J/122 TKO Wins Big Boat Series

Dave Kirby of Manhattan Beach, CA, skippered his brand new J/122 “TKO” to victory in the IRC C class at the Rolex Big Boat Series last weekend to capture both the Keefe-Kilborn Memorial Trophy as well as a Rolex submariner watch. TKO excelled in the windy San Francisco Bay conditions that saw 112 boats competing in 10 IRC and One-design divisions.  The 2008 Rolex Big Boat Series will be held September 11-14 at the St. Francis Yacht Club. Results

J/122 Dominates 2007 RORC IRC Class 1

Philippe DELAPORTE and his new J/122 Pen Azen have been quietly dominating the 2007 RORC Offshore Series in IRC 1 with a record of 6 firsts and 1 second. The Pen Azen crew have nearly wrapped up the season win in class and are close behind J/133 JB3 for one of the top three overall IRC fleet trophies with only one race remaining. The race record to date:

1st in Class 1st Overall Rorc Cowes – Ouistreham (16 boats)
1st in Class 2nd Overall Rorc Channel Race (91 boats)
2nd in Class 5th Overall Rorc Cowes - Dinard St Malo (197 boats)
1st in Class 8th Overall Rorc Cowes – Jersey (104 boats)
1st in Class 2nd Overall Rorc Cowes - North Head (88 boats)
1st in Class 2nd Overall Rorc Cowes - St Quay (51 boats)
1st in Class 27th Overall Rorc Cowes - Le Havre (122 boats)

rorc.org

J/122 Video Available Online

The J/122 has been turning heads all year in Europe and North America. Now you can hop aboard for a quick demo sail from the comfort of your living room or office. Join the J staff and friends for a nine minute sailing tour of the J/122 off of Newport, RI and see how easy this boat is to sail and get up to speed. Please click here to view online. Enjoy!

J?122 Leads RORC Series

With several 2007 RORC offshore races now complete, Charles Ivill’s J/133 JB3 and Philippe Delaporte’s J/122 Pen Azen have each compiled an impressive victory list and are currently in first place in their respective IRC classes and hold 1st and 2nd positions in the running for the 2007 RORC IRC Overall fleet points scoring. In the double-handed IRC Class, four of the top five boats are J/105s with Nick Martin’s Diablo-J currently in the lead. There remain four events in 2007 including the world famous Fastnet Race. It is clear that the crews on all of these J’s will be working hard to stay at the top of their game for the remainder of the season. Results & RORC news here.

J/122 2nd in Marblehead-Halifax Race

Fresh from a convincing class win at the US IRC National Championships at Block Island Race Week, George Shaw and his crew aboard J/122 ‘Tumbleweed’ finished their first offshore distance race with a second place in IRC 2 (the largest class of the event) finishing behind only the larger Swan 56 on corrected time. Third in class was Lawrence Glenn’s J/44 Runaway. The biennial Marblehead-to-Halifax Ocean Race is one of the pre-eminent ocean races of the North Atlantic and has a long and prestigious history. Congratulations to the Tumbleweed crew! more details…  

J/122s Take-off @ BI Race Week

J Owners turned out in force last week at the 22nd running of Storm Trysail Club's Block Island Race Week presented by Rolex. 40% of the total fleet were J’s including five one-design classes (J/29, J/120, J/109, J/105 and J/44) and numerous other Js sailing in PHRF and IRC. The new J/122 made its Block Island debut with George Shaw’s TUMBLEWEED and Andrew Weiss’ CHRISTOPHER DRAGON finishing 1, 2 in IRC 4. Two of the three overall Rolex watch awards went to J owners: Overall PHRF winner was John Storck's (Huntington, N.Y.) J/80 RUMOR, skippered by his college All-American daughter Kaity, while Stephen Tedeschi's TASTES LIKE CHICKEN (St. Petersburg, Fla.) took overall honors in One-Design racing, sailing in the 19-boat J/109 class. Brian Keane on SAVASANA topped the highly competitive J/105 class (24 boats). Other class winners included John Esposito’s HUSTLER (J/29), David & Sandra Askew’s FLYING JENNY V (J/120), Jeff Willis' CHALLENGER IV (J/44) and Kel Weber’s J/34c RASCAL in Non-Spinnaker. complete results  

J/122 Tops Class at NYYC Annual

J/122 RAGTIME, skippered by J Boats’ president Jeff Johnstone sailed to a first overall in IRC 4 at New York Yacht Club’s 153rd Annual Regatta June 9-10. The J/122 excelled in the generally light and shifty conditions that prevailed on Rhode Island Sound. Acceleration out of the tacks, keeping pace through an awkward chop, and pointing the boat in the right direction were the keys to staying ahead of the pack. The northeast J fleets head next to Block Island Race Week. This will also continue the J/122’s string of debut events, only this time with three sisterships competing for IRC honors. NYYC results...