J/122 Offshore/ One-Design Performer

(Newport, RI)- With strong showings across a wide variety of venues and sailing conditions in 2010, the J/122 continues to demonstrate its versatility and ease-of-sailing by a wide variety of sailors.  Designed to be fun, fast and serve a dual purpose as a family racer-cruiser, J/122s skippered by their owner-drivers have raced offshore and around-the-cans to great success.

Perhaps the ultimate example of sailing a boat that is easy-to-handle, forgiving and fast are the shorthanded races.  Recently, J/122s sailing in England as part of the SORC (Solo Offshore Racing Club) finished 1-2 in IRC during the Solent-Plymouth and back weekend, with OSTAR veteran and class winner JBELLINO sailed by Rob Craigie setting the pace and just behind was David Cule's MINT JULIP.  And, in the 55th edition of the EDLU Race/ Double-handed PHRF class, Sandy Weill's PATRIOT won in demanding gale-force conditions.

Offshore good, solid all-around boats win.  J/122s such as Robin Team's TEAMWORK won the Ft. Lauderdale-Key West Race;  Marc Glimcher's J/122 CATAPULT was winning the RORC Caribbean 600 until the wind shut down; and Ray and Sandra Entwistle’s J/122 JACKPOT won the 2009/10 Cruising Yacht Club of Australia Short Ocean Pointscore Series in IRC racing off Sydney Heads in winds ranging from naught to 35+ knots and seas in excess of 4 meters (aka "condo jumping")!

Around the cans, J/122s sailed one-design at American YC Spring Series on New York/Connecticut's Long Island Sound; Warsash Spring Series saw Ian Matthew's JINJA finish 2nd in IRC1 sailing on the Solent, England; Robin Team's TEAMWORK sailed to 3rd in IRC class at Charleston Race Week sailing on the Atlantic off Charleston, SC; at the SNIM Race Week J LANCE IV sailed by George Asperti finished 3rd in IRC2 sailing off Marseilles, France; James Dobbs' LOST HORIZON won Spinnaker Racing/Cruising Class at the International Rolex Regatta in St. Thomas, USVI and got 3rd at St. Maarten Heineken Regatta.  Come join the fun and learn more about this beautiful, versatile one-design/ offshore performer.  A northeast circuit for J/122s includes:

May 28          Storm Trysail Block Island Race- Stamford, CT
June 11-13    NYYC Spring Regatta- Newport, RI
July 16-19     J/122 North Americans at Rolex NYYC Race Week- Newport, RI
Sept 11-12    Larchmont SW NOOD Regatta- Larchmont, NY

Learn more about the J/122 or contact J/Boats (info@jboats.com)
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J's Racing Solo Offshore English Series

J/122s Lead First Event!

(Hamble, England)-  Seemingly becoming another top choice of short-handed sailors is the J/122.  The near-winner of last years 2009 OSTAR, Rob Craigie's J/122 JBELLINO, was first boat to finish on both legs, setting the pace and beating out a well-sailed open Class 40 called Sunguard Front Arena both times.  JBELLINO garnered a 1-1 score to be leading IRC1 Class and just behind her is David Cule's J/122 MINT JULIP with a 2-3 tally to be second in IRC1.

The Coastal series is a brand new event for the Solo Offshore Racing Club and the first two races to Poole to Solent and back were specifically designed to attract new skippers and give the more experienced shorter races to hone their techniques early in the season.

Nineteen spinnakers set off from Royal Thames towards Poole at 0830 on Saturday 8 May in an eight knot northeasterly breeze. Most of the fleet took the North Channel and rhumb line straight to the finish off Poole, a shy reach only easing for the last mile. The tighter angle from Hurst to the finishing line suited the asymmetric boats, especially Cronin's J/105 JULIETTE and the two J/122s, JBELLINO and MINT JULIP.

Tides meant a welcome late start at 1130 on Sunday into ten knots northeasterly for the return beat to windward.  At the start, the majority of the fleet struggled to cross the line on starboard. Tidal atlas said less tide inshore so some boats went up the shore, but the main fleet was tacking up the rhumb line.  About half way up to Hurst the wind backed for quite some time which lifted the boats further offshore on to a lay line for Hurst and meant the inshore boats had to free off.  Through Hurst Castle "straits" the two J/122s were in the top three and when the wind increased to 14+ knots Rob Craigie's JBELLINO powered ahead and took line honors again as she did Saturday.  Their next race is to Weymouth and back 9 & 11 July.    For more Solo Offshore Racing information  Share

J/122s Dominate Edlu Distance Race

J/122 PATRIOT Crushes Fleet

(Larchmont, NY)- It was a not the best of forecasts for this past weekend's Edlu Distance Race on Long Island Sound.  Cool temperatures, rain, fog, clearing then blowing a gale.  Not your typical glam day on the Sound.  Nevertheless, the forecast didn't deter the enthusiastic fleet from getting out to the starting line early in fog and rain to get down the track in this 64 mile race.  At it turns out, the fleet was severely tested when the forecasters were right (for once) and the weather magically transformed into a 30-40 knot gale with plenty of sun and spray-- "jumping condo's on Long Island  Sound" with single/double-reefed mains and small jibs?  It really did turn into a glam day, a challenging one at that!

In the Double-handed PHRF class, Sandy Weill's J/122 PATRIOT won in pretty convincing fashion in the blustery conditions.  Just behind him were two J/105s, Kevin Grainger's GUMPTION3 in third and Peter Rugg's beautiful green JADED in fourth- both managed to beat home a lot of larger boats.  Both sailboats, the J/105 and the J/122 are proving to be hard sailboats to beat when racing short-handed-- as sailors in the UK and Europe learned a long time ago sailing various J's offshore, the forgiving nature of their hull shapes and the fact that you can sail them "in the groove" longer than most sailboats means you're always going fast no matter what the conditions on all points of sail- uphill or downhill.

The 55th edition of the Edlu Race has a history of adopting to the times.  As Rick Lyall, owner of the J/109 STORM said last year, "it's our first big event.  The Edlu is a short distance race of approximately 32 miles from Larchmont to 11B north of Eatons Neck and back, and does not require the intense crew work of around-the-buoys regattas. It's just the right length for a fun day on the water." To further develop the race, many sailors wanted to include double-handed racing.  Rich du Moulin said, "double-handed racing is growing in popularity. When the U.S went into IRC, we convinced the IRC leaders to allow an owner to hold two certificates at one time on the same IRC boat with the second certificate dedicated to double-handed racing. On my boat, that certificate can only be used for double-handing. The rating is based on a smaller jib and that makes the boat easier to handle. One of our goals is to encourage people to come out and race whether they want to double-hand or sail fully crewed, or go back and forth between the two as I do."  Yet another good idea for expanding participation in the sport of sailing.   For more Edlu Race information     For more photos of the race- Alan Clark-Photoboat.com  Photo credits above:  Howie McMichael
  

J/122 Wins Antigua Sailing Week

J/122 CATAPULT Wins Racing 3

(English Harbour, Antigua)- The classic down island regatta to end all Caribbean regattas.  As one owner commented: “Fantastic weather, good breeze, good waves and tough competition is what Antigua Sailing Week is all about."  The two J/122 owners that participated in Racing 3 Division couldn't agree more.

Marc Glimcher and his team on the J/122 CATAPULT secured an overall win of Racing 3 by winning the final race. CATAPULT also finished third overall in Division A behind the R/P 75 TITAN.  Not to be outdone by their sistership, local hero from Antigua, Jim Dobbs, sailed his J/122 LOST HORIZON to a well-deserved third overall.  LOST HORIZON managed to work out some good local knowledge "plays" to finish amongst the leaders.  In fact, had they maintained their pace in the first three races they might've giving the CATAPULT boys a run for the money.  For more Antigua sailing info      Photo credits- Tim Wright  Share

WINGS Wins American YC Spring Series

(Rye, NY)- The AYC Spring Series concluded with a fairly light and streaky weekend of winds with sunny skies and unseasonably warm weather (must be that volcanic cloud circling the Earth again).   The American YC Race Committees and PRO's provided the sailors with  great racing in challenging conditions over the two weekends of sailing.

The J/122 One-Design class saw Tom Boyle and Mike Callahan aboard WINGS continue their leading ways from the previous weekend to win this tightly fought class, with a 1-2-2-1-1-2-2-3-1 record for 12 points to win by three points over Andrew Weiss' family racing CHRISTOPHER DRAGON to a 3-1-1-3-2-1-3-1-3 tally for 15 points.  Barry Gold and Jamie Anderson sailing SUNDARI stepped up their game this weekend to punctuate their previous finishes with a 1-2-2, but not enough to move them up the standings from the previous weekend.  So SUNDARI's scores of 2-3-4-2-3-5-1-2-2 for 19 points kept them on the podium, finishing third for the series.   Photo credits- Alan Clark/ Photoboat 

For more race and sailing information on the American YC Spring Series.  Share