The MUSE Perspective- Women Sailing J/70s

(Newport, RI)- Recently, the J/70 Class newsletter “Momentum” had a chance to interview Heather Gregg-Earl regards her perspectives on sailing the J/70, how she won the inaugural J/70 North Americans and what it’s like to sail the J/70 as a woman skipper.

1) You didn’t know you won until you hit the dock. What were the conversations on the way in?

HEATHER: “When we crossed the finish line of the last race, we all took a moment to decompress...none of us thought we won. We were all giving each other high fives as we knew we had a solid regatta and felt really good about how we sailed. Tricky conditions with all the good guys up and down. We were pretty consistent except one race where we had to do a penalty turn right after the start in light air landing us in 55th that race with no throw-out in the Championship. Not good! After that, we didn’t focus on the scores so much...we just focused on trying to be super consistent. On the way in, we all started to guess where we wound up. We guessed anywhere from third to fifth. Pleasantly surprised when a competitor told us the news as we hit the dock!”

2) The title came down to the final race, and you had quite a bit of ground to make up to secure the championship. What was your approach in that last race?

HEATHER: “Our approach throughout the regatta was to be consistent and keep ourselves in the game. And that definitely was our approach for the last race. Not to take too many risks as there wasn’t a throw-out race. After the first day, we stood 13th after finishing the day 5, 5, 55. With a 55th, we knew we had some hard work ahead of us to make the top 10. Going into the last race, the leader had 31 points on us and a few boats were just points behind us. Our approach was to, again, keep ourselves in the game. Given the shifty conditions and the fact that sides were paying big, we focused on making sure we were clear at the start, starting away from the pack a bit, so we could punch out and get to the side we wanted. Luckily, that worked and Billy Lynn, our tactician, did an amazing job calling the shots that final race.”

3) Tell us about your experiences thus far racing the J/70. What brought you into the Class?

HEATHER: “I have to say I haven’t had as much fun sailing since college sailing!! The J/70 is a blast!! The boat is a hoot to sail, especially in the breeze. It truly is one-design, it’s manageable in terms of crew (only three other people needed to sail), it’s great value for the money, and the fleet after one year has such depth in talent. Eighty-nine boats on the line and just one year old...impressive. When I was looking for a new One-Design Class to jump into, I wanted one in which the sailing itself was more fun. And buying into a Class where I had a lot of confidence that the fleet would develop quickly and with a lot of talent was important to me. As a mom chasing my 10-year-old around the Opti circuit, I needed to make sure that the new Class I picked had enough well-attended regattas throughout the year to make it worthwhile. When I went for my first spin in the J/70 with Stu Johnstone one 20 knot day in Newport, I was sold.”

4) What expectations did you have coming into the North Americans?

HEATHER: “Our goal was to win the Corinthian Division and place in the top 15 overall and have a ton of fun with an all Jumbo crew from Tufts, my alma mater. That, we did!”

5) The conditions on the Chesapeake Bay allowed for racing on two of the three days. Did you expect it to be a generally light air event?

HEATHER: “Yes, harkening back to my college sailing days, I spent many a light air regatta at Annapolis in the fall so we were prepared for what we ended up getting. It was unfortunate that we didn’t get any racing in the second day, but my hat’s off to the PRO Sandy Grosvenor and her RC for conducting such a well-run event and calling the racing on that second day.”

6) How did you maintain your boat speed in the conditions?

HEATHER: “Constantly changing gears all the time. Overall, a light regatta but we did see the breeze up and down a bit. The racing spanned 5 to 15 knots of breeze...so adjusting rig set up, sail trim, and weight placement was key.”

7) Do you feel the J/70 is a good platform for women sailors?

HEATHER: “Yes! And for all you women out there who don’t know what to put on your Christmas List... Santa knows exactly where to get a J/70! All kidding aside, I think it’s a great boat for women. It’s manageable in terms of putting a program together given number of crew, and women can easily sail the boat. It’s totally manageable for women as drivers or any crew position for that matter. I’ve sailed it with an all women crew a few times, and we had a ball.”

8) Many top professional sailors have been quite active in the J/70 in its young history. Yet, you won the North Americans with a full Corinthian team. What advice do you have for fellow amateur racers who want to compete in major championships?

HEATHER: “Crazier things happen! My advice to fellow amateurs is:

1. I think it’s great to stick together as an amateur team! Stay together!
2. Putting together a good team with great chemistry goes a long way - don’t underestimate the power of this!
3. Practice, practice, practice - together as a team!
4. Make sure having fun is one of your goals- we all tend to do better when we do!”

9) The J/70 has had an amazing rise to popularity. How is the Class evolving in the United States?

HEATHER: “The Class is on fire. In just one year, they are up to 400 boats sold in North America. And another 100 in Europe. It’s a real testament to the confidence so many sailors have in J/Boats’ ability to build deep and competitive one-design fleets. This boat hit the market at the right time for sure. It’s going to be a great Class to be a part of. I can’t wait for Key West!”

As one might guess from this narrative, Heather is an experienced woman sailor.  She started in her youth on the classic Wianno Seniors off Cape Cod— a favorite of the Kennedy family from Hyannis port on the Cape.  She was three-time College All-American on the Tufts University Women’s Sailing team.  She was second in the 1984 470 Olympic Trials to JJ Fetter/Isler by just one point (JJ went on to grab a Silver Medal in the Olympics).  Heather sailed for years on J/22s and J/24s (with Etchells 22 World Champion Dave Curtis as well as the two Johnstone Brothers- Stu & Drake). Later she spent time sailing Sonars for New York YC’s Team Racing program in Newport, Sardinia and Cowes.  More recently, she sailed Melges 20s in their Winter Circuit and experienced Viper 640 sailing as well.  Ultimately, she bought her J/70 for all the reasons she outlines above- it’s the ultimate “fun” sportsboat to sail with her friends and kids.  As Heather says, “nothing else even comes close!”     For more J/70 class and regatta information

U.S. Coast Guard Sailing Gets J/70s

(New London, CT)- Imagine for a minute what it might be like to attend one of the coolest colleges on Planet Earth and be a member of its sailing team.  One that has a unique educational, leadership and professional development program that teaches university-level students to devote themselves to selfless service to their nation and to humanity. One that has a mission to help protect people who use the sea as well as protect the sea itself for humanity.

It’s a noble undertaking to ensure the environment we live in is around for future generations to enjoy.  Remember the words of one famous sailor, as American President John F. Kennedy once remarked during the 1962 America’s Cup summer in Newport at the Australian Ambassador's dinner, “I really don't know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it's because in addition to the fact that the sea changes, and the light changes, and ships change, it's because we all came from the sea. And it’s an interesting biological fact that all of us have, in our veins, the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea - whether it is to sail or to watch it - we are going back from whence we came."

Located on the beautiful tree-laden banks of the Thames River in New London, CT, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy is the smallest of the American service academies.  Despite its size, its impact on the world is far greater than anyone can imagine.  The young men and women that ultimately lead the US Coast Guard after graduation are those who look after the tens of thousands of miles of America’s coastline (which include the Atlantic, Pacific, the Great Lakes and associated major rivers).

As part of learning that mission, all cadets spend part of their first summer aboard sailboats experiencing Kennedy’s prophetic words about “committing to the sea”, to appreciate both its raw power and extraordinary beauty and why people feel so “tied to the ocean”.  In addition to their fleet of college dinghies that sail spring and fall, the Academy has a tradition of offshore keelboat sailing and racing.  Cadets have the opportunity to sail “college keelboats” around the buoys spring and fall and larger “big boats” offshore in the summer (like sailing their J/44 on the Bermuda Race, Block Island Race Week and New York YC Race Week).

Since becoming the first US service academy to adopt J/24s as their small keelboat trainer back in 1982, the Academy has continued to be a leader in college one-design keelboat racing.  This past summer, the leadership of the USCGA Sailing Team chose the International J/70 to become their newest college keelboat trainer.

Having just started sailing their first J/70s delivered in November, the Offshore Team and their coaches are excited about the prospects for sailing team development.  Both women and men sailing team members are looking forward to participating in regional J/70 one-design and national-level events-- like Key West or in Newport.  On a local basis, the Offshore Team plans to be sailing with J/70 Fleet #16 on Fishers Island Sound.

The “Bears” will be on a fast learning curve with their J/70s.  Expect to see Doug Clark (Director of Sailing), along with Jack Neades (Offshore Coach) and Brian Swingly (Intercollegiate Coach) encouraging both college dinghy and offshore sailing team members to participate in major J/70 events.  The men and women’s teams certainly have great coaching to help get them there.  Coach Clark himself was a College All-American sailor and coached the Kings Point Merchant Marine Academy to several national titles, producing numerous All-American sailors and three College Sailor-of-the-Year winners.  Recently, Coach Swingly was voted NEISA (New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association) Coach of the Year.  For more US Coast Guard Academy information   For more US Coast Guard Academy Sailing Team information

J/70 California Circuit 2014

(San Diego, CA)- The J/70 fleets in southern and northern California have been working through their schedules to ensure there are opportunities to sail through the winter 2014 as well as through the spring and summer leading up to the 2014 J/70 Worlds in Newport.

The two primary series for SoCal J/70 Fleet #4 are the “JK3 Winter Series” from November 2013 to March 2014 followed by the “High Point” series that runs from February to September 2014.  Interspersed are major J/70 events on both West and East Coasts.

The JK3 2013/4 Winter Series encompasses these dates at San Diego YC: November 9, 16, 23; December 7, 14-15; January 18-19; February 22-23; and March 8-9.

For the 2014 SoCal High Point Series, multiple venues are included:
- Feb 15-16 – SCYA Midwinters- Coronado YC (South Bay)
- Mar 14-16 – San Diego NOOD – San Diego YC (South Bay)
- Mar 29-30 – Kings Harbor Race Week- Kings Harbor YC
- May 2-4 – Yachting Cup- San Diego YC
- Jun 27-29 – Long Beach Race Week- Long Beach YC
- Jul 12-13- Fiesta Cup- Santa Barbara YC
- Sep 20-21 –J/70 West Coast Championships- Newport Harbor YC
- Sep 27-28 – J/Fest- San Diego YC

Key Northern California and National regattas that interleave perfectly include:
- Apr 4-5- J/Fest- St Francis Yacht Club
- Jun 14– SSC Delta Ditch Run- Richmond YC
- Jul 19-20 – High Sierras Regatta- Fresno YC
- Jul 14-20- J/70 North Americans- Rochester YC
- Sep 8-13- J/70 World Championships– New York YC/ SailNewport

For more J/70 Class and fleet championships sailing information

J/70 Dominates Hot Rum Sailing Division!

(San Diego, CA)- The Sinhoffer Hot Rum Regatta series always seems to be full of surprises for all who’ve sailed the event over the course of time.  Such a seemingly simple course, using the classic “pursuit-style” starting sequence with small(slowest) boats starting first and fastest last, is never quite what it seems as the boats head out to the starting line.  Other than weather that can be impacted by late summer highs bathing the fleet in warm sun and light winds or massively fast weather systems blown down from the Bering Straits whipping the eastern Pacific into a frenzy and throwing overcast clouds, 15-30 kts SW winds and 10-15 seas at the fleet, the big “gotcha” is often how the winds (or lack thereof) flow over the monstrous promontory known as Point Loma.  As a result, many a Hot Rum Series leader has seen their chances blown in the final few hundred yards sailing into the finish line off Shelter Island.

This year’s three weekend series saw just about every weather condition imaginable.  The first weekend was fraught with almost no wind with most big boats barely finishing and most littler boats having to take DNFs (sometimes entire divisions!).  The second go-around saw a gorgeous sunny day with 5-8 kts of breeze from the West.  Then, the final weekend was cool, partly cloudy with foggy drizzle and a strong breeze of 10-20 kts from the SW.

With a fast-growing and strong presence already in Southern California, it was only a matter of time that J/70s started to pop-up on the radar screen and do some damage even in the handicap-racing world.  Sailing in what is arguably one of the toughest fleets, Jeff Brown’s J/70 took top honors followed by Dave Vieregg’s SOGGY DOLLAR in third overall in class.  Next up with a good series was Tomm Reilly’s J/100 JASWINDER.  Of note, the J/70 fleet was not going to be denied, winning every race in class with Eric Kownacki’s DFZ taking one and Karl Pomeroy’s ZERO TO 60 taking the other.   Sailing photo credits- San Diego YC/ Bronny Daniels- Joysailing.com   For more San Diego YC Hot Rum sailing information

J/70s Flying Off Santa Barbara

(Santa Barbara, CA)- The annual Santa Barbara YC Holiday Regatta has been known over the course of time to experience the extremes in weather.  While the event has seen people get dressed in various Christmas and Holiday “plummage”, the occasion of this year’s regatta basically ensured all were dressed in their offshore gear to face the prospects of a near gale from the WNW blowing 20-30kts plus!  It did help that it was a sunny day!

Because of the epic weather conditions, fewer than normal of the generally large holiday fleet ventured forth into the teeth of the strong winds curling in offshore from Point Conception.  For the few intrepid sailors that did sally forth, the long uphill bouncy ride was more than rewarded with screaming planes downwind under all the canvas you’d dare launch!

As many have learned over time, J’s are well-suited to such conditions as they’re not only “proper upwind yachts”, but can certainly turn-on the speed downwind in the right conditions.  While the local J/105 class have experienced such rides time and again over the last decade or so, it was the local J/70 class in Santa Barbara that were having the time of their lives.

Having started less than a year ago, the Santa Barbara J/70 fleet is now over a dozen boats strong with more arriving in the not too distant future— it’s the fastest growing one-design fleet ever in the greater Santa Barbara/ Ventura/ Lompoc region.  The J/70s have captured the excitement of the local “Santa Barbarians” for all the reasons its gained such wild popularity elsewhere— chicks dig it since it’s easy-to-sail, the boat’s a delight to sail in any conditions the SB Channel can throw at them, and it instills confidence, not fear-induced anxieties and heart attacks, while planing along comfortably in a 15-25 kts breeze.  Evidently, young and old alike are having a blast sailing their 70s off Santa Barbara.

The forecast for the weekend was exciting for those who enjoy full-throttle, pedal-to-the-metal downwind planing conditions.  With morning winds of 10-20 kts NW increasing to 20-30 kts in the afternoon and gusts to 35 kts with 6-10 ft seas, the fleet was going to be in for wild ride on Saturday!  As you can see from the photo, the J/70s were lovin’ it and regularly hitting over 15-18 kts downwind off the ginormous swell peeling around the point.

Taking J/70 fleet honors by a whisker was Chris Gabriel on DIVERSION, posting a 1-1-2-4-3 for 11 pts, clearly relishing the big breeze on Saturday and taking somewhat of a breather on the lighter conditions Sunday.  Second on the tie-breaker was Shawn Hughes and Andrew Nunn sailing the menacingly black-colored ECLIPSE, taking a 3-3-1-3-1 for 11 pts.  Just one point back was Ken Kieding’s SMOKE & MIRRORS with a 2-2-3-1-4 scoreline for 12 pts— close racing indeed for the top three.  Learning the J/70 ropes amazingly quickly was Scott Deardorff and crew on CAKE, electing not to sail in the big blow on Saturday in literally a brand-new boat just-launched, but posting a 4-2-2 on Sunday!

The J/105s saw Mark Noble’s ESCAPADE take the win followed by Larry Harteck’s REPEAT OFFENDER in second and Tom Bollay’s ARMIDA in third.

In the PHRF B handicap racing world, the well-sailed J/22 BLUES CREWS sailed by Dave Baxter didn’t even sail the first race in the blow, but rattled off a 2-1-1 on the last day to take second overall.  For more Santa Barbara YC Holiday Regatta sailing information

Community Sailing Raffles New J/70 Speedster!

(East Greenwich, RI)- The Greenwich Bay Sailing Association (GBSA) was established over 20 years ago by the East Greenwich Yacht Club as a separate nonprofit community sailing program. We serve about 120 kids each summer and a growing number of adults.

We don’t ever want a kid to miss out on the benefits of learning to sail due to financial need – toward this end, we granted over $5,000 in scholarships this past summer. We are also the proud hosts of the CJ Buckley Regatta – which for the past five years has served as the Club 420 Association’s Jr. National Team Racing championships, attracting teams from throughout North America.

Every two years we have a charity auction event to raise funds to help cover our capital expenses (fleet, powerboats, etc). Our plan for 2014 and beyond is to dramatically increase our impact in the community by adding more opportunities for kids and adults to learn to sail.

Our plan centers around building a fleet of keelboats for that purpose. Two years ago, we were fortunate enough to receive a J/24 as a donation to the program. It has proved to be a great boat for our adult learn to sail program and for our “sailing adventures” class in the afternoons (older kids). Our plan is to use the funds from this raffle to purchase three more used  J/24s.

We have received the support of both the Town of East Greenwich and the City of Warwick (our facility straddles the line between the two towns) to implement this plan. All that’s left now is to secure the funding – and that’s where the “Win A J/70 Raffle” comes in.

The J/70 is the most popular boat to come around in a generation. We came up with this crazy idea to raffle off a J/70 to raise funds for GBSA. Through a lot of hard work and support from our partners at McMichaels we’ve made the raffle a reality. The plan is simple – sell 650 raffle tickets at $100 each!  Good odds, isn’t it!?   For a chance to be the lucky winner, please enter the raffle here!

J/70 BVI Spring & Rolex Cup Regatta Invitation

(Tortola, BVI)- The organizers of the two principal Caribbean regattas in the Virgin Islands have teamed together to offer J/70 teams a unique package for participating in the famous Rolex Cup Regatta in St Thomas, USVI and also the BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival in the British Virgin Islands!

The Rolex St Thomas International Regatta, sailed from March 28-30th, 2014, is etched into every racer’s mind as the "Crown Jewel" of Caribbean racing-- where sailors can experience reliable breezes, warm azure waters and world-renowned Island hospitality. If you’ve sailed there in the past, you know that the competition and the camaraderie are unsurpassed.  For Rolex Cup Regatta sailing information

The BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival, sailed from March 31st to April 6th, 2014, lives up to its tagline- “Warm water and Hot Racing!”  Replete with Swimsuit Shows, Aerialists and acrobats, amazing music from famous Caribbean bands like “Quito & The Edge”, “Hudson and the Hoo-Doo Cats”, “Final Faze” - they're all part of BVI Regatta Village Life every day— see more of their version of “fun-in-the-sun” on their Facebook page.  For BVI Spring Regatta sailing information

How does it all work?  Kestrel Shipping has organized a simple on/off program to make it easy to ship directly from Palm Beach, FL to Road Town, Tortola in the British Virgin Islands with J/70s on their trailers.  Trailer storage and slips are available at Nanny Cay Resort & Marina.  Round trip shipping is $5,800.00 USD plus US & BVI Customs, clearance/ delivery all works out to about $7,500 for all transport.

For accommodations, consider chartering a Moorings sloop or catamaran for ten days as the “mothership” for prices ranging from $5,600 to $11,500 (for up to two crews!).  Check out Moorings.com for charters.

Enjoy sailing out the Sir Francis Drake Channel to race in St Thomas then return to the British Virgin Islands to race the BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival!  Depending on sailing conditions, you can sail each way or have the mothership tow the boat.  An amazing ten days of sailing in two of the best regattas in the Caribbean!

If you have any questions about the race, please contact Judy Petz- email- judy@bvispringregatta.org.  If you have questions about shipping/logistics, please contact Chris Haycraft at Island Shipping- chris@islandshipping.com or ph# 284-541-7034.

J/70 FLOJITO Y COOPERANDO Wins Mexican Nationals!

(Valle de Bravo, Mexico)- After many months waiting for the first J/70s to arrive in Valle de Bravo, a total of thirteen J/70s participated in their first major regatta- J/70 Nacionales de Mexico — on the famous Valle de Bravo lake better known for having more than one hundred J/24s!

Amongst the fleet were several notable teams, including Ignacio and Alvaro Perez that brought their boats from Puerto Vallarta for the first official National Championship. The favorite to win was FLOJITO Y COOPERANDO skippered by Julian Fernandez who just finished 12th at the North American Championship a couple of months ago.  Furthermore, some of the best Mexican sailors from different classes were amongst the teams as both skippers and crews. Chris Snow was calling tactics for Sean O'Keefe who brought his J/70 from San Diego to have it in Valle de Bravo for the winter!

Over the two day weekend, the fleet enjoyed seven races in a wide range of conditions from 6 to 12 knots which gave everyone a good feeling for their new boats.  First place was taken by Fernandez’s FLOJITO Y COOPERANDO, followed in second place by PELIGROSO’s owner Diego Berho and skipper Yon Belausteguigoitia.  Third place went to the team led by Alvaro Perez, who showed that experience and time on the boat counts a lot!  Fourth was Sean O’Keefe and Chris Snow and rounding out the top five was Gerardo Lozano.

The J/70 class in Mexico had a perfect start to what looks to be the next big one-design keelboat in Mexico! What was great to see in the Nationals was that five boats (nearly half the fleet) won races and seven of the thirteen boats all posted at least one or more top three finishes!  That’s healthy for the Mexican fleet, in fact a reflection of what has been seen in other competitive J/70 fleets across the world!  Next year the national circuit will include sailing in Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco and Cancun.  It should be a lot of fun as the owners will sail their new boats in all kinds of conditions and, hopefully, against twenty or more boats!  For more J/70 Mexico one-design class sailing information

Don's J/70 Trailering & Logistics Ideas

(Youngstown, NY)- Don Finkle from RCR Yachts had some good insights on J/70s, trailering and logistics for those who are considering doing more traveling to regattas.  Here are some of Don’s comments:

“One of the best attributes of the 70 is the ease of which you can tow it places.  I have towed our hull #15 over 10,000 miles so far and other than one one goof where I cut a corner too tight and knocked off a tail light it has been a piece of cake. 

The loaded 70 on trailer is low to the ground and you can board without a ladder by either stepping on the fender or on a dock box forward.  We recommend a simple plastic three-step stool that you can use to board on the transom.

We also installed a very inexpensive box we picked up at Lowe's which is handy for stowage of gear we don't want to keep inside the boat.

Because the boat is low, light and streamlined it tows much easier than most other boats.  The mast is deck stepped (shorter than if it was keel stepped) so it only sticks out a short way forward and aft of the hull.  The hinged mast step makes for easier step/unstep and you can ramp launch the boat yourself.  We highly recommend the “mast-stepping aid”, a simple device J/Boats designed that has a trailer “roller” mounted atop a six ft piece of 2”x 4” wood and fixed with a c-clamp onto the outboard bracket and lashed (bolted if you want) to the mast brace that spans the two transom pulpits— could not make hoisting the mast any easier!  Just put the top of the mast on it, roll it back, pin the mast-step, raise the mast!

The trailer-ability has allowed us to take our 70 to places such as Key West, Charleston, Newport, Annapolis (3 times), and so forth.  If you have not yet traveled with your 70 you are missing out on half the fun.  We’re looking forward to another full season of sailing!”

J/Teams HOT In SD Rum Series

(San Diego, CA)- San Diego's favorite Fall racing series is in full swing! For three Saturday’s (November 9th, 23rd and December 7th), the San Diego Yacht Club plays host to the annual Hot Rum Series— a fun-loving “free-for-all” that generally sees the fleet starting inside of San Diego Harbor, takes them on a “tour” that heads out past the majestic Point Loma, around some buoy set offshore, then “back home to the barn” to again finish inside the channel just off Harbor Island.  It’s an annual ritual for many SoCal sailors and, for most, it’s pretty random how one finishes based on how the wind blows (or not!).  For those not “in-the-know”, it’s consistently one of the largest PHRF “pursuit-style” races run annually— with the little boats (like 21 footers) starting first and the big boats (e.g. over 70 foot ULDB sleds) starting last; whomever crosses first wins!

Many J/Teams participate in this festival of sailing, more fun than being an actual race.  The seven J/70s in PHRF Class 4 are knocking it out of the park so far!  First in class is Karl Pomeroy’s ZERO TO SIXTY followed in second place by Jeff Brown’s “J70 Team”.  Dave Vieregg is sitting 3rd in J/70s and fifth in class on SOGGY DOLLAR.  Sailing photo credits-  Bronny Daniels/ Joysailing.com   For more San Diego YC Hot Rum sailing information

J/70 Worlds, Europeans & NA’s Announcement!

(London, England)- 2013 has been a remarkable year. The first full season of J/70 class racing runs like a highlight reel - starting with the huge fleet at Key West for the first J/70 Midwinters, 50+ boats at Charleston, numerous regional events around the globe, and the 89 boat North American Championship held two months ago in Annapolis. Not since the J/24 has there been such rapid market acceptance and endorsement of a new design. And just when we thought the news couldn’t get better, 2014 promises even bigger and better things to come for J/70 sailors worldwide.

2014 J/70 Worlds Newport
After being approved as the International J/70 Class recently by ISAF in their Oman Meetings, the J/70 class will be looking forward to their inaugural World Championships in Newport, RI hosted by the New York Yacht Club, in partnership with Sail Newport at Fort Adams from September 8th to 13th, 2014.  The 2014 J/70 Worlds will be one of the hottest one-design tickets around. Hot enough in fact that it will be a qualified entry event with a cap of 120 boats. Upcoming J/70 winter events such as Key West, Davis Island Winter Series, St. Petersburg/San Diego NOODs and Bacardi Cup, plus most of the regional events throughout the season, will have qualifier slots (both Open and Corinthian) for the 2014 Worlds. The J/70 Class plans to announce the specifics of the qualifier program early next month. If you know of a regional J/70 event that is not already on the class calendar and should be considered as a world’s qualifier, please contact Chris Howell- email- howell@j70office.com

2014 J/70 European Circuit
Rapid fleet growth is already taking place in Europe with fleets forming in Sweden/ Denmark, Netherlands/ Benelux, Germany (Lake Constance), Monaco, Italy, France and Great Britain/ Ireland.  As a result of the tremendous enthusiasm and the desire for many teams to travel to events with their fun, fast trailerable speedster, there will be a six event European J/70 Circuit that culminates in the de-facto J/70 European Championship on Lake Garda, Italy.  The events include the following dates:

• Feb 7-9- Primo Cup- Trophee Credit Suisse- Monte Carlo, Monaco
• Apr 18-21- SPI Ouest France- La Trinite sur Mer, France
• Jun 6-9- North Sea Regatta- The Hague, Netherlands
• Jun 21-29- Kiel Week- Kiel, Germany
• Aug 2-5- Cowes Race Week- Cowes, Isle of Wight, England
• Mid-Sept- J/70 EuroCup/ Europeans- Lake Garda, Italy

2014 J/70 North Americans Rochester
While a ticket to the Worlds might take a few regattas to qualify for, the 2014 North American Championship in Rochester, New York is OPEN to all comers! Slated for July 14-20, this event promises to be huge. Rochester Yacht Club is ready to roll out the red carpet to J/70 owners and their families. Timed ideally at nearly two months before the worlds, J/70 owners around the world have a great excuse to bring their boats to the northeast USA and enjoy what promises to be an epic J/70 summer!

The 2014 J70 Calendar is shaping up to be huge!  By the first of the New Year there will have been 500 J/70s produced. There are other regional circuits developing that will be announced soon that include Pacific Coast, Great Lakes, Southwest, Mid-Atlantic and New England.  Please be sure to check frequently at the J/70 Class website for any updates.   For more J/70 Class regatta information   For more International J/70 One-Design sailing information

J/70 Liguria Championship Report

(San Remo, Italy)- Last weekend the final races were sailed to complete the first West Liguria Championships off San Remo— for many, it was the best winter sailing event in northwestern Italy.

The regatta saw steady northeast to easterly breezes blowing from 25-30+ knots for both days of racing. The J/70s delivered an extraordinary show of power & performance, sailing upwind against big waves at a very competitive speeds compared with bigger boats in the 35 to 45 ft size range.

With such strong upwind performance the J/70’s then hoisted their spinnakers and were literally flying downwind, holding the best breeze and angles, catching the big boats before the end of the downwind leg!

What was most impressive was the result of the second day, when the breeze was a little stronger and waves bigger: the small J/70 won “overall” for the day and, as result, finished second in the overall standings!  In Group “B” the J/70 was easily leading both days.  At the docks after sailing, many sailors came down to look at this little Speedster— all astonished!

Many thanks to Gian-Luca Grisoli, a new happy J/70 owner, for his experience in sailing such a wonderful regatta. And, a special and friendly thanks to Beppe Zaoli YCS President for the welcome hospitality to the new J/70 class in San Remo!

Having Fun Sailing-- according to Don Finkle

(Youngstown, NY)- Don Finkle from RCR Yachts, the J/Dealer in upstate New York, wrote a nice perspective regards why successful one-design sailboat classes have a “collegial atmosphere” amongst their sailors.  Here are Don’s comments as posted in Scuttlebutt:

There are not as many racing sailors out there as I thought there were. Much has been said about the decline in sailboat racing so that is no secret, but it dawned on me recently that it is worse than I had thought.

When I was sailing 36 foot racer-cruisers, we usually sailed with and against people we knew from year to year, even as we moved around. And those people normally stayed with the same crew, or maybe switched from one boat to another within the same fleet.

Now that I sail mostly on J/70s we travel a lot more and are exposed to a much larger pool of sailors, many of whom I did not previously know. So I pay a lot more attention to the other sailors in our fleet, who they are, where they sail, their backgrounds, etc. I want to meet new sailors, follow their accomplishments and hopefully learn from them.

What I have found is that many of these people sail in a variety of boat designs, not just in one class. They may have a favorite but they can be found in different boats in different events, sometimes driving, sometimes crewing.

Where I am going with this is that if you name four different fleets of say small keelboat one designs you don’t have four distinct sets of sailors. Many of the names sail in multiple fleets, so the total number of participants is less than you would first think. I figured this out by looking at the results of the J/70 class at first, then scouring the results of other classes….and the same familiar names cropped up on scoresheets all over the place.

Some of these people sail Melges 20s, Melges 24s, J/80s, Lightnings, J/22s, J/24s, etc. in addition to the J/70, often 3 or 4 different classes. This is not a bad thing at all; it means that sailors get to try and enjoy different boats (there is no perfect boat) and meet more people as they move around. But it can give the impression that there are a greater number of sailors than is actually the case.

Each class is thus in somewhat of a precarious position. With sailors hopping from class to class they might not have the long term commitment to any one, so any given class could find itself with a drop in attendance at any time.

The exception to this would be those classes that focus their energy on sustaining membership based on a collegial atmosphere, involvement at a social level, being inclusive of sailors of varying ages and abilities, etc.

J/70 Awarded ISAF International Class Status

(London, England)- Over 500 delegates from more than 60 nations gathered together in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman for the 2013 ISAF Annual Conference. Held from 9-16 November, the ISAF Council made decisions that affected the sport of sailing in the immediate future.  Most importantly, the J/70 one-design class was awarded “International Class” status.

As one looks back on the history of one-design classes that have achieved International Class status with ISAF (and its precursors like International Yacht Racing Union), never has a boat from any nation achieved “international” status in less than eighteen (18) months from its initial commercial introduction to the world’s marketplace.

Remarkably, the J/70 is now sailed on five principal continents that are part of the ISAF World of Sailing (North America, South America, Europe, Asia & Australia).  To date there are over 500+ boats ordered in some of the world’s best places to go sailing anywhere.    For more ISAF Conference information   For more International J/70 One-Design Class sailing information

Quantum Key West Race Week Update

(Key West, FL)- The annual winter pilgrimage to the sunny, friendly climate of the Florida Keys in late January is showing healthy participation by J/Sailors!  This spectacular event presents world-class competition over five full race days. Entering its 27th year, Race Week offers exceptional racing and fun shoreside parties in wonderful Key West. The Florida Keys and Key West are the perfect southernmost vacation destination!  Yes, even the first J/24 Midwinters sailors in 1978 can attest to that fact!!

Premiere Racing’s reputation for excellent race management and regatta organization promises to deliver another great regatta and ideal winter get-away for all sailing enthusiasts.  If you haven’t already, make plans now to start off the New Year with the best sailing there is this side of the Caribbean’s aquamarine waters and warm, gentle trade-winds.

So far, 105 boats have signed up for Key West, with the two largest one-design fleets being J’s. The 64 J/Teams registered in four classes represent 61% of the fleet, a veritable J/Fest down in the Florida Keys!  By far the largest one-design fleet at the event, the forty strong J/70 Midwinter Championship fleet, already has representation from the USA, Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, Great Britain and continental Europe.

Head on down and join the fun!  Last year’s Key West was epic, 2014 promises to be even better!  Sailing photo credits- Onne Vanderwal.com   For more Quantum Key West Race Week sailing information

Hamburgers Masters Of J/70 Segel-Bundesliga!

(Berlin, Germany)- What began as a dream and passion to grow sailing across Germany became, for even the most diehard detractors, one of the most successful sailing projects ever launched in European sailing history.  Some may point to the Extreme 40 catamaran sailing series or RC-44 one-design series as examples of how to grow participation in sailing amongst the elite of the sailing world.  However, no one has demonstrated, until this year, how to grow sailing at a grass-roots level that was “all-inclusive” and fun!  Perhaps more importantly, make it a remarkable learning experience with many of Europe’s best sailors participating (e.g. Olympic Medallists and World Champions) and get everyone cheering enthusiastically for their respective sailing clubs to win!  That was the secret of the inaugural J/70 Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailing series held in five locations across Germany this past summer.

The exciting conclusion of the series on Berlin’s Wansee saw a bunch of northern “Hamburgers” trounce their “southern” friends from Berlin and points south in Germany.  And in the end, the eighteen sailing clubs/ yacht clubs and hundreds of sailors that participated from across Germany were all the real winners; each club saw tremendous interest grow in the event all summer long with many wishing to participate the next time around!

The finale on the Wansee took place in about as picturesque and dramatic a city lake-front as anyone could imagine.  It served as tremendous theater for the finalists to battle for not just the Berliner regatta honors, but the overall series honors as well.

The Berlin/ Wansee regatta saw tough competition, especially from the host club sailors that demonstrated excellent local knowledge of the tricky wind conditions.  Indeed, the first two places went to the locals, with the Schweriner YC team comprised of Ingo Koehn, Torsten Haverland, Lars Haverland and Uwe Thielemann winning an impressive series with seven finishes in the top three! They were followed by their colleagues at Verein Seglerhaus am Wansee with the team of Malte Kamrath, Ulrike Schumann, Frithjof Kleen and Nils Schröder.  Taking third was Lindauer Segler-Club, fourth was Norddeutscher Regatta Verein and fifth was Muhlenberger Segel-Club.

As a result of their fourth place finish in the Berlin/Wansee Regatta, the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV) team from Hamburg were declared the overall winners of the inaugural Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga series!  The NRV team that consisted of Johannes Polgar, Florian Spalteholz, Klaas Höpcke and Niklas of Meyerinck sailed a remarkably consistent series over the course of the five regattas, consistently finishing in the top five—  (Tutzing- 5th, Travemunde- 2nd, Hamburg- 1st, Friedrichshafen- 4th, Berlin- 5th). Their skipper, Johannes Polgar, said “we could hardly believe our luck! It was a crazy season for us! Fantastic that we were able to bring the trophy to our friends and members in Hamburg!”

Behind NRV in the overall standings and taking second prize for the series were the Wurttembergischer YC team. While sailing fast and smart in Tutzing (4th), Travemunde (5th) and Friedrichshafen (1st), their team members didn’t quite hit the ground running in championship form in Hamburg (7th) and in the Berliner finale (9th).

The biggest battle happened to be for the final position on the podium for the series with at least four teams  vying for the coveted bronze medal.  By sailing their hearts out in Berlin, the local favorites (Verein Seglerhaus am Wansee with skipper Malte Kamrath), rode their second place onto podium by a whisker!  The VSaW team started the series slowly in Tutzing, but closed with a flourish at Friedrichshafen (2nd) and Berlin (2nd) to claim the bronze for the overall series.

The balance of the top five were quite close, finishing just two and three points behind VSaW, respectively.  After starting the series quite strongly - Tutzing (1st), Travemunde (3rd), Hamburg (3rd)- the proverbial “wheels fell of the silverware shopping trolley” for YC Berlin-Grunau’s team.  The last two events for YC B-G were tough pills to swallow, having to count the Friedrichshafen (9th) and Berlin (12th) to finish fourth.  Just one point back was the very consistent team from Chiemsee YC, counting a Hamburg (2nd), a 5th and three 6th places to hang in for fifth overall.

After five months, it is quite clear the concept of the first Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga has been a great success. The acceptance of the first nation-wide club competition in Germany is very high amongst the sailing community. The five events that were held in the first year were dominated by local patriotism, passion, camaraderie and fairness between the sailors. So far, there are now more than 30 other clubs that are interested in participating for the 2014 sailing season!

Many happy memories were recorded for all of the sailors, the organizers, sponsors and the host clubs.  Below are the links to the photos and some nice sailing videos for each one of the events.

June 7-9- Tutzing/ Starnberger See
http://segelbundesliga.de/fotogalerien/tutzing/
http://segelbundesliga.de/fotogalerien/tutzing-tag-2/
http://segelbundesliga.de/fotogalerien/tutzing-tag-3/

July 19-21- Travemunde
http://segelbundesliga.de/mediathek/fotogalerien/travemuende/
Day 2- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfhhFYNsXTU
Day 3- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30Wikkt8jGk

August 30— September 1- Hamburg
http://segelbundesliga.de/mediathek/fotogalerien/hamburg/
Day 1- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u974BNOD0H8
Day 2- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyZKlCmAuqg
Day 3- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u974BNOD0H8

September 27-29- Friedrichshafen
http://segelbundesliga.de/mediathek/fotogalerien/friedrichshafen/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QToUl73acWY

November 8-10- Berlin finale
http://segelbundesliga.de/mediathek/fotogalerien/berlin/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZDIhI9WUr4

For more Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga sailing information

J/70 Lake Constance Class Development

(Friedrichshafen, Lake Constance- Austria, Germany, Switzerland)- The “Bodensee” as Lake Constance is known in central Europe is perhaps one of the most remarkable bodies of water in the world.  Steeped in history and at the middle of a “tug-of-war” between various empires over time in the middle of Europe, today “the lake” enjoys a somewhat neutral position in the world of politics and empires— no one has jurisdiction over the sailors whom enjoy its spectacular sailing venues— be that Austria, Switzerland or Germany!

As a result of its unique place in history, Lake Constance has a remarkably collaborative approach to life on how one manages one of the most beautiful lakes in the world!  With no jurisdictional powers over the lake, three major European nations exercise their “community of interests” by cooperating together on a wide variety of sailing, environmental and social issues.  In this case, summer, fun, beaches, sun-bathing, boating and sailing are the principals that drive all towards a common interest to enjoy a shared passion for the water!

In a remarkable development over the course of the past year, for the first time Germany and an entire region of central European sailors have made a decision to promote a single class within their clubs and throughout the entire region!  The project initiated from Constance sailor Christian Rau, an experienced European one-design racer. Together with other successful sailors from the racing scene at Lake Constance, they developed a concept that could be the basis for the development of a relatively inexpensive and fast boat, which could be promoted by all of the clubs and, most importantly, could be leaders in developing a new EUROPEAN-wide one-design keelboat class!

According to Bo Riechmann (J/Boats Germany Dealer Mittelman’s Werft), “it´s really quite remarkable, in fact unbelievable, that such a large group of clubs have collaborated on such a large scale! The Lake Constance Sailing Association has around 100 sailing clubs with 20,500 members sailing over 10,000 sailboats in the 18-25 ft size range and at least 70 clubs were present to select the J/70 as their next “one-design club keelboat”!  The driving issue was to consolidate the dozens of keelboat classes that have evolved over time into one that was “easy-to-sail by all age groups (especially women & children), ramp-launchable, easily transportable around Europe, and affordable”.  The J/70 helped to overcome significant issues related to the limited “in-water” docks & moorings that were available around Germany, Austria and Switzerland, as well as for the rest of Europe.  The storage issue simply became a choice of whether it was your drive-way at home or a local dry-sail facility next to a launching ramp.”

The Lake Constance Sailing Association is planning to organize five main one-design events on the lake for the 2014 summer sailing season. In addition, they will also take part at seven other main events on the lake.  As a result, new J/70 one-design sailors will have at least twelve regattas to sail next summer on the Bodensee!  Most importantly, everyone (community sailing club or private yacht club) can take part at all events.  Henning’s Mittelman’s Werft team will be providing a fun “twist” to the series, providing a “Golden Spinnaker” to the current series leader for each event— so everybody will be able to see which boat is leading the overall score going into each event!   For more German J/70 Class Association information (just recently organized).   For more J/70 & Lake Constance Sailing Association sailing class information.

Windy J-FEST SW Regatta

(Galveston Bay, TX)- Lakewood Yacht Club's annual J-Fest Southwest Regatta enjoyed some of the most amazing sailing conditions they’ve enjoyed in years.  Sailed over the November 2nd and 3rd, the sailors were treated to Northerly winds in the 20-25 kts range on Saturday, producing the usual “monster chop” renowned for Galveston Bay.  Then, on Sunday's “easy-going” breezes in the 16-20 kts range made for somewhat better conditions for the fleet of fifty J’s assembled for this year’s hugely popular J/Fest Southwest!

As the “new kid on the block” and one boat shy of the largest fleet, the J/70’s twelve boat fleet also proved to be one of the most competitive fleets at the regatta and, given the windy conditions, clearly the ones that had the most fun going into “planing mode” all over the Galveston Bay race course hootin’ and hollerin’ like cowboys at a stampede!  Appropriately enough, the winner by a comfortable margin was STAMPEDE, Bruno Pasquinelli’s team from Fort Worth Boat Club with a total of 10 pts.  While STAMPEDE has enormous experience sailing in a variety of highly competitive J/70 regional & national regattas, the balance of the top five was extremely tight!  Runners-up was GB sailed by Chris Lewis from Lakewood YC with 18 pts.  Following them in third was JBoats SW sailed by Scott Spurlin from Austin YC with 21 pts.  They just nipped fourth place finisher Sean Nunes from Austin YC with 22 pts.  A wind shift or two made the difference for 5th place finisher AKULA sailed by Rick Bell from Corpus Christi YC with 27 pts.
For more J/Boats Southwest sailing information

J/70 World Class Developments

(Newport, RI)- As the J/70 class continues to expand worldwide at a frenetic pace, easily the fastest growing sportboat ever, there are even more exciting developments to look forward to headed into 2014.

So far, American J/70 sailors have established nineteen fleets spread across the country, with representation in virtually every major sailing center.  The likelihood of fleets developing in places like Edgartown YC in Martha’s Vineyard and in Stonington/New London, CT with US Coast Guard Academy sailors participating is quite certain; pushing the total fleets over 20+ for 2014.  More news on these fleets and others as they develop.  The larger fleets so far happen to be on Chesapeake Bay (Annapolis, Richmond and Fishing Bay- over 50 boats); in the Great Lakes (Chicago, Rocky River, Canandaigua, Erie, Youngstown & Rochester- over 50 boats); on the Pacific Coast (Seattle, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Newport Beach, San Diego- over 40 boats); and in the Northeast (Marblehead, Edgartown, Fishers Island, Ridgewood, Southampton and Newport- over 50 boats).  Southwestern USA is growing fast with fleets established in Forth Worth and Houston, Texas— nearly two dozen boats!

The European scene is catching up quickly with fleet development already taking place in virtually all major sailing centers across the UK and continental Europe.  While the strongest fleet so far has been the Solent-based J/70 sailors in the UK, their cross-Channel colleagues are creating enormous momentum.  J/70s enjoyed excellent fleet growth in Italy, hosting the first EuroCup on Lago di Garda for sailing teams from Germany, UK, Monaco, Netherlands, France and Russia.  Expect to see fleets growing in the Benelux/ Netherlands region, France, Germany, Monaco, Scandinavia (Sweden, Norway, Denmark) and Russia.  The German J/70 fleet has generated significant interest due to their Deutsche Sailing Bundesliga (watch real-time Berliner finals this weekend here).  Perhaps the most exciting development may be taking place on Lake Constance (the Bodensee).  There, fifty-five sailing clubs that border it’s picturesque shoreline (Germany, Switzerland, Austria) have agreed, as part of the Lake Constance Sailing Association, to grow the J/70 one-design class on the lake— more news on this exciting development soon!

Looking out further across the world of J/70 sailing, a number of J/70s are already sailing in South America (Peru, Chile, Brazil) and Australia (Sydney).  Perhaps the most exciting developments are taking place on the Asia/ Pacific Rim; it appears that multiple fleets with dozens of boats are organizing in China, spearheaded by their provincial Ministers of Sport & Tourism to help catalyze the lifelong sport/ recreation of sailing across Asia!  More news soon!

J/70 sailors themselves have been documenting the extraordinary amounts of fun they’re having with their boats.  Perhaps one of the coolest 70 sailing videos to date comes from Annapolis photographer Sara Proctor, practicing her skills as a videographer at the monstrous J/70 North Americans recently held on the Chesapeake Bay with nearly 90 boats!  Sara’s “music sailing video” includes nice choreography with ALT-J’s popular BREEZEBLOCKS tune (the Leeds, England–based trio that fittingly has a new album called “AN AWESOME WAVE”- postmodern pop that mines the best elements from folk-rock, garage rock, dub-pop, indie rock, vintage cinema scores, and a-cappella harmony before constructing layered, angular arrangements with sonic overtones). Sweet!!  Watch Sara Proctor’s sailing video tour’de’force here.

There are several other J/70 sailing videos for your couch-potato viewing pleasure, including:

- Team JUGADOR Sailing the British J/70 Nationals- just your basic 12-15 kts of sailing on “cruise-control” with bursts to 17-18 kts plus!

- A J/70 sailing San Francisco Bay- extreme upwind sailing in 25+ kts of breeze.

- Matt Romberg’s J/70 speed-sailing trials on a beautiful, windy day on Lake Travis- sailing with his Dad and Jon Baker and featuring a nice wipe out in the middle of the segment.

- Peter Winkelstein recently sailing on the Niagara River on a beautiful fall day in October.  It’s on-board video of the J/70 EOWYN approaching the mouth of the Niagara River during a beautiful Fall race.

- Alex Watters sailing a J/70 in the Bras d’Or Narrows- a 15 mile northwest arm of the lakes- it was very shifty with huge puffs. Says Alex, “We need to get to the left side of the narrows to honor a navigation mark, all the while being swept straight seaward by a 3-4 knot current (meanwhile, we’re flying the Code 0). At exactly the wrong time we get slammed by a huge blast, which was also a knock, making this one of the messiest roundings ever...but we made it!!  Yeah, mon!! Our class was the last start, like 30 min after the first class, and we are leading the 40 boat fleet at this point as the smallest boat in the race (biggest was a Swan 48)!!.”  Pretty amusing video seen here!  Sailing photo credits- Erik Simonson/ Pressure-drop.us

YOUNG GUNS K.O. J/70 Fall Brawl

(Annapolis, MD)- Eastport Yacht Club race committee hosted their annual Fall Brawl regatta for 25 ambitious J/ 70 sailors this past weekend on the Chesapeake Bay. The race committee wasted no time making sure their starting line was clear for starts and did a great job in keeping things moving. The regatta was held over two days in moderate to heavy air and lumpy seas with five races on Saturday and three more to wrap things up on Sunday. Competitors came from up and down the East Coast, with out-of-state sailors — primarily from Massachusetts and New York — outnumbering locals in the top 10 by the time the racing was done.

The YOUNG GUNS team came up from St. Mary’s College of Maryland and dominated the 24-boat J/70 Fall Brawl fleet from the start last weekend. St. Mary’s was led by Venezuelan Olympic hopeful Victor Diaz de Leon, borrowing a boat from the skipper on whose team Diaz de Leon had sailed a couple weeks earlier in the J/70 North Americans.

Their first day’s keeper finishes of 1-1-3-1 put the YOUNG GUNS so far ahead of the pack by the time the fleet came ashore on Saturday evening that they could afford to slack off a little on the second day and still take the overall win by a comfortable margin.

Taking a comfortable second was Jud Smith, amassing a solid record on day one to stay in the hunt with a 10-2-5-4-1 scoreline.  Going into the last day of racing, Smith still had a solid mathematical chance of grabbing the lead, but a 9-4-5 tally added a quick 18 pts to their score to keep them in second.  Meanwhile, the YOUNG GUNS gang rattled off a 7-3-6 to safely hold on to their early lead.

Finishing solidly in third overall in the eight-race, one-throwout series was Annapolitan John Aras’ team, including John Dolan, Alex Stout and Mark Eagan.  “We only just got the boat a couple of days before the NAs,” Aras said, “so we’re still figuring it out. The learning curve is pretty steep.”  Aras, who also was the top Corinthian (amateur) sailor in the event, said the conditions and the tight competition were challenging throughout the weekend, describing solid southwesterlies coupled with big chop on Saturday and puffy, shifty northerlies on Sunday that swung 20 degrees or more. “Getting through that chop was a bit of a challenge,” he said.

“It was all about trying to be consistent and not making too many mistakes, hitting the shifts and keeping clear air, ” he said. “A little mistake could cost you five or six boats pretty quickly.”  With five top-five finishes and only one keeper worse than 10th, Aras and his team showed that they’ve picked up a lot of boat knowledge in a short time.  “It was a lot of fun,” Aras said. “There was good breeze and Eastport did a good job with the courses.”

Rounding out the top five was Andrew Criezis in 4th with WHIQUILA and taking fifth was Blake Kimbrough on NOSTALGIA.

The fleet was tightly packed most of the time, and the conditions clearly took a toll as nearly everyone, including the top sailors, had one or more finishes they would have preferred to forget.  In fact, the EYC Race Committee led by PRO Keith Jacobs had to weather their share of challenges, too, particularly on Saturday when the weather mark blew away in the building breeze during the day’s last race and the mark boat crew had to sub in suddenly for the missing cylinder.  Thanks for contributions from Todd Hiller- USA #207- and Dan Phelps/ Spinsheet.com.   Full results and photos can be found here (and here).   For more J/70 Fall Brawl sailing information