Loos Wins Cooling Down Regatta

JAMAICAS KRONJUWEL Wins J/22 Euro-League
(Braassermermeer, Netherlands)- Fourteen teams gathered for the weekend of sailing that constitutes one of the end of the season regattas for the Benelux J/22 sailing circuit.

The fleet was greeted on Saturday with 2-4 m/sec winds and, somewhat prophetically, it started to rain at the start line on the Braassemermeer. On Saturday the wind was moderate and very shifty.  Sunday dawned no better.  Sunday it was pretty uncomfortable outside. Said Thomas Hanf, "instead of using the alarm, we were awakened by pounding rain on the roof of our VW bus."  Such was the weekend for the real "Cooling Down Regatta".

After eight races in total, the final victory went to the VERFPAGINA.NL Team led by Gaston Loos and his team with an amazing tally of two 4ths and six consecutive 1sts for total of 14 pts.  A dominating performance it was. However, the battle for the balance of the podium was anything but simple exercise of sailing around the course.  The next three boats were all essentially tied going into the last race!  For each start, for every mark-rounding, for every tack, set and gybe, the three teams all fought "tooth & nail" to scratch-out the best possible finish every race.  In the end, second was the team of Reinhold Gross with his German team aboard JAMAICAS KRONJUWEL with a steady scoreline of 7-7-3-3-2-3-4-3 for 32 points, just one point ahead of his rivals.  Third and fourth were determined on a tie-breaker by two Benelux teams.  Taking third place was Jean-Michel Lautier and his team with a 1-3-2-4-5-8-2-8 for 33 pts.  At the short-end of that stick was Ivo Jeukens taking fourth with a 2-1-5-2-6-5-8-4 for 33 pts.  Rounding out the top five was Haka with 46 pts.

As a result of this regatta, perhaps the most significant victory went to Reinhold Gross and crew on JAMAICAS KRONJUWEL, taking the overall 2012 Euro-League for the J/22s in Europe.  Congratulations to the Jamaica-loving crew led by Reinhold!  Perhaps an invitation to the "real" Jamaica to sail off Montego Bay is on order for this crew!  For more J/22 Cooling Down and Euro-League sailing information

French Team Rules J/22 Worlds

Netherlands & Cayman Islands Strong Factors
(Le Crouesty, France)- With a dominating nine first-place tallies in 11 races, Jean Queveau of France won the 2012 J/22 World Championship at Crouesty Arzon Yacht Club in Brittany, France. Held from June 26-29, team Julie discarded a 14 and kept a sixth for a total of just 15 overall points. Racing with Queveau were Pierre Laouenan, Damien Iehl and Pierre Le Clainche. Two Netherlands teams followed in second and third—Wouter Kollmann with 33 points and Ivo Kok with 35.

Teams from France, The Netherlands, Germany and the Cayman Islands participated in the championship, which featured 24 boats. Next year, the J/22 will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a World Championship in the birthplace of the boat, Newport, Rhode Island, from October 1-5, 2013.

The top five in the event were 1st Jean Queveau (France) - 15 points, 2nd Wouter Kollmann (Netherlands) - 33 points, 3rd Ivo Kok (Netherlands) - 35 points, 4th Mike Farrington (Cayman Islands) - 50 points and 5th Serge Raphalen (France) - 80 points.   For more J/22 Worlds sailing information  For J/22 Worlds sailing photos- Bernard Andre on Google/Picasa

J/22 Worlds Preview

(Le Crouesty, France)- With twenty-six teams attending from Netherlands, Germany, France and the Cayman Islands and, for the first time, no Americans sailing, the J/22 Worlds were certain to establish new leaders on the world stage.  Sailing in the gorgeous, famous waters off Le Crouesty, France and hosted by the extraordinary YC Crouesty-Arzon, the sailors are certain to be in for a treat given the fact the weather cooperates for some of the best French sailing anywhere.

From the Netherlands teams, certain to be a factor in the top results will be Wouter Kollman's HENRI LLOYD team.  Sailing well for the French host teams have been JULIE sailed by Jean Queveau, Clair Pouteua's SOFFE and Bernard Andre's MAJIC.  The German teams have been sailing faster, consistently and Christian Rieckborn's JOLLY JUMPER and Rheinhold Gross's JAMAICA's KRONJUWEL 22KARAT will be a factor in the competition.  A surprise factor may be the sole Cayman Islands team sailed by Mike Farrington on JUST LEAVING, recent champions in their local waters.   For more J/22 Worlds sailing information

J/111 Wins North Sea Regatta

(Scheveningen, Netherlands)- The Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta in Scheveningen had a brilliant start on Friday, May 25 under a clear blue sky with more than 250 yachts ready to go racing. The sailing conditions were perfect, although the strong, gusty northeasterly played many tricks on the sailors. With gusts up to 27 knots, there was a lot of damage to several boats-- sails torn, genakers and spinnakers blown out, big shots broke booms and blocks ripped off decks!  Yes, a lot of carnage on day one, but a lot of fun sailing for those who could handle the spectacular, sunny conditions.  However, the perfect conditions persisted for just one more day, with the last day being "fogged out" with little wind for any of the fleets.  In the end, John Van der Starre's J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER dominated IRC 2/3 Class.  In the J/22s, it was Kolleman Wouter's team that ran away with top honors.  And, in the J/24 class it was Erik Jeuring's team that also ran away with the gold.

For the first day on the IRC 2/3 course, the gang on the J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER made it known they were going to be a factor in their twenty-one boat class, by far the largest and most competitive offshore class at the North Sea Regatta.  XCENTRIC's skipper John Van der Starre immediately led the team to two bullets today. Co-captain Robin Verhoef said, "We had some dangerous situations at times.  We hit 13-15 kts at times as we simply flew away from the rest of our fleet.  We practiced a lot in April at the SPI Ouest Regatta in La Trinite-sur-Mer and learned a lot. There we sailed one-design class and we learned how to be more competitive and much faster sailing against other J/111s.  We discovered the very subtle differences, e.g. in the settings of the mast and the boat and sails to extract maximum performance.  It helped us a lot!"

For the J/22 class, it was a day with more and less wind pressure across the course. In a field of eleven J/22's, Kolleman Wouter's team ran the table, getting two first places.  It was difficult sailing, especially because sometimes the waves came from all sides. "It was a sloshing wave," says Kolleman. "This increased the difficulty. We do like a lot of wind, so we had no problems. But because he always had massive changes in wind strength, you had a lot of pressure and then suddenly no pressure. Usually we sail on inland lakes, but we are quite used to power sailing."

After the first day of sailing, it was quite the festive closing.  Entertaining musical performances by the bands "Kissing the Girl" and the "Crazy Pianos" with great spinning of disks by "DJ Ruben" later in the evening.  The sailors played late into the night enjoying the beautiful weather and a festive atmosphere.

The second day of inshore races were characterized by nearly perfect sailing conditions.  There was less wind than the day before, so there was less damages too! During the day the wind averaged 5-15 kts and was very shifty.  For the offshore classes, the second day was traditionally an offshore course around the buoys.  But, with lighter wind conditions that could die-off, the RC decided to hold only inshore races around the buoys.

For IRC 2/3, the J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER continued to dominate their class.  And in the one-designs, the J/22s saw Wouter's J/22 team rattle off a few more firsts to also consolidate their lead.  And, in the J/24 class, Erik Jeuring also posted some more firsts to extend their lead in their fleet.

One of the highlights of the second day was the J-Class RAINBOW visiting Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta.  This forty-meter classic sloop went sailing Sunday, May 27th with guests from the Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta.

On the final day of sailing, the shores were dense with fog hanging over the Hague without a breath of wind, forcing the RC to cancel sailing for the day.  As a result, the regata results for the first two days that included seven races counted for the final results.  Congratulations go out to the J/22 team of Wouter and the J/24 team of Jeuring for near perfect scores, winning their classes by significant margins.  Congratulations also go out to a phenomenal performance by the J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER team led by John Van de Starre and Robin Verhoef, winning the most competitive IRC division by a whopping 10.5 points, counting five 1sts in their scoreline.  Kudos also to the J/109 CAPTAIN JACK sailed by Bert Visser.  For more North Sea Regatta sailing information

North Sea Regatta Sailing Preview

(The Hague, Netherlands)- Many teams are entered in the upcoming Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta in The Hague, The Netherlands, which starts next week with the "Vuurschepen Race". About 400 yachts will be participating in the three separate events of the Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta.

On Tuesday May 15th the Vuurschepen Race from Scheveningen to Harwich, England will start at 1900 hours. This offshore race of 110 nautical miles is the opening race of the week-long event. The route across the North Sea has been slightly modified to include sailing away (out and around) from the enormous windmill farms off the English coast.  After the finish, the sailors will enjoy a day of rest in Harwich, hosted by the Royal Harwich Yacht Club in Woolverstone. On Ascension Day the sailors enjoy lunch in the pub often used by ancient smugglers along the coast- The "Butt and Oyster" at Pin Mill.  After much camaraderie and reveling in past sea stories, the sailors will then hop aboard again and go back across "La Manche" (the Channel) in the RORC North Sea Race back to Holland on Friday May 18th. One of The Netherlands top offshore sailors, John van de Starre, will be sailing the J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER in both events in IRC2 Class.

In the Pentecost weekend from May 25th to 28th 2012 more than 400 teams will race just of the coast of Scheveningen. Different classes will attend, including a good field of J/22s and J/24s as well as an IRC Class for the North Sea Regatta.  In IRC will be the J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER participating in the third portion of the event.   For more Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta sailing information

J/22s Love North Sea Regatta

(The Hague, The Netherlands)- Popular with the German and Netherlands J/22 teams and highlight of the summer sailing season is the Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta.  It's a huge event and popular with one-design sailors throughout Europe.  Boats range from Lasers and 420s and 49ers to Tornados and F-18s to large IRC offshore racer-cruisers.

The J/22s showed up in force with sixteen boats participating this year in reasonably nice sailing conditions.  This year there was a dominating performance registered by Ron Veraar on NDED 1450.  Ron's team simply sailed away from the competition after getting two early bad races, a 6th and an OCS in race 3.  Nevertheless, Veraar ended up with a nine race record of 2-6-ocs-1-2-1-1-1-2 for 10 pts (two toss races).  Second was Eelco Blok,  although winning after the first day of racing, sailed a very consistent series with a 1-ocs-1-4-1-2-2-3-6 for 14 pts.   Third was Menno Bron who lost a tie-breaker with Blok, sailing to a 5-1-2-2-3-3-3-2-1 for 14 pts, without toss races, Menno easily had won the regatta due to getting no OCS's and having to only toss a 5th and a 3rd!    For more J/22 Delta-Lloyd North Sea Regatta sailing information

  

Trophee Banque Populaire Atlantique III- J/22 Sailing France

J/22s Having Fun in France
(Nantes, France)- The weekend started out nicely with a good wind from the ENE, plenty of sun and a lot of enthusiasm from the fleet to go racing.  As anticipated, it was going to be a battle between the EUROPEAN HOMES and SOFFE.  But the weather, the crazy conditions and the other teams had something to say about how this would all end up for the regatta's top positions.

After facing challenging sailing conditions all weekend, it was the team of Bernard Andre, Pascale Andre and Remi Nobileau aboard MAJIC that triumphed against the leading teams with a strong series of 1-2-11 to win with a high point score of 31.75 points.  Second was the team led by Emmanuel Bollore on DELFINA with a 2-4-5-2 for 23 points on high point.  Third was SOFFE sailed by Claire Pouteau with a strong record of 5-1-2-6 and just missing second place by 3/4 point, getting 22.25 points overall.  Antoine Royne and crew aboard EUROPEAN HOMES had to settle for fourth place with a 4-3-4-3 record for 22 points.  Imagine that, a 2nd in the last race for Antoine and crew on EUROPEAN HOMES may have netted them at least a 2nd place!   

Topsport Flanders Regatta Invites All J/One-Designs

J/22s, J/24s, J80s Invited
(Nieuwpoort, Belgium)- Every year the week of racing off Nieuwpoort brings great camaraderie and excellent competition. This year, the Topsport Flanders Week organizers are extending invitations to participate to all J/22, J/24 and J/80 sailors who wish to avail themselves to wonderful Belgian hospitality.  The regatta runs from July 2nd to 6th.  If you wish to participate in the competition, you can find all information here- http://www.nieuwpoortweek.be   

J/22 Winter Series- The Netherlands

30 Boats Sailing Faster & Faster!
(The Hague, The Netherlands)- After a successful New Year reception last Friday, the J/22 fleet gather at their favorite place along the sea- "@ Sea"- the famous drink/ eat spot during the J/22 World Cup last summer.  Later in the day, with no breeze, 28 degrees, it was a bit dark, cold and bleak in the harbor of Scheveningen. So, everyone stayed inside for nibbles, drinks and delicious food. However, on Sunday it was time for another one of the Winter Series races.  The weather was a lot better and it was fully enjoyed by all.  As for the results, Eelco Blok on TEAM HH KESBEKE is leading with a 2-3-1-3 followed in second by Ronald Veraar sailing SIKA/ RHA MOJO with a 1-6-2-4. Third is Thomas Allart on SAILING SERVICE with a 12-1-3-2, rapidly climbing up the ladder!  Lying fourth is Menno Bron on STRIPES with an 8-7-4-1 and rounding out the top five is Team Broach on HAPPY SKY with a 5-11-6-5.

For next weekend, don't forget that on Saturday, February 12th there will be J/22 Winter Training run by Rick Boyer Sand.  If you want to participate email to treasurer@j22.nl your name and sail number and the course(s) you want to join. The courses start at 10.00am at the bar in the clubhouse. Make sure your boat is rigged and ready to roll with you on it! The training will be over around 15.30pm so you're showing up in time back to the GMA.  Learn more about J/22 Winter Training and Sailing in The Netherlands.   

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.
  

J/22 Travemunder Woch Regatta

JABBADABBADOO Wins The Party!

(Travemunder, Germany)- in the first weekend of August, the J/22 German class hosted their renowned Travemunder Woche Party--- er, sailing regatta.  Here's an amusing story from Team JABBADABBADOO that hail from the Netherlands J/22 fleet, daring to venture across the border, trailer their boat after the J/22 Worlds to parts unknown up north where different tribes of J/22 sailors lurk, awaiting in the shallows to launch an ambush on unsuspecting sailors who haven't cracked a smile in weeks (if not years!).  Here's JABBADABBADOO's report-

"From all the German J/22 sailors, we had heard that we had to go to the Travemunder Woche to party and sail this huge event. So nicely convinced by them, we packed our JABBADABBADOO! and went to Germany!

We even convinced our favorite German sailor to join us (and even more important) to train us- "Welcome on board of the JABBADABBADOO Mssr. Falko! And training we needed, from rigging to trimming to maneuvers.

The first day brought wind, a lot of wind-- our cowboy attitude in hoisting the spinnaker was instantly punished-- we broached big-time, and we went swimming (a complete Stan and half a Nadine), "J down for the count", we're in the water, but Falko was already at the spinnaker halyard, rescuing us, our J/22 and keeping our third place in the race! Lessons learned-- release the spinnaker, don't panic, and enjoy the ride, the J will be up in 20 seconds!

With a third and a ninth place we were completely happy with that day, having already exceeded all our expectations. Time to celebrate with all the other J sailors on board the beautiful four-masted ship PASSAT and later for cocktails and music to the Travemunder Party (all promises proved true-- it is an excellent place to sail AND to party)!

Two more days ahead and we started the second day again with more wind than predicted (but thankfully a bit less than the day before). After a 5th place (involving some more swimming crew-members) we went on with a steep learning curve, leading to an incredible (for us) second and first place in our J/22.

We celebrated this in all forms at the end of this day with a BBQ organised by the class association (yummmy, such nice Bratwurste) and well deserved German beer!

The third racing day brought no wind and we could just enjoy the sail (and tow back).

It was such a great weekend, a superb party, a fantastic sail and even more important great company on our boat, but also on shore with all the other J/22 sailors!

And we know that we have so much to "thank" Falko who coached us perfectly and proved to us that our boat can be fast and point! The race results were great, but the learning curve thanks to Falko's training was much more important to us. Thank you!"  Most respectfully, Team JABBADABBADOO- Nadine Fritz, Audrey Paterson, Stan Heltzel und Falko Braun- pictured here.  Team website- http://jabbadabbadoo.eu/   For more Travemunde Woch Regatta sailing information.
  

Dutch Sweep J/22 Worlds

Bol's Quantum Racing Holland Is Champion

(The Hague, Holland- July 5)-  Yesterday the Henri Lloyd J/22 Worlds The Hague came to an end. Only 1 missed race on the last day because of light winds on Saturday morning. It was a beautiful series with a happy champion.  Nic Bol and his crew Dennis Goethart, Janneke Hin and Marije Kampen of the Quantum Racing team had a great series. Here is their story about the last race day:

"After four days of excellent racing, close competition and no single race behind schedule, Saturday morning turned out to be different. With two more races to go, the starting vessel kept us in the harbour after reporting zero knots of wind on the North Sea. When the first breeze appeared, the fleet was towed out the harbour and the committee began the starting sequence for race 13 as soon as possible. For us, leading number two in the fleet by only three points, the nerves began to grow. Starting in these light conditions was for sure the least wanted option. No way we could control anyone in the race, we just had to sail our own and be positive we would end it well.

With the wind dying within ten minutes before the start, the race committee called the race off to wait for better wind. And it came. About 8-9 knots of breeze helped us through the last and decisive race of the Henri Lloyd J22 Worlds 2010. Ever since we were black flagged on the first day of the championships, we held back on the starting line avoiding any risk. But today, with our opponents so close behind us, we had to do a little bit more. Our margin was a top 13 finish and no more than two places behind the team of Eelco Blok, who was currently ranked 2nd. We decided to put pressure on his team and start close to him so we would start the race in the same area. The teams of John den Engelsman (3rd) and Ronald Veraar (4th), as well as Eelco's team all chose the left side of the starting line. With the current coming from the right, we stayed above the others and we could see in the race how rich the right people got and how poor the boats on the left. This was also due to a shift to the right. We stayed sort of in the middle, stealing the goodies from the right but for sure stay in close contact to the left side of the course where our opponents were. At the top mark we were placed 13th with only the team of John den Engelsman three boats ahead of us. We were in control of the title, though on the very edge. We started focussing more on our own race and gained little by little. We came in 8th at the second top mark and we only had a reach towards the finish line ahead of us because of the strong current coming form the side. YES! YES! YES! We started breathing again and immediately after the finish Nic jumped overboard, celebrating his long wished J/22 world title.

Looking back, we had a terrific week of sailing with 13 beautiful races. We would like to thank the race committee, the J/22 organization and J/22 class for their perfect job. As for us, we have enjoyed the races very much. They were both exciting and challenging due to ever changing conditions and a great competitors fleet. Last but not least, congratulations to the team of Michel Miltenburg who won the final race."

Second overall was Eelco Blok sailing TEAM KESBEKE with 56 points and third overall was John den Engelsman sailing HENRI LLOYD with 56 points.  Top French boat was Patrick Huet sailing EUROPEAN HOMES in 19th and top German boat was Christian Rieckborn sailing JOLLY JUMPER to 21st overall.    For J/22 Worlds sailing results       Sailing Photo credits: De Venster