French J/22 Worlds Practice

(Nantes, France)- The French J/22 class invite all J/22 aficionados to participate in the French Open J/22 which takes place June 16-17, one week before the J/22 Worlds.  The sailing site is beautiful, an area famous for its gorgeous, seaside beauty (manors, pastures) and hosted by S.N.O Sailing Club http://www.snonantes.com.

This region of France is renown for its spas and resorts.  So, take a moment to enjoy yourself in Nantes and rejuvenate the body, spirit, soul for some good sailing in the following week!  Check out the Nantes Tourism site at- http://en.nantes-tourisme.com/discover-3113.html or go a step ahead and join the place where the J/22 Worlds will take place and enjoy the wonderful seaside- http://www.crouesty.co.uk.

And, speaking of J/22 Worlds, the Netherlands J/22 fleet is getting busy!  Benelux sailors are working hard with less than two months to go to the worlds to get into full training to bring the J/22 World Cup back to Benelux.  Their regattas and training also include- April 28-29- Almere Regatta; May 12-13 Spring Cup; and May 25-28 Delta Lloyd North Sea Regatta.   For more Netherlands/ Benelux J/22 sailing information.  For more France J/22 Worlds related sailing information.

Charleston Race Week Preview

(Charleston, SC)- With 260 teams entered to sail this year's Charleston Race Week with a nice mix of inside the Bay one-design fleets and offshore big boats, it's safe to say the event started years ago by Brad Van Liew and friends and now spearheaded by Randy Draftz and crew has firmly established itself in the midwinter sailing circuit.  Hosted by the Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina that sports a great harbor, beautiful resort hotel, giant swimming pool and a soft, sand beach, the event has become the "Southern Hospitality" version of the famous Caribbean regattas (e.g. St Maarten, Rolex St Thomas, St Barths, Antigua).

As the regatta's reputation has grown over time, it has continued to attract an ever greater number of one-design classes from across the country and a large group of passionate offshore sailors as well.  The J clan of sailors have certainly embraced the event, with 78 boats attending, J/Boats is by far the biggest sailing brand in attendance, with 30% of the total boats sailing (and easily the largest number of sailors!).  This J contingent is spread amongst the 57 one-designs- J/22's (15 boats), J/24's (24 boats) and J/80's (18 boats) and 21 offshore boats spread across 4 PHRF Divisions.

The J/22 class have World Champion Greg Fisher and team sailing on USA 1586 who will likely be challenged by such teams like Todd Hiller from Annapolis YC sailing LEADING EDGE; Kurt Swanson from Pennsylvania sailing SLINGSHOT; Annapolis sailor Kathy Parks on SUNDOG; and J/22 NA's hosts Chris Princing and crew on TEAM TAWAS.

With two dozen teams showing up from across the country, it's clear the J/24s are always going to have a good'ole fashioned mud-slinging in the trenches.  Several good teams have a potential to make their presence felt, including Travis Odenbach's HONEY BADGER from Annapolis, MD; Chip Till's crew on MURDER INCORPORATED from Wrightsville Beach, NC; and World Champion Mike Ingham from Rochester, NY on USA 5448.  Nevertheless, there will be other teams that are sure to mix it up with these competitive crews to force some roller-coaster rides in the standings-- always happens, always will!

Several J/80 class leaders are in the mix including Chris & Liz Chadwick on CHURCH KEY from Annapolis, MD; Chris Bulger on GOOSE from Buzzards Bay, MA; Andy Burton on GROMIT from Newport, RI; Brian Keane on SAVASANA from Buzzards Bay, MA; and Bruno Pasquinelli on TIAMO from Fort Worth, TX.  This is a tough crew as evidenced by the fact most sailed Key West Race Week in January and the recent Bacardi Miami Sailing Week.  No way to predict this outcome as it all depends on team "karma"-- some will be more dialed in than others by the time crucial races are settled on Sunday afternoon! In the end, the J/80 teams certainly have a lot of fun sailing in Charleston!

Offshore the racing will be close and competitive in the four PHRF divisions.  In the PHRF B Class, it's a class dominated by J's, with 7 of 11 boats and several of them veterans from having raced one another in Key West Race Week 2012 for the top of the podium.  The biggest J sailing will be the J/130 SUGAR MAGNOLIA sailed by David Hackney from James Island, SC.  The two J/122s have proven they're extremely difficult to beat on windward-leeward courses and the teams present will give no quarter to anyone.  Leading the J/122 charge is likely to be Robin Team's TEAMWORK from Lexington, NC, but John Thouron's team on DUNDER from Waterbury, VT will be working hard to match the Key West Race Week champion's speed and smarts.  A quartet of J/111s will be racing not just as a one-design J/111 sub-class, but also doing their best to upset the proverbial apple-cart of fellow PHRF classmates.  Key West Race Week has proven the J/111s are entirely capable of being competitive in both modes.  Doug Curtiss' WICKED 2.0 and Henry Brauer's FLEETWING are both veterans of the Key West Race Week gun-battle.  Entering the fray will be Marty Roesch's VELOCITY and Bob Moran's RAGIN' from the Chesapeake Bay J/111 fleet.  No predictions made here, like the movie, it's simply a "shoot-out at the OK Corral" amongst this fleet of sailors.

PHRF C promises to have some great racing with J/Teams comprising 5 of the 8 boats in class.  The three J/120s include past Charleston Race Week Champion, John Keenan's ILLYRIA from Mt Pleasant, SC and giving them a run for the money will be other local J/120s- Bill Hanckel's EMOCEAN and Rick Moore's MOOSE DOWN.  Mixing it up in this fleet will be the J/109 HEATWAVE sailed by Gary Weisberg from Gloucester, MA and the local J/35 ARROW sailed by Willy Schwenzfeier.

While the J/105s don't have a class, many have competed quite successfully as offshore handicap racers.  Lurking in the shallows and ready to pounce on their innocent rivals in PHRF D will be two local J/105s that have enjoyed offshore success.  They are Ed Parker's THE CITY BOATYARD and Joe Highsmith's DEAD ON ARRIVAL.  With any kind of breeze, it's doubtful their fleet competitors of Alerions and Beneteaus can hold them back.

Perhaps the "sleeper" handicap fleet of the event has to be the PHRF F Class, with J's representing 7 of 10 boats.  But what a clash of titans it promises to be!  For starters, you have "Mr. GILL" (Dave Pritchard) from Atlanta, GA sailing his J/92 AMIGOS with a bunch of buddies from Lake Lanier Sailing Club-- they're always on the podium it seems in any event they sail--and they look good doing it, too!  Pressing them hard are some "classic J/29s", including past Key West Race Week Champion Steve Thurston on the MIGHTY PUFFIN from Bristol, RI.  Hanging tough with them will be other J/29s like John Amyot's BLITZ! from Lake Ontario, Jim Mackevich's FOR SAIL from Edison, NJ, and Ira Perry's SEEFEST from Buzzards Bay, MA. Not to be discounted will be a fast J/27, Robert Key's AUDACIOUS from Columbia, SC and the modified J/80 JAVELIN sailed by Tom Gore/ John Yorkilous  from the Chesapeake Bay.   For more Charleston Race Week sailing information

J/22 Trophy Banque Populaire

(Le Crouesty, France)- Over the past month, the J/22 class in France has been getting some of their teams training and preparing for the upcoming J/22 Worlds in France.  The preeminent spring regatta is the Banque Populaire Series held over two weekends.  So far, it's quite clear that the top two contenders from France appear to be Patrick Jouet and Claire Pouteau as J/22 class leaders.

In the first BPA No.1 trophy event, the J/22 fleet was challenged by an enormous Low that came flying across the North Atlantic, presenting them with northwest winds blowing up to 30 knots.  In the end, the RC/PRO's wisely delayed and got the racing going after winds moderated.  Winners of the first event were ECC VIVIENDAS followed by SOFFE sailed by Claire Pouteau.

In the second BPA No.2 trophy event, the J/22 fleet faced a similar weather dilemma, starting out the weekend getting pounded by heavy winds, rain and a deluge of hail (almost ice-balls) for nearly a half-hour!  Who said that European weather in the spring was a delight!??  Nevertheless, the RC/PRO managed to get off some good racing and in the end SOFFE, sailed by Claire Pouteau won the event!  For more J/22 France sailing information

J/22 Netherlands Winter Series Warming Up

(Braassermermeer, Netherlands)- Up to 18 boats were sailing the J/22 Winter Series and the past weekend's Warming Up Series in the Netherlands.  Participation and anticipation have been high amongst fleet members as some will be sailing in this year's J/22 Worlds that will be sailed in La Crouesty, France alter this year (just a few hours drive south).

While a number of early winter series race were canceled due to frost and too much wind, the last day was perfect, 15 kts, sunny and relatively warm.  The first day, the fleet managed to get in four races. It was hard fought. First place and well ahead of the field was Team Henri Lloyd. Behind it was an exciting fight to place 2, 3 and 4.

On the second day of sailing, again a persistent wind permitted four more races to be run.  The J/22 field started sharp, resulting in an X-flag for subsequent starts! In the end, the two top boats, GER1513 and NED 1591 match-raced to determine who would be the winner with NED 1591 winning the battle within the fleet.  It was a great finale to the Winter Series 2011/2012. Now on to a good racing season, with the highlight of course the World Cup in France.  For more Netherlands J/22 Sailing information

PRIVATEER Dubai Offshore Sailing Report

(Dubai, United Arab Emirates)-  There is now an amazing amount of sailing taking place in the waters off the shores of the United Arab Emirates these days.  With the traditional dhows now getting turbo-charged and professionally sailed, it's no wonder that "feeder" programs in sailing continue to grow using a fleet of Dubai Offshore Sailing Club's J/22s.  Sailing has grown dramatically in awareness, including the sponsorship by the local "sailing chief", Sheik Muhammad Al-Mahktoum, of the Volvo 70 ABU DHABI Ocean Racing in the 2011-2012 Volvo Ocean Race.  The following is a quick summary from Matt Britton, owner and skipper of the J/92 #2 PRIVATEER that sails out of Dubai Offshore Sailing Club:

"Continuing on with the J/92 results our season is not over yet but we have now secured the Dubai Offshore series for the 3rd year in a row. This year was a tough with some races in the series of 4 really well subscribe the format is 4 races of various length up to 130nm over the whole season with one discard. We had to miss one race due to work commitments but managed to bullet the other 3, racing against among other a Pacific 50, Landmark 43, Farr 11s, Beneteau 44.7, several Beneteau 36.7s and a Grand Soleil 37.

The best result by far was the 3rd race which was from Dubai to Abu Dhabi into the spectacular Emirates Palace Marine where on the following day we were able to go out and watch the inshore races of the Volvo Ocean Race!

Here were the four races we had to sail:
- Race 1 - Sir Abu N'air Offshore Race;
- Race 2 - Al Jeer Offshore Race;
- Race 3 - Bill Nelson Memorial;
- Race 4 - Neptune Offshore Race;

Sailing results for the Dubai Offshore Sailing Club can be found here.  We also have a great Facebook page (Dubai Offshore Sailng Club) for you fellow sailors wishing to enjoy our escapades in some unusual sailing waters.

More J/92 reports- this from Down Under in Australia
"SELKIE, a J/92 sailed out of The Royal Prince Edward Yacht Club Sydney has won the 20 race, Division 2, Mt Gay Rum Monday Twilight series conducted by The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia  (CYCA )!  SELKIE, owned by Evan Lewis, Chris Antico & Anthony Booth led the series from race 1 and fought off an increasingly difficult handicap & yachts up to 14 feet longer to claim victory. The win by 1.5 points over 2nd place SUPERFINE, a Cavalier 350s, was sealed in the final race.  The J/92 has the option to set either a asymmetrical or standard spinnaker and is raced several times a week on Sydney Harbour and occasionally competes in offshore regattas. The team is eyeing the J 111 after progressing from a J/24 three years ago!"

Locals Dominate J/22 Caymans Invitational

(Cayman Islands)- The Cayman Islands Sailing Club hosted yet another fun-loving, highly competitive event on the Great North Sound in the Cayman Islands for their 2012 International Invitational.  Teams from all over the world attended including ten representatives from Germany (Peter Karrie), South Africa (Len John Van der Wel), Bahamas (Craig Symonette and Dave Valentina), USA (Marc Fisher and Bill Wiggins), United Kingdom (Olie Dix), Jamaica (Peter Harper) and Norway (Are Huser).

The sailing conditions were simply epic- postcard perfect weather as advertised with 10-20 knot trade winds blowing all day long all the time with sunny robin's-egg blue skies, puffy white clouds scudding across the horizon and aquamarine blue waters dotted by white breaking waves when the wind was up.  Perfect sailing conditions that challenged the sailors to get off the starting line in clear air, maintain position, get around the marks cleanly with good boat-handling and stay in the battle.  With racing taking place over three days, each day starting at 12 noon, the regatta was exceptionally well managed under the guidance of race officers Peta Adams and Andrew Moon along with visiting international judges Gilmour Manuel and Harry Keith.

In the end, top local sailor Mike Farrington sailing JUST LEAVING from Cayman Islands Sailing Club triumphed and was crowned the 2012 Invite Champion with finishes of five 1sts, two 2nds and two 3rds, tossing a 3rd to win with just 12 points!  Not too far off the pace was top local woman sailor, Jane Moon, sailing CIAO! to two 1sts, six 2nds and a 4th (tossing the 4th) to finish with a remarkable 14 pts, not enough to overcome Mike's fast, smart crew.  Lying third was Marc Fischer from the USA sailing the great yacht WRECKLESS to a strong 4-1-6-3-3-7-4-3 for 31 points.  Rounding out the top five were another local boat, Simon Farrington on SUNSHINE finishing 4th with 41 pts and Craig Symonette sailing CALIMA 5 from Nassau, Bahamas just getting nipped out for 4th with his record of 8-4-3-27-8-6-4 for 42 pts.  For sailing photo credits  For more Cayman Islands Sailing Club Invitational sailing results

Rolex Cup Regatta Preview

(St Thomas, US Virgin Islands)- This coming weekend, the “Crown Jewel” of Caribbean racing takes place--the Rolex Cup Regatta- where sailors can experience reliable breezes, warm azure waters and world-renowned Island hospitality off the eastern end of St Thomas.  The competition and the camaraderie are unsurpassed; attracting sailing teams from around the world, and from this perspective its 2012 edition will prove to be the most diverse ever, with entries from the USA, Russia, Sweden, The Netherlands, Monaco and beyond. The three-day event, scheduled for March 23-25, is hosted by St. Thomas Yacht Club, which for 39 years has devoted itself to producing this regatta’s famed offerings: three days of high-quality racing and serious fun in an inspiringly scenic island atmosphere.

The racing starts on Friday-- beginning with the picturesque and traditional distance races from the east end of St. Thomas to Charlotte Amalie Harbour and back. The tactically demanding Pillsbury Sound Race in and among the cays of St. Thomas and St. John is Sunday’s highlight.  This “Sunday drive” has decided final standing in most classes in each of the last five years.  The culmination of the International Rolex Regatta’s lively competition is a presentation on Sunday of coveted Rolex timepieces to winners in select classes.  A total of 66 boats are sailing including the 7 J's below, 16 of the IC-24s (modified J/24s)-- nearly 33% of the fleet!

CSA 1 Class has the J/122 LAZY DOG sailed by Sergio Sagramoso from San Juan, Puerto Rico, missing will be the J/122 LOST HORIZON and the J/120 EL OCASO.

CSA 2 Class has four J's sailing, including the J/105 DARK STAR sailed by Jonathan Lipuscek from San Juan, Puerto Rico; the J/27 MAGNIFICENT 7 sailed by Paul Davis from St Thomas, USVI; the J/30 COMFORTABLY NUMB sailed by Marston Winkles from St Thomas, USVI; and the J/80 OTRA KOSA sailed by Kike Gonzalez from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

CSA 4 Non-Spinnaker is always a tough class to win simply because there are some good family teams racing.  This year, again, sees the return of the Sanpere family racing their multiple Rolex Winner, the J/36 CAYENITTA GRANDE skippered by Antonio Sanpere from Christiansted, St Croix, USVI.  Challenging them will be the J/95 SHAMROCK VII sailed by Tom Mullen from Campton, New Hampshire, who recently just finished sailing their best Caribbean regatta yet in the St Maarten Heineken Regatta.

Finally, sailing in IRC 1 Class are an entire crew of J Owners and alumni sailing on the 72 footer SAFARA with the famous UK skipper, Brian Thomson aboard.  Here's a breakdown of their crew:  Brian Thomson just broke the round-the-world sailing record with the French crew on the 130 foot trimaran Banque Populaire (he's sailed J/24s and J/35s); Christian Reynolds (J/92s & J/24s); Mark LeVan (J/22s, J/24s, J/35s and J/46); Diane Staley (J/105s); Jennifer Griffith (J/80s); Stuart Brown (J/24 Cowes Week Champion); Jeff Mootz (J/24s & J/105s); Rod Olsen (J/24s, J/35s, J/32 & J/36); Randee Hurst (J/80s, J/105s & J/120); and Richie and Lori Stearns- the J/Dealer from Chicago, Illinois. Sailing photo credits- Ingrid Abery.com.   For more Rolex Cup sailing information