New York YC Annual Regatta Preview

(Newport, RI)- An impressive lineup of J sailing talent will be participating in the oldest regatta in America, with over a century and a half’s worth of history and lots of family fun. For three days, yachts sailing in IRC, J one-Design classes as well as a PHRF Cruiser-Racer division will be hosted at New York Yacht Club’s Harbour Court and will race on Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound.  The leading brand by a significant margin are the forty four J's (29%) sailing in the fleet of 153 boats.

“Newport is a great place to sail and offers a very impressive nautical town steeped in tradition,” said Terry McLaughlin, the Canadian Olympic silver medalist, J/24 Canadian Champion, current J/105 owner and former America’s Cup skipper who will be at the helm of John Hele’s 42 footer (himself a past J/24 Canadian champion). “As well, the New York Yacht Club always does a bang-up job on and off the water. The event has a long history and a lot of competitive classes, so it attracts a wide range of boats and people. I’m a great proponent of one-design racing, because I like to cross the finish line and know immediately how we did,” said McLaughlin.  McLaughlin & Hele and the rest of the fleet have been invited to kick off the event on Friday, June 14 with a separately scored 21nm Around the Island Race. The circumnavigation of Jamestown remains a favorite among racing sailors visiting Newport, and at stake in the IRC division is a Rolex Submariner watch, which will be presented to the overall winner during that evening’s festivities at Harbour Court.

Fielding ten boats as the largest J one-design class are the J/70s.  Included is St Pete NOOD Champion Joel Ronning sailing CATAPULT from Minneapolis, MN and Charleston Race Week's Corinthian Class winners Heather Gregg-Earl & Joe Bardenheier's MUSE from Boston, MA.  Several new teams are participating in their first major J/70 regatta, including Jen Wulff's JOINT CUSTODY, Morgan Paxhia's PENNY PINCHER, Amory Loring's RASCAL and Nick Johnstone on USA 308.  Look for the family team of Mom, Dad and the two kids having fun on the Flack's TORQEEDO!  For more New York YC Annual Regatta sailing information

Captain Jack Sparrow Defends J/70 Speedster Sailboat!

(Sanctuary Cove, Australia)- "Avast ye' matey's"!  The Honourable Captain Jack Sparrow graciously looks after the J/70 at the Sanctuary Cove Boat Show in Australia.  Jack's doing a great job protecting the J/70 from pirates of all shapes and sizes that are invading from the islands and beaches nearby!

As reported by Sandra Entwistle at the J/Australia dealership, "we had a great time at the Sanctuary Cove Boat Show and had an awesome response to the J/70.  Here's a photo of ‘Captain Jack Sparrow’ in front of the J/70.  A very entertaining guy!"

For more J/70 sailing information in Australia, please contact Yachtspot at Ph +612 9449 4976, info@yachtspot.com.au or on http://www.yachtspot.com.au

J/70 Sailors Love Southern Bay Week

(Hampton, VA)- One of the highlights of the southern Chesapeake Bay racing season is the Southern Bay Race Week hosted by Hampton Yacht Club.  The event actually starts with the annual "feeder race" from Annapolis, the "Down the Bay Race".  After the racers have recuperated from their blast down the Chesapeake, the Hampton YC plays host to an amazing regatta that is loaded with an enormous amount of social activities and festivities for the next four days straight!  Great bands, great food and simply fabulous Southern hospitality.  No wonder its popular for "those in the know" in the mid-Atlantic region.

For their debut event, the J/70s had a good turnout for Southern Bay.  In the end, it was evident the teams were all on an enormous learning curve as some boats that did well in the beginning soon found themselves on a slippery slope trying to cope with others who were learning how to go faster and apply better tactics upwind and, especially, downwind. Locals Ron Thompson and crew started strongly but struggled later in the regatta.  Their 1-1-2-1-4-1-3 for 13 pts sealed the deal to win the J/70s.  The Kimbrough boys on NOSTALGIA sailed well and their 3-4-1-3-3-2-1 for 17 pts was good enough to take a comfortable second overall.  Third was John Hanna sailing VORTEX Racing, beating on a tie-breaker their friend Basil Rowland sailing GETMYBOAT.COM.   For more Southern Bay Race Week sailing information

J/70 Fest @ Cal Race Week

(Marina del Rey, CA)- Cal Race Week continues to be a highlight for many sailing teams as more and more racers discover the pleasure of late spring sailing in Marina del Rey, with afternoon breezes in the low to mid-teens, sun and perfect temperatures for racing around the buoys.  That's what the Marina del Rey Chamber of Commerce proclaimed before everyone headed for the race course-- one where the boats are sailing in the shadows of the monstrous LAX Airport and having to sometimes suffer from  their noise abatement take-off procedures for such lilliputian jumbo jets like the Airbus 380!

Despite the noise to the south, the standard "sea breeze" blows most of the noise away as it fills in from the WNW and builds all day long, thanks to the mountain ranges to the east and massive amounts of concrete throughout the smog-ridden Los Angeles basin sucking in all the breeze.  The enormous benefit of this phenomenon is that sailors enjoy beautiful, crystal-clear, smog-free days along a somewhat picturesque coastline.

Furthermore, what many SoCal sailors have come to know, is that California Yacht Club has won US SAILING’s prestigious St. Petersburg trophy for excellence in race management three times in recent years! Multiple courses with separate start/finish lines minimize interference between boats in different classes and insure that most of your time on the water will be spent racing. No kidding, the Cal YC RC team does a fantastic job of keeping the pace rolling with fleets starting and finishing at the same time!

The weekend’s hospitality was a fitting complement to the on-the-water competition. There was entertainment both days, with hosted beverages on the docks after racing (yes, ice-cold, refreshing local micro-brewery beer served from a kegger on the dock!). Plus, it's hard to beat their no-host BBQ on Saturday and complimentary beverages with hors d’oeuvres at the trophy presentation on Sunday.

Enjoying every minute of the weekend were a small armada of J Teams enjoying the fine weather and fabulous hospitality.  While the regatta attracted 77 boats from around SoCal, ranging from Santa Barbara to the north and San Diego to the south, fully 38% of the fleet (29 boats) were J sailors racing one-design in J/70s, J/80s, J/109s, J/105s and J/24s.

For Saturday's racing, the wind started out in the NW quadrant and slowly backed to the WNW.  As a result, the old axiom of "left early, right late" never worked.  In fact, the strategy of the day was highly atypical for the area with "go West young man" being the order of the day.  Sunday's racing was quite radically different, too.  Despite filling in from the SW due to an enormous High pressure ridge, the wind never clocked (or did so rarely), so the breeze funneling down the coast had greater pressure and lifts coming from the left upwind (and, conversely, downwind).  As a result, the "south of the border" strategy appeared to be the order of the day.  Strange, that it was!

Course 2, north of the Marina del Rey jetties and halfway to the Santa Monica Pier, were the fleets of J/70s, J/80s and J/24s.  The J/70s debut in the Cal Week regatta saw good, close racing. In the end, the Jenkins/ Kownacki duo on DFZ took the crown, winning with a 2-1-1-5-1 record for 10 pts.  Starting strong but fading on the first race Sunday was Karl Pomeroy's ZERO TO 60, accumulating a 1-2-3-4-2 for 12 pts to take second. Third was Dan Gribble's GO-RILLA showing they were quick learners after a very slow Saturday, amassing scores of 5-5-2-1-4 for 17 pts to snatch third overall!  They very narrowly beat-out two of their competitors on become a nearly three-way tie for third!  Craig Tallman's JAYA won that battle for 4th while Sean O'Keefe on DECOLORES 3 for 5th.
Sailing photo credits- Bronny Daniels/ Joysailing.com   For more Cal Race Week sailing information

J/70 North American's Sold Out!

(Annapolis, MD)- Anticipation was high for the first ever J/70 North American Championship, but no one expected the overwhelming, rapid response to the opening of registration this past Monday.  In what may be a world-record for any one-design fleet (dinghy, catamaran or keelboat), the regatta reached its 90-boat entry threshold within 28 hours!!  That's stunning, it will be sailing's version of a "Woodstock rock festival" as hundreds of J sailors flock to the Chesapeake Bay in September. Hosted by the Annapolis Yacht Club and J/70 Fleet 1, the J/70 North American Championship will take place from September 26-28, 2013. The list of sailors participating is simply astounding, with many World, North American and European champions from dozens of classes participating.

Regatta registration opened on Monday, June 3 at 9:30 am ET, and J/70 sailors from across North America flooded the event website until the 90-boat limit was achieved around 12:30 pm ET on Tuesday, June 4.  “In 35 years of sailing, I’ve never seen anything close to this,” exclaimed J/70 Class President Joe Colling of Ohio! “Watching the registration all day and seeing those numbers keep climbing demonstrates the unbelievable enthusiasm for the J/70. It’s already an epic event!”

Event organizers limited entries to 90 boats to ensure the highest level of race management and onsite logistics. Competitors may still sign-up and be placed on a wait list.

If you have any questions, you can contact event co-chairs Kathy Parks (kathyparks10@gmail.com/ ph# 443-386-9057) or Will Keyworth (will@sales.northsails.com/ ph# 410-269-5662). Any questions about Annapolis YC should be directed to Regatta Manager Linda Ambrose (lambrose@annapolisyc.org/ ph# 410-263-9147 x106).  Sailing photo credit- Onne Vanderwal.  For more J/70 North Americans sailing information

J/70 SPITFIRE Dominates Round Island Sportboats!

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- Saturday 1st of June was certainly a day to remember, a day of highs, and more highs and, it was a day for Round the Island Race records to tumble.  It was the day when Great Britain's most successful Olympic sailor, Sir Ben Ainslie (past J/24, J/80 and J/109 sailor/tactician) and his all-British crew aboard JP Morgan BAR, trounced the existing Round the Island Race multihull record, held for 12 years, by an impressive 16 minutes.  Equalling this awesome, impressive feat was Simon Ling's team aboard the J/70 SPITFIRE, just blowing away their 15 boat Sportboat Class by 15 minutes on corrected time and were declared winner of the prestigious Sir Edward Heath Trophy (named after a former British Prime Minister who dearly loved sailing).

As dawn broke over the Solent, a weak weather front was clearing away to the east, leaving clear skies and a northerly airflow in its wake. The wind strength peaked at 17-22 knots as the front passed over, reducing to 13-17 knots for the first starters. It was clear it was going to be a day to break records for all kinds of boats, especially with flat water and a good wind angle on every leg of the course.  A critical turning point in the race, St Catherine's Point, had a comfortable 15 kts with occasional gusts to 20-25 kts to make for fast surfing or planing for the lighter boats. It was nearly idyllic sailing conditions for the massive 1,500 boat fleet. However, by the time Simon Ling’s J/70 SPITFIRE, the leading sportsboat, was approaching Bembridge Ledge at 1030 hrs there were holes appearing in the breeze, with just 5-6 knots reported in places. Otherwise, conditions remain glorious on the water, with almost unbroken sun now warming the 15,000 sailors after a cold start to the day.

The fourteen boat IRC Sportsboat class saw very, very fast sailing.  While Ling's J/70 SPITFIRE dominated overall, what's important to note is that they beat a Melges 32 by 15 minutes on corrected time and a pro-sailed Bavaria B-One by over half an hour elapsed-- that's quite a feat! Next up were a string of Royal Yacht Squadron/ Royal Thames YC J/80 one-designs with ROYAL 1 taking 4th, ROYAL 5 in 6th, ROYAL 2 in 7th and ROYAL 3 in 9th.   Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth @ PWPictures.com.  For more Round The Island Race sailing information

A Women's View Sailing the J/70

(Annapolis, MD)- We asked Kathy Parks, proud owner of the J/70 SUNDOG from Annapolis, Maryland to offer her views on what it's like to sail the J/70.  Here's her commentary:

"I think it all started with the Rolex Women's International Keelboat Regatta in Annapolis in 2001.  I sailed all season with a friend on her J/22 in preparation for the big event in September.  Shortly after that regatta I realized I was hooked on big fleet one design racing and my husband suggested we buy a J/22.  I raced it for 12 years including five more Rolex's, two world championships and numerous North American Championships.  My husband, Paul, a great sailor in his own right has been a wonderful ground support for my sailing adventures.

Last spring I caught sight of the J/70 in the parking lot at Charleston Race Week and sailing around the harbor.  I began daydreaming about the sport boat with the asymmetrical spinnaker.  I had crewed for my husband on numerous sport boats we owned over the years but I was concerned that they would be too much boat for me.  The J/70 seemed to be a great option-- speed, ease of handling yet more stability than usual in a sport boat.   And, I loved the idea of sailing in a brand new fleet.  The next thing I knew I was ordering a J/70 and was asked if I needed it by Key West Race Week.  Guessing that it might mean I would get one sooner, I committed to KWRW which was a blast and provided a fast start to my learning curve.

I guess because I started out racing in a Women's Regatta I just kept on racing mostly with women over the years.  Every once in awhile we'd fit a guy in without going over the weight limit on the J22 but typically I raced with four women.  Now, the J/70 is "not your father's Chevrolet" and with no weight limit it requires bigger people.  In Charleston I raced with my good friend Nancy Haberland who has been generous in assisting me in learning the boat and getting up to speed.  Nancy is a former Olympic sailor and Offshore Coach at the Naval Academy and without her help I would have been overwhelmed.  In addition I had Regan Weaver and Lisa Simpkins, two wonderful sailors who have raced with me for years.  All three of my crew are fit, strong and competitive athletes (think "Triathlons").  They inspire me and I work out twice a week with a trainer at the gym just to keep up with them.

We showed up at Charleston Race week weighing a scant 565 pounds and hoping for light winds.  In retrospect, it just doesn't work in heavy winds like we had.  My crew handled the boat beautifully and we had literally no problems when others were crashing, losing chutes, rounding up, etc.  Their strength, fitness and sailing talent was impressive throughout the regatta.  The discouraging thing is that you just can't compete without more weight.  Since my women crew are not interested in gaining 50 pounds each it was easy to conclude that I need to get some big guys on the boat.

Fortunately with such a fun boat as the J/70 it's suddenly easy to find crew!  So, I've been adding one or two guys to the mix and we are all enjoying it.  My husband has encouraged me to increase my racing to take my sailing to a new level.  That is easy to do in Annapolis.  I'm racing Wednesday nights with Annapolis Yacht Club and Thursday nights with J/World plus the weekend regattas which come fast and furious.  With over 20 J/70's in Annapolis there are plenty of activities and lots of room for additional crew to fill out the schedule.

What I like the most about the J/70 is how well she handles in heavy air.  In Annapolis we typically have lighter air during the summer so I never really got comfortable sailing my J/22 in big wind.  This year between Key West, Charleston and some local heavy wind regattas I've had more experience than ever and the boat does amazingly well.  For instance, one day at Key West  before the first race we put that chute up and flew down the course in the heaviest air I had experienced under spinnaker.  It was easy to control the boat and I felt both comfortable and exhilarated.

The J/70 is attracting lots of women skippers and one day there will surely be a women's championship regatta held in J/70's.  Until then I plan to add big guys along with my women crew and I'm finding it's really fun!"

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 North Americans Update

(Annapolis, MD)-  The inaugural J/70 North American Championship will be hosted by Annapolis Yacht Club from September 25th to 28th, 2013. The Notice of Race is available at the regatta website- http://www.j70nac.com. At this time, interest is so high that it looks like nearly 100 boats could be attending the regatta.  However, because of space constraints and basic regatta management, registration will be limited to the first 90 boats that register (first-come, first-served).

Registration will open on June 1, 2013. If you have any questions, you can contact event co-chairs Kathy Parks (kathyparks10@gmail.com/ ph# 443-386-9057) or Will Keyworth (will@sales.northsails.com/ ph# 410-269-5662). Any questions about Annapolis YC should be directed to Regatta Manager Linda Ambrose (lambrose@annapolisyc.org/ ph# 410-263-9147 x106).  Sailing photo credit- Onne Vanderwal.  For more J/70 North Americans sailing information

Round the Island Race Preview

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- Hold on to your hats, bloomers and knickers!  This coming weekend the annual JP Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race, organized by the Island Sailing Club is taking place.  The one-day yacht race around the Isle of Wight, an island situated off the south coast of England, attracts over 1,700 boats and around 16,000 sailors--  making it one of the largest yacht races in the world and the fourth largest participation sporting event in the United Kingdom after the London Marathon and the Great North & South Runs (in other words, more sailors participate than any of the famous Harrod's department store sales in downtown London!).

Competitors come from all over the United Kingdom, other parts of Europe and as far away as America to sail the 50nm course round the Isle of Wight. Starting on the famous Royal Yacht Squadron line in Cowes, the fleet races "westabout" to The Needles, round St Catherine's Point and Bembridge Ledge buoy and back into the Solent to the finish line at Cowes.

Since 1990, the J's have always been factor in this famous race, often winning class or overall.  It attracts the famous and not so famous and that's what's so fun about sailing the original "100 Guinea Cup" race course (e.g. the original infamous regatta where the yacht AMERICA "stole" the silver cup, took it home and renamed it the "America's Cup"-- using an entirely professional crew of sailors-- as our English sailing friends might say, "that's not cricket!").

The fourteen boat IRC Sportsboat class has two J/70s and six J/80s sailing, all vying for "max speed, terminal velocity" on the largest breaking comber off the infamous St Catherine's Point bell. 

Good luck to all!  Fair winds, clear skies and fair tide!  For more Round The Island Race sailing information