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!”

J/111 Owners Simply Love Their Boats!

(Chester, Nova Scotia)- Recently, we received a wonderful note from a long-time Canadian J/24 sailor from the past- Dave Connolly.  He just started sailing his new J/111 STAMPEDER this past 2012 summer in Chester, Nova Scotia at Chester Yacht Club.  Dave had this to say,

"We sailed a J/24 out of Toronto in the early 80's and I ran the Canadian J/24 Class association for several years. In 1986, I was moved to Calgary where there is really no water so we sold the boat and essentially gave up sailing!  When I decided to retire early last year, one of the first things I did was order a boat through Jim Snair to get back into racing at our summer home in Nova Scotia.  We love the boat!  Our only complaint is that there aren't more J/111's in Nova Scotia.  It's great competitive sailing though with PHRF."  Here's a picture of them sailing and their happy, young crew!

J/111 J-DREAM Wins Epic Round Island!

(Cowes, IOW, England)- The post-race atmosphere in the sunny town of Cowes was mainly one of relief and immense pleasure after competitors enjoyed a challenging, lively and memorable day of racing, organised and run by the Island Sailing Club.  The 81st Round the Island Race, the biggest yacht race in the world, this year attracted an entry of 1,647 boats across 25 classes.  Of these, 1,198 crossed the finish line within the 10pm deadline; 247 retired, giving a 73% finish rate which is precisely the same percentage of finishers as in 2011 when the 80th Anniversary Race attracted a record entry of 1,908 yachts and welcomed home 1,345 finishers.

The wind conditions were as forecast with most of the fleets starting in a moderate south-westerly breeze.  However, the forecast for the wind to increase dramatically meant a number of fleets would not start, including the J/80s.  As a whole, the J/Teams faired well in this classic 60nm+ race around the fabled island.  David & Kirsty Apthorp’s J/111 J-DREAM reveled in the conditions planing down the south side of the island after St Catherines Pt in 3-5 meter seas and 20-25 kts of wind to take the overall hours in both IRC 1A class and IRC Group 1, completing the course in just 6 hrs:21 min:54 secs!  In fact, they were first J/Team home and led an enormous contingent of J sailors to honors in a number of classes.  The double-win is a repeat of last year’s victory by fellow J/111 SHMOKIN JOE.

"We are absolutely delighted to have won and the J/111 is proving her versatility whatever the wind strength as we had 13-26 knots.  My crew complained that they missed the spectacle of watching the spinnakers stretching as far as you can see in both directions, because we rounded the corner at Bembridge too quickly - there is no pleasing some!  However to see Actual do a ‘flypast’ and to watch Eleanora was apparently consolation and particularly for crew member Herbie Harford (16) who was on his first trip round the island," said David Apthorp.

In IRC IA class alone, J teams were 8 of the top 20, an amazing achievement in the incredibly challenging conditions.   After J-DREAM, the J/111 MANIC was 8th, the J/122 JOULOU was 11th, the J/111 OJE was 12th, the J/122 JOLLY JELLYFISH was 13th, the J/111 MUNKENBECK was 14th, the J/122 GHOST was 16th and the J/122 MINT JULEP was 18th. Were it not for a DSQ, the J/111 JEEZE LOUISE would have been 7th!  In IRC 1B Class, the J/122 NUTMEG IV from France finished 3rd in class were 7th overall in IRC Group 1! A fabulous performance for all these J/Crews!

A similar scenario played out in IRC 2A Class with J's taking 9 of the top 20!  Leading the group home was a classic and incredibly well-sailed J/35 KNIGHT BUILD LTD, finishing 4th overall but just missing overall honors to win by just six minutes!  Amazing for a 25+ year old design.  Next up on the board were a slew of J/109s, with OFFBEAT (6th) leading home the rest of their colleagues- JAHMALI (7th), BASIC INSTINCT (8th), BLUE JAY (9th), HIGH TENSION (14th), JUMUNU (16th), JOUSTER (18th) and JOLENE (19th).  A good show for 35 foot J's in this class!  But, it was IRC 2B Class in Group IRC 2 that took home the overall honors in the group. Nine of the top 15 were J/Teams, led home by the J/105 JELLY BABY taking a 3rd in IRC 2B class and 5th overall in IRC 2 Group.  The J/105 KING LOUIE was next with a 4th in class and 8th in the group.  The J/109 JIBE was 5th in class and 11th in the group.  The balance was filled out by J/105 NEILSON REDEYE (7th), J/109 JAGERBOMB (9th), J/105 JOS OF HAMBLE (10th), J/109 JUKE BOX (11th), J/109 J'TAIME (12th), J/109 JUMPING JELLYFISH (14th) and J/109 J2EAU (15th).

In the highly competitive 30 footers division, IRC 2D, there were a strong mix of J/97s and J/92s participating in "class" configurations.  Most of them found the conditions to their liking and the results speak for themselves, with J/Teams taking 13 of the top 20 places!!  Holy smokes.  Finishing 3rd was the J/97 JJ L'AMOROSSO, followed by the J/97 MCFLY (5th), the J/92 JUST ENOUGH (6th), the J/92 WHO'S TO NO (8th), the J/97s INDULJENCE, INJENIOUS, JIKA JIKA and JEOPARDY 2 in 10th, 11th, 13th & 14th, respectively, the J/92s BOJANGLES in 15th, the J/97 JACKAROO in 16th and the J/92s JAMMIN, BLACK JACK & MOBY J in 17th, 18th and 19th respectively.  Incredible.  For the 30 footer J teams this was quite a dominant performance as a group, no other brands or boats were even close.

Of note, in ISC Division 4, the J/120 ASSARAIN III loved the powerful reaching and running conditions on the south side of the island, St Catherines Point and east in particular, and pulled of a well-deserved 2nd in class and 4th in ISC 4 overall.   Sailing Photo credits- Patrick Eden and Tim Wright/ Photoaction.com.  For more Round Island Race sailing information

J/111 Cruising & Day-Sailing

(Annapolis, MD)- The J/111 continues to amaze those who've had the privilege to sail one.  Whether racing offshore in demanding conditions, dueling around the buoys on classic "sausage" courses, or simply daysailing and cruising with family and friends, J/111 may be one of the most versatile 36 footers ever to come off the J drawing boards.  Fast, fun, easily handled by women and children the J/111 can be sailed short-handed by a family crew. Recently, we discovered that an all ladies crew were more than up to the task!

Having fun with a number of their friends on the Chesapeake were Barb Whited and her friends on a weekend regatta.  As she described, "we sailed the ladies spring race series. We did win the series, but it was closely fought. Most of the other boats rated over 160, but we left them in the dust after we all practiced for the first 2 races. The first day we had 2 - 4ths (last) while crew learned to work the boat and I got better jibing the boat. After that, we were 1st. We had 5 ladies and took a penalty for a male crew member since we just didn't have quite enough power with just the 5 ladies. My male helper cost me 5 more seconds (34), but we still won with 2 - 1sts, 1- 2nd, and a 4th.  Threw out one race. Wind was blowing those 2 days, up to 20 on the second day. We had no problems handling the boat.  We had a GREAT time. I was shocked to win since I gave the other boats so much time, but we left them in the dust on 3 out of 5 races."  Read more of Barb's story here on the J/Blog.   For more J/111 sailing information

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 SoCal Boatshow

(Newport Beach, CA)- J/111 will be on display at the April 19-22- Newport Beach Boatshow.  Learn more from Jeff Brown and crew at JK3 Yachting why this remarkable 36 footer has taken the world by storm over the past year.  With one-design activity growing in Europe and America, now's the time to jump aboard and have some fun in 2012 and look forward to Key West in 2013!  Recently, the J/111 One-Design Class in SPI Ouest France saw fantastic racing from teams across Europe, expect more in the Solent and Cowes Race Week.  Next up in America are class racing events in Charleston, Annapolis, Newport, Chicago, Harbor Springs and San Francisco.  Contact Jeff Brown and crew at jeff@jk3yachts.com or cell#619-709-0697.  The boatshow information for the Newport Show.

Fast Sailing JAKE Snakes Sydney-Newcastle Race

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

J/111 and J/108 Florida Debut

SAIL Key West Reception
(Key West, FL)- Come on down and take a peek at two of the latest 35+ footers to debut in the J stable of fun, fast, easy-to-sail boats.  SAIL Magazine, in concert with its industry partners NORTH SAILS and HARKEN, are hosting a reception for sailors interested in taking a closer look at the J/111.  You also get a chance to meet and chat with the SAIL Best Around Buoys winners, Jim Sminchak and crew from Cleveland, OH.  The event will be held on Saturday, January 15th at 5:00 pm at the Galleon Resort Marina- free beer, wine and munchies!

The SAIL Best Around Buoys 111, KONTIKI V, has arrived in Miami, FL (photo above) and is heading down to Key West to be sailed by Jim's Cleveland J/105 "Team it".  The electric royal blue and candy red color scheme look spectacular on the water.  With North Sails latest carbon wardrobe with brilliant candy apple red spinnakers and Harken's latest sailing equipment, the 111 will turn heads anywhere it goes.

In addition to the 111, CrossCurrent Marine's Craig Crossley will feature J's newest shoal-draft performance cruiser- the J/108 along with its siblings, the J/95s that were introduced in 2009.  It's all happening down at the Galleon Resort Marina in Key West.  Please join us.  For more information please call J/Boats at ph- 401-846-8410 or email info@jboats.com.  More J/111 sailboat information is here.  And, J/108 shoal-draft performance sailboat information can be found here.

  

J/111 & J/97 At London Show

(London, England)- The new J/111 and the J/97 will be starring on the Key Yachting stand (H69) at the London Boat Show which runs from Friday January 7th 2011 to Sunday January 16th. The J/80 Sportsboat will be on berth M15 of the indoor boardwalk feature.  The new J/111 makes her European debut at the London show and you can expect this new 36 footer to be one of the biggest draws. The momentum behind the launch of the J/111 has been astonishing, with 50+ boats ordered just 6 weeks after hull number 1 was launched! For the UK and Ireland things look promising with six boats already sold and there is tremendous interest from prospective owners and their crews. The J/111's first North American Championship will be held at Key West in January 2012 and the first European championship at Cowes in August 2012.

In the two seasons since the launch of the J/97 she has proved herself, time and time again. Fifteen J/97s have been sold in the UK in just under a year and 2011 will see the launch of the J/97’s UK Class One-Design Regatta Series, with the inaugural J/97 UK National Championships scheduled to be held during the 2011 J-Cup in Guernsey in July. Full standing headroom, a proper galley, chart table and every other creature comfort one would need and all in a J with a proven track record! BTW, the forepeak is a "romper room" for those so inclined!   For more information contact Paul or Becci at Key Yachting at +44(023)-8045-5669, info@keyyachting.com or visit www.keyyachting.com.

  

J/111 NASailor.com Review

The new J/111 is a 36-foot one-design racer, with basic overnight or weekend accommodations for cruising and offshore racing. Great looking boat, and has been a great success in the market so far, with over 50+ sold. Sounds like it has some real improvements over the 122 and the 109 in performance in a big breeze, while also improving in light air due to a lower displacement – nearly 2,000 lbs lighter than the 109, and 7,000 lbs less than the 122. Read more of NASailor.com's in-depth review and pictures.