Greenwald Tops J/70 New Englands

(Marblehead, MA)- The Sperry Topsider Marblehead NOOD regatta featured the inaugural J/70 New England Championship and fleets of J/105s and J/24s-- all co-hosted by the famous trio of yacht clubs in the harbor (Eastern YC, Boston YC and Corinthian YC).  Of the 150+ sailboats participating, the largest brand represented were J's with 42 boats (28% of the fleet) sailing in the waters off Marblehead. The sailors were treated to a wide variety of weather conditions and in the end, the J/70s had very close racing with just 15 pts separating the top six.

Continuing their string of 2013 regatta wins in J/70s was Bennet Greenwald's team on PERSEVERANCE, taking the top spot by the narrowest of margins over local Marbleheaders- Jud & Cindy Smith on USA 179.  In fact, both boats led the fleet from the very first day and after three days of racing ended up tied on total points, but after the toss race was factored in Greenwald's team won by just two points net.  Joel Ronning's CATAPULT team again managed to finish on the podium, taking third overall with 20 pts net.  Local hero Tyler Doyle (some of famous sailmaker in Marblehead, Robbie Doyle) sailed his best regatta so far, taking fourth in class.  Also sailing a strong series was the team of Heather Gregg-Earl & Joe Bardenheier on MUSE Powered by Atlantis Weathergear for 5th place.  Heather was also top women J/70 skipper, followed closely by Suzy Leech on JUNKANOO in 6th.  Sailing Photo credits- Tim Wilkes.com.   For more J/70 New England's & Marblehead NOOD sailing information

J/70 New England Circuit

(Newport/ Marblehead)- The J/70 fleets in Marblehead and Newport in New England are looking forward to their summer-time circuit and invite all J/70 sailors to join in on the fun.  With two of New England's famous sailing venues on offer, the expectation is that sailors will be challenged by a wide variety of conditions in both Narragansett Bay and Massachusetts Bay.

Beginning with the Leukemia Cup Weekend on June 8-9, the sailors will be treated to a fabulous event hosted by New York Yacht Club in Newport on June 8th for the racing.  Come join the festivities in the evening to support the battle against leukemia.  Then, on Sunday the fleet will have top J/70 sailors from North Sails, Doyle Sails and Quantum Sails conducting a J/70 training/ tuning clinic on Sunday for all J/70 sailors!  For more info- http://www.leukemiacup.org/ri/

The following weekend, the New York YC Annual Regatta will again host the J/70 sailors on a Narragansett Bay course north of the Newport Bridge from June 14th to 16th.  For the more adventurous sailors, be sure to include the famous "Around Jamestown Island Race" on Friday-- the PHRF Division was won last year by a J/70 sailed by a double-handed team! Furthermore, rumor has it that NYYC's Sailing Master Brad Dellenbaugh may be the J/70 fleet P.R.O. for the regatta.  Watch out, you may sail so many races so fast you may lose track of which leg on the "sausage courses" you're sailing! For more info- http://nyyc.org/yachting/racing/159th-annual-regatta

Then, July 12th to 14th is the Bacardi Sail Newport Regatta held off Fort Adams.  This is an enormous one-design regatta and an excellent turn-out is expected, especially with world famous host and Master of Ceremonies, SailNewport's Executive Director Brad Read, presiding over the awe-inspired masses.  This regatta is renown for being a fun time, with great sailing and race management, excellent entertainment onshore in the evenings and, of course, the extraordinary support of Bacardi Rum all weekend long. For more info- http://www.sailnewport.org

Two weekends later, from July 26th to 28th will be the J/70 New England's/ Marblehead NOOD Regatta.  Again, the red carpet will be rolled out for the J/70 fleet with tremendous support from the Sperry Topsider NOOD Regatta organizers and Sailing World sponsors, including Mt Gay Rum amongst others.  Like its predecessors, this regatta has excellent race management and the social/ entertainment in the evenings is second to none.  For more info- http://www.sailingworld.com/nood-regattas/marblehead

For the Newport events, it's important to note that all J/70 sailors are welcome to rig and store their boats on trailers with "rigs up" at the Fort Adams Sailing Center and its parking lots.  In Marblehead, a similar arrangement will be available.  Please be sure to contact Morgan - fleetcaptain@j70fleet2.com.

J/70 One-Design Class Update

(Newport, RI)- Over the past month the evolution of J/70 one-design class development continues its inexorable fast pace around the world.  While the first J/70s are just beginning to appear in such exotic locations like Santiago, Chile; Sydney, Australia; Hong Kong, China; and Miami, FL, other famous sailing venues are seeing fleets blossom like spring flowers across the sailing landscape.  Europeans are just beginning to get a taste of the J/70 in the Netherlands (Belgium & Holland) as well as in England and France.

In the Americas, the class is developing rapidly.  To date there are over a dozen fleets in development with nine confirmed already.  At this stage, it looks like Annapolis can lay claim to being the J/70 capital of the world with Fleet #1 status, followed closely by their friends in Newport/ Narragansett Bay with Fleet #2.  The Great Lakes are growing fast with Cleveland as Fleet #3, Western Lake Ontario #6, South Shore Lake Ontario #7 and Erie, PA as #8.  Out West, SoCal (Southern California) is Fleet #5 and the California fleets may soon expand to include Santa Barbara, CA as its own fleet along with San Francisco, CA.  Plus, the Cascade Locks, OR and Seattle, WA fleets are not far behind! In the East, Fishing Bay, VA is now Fleet #4 and just recently Marblehead attained Fleet #9 status.  Not far behind are fleets forming in Chicago, IL; Fort Worth, TX; Houston, TX; Lake Dillon, CO; Tampa, FL; and Long Island Sound.

Reports from the frontiers of J/70 fleet development are encouraging.  Recently, Jud Smith, a world-renowned sailor (Etchells 22 World Champion, Sonar North American Champion, IOD World Champion and Dennis Conner's mainsail trimmer in the America's Cup), had the following commentary after sailing in Marblehead recently: "I saw the J/70’s sailing in Newport a bunch this summer.  It looked well mannered, without the crew having to fight it to go fast.  I also like the decision to go with dacron race sails for this size one-design.  The ramp-launch trailer, roller furling headsail, carbon rig with adjustable backstay all makes a lot sense.  However, it wasn’t until I had the opportunity to sail with Peter Duncan this fall in New York that I realized that this boat was going to be a game-changer.  I couldn’t help but think the J/70 class was going to take-off like the J/24 did  years ago.  When I got home I told my wife, Cindy, how impressed I was with the boat and that it was a class we could race together. I was pleased to finally be able to get her out sailing at the Marblehead Demo day.  When she returned to the dock she insisted I join her for another ride. I wasn’t expecting that! She’s quite excited now for racing the J/70 together. Our two daughters can race it as well, even if I’m away!"

The report from San Diego was similar.  Jeff Brown at JK3 Yachts said: "This past Sunday we had a J/70 Demo Day hosted at San Diego Yacht Club with sailmakers from Ullman, Quantum, and North sails on each boat for people to test. It turned out to be a perfect day with about 30 attendees.  We offered food, beer, and drinks on the dock after and it was a very successful, enjoyable event. We're looking forward to growing our Socal Fleet #5!"  For more J/70 one-design sailing information

J/70 Marblehead Demos!

(Marblehead, MA)- With the enthusiastic support of Hill & Lowden, Henry Brauer (owner of J/70 #48), Doug Morgan and other key sponsors, top Marblehead sailors welcome the newest and most versatile one-design racing fleet to New England-- the J/70 speedster!

Marblehead is one of the most dedicated one‐design racing harbors in America. This is a great opportunity for Marblehead’s sailors to be on the cutting-edge of one-design sailing and own a J/70- a manageable family racer/ daysailer that can easily be trailered anywhere and be ramp-launchable at a moments notice.

To present the J/70 to the Marblehead sailing community an “open house” has been scheduled on Sunday Nov 18, 2012 from 1:00 – 3:30 PM at the Marblehead Trading Company, and the offices of Atlantis Weathergear, 89 Front Street, Marblehead.

The J/70 will be on display from 1:00 to 2:00 PM. At 1:30 PM there will be a brief presentation introducing the J/70 by Jeff Johnstone, President of J/Boats Inc.  Following Jeff’s comments, Bill Lynn of Atlantis Weathergear will describe his sailing experience on the J/70 at the recent NYYC Invitational in Newport this summer.  Jud Smith will speak about Doyle Sailmakers sail development, and Will Welles will speak about North Sails J/70 sail development.  The 2013 Marblehead J/70 racing schedule will be presented by Greg Wilkinson, Boston College head sailing coach.

Demo sails will be offered from 1:00 ‐ 3:30 PM, weather permitting. Refreshments will be served. The event is sponsored by Hill & Lowden, J/Boats, Doyle Sailmakers, North Sails, Harvey Rigging, and Atlantis Weathergear.  For further information please contact: Henry Brauer: henry@hgbrauer.com or the J/Dealer George Lowden: hilllowden@comcast.net.