, with a good weather forecast for the long weekend, it should prove to be very competitive racing.

Frederic Bouvier, President of the J/111 European class and business manager of the French builder J-Composites commented, "We are pleased, after the debut one-design event at SPI Ouest France 2012, that nine J/111s will be sailing in Normandy Sailing Week for the J/111 Europeans. The sailors come from Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland and France. The idea is to establish a circuit for J/111s in Europe, with a friendly social atmosphere ashore and with spirited, high-level of competition on the water. The J/111 is a great boat for this type of one-design offshore racing, it allows a fast ride with comfort and the boats are very equal in speed-- it's what the owners are seeking. J-Composites will be on site with equipment to support the owners. A big 'Thank You' to the organizers of Normandy Sailing Week to welcome us for the first European J/111 Championship."

It's clear many of the best teams in Europe are showing up.  From France, the winner of SPI Ouest 2012 J/111 class, J-LANCE 8, will be skippered by Didier Le Moal (seen here at right) and he is joined by fellow Frenchmen Bertant Coutoure (CNV).  From the Netherlands will be the experienced and highly regarded offshore racing team on XCENTRIC RIPPER, sailed by John Van der Starre and Robin Verhoef.  Representing Belgium is Sebastien de Liedekerke skippering DJINN.  Then five veteran teams are sailing from Great Britain, including 2012 Cowes Week and Round Island Champion Duncan McDonald on SHMOKIN' JOE; 109 and 111 champions David & Kirsty Apthorp on J-DREAM; Rick Barnes on BIELA MUNKENBECK; James Arnell's JEEZ LOUISE and Tony Mack's McFLY. The outcome of the nine fast boats will be extremely difficult to handicap as all teams have made massive improvements over the past year and this is the first time they've all come together as a fleet since SPI Ouest France 2012!  Should be fun!   For more J/111 Europeans and J/80 Normandy Sailing Week information