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