J/122 JINJA 2nd Hamble Winter Series

(Hamble, England- 24th October)-  The third weekend of the 2010 Garmin Hamble Winter Series  produced more good racing.   Sunday's steady northerly breeze produced challenging conditions.  Saturday's racing was marked by an unexpected squall when 12–15 knots of westerly breeze leapt to 40 knots at precisely 1300hrs. It was soon over but Race Director Jamie Wilkinson had immediately signaled an abandonment, and the two fleets returned for a restart of Race 3.

In the Big Boat Series IRC 0 Class, the J/122s and J/133s continue to sail in a challenging series.  Ian Matthews' J/122 JINJA is sailing well, still lying in second place.  Jackie and Robert Dobson's J/133 JERONIMO sailed a reasonable set of races on the third weekend, but dropping them into 6th place, but only 5 points from 3rd overall!  The tale of the tape in this class goes race-by-race; especially since JINJA is counting a DNF in Race 9 in her scores.

The Bugle's Oliver Weeks presented the overall trophies and prizes, and the whole fleet were invited to enjoy live music at The Bugle in Hamble that evening. The Spinlock day prizes were presented by James Hall and Simon Crowther.  There will also be more cakes on the menu in response to popular demand! Me thinks carbo-loading with sausage patsy's and Guinness were standard issue crew meals.  Have times changed?    Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth Pictures    For more Garmin Hamble Winter Series results and sailing information.
  

J/122 Wins Rolex Middle Sea Race

ARTIE and JARU Win IRC Class 3 & 4

(Malta)- The 31st edition of the 606-nautical mile Rolex Middle Sea Race began Saturday, 23 October from Grand Harbour, Malta and the first boats finished by Monday the 25th. There is no question it was another epic odyssey for those sailors crossing the trading routes of antiquity, experiencing what many a mariner must have faced back in the days of Phoenicians ruling the Med or the Romans facing enormous navigational (and boat-handling) problems crossing the straits to Tunisia.  In short, whether it was Rome's Neptune or the Greek's Poseidon, the mythological Gods of the Sea threw everything, including the Roman baths and kitchen sinks at the fleet as they took their counter-clockwise course around the extraordinarily picturesque volcanic island of Sicily.  Faced with everything from dead calms to 40+ knot Mistrals from the WNW, it was certainly going to be a test of the sailors as well as their boats.

Before the race, the betting was on as to which Ripard family team was going to beat the other.  And, perhaps more importantly, who was going to add another Rolex watch to their collection, especially after Christian Ripard won class and overall in the 2001 edition of the Rolex MSR with his J/125 STRAIGHT DEALER.  Local knowledge in this race helps and, as predicted, the Ripard-family sailed teams would be very competitive against a very strong fleet of professionally sailed TP52s and an assortment of 45 to 100 foot custom racers. 

After a difficult, physically-demanding and challenging race, the J/122 ARTIE sailed by Royal Malta YC members Lee Satariano and Christian Ripard won IRC Class 4 were 2nd in IRC overall, just missing by just 26 minutes the overall honors against a slew of high-speed, custom offshore sleds like TP52s and two 100 foot canting keelers.  First J to finish by just 25 minutes over the J/122 ARTIE was the J/133 JARU co-skippered by John Ripard Jr. and his brother-in-law, Andrew Calascione. JARU sailed strongly to win IRC Class 3 and place 3rd just behind ARTIE for IRC overall, in fact, beating in class a Swan 45 and Swan 56 custom and a Summit/Mills 40.  Finishing 5th also in IRC Class 3 and 12th Overall IRC was the J/133 JUNO sailed by Sonke Stein.

ARTIE's Christian Ripard commented- "all three J's, ARTIE J/122, JARU J/133 and JUNO J/133, have done the J Boats family proud and all the crew of these three boats would not change their boats for anything else-- and my congratulations to Didier LeMoal and the Johnstone family and their teams for building us a solid, fast, comfortable, safe boat capable of winning against flat-out offshore race boats crewed by professional America's Cup and Volvo guys!  My bow-man is 19 years old and this was his first offshore race!"

It was a horse-race from the beginning.  By late Sunday night, the J/122 ARTIE was leading the fleet on corrected time going thru the Straits of Messina.  At the Stromboli checkpoint, it was going to the wire in Class Three. Sonke Stein’s J/133 JUNO was leading, but only just, four minutes ahead of JARU and ARGO from Malta and Italy respectively, who are inseparable on corrected time.

Stein said, "Although JUNO is registered in Hamburg, she is based in Malta. This is my first Rolex Middle Sea Race with the boat, but personally this is my ninth race. The crew is mainly Maltese and has done the race many times. We hope to win, but the competition is very strong, we are looking forward to more exciting conditions ahead and above all to enjoy quality time with good friends."

One crew member in the race, Hillary Cook, commented on email, "North of Sicily it feels like we have sailed into a different climate zone. Gone from deck is the stash of sun cream and water bottles, to be replaced by thermals, oilskins and pleas for cups of hot tea. Porridge for breakfast this morning was very welcome after a challenging night, battling heavy rain and a wind which refused to make up its mind whether it was still southeasterly or the promised westerly, and at times settled for being zero."

If you have any interest in peering at a yacht tracker, check out each one of the boats tracks on the RMSR website.  After the R/P 100 Esimit Europa 2 claimed line honours on Monday, the Slovenian maxi held the corrected lead, but only until the TP52 Lucky (USA) completed a fantastic lap around Sicily to take the overall handicap lead. Then it was down to ARTIE, and for a while, fellow Maltese boat JARU, a J/133, to see if they could beat the clock. Artie had to finish at 08.18 Wednesday morning, and at the various checkpoints of the course that meant averaging around mid-9 knots. They had shown flashes of this speed, so it was all possible. It was pretty impressive sailing in a J/122, a 40-foot performance racer-cruiser class that has had great success at several offshore events, including the Rolex Fastnet Race.

ARTIE had a fast passage Tuesday night hitting boat speeds in the high teens, from Lampedusa through the South Comino Channel. Between Gozo and Comino the breeze held out, but around 08.00, as ARTIE sailed into Marsamxett Harbour, the breeze dropped away to zero, along with any chance of making the cutoff.  Crossing the line at 08:44, ARTIE missed the overall win by a mere 26 minutes on corrected time.  Incredible.  And, to know you were winning going into the last few miles up into the Grand Harbour, from the giddy heights of euphoria to the dungeon of dismay in minutes.

Owner and co-skipper Lee Satariano could be expected to be disappointed, though he said, "Last night we had many hours where the boat was just surfing down the waves. I really enjoyed that moment, it was really moving.  There was really nothing I would change, we raced the boat to its fullest potential, but we have only had this boat for a short time and we are very happy with our achievement. We knew on the last day that we were close to having first overall, but from the beginning to the end we were always pushing it to the limit. At no point did we take it easy. The entries for the Rolex Middle Sea Race have been increasing every year and the competition is reaching a very high level.  Maltese boats have shown well in recent races, we are up there; we can compete with the international competition."

Artie’s co-skipper, Christian Ripard was also full of wonder about the blast home on the last night. "The last night was just wonderful sailing and the crew had become fully in tune with each other. We were sailing on the edge and that requires precision, something that can only be achieved by perfect harmony which comes with time together on the boat."

First Maltese boat home was Andrew Calascione’s J/133 JARU, after 3 days, 20 hours, 2 minutes. Calascione said, "Sailing last night was one of those really special nights. First of all, the moon came up at a certain time where we were actually heading into it. We probably had a steady 17 knots of wind – chute up – and squalls to 25 knots, with just fantastic speeds because the wind was off the port quarter. Big seas, just a fantastic night of sailing, one of those things you dream of, twelve hours of it! The crew is in great shape, so it was good."  For more Rolex Middle Sea Race sailing information.   Rolex Sailing Photos/ Kurt Arrigo
  

J/122s Racing Hamble Winter Series

(Hamble, England- October 16-17)-  The second weekend of the 2010 Garmin Hamble Winter Series produced two more days of excellent racing in a shifting north to north-easterly breeze.  While Saturday produced tough racing  in 10-20 knots of cool breeze, Sunday was a softer day, with sunshine and blue skies, but still with big wind shifts. The Black Group start was set up on the Ryde Bank with a long first beat across the ebbing tide to windward marks near the mainland shore. With two races scheduled and the prospect of a softening breeze, the second start sequence was underway by midday on the same start line. Although the classes starting later struggled in the now east-going tide all boats were finished by 1430. 

In the Big Boat Series IRC 0 Class, the J/122s and J/133s are sailing a demanding, challenging regatta fighting the usual large current shears and wind shifts so typical of the Solent.  Ian Matthews' J/122 JINJA is sailing a strong series, lying in second place.  For more Garmin Hamble Winter Series results and sailing information.
  

J/122s Support Storm Trysail Big Boat Regatta

Fabulous Sailing On Long Island Sound

(Larchmont, NY- October 9-10)- Over the Columbus Day Weekend the Larchmont Yacht Club hosted sailors from 30 schools and universities for the Storm Trysail Foundation’s Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta (IOR) Presented by Prestige BMW. The annual regatta— now in its 10th year— saw over 300 sailors crew the 36 boats in the fleet, making the IOR the largest college sailing regatta in the country.  It was a veritable showcase for J/Boats- of 36 boats, it was a J/Fest of 31 J's, with 7 J-44’s, 3 J-122’s (CHRISTOPHER DRAGON pictured here), 1 J-133, 8 J-109’s, 11 J-105’s, a J/120 and a J/35.

Maine Maritime’s sailing team coach Tom Brown decided to pull his team out of all their dinghy events for the weekend so that his team could sail big boats at the Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta instead. After driving over eight hours with his 17 sailors, Brown’s strategy paid off as team won two of the five divisions in the 38-boat fleet. Over 300 sailors participated make the IOR the largest college sailing regatta in the country.  The enthusiasm was so strong, that the University of Michigan team drove 2 vans 11 hours each way in order to race!! 

The weather gods smiled this year offering sunny skies and breezes that built from 10 knots for the first race to 15-20 knots for the subsequent races on both days.  PRO Butch Ulmer ran seven races in two days. The race organizers worked hard to put together one-design and closely-rated divisions to keep the racing tight. "The student sailors were some of the best we have seen in the ten years that STC has been running this event," said Paul Hoffman who ran the windward mark boat. "Racing was so close that three of the divisions ended up tied for first after seven races. More than once practically the whole J/109 fleet rounded the marks en-mass."

Maine’s Coach Brown said, "I have never seen so many smiles. Our team was so stoked that they stayed awake talking about the racing for the eight-hour drive back to Castine. When I got back to school, I had got a congratulatory note from the President of the school. They take big boat sailing seriously here. We will be back next year and we hope to have the same boats again."

The purpose of the regatta is two-fold: to introduce dinghy sailors to the team work and fun of big-boat racing and to provide a chance for experienced big boat sailors to have a chance to compete in well-prepared evenly-matched boats. STC has worked hard to build up this regatta because getting sailors involved in the sport of ocean racing goes right to the Club's mission statement.

Unlike other collegiate regattas, the boats are privately owned and the boat owners sail with the student sailors as coaches and safety officers. The regatta is not possible without the boat owners who lend their boats and time in order help educate the next generation of offshore racers.

Dr. Carl Olsson, who has lent his J/105 Morning Glory to his alma mater Bowdoin for the last eight years and who will be Larchmont Yacht Club’s Commodore next year, pledged to help the regatta grow significantly under his watch. "I believe that this regatta is so important the we will grow the event from 300 sailors to 500 in the next two years." To help meet this goal, the Storm Trysail Foundation funds educational events like the IOR and its junior safety at sea seminars across the country.

"Everyone who participates in this regatta has a great time," said regatta chair Adam Loory. "Both college sailors and boat owners tell me that this is the most fun regatta that they sail in all year. The boat owners get to go sailing without having to make a week’s worth of phone calls to round up crew, the kids get to sail on some of the most competitive boats around, and the whole event is free thanks to the sponsors who help support the regatta."  Corporate sponsorship came from Prestige BMW, Rolex, Vineyard Vines, Safe Flight Instruments,  Caithness Energy, UK-Halsey Sailmakers, Gill, Coca Cola and Heineken.   For more Storm Trysail Big Boat sailing information.     Sailing photo credits- Carter Williams photos.  Howie McMichael sailing photos.    Steve Landis sailing photos.
  

J/122 JACKPOT Wins Down Under

(Sydney, Australia)- The opening race of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Grant Thornton Short Ocean Pointscore Series held on 2nd October provided a challenge for the 18 boats who took to the water.

A spectacular rain and wind squall gave the fleet a wake-up call with boats reporting wind speeds of 25-26 knots from the 6 knot east nor’easterly breeze that marked the start.

Ray Entwistle’s J/122 JACKPOT, last year’s Grant Thornton Short Ocean IRC Pointscore winner, started the season where he left off – taking the IRC Division 1 win with David Forbes’ Kaiko 52 Merlin taking line honours. Tim Cox’s DK43 Minerva finished second in IRC Division 1 with Merlin third.

"I'm over the moon with today's win," said Ray Entwistle, owner of JACKPOT. "After a fickle start, we relished the challenging course and despite getting wet through had a great day out for the first race of the season.  The wind varied from 5 knots to 26 knots, with a massive rain squall which came through mid race, reducing visibility to 50m, with 30degree wind shifts.  On the final downwind leg heading back into Sydney Harbour, we were surfing at 14-15 knots, with the 155sq.m kite."  For more Australian sailing info
  

The DRAGON Wins J/122 East Coasts

(Rye, NY)- In addition to the AYC Fall Series, American YC also hosted the J/122 East Coast Championship this past weekend in Western Long Island Sound.  Strong winds following the passage of a large tropical depression Friday made for excellent sailing conditions for this competitive group.

After the four races held over the two days, it was Andrew Weiss's family team racing CHRISTOPHER DRAGON that sailed a very good series to win the J/122 East Coast Championships with a consistent score of 1-1-1-4 for seven points.  Nipping at their heels all weekend was Mike Bruno's WINGS sailing to a 2-2-4-1 score for nine points.  Sailing perhaps one their better regattas in awhile was Steve Furnary's PATRIOT, racing to a 4-3-3-2 record for twelve points. It seems that Steve did, in fact, benefit from Sandy Weill's wonderful ability to "direct traffic" on board to keep them in the hunt!  Previous weekend's winner, Dave and Mary-Ellen Tortorello's PARTNERSHIP sailed to a respectable 3-5-5-3 score for sixteen points, just behind Dave Murhpy's PUGWASH with a 3-4-2-5 tally for fourteen points.   For more J/122 East Coasts sailing information.

  

Generations of Dragons Flying Fast

(Larchmont, NY)- Andrew Weiss's J/122 CHRISTOPHER DRAGON recently won her class and the overall trophy in the inaugural IRC Championship of Long Island Sound. This was no small feat since the 34-boat fleet was greater in size than the fleet that sailed at the IRC Nationals earlier in the summer. Dragon also won her division at the 2010 Larchmont NOOD regatta.

At the IRC championship, DRAGON sailed with an all-amateur crew beating the second place boat that was a mostly professionally crewed J/122 with a brand new wardrobe of sails from another sailmaker. "We did to PUGWASH, just what we were able to do with WINGS the week before at the NOOD. We sailed right out from under them and then moved in front of them and forced them to tack away.”

The Dragon program has always been a family program. Andrew crewed with his father Steve on eight CHRISTOPHER DRAGONs going back to 1973. In 1975 his friend Larry Fox joined the crew and has been sailing with Andrew ever since. Andrew did his first Newport to Bermuda race in 1976 on the third CHRISTOPHER DRAGON that was a C&C 42 with Butch Ulmer, Howie McMichael several other prominent Larchmont Yacht Club sailors. They finished an second in class -- a huge accomplishment in one of sailing's most prestigious races. "I remember my father and Butch trying to convey the enormity of what we had done, but I was too young to understand. Thirty years later I took my son Christopher on the Bermuda Race and we won our class. Now the tables were turned I had to explain to my son how much it meant to win the race. He may not have understood, but it sure got him hooked on sailboat racing. He had such a good time that asked me why I hadn't made him to go to junior sailing classes in the past. Chris has been steady crew ever since.”

CHRISTOPHER DRAGON sailing upwind on her way to winning the overall award at the Long Island Sound IRC Championships.   Allen Clark/photoboat.com

Andrew's sister Gavin is also a regular and she brought a friend Byron seven years ago and he had been a steady member of the crew as well. Andrew's good friend Linda Berkley has been sailing on three different DRAGONS going back to the Farr 43. Larry Fox now brings his son the rest of the regular crew is rounded out by friends Jonathan Asch and Drew Stetler, both who have been sailing on DRAGONs going back to 1985.

Before the Long Island Sound J/122 championship, Andrew wrote to his crew, "The last two weekends have been great sailing for CHRISTOPHER DRAGON. Everyone has done a great job and it shows in the results!!! I just added it up. In 11 starts we had eight firsts and three seconds!! Hard to beat that.”

What's better than sailing with your family? Winning with your family.