J/111 Wins Silver in RORC Season Championships

(London, England)- It was a tough year.  It was a Fastnet year.  And, an RORC 600 year.  It was not going to be easy for any boat participating in this years RORC Seasons Points Championships to easily walk off with all the silverware and pickle-dishes.  Nevertheless, some J/Teams prevailed despite some harsh and very, very challenging conditions offshore- some absolutely not within the "wheelhouse" of where these J/Teams can succeed, if not dominate offshore.  Again, this year's series points to the fact that a good all-around design is critical to offshore success-- too "type-formed" and you win big in one event and get crushed in the next.  Such was the case this year.

In the IRC Classes the best five offshore races are counted towards the RORC Season's Points Championship. These were heavily contested and in some of the classes, the results were undecided until after the Cherbourg Race, the last race of the season.  For the J/Teams, "Congratulations" are in order for those that persevered and prevailed against the best offshore sailors from Western Europe.  Here's the scoreline for these J/Teams:

- Alan Paul Trophy - Consistent High Performance in IRC Overall: ARABELLA- J/111 - Niall Dowling (GBR)

In addition to the winners, special mention should be made of the following performances:

- IRC Overall- the J/111 ARABELLA sailed by Niall Dowling was 2nd overall behind the custom Ker 46 Tonnere- the overall winner.  Just behind them was the J/122 sailed by Neil Kipling.

The net, net of the 2011 RORC summer sailing season is that it takes solid, easy-to-sail, all-around boats to succeed in the RORC events.  Again, with primarily all amateur/ corinthian teams, the fleet of J sailors not only had fun but won their fair share of silverware, too.  Nothing like adding a few more pickle-dishes to the serving inventory at home!  For more RORC Offshore Season sailing information.

  

J/111 JAKE Dazzles East Oz

(Sydney, Australia)- So far, so good.  JAKE has now taken the lead in Sydney’s Division 1 Short Ocean Point Score Series.  The second race of the SOPS was held last Saturday and the J/111 JAKE is cementing her position in this competitive fleet.

This was the J/111’s first windward/leeward race in light and variable conditions. The wind was only 8 to 10 knots from the south east so the light #1 jib and the class A2 running spinnaker were the order of the day. The winds were not strong enough for the J/111 to get up on the plane, however, we were able to run almost as square as the symmetric boats.  On the last homeward run back toward Sydney Harbour Heads we were unfortunate enough to be on the wrong side of a wind shift which came in from the south and cost us some time. When inside Sydney Heads we made a mistake and dropped the spinnaker into the water which cost us another 2 minutes!  Agh!  Despite this, JAKE finished 2nd on IRC and is now leading Division 1 in the Sydney Short Ocean Pointscore Series. Ray and Sandra Entwistle are delighted with the new J/111, remarked Ray, "she is proving to be a highly versatile, remarkably competitive boat in all conditions.  And, being the "baby-sized" boat in the fleet is proving no handicap."

  

J/Fest Winter Circuit

(Ft Lauderdale, FL)- With fall sailing events progressing across America and Europe, tremendous interest is developing for a "J/Fest Winter Circuit" in Florida that encompasses J/111s, J/105s, J/109s and larger J's (J/120s, J/122s, J/124s, J/44s).  To that end, a regatta schedule for J sailors that includes sailing once per month all winter includes the following dates and events:

1. Lauderdale- Key West- Jan 12-13- http://www.lyc.org (optional)
2. Quantum Key West Race Week- Jan 15-20- http://www.premiere-racing.com
3. J/Fest Ft Lauderdale- Feb 18-19- President's Day- http://www.bahiamarhotel.com/marina
4. J/Fest Ft Lauderdale- Mar 16-18- St Patrick's Day- http://www.bahiamarhotel.com/marina
5. Charleston Race Week- Apr 19-22- http://www.charlestonraceweek.com

So far, several J/111s, J/105s, J/120s and J/122s have expressed interest in a winter circuit based out of easy-to-access deep-water facilities in Fort Lauderdale- the Bahia Mar Marina and Hotel complex will be the base of operations for the regattas.  A complete, professional "concierge service" has been developed to make it a "turn-key", affordable proposition for J owners from Chicago to Houston, Newport to Halifax and Annapolis to fully transport their boats, launch/ haul and have their boats "ready-to-sail" at each location- cleaned, polished, rigged, literally ready-to-race.  Fly down with the crew, hop aboard and off you go, "no muss, no fuss"!  Daily awards will be given for each event as well as overall and at the end of the J/Fest Winter Circuit, awards will be given for best three of five results at the conclusion of Charleston Race Week.  For more information on the J/Fest Winter Circuit including "all-in budgets and costs", please contact J/Boats at Ph. +1-401-846-8410 or email- info@jboats.com.  Or, call you local J/Dealer for more information.

  

J/111 JAKE Impressive in Sydney Offshore

(Sydney, Australia)- The boys (and girls) down under are full-on into their early summer Sydney Offshore Points Series with many of the top offshore boats in the greater Sydney/ Melbourne region participating.  Many use the Sydney Offshore series as a warm-up/ tune-up program for the boat, sails and crew for the famous Sydney-Hobart Race that starts on Boxing Day in December.

As owner Ray Entwistle describes, the "J/111 continues to prove her form even in light airs offshore!  In a stark contrast JAKE's first offshore race a few weeks ago, where it was gusting to 30 knots and JAKE's boat speed was up to 18 knots, JAKE  proves herself in complete opposite conditions.  In the Short Ocean Pointscore race a few race weeks ago we had big winds and a fantastic kite ride heading north. This week’s 30nm race headed south to Port Hacking with the wind only averaging 8 knots, 30 degree wind shifts and a sloppy seaway.  A mixture of beating and just cracked sheets really tested the boat and crew and being the smallest boat in this division in these conditions has to be the most challenging (we were up against the larger boats including Corby 49, Sydney  47 and other much larger boats in Division One).  However, we are delighted with the J/111’s performance. We were looking forward to the ride back to Sydney, planning to set the A2 asymmetric, heating it up and pulling some distance back on the 50 footers when mother nature changed the plans. The wind swung from ESE, to SW, then back to ESE again!  Due to the shape of the coastline we were back to beating and just cracked sheets again, it wasn’t until Maroubra 5nm south of Sydney harbour that we were able to just hang onto the code 0, then set a larger kite to get into Sydney Heads then drop it again to beat back into Rushcutters Bay for the finish line.

In summary, for the six hour long race we only had the spinnakers up for approximately 1 one hour!  We were the 4th boat over the line on the water and finished 3rd on IRC, leaving a bunch of 40 to 45 footers behind us!  For a 36 ft yacht this is one incredible boat."

  

25th Key West "J/Fest" Ready to Roll!

(Key West, FL)- America's premiere midwinter big-boat regatta, Key West Race Week sailing January 16-20, 2012, has much to celebrate. It's the 25th anniversary of the event, it has Quantum Sails as a title sponsor, and J sailors will again help create what has become a "de facto" J/Fest every winter in January down in the sunny, warm, near tropical trade-winds that are typical in the lower Keys at this time of year.

The tradition all started with the J/24 Midwinters in 1978, a week of sailing after the traditional "SORC feeder-race" known as the Lauderdale-Key West Race.  The first year was a resounding success, attracting most sailing industry luminaries you hear/ read about today in a 21 boat J/24 fleet- Tom Whidden, Vincent Brun, Dave Ullman, Dave Hirsch, Mark Ploch, Larry Leonard, Augie Diaz, Gary Weismann, Ed Reynolds, Jimmy Allsop, Dave Curtiss, Bob Barton, Bill Allen, Gordy Bowers, John Southam, Jimmy Scott, Scott Allan, John Kolius, Neal Fowler, Rick Grajirena, Carter Gowrie, Charlie Scott and so forth.  In less than five years, YACHTING magazine's Charlie Barthold was so inspired by the success of the J/24 Midwinters event in Key West they created Key West Race Week to incorporate not just one-design classes, but handicap classes, too.  The rest is history.  Later, as the baton was passed onto others, now under the leadership of Peter Craig at Premiere Racing, the event has continued to both prosper and survive the "best of times, the worst of times".

This coming year, a new innovation for 2012 will be J/Boats specific handicap classes.  “We are really excited about the prospects of developing J-specific handicap classes at Key West next January,” said Jeff Johnstone. “The concept is to group together different J designs of similar speed to provide both excellent class racing, as well as to open up the possibility for sub-class one-design racing. An example would be the J/111s and one or two other models racing together with a tight rating band. We are already projecting as many as six J/111s next year.”

In addition, the J/105s and the J/80s are again expecting solid turnouts for their 2012 Midwinter Championships in Key West with twenty or more boats expected in each class.  Most importantly, for both the J/105s and J/80s, there are "winter circuits" that enable sailing once a month from Jan-Feb-Mar-Apr leading up to the spring season on the Chesapeake!   Sailing photo credit- Ken Stanek.com  For more 25th Anniversary Key West Race Week sailing information.

  

J/111 @ Annapolis Boatshow

(Annapolis, MD)- Featured at the show will be the new J/111 speedster, the boat that has been taking the offshore world by storm. It's perhaps the most evolutionary/ revolutionary J designed to date-- simplicity, speed and minimalism, comfort and control in a uniquely thrilling package.  Nearly a year after it's launch in 2010, over 40 J/111s are now sailing and the "winners list" reads like a "who's who" of events worldwide, quite a remarkable start for any boat.  Better yet?  Success at a world-class level has been achieved by a cadre of corinthian/ amateur sailors having a great time at what they love to do best--- sailing with friends and family, having fun, and winning a pickle dish or two for the trophy shelf.  Isn't it time to join in on the fun?!

For more J/111 information- http://www.jboats.com/j111

  

J/111 International One-Design Schedule

(Hamble, England)- The International J/111 One Design Regatta Schedule for 2012 is announced today, with six one-design regattas planned for the UK and Ireland. The one-design events detailed below will be governed by and raced according to the International J/111 Class Rules which are due for ratification and publication by ISAF by January 1st 2012.

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

The J/111 Class has been created as a strict one-design Class where the true test when raced is between crews and not boats and equipment. The fundamental objective of these class rules is to ensure this concept is maintained and "fun" is maximized by its owners and sailors.  J/111 hulls, appendages and rigs are only produced by a licensed manufacturer and all J/111 sails will be measurement controlled under the ISAF In-House Certification system using a "sail tag" program, although the choice of sailmaker is open.

Prior to the Class being formed with suitable By-Laws with 50 active owners, J/Boats and Key Yachting will take the initial position of the Class Association and the Executive Committee. Outlined below are J/111 Class events for the near future.  For more information on the J/111 or the International J/111 Regatta schedule detailed below, please contact Becci Eplett at Key Yachting Ltd (becci@keyyachting.com).

The 2012 International J/111 One-Design Event schedule for the UK and Ireland follows (best four count overall):
May 18-20- Vice-Admiral's Cup
Jun 09-10- Royal Southern Yacht Club 175th Anniversary Regatta
Jun 30- JP Morgan Round the Island Race
Jul 07-13- CORK Week
Jul 25-28- J-CUP 2012
Aug 11-18- AMM Cowes Week

Other International J/111 Regattas:
2012- Jan 16-20- J/111 Winter Championship, Key West, FL
2012- Jun- J/111 Atlantic Coast Championships, Newport, RI
2012- Jul- J/111 North American Championship, Newport, RI
2012- Sep- J/111 Pacific Coast Championships, San Francisco, CA
2013 J/111 European Championship, France
2013 J/111 World Championship, USA
2014 J/111 World Championship, UK