J/111 Sailing, Training & Tuning

(The Hague, The Netherlands)- If the J/111s are getting faster and smarter in the UK sailing on the Solent as one-designs, the teams in the Benelux region and France were also getting into the act by hosting a training and tuning session themselves.  Called "How to Tune Up Your J/111", many J/111 sailors attended the  Grevelingencup event in Port Zeelande.  Principal hosts were the crew of the J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER.

The "Ripper" team have donor a lot of ocean miles in their J/111 over the last two years!  This year they sailed the Covenant Majeure Broom and the Dutch Open in IRC2 and won both! They also sailed such international events as the Rolex RORC Fastnet Race, SPI OUEST France and the RORC Commodores' Cup.

All the experiences the "Ripper" team had accumulated over the past 1.5 years regarding their boat  preparation, modifications of hardware, mast and rig tuning settings were discussed and explained during a morning "theory" session.

Then, with the help of the "Ripper" team they went down to the boat and they explained their J/111's mast base settings together with their trim tables for the sails and their polar VPP targets-- a nice guide for improving everyone's performance in their boats.

After lunch was on-the-water training.  The "Ripper" crew distributed themselves over the four J/111s, their own boat as well as the three other J/111s attending.  They explained how they sailed their boat, including sail trim and boat-handling knowledge.

Afterwards, all the 111 teams could look back on a beautiful day where a large amount of information became available and everyone was looking forward with great enthusiasm to the next Grevelingencup on 16 December where the 4 boats will compete against each other as one-designs within the ORC field!

Ultimately, the common goal next season is for everyone to sail at a much higher level in the competitions they participate in. A number of boats, including "Xcentric Ripper" will definitely participate in the new one-design "J/111 European circuit".  Thanks for the contribution from John van der Starre, owner/ skipper of XCENTRIC RIPPER.

J/70 & J/111 Half-Model Gifts

(Newport, RI)- If you are looking for creative ideas for gifts overthe holidays, nothing can bring a bigger smile to anyone than to see their favorite J represented in living color as a beautiful half-hull model.  There are numerous sources to find them.  Here are two that you might consider for putting that pretty boat into a large stocking hanging from the fireplace.

A long-time sailor and J/80 owner that sails in the Newport J/80 Fleet is Andrew Burton.  Andy founded Trident Studios and has been building models for decades in between his yacht delivery business (over 350,000 nm of sailing to date!).  Andrew has many molds of J/Boat half-models, including the J/111.  His half-models were the ones given out to all the Top 5 crew at the recent J/24 Worlds in Rochester, New York.  You can reach Andrew at email- andrew@tridentstudio.com) or see his Trident Studio website.

Also a J/80 owner, Denis Cartier is founder of Abordage Models and builds very detailed full models (rigging, lifelines, wheels, deck gear, etc) or classic half-hull models. They build many "J" class models, including the latest J/70 and the J/111.  Contact Denis at email- abordage@abordage.com or visit his website- http://www.abordage.com.

J/122 Sailing Fast- Wins Hamble Series!

J/111 J-DREAM & J/109 JAGERBOMB Take OD's
(Hamble, England)- Despite the combined efforts of a pessimistic forecast and ABP, who helpfully removed nearly all the racing marks in the Solent last week, boats racing in the final day of the Garmin Hamble Winter Series managed to squeeze in a race before the wind shut off completely.

Early morning saw 7-9 knots at the Bramble Bank and thick ice on decks. A short postponement accompanied a temporary lull in the breeze, but the race team was able to get all classes away in a 5-7 knot North-Westerly breeze and spring tide.  The flood tide meant that many classes were line shy in the light airs. After the start crews needed to keep their eyes out of the boat to locate areas of breeze - and to identify the large shifts, especially up the right hand side of the course.

Using inflatable marks instead of the missing racing marks, the race team set a series of windward-leeward courses, but were forced to shorten at the first leeward mark as the wind threatened to disappear completely. Nonetheless, some extremely close racing could be witnessed, even if it was in nerve-jangling slow motion. All in all, it was a beautiful day on the water, even if there was a lack of wind.

IRC 0 saw a closely fought series throughout the Winter Series and Dr Ivan Trotman's crew aboard their J/122 JOULOU hung on to their lead despite tallying a 5-4 in the last two races.  Their wonderful performance was attributed to good, solid sailing and avoiding enormous mistakes, something that plagued many of their competitors.  In the end, the JOLOU gang finished with just 13 pts total for the series, sufficient to win by four points!

Nick & Adam Munday's J/97 INDULJENCE started out the series very strong, leading the event until the last three races.  At that point, the INDULJENCE team was having a tough go of it, collecting a 4-6-4 at the end to finish second overall in the competitive IRC 3 Class by just five points.  Their J class peers were two J/92s, neither of whom managed to sail the entire series.  However, when the J/92s were sailing, it was clear that David & John Taylor's J-RONIMO and Andy Howe's BLACKJACK were able to fire off top five finishes and give the leaders a run for the money.

Tony Mack's McFLY won the last race in the J/111 class, but it was David and Kirsty Apthorp's J-DREAM that took the top spot overall with just 13 pts.  Cornel Riklin's JITTERBUG from France sailed an excellent series to finish second overall with 15 pts-- they will be a tough team to beat come spring-time when the French host their famous SPI OUEST France Regatta in April!  In the end, Tony's McFLY sailed incredibly well whenever they showed up on the race track and took third in class.  For having sailed just 6 of 10 races, Tony and the gang averaged just 1.5 pts per race- three 1sts and three 2nds.

In the J/109s, Owain Franks' JYNNAN TONNYX beat Paul Griffith's JAGERBOMB to take the day prize, but JAGERBOMB ended up taking the overall series by three points. Their nemesis all series long was Owain's team on JYNANN TONNYX, ultimately finishing second with 17 pts.  Finishing comfortably in third was David McLeman's OFFBEAT with 22 pts.  

Event Sailing Photographer Paul Wyeth took some brilliant photos of the entire Garmin Hamble Winter Series and many evocative images can be found on his website.   For more Hamble Winter Series sailing information

J/122 Leads Hamble Series

J/111 J-DREAM & J/109 JAGERBOMB OD Leaders
(Hamble, England)- If last week's lack of wind was anything to go by, this year's Garmin Hamble Winter Series looked set to be one of the lightest in memory. And then Sunday came along. In a brief gap between two ginormous Lows that came screaming up the Channel in quick succession, all classes fitted in a race on a windy, wet and cold day.  In fact, the weather was so ferocious, some crews faced logistical nightmares in making the start via a flooded and storm-battered countryside, which was reflected in slightly lower entries this week.

A deceptively light 10 knot breeze wafted boats to the start line, before a line squall heralded the arrival of 20-28 knots of Southwesterly wind - and frequent showers of icy rain, which persisted throughout the day. The blustery conditions heralded some impressive broaches and saw some shredded spinnakers. But luckily, the advancing Low held off just long enough for the assembled crews to enjoy the spectacle from the comfort of the HRSC clubhouse as it whistled in across the Solent.

Out on the water, IRC 0 was first away and Dr Ivan Trotman's crew aboard their J/122 JOULOU had a rough go of the conditions, managing a 5th place, sufficient to hang onto their lead for the series by two points.

For Nick & Adam Munday's J/97 INDULJENCE the conditions were generally to their liking but again managed to hang on tenuously to their position in second overall, hoping for a good last race next weekend!  The "feel good" story of the day had to be Andy Howe's J/92s BLACKJACK that sailed a good race to snag a 2nd!

Of the J/111s on the water, Cornel Riklin's JITTERBUG finished first in what amounted to a match race for the top of the class.  At this stage, David & Kirsty Apthorp's J-DREAM has a 3 pt lead on the class and short of a crushing last race or two, they hope to hang onto the lead for the Winter Series win.  JITTERBUG can mathematically have a shot, but it's at pretty long odds that J-DREAM will be displaced at the top of the leader board.

In the J/109s, Paul Griffiths' JAGERBOMB was first of the two J/109s that completed the race, further tightening their grip on first place overall and pulling into a 6 pts lead in the class.  Like their former J/109 competitors, J-DREAM, the Griffiths' JAGERBOMB team look set to take home the crown for the J/109 class next weekend barring an apocalyptic race of sorts.  Second is Owain Franks' JYNANN TONNYX with 16 pts and in third is David McLeman's OFFBEAT.

Event Photographer Paul Wyeth took some brilliant photos of the day's racing and more evocative images can be found on his website - http://www.pwpictures.com.

Thanks to Force 4 Chandlery, who, as Day Sponsors provided prizes in the clubhouse after racing.  One race remains - and crews wait to see what the weather gods have in store!   For more Hamble Winter Series sailing information

J/122 JOULU & J/111 JDREAM Lead Winter Series

(Hamble, England)- The Garmin Hamble Winter Series entered its second half of the series on Sunday with thick fog drifting down the Hamble River in the early morning. But competitors expecting wintry conditions were surprised by bright sunshine and a fluctuating, light and shifty breeze that offered big gains for those who kept in phase with the shifts.

A strong west-going tide at the start made time-on-distance calls important as the classes got clean away to beat their way from near Universal Marina buoy towards Hill Head and South Coast Sailing. As the tide turned, boats rounded their leeward marks and began a long beat against the tide and in a fickle breeze up the Hill Head shoreline towards the finish at Coronation.  Gains were there for the taking for those with the confidence to stand on inshore and cheat the tide – and for those with well-calibrated depth sounders.

In IRC 0, Dr Ivan Trotman’s J/122 JOLOU continues to lead the fleet overall with an impressive scoreline of 1-2-1-3-2-1-1-2 for a total of 8 pts over a host of top British IRC boats like a Grand Soleil 46, Mills 43 and and Arcona 430.

The IRC 2 class has two J/105s sailing against a thicket of IRC optimized beasts and at the end of the day, the J/105 guys are having fun, taking their good races with the difficult ones (e.g. all beating against tides).  Currently, Chris Jones' JOURNEYMAKER 5 is sailing well and lies 5th.

The largest IRC class has traditionally been the toughest one to win.  This fall's IRC 3 class sailing the Winter Series is no different.  A J/97 and J/92 are racing against formidable competition.  At this stage, Nick & Adam Munday's J/97 INDULJENCE has a steady record of 3-1-3-2-6-2-4, dropping out of the lead due to their last three races, but lying second with 11 pts just 4 pts back.  The J/92 J-RONIMO sailed by David John Taylor has sailed consistently in the top five when they are actually out sailing on the race course.  To date J-RONIMO lies 8th but is only 12 pts out of 5th with a long shot at even a 3rd place given their excellent sailing performance to date and taking into account some strategic drop races (like DNC's they don't want to count).

The J/109s were topped this week by a newcomer to this year’s series, Richard Hinde-Smith’s TIGH SOLIUS, which beat David McLeman's OFFBEAT in 2nd and Paul Griffith's JAGERBOMB in third.  So far, JAGERBOMB continues to lead their standings with a string of top five finishes, counting a 1-3-1-1-4-6-3 for a total of only 9 pts.  David's OFFBEAT and Owain Franks' JYNNAN TONNYX are tied for second with 14 pts apiece.  Fourth is Todd Wells on JE VANTE with 18 pts and fifth is Roger Phillips on DESIGNSTAR.

David & Kirsty Apthorp's JDREAM won another race in the J/111 class to now lead her class by just four pts, with a 2-1-2-3-3-1-1-1 scoreline for 8 pts total.  French J/111 owner Cornell Riklin has been sailing like a madman, his team onboard JITTERBUG are sailing very well and have amassed  a steady 1-3-1-2-2-3-3-3 for 12 pts to be within striking distance of the lead.  Tony Mack's team on McFLY have sailed to a 1-1-2-2-2 in their last five races to get within striking distance of the two leaders just one point back from the French team.  What is abundantly clear is that the J/111 teams are pushing each other so hard that had they been IRC handicap racing, their elapsed time finish positions would put them at or near the top of the heap in their IRC class.  As usual, one-design racing forces teams to sail better, smarter, faster and make fewer mistakes than others they race against-- the results speak for themselves.

The day's sponsor was Andark, who provided prizes to the assembled crews in the HRSC clubhouse after racing. Sailors will be keeping an eye on the long-range forecast for next week to see if the warm, dry weather will put in another appearance, although the consensus in the clubhouse concluded that a little more wind would be nice.   Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth- PWPictures.com  For more Garmin Hamble Winter Series sailing information

J/111 European Circuit 2013

(Paris, France)- The J/111 owner group in Europe has planned five events for 2013 including a European Championship.  The main goal is to ensure that at least ten boats will be participating in every event and more than fifteen for the Le Havre race.

The 2013 European J/111 calendar includes the following events:
- SPI Ouest France – France: 28th March- 1st April 2013
- Porquerolles – France: May 2013
- Euro Championship/ Normandy Sailing Week – Le Havre: 6th to 9th June 2013
- Cowes Race Week- England:  3rd to 10th August 2013
- Breskens–The Netherlands: September 2013

For more sailing information about these events, please contact either Paul Heys at J/UK (info@keyyachting.com) or Frederick Bouvier at J/Europe (fred@jcomposites.eu).

J/111 BLUR Sailing Season 2012 video

(Marstrand, Sweden)- Peter Gustafsson reports that he and his crew on the J/111 BLUR have had a fantastic time sailing their J/111 this past summer in the Scandinavian Offshore sailing circuit.  Peter recently compiled video clips from their first season with the J/111.  The clips are from the following regattas/ sailing events- Spi Ouest, Stora Oset Race, Pater Noster Race, Færderseilasen, Marstrand Big Boat Race, ÅF Offshore Race, Hermanö Runt, Tjörn Runt and Sista Chansen.  The video has "New Order's" song "Blue Monday" as the background music-- sweet!  Enjoy watching the J/111 BLUR 2012 Season wrap-up!