(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!"
* Paradise could be sailing a J/80 offshore in Hawaii. This has to be one of the more enjoyable experiences one can have sailing anywhere on any boat. Imagine blowing down the north shore of the Molokai Channel in 18-25 knot winds in clear blue water, whales jumping everywhere, dolphins playing in your wake and white breakers crashing down across your deck in 75 degree weather! Here's a YouTube video of the J/80 CRUSADER sailing in the Molokai-- a nice video shot by Mike VanWoerkem-- they called this video "Crash avoided"! For good reason, check it out. These guys are buddies of Bob Stephenson, US Navy SPAWAR Hawaii, who sails J/80s with his family, too-- his son starred in the last J/80 video off Hawaii! Watch this Hawaiian J/80 sailing video here.