J/Fest San Diego Preview

(San Diego, CA)- The San Diego J/Fest boasts a long history of being one of the most fun and well attended regattas in Southern California.  And, it's exclusively for J/Boat owners! The regatta is open to one-design classes as well as a J/PHRF fleet!

Hosted by San Diego YC the J/Teams will enjoy three day of competitive, fun buoy racing from September 27th to 29th.  Friday is the fun, casual race around set marks and government marks, followed by two days of course racing on Saturday and Sunday.  Inside the bay will be the smaller boats (like J/22, J/70 and J/80) and offshore will be the larger boats (the J/105s, J/109s and J/120s).

While the sailing is always nice in sunny San Diego, J/Fest is perhaps most renown for its onshore festivities.  Saturday evening is the traditional J/Fest Party, basically a giant cook-out on the lawn with live music and lots of awesome swag and giveaways from the sponsors.  The fun factor is a key element of the event, a reason why over fifty boats have attended every year.

The J/105s have yet another great turnout with most of the top local teams sailing, including Chuck Driscoll's BLOW BOAT, Steve & Lucy Howell's BLINK!, Rick Goebel's SANITY, Dennis & Sharon Case's WINGS, Rich Bergmann's ZUNI BEAR, Jon Dekker's AIR BOSS and Gary Mozer's CURRENT OBSESSION 2 fro Los Angeles.

The J/120s have traditionally offered very tight competition with a modest-sized fleet.  Again, a number of local favorites are sailing and should be factors at the front of the fleet.  Familiar faces like John Laun's CAPER, John Snook's JIM, Chuck Nichols' CC RIDER, Gary Winton's SHENANIGANS and Mike Hatch's J/ALMIGHTY have all had their fair share of great performances in J/Fest.

The J/109 class will see past local and regional champions sailing again, including Gene Pitkin's GERONIMO, Rex Butler's JD, John Shulze's LINSTAR and Daylen Tercen's GREAT BALLS OF FIRE!

The J/70s will debut as a class and their six boat fleet should present a lot of fun racing on San Diego Bay.  Having been traveling to the last three major J/70 events on the West Coast, Dan Gribble's GO-RILLA, Eric Kownacki/ Tom Jenkins' DFZ, Karl Pomeroy's ZERO TO 60 and Craig Tallman's JAYA may have a leg-up on the fleet. Nevertheless, 70 sailors have proven they're climbing the learning curve fast in this simple boat, so expect to see good competition from Hugh Bennet on CHEETAH CUB and Sean O'Keefe on DECOLORES 3.  For more J/Fest sailing information, please be sure to contact Joanne O'Dea at joanne@jk3yachts.com.  Or, go to the San Diego YC website.

J/70 North Americans Preview

A Modern Day "Woodstock of Sailing" Happening!
(Annapolis, MD)- With the extraordinary 2013 Key West J/70 Midwinters and the mind-blowing Charleston Race Week behind them, the J/70 class has since been expanding their influence quite rapidly around the world.  More to the point, recent J/70 European events taking place like the fabulous J/70 EuroCup on Lake Garda, the J/70 UK Nationals in Cowes, the J/70 Primo Cup in Monaco and the Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga on Hamburg's Alster Lake (with many of Germany's top Olympic & World Champion sailors participating), means that J/70s are destined to become THE one-design sportboat of the current millennium. Attractive to both young and old, men and women, and easy-to-sail fast by all kinds of sailors it's not hard to imagine 100+ boat J/70 sailing events across the world on all five continents in the coming years.

As host of the first HC/MAX J/70 North American Championships, the Annapolis YC J/70 N.A. Co-Chairs, Kathy Parks and Will Keyworth, knew they would have their hands full to meet the extraordinary demand for participation.  Their hopes and expectations were confirmed when the 90-boat limit for registration was met in LESS than 48 hours!  There has never been a one-design keelboat event in the world that has ever seen such a remarkably fast "sell-out", with a waiting list of over a dozen teams!

The J/70 N.A.'s has quickly taken on the feeling of the "Woodstock of Sailing".  Many formidable teams have registered from a cross-section of America, as well as international teams too. There is participation from Bermuda, Mexico and every major region in the USA.  Starting with New England there are over a half-dozen teams that have proven their capabilities in various regattas, including Kerry Klingler from Norwalk, CT; Dave Franzel from Boston, MA (Corinthians winner at Key West); Mike Sudofsky from Marion, MA; Brian Keane also from Buzzards Bay (sailing with Stu McNay); Tim Healy sailing HELLY HANSEN from Newport, RI (Key West Champion & current J/24 World Champion); Brandon Flack from Stonington, CT sailing with Geoff Ewenson; Heather Gregg-Earl sailing MUSE from Boston, MA (Corinthians winner at Charleston Race Week); and designers Rod & Al Johnstone from Stonington, CT.

Sailing from Rochester, NY will be the Corbishley family (Corbo, Killian & Donna) and attending from Rye, NY along Long Island Sound is Peter Duncan sailing with Juddie Smith (past Etchells 22 World Champion).

The local Annapolis contingent will be making good use of their local knowledge of the fickle winds and currents of Chesapeake Bay.  Top locals include Henry Filter sailing with Moose McClintock; Cole Allsopp; Peter McChesney; Mark Hillman and Eric Reinke sailing from Bethesda (Mark's company HILLMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT is primary sponsor of this year's event); and John Aras.  Just south, an awesome team has jointed together from Charlotte, NC that includes John Killeen and John Lovell (Olympic Silver medallist in Tornados).

The Florida crews have the recent Great Lakes Championship winner participating, Martie Kullman from St Petersburg, FL.  Joining them will be Peter Vessella from Miami, FL sailing with Phil Trinter and John McCausland (past Star World Champion).

The Great Lakes crowd also has an impressive field sailing, including Joe Colling from Bath, OH (and J/70 Class President); Rich Nesbett from Rocky River, OH sailing with Nick Turney; John Heaton from Wilmette, IL; Joel Ronning from Minneapolis, MN sailing with Willem van Waay and local Annapolis star Chris Larson; Jim Sminchak,  Doug Moose and crew from Cleveland, OH (they won the SAIL Magazine trip to Key West, winning on the J/111 KONTIKI V in 2010); and Bob Hughes from Ada, MI sailing with Morgan Reeser and Brian Janney (former Farr 40 Champion).

The Texans always think big and do things big in that big state.  Tops amongst their teams attending will be Bruno Pasquinelli from Dallas, TX and the trio of Doug Strebel, Jay Lutz and son Jody Lutz also from Dallas, TX.

West Coast participants making the 3,000 mile trans-continental trip include several past World and North American Champions in other one-design classes.  Having won several J/70 events so far on both coasts is Bennet Greenwald from San Diego, CA.  Joining him are Dave Ullman from Newport Beach, CA (multiple 470 and Melges 24 World Champion); Jim Cunningham from Tiburon, CA; and John Brigden from Menlo Park, CA sailing with Chris Snow (past J/24 North American and Mexico champion).

International teams attending include Chuck Millican and Steve Cucchiaro from Hamilton, Bermuda and Hector Guzman from Valle de Bravo, Mexico (a past J/24 Mexican champion and J/145 offshore winner).

Finally, there will be awards for the top Women's teams.  All of them are capable of top ten performances overall, including Heather Gregg-Earl from Boston, MA; Kathy Parks from Annapolis, MD; Jen Wulff from Annapolis, MD; Suzy Leech from Jamestown, RI and Catherine Evans from Annapolis, MD.

With a good forecast for warm weather, sunny days and generally good winds mostly from the southerly quadrants, the 90 boat fleet should enjoy some awesome racing!  For more J/70 North Americans sailing information

Scott Crowned First J/70 EuroCup Champion

(Riva del Garda, Italy)- Warm fall weather and a gracious, friendly host in the form of Fraglia della Vela welcomed the J/70 one-design class to Riva del Garda for their first edition of the J/70 EuroCup.  As expected the Northern part of Lago di Garda offered perfectly epic sailing conditions.  The J/70 Fleet sailed in the early afternoon with constant steady breeze from 12-23 kts from the south- the famous "Ora" wind.  The last day of racing had an early morning start with a solid northerly breeze up to 25 kts, the classic "Peler" mountain winds that blow down the mountain valleys onto the lake at night.

Seven nations (Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russian, Netherlands, Monaco) participated in the event that saw the competition dominated by the British team led by Ruairidh Scott and crew (Ben Field, Charlie Cumbley and Matt Curthoys).  Scott's team were already UK J/70 National Champion and winner of the Cowes Week J/70 class. Fred Bouvier of France and British sailor Joe Woods fought hard for second place all regatta long, often trading places in the standings.  In the end, Bouvier captured second with Joe Woods' team on RED taking third.  Perfect boat-handling and good speed were enough for the young German Team skipper Mehlig Kevin to defend fourth place.  Pietro Saccomanni (Diporto Velico Veneziano) along with Salvatore Eulisse, Alberto Grippo and Giulia Sent are the first of the Italian teams in fifth place.

Fraglia della Vela provided perfect organization on the water. At the end of sailing each day a tasty, delicious pasta party and local wines were offered to all exhausted and very hungry competitors. At the very generous Awards Ceremony there were the classic trophies for great performances, but thanks to the generous sponsorship of Hannspree Italia, enormous HD flat-screen LED TV's were provided to the top three finishing teams and Alcatel cell phones and tablets were also provided to the top finishers!  Furthermore, J/Boats Italy delivered to Fraglia della Vela a J/70 half-model as the "Challenge Trophy" to be awarded each year to the winner of next J/70 EuroCup regattas.

The report from Fred Bouvier, second place finisher in the regatta, provides some nice insights.  "After a lot of excitement and a busy week (our crew was set-up 4 days before the event and the boat was brand new and finished twos day before) we arrived in Riva", said Bouvier.  "We launched the boat on Tuesday and trained for a few hours in the afternoon (it was the first time we sailed together and I was the only with any experience in the J 70!)."

"We were very impressed about the beauty of the city, the gorgeous lake and the mountainous environment around us", commented Bouvier. "We clearly understood after two days that the North guys couldn't be beat and that we would fight for the 2nd or 3rd place. Before the last days we were standing 1 points behind Joe Woods' RED and we knew that we had to be good to beat them.  Unfortunately we were not that good but still had a bit of luck.  At the finish in the final race RED was stuck just two boat lengths from the finish line in a dying breeze from the north, when all of a sudden a puff from the other direction came in and 90% of the fleet, including us, just passed across their bow!"

"The event was perfectly organized," continues Bouvier, "the welcome was wonderful and the race committee is highly professional in the way they managed the typical Garda conditions. As the lake is 300m deep, they used fixed mooring for buoys and committee, for this reason the leg lengths are unchanged for all types of championships. Because of this fact, the race committee could tell us that the first J/70 in its fastest race was a bit faster than the best Melges 24 on the same course!!  Incredible!!"

Similarly, Paolo Boido from J/Boats Italy commented, "The J/70 has been able to demonstrate a great show of Speed + Power + Stability + Easy Handling in the solid breeze of Garda-- going very fast downwind with speed on the Velocitek showing up to 20 knots (note-- that's an average GPS speed)!!  Plus, the J/70 was comfortable and dry upwind, beating easily at close true-wind angles in the irregular big chop typical of the Lake".  Sailing photo credits- David Turrini- www.recordiamo.net.    For more J/70 EuroCup sailing information

J/70 Europeans Update

(Riva del Garda, Italy)- The J/70 Eurocup is in full swing at Fraglia Vela Riva, Riva del Garda. This is  the first event for the brand new J/70 class which is enjoying are real boom in popularity across the world. It is making its appearance for the very first time on Lake Garda, Trentino. The high-performing sportboats are suitable not only for professional sailors but also for those who enjoy the challenge of competing at a high level.

There are eight nations taking part with Fraglia Vela Riva yacht club again taking the reins as pioneers for a new sailing class in Europe! During the few days prior to the regatta, the J/70 teams were practicing out on the lake-- in the 15-25 kts of TWS, the J/70s on a close reach were reaching impressive speeds- often in excess of 15 kts boat speed!

Until Thursday the British team led by Ruairidh Scott has dominated the field-- his crew on board are Ben Field, Charlie Cumbley and Matt Curthoys. They have 5 firsts and a second so far. Fred Bouvier of France and Brit sailor Joe Woods are fighting it out over second place. With two days to go they are even with 13 points each. Pietro Saccomanni (Diporto Velico Veneziano) along with Salvatore Eulisse, Alberto Grippo and Giulia Sent are the first of the Italian teams in fifth place.  Weather conditions were very good on the first two days with steady, light – medium winds of 16-18 knots. The competitors have been very pleased with the organization of the the event, from the staff on land, to the regatta committee, and to those on the water who are helping to manage the course.  The event is sponsored by "Hannspree" who are awarding their latest model 50" LED flat-panel TV to the medal winners!  For more J/70 EuroCup sailing information

J/70s Relish Gorgeous Annapolis Race Week

(Annapolis, MD)- The 2013 edition of CBYRA’s Annapolis Race Week opened Saturday to Chamber of Commerce conditions.  Clear blue skies and a steadily increasing breeze made for great racing action across the three courses off Annapolis harbor where 79 J-Boats were doing battle in six separate classes.  The annual three-day event, saw smaller turnouts in some of the classes, but by far the largest one design on the water were the J/70s.  The class posted twenty-eight boats for the weekend, most of whom were tuning up for the North American Championship to be held here later this month.

On Sunday, conditions deteriorated somewhat as an approaching frontal system imposed steadily decreasing wind speeds that saw the final races of that day staged in less than 10 knots.  While this was bad enough, the fleets were also plagued by a roaring 2 knot current that the skippers had to manage through for all three days.  Thankfully, the weather turned again on Labor Day, again freshening to 10-15 for the final day of racing.

On the J/70 & J/80 course, it was Peter McChesney who edged out Joel Ronning’s CATAPULT team to win the twenty-eight boat J/70 fleet by just 3-points in the closely fought battle for the top three spots on the podium.  Sailing well was young James Allsopp's MOXIE, grabbing third overall ahed of Marty Kullman's TOUCH 2 PLAY in fourth and Brian Keane's SAVASANA in fifth.  Extremely close competition produced seven winners in eight races, no one had all top five finishes and, in fact, nine of the top ten boats all posted at least one or more double-digits counters in their scoreline!  Amazingly, a better than 5th average won the regatta in the J/70s!

More than 200 photos of all the boats on the water are up in the photo gallery at SPINSHEET.com (http://www.SpinSheet.com).  Thanks for this contribution from Dan Phelps at SPINSHEET.com.  For more CBYRA Race Week sailing information

Hamburg J/70 Match Race Winner- NRV Team

Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga - Stage III- Great Sailing!
(Hamburg, Germany)- The third event in the highly popular Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga took place in the heart of Hamburg, on the famously beautiful Alster Lake, from August 30th to September 1st.  This regatta format was different than the "all fleet" racing in the first two events, instead it pitted J/70s in a match-race format with "club against club" duels in a double-elimination/ repechage ladder to determine the final champion.

All eighteen sailing clubs that have been participating sent their best sailors; many sent their match-race experts to Hamburg, including former Olympic medalists, Olympians, and German National Sailing Team members.  After an intensive schedule of 153 races, 17 for each club, the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV) team comprised of Carsten Kemmling, Felix Oehme, and Florian Weser posted 15 wins in 17 races to take the match-race win!  The three day event saw a wide range of conditions, but mostly flat water with very shifty winds ranging up to 18 kts and a combination of sun and rain on occasion!

After the first day of racing the Flensburg Sailing Club was leading after the race director managed to pull off 48 races on a day of bright sunshine and winds up to twelve knots!  With five wins in six races, the team from Flensburg Sailing Club that included skipper Lennart Brieseneck-Pudenz, Nils Carstensen, Jan and Philipp Frigge Linstädt found themselves at the top of the standings.  At this time, NRV was in second with four wins in five races followed by the Bavarian Yacht Club and Yacht Club Berlin Grunau.

On the second day, the North German sailing clubs sitting at the top of the standings felt particularly comfortable.  The host NRV held a razor-thin lead over the Schwerin YC. Lurking behind were four teams all tied on points with 18 pts each.  The duels between the neighboring clubs would be decided on the final day!  The top six teams were only separated by two points. As in Travemünde, it could hardly be a more exciting finale! Behind NRV and Schwerin YC was a four-way tie between YC Berlin-Grunau, the YC Württemberg, the Flensburg Sailing Club and the Chiemsee Yacht Club.

In the end, it was clear "local knowledge" of Hamburg's Alster Lake would play a key role in NRV's win, providing them a clear advantage for the final races on the last day.  With years of experience in match racing the NRV team skippered by Carsten Kemmling posted 15 wins in 17 races. "We have worked great as a team and were able to exploit the wind shifts perfectly," said Kemmling.

Finishing second behind the NRV was perhaps the surprise performance of the regatta, with the Chiemsee Yacht Club (CYC) led by the two brothers Leopold and Moritz Müller.  Just behind them was YC Berlin-Grunau (YCGB) led by skipper Stefan Meister and tactician Gunnar Bahr. "We are always pleased when we sail into the top three - we did it again", said Bahr!

After the first three events, the YCBG and NRV are tied with 50 pts each leading the overall Bundes-Liga standings.  Tied for third are Bayerischer YC and Wurttembergischer YC with 44 pts each and in fifth all alone is Chiemsee YC with 41 pts.

The next exciting regatta on the J/70 Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga circuit will be held from 27 to 29 September 2013 at Württemberg Yacht Club.

Here are sailing video highlights of the J/70 Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga match-racing:
Day 1- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5qtd7zqjwE
Day 2- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyZKlCmAuqg
Day 3- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u974BNOD0H8

For more Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga J/70 sailing information

J/70 EuroCup Preview

(Riva del Garda, Italy)- The first ever continental European championship regatta for the J/70s will be hosted by the famous Fraglia de Vela yacht club on Lago di Garda, Italy from September 9th to 14th.  The location is famous for its extraordinary hospitality, spectacular scenery, beautiful lakeside village of Riva del Garda and excellent race management, but perhaps the biggest attraction for sailing on Garda is the epic breeze conditions.  The northern part of Lago di Garda is renown for its highly reliable mountain winds that generate 15-20+ kts southerlies every day. The twenty J/70 teams from six countries attending the inaugural J/70 EuroCup should enjoy awesome sailing conditions from September 10th to 14th.

Many of the top European J/70 teams will be coming together for the first time in one of the many "bucket-worthy" places to sail in the entire world.  While conventional wisdom and local knowledge experts may tell you that after starting you have to "go to the wall" on port tack on the upwind legs and play the puffs and shifts from there, it's often those who play the fleet tactically that gain the most.  The downwind sleigh-rides should be thrilling as the J/70s criss-cross in full-on planing conditions, playing the enormous breeze lines and shifts down to the leeward gate.

Of the six nations represented, it's too early to tell who has an advantage over any other since so few of the teams have actually raced against one another.  Having said that, there are four experienced teams from France attending, including Fred Bouvier on FRA-112, Luc Lajoye on FRA-142 and Eric Kerscaven on FRA-115 (seen above sailing 18+ kts off France in an early practice session on the Bay of Biscay).

Other continental teams include Kevin Mehlig's German team on GER 270 and Wouter Kollman's HENRI LLOYD team from the Netherlands (also past J/22 Netherlands champion).  Russia has two boats sailing, including Dmitri Zaritski on RUS 131 and Sergey Ezhikov on RUS 269-- both teams have been sailing constantly since participating in the Primo Cup in Monaco in late February.  They've had opportunities for both match racing and handicap fleet racing on the eastern part of the Baltic Sea, off beach resort community of Kaliningrad.

The largest contingent will be from the host nation Italy, with seven teams sailing.  The team to watch may be the duo of Paolo Boido and Mauricio Santa Cruz, both veteran J/24 sailors at numerous World Championships (Santa Cruz is four-times J/24 World Champion and just finished second in the 2013 Worlds recently sailed in Howth, Ireland).  A family team is also sailing from Italy; the two young brothers Gaspade & Tancrede sailed their first J/70 Class event at the Primo Cup de Monaco back in February 2013 and are looking forward to sailing in their home waters of Italy-- here's a cute interview of the two (in Italian).

Finally, having been racing all season long on the Solent, with the Warsash Spring Series, Cowes Race Week, the J/70 UK Nationals and the J/Cup Regatta behind them as part of their regatta experience, it will be interesting to see how well the top British teams perform on the famous Garda Lake.  Four teams from the UK are sailing, including Joe Woods on GBR 108 and Ruairidh Scott on GBR 137 (the current J/70 UK National Champion).    For more J/70 EuroCup sailing information

J/70 EXTREME Wins Verve Cup

(Chicago, IL)- Hot, gusty winds led to challenging conditions and some tight competition as the Verve Cup Inshore Regatta wrapped up the last day of sailing at Chicago Yacht Club’s Belmont Station.  Of the 86 boats registered, twenty were J/70s, an impressive turnout for the fleet’s debut year at Verve Inshore

“We had wind eight to 12 knots, typical Chicago southwester. This was the first offshore breeze we’ve had this summer on a race day, which was shocking, and the competition was good,” said Race Officer Janet Baxter.  After a solid day of racing on Saturday, Sunday's variable winds made things interesting for both race committee and the competitors.

“We’d have 15 knots followed by seven knots, so it was a little bit challenging to figure out where the racers wanted to be sent – they were all kind of tired from yesterday,” said Race Officer Lynn Lynch. “I would’ve liked some more consistent breezes today, because not all of the runs were as square as they could have been. Yesterday was really, really solid racing – today we had a little bit more breeze, so that was more fun that way. I thought the competition was very tight in some of the fleets.”

“We’re very happy we have the J70 class for the first time,” said Race Co-Chair Jessica Jamieson. “I think the event went very well, we’re getting a lot of positive feedback.”

Taking first in the J/70s was class newcomer Dan Cheresh of Saugatuck, MI with the appropriately named EXTREME; they're extremely great record of 5-3-1-1-7-1 for 18 pts enabled them to run away with top honors in the J/70 class.  What was remarkable about Cheresh's performance was that it came against some of the best teams in the J/70 class in the past six months.  Taking second was multiple regatta winner Joel Ronning of Minneapolis, MI on the famous CATAPULT; their fast, regatta-winning start of a 1-2-2 followed by a 7-6-11 dropped them into second overall for the regatta. Rounding out third was CLOUDSOURCED, sailed by Ron Copfer of Cleveland, OH with a 3-1-7-5-13-4 record for 33 pts.

The amazing fact about the J/70 fleet was how many brand new owner/teams were amongst the top ten.  From third place at 33 pts to tenth place at 54 points were just 20 pts, a race or two here or there would've made an enormous difference for all of these teams.  Fourth was another new team near the top, Martin Johnsson's crew on AQUAHOLIKS with a 10-4-5-6-11-2 tally for 38 pts.  Next was Joe Woods team from England aboard RED, sailing a consistently better series to score a 9-8-6-10-3-3 for 39 pts, just one point back from 4th.  Sailing her heart out was Amy Neill on NITEMARE in her first major regatta ever, sailing in the top five after just four races with a 4-5-10-3 but fading a bit with some of the excitement (or anxiety) with a 12-10 to finish as top women J/70 skipper at sixth overall!  Another remarkable statistic about the J/70 fleet one-design racing is that 13 of 20 boats (65% of the fleet) had top five scores in their overall records!  Proof again that good starts, good conservative tactics could keep you in the hunt!  Sailing photo credits- Marc Anderson.  For more Verve Cup Inshore sailing information

The B&G J-Cup Enjoys Dramatic Finale

(Plymouth, England)- With gusts close to 20 knots ripping through the race area in Plymouth Sound, the final day of the B&G J-Cup 2013, produced some ballistic action for the forty-five J/Teams that were in attendance. Hosted by the Royal Western Yacht Club, the J-Cup was also the venue for the Lifedge J/109 UK National Championship and the 2013 edition produced the closest finish in the 10 year history of the event. It was a fitting end to another fabulous weekend of sailing-- the sailors enjoyed near-perfect sailing conditions for most of the regatta, closing with an epic final day of sailing.

Day One Report:
The first day of racing could best be described as the "Champagne Opener".  A building sea breeze, topping out at 15 knots provided great sailing for the 300+ sailors that competed in four races, inside and outside of the Plymouth Breakwater. With several one designs taking to the race course, there was plenty of thrilling boat-on-boat action.

Ruairidh Scott, skipper of J/70 North Sails knows a thing or two about sportsboats. The Scot is a former J/80 World Champion and three time 1720 European champion. J/70 North Sails swept the board, scoring 4 bullets. Plymouth local, Nigel Passmore, was second and Mike Flood was in third position but the day belonged to Ruairidh Scott and a crack crew of Ben Field, Matt Curthoys, and Stuart Miller.

“It was a tricky day with a big range in wind speed and tuning the rig was made more difficult because of that,” commented Scott. “We started the day below our base setting (8 knots) and by the second race there were times when we should have had a stiffer setting but I always like to set the rig for the wind at the start. In one design racing, getting off the line in good shape is the key, it is easier to defend a lead than try and catch up and pass a competitor later in the race. The J/70 is a great little boat; simple but rewarding and compared to similar boats, the good thing about a J/70 is that it goes upwind quite nicely. The single spreader carbon rig is great for tuning but it is also forgiving as it is a stiff spar, so if you do get stuck on slightly the wrong setting the rig isn't going to break.”

Day Two Report:
Day two was perhaps the trickiest day for sailing on Plymouth Sound. In stark contrast to the previous day's sublime sailing conditions, racing was delayed by lack of breeze.  Eventually, everyone got underway in the early afternoon, once a light and just race-able breeze stabilized. All classes got one good race in but the second was abandoned, as light rain killed off the gradient wind completely.

In the J/70 Class, North Sails kept up their perfect scoreline but Nick Haigh's crew on Lightly Steamy was kicking themselves. “We got a great start by winning the pin end, which was a hard fought victory and we should have gone on to win the race but we made a school boy error.” confessed Nick Haigh. “We were a long way ahead and didn't cover North Sails, we managed to put ourselves in a wind hole and that was that. You don't expect to beat a class act like North Sails with that sort of mistake and I only have myself to blame. However, I think we had good boat speed today and we have learnt a few tricks upwind.”  In the J/70 Class, Nigel Passmore's Apollo was now second, after five races, with Mike Flood's J7t in third.

Day Three Report:
The final day of racing was filled with drama, with lots of anxiety faced by tacticians on how best to handle their blood-thirsty competitors in the 15-20+ kts of big breeze and big seas.

In the J/70 Class, Ruairidh Scott's J/70 North Sails conducted a master class of sportsboat racing, winning the class with straight bullets and a race to spare. However, it was a highly rewarding experience for the entire J/70 Class as the North Sails team were happy to share their knowledge dockside after racing. Nigel Passmore's Apollo 6 finished second and the young team on Mike Flood's J7t won the last race of the day to secure third for the regatta.

The official prize-giving was held at the National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth with a fine buffet supper celebrating the B&G J-Cup 2013. Surrounded by the UK's biggest collection of marine life, the regatta came to a close and the organisers are not aware of anyone ending up in the shark pool!  The organisers would like to thank the principle sponsors of the regatta; B&G, Fusion, North Sails, Fastnet, and Grapefruit Graphics. Thanks also to our supporting sponsors SLAM, Peters & May, Lombard, RS Divers, Ocean Safety, Lifedge and Harken.  Thanks for story contribution from Louay Habib.  J/Cup sailing video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9obIieub90w    Sailing photo credits- Tim Wright/ Photoaction.com    For more B&G J/Cup Regatta sailing information

J/70 Loves Airlie Beach Outing

(Airlie Beach, Australia)- According to the Airlie Beach Chamber of Commerce, "Airlie Beach Race Week is known amongst sailing aficionados as one of the most "bucket-worthy" regattas in the world.  It’s got a laid-back attitude, perfect weather with solid trade-wind sailing, the town is a backpackers’s paradise full of hot young chicks and cheap booze, and it all comes at the perfect time for winter-bound Aussies.  Airlie is also one of the best jumping-off points to explore the Great Barrier Reef; perfect for an extended trip with some sailboat racing in the middle.  It’s a long haul from most places and you might die if you swim in the water, but on a positive note, they’ve got the best drinks cooler in all of sailing on the dock."  And, most notably, they actually deliver on that promise!

Officially promoted as "The Abell Point Marina Airlie Beach Race Week", the event started off in magical conditions for all the 110 boats across the 11 divisions.  The breeze was a kind south-east eight to 10 knots inshore and up to 15 knots offshore as PRO Ross Chisholm sent the fleet off on Course 7 around the Double Cones for all.  There were plenty of battles, among the small and big boats, with some of the high achievers falling by the wayside in the soft wind and tricky tides. In the Sports Boat the skippers kept themselves under control for the first race, starting cleanly.  And, that's pretty much how it went for the rest of the week of sailing, save for one near windless but gorgeous day on the water.  The final day of racing brought smiles to the face of the sailors and race committee as the breeze kicked in as forecasted.  It was Whitsunday sailing at its best with 10 to 15 knots south-east, a manageable swell and good racing around Pioneer Bay.

Sailing their J/70 JUNIOR for the first time in the regatta were Ray and Jill Carless from Sydney.  Here's their report of the experience which, apparently, neither would trade for the world!

"Airlie Beach is situated in the middle of the stunning group of seventy-four  Whitsunday Islands which are part of the Great Barrier Reef and is an amazing location for this iconic Australian winter race week.

With very little time to practice and still quite new to the J/70, we quickly recruit two new crew members for this highly competitive winter paradise regatta.  With the boat packed we made the 1,800km three-day drive from Sydney with ease towing the J/70 with a 2 liter diesel VW.

The line-up of sports boats were typical of the high performance machines raced in Australia and New Zealand, some up to 8m, a number with wings and trapezes, most much lighter than the J/70 being built of carbon fibre.

The wind conditions were predominantly up to 8 knots with the windiest reaching 15 knots on the first day and every day in crystal-clear, sun-sparkled, aquamarine waters.

With an impressive scoreline of 3-5-5-3-4-3-4-2 and a drop of 8th, our performance for the week improved as the two new J/70 crew got used to the boat.

In short, we had a fantastic time! The J/70 is amazing! Anyone who doubts this is a good and economical way to run a modern sports boat should look at our results.  We were the only boat in the fleet to have Dacron upwind sails and only one of each sail, ie. 1 main, 1 jib, 1 spinnaker, as per the J/70 class rules.

All of the other boats were sporting exotic sails and most had multiple jibs and spinnakers.  This sounds too expensive and complicated to us, we just want to go sailing and have fun!

That we did and had a great time with a very good result as we get to learn the J/70. There is obviously more to be had out of this great little machine from the J/Boat stable and little wonder over 500 have now been sold in a very short space of time.   

How best to sum it all up?  Long drive, blue sky, little wind, much fun, great result!”

Sailing photo credits-   Shirley Wodson - Shirley Wodson Photography     Julie Geldard - Video Picture Promotions

Airlie Beach Race Week YouTube sailing video highlights:     Day 1 Sailing summary   Day 2 Sailing summary    Day 3 Sailing summary   Day 4 Sailing summary   For more Airlie Beach Race Week sailing information