Strong J/80 Class at Kieler Woche!

(Kiel, Germany)- Kieler Woche is promoted as the greatest sailing event in the world and the largest summer waterfront festival in northern Europe. With a nine-day program packed with over 2,000 events (including many music stages of Germany's longest open-air festival with folk, pop, rock and classical music on offer) to entertain three million guests from all over the globe, their claim may not be far off the mark.

This year's 131st Kieler Woche, amongst the oldest sailing weeks in the world, enabled millions to experience the maritime atmosphere of "KIEL.SAILING.CITY"-- the theme for an entire city! 5,000 yachtsmen and women, 50 countries, 2,000 yachts, dinghies and surfboards, almost 40 sailing events, and more than 400 planned regatta starts on eleven race courses. The "Who's who" of sailing in Europe (if not top Olympic sailors) lined up at the starting lines for this year's events.

Plus, all the sailors and visitors experienced an endless forest of masts on the banks of the bay, with over one hundred windjammers and traditional sailing boats moored on the quayside. The fascination of tall ships resulted in the windjammer parade with more than 100 ships taking part, including the European Navy destroyers, frigates, corvettes, and minesweepers from a whole host of countries that came together in Tirpitz Harbour for the meeting of the Navy fleets.

Within that armada of ships and windjammers were one-design fleets of J/24s and J/80s enjoying the festivities, camaraderie and great sailing.

The eighteen boat J/80 fleet experienced a bit of an "old-fashioned schooling" of how to sail a J/80 fast and smart.  After twelve 1sts in thirteen races, Martin Menzner's team from Germany did have to sail the last two races due to a double-throw out series.  A mile behind in second place was Hauke Kruss and friends and in third Flemming Dejernes (top Netherlands team).  The balance of the top five were Matthias Herzberg in fourth and Niklas Ohling in fifth.   For more Kieler Woche sailing information

Krump's Win J/80 North Americans

(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.

With their North American Championship on the line, the J/80's sixteen boats saw what became two races within a regatta:  two boats clearly vying for the overall lead with five other boats vying for the balance of the top five.  In the end, Will & Marie Crump and team aboard R80, launched a tremendous comeback to topple the previous leader USA 1162, skippered by John White (Annapolis, Md.). “There were five points between us, and we were excited about the conditions but anxious about the fog,” said Crump, a 1999 J 80 North American champion (as crew) whose crew was comprised of wife Marie, her brother Thomas Klok and new crew member Chris Larson (all from Annapolis). “We’re more experienced in the high breeze, so we knew it was possible to win.  We did a little match racing with our competition to get him driven back in the fleet in the first start. For the second start, we didn’t have such a command, but we got out and away early.” 

But, it didn't start out that way for Crump and family. Said Will, “We didn’t do the practice race, because Marie broke one of her thumbs and we had to make a mad dash to the hospital on Sunday. We were lucky to get to the line and race without major compromise.” Behind the leaders were Gary Panariello on COURAGEOUS finally closing the deal on the last day's two races to take third overall with 41 pts.  The Storck family had trouble finding their groove, but ultimately the RUMOR crew took fourth overall with 44 pts. Taking fifth was the Hayes/ Kirchhoff team on MORE GOSTOSA.   Sailing Photos by Allen Clark/ PhotoBoat.com and Stephen Cloutier/ BlockIslandRI.net.  For more Block Island Race Week sailing information

Gorgeous New York YC Annual Regatta

NEWPORT, R.I. (June 16, 2013)  – The New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta presented by Rolex—the oldest regatta in the country—has entered the history books for the 159th time. With 153 teams competing, the 2013 edition also was the largest Annual Regatta on record, with enough action on the water and ashore to guarantee the event’s venerable reputation into the next century.  The regatta was blessed with great sailing conditions all three days, starting with the immensely popular Around Jamestown Island Race, a 20nm affair that can challenge the best sailors anywhere.  A massive frontal system was moving offshore, greeting the sailors with 20-30 kts of NNE breeze on Friday's Round Island race. Saturday saw beautiful SSW breezes in the 6 to 13 kts range with partly cloudy skies and balmy temperatures.  By Sunday, a weak cold front presented the fleet with dazzling blue skies and a cool fresh Northerly blowing 8-15 kts in the morning that slowly died off by noon, followed by 6-14 kts of classic SSW sea-breezes under sunny skies in the afternoon.

“We are proud and privileged to be able to open our home to this many yachtsman and sailors that come from all over the world, both professional and Corinthian, with great crews,” said Commodore Thomas Harrington after an Annual Regatta dinner that hosted 800 sailors and is as much of a tradition as the racing. “We extend the hospitality of the New York Yacht Club both on the water and off, because what we are about is sharing in our traditions. And like anything else, to have a great party you need people to come, and they came.”

J/Teams were a significant part of the regatta, and the parties! Racing on Course Bravo were the J/80s, also preparing for their North Americans next week being held concurrently with Storm Trysail Club's Block Island Race Week.  Taking the crown with three bullets on the last day were Will & Marie Crump sailing R80.  Finishing with three 2nds on the final day to snag second overall was John Storck and family racing their famous RUMOR!  Taking three 3rds on Sunday to take the bronze on the podium was Jeff Johnstone racing LITTLE FEAT.  Taking fourth was Guy Nickerson's PRESSURE and fifth was Peter McCarthy's EAGLE.   Sailing photo credits- Rolex/ Daniel Forster   For more New York YC Annual Regatta sailing information

Stellar J/80 UK Nationals

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- Hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron from Friday 14th June to Sunday 16th June 2013, the large J/80 fleet held their National Championships in widely varying, challenging sailing conditions on the Solent.  Winner in the J/80s was Rob Larke on J2X.

Expectations were high amongst the J/80 fleet following a stellar 2012 season. The J/80 World Championships came to the UK for the first time in seven years, and hosted an incredible seventy-six boats from nine nations including the USA and Hong Kong. Twenty-six boats then went on to compete in the J/80 UK Nationals in September. The Nationals provided a nice warm up for UK teams sailing the 2013 World Championships in July, where more than 130 boats are expected to travel to host city Marseille.

The first day of the regatta on Friday could not have been nicer.  Both fleets were presided over by PRO Captain Simon Van Der Byl. Conditions on the race-track (in the area of Brambles Bank) were some of the Solent’s finest with a brisk but variable 10 to 18 knots from South to South West. Captain Van Der Byl explained, "We really did have the best of days. We had to use the Z flag on the first start for the J/80 fleet but after that the behavior of both the J/70s and the J/80s was immaculate."

The J/80s were first away for Race 1 of the two races scheduled. Once the fleet had settled down following the deployment of the Z flag, Kevin Sproul led Race 1 from the start in J.A.T and took the bullet at the finish line. Sproul said, "The Squadron did a fantastic job with the course. We sailed well and we had good boat speed. In the second race Stewart Hawthorn just got past us. It was great racing." Hawthorn and his crew on board J’ai Deux Amours were clearly pleased with the way things went for them. "We managed to get away from the fleet and get ourselves inside the leading pack at the penultimate mark. From then we managed to stay ahead until the line." But, it was a day where consistency delivers its own rewards and a mid-fleet result for Hawthorn in the first race countered by consistency and some strong and intelligent sailing by Allan Higgs with Team Juicy and Jon Powell with Betty put them in second and third place respectively, each on eight points at the close of the first day.

It was a challenging day on the water for all on Sunday. Having completed the first two races of the championship on Friday in sublime race conditions, competitors were sent ashore and racing was abandoned before the first start sequence on Saturday, as an easily sailable 21 knots quickly built to a steady 33 knots in the course area near Mother Bank on the Solent. Three races were scheduled for Sunday, of which two were completed by the J/70s and the J/80s in a fading breeze of between 6 and 12 knots which swung between 230 and 190 degrees.

Sunday was a ‘double bullet’ day both for Rob Larke and his crew in the J/80 National Championship fleet on J2X.   For Rob in the J/80 fleet, two wins on the final day of racing, although impressive, were not sufficient to overhaul Kevin Sproul and his crew on board J.A.T who had led the regatta from Race One and, having never posted a result outside of the top two across the series, were deserving winners of the 2013 J/80 UK National Championship.

Both fleets were invited to a Pimms loaded prize-giving on The Platform at the Royal Yacht Squadron on Sunday afternoon, which, unsurprisingly, was extraordinarily well attended. PRO Captain Simon Van Der Byl thanked competitors for their sportsmanship throughout the weekend and presented prizes alongside the Rear Commodore for Finance, the Honourable Patrick Seely.

In the J/80 fleet, Gillian Ross and her crew from Rock & Roll were presented with the prize for Most Improved J/80 which was sponsored by Race Yacht Services. Rock & Roll’s results got better and better as the championship progressed, perhaps aided and abetted by the team’s visit to the Isle of Wight Festival.

The Best Corinthian J/80 Team at the J/80 Nationals was Jon Powell and his crew on Betty. There are many full-time professional sailors racing J/80s and J/70s and both classes acknowledge that recognition is due for outstanding achievement by the ‘amateurs’ in each fleet. In the J/70 Class The Best Corinthian Team was Simon Ling and the boys on board Team RAFBF Spitfire Powered by SLAM. The prizes were generously sponsored by Fastnet Insurance.

It was a short hop back to the podium for Jon Powell: he and his crew on Betty finished third overall at the 2013 J/80 UK National Championship with 15 points across the series. Rob Larke and J2X finished in second place with 11 points. J.A.T finished on just 7 points and the 2013 UK National Champions, Kevin Sproul, Phil Taylor, Chris Taylor and Chris Fisher were presented with the silverware and were congratulated by the assembled fleet.

The next key event on the 2013 calendar for J/80 sailors is AAM Cowes Week and then the J-Cup in Plymouth later in August. The 2014  J/80 UK National Championships will take place at Poole Regatta from the 24th to 26th May 2014.   Sailing photo credits- Rick Tomlinson   For more J/80 UK Nationals 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.   With their North American Championship on the line, the J/80's sixteen boats are also the largest J one-design class participating.  There are several top teams sailing with North American, Sailing World NOOD, Key West and East Coast champion credentials amongst them, including R80 (Will & Marie Crump fresh off a NOOD and New York YC Annual Regatta wins), RUMOR (John Storck, Jr and family), Clarke McKinnney, Bert Carp, CHURCH KEY (Chris & Liz Chadwick), FKA (Les Beckwith) and COURAGEOUS (Gary Panariello). For more Block Island Race Week sailing information

Rocha Takes J/80 Catalonian Championship

(Catalonia, Spain)- The J/80 Catalonian Championship took place during the MedSailing Regatta, that saw all wind conditions with varying speed and directions. Despite the challenging wind conditions, the highly competitive fleet managed to sail six races.

The J/80s in attendance were an exceptional fleet, counting amongst them five of the top ten overall J/80 World's sailing teams.  The racing was so tight that the winner couldn't be announced until the last race. Hugo Rocha, from CN Cambrils, took the trophy after a hard-earned championship. In the first day of racing he was always in the top of the leaderboard and he secured the win with an exceptional second half of the championship, where he scored two seconds and a first.

As mentioned above, some of the best sailors in the world J/80 rankings were present. Among them, Carlos Martínez with ZHIK/NOVASAIL, had a spectacular first half of the championship scoring three bullets in the first four races. But on the second day, light winds worked against him and he obtained second place overall in the MedSailing regatta.

Javier Chacártegui, on board HM-HOTELS, was very consistent in his performance and finished all races in the top positions. However, he was tied in points with Carlos Martínez in the overall standing, and since he had less wins than Martínez, he finished third overall, 17 points ahead of the fourth boat.

Other outstanding sailors taking part of this regatta were the current World Champion José María van der Ploeg, on board FACTOR ENERGIA. However, he was unlucky and broke his bowsprit in a collision during the first race of the championship. Even if the Protest Committee ruled in his favor, he was prevented from racing in 4 of the 6 final races. However, on the last day he proved his talent by winning one of the two races of the day.

The winner of the Catalonian Championship, as well as of the MedSailing Regatta, was Hugo Rocha, from CN Cambrils. The runner-up was Oriol Cornudella from Club Náutico El Balís, who thanks to a fourth place in the last race managed to skip in front of Javier Scherk (Gunter), from RCN Barcelona, who finished only a point behind and took the third place in the Catalonian podium. Thanks for the report from the Catalonian J/80 fleet.   For more Spanish J/80 sailing information

The J/Boats "Impact" Developing Sailing Markets Worldwide

(Liuzhou, Guangxi Province, China)- Developing recreational sports in countries such as China has always been a challenge.  The economies in these developing countries have been in booms, the wealth has come in to the households, but the people do not have the background and knowledge that developed nations have had to really enjoy the boating life.  Lack of swimming, fear of water and lack of good instruction are all real things that need to be addressed before you can even get new sailors on the water.  Riviera Liuzhou Yacht Club in Guangxi Province, China has a formula that is working. This location is in the heart of China, 5 hours from any coastline-- not the location most would think would see the largest growth of new keel boat sailors in Asia.

Two years ago, Mr. He and Frank Lin of Liuzhou had the idea of starting a club. They pushed the local government for access to get things started. With docks completed in October of 2011 they hosted their first national Masters Cup Regatta with 14 new club-owned International J/80 one-designs.  Not really knowing what they were up against, they were smart to bring in some help to organize and run the event. In the spring of 2012 they hosted another Masters Cup Regatta.  They invited sailors from around China, Hong Kong and Singapore; as a result most of the Asian sailing world began to understand where Liuzhou was located and its promise for opportunity.  But, this did little for local sailing. As we all know, local sailing is the key to growth.

In the Summer of 2012, Jim Johnstone started working with Liuzhou to help them train the instructors to establish the sailing program and help them create some local teams to compete in other events around China. As of June 2012 there were a handful of instructors that had sailed before this program started.

With many days on the water practicing and several local companies taking instruction from the club, the first base of sailors was generated and the instructors continued to improve their skills. Liuzhou won the China Club Match Challenge and was also 5th out of the 28 team fleet.  Recently, Liuzhou sailors were 4th in the China Cup and 1st in the Round Hainan Regatta in Sanya (the "Hawaii" of China, its southernmost island resort where the 2012 Volvo Ocean Race stop-over was hosted). The Liuzhou sailing team then went on to compete in Qingdao where they placed 1st in 8 out of the 9 races. With many more events scheduled for 2013, Liuzhou is a city that other teams are worried about competing against!  That's a remarkable transformation for what many thought were "farmers" in the outback of China!

What was still missing was local racing going into 2013. With 14 boats available the club went out to the students that had taken lessons and pushed for each of the sailors that had some background to sign up for a boat and bring friends that didn't have any knowledge but wanted to learn. An 8 week Sunday series was born with all 14 boats signed up.  Sailing was simple windward-leeward courses with spinnakers and a goal of 5 races per afternoon between 1pm and 3:30pm.  Prior to racing there was a 30 minutes instructional class that would cover whatever topic the fleet seemed to need the most from the previous weekend (spinnaker handling tips, rules lessons, basic tactics, sportsmanship etc).

One important rule was that a club member had to be on each boat. However, the club has two memberships. An associate membership that allowed limited use of club boats and access to the docks or the full membership that would allow full access including the club house that is not completed yet. Membership is important not only for showing growth but to cover the people under the club insurance policy.

Each Sunday, the Riviera Yacht Club gets 70 to 90 new sailors showing up to compete in these races. None of the trained instructors were allowed to sail in any of the boats and coaching was provided on the water with two inflatable crash boats. However, instruction was limited to the following: a) coaching the last two place boats if they fall behind the fleet and b) on-the-water judging to help people with the rules and keep the damage to a minimum.

The race committee was also keeping things simple: Postponement flag, individual recall flag and general recall flags along with a race committee flag were all that were used. Three minute dinghy starts were used so no sailors needed a stop watch. 2 minutes after the last boat finishes the next start would sound. Only windward leeward courses, but depending on the wind, the distance would change. The race committee had the ability to limit sails in conditions of higher winds. No spinnakers, even no jibs were used at different times to make sure that the overall group was capable of managing the boats around the course and keep it fun.

Whether you are racing Cowes Race Week, Yachting Cup, Key West Race Week, China Cup or any of the other events around the world it is very difficult to imagine so many inexperienced people out racing at one time.  If you are in Newport or Hong Kong you may have several new boats to a fleet but most of the boats have a veteran or experienced sailor as part of the crew. They may not be good, but there is someone on the boat with experience.  The J/80 being a very forgiving sailing platform, the protected river environment allow Liuzhou to pull this off more then some of the other exposed sailing areas.

Thanks to the foresight of the Riviera Yacht Club owners for getting this program started and we look forward to seeing this success spread in developing sailing areas around the world.  If anyone wants more information or advice about these types of sailing development programs worldwide, please contact J/Boats- info@jboats.com or ph. +1-401-846-8410.

J/Fest @ Cal Race Week

(Marina del Rey, CA)- Cal Race Week continues to be a highlight for many sailing teams as more and more racers discover the pleasure of late spring sailing in Marina del Rey, with afternoon breezes in the low to mid-teens, sun and perfect temperatures for racing around the buoys.  That's what the Marina del Rey Chamber of Commerce proclaimed before everyone headed for the race course-- one where the boats are sailing in the shadows of the monstrous LAX Airport and having to sometimes suffer from  their noise abatement take-off procedures for such lilliputian jumbo jets like the Airbus 380!

Despite the noise to the south, the standard "sea breeze" blows most of the noise away as it fills in from the WNW and builds all day long, thanks to the mountain ranges to the east and massive amounts of concrete throughout the smog-ridden Los Angeles basin sucking in all the breeze.  The enormous benefit of this phenomenon is that sailors enjoy beautiful, crystal-clear, smog-free days along a somewhat picturesque coastline.

Furthermore, what many SoCal sailors have come to know, is that California Yacht Club has won US SAILING’s prestigious St. Petersburg trophy for excellence in race management three times in recent years! Multiple courses with separate start/finish lines minimize interference between boats in different classes and insure that most of your time on the water will be spent racing. No kidding, the Cal YC RC team does a fantastic job of keeping the pace rolling with fleets starting and finishing at the same time!

The weekend’s hospitality was a fitting complement to the on-the-water competition. There was entertainment both days, with hosted beverages on the docks after racing (yes, ice-cold, refreshing local micro-brewery beer served from a kegger on the dock!). Plus, it's hard to beat their no-host BBQ on Saturday and complimentary beverages with hors d’oeuvres at the trophy presentation on Sunday.

Enjoying every minute of the weekend were a small armada of J Teams enjoying the fine weather and fabulous hospitality.  While the regatta attracted 77 boats from around SoCal, ranging from Santa Barbara to the north and San Diego to the south, fully 38% of the fleet (29 boats) were J sailors racing one-design in J/70s, J/80s, J/109s, J/105s and J/24s.

For Saturday's racing, the wind started out in the NW quadrant and slowly backed to the WNW.  As a result, the old axiom of "left early, right late" never worked.  In fact, the strategy of the day was highly atypical for the area with "go West young man" being the order of the day.  Sunday's racing was quite radically different, too.  Despite filling in from the SW due to an enormous High pressure ridge, the wind never clocked (or did so rarely), so the breeze funneling down the coast had greater pressure and lifts coming from the left upwind (and, conversely, downwind).  As a result, the "south of the border" strategy appeared to be the order of the day.  Strange, that it was!

Course 2, north of the Marina del Rey jetties and halfway to the Santa Monica Pier, were the fleets of J/70s, J/80s and J/24s.  The J/80s produced one of the perfect scorelines, with Curt Johnson's AVET again taking the crown for their "three-peat" win in Cal Race Week by taking straight firsts for 5 pts. The battle was really for the balance of the podium with the outcome determined by the last two races on Sunday.  Taking second was Steve Wyman's NUHUNU with 3-2-2-2-3 scores for 12 pts, nipping by one point that team of BLUE JAY sailed by Bob Hayward with a 2-3-3-3-2 tally for 13 pts.   Sailing photo credits- Bronny Daniels/ Joysailing.com   For more Cal Race Week sailing information

Seattle NOOD Preview

(Seattle, WA)- The Pacific Northwest version of the Sperry Topsider NOOD regattas have always enjoyed a strong following for sailors who enjoy the challenges and breath-taking scenery of Puget Sound.  Weather in this region of the country can certainly see the extremes, from light air, no wind and tropical downpours to spectacular 10-15 kt winds, sunny, crispy cool and a snow-capped mountainous view in crystal-clear skies that evokes the Beatles vision of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"!

Attending this year will be strong divisions of one-design J/Teams in the J/24, J/80 and J/105 classes.  The J/80s also see some veterans that will be vying for the top prize in their half-dozen boat fleet.  Bill McKinnon's SKYE ROCKET, Dave Schutte's TAJ MAHAL and Bryan Rhodes's CRAZY IVAN will all be amongst the leaders.  However, so long as FEARFUL SYMMETRY (Cline) and HEART ATTACK (Shapiro) aren't falling asleep at the wheel, this could be one of the tightest classes in the entire event.  For more Sperry Topsider Seattle NOOD Regatta sailing information

PRO RIGGING Wins PalmaVela J/80s

(Palma Mallorca, Spain)- Gaastra PalmaVela reaches it’s tenth edition this year and is part of the Semana Náutica Internacional de Palma. More than 140 yachts from 17 countries, take part to inaugurate the cruising/racing calendar season in Spain.  Gaastra PalmaVela is one of the three most important regattas the Real Club Náutico de Palma organizes during the year.

Other than the ORC Class of 52 boats (in fact three classes), the single largest class are the International J/80 One-design Class.  Attending this year's events are many hopefuls from Spain that wish to attend the J/80 Worlds in Marseilles, France later on in July.

After the first day of racing for the J/80’s, the "locals" dominated, including Javier Sanz's PRO RIGGING and José Carlos Frau's BUFETE FRAU. Representing Real Club Náutico de Palma, Javier Sanz won two races and with a third place lead the evens.  David Madrazo of Pro-Rigging, is very satisfied with the teamwork: “We sailed well and won the first two races of the day. Although in the third race we took an OCS and after starting last, we were able to rebound up to the third position.”  He also has pointed out that it was a very difficult day for the Race Committee. “This wind direction from the north is very tricky and difficult to dealt with.”

For the second day of racing, the wind took its time to develop again.  But, after an hour and half postponement, the Race Committee was able to start races in a Southeasterly wind that increased during the day. It was a long day at sea, but it turned out to be a good racing day. The J/80s managed to get in three W/L race and the teams could then discard their worst race result.

The J/80 had an interesting tactical and strategic competition between PRO RIGGING and BUFETE FRAU. Javier Sanz’s boat added two victories to their scores, which gave them a small lead over José Carlos Frau who finished second in the first two races of the day. Third is current J/80 World Champion, GREAT SAILING sailed by José María van der Ploeg.  GREAT SAILING won the third race and they were followed by Javier Scherk's GUNTER.

The third day of racing provided simply spectacular sailing for the last day of competition in the Gaastra PalmaVela. With 12 knots of wind from the Southeast, the one-design classes in the Bay had a memorable day of racing-- rolling seas and long surfs and planes off the wind made for epic rides across the Bay in front of the spectacular waterfront of Palma!

In the end, the J/80 class was dominated by the "locals". Sanz's PRO RIGGING was declared PalmaVela champion with an amazing five 1sts and three 3rds in his final scores for a total of 13 pts. They were followed by van der Ploeg's GREAT SAILING in second with three bullets and three 3rds in their scoreline for 19 pts total.  Third was Frau's BUFETE FRAU with five 2nds in their tally with a total of 25 pts. Rounding out the top five were Dionisio Martinez in PUERTO SHERRY- INTUIL TEAM in fourth and Javier Scherk on GUNTER in fifth.  The top German team sailing was Dirk Euler on LIMMAT EXPRESS.   Sailing photo credits- Ingrid Abery   For more Gaastra PalmaVela J/80 sailing information

J/Teams Sail Light Air Tour de Belle-Ile

(La Trinite-sur-Mer, France)- The idyllic Brittany setting of La Trinite-sur-Mer was the base for the sixth edition of the Tour de Belle-Ile race in the Bay of Quiberon, Saturday, 4th May. Sunshine and pleasant spring temperatures suggested that this was going to be an excellent event; the issue proved to be the wind. While a thermal breeze was forecast, a frontal sequence, with cirrus and alto-cumulus cloud led to a battle which lasted for most of the day, depriving contestants of the fuel for their sails, namely wind. The start was something of an anti-climax, after all the waiting, at the monohull end of the line, where there was some urgent motoring to get back behind the line before the start in a few cases! It was obvious from the start that the on-going wind battle was not going to provide enough breeze for competitors to complete the Tour de Belle-Ile. Mid-afternoon, as the leader Spindrift approached the Poulains (famous from the photographs of them in storms by the Plissons and others) at the western end of Belle-Ile, the race committee decided to finish the Tour at this location.

With the light winds it appeared that this would be a small boat race. Almost all the entrants finished the shortened race; only about 40 of the 476 competing decided to abandon. The RC PRO wisely decided to postpone the start until 1330 hrs, even then the breeze was just 2-3 kts of wind.  In general, the J/Teams performed very well in the race.

For the J/80 one-design class, Yannick Tabarly's PROXEO too the win by nearly five minutes over his nine other classmates.  Second was Eric Bastard sailing SENJI, third Jean-Marie Liot on STARTIJENN (he's also a famous French photo-journalist), in fourth was Alexandre Bigot sailing CENTRALE-SUPELEC and in fifth was Alexandre Soroko skippering JAM SESSION.

The setting of La Trinité-sur-Mer is ideal, with the town and sailing-related shops immediately across the road from the large marina. The race village was set up by the marina, about 500 metres from the local yacht club, the Societe Nautique de la Trinité. The larger monohulls and multihulls were just the other side of the breakwater from the marina, close to the Capitainerie (Harbour Master's office), so everyone was together - something that most events do not manage to achieve.

Amidst a range of sponsors, Land Rover France came on board (before the Extreme Sailing Series announcement of Land Rover as a partner) - and we would like to recommend to Sodebo, by means of this article, that they extend their sponsorship from the participation of the maxi-trimaran in the event to providing food and sponsoring the event itself. Surely the national and regional TV coverage alone would make this worthwhile, quite apart from the range of people to be found in a fleet of 476+ boats!

The Tour de Belle-Ile is growing in popularity from year to year, and it is easy to see why. The event is smaller than the Bol d'Or on Lake Geneva and far smaller than Britain's JP Morgan Round the Island Race, but has a strong and building following. The race was put back by a weekend this year, into early May, to try to aid entries for another event along the coast a weekend earlier, but that had to be cancelled for lack of entries. However, the Tour de Belle-Ile took place comfortably alongside the Grand Prix Guyader further west, in Douarnenez, near Brest, where many amateur and professional teams are doing battle. Some crews continued from the Tour de Belle-Ile to compete in the Grand Prix, while others left their boats in La Trinité ready for the ArMen Race next weekend.  Thanks for contribution from Anne Hinton @ SailRaceWin.   For more Tour de Belle-Ile sailing information

Challenging, Cool Sailing Annapolis NOOD

(Annapolis, MD)- With a virtual armada of 156 J/Teams attending the Sperry Topsider Annapolis NOOD Regatta (74% of the whole fleet of 211), the eight J one-design classes (J/22, J/24, J/70, J/80, J/30, J/105, J/35, J/109) all had their fair share of spectacular, sunny racing on Friday. From there it was only a matter of time that conditions would deteriorate on the notoriously fickle Chesapeake Bay. For the most part the Annapolis NOOD weather conditions made for great fleet racing so long as sailors on the five division circles were well-behaved and the PRO's at each did a good job of managing the fleet and the racing.  Some were clearly better than others.  On Friday, the fleet was treated to a brisk ENE 10-20 kts with lots of choppy waters, a fast-flowing flood current and very shifty breezes with big puffs.  In such conditions, most fleets sailed four races.  By Saturday, the forecast was beginning to see diminishing winds and the sailor's confidence in the breeze fell along with those prognostications.  The forecast ENE was in fact 100% wrong, instead the fleet was treated to mostly NW-NE 6-14 kts, getting even shiftier and was full of holes, so much so that the third races for most fleets saw their last leg or two become a matter of rolling the dice.  Sadly, Sunday's forecast was even more wrong.  The forecast easterlies never materialized until late afternoon with a gorgeous sunny day.  Instead, the fleets were treated to an even crazier NW to E breeze blowing 0-10 kts with holes everywhere- a one race "craps shoot" for most, or none for others! With the third largest J fleet, the J/80's sailing with 23 boats had a very competitive fleet, especially as some teams were using it as part of their J/80 Worlds in Marseilles, France.  For the first six races, it looked like the Crump Family (Will & Marie) and Marie's brother Tom Klok sailing R80 would have a "runaway" on their hands, easily leading the fleet by a significant margin.  However, a serious brain fade in the 7th race upset their chances at a comfortable win.  Consequently, Brian Keane's SAVASANA team jumped at the opportunity to take over the lead, sailing well to win the last race as well as the series win for J/80s.  The R80 team settled for second overall.  Third was a new name at the top, John White sailing USA 1162.  Fourth was Kristen Robinson's familiar ANGRY CHAMELEON and fifth was another veteran J/80 team, Chris & Liz Chadwick's CHURCH KEY.
Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes.com.  For more Sperry Topsider NOOD Sailing Regatta sailing information

J/80s Sailing Travemunde Week

(Travemunde, Germany)- Beginning last year in 2012, J/80s have participated in Travemunde Race Week in both handicap and the middle-distance race- perhaps one day as a one-design class, too!  Maximilian Gebhard relates their experience of sailing their J/80 in the event that includes a 42nm offshore race.  Here's his account:

"We're thankful for the organizers and race committee that enabled us to have the first experiences with J/80s in Travemunde, especially the distance race of 42 nm that makes for about an eight hour race. This year we will be racing on a shorter course, about 25% shorter. The middle-distance race from Travemünde to Grömitz is sailed around fixed navigation marks criss-crossing the Bay of Lübeck. Our race in 2012 was the 42 nm (Track), going from the buoy Offentief (towards Wismar), navigational aids before Niendorf / Timmendorfer beach, Neustadt iH and the Lübeck-Gedser route to the pier in front of Grömitz. We had 12-23 kts winds providing challenge on upwind, downwind and reaching legs, including how to best navigate the current, wave and wind induced coastal changes along the racer track.  Amusingly, it was the lightest and youngest crew on board that did the navigation for the first time! Plus, he helped maintain the motivation of the crew for about eight hours! Upon arriving in the port of Grömitz, we managed to get to the restaurant tent for the sailors and enjoyed the harbor festival with live music from the stage.

So, how did we handle accommodations for sailing after the racing?  We were not planning on staying on our damp boat without luggage, shore power, and onboard toilet.  No problem. Since Grömitz is only 30 minutes drive from Travemünde and Lübeck, both J/80 teams had positioned the previous evening a car with dry luggage, mattresses, heater, including food/drink at the port. For the sailors, breakfast was catered in the restaurant tent, so the lack of cabin interior the J/80 not even bother here. The facilities in Grömitz were excellent.

Besides the pre-eminent J/80 one-design regattas like the World Championship, Flensburg and Kiel Week, I can definitely recommend the middle distance race of the Travemünde Week to complement the sailing calendar only.  For questions about logistics, accommodation, cranes, and sailing Travemünde Week, the two local crews are at your disposal.  Please feel free to contact us- Maximilian Gebhard (mail@GER1406.de) or Meinhard Braedel (m.braedel@gmx.de).   For more J/80 Germany sailing information

NEXTEL Wins Trofeo AVIA

(Santander, Spain)- Ignacio Camino's NEXTEL ENGINEERING was the winner of this year's Trofeo AVIA sailed in J/80s on the waters of Santander Bay.  The wind was a the real "star" of the event as for two days the wind saw gusts over 30 kts at the start of the races.  Going to windward after the starts was a test of seamanship, steering and basic sail-trim.  Going downwind was even a greater test as some crews experienced some pretty remarkable broaches.

On both days, the Race Committee PRO had to change race course area after the first race, taking the fleet inside the "sand spit" into the area of ​​Quebrantas and could fit a smaller, protected course in the vicinity of the island of Horadada.

Jaime Piris on FONESTAR opted for the pin end start and stretched to the left side where the influence of the current tide was lower, in addition to benefiting from the greater wind pressure that came from the west.  On the other side of the course going up the right hand side were ECC VIVIENDAS sailed by Pichu Torcida, GO FIT skippered by David Madrazo and Ignacio Camino on NEXTEL.  Although they finished behind FONESTAR, they did not fare well on the right due to less wind pressure and were sailing against stronger current.

After several more races, it became quite obvious to the sailors that the left hand side of the course was paying off upwind while the right hand side (left going downwind) was much faster going downwind under spinnaker.

It was a good afternoon of sailing for the favorites NEXTEL, ECC and GO FIT, which never finished below the top five.  In the end, Camino won on NEXTEL with just 9 pts followed by Madrazo on GO FIT in second place with 13 pts, narrowly beating out Luis Prieto sailing MAQUECHE who had 14 pts for third place.  The balance of the top five were comprised of Pichu's team on ECC VIVIENDAS in fourth with 15 pts and in fifth was YATES & COSAS.  The Class B champion was A&G Private Banking sailed by Tono Ribalaygua.  For more J/80 Santander Trofeo Avia sailing information

For those of you who are students of sailing tactics & strategies, you may want to take a look at a very interesting video representation of the tracking system used for the J/80 French Nationals in Douarnenez, France.  Take a look at this sailboat tracking system overview on YouTube here.

JOIE DE VIVRE Sails Perfect Benelux Championship

(Gravelines, Belgium)- This year's Open Benelux J/80 Championship saw a champion crowned with an unprecedented series- 7 1sts in seven races.  Laura Vroon and crew sailed their hearts out and simply established themselves at the front of the fleet like no one could ever imagine.  Girls Rule!!

It was a beautiful battlefield with hard, stormy winds, perfect race committee work, good organization, excellent sportsmanship and fair play at a very competitive level for the entire field of sailors. Participants spoke of the best regatta ever. The Regatta Jury had no objection to being needed as there were no protests lodged whatsoever-- everything on the water was handled by self-imposed "criminal circles", as all competitors seemed to judge by one another fairly.  The fair play award went to Henk Everwijn, who after a port/ starboard situation at the finish, withdrew without a protest.

The "fair play" amongst the fleet is even more remarkable given the compactness of the field.  A single error immediately took many places, tactical situations were the norm, and this meant the difference between position 2 and 6.  This was not the case for JOIE DE VIVRE Team, their first place was a serene one without one challenger. JDV took every race from the start line. Sailing fast and high with superb boat-handling and superb sail-trim, JDV was first at the upwind mark virtually every time.  After which their lead steadily extended every time, so they cashed-in after the seven races for the gold.  An amazing performance for Laura Vroon and crew!

Just behind them was quite a battle for second in this epic regatta.  JUUL's Bernard Holsboer, who sustained some damage in the stormy 32 kts winds on the first day were pleased with their performance, despite dropping from 2nd to 3rd overall. Dueling it out for the balance of the podium were the defending champion JALAPENO- Erik Scheeren and JUUL.  After a storm-tossed first day and a match-race for second, it was JALAPENO that took the lead to take second overall. JUUL was third.  NJOY's Coen van Veen sailed well to take fourth and fifth was MENTAQUILIBRIUM's Christopher Savoy.

Of note, it was nice to see a new J/80 sailor learning the ropes and improving race-to-race over the course of the season.  The "Rookie of the Year" had to be Eric Hogervorst sailing QUICK & DIRTY, displaying a remarkable increase in his speed boat and tactics, taking 8th in the regatta.  More next year, we promise!  For more J/22 Netherlands/ Benelux sailing information.

J/80 Sailing Hawaii Offshore With Kids!

(Lahaina, Hawaii)- Bob Stephenson says "Aloha to all J/sailors, and especially J/80 sailors, from around the world.  We've been having a lot of great J/80 racing here in Hawaii.

ALOHA LANI sailed by Ryan McCrillis won the second J/80 Hawaiian Championships in Lahiana (and Class B in the Lahiana Lights). CRUSADER skippered by me got second and hometown favorite BOONDOGGLE sailed by Bruce Olsten was third.

Two days later, CRUSADER took second in class B, 5th overall in the Lahiana to Honolulu Race. Conditions were "epic", with both boats seeing speeds in the high teens most of the day.

More to follow, but here's a sailing photo of Connor McCrillis sailing in his first ocean race on ALOHA LANI. We look forward to getting you some more stories in the coming weekends!"

J/80 North Americans Preview

(Fort Worth, Texas)- This coming weekend, the Fort Worth Boat Club will be hosting the J/80 North Americans on Eagle Mountain Lake form Oct 31st to Nov 4th.  Thirty-one teams are expected to compete with an incredibly talented group of sailors participating, with multiple North American and World Champions represented.  With a weather forecast that looks considerably better than the "Superstorm Sandy" the northeast had to contend with, it looks like sunny and southerly breezes will prevail until Saturday, then a chance of thunderstorms with partly cloudy skies Sunday.  Nevertheless, since Eagle Mountain Lake is surrounded by rolling hillsides, the sailors will be tactically challenged all weekend to figure out which side of the lake to choose on each leg!

As a precursor for the J/80 NA's, the FWBC hosted the 38th "Old Man of the Sea Regatta" this past weekend- it was a great regatta warm-up for the up-coming J/80 North Americans.  Many of the top teams were sailing for "Old Man of the Sea" honors. Fittingly, the Terry Flynn/ David Whelan team onboard QUANTUM RACING took the event with four 1sts in their 7 races (past J/80 North American Champions).  Second were the renowned Forth Worth locals, Glenn Darden and Reese Hillard racing LE TIGRE just three points back (also World, North American and Key West Champions).  Third was Jay Lutz from Houston, TX sailing FIRED UP (another World and Key West Champion). Fourth was Brian Keane from Marion, MA on SAVASANA fresh off his J/80 East Coast Champs effort in Annapolis (also a Key West Champion) along with Bruno Pasquinelli (a North American champion) on TIAMO in fifth.  If you had to write a script as to which top five teams would be fighting it out for the top five spots at the J/80 North Americans on "home turf" on Eagle Mountain Lake, there you have it-- any one of them can win it!

Showing up for the event from other parts of the compass across America to give the "local cowboys" a "run-for-the-money" include top California team Curt Johnson sailing AVET from California YC; Kerry Klingler (a World and North American Champion) and Abuzeni Nizar sailing ARROW from Long Island Sound; the family team of Tom Klok, Will & Marie Crump sailing GULDFAXE from Annapolis, MD and Copenhagen, Denmark (SW NOOD Champions); class ring-leaders Kirsten & Brian Robinson with Tim Borland on the famous ANGRY CHAMELEON from Annapolis; and Chris Chadwick on CHURCH KEY also from Annapolis, amongst many others!   For more J/80 North Americans sailing information

J/80 Police World Championship Preview

(Hong Kong, China)-  More fascinating sailing development in Asia.  As sailing activity continues to grow faster in China and the rest of Asia, the three principal sailing clubs on Hong Kong's amazing harbor- Royal Hong Kong YC, Aberdeen Boat Club and Hebe Haven YC- are coordinating with the Hong Kong Police Sailing Club to host the Police World Sailing Championship on International J/80 One-Designs.  Talking about broadening the scope of sailing and participation on a global scale!  Police teams from around the world have been practicing on J/80s, wherever they can find them, to prepare for this extraordinary event.

The J/80 Police Worlds will be held in Hong Kong from Oct 21st to 27th.  The event is being sponsored by the Hong Kong Police and a company called "SF Express" - a well known "FedEx" type company that services Hong Kong, Taiwan and China.  Thirteen teams from Hong Kong (3), Australia, England (2), Ireland, Austria, Netherlands, Germany (2) and Switzerland (2) will be participating.  Rumor has it that several police teams believe Lauren Mead's all-girls team on the J/80 HAKAWATI, recent winners of Hebe Haven YC's Typhoon J/80 Series, may have the magic ingredients for coaching better tactics and strategy in the capricious waters of Hong Kong Harbour!  For more Hong Kong Police Sailing Club and J/80 Police World Championship sailing information

J2X Wins J/80 UK Nationals

(Hamble, England)-  Following on from the very successful J/80 World Championship held in Dartmouth this June, the J/80 fleet returned to the Solent on the weekend of the 8th September for the The MIQ Logistics 2012 J/80 National Championship. Hosted by Hamble’s Royal Southern Yacht Club, the event was included in the final weekend of their summer series. Sponsors MIQ Logistics, SLAM clothing and Coast Graphics continued their support from the World Championship.

The fleet of 27 boats was just one less than the previous highest total for the UK Championship. There was a very broad speed of ages competing, from the hugely experienced senior statesmen through to a handful of boats being sailed by students and other young teams. The generosity of owners who had loaned their boats had facilitated this.

Day one dawned with a lack of wind in the morning increasing to 8-10 knots in the afternoon.  Race officer Dermod O’Malley made the wise decision to postpone ashore for two hours.  The program got under way just before 1pm in a 6-8 easterly, in flat water conditions and warm sunshine. The hottest helm on day one was Rob Larke sailing J2X. Rob and his team achieved a perfect score of three bullets which converted into a six point overnight lead. Second best for the day was Nick Haigh sailing Slightly Steamy, a  very tidy two seconds and a fifth were the proof that Nick’s transition from his last boat, a 46 footer, had been a success.  The late start, combined with a breeze that softened as the ebb tide increased, saw the third race shortened and the fleet sent home at 5 o’clock. Allan Higgs’s Juicy completed the podium on the first day.

Saturday night saw the liveliest of the fleet mixing with the rest of the Royal Southern Yacht Club’s September regatta sailors, at the appropriately titled "Best of the Eighties Party".

A further three races were scheduled for Sunday. With the easterly breeze once again established, the program got under way on time and finally saw J2 X beaten as Stuart Hawthorn’s J’ai Deux Amours struck gold in race four. Second was Mark Baskerville’s Mistral, third place went to Jon Powell’s Betty.  The race team now signalled a postponement prior to race five, the easterly was waning and intelligence from the West of the race course indicated a new weather system was about to arrive.  Sure enough after an hour a nice South Westerly of 10 knots kicked in, which built to a solid 20 throughout the afternoon. Race five saw the fleet in full planing mode and if this was to be the last big event of the summer it truly was a great day to remember. Rob Larke managed to claw back the lead from Patrick Liardet’s Aqua J to score his fourth bullet. Aqua J followed home in second with Mark Lees’ boats.com in third.  In the sixth and final race J2X achieved an incredible fifth bullet. Boats.com took second and J.A.T took their second bronze of the weekend.

At the prize-giving, Rob Larke’s J2X was crowned the MIQ Logistics 2012 J/80 National Champion. Nick Haigh’s Slightly Steamy took a very solid second, Jon Powell’s Betty was third. A stellar performance from the team of 420 sailors on Chris Taylor’s J.A.T saw them sweep fourth.

Next year the National Championship is bound for England ’s East Coast for the first time in the class’ 15 year history. The 2012 J/80 World Championship will be held in Marseille, France in June with a forecast 150 boat entry, this will eclipse the previous record of 131 in Santander, Spain!  For more J/80 UK Nationals sailing information

J/80 in Barcelona Sailing School

(Barcelona, Spain)- Sailing director, Eva Piulats, says "We're opening a new sailing school in Barcelona...the novelty is that we have a beautiful J-35 in our fleet along with J/80 sailboats! We are proud to have such a performance boat for sail-training."

Furthermore, Eva says, "As founder of the brand new company "Barcelona Sailing School", I have a background in sciences in my early ages and then more than a decade of sailing experience in several seas and countries. And from the beginning, I had the chance to work with the dealer of J-Boats in Spain, Mr. Pedro Egea, manager of the company Catamaran Center SL & Yate Center. He made me love J-Boats by sailing them and I was clearly set up for the decision.

So, when I wanted to turn my career into another field and be devoted to training, I decided to focus on J-Boats. We planned to use J-35 for offshore regattas and preparing skippers to cruise on their own. We also offer other activities in J-80 for day-sailing!"  For more Barcelona Sailing School information- L'Equip de Xaloc