Windy J-FEST SW Regatta

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

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

J/70 Texas Circuit Announcement!

(Houston, Texas)- The J/70 fleets in Texas, now three strong with Houston, Austin and Fort Worth/Dallas, have announced their "Texas Circuit" for the 2013 sailing season.  For starters, these "southerners" are perhaps the most accommodating and fun-loving group of sailors you may ever run into.  So, given any open time in your schedule, either drive down or volunteer to go down and join in on the fun as skipper, crew or volunteer.   Sailing photo credit- Onne Vanderwal.com

The J/70 Texas Circuit includes the following events and venues:

Apr 6-7        Elissa Regatta- Houston YC
Apr 27-28    Audi Annual Regatta- Fort Worth Boat Club
May 18-19    Shoe Regatta- Lakewood YC
Jun 22-23    Leukemia Cup Regatta- Houston YC
Sep 21-22    HOOD Regatta- Houston YC
Nov 2-3        J/Fest Southwest- Lakewood YC

For more information, please contact Scott Spurlin at J/Southwest- scott@jboatssouthwest.com

J/70 Fleet Growing Sailing in Texas!

* J/70 Fleet Southwest continues to expand and there are many new faces that have been joining the fleet and having fun.  Some members have already been traveling to various J/70 regattas, while others are just taking delivery and getting ready to jump into the J/70 Southwest Circuit.

- Al Poindexter- seen here recently took delivery of Hull #98 in time for Key West Race Week. We properly christened his boat at the Sail tuning day he so graciously organized. Al races out of LYC in Seabrook, Texas and has been enthusiastically sailing his boat, including Key West, St Petersburg and also Bacardi Miami Sailing Week.

- Steve and Sheryl Strout- have been re-invigorated by the new J/70 and have taken hull #178 home to Fort Worth. They are members of FWBC and will be joining the J/70 teams on the circuit this season as it begins to unfold. It's always exciting to put together that first circuit! In years to come as people scroll through the historical results that first circuit series winner will always be remembered!

Texas has three fleets: Fort Worth Boat Club, Austin Yacht Club and Houston Yacht Club. The members put together a six stop circuit- all piggybacking Regatta's: HYC Elissa, FWBC Audi Annual Regatta, LYC Shoe, HYC Leukemia Cup, HYC HOOD, and LYC J/Fest Southwest. Tighten those lug nuts and get ready to travel!  Here is what the J/70 Texas Circuit looks like at this time:

Apr 6-7        HYC Elissa Regatta
Apr 27-28    FWBC Audi Annual regatta
May 18-19    LYC Shoe Regatta
Jun 22-23    HYC Leukemia Cup Regatta
Sep 21-22    HYC HOOD
Nov 2-3        LYC J/Fest Southwest

J/70 Dallas Demos!

(Dallas, Texas)- The original programed Demo Day at Dallas Corinthian YC on November 11th has been blown away-- we had a little bit too much of a good thing.  While Texas sailors rarely complain of having too much breeze, 25 kts gusting 35 kts may have been a bit OTT.  Nevertheless, with wonderful stories of how J/70 sailors enjoyed their fast rides uphill and downhill in Annapolis, we're rarin' to go!

So, for many of you intrepid sailors from the greater Southwest, please come on down and go for a ride on a J/70! The J70 will remain at Dallas Corinthian YC and will be available for demo rides when the weather clears!  Please contact Bob Sittel at 214-213-7197 to schedule a demo soon!

J/Fest Sailing Video on Bayside Buzz!

(Houston, TX)- During last weekend's J/Fest Regatta sailed on Galveston Bay off Houston, Texas, Roy Shaw took out his chase boat along with a video crew to capture some choice moments of sailing amongst the various one-design and PHRF fleets sailing in J/Fest.  Some really amusing and even instructional sequences of various J/22s, J/24s, J/70s, J/80s and others rounding marks, setting chutes, going fast and amazing demonstrations of how NOT to take down a spinnaker!  Here are the offshore video highlights, thanks to production services by Mobile Studio Technologies LLC. Again, special thanks to Roy Shaw for providing and driving the chase boat.   https://vimeo.com/channels/thebaysidebuzz

J/70 Sailing Texas

(Fort Worth, TX)- Over the past few weeks, the J/70 has been sailing in some pretty cool places.  Down in Texas, the Fort Worth Boat Club has been hosting J/70 demo sails.  Said Scott Spurlin, "The FWBC had been receiving calls all week with interested parties.  People drove/flew in from Tulsa, Oklahoma and Oklahoma City.  For the first 3 or 4 hours we had two to three boat loads waiting for their turn on the dock while the boat was out.  Terry Spurlin, Bob, and a sailor from Tulsa that came in Friday, Glenn Darden, and myself were all busy!  Quite amazing the buzz this boat has generated!  But well deserved!

Some interesting observations from our recent demos-- many of the prospects are new to the J/Family and own boats such as:  Soling (1), Colgate 26 (2), Catalina 22 (2), Catalina (25).  There are a few J/owners that are buying and one of the hot prospects currently owns a J/27.  The good news is that the J/70 seems to be growing the J/family."  For more J/70 sailing information