September 9th, 2010


J/122 Best 41′ Record In 2010
(Newport, RI)- FLYING JENNY VI she was.  And flying on WINGS and a prayer she was, too.  And while SKYE was not to be denied, nor was the noble and famous CHRISTOPHER DRAGON taking off into wild blue yonder without collecting some gold and silverware along the way, too. Are TEAMWORK and PARTNERSHIP emblematic of teams like the Yankees and Red Sox knocking it out of the park? PUGWASH applying Einstein-like out-of-the-box thinking and cleaning house?  What’s the common denominator?  All J/122s sailing in the summer of 2010…continuing to win in all conditions, all weather, from fully crewed teams to double-handed pioneers.  Let the force be with you.  Can something so comfortable, elegant and gorgeous really win that much? You can count on it.
Collectively, some of these J/122s sailed their one-design North Americans together, won by the WINGS gang. FJ VI won the Great Lakes IRC Champs, the Bayview-Mac, the Chicago-Mac and the Harbor Springs Regatta- not just the magic “three-peat” some Chicago basketball player once announced, but the more incredible “four-peat” all in one season!  PUGWASH walked off with class wins in the Astor Cup and Queens Cup as well as Squadron Runs in the fabled New York YC’s Annual Cruise in Maine.  TEAMWORK sprinted away with the Ft. Lauderdale-Key West Race.  PARTNERSHIP blew away all competitors in the Stamford-Vineyard Race.  CHRIS DRAGON simply dominated the US IRC National Championship in her class.  Not to be outdone by FJ VI, the remarkable SKYE walked off with a three-peat of the Chicago-Mac Race, this year as Double-Handed Overall Winners- a feat unequalled by ANY boat EVER in the history of this most infamous race covering the length of Lake Michigan.  For more information on sailing the luxurious J/122.


J/80 North Americans Preview
(Newport, RI)- This coming weekend the creme’de’la’creme of the J/80 fleet in North America will be competing for honors as not only NA Champion but as a top contender for this year’s J/80 Worlds being held in October in Newport, RI.
The top Americans include past World and North American Champions like Terry Flynn and Scott Young sailing 655 from Austin, TX; Jay Lutz and Gary Kamins sailing FIRED UP from Houston, TX; recent J/80 Midwinter Champion Glenn Darden racing LE TIGRE from Ft Worth, TX; Kerry Klingler sailing LIFTED from Larchmont, NY; and John Storck, Jr and family sailing RUMOR from Newport, RI.  Thrown into this mix are two recent class converts, past J/105 North American Champions Brian Keane sailing SAVASANA from Weston, MA and Bruce Stone/Nicole Breault racing PHANTOM from San Francisco, CA.  
Local New England representatives include Ida Lewis Yacht Club members Jeff Johnstone sailing LITTLE FEAT (current Buzzards Bay Champion) and Peter McCarthy on EAGLE and from New York Yacht Club are members Chris Bulger sailing GOOSE; Will and Marie Crump racing GULDFAXE; Ben Schwartz on LUCKY FROG; Henry Brauer and Stuart Johnstone sailing RASCAL; and Henry deGroot skippering WIRED.
For more J/80 North Americans Sailing information.


J/Boats and Key West Race Week
The Longstanding Tradition Is Alive and Thriving!
Whether it’s One Design, PHRF or IRC, J/Boats entries are always big news at Key West Race Week. J/105s and J/80s turn out in strong numbers and the competition is outstanding. It’s not unusual to have a J/Boat winning Boat of the Day, Boat of the Week, and/or PHRF Boat of the Week.  2011 will be no exception and looks to be another banner year. J/80s are well on their way to a 20-boat class at this early date. With four J/95s already committing, there will likely be separate sub-class scoring and trophies.
Keep up with the plans and projections on class pages on the event web site: for the J/80s click here, for the J/105s click here.   Premiere Racing updates each class’ special page with entry news and class specific planning details.
Plan to escape the chill of winter and head to Key West in January. Race dates are January 17 – 21, 2011. Take advantage of the early entry discount ($100 off paid entries submitted by October 1), and other savings on the social fees, and the Truman Waterfront Property (Navy Basin). We’ll look forward to seeing you there! J/Boats has been a Key West Industry Partner since the beginning of the program in 2002.
For more Key West Race Week sailing information.


J/Community

What friends, alumni and crew of J/Boats are doing worldwide

* If you recall, last week Rives Allen from Panama City, FL was sharing his experience having fun on a refurbished (a.k.a. “monster garage” recontructed) J/29 called SUPER DUCK.  Well, we asked for some pictures of this “phoenix arising from the ashes” and Rives was kind enough to forward some along.  Here’s a great shot of his boat enjoying the sunny northwestern coast of Florida.  
* Back in 1990 in Cowes/ Lymington, England, a very nice young gentleman from the British Midlands by the name of Rick Deppe asked if he could help Stu Johnstone captain his J/44 J-HAWK and J/35 JAILBIRD (sailed by Eddie Warden-Owen who was then at Banks Sails).  Stuart at the time was starting J/Boats Europe, based in Lymington just off the High Street in Trafalgar Square.  One thing led to another, Ricky married an American gal and lived in the Washington, DC area.  He got a job with Discovery Channel as a videographer for that insane show called “Deadliest Catch”– e.g. documenting Alaska King-crabbers doing their job in the Gulf of Alaska.  Now, Ricky is joining the Volvo Ocean Race HQ- Rick Deppe will have a hand in production and will work with the onboard media crew both before and throughout the 9-month odyssey, helping the new on-board multimedia/ photo journalists do the best job possible in the tough conditions for which the Volvo Ocean Race is renowned.  Rick’s inspiring career as both professional sailor and filmmaker will stand him in good stead for his new role, and the lessons he learned as media crew for PUMA on the last race will be particularly useful.
Rick knows just how hard it is being on these powerful boats and how hard it is to work on them as a cameraman. “It’s a very difficult environment to be a cameraman, when you’re being tipped over, bouncing, trying to film with the wind noise and water flying everywhere,” he recalled. “The rules to being a cameraman normally are ‘always get a steady shot’, ‘always keep your lenses clean’, ‘get great audio’, and all the other basic rules. But they all have to go out the window, when you get on a Volvo Open 70.”
Before getting onboard with PUMA as their on-board multimedia/journalist in 2008-09, Deppe had worked on several filming projects for Discovery Channel like “Deadliest Catch” and later for Roy Disney on his film project “Morning Light”.  Ricky already had years of experience as an offshore sailor including several round-the-world races, sailing as a bowman on Fortuna in the 1993-94 Whitbread and on Chessie Racing in the 1997-98 race.  
At the end of the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race, Deppe was awarded the Inmarsat Media Prize for his excellent filmwork on ill mostro.  Rick’s experience will be perfect to train the MCM’s before the race and to help them understand they obstacles the will encounter during their epic journey.  Ultimately, you can read more about Ricky’s influence on bringing the Volvo Ocean Race to your living room couch- read more here.


The J Cruising Community

J Cruisers continue their adventures around the world, below are a selection of most excellent “blogs” written by their prolific publishers.
* The J/42 JARANA continues their epic voyage around the Pacific. Continue to read about Bill and Kathy Cuffel’s big adventure cruising the South Pacific headed for New Zealand.  Their blog is here: http://www.svjarana.blogspot.com/
* Prolific writers, Bill and Judy Stellin, sailed their J/42 JAYWALKER around the Mediterranean and Europe and back across the Atlantic for nearly three years.  Their blogs/journals can be found at- http://blog.mailasail.com/jaywalker.  The earlier journals have been compiled into two self published books which can be found at: http://www.blurb.com.  Search for “SEATREK: A Passion for Sailing” by Bill Stellin or William Stellin.”  Fun reading when rocking back in a chair watching your storm-lashed windows take a beating in the gale roaring outside and listening to the crackle of a roaring fire.  It is winter “down under” you know.  The Argentineans are freezing.
* John and Mary Driver are sailing their J/130 SHAZAM for extended cruising in the Atlantic basin. At this time, John and Mary will have just finished their double-handed crossing of the Atlantic, landing in Portugal on their J/130 Shazam. Read the latest news at http://www.sailblogs.com/member/shazam/.
* Several J/160 owners are island hopping across the world’s oceans, fulfilling life long dreams to cruise the Pacific islands, the Caribbean islands, the Indian Ocean and all points in between.  Anyone for Cape Horn and penguins??  Read more about their adventures and escapades (like our J/109 GAIA, J/42s PAX and JAYWALKER and J/130 SHAZAM friends above).  SALACIA, the J/160 owned by Stephen and Cyndy Everett has an on-going blog describing some of their more amusing experiences (http://www.salacia1.blogspot.com).  Bill and Susan Grun on the J/160 AVANTE are also sailing in the Pacific archipelago, read more about their great adventures on their blog (http://web.me.com/susangrun).