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

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!

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 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

J/70's Sail Travemunde Week

Great Racing in Bundesliga Between German Clubs (Travemunde, Germany)- The J/70 Bundesliga yacht club participants were looking forward to sailing on Travemunde's famous bay on the Baltic Sea; renown for the sea-breeze that often fills in the afternoon at 10-15 kts from the northeasterly quadrants- often oscillating from 40 to 75 degrees.

The second regatta of the Bundesliga took place in front of Lübeck, sailing in a "stadium-style" racing right along the Travemunde waterfront.  The regatta organizers did a fabulous job of running thirty races for three flights over the two days for the eighteen teams that were competing.  The weather Gods cooperated, offering up sunny days with nice sea-breezes every afternoon-- that's what the chamber of commerce promised, right!?

Demonstrating how close the competition was for all the teams, the top three was determined on a three-way tie-breaker with 25 pts total each.  Winning the regatta with most firsts was the Bayerischer YC, second was the North German Regatta Association and third was YC Berlin Grunau.

"The leading clubs are all sailing on the same level. Everybody has won races and sometimes have also landed back in the field," says Walter Roth sailing with Yacht Club Berlin Grunau.  And, he adds that "having short, fast consecutive races means bad ones are quickly forgotten!  The BYC team with skipper Christian Schäfer and crew John Kaske, Philip Hibler and Walter Roth have been improving constantly.  Their victory in Travemünde means we now move into second place in the overall Bundesliga series!"

The YC Berlin Grunau continues to lead the Bundesliga series as a result of their third place finish in Travemunde. "For us, everything went as planned. We defended our championship lead and want to continue our good performance in the next regatta in Hamburg," said the team manager of YCBG.

The second place team in Travemünde, the North German Regatta Association, underlined their ambitions in the Bundesliga. "We're used to match race sailing, but we quickly adapt to these exciting new boats- the J/70s. This has definitely helped us on the first day of racing," explains Florian Weser. He generally match races with his teammates Klaas Höpcke and Niklas Meyerinck. "The NRV team is now ranked third in the Bundesliga series and we intend to get better!" added helmsman Johannes Polgar.

As one of the primary sponsors of the Bundesliga series sailed on J/70s, SAP's Sail-TV has been providing both locally live TV broadcasts as well as live internet broadcasts on-line.  The popularity of the event not only throughout Germany, but across Europe, has been increasing dramatically!  Watch for other versions of this J/70 circuit in other European countries next year!  Sailing Photo credits- Lars Wehrmann   For more J/70 Bundesliga sailing information   For more Travemunde Woche sailing information

Fiesta Cup Regatta Preview

J/70s Debut Strong Fleet Sailing
(Santa Barbara, CA)- J/70s will be making their debut in the Santa Barbara YC's 7th annual Fiesta Cup Regatta, one of the more renown West Coast events on the California summer sailing schedule.  The Fiesta Cup is a popular event for a number of reasons; the Santa Barbara YC provides excellent race management for the sailors and, perhaps most importantly, hosts the fabulously fun Fiesta Party on Saturday night.  Regatta Chairman Jane Watkins promises a celebration of all delicious things Mexican- margaritas, tacos, music and other deliciously tasty tidbits and beverages supplied by Fess Parker's Winery and Vineyard and Cerveza Pacifico.

With nine boats sailing, the J/70s should see fun, competitive sailing in the windy, wavy, sunny conditions Santa Barbara offers sailors.  With WNW breezes and often 4-6 foot storm-driven ocean swells running around the point, the J/70s should enjoy extended surfing and pretty wild "planing mode" rides when conditions permit-- hopefully, avoiding the monster kelp that often has a nasty habit of finding rudders and keels and wrapping themselves around your boat at the most inopportune time!  Sailing will be a combination of notable locals like Dave Ullman, Ken Kieding on SMOKE & MIRRORS, George Moll on DEVIANT, Eli Parker & Mike Drammer on ECLIPSE and John Coye on SLOOP JOHN B.  Visiting sailors include Craig Tallman on JAYA, Tom Jenkins & Eric Kownacki on DFZ and Dan Gribble & Kurt Wiese on GO-RILLA.  For more Santa Barbara YC Fiesta Cup sailing information

J/70, J/97 & J/111 @ Newport Boatshow

Discover Sailing a J/70, J/80 & J/95 Too!
(Newport, RI)- From September 13th to 16th, J/Boats and J/Dealers will be displaying the NEW J/70, J/97 and J/111 at the traditional location on the end of the Newport Yachting Center just NW of the "gas dock", right on the waterfront- location NYC Dock N-O E.

As part of the "Discover Sailing" program offered by the Newport Sailboat Show and J/Boats, anyone attending the show can sign-up to sail the brand new J/70 speedster, International J/80 One-Design and the fabulous shoal-water performance cruiser/ daysailor- the J/95!  Be sure to book your calendar now and take the opportunity to sail three fun J's around Newport Harbor!  Please be sure to contact your J/Dealer now for an appointment and even a demo sail soon!  For more Newport Sailboat Show information

J/70 Owner Testimonials

J/70 owners chime in on some of their recent sailing experiences in the past few weeks across the country on the J/Anarchy forums:

- "Seabird" from Portland, Oregon-  "We have sailed hull #18 in Cascade Locks, Oregon (a.k.a. THE Gorge) the past few weeks.  I've sailed the boat with my kids and the local pros and my view is that the boat is very versatile. I really could sail it alone with my 11 year old daughter in 10-15 kts of wind, and the next night go out with guys in more breeze (20-30 kts) and have fun both nights!

I spoke with Dan Kaseler (Quantum Seattle) who was on the boat at Whidbey Island Race Week and confirmed they went 1" longer than their forestay to get helm in light air at WIRW. We found (limited experience on the boat) that in the breeze we like 1" shorter than the "designed" length.  This is a new boat and I'm sure some experience in one design will sort this out soon. Definitely feels closer to my Laser than my old J/80 on the helm at any length. :)

It's really a nicely built boat that's pretty quick and fun, yet less of a handful than a Melges 24 (which is a good thing for the target audience, myself included). Resale value will be good. Casual daysailing is possible.  My kids actually think the interior is great!! Most importantly, my wife is not reluctant to sail the boat!!  That's huge.  I think they (J/Boats) are going to sell these to a wide range of sailors and develop a nice class long term. Lots to like here."

- "JustMike" from Seattle, Washington area commented, "Anyone coming up to Bellingham Yacht Club's PITCH Regatta on September 1st & 2nd??  I think it would be a great chance to put a couple of 70's on the line with slightly different rig set-ups and sails from different manufactures (I've got Quantum and I believe others are sailing with North)?

If not at the PITCH here is the short list of Regattas in Shilshole bay, that I will be racing hull #19 in over the next few months it would be great if we along with the other J/70s could meet up at one or more of these.

- Seattle YC's Stars and Bars - 09/15 - 09/16
- Corinthian YC's PSSC - 10/13 - 10/14
- Seattle YC's Grand Prix - 10/26 - 10/27
- Corinthian YC'S Turkey Bowl - 11/17 - 11/18

Also we will be out on Wednesday nights for Corinthian YC's fall series 09/05, 09/12!  Please come join us!!"

- "TheRick" from Lewes, Delaware had this to say of their first long-distance race on a J/70 off New Jersey- "We entered the "Cape to Cape Cup" regatta this past weekend and sailed a J/70 22.5 nm in the Atlantic from Lewes to Cape May, NJ in 15-18 knot of breeze.  Had a blast passing a few J/24's and really enjoyed the long downhill run to the finish line in 18 knots-- WOW, what a RIDE!!"

* J/70s were also Lovin' The Boatyard Bar & Grill Regatta for CRAB in Annapolis, Maryland!  The fantastic breeze (no hurricanes! no doldrums!) was the big story at Saturday's Boatyard Bar & Grill Regatta for CRAB, a SpinSheet favorite.  Thanks to the Eastport YC for awesome race committee work and volunteer efforts. Thanks to the Boatyard Bar & Grill for making this cool event, which could very well be named the "Regatta That Rolls with the Punches", happens every year.

Chris Groobey, proud new owner of a J/70 commented, "It was a fun, crazy pursuit race for charity but still great day on the water.  Crew was two US Naval Academy Midshipmen, including Andrew Shea.  Can’t really give you a good idea of results as we helped with a MOB (man overboard) during the race (and got a handle of Mt. Gay from the RC as a "thank you") but were doing well, even with a 114 rating.  Wilbur Keyworth was out too and had a great day, we are all loving the boat!"   Sailing photo credits- Dan Phelps at SpinSheet   Thanks for the contribution from friends at SpinSheet!

J/70 @ HISWA Boatshow

(Amsterdam, Netherlands)- Over the September 4th to 9th weekend in Amsterdam, J/Boats Netherlands will be displaying the J/70 on its trailer just inside the main entrance to the show at Stand Number- K110.  This will be the first J/70 displayed in a European Boatshow in 2012, so be sure to contact Angelique Verhoef via email- angelique@jboats.nl- for an appointment or for a demo-sail after the show!  For more HISWA Amsterdam Sailboat Show information

J/70s Sailing Across America!

Long Island Sound, "The Gorge", Sarasota & Texas
(Newport, RI)- Recently, J/70s have been delivered to their happy customers in some great sailing areas around America.  Dozens of new J/70 sailors are hopping aboard and fleets continue to sprout like kudzu weeds in even the remotest parts of the Midwest.  Sailors young and old alike, girls and boys, Mom's and Dad's are discovering the joy of having a fun, easy-to-handle boat that can be towed by the family car, ramp-launched just about anywhere, and can handle just about any weather condition Mother Nature can throw at them.

Just ask the J/70 crews on the infamous "Gorge", that remarkable body of water with a natural "wind tunnel" on the Columbia River east of Portland, Oregon that is the favorite of the world's best kite-boarders and board-sailors.  A current sweeping you upwind at 1.5 knots plus a sunny afternoon westerly breeze of 20-25 knots is a "normal" day.  The J/70 sailors are lovin'it! SAIL NORTHWEST's customer Scott Sutherland is having a ball flying around the Gorge.

Meanwhile, CROSSCURRENT MARINE proudly took possession of J/70 #10. Craig Crossley had this to report, "The 1,400 mile trip from Bristol, RI to Sarasota was a snap with the brand new Triad trailer doing a stellar job of transporting our new J in style and safety. Transporting in keel-up mode provides a very low distribution of weight and the trailer support points were perfectly laid out to cradle the boat properly.

The arrival at Sarasota Sailing Squadron this Friday created quite a buzz with numerous sea-trials going on. The consistent feedback is she's a great sailing platform -- easy, stable, quick and responsive.  With the annual BIKINI CUP Regatta being held today, Squadron Board Officer Michelle Lee grabbed a few of her friends and got the J/70 out sailing with the gals for a great day of racing on Sarasota Bay!"

What are you waiting for?  Get on down to your local J/Dealer and hop aboard a J/70 for one of the most enjoyable sailing experiences you've ever had.  A gentle five kts breeze and flat water or nuking at 25 kts and blowing dogs off chains, it will be hard to wipe that "cheshire cat grin" off your face.  We promise.  For more J/70 sailing information

J/111 @ Strictly Sail Pacific Boat Show

(Oakland, California)- This year the Strictly Sail Pacific boat show from April 12 - 15 - the only all sailboat show on the West Coast - will serve as the San Francisco stopover for the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race fleet.  Even more importantly, Sail California will have a great selection of boats at the show including a J/111, along with detailed information on the newly released J/70. If you are interested in a personalized tour of the boats we'll have at Strictly Sail Pacific, call Norm Davant and crew at 510-523-8500 and make an appointment. We'll see you there!

The Future of Sailing Survey?

What J Sailors Can Do to Help!
(Sydney, Australia)-  Yachting Australia released the findings of a research report regarding the perceptions of sailing in Australia. Developed over six months by leading sports and entertainment consultancy firm gemba, the report will shape future Yachting Australia and yacht club programs to increase membership and participation.

In releasing the report Yachting Australia CEO Phil Jones said that the information will be used to shape a number of future programs and initiatives.  In working with industry partners, he said "we jointly identified the lack of solid data and evidence into the levels of participation in sailing, and what the drivers and barriers were to increasing it," Jones said. "Whilst there are plenty of opinions in the sailing community, we really needed solid and objective information about
what club members and the Australian public think of our sport."

The top six insights in the Report Summary are:
- Australians generally have a low rate of both participation in, and passion for, sailing (we rank 34th and 37th respectively amongst all sports)
- Sailing is perceived as an 'exclusive' sport while not being seen as very 'accessible'. Yacht Clubs are generally not welcoming, and are for older people only
- On average, the starting age of sailing is much higher than other sports with established junior programs
- Primary and Secondary school age children, and young families have the highest interest in participating in sailing in the future
- Relaxation is consistently the most important reason for participation in sailing among both current sailors and those interested in sailing. New participants are interested in a social, relaxed activity rather than competition, the later tending to be more important to current club members.
- The main barrier for future participation is the perceived cost of sailing. Boat ownership, maintenance, storage costs, and annual membership payment, are expensive, especially for a family.

From the J/Boats perspective, we agree.  And, having participated in multiple such studies over the course of time with industry partners like SAIL America, SAILING WORLD, SAIL magazine and others, the results all have similar outcomes--- in short, highlighting a need to make the sport and recreation of sailing more accessible to all.  In fact, it's a primary reason why "accessibility" was a specific requirement for the design of the new J/70 Speedster-- it had to be accessible physically (children, women and men alike) as well as logistically (ramp launch, trailerable and easy to rig).  It's also why J/70 is affordable and designed to address the needs of yacht club, sailing club and public sailing programs in terms of affordability and, most importantly, durability.  Plus, ensuring J/70 had the trademark all-around performance in an exciting new package means it should attract both old and new sailors alike to the brand over the course of time.  To learn more about the J/70 speedster - the ultimate trailerable sailing machine.  To learn more about the social and demographic drivers in sailing.