Cayman Islands J/22 Governors Cup

JUST LEAVING Left Them Behind!

(Cayman Island, Sometime Last Week)- Yes, the "island groove" and ethos is still alive and well with our dear friends down in the Caribbean and those in the same friendly latitudes.  Remember that feature awhile back in J/News about our friends in the Cayman Islands deciding that sailing was "important"?  That is was good for families, friends and strangers?  That it would promote fun, camaraderie and a greater appreciation for being outdoors and enjoying our little lifeboat called "Planet Earth"??

Well, the gang down in The Caymans are slowly (emphasis, slowly), winding up their winter sailing season while the poor sods up in The North (as opposed to The Down Under) are "Cooling Down".  The season starts with The Governors Cup.

This year, the gang aboard JUST LEAVING simply just left The Opposition behind in The 2010 J22 Governor's Cup.  The Event was sailed in fairly light conditions over two days, with a total of seven races sailed in the mind-numbingly beautiful clear blue waters and steady as-a-rock 15-20 knot trade wind breezes.

With the experienced crew of Mike Farrington on helm, ably supported by Matt Diaz and Sam Dawson, their JUST LEAVING Team have dominated the fleet of late.  Nevertheless, they were given a good challenge by Nick Taylor driving MOONSHINE in Commodore Andrew Moon's absence (gone AWOL making moonshine?).  Giving them all a run for their money was Peter Cunningham's SUNSHINE taking third.  Oh dear, could it be that someone was JUST LEAVING town in the SUNSHINE because one was making MOONSHINE?  Hope not.   For more Cayman Islands J/22 sailing information.  

J/22 The Netherlands Cooling Down!

GILL Girls Finish Third- Yippee!

(The Hague, The Netherlands)- The J/22 center of the universe.  The Chairman's Word.  The Place To Be-- it's called The Hague.  Catch my drift?  Seems The Brassermeer is The Locus of The J/22s on The Planet Europa.  Here's The Chairman's Word from The High above The Hague:

"You sometimes hear people say that time flies ... It's already October and that means that the water is 'cooling down', ie. low temperatures, short days, cold water, the J-22 fleet, too, after a busy and competitive season to prepare for the Brassermeer.

A busy and competitive season that was it. For those who seem to forget, all of course started this year with the team Braassem Kesbeke (Ned 1609) as the winner. After the fleet was well represented in Stellendam with Team Henri Lloyd (Ger 1513) as the winner. Everybody was aware that hereafter you can not just be champion. Resulting in more J-22 teams at the start in Medemblik and more teams soon after the launch on the North Sea Regatta. Where Team Henri Lloyd (Ger 1513) again sailed to victory. This team would then be the new World Champion?

There were training at weekends and even ordered a Warming Up Worlds sailed so everyone could get used to the notorious North Sea. Finally it was the day of the World Cup.  Many sailors appeared to be well matched, but there was only a very deserving winner of-- Quantum Racing Team (Ned 1364).

Most teams had just sailed enough but this was definitely not the case at all. A few weeks later there was a thrilling battle between Team Henri Lloyd (1591) and Team Patron (1449) in Travemunde, Germany.

Team Kesbeke (1609) found that the boat had been dry long enough and dropped again in Muiden that she wanted to become Dutch champion. Two weeks later the big day-- the next showdown. Amid all the Olympic classes also were the J-22's to decide who was going to be Dutch champion. Until the finish it was really exciting, but team Quantum Racing (1364) became Dutch Champion.

Oh, forgot.  The "Cooling Down" of The Netherlands, The J/22 Fleet. The End Of The World, Cup season that is, was a real sailing spectacle.

There was already quite a breeze for the start of the regatta. By the time Maria and her team shot away from the starting line in a 25 knot breeze, it was clear the spinnaker laps were going to be very short. The cheers of many a boat was heard clearly across the course.

After the first race the wind increased even more. There was still waiting for a while, but when 38 knots was measured everyone was sent to the port. After a few hours of waiting, a lot of chocolate and pea soup, the wind had fallen far enough for another 2 races to start. After three races, the top team was Kesbeke NED 1609 with 3 points.

The next morning was a sunny autumn morning- picture perfect!  The wind was making us all a bit nervous, it was certainly not above 10 knots. Fortunately, the wind filled a little and we could sail three delicious races. Unfortunately, the wind began to turn somewhat in the afternoon. There was even an aborted start because the wind turned 30 degrees. Therefore, we did not manage to get in a fourth race, bummer!

With 4 first places and two second places, Team NED 1609 Kesbeke Eelco Blok, Bart Fast and Niels Block Majeure were first.  Second with 10 points were Team Sika Roy Heiner NED Academy 1450 Ronald Veraar, Robert Janssen and Joost Brouwer.   Third, with only 5 points difference were the ladies from Team NED 1141 GILL, Maria Poulie, Bregtje Lodewikes, Renske Verbeek and Leontien Benders-- gorgeous girls, right?!  Smart those girls!

And with that the 2010 season ended. It was a great year and we hope that many play our Winter Games on the Brassermeer, everyone and all teams are welcome.  Prior to the Winter Games we will be givng training on Saturday. The first will be given by Wouter Kollman. Thereafter, Rik Sand Boer for some courses.  Set the weekend of 11 and 12 December in your diary.  More later.

Looking back, it has so far been a great sailing season with great moments and winners! But looking forward, we have a lot to do!  Until next week!  The Boss- Floris Toetenel."  For more J/22 The Netherlands Sailing Information.
  

Growing Sailing at the Grass Roots- the College Edition

(Vallejo, CA)- This fall J sailors at the college level have had their fair share of fun in the sun, sailing everything from J/22s to J/44s.  At one end of the scale, the Storm Trysail Club's Big Boat Series on Long Island Sound had an enormous turn-out with dozens of college teams vying for glory on what appears to be the college-version of J/Fest.  And, about the same time, another group were dueling for big boat supremacy on the US Navy Academy 44 footers to qualify for the Student Yachting World Cup in France!  Busy week! Stories below.

What could be cooler than for a little maritime academy that use their fleet of six J/22s and a J/105 to train for keelboat events in the battle-hardened college sailing circuit and win the "big one"- the Kennedy Cup sailed on 44 footers at the US Navy Academy in Annapolis, MD.  Then, better yet, in a real, heart-warming "David and Goliath" story, that same team qualifies to sail in the 30th annual Student Yachting World Cup in La Rochelle, France from October 24th to 29th!  Yes, hopes and dreams do come true sometimes.  The California Maritime Academy in Vallejo, CA with an enrollment of about 850 students, will be by far the smallest school among the 11 international universities entered from the Canada, England, Ireland, France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Japan.

Cal Maritime Sailing Director Susan "Charlie" Arms-Cartee says she and her team don’t worry much about those figures. "We have a history of doing well against much larger competitors. We took the Kennedy Cup in the 2009 National Intercollegiate Offshore Championships last fall to win the right to compete in France, and we recently beat Navy to take our fifth Shields Trophy in seven tries at Annapolis, MD, against teams from the U.S. service and maritime academies." According to "Charlie", "we use the J/105 to help us "show the flag" in Bay Area events and regattas and means our veterans can step aboard other competitive boats on the Bay with greater confidence in their skills."

Arms Cartee says Cal Maritime’s small size can be an advantage. “Many on Team USA have sailed with each other for two and three years in a variety of boat classifications and conditions. As the first team from the West Coast to compete for the U.S. in this event in its 30-year history, we think we have some demonstrated strengths in sailing in the kind of heavier winds we’re told are the norm in late October on the Atlantic Coast of France. Many on our team are comfortable with the stronger winds we often find in northern California and especially on San Francisco Bay. But we’ve also got team members with skills in light winds, as we demonstrated with our recent Shields victory.”

Follow the adventures of Team USA at the Student Yachting World Cup.  We hope the skills learned at home along with their counterparts, many of whom have also been "schooled" on other J's, like 24s and 80s in Europe, all have fun and good sailing!  Read more about sailing the Student Yachting World Cup.  Cal Maritime TeamUSA sailing website.
  

WHITE TRASH Wins J/22 Southeast Champs

(Birmingham, AL)- The Birmingham Sailing Club held their annual Leukemia Cup Regatta and hosted the J/22 fleet for their Southeast Championship Regatta. The event was held over the weekend of September 17-19, 2010. The regatta counts for double points in the Southeast Circuit and rotates from year to year amongst  the major sailing venues of the Circuit. Previous championship regattas have been held on Percy Priest Lake-Nashville, TN, and Choctawachee Bay-Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

With double points on the line, everyone brought their “A” game. Eight J/22s were there for the racing. Three boats were local and the remaining five trailered in from Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, and Kentucky. High pressure moved in for the weekend and settled in over the area making for very light and shifty conditions. At the end of one race what had been the windward mark was now almost a perfect set for the leeward mark! In conditions like this it’s sometimes hard to remember that the only place worse to be than on your own boat trying to go forward is to be on the race committee boat trying to get in a few quality races.

When it was over, three races counted and Sean Clare sailing WHITE TRASH with crew of Doc Bellows, Ashley Sulkalski and Micah Souza (Ashley’s 6 year old son won the regatta).  Finishes were 3-1-2.  A very determined past Rolex competitor, Jennifer Grant with crew of Sam Grant  took a solid second with finishes of 2-4-1. Local knowledge paid off for Bob Blythe and crew of Rebecca Blythe and Larry VanHorne who placed third with finished of 1-5-5.  Contributed by Wayne Cassady.  For more J/22 One-design sailing info.
  

J/Fest SW Great Success

Zartler, Goethe, Flynn, Shaffer Get Straight Firsts!

(Houston, TX)- The first J/Fest Southwest took place on Galveston Bay this past weekend, hosted by Lakewood Yacht Club.  Forty boats participated ranging from the majestic J/122 GAMBLER down to fleets of J/22s, J/24s, J/80s, J/105s and J/109s!  On Saturday the fleet awoke to a beautiful sunny, crisp fall morning, with a light northerly.  By afternoon the sea breeze filled in for some great racing on Galveston Bay.  Sunday a similar scenario played out for the weather.  In short, it was amazing work by the regatta committee, led by Lakewood YC Fleet Captain, Carl Drechsel, to get off up to six races for some of the fleets on what was a beautiful weekend.  The general theme voiced by all the competitors is that the race committee’s did an outstanding job, and the racers handled themselves in a corinthian manner both days! 

In the J/22 class, Brant Koepke from Galveston Bay Cruising Association sailed RICH SKANK into first place after a slow start, garnering a 5-3-1-2-1-2-1 score to win with 10 points after seven races, one throw-out.  Second place was a duel between Pat Gibson from Houston Yacht Club sailing CRIMSON RIBBON and Casey Lambert from Lakewood Yacht Club racing OUT OF SIGHT. Pat started out strong with a 1-2 to Casey's 4-5.  But, after a tough seven races, Pat prevailed on the tie-breaker with his 1-2-4-4-3-1-4 score for 15 points.  Finishing third was Casey getting a 4-5-3-1-2-3-2 also with 15 points.

The J/24s had a strong turnout with ten boats.  Racing was close for the top five.  But getting three firsts and keeping himself out of trouble allowed Pedro Gianotti from Galveston Bay Cruising Association to race AMBASSADOR to the top of the heap with a 2-1-4-1-5-2-1 with 11 points.  The race for second and third was very tight, with the final result determined by who beat who in the last race.  Stuart Lindow sailed TROPICAL AGGRESSION into second place by just a whisker over Dov Kiviovitz's NO NAME.  Stuart's 1-6-2-3-1-6-4 record for 17 points just gave him the edge over Dov's 5-3-1-5-8-1-3 for 18 points.   Kelly Holmes placed fourth.  Kelly did a really neat thing and crewed on his boat with the University of North Texas Sailing Team.  Lots of smiles on the UNT sailors faces.

Fresh from having raced the J/80 Worlds and, most likely, still licking their wounds, was the team of Terry Flynn and Dave Whelan from Fort Worth Boat Club racing QUANTUM RACING.  That experience in Newport seemed to have sharpened their skills, winning 6 of 7 races to win by 6 points over Paul Parsons team hailing from Galveston Bay Cruising Association sailing PARSONS PROJECT.  Third was Ramon Torres' 80 PROOF from Fort Worth Boat Club another 6 points back.  What was really cool was that Kurt Vanderwall pulled his J/80 down from Dillon, Colorado to partake in the festivities.

Special J/Fest guest Rod Johnstone was brought aboard Scott Spurlin's J/105 RAGTIME-JTEEZ to have some of that special karma help them get around the course faster and smarter.  It nearly worked!  Winning the J/105s was long-time J/105 champion Bill Zartler from Lakewood Yacht Club sailing SOLARIS to straight firsts after five races!  Ouch!  Talk about a "spanking".  Even Rod J was impressed, wondering himself what special voodoo or karma was being practiced aboard the great yacht SOLARIS-- something special that's for sure!  Scott and Rod managed to sail well to finish 2nd ten points back with a 3-2-2-5-3 score.  Giving them a run for the money was Matt Arno from Fort Worth Boat Club sailing the BLUE FLASH into third with a 2-5-3-2-5 record.

The J/109s were having fun amongst themselves.  It was the HAMBURG boys using the FRENCH CONNECTION to stay out of HARMS WAY!!  Ha!  Well, nearly the case.  Albrecht Goethe's HAMBURG from Lakewood Yacht Club pretty much showed their tail feathers to the rest of the 109 class all weekend, getting straight bullets.  Second was John Mather's FRENCH CONNECTION from Galveston Bay Cruising Association and third was Mark Smith's HARMS WAY from Fort Worth Boat Club. 

Over in handicap land, the J Fleet sailed PHRF and managed to get in three races.  At the end, Doug Shaffer's well-campaigned J/122 GAMBLER from Lakewood Yacht Club managed to pull off the top of the podium finish also with straight firsts.  Just behind was Alex Ascencios' J/120 PREMIER from Lakewood Yacht Club and in third was Walter Caldwell's J/40 SHAKEN NOT STIRRED from Galveston Bay Cruising Association.

Of note was the chance for Rod Johnstone to catch up with Rita Matthews (pictured at right).  Rita, and her husband Ed, owned the first J/24 on Galveston Bay.  Over the years Rita and Ed sailed many times with Rod.  Rod took the opportunity to tell the attendee’s about that first J/24 on the bay and that “Rita was the mother of all J/Boats in Texas”.  A touching, sweet moment for all!  For more J/Fest Southwest sailing information.
  

No Saving Sailing Needed?

Try Fleets of J/22s, J/24s or J/80s

(Lake Minnetonka, MN)-  Dallas Johnson submitted a letter to Sailing World/ Scuttlebutt where he commented that while everyone is talking these days about "Saving Sailing", there are still sailing areas - such as his home waters of Lake Minnetonka - that are doing just fine.  As current Commodore of Wayzata Yacht Club, Dallas provides some insight into what’s going right on their lake in Minnesota (note- they were home to J/24 and J/22 Fleets #1).  Dallas' comments are an honest, simple and incredibly straightforward program to keep sailors coming to their programs and having FUN:

"There's no magic bullet or super genius running our programs, but there are some basics:

First, we focus on having a well rounded board of directors who are focused on our club mission statement of being "a dedicated, passionate sailboat racing club", and it's a working board where everyone is expected to be energetic and do more than contribute their opinions. They take their jobs seriously.

Second, we own our club property: year after year that Board of Directors has made the commitment to invest in our club (often against the wishes of vocal club members) and provided us with a substantial base of operations. We do not live like a bird on a wire with rented or borrowed property smiling at how little we spent to get there.

Third, we have two-tiered mooring rates. By far our biggest asset has been to provide "owner" mooring rates to boats that race at least 15 races per year. All other boats pay about double for a slip rate which is equivalent to commercial marinas on the lake. This gets rid of the dead wood.

Fourth, we got strong One-Design racing fed by handicap fleets: We love the simplicity and comradeship of one design, and we structure our fleets to have different flavors of non-competing one design fleets so that even the casual/family racer has a one design fleet to join. It's not an accident that we are home to J/24 and J/22 fleet #1.

Fifth, our great RC pays off: We spend copious amounts of money on our RC equipment and paid RC staff. They provide us with what many visitors tell me is the best staff  in the country.

Sixth, lotsa Seminars: I've lost count of how many seminars we do each year. All of them are inexpensive and mostly volunteer run.

Seventh, inexpensive Crew Membership levels help participation: All those people who don't own boats can join or club for a measly $100 per year, and it creates commitment.

Eighth, the "Crew Needing A Ride" Table gets lotsa takers: Before every race we have a table on the patio reserved for anyone who wants to pick up a ride (member or not). Excellent recruiting tool.

Ninth, Women and more women: Specifically, women sailors. We court them, encourage them, train them. Women are half the population, it's a big market, and they are really, really fun to sail with and somehow (magically) they bring in more men to the club. I am told that many clubs are not female friendly, too bad, we're having a ball!

Tenth, Free Beer: Another obvious thing. Along with free soda we provide a free keg after most races. (note: the women are not free, anything but!)

Eleventh, more kids.  Here's a simple formula.  Women + beer = kids and families. And nothing kills sailing more than an uncooperative family. So we focus very hard on trying to make our club family friendly, and we strongly support our youth sailing center and its programs.

Here are the things we don't do: We don't have a bar, a restaurant, a "model room" of our past glories, blue blazers, and anyone who suggests getting a pool is thrown off the dock. We are not a country club with a sailing program, and our lack of "ancillary revenue sources" like a bar or restaurant means that we are free to throw some great parties after the race and make everyone feel welcome.

In short, we focus our energy on providing a solid base for excellent racing programs, and we try to keep it simple, friendly, and fun.  For more on Saving Sailing, please refer to various articles at:   http://www.sailingworld.com  or  http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com