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

Scott Wins J/70 Cowes Week Short Series

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- Ruairidh Scott, Charlie Cumbley, Hugh Fletcher and Matt Curthoys, the team on board the J/70 NORTH SAILS, were yesterday pronounced as the winners of the race series that everyone was talking about: the J/70 Short Series at AAM Cowes Week 2013. The Jaques family were second in DJANGO and Simon ‘Sling’ Ling and crew finished third in Team RAFBF SPITFIRE.

Almost exactly one year after the very first J/70 Sportsboat arrived in the UK, this brand new one-design fleet were offered a Class Start at AAM Cowes Week and better still, the J/70s were able to compete in two races each day from Saturday 3rd of August to Tuesday 6th of August in the J/70 ‘Short Series’. The J/70s were the first fleet to start off the Squadron line each morning and then raced the second race from a committee boat start-line, finishing off Cowes. It was a race format which worked extraordinarily well for the fleet and which everyone agreed delivered great racing and superb competition.

Racing in the J/70 fleet at Cowes was both extremely close and incredibly exciting; in the first race on Sunday 60% of the fleet crossed the finish line in an 83 second period! It is clear the J/70 is not only great fun to sail but that the class delivers absolutely first rate competition. Heading into the AAM Cowes Week Short Series, the smart money may well have been on the North Sails team as they are the current J/70 UK National Champions, but as Ruairidh was the first to point out, the fleet is getting hotter and hotter all the time and the standard of sailing is improving at every event so it was far from an easy win.

Certainly Ruairidh and his team did not have things all their own way. The Jaques family team won two of the six races completed in DJANGO (racing for all classes at Cowes was abandoned on Tuesday when the breeze failed to show up on the course) and kept the pressure on Ruairidh from the off, starting the regatta with a win in Race 1. Malcolm said ‘It made sense for Tristan to helm the boat and I slipped into the tactician’s role with my daughter Naomi doing navigation and strategy. Tristan is clearly a very quick driver but it’s not just that: his reactions are also faster than mine and that is crucial to success in this fleet. Tristan was able to really keep 100% of his focus on boat-speed’.

At the close of the series North Sails had notched up just six points, DJANGO had eight on the score card and Team RAFBF SPITFIRE clocked 18. Ruairidh and his crew were clearly thrilled to have won.  Ruairidh explained ‘We’ve had a great regatta. We’ve certainly been under lots of pressure from the rest of the fleet at this event, especially Django, but my crew worked really hard and kept their focus from start to finish taking any little knock back in their stride.’ He continued ‘I would like to say hats off to the organisers for taking the decision to run two races a day. It has transformed the event for us: two shorter races really keep the interest levels up. The key elements of our success here at AAM Cowes Week include having good all round boat speed, a crew with a thorough knowledge of The Solent and 100% concentration from the whole team.’

Racing continues for the J/70 Class at AAM Cowes Week today although with the more traditional and relaxed ‘one race a day’ format. The next major event for the J/70 Class is the J-Cup later this month in Plymouth and then the UK teams will be packing their boats up and heading down to glorious Lake Garda for the J/70 EuroCup Championships in September.   For more Cowes Week sailing information

J/70 @ London Boat Show!

Plus, J/80, J/97 and J/111 Offshore Speedsters!
(London, England)-  Be sure to mark your calendars to enjoy the launch of the International J/70 Sportsboat at the Tullett Prebon London Boat Show in January, running from the 12th to the 20th at Stand E-144. There will be two J/70s on display, including the Royal Air Force's latest SPITFIRE.

The J/70 SPITFIRE is sponsored by Prolinx Ltd in support of the RAF Benevolent Fund charity and raced by Team RAFBF Spitfire powered by SLAM.

The International J/70 Sportsboat Class is off to a flying start in the UK, Europe the USA and 15 countries around the world. The International J/70 Class has a packed regatta schedule for 2013 and beyond, with class one-design events scheduled in the USA, UK, France and Italy.

Wing Commander Simon ‘Sling’ Ling, one of the owners of SPITFIRE, has owned and raced many different keelboats and sportsboats over the years including SB20s, J/109s and J/80s. The J/70 held instant appeal for Simon, so much so that he was amongst the very first UK sailors to trial the boat. Simon’s confidence in the J/70 is illustrated by the fact that he has been appointed Chairman of the new J/70 UK Class Association. Team SPITFIRE will sail on behalf of the RAF Benevolent Fund.

He explained, "The boat needed no sales pitch and was very much a product that sold itself.  After five minutes and despite test sailing in only 10 knots of wind, we knew that the J/70 was the right boat for us. We are very excited at the prospect of sailing such an exciting boat in a new one-design Class. As a serving officer in the Royal Air Force, I am delighted and proud to continue to support the work of the RAF Benevolent Fund supported by Prolinx. This year, our relationship with the Fund took on new meaning with the death of one my Sailing Team, Flight Lieutenant ‘H’ Poole. H was tragically killed in an air accident flying an RAF Tornado Jet Fighter just four weeks before he was due to race on board our previous boat, a J/80 (which was also called SPITFIRE) at Cowes Week 2012. The Fund, who had supported H as a member of my Sailing Team, was there to support H’s family in the aftermath of his tragic death. Such support only reinforces our strong desire to promote the Charity and the wonderful work it undertakes."

Dean Benton, Director of Marketing and Communications at the RAF Benevolent Fund said, "We have enjoyed a long standing partnership with Sling and the RAF crew of Team Spitfire who sail in support of the RAF’s leading welfare charity. The crew are great advocates for their charity, raising awareness of our welfare work alongside the need for fundraising. The team have had great success previously and have done much to raise our profile and brand, not only within the sailing community but amongst the wider public. The addition of Prolinx Ltd, a long term supporter of the RAFBF and now boat sponsor, can only build on what we have been achieving previously."

You can see the J/70 Spitfire on stand E144 at the Tullett Prebon London Boat Show from the 12th to 20th of January, but two special events are planned; the first is at midday on Saturday 12th of January and then her official launch will take place on Monday 14th January, also at midday. All are welcome.  For more London SailBoat show information

J/Boats @ European Boat Shows

(London, England & Paris, France)- With the holidays fast-approaching consider taking the time to visit some of Europe's more famous boatshows this winter season to see some of the latest boats the J/Team has to offer.  It's a wonderful opportunity, in particular, to visit Paris in December and London in January to see their spectacular shows, visit "bright lights & big cities" and enjoy delicious international cuisine, evening entertainment and historical cultural attractions with friends and family!  After these two major shows, there are numerous others in delightful cities and countries around the Continent.  See more below.

SALON NAUTIQUE PARIS- Dec 8-16
The Salon Nautique Paris on the south side of Paris will again present one of the world's most spectacular sailboat shows.  J/Europe will be displaying the J/70, the J/97 and the "International J/111" at Stand J-62 Hall-1.  You will get a chance to speak to many top French sailors who've been trained on J/22s, J/24s and J/80s over the course of time.  And, you'll get a chance to "talk shop" with winners of SPI Ouest, La Rochelle Race Week, RORC Fastnet Race and many others who are renowned in the French offshore sailing community.  Furthermore, J/Europe is hosting cocktails & hors'd'oeurves for J/111 owners and potential customers to review the 2013 European J/111 Circuit- please contact "Fred" at "info@jeurope.com".  Paris Show information.

TULLET-PREBON LONDON BOATSHOW- Jan 12-20
On display at the Key Yachting booth will be the "International J/111" and the new J/70 speedster.  Perhaps most significantly, the J/70 will be a new "SPITFIRE", supporting the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund.  Featured at the show will be the Royal Air Force SPITFIRE Team that is headed-up by Wing Commander Simon Ling.  In addition, the International J/80 one-design will be on display along with the IRC family-cruiser-racer- the J/97- runaway winner of 2012 Cowes Week and Scottish Week in the most competitive IRC Division. London Show information.

BOOT DUSSELDORF- Jan 19-27
With dozens of great sailing lakes, access to the North Sea and the Baltic, it's not surprising the J/70 and near bigger sisterships like the J/80 and J/95 are attracting an entirely new group of German sailors.  Most importantly, you'll be able to meet the European Boat of the Year Nominee- the J/70 Speedster! Contact Henning Mittelmann at info@mittelmannswerft.de for more show information.  BOOT show info.

HISWA AMSTERDAM- Mar 6-10
As a seafaring nation, the Dutch are amongst those without peer and take their sailing seriously! The latest HISWA Boat of the Year nominee is the J/70! To chat more about J/70 class development in the Benelux region (or about the J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER's amazing sailing season), please contact Angelique Verhoef of J/Benelux at info@jboats.nl.  HISWA show information.

SCANDINAVIAN Boat Shows
Mid-December frozen sailing! Cool! Reports Peter Johansson at Marstrand Yachts, "the first three J/70’s will arrive in the middle of December, we will start test sailing ASAP in Marstrand!"  He's not kidding.  It is warmer than you think up there-- sleeping in ice-cave hotels is normal.  After some schnapps and a very warm fire, don't hesitate to give our Scandinavian friends a visit at one of their Swedish indoor boatshows this winter.  For more Scandinavian Sailboat Shows information, please contact Peter Johansson peter.johansson@marstrandyachts.com.  Here's the list for those adventurous sailors:

• Feb 2-10- Gothenburg Boatshow- Gothenburg, Sweden
• Mar 1-10- Stockholm Boatshow- Stockholm, Sweden
• Mar 13-17- Norwegian Boatshow- Oslo, Norway                   

SWITZERLAND Boat Shows
In the land that iconized the cow bell for "cheerleading" and dreamed up tasty items like swiss cheese, chocolate and cheese fondues and schnapps, it's no wonder Swiss sailors have plenty of energy to sail all day on their gorgeous mountain lakes so high up in the Swiss Alps.  Learn more about why the J/70 and J/95 are rapidly growing in popularity in Europe's Alpine region.  Be sure to contact Peter Bangerter at J-Lane Yachting GmbH for more show information- peter.bangerter@jboats.ch.  They will be displaying the J/70 at the Suisse Nautic and Austrian Boat Shows.

• Feb 16-24- Suisse Nautic- Bern, Switzerland
• Feb 28- Mar 3- Boot Tulln- Austrian Boat Show- Tulln, Austria

European Boatshow Update

(London, England & Paris, France)- With the holidays fast-approaching consider taking the time to visit some of Europe's more famous boatshows this winter season to see some of the latest boats the J/Team has to offer.  It's a wonderful opportunity, in particular, to visit Paris in December and London in January to see their spectacular shows, visit "bright lights & big cities" and enjoy delicious international cuisine, evening entertainment and historical cultural attractions with friends and family!

SALON NAUTIQUE PARIS
From 8th December to 16th, the Salon Nautique Paris on the south side of Paris will again present one of the world's most spectacular sailboat shows.  J/Europe will be displaying the J/70, the J/97 and the J/111.  You will get a chance to speak to many top French sailors who've been trained on J/22s, J/24s and J/80s over the course of time.  And, you'll get a chance to "talk shop" with winners of SPI Ouest, La Rochelle Race Week, RORC Fastnet Race and many others who are renowned in the French offshore sailing community.   Furthermore, J/Europe is hosting cocktails & hors'd'oeuvres for J/111 owners and potential customers to discuss plans for the 2013 European J/111 Circuit.    For more Paris Sailboat Show information

TULLET-PREBON LONDON BOATSHOW
After the New Year, it's time to make plans for two things:  #1 is go sailing in Key West Race Week to get a tan, enjoy spectacular Carribean-style sailing off the Florida Keys and then #2 is go to the London Boatshow and catch up with all your European friends with a tan to-die-for and tell a few war-stories over a pint or so of Guinness! OK, maybe not for everyone, but it's a great idea?!

On display at the Key Yachting booth will be the newly "International J/111" (more news later) and the new J/70 speedster, J/Boats' latest entry to the sportboat world that is gaining healthy momentum quite quickly.  Perhaps most significantly, the J/70 will be a new "SPITFIRE", supporting the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund.  Featured will be the Royal Air Force SPITFIRE Team that is headed-up by Wing Commander Simon Ling.  For more London Sailboat Show information

J/Boats @ Southampton Show

J/70, J/80, J/109, J/111 & J/122
(Southampton, England)- Key Yachting Ltd will be exhibiting five J/Boats at the Southampton Boat Show in September, including the new J/70 Speedster which will be making its UK debut.

The J/70 Speedster is J Boats’ first ramp-launchable keelboat - designed to fulfill the growing need for an easy to own, high performance one design, that is exciting to sail, stable enough sailboat for the family, and built to last. A natural evolution of its J pedigree, the J/70’s 23.0 feet of sailing length with high aspect, all carbon rig and deep, lifting keel provides spirited performance and stability that feels like a much larger boat.

The J/80 is a well-founded class in the UK.  Sportsboat classes come and go but the International J/80 (now in her eighteenth year) has truly come of age. The on-going strength of the class was proven this year with the entry of over seventy-five J/80s in the 2012 World Championship in Dartmouth in this summer.  Delightfully easy to sail, yet capable of 18 knots on a breezy day, the J/80 has its own class for the Round the Island Race and at Cowes Week and at many other regattas around the UK .

The J/109 is a fabulously successful cruiser-racer- it's lively enough to hold the interest of youngsters yet stable enough to instill sea-going confidence in sailors of all ages. The boat accelerates in the lightest of puffs, and short-tacks nimbly through narrow channels under mainsail alone. J/109 owners state this racer-cruiser is the ideal marriage of true cruising comfort and sailing performance whether daysailing, racing or cruising.

The J/111 Speedster is a powerful offshore 36 ft speedster as well as an International One-Design race-boat. Following an astonishingly successful offshore record in the first two years, the J/111 has set the precedent for her market.  The J/111 is a purposeful-looking, thoroughly performance-orientated boat.  She is balanced and easily driven as her third place in the 2011 Doublehanded Fastnet Race proves.  There is nothing like the J/111 on the market at the moment- her race results speak for themselves and she has proved herself time and time again across a variety of conditions both inshore and offshore.

The J/122 may be the quintessential 41 foot offshore cruiser racer. With its sailing-friendly deck layout and cockpit design and comfortable arrangement plan below, the J/122 is as easy to handle around buoys as it is handling your guests. Quick and responsive, powerful and stable, easy to handle and a pleasure to steer, plus a roomy hand-crafted cruising interior, the J/122 is indeed what sailing is all about. With a modest displacement, low wetted surface, and a powerful sailplan the J/122 delivers true all-round performance.  Proof? In Key West Race Week 2012, the J/122 was 1st, the J/111 2nd and the J/109 3rd!  Tough choice for cognoscenti of offshore sailing performance, comfort and speed-- a bit like comparing a Mercedes AMG S65 saloon to a Porsche Carrera 4 GTS and a BMW M-Series X5 SUV.  For more Southampton Boatshow information, please contact J/UK Key Yachting at "info@j-uk.com".