http://www.j109.org Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:20:17 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.j109.org/images/j109logo.jpg http://www.j109.org Feed provided by J/109 Class Association. Click to visit. http://www.j109.org (Goteborg, Sweden)- Peter Gustafsson and his crew continue their winning streak in 2010 sailing their J/109 BLUR off the picturesque coast of Sweden. After winning Helly Hansen Skagen Race in Norway and Big Boat Challenge in Denmark in May, it was time for a race in home waters: the 15th edition of the 150 mile Goteborg Offshore Race. Some might remember the earlier Skaw Race and Skagerrak Cup that were held in the same waters. Now the course runs from Goteborg to Marstrand, over to Skagen and south around Kattegat. The forecasts couldn't have been better. SE 10-15 knots going to lighter NW during the evening. All the boats got off at 1100 on Friday the 13th (not the best starting date?) and after some short and intensive legs to get out of the archipelago everyone hoisted their kites for the run north towards Marstrand. Perfect conditions but tricky winds and current reshuffled the standings early on. And when the fleet got that promised 180 degree shift on the beat over to Skagen, everyone knew that this race would demand 100% focus and concentration all the way until the finish. The night proved to be a magical one. Warm downwind sailing in 4-8 knots of wind, a million stars, lots of falling stars (some counted over fifty) and sparkling seas. And BLUR managed to stay with, and even overtake, all the 40-footers except a new First 40. Suddenly they all wished they had a sprits and asymmetrical spinnakers! After a glorious sunrise, the fleet beat north again along the Swedish coast. Once again fantastic conditions and close racing, especially among the 40-footers. And after 26 hours of racing, BLUR managed to beat most of the 40-footers on the water to a comfortable win on handicap with over an hour in both IRC and SRS rating systems. J109 Class Association Wed, 25 Aug 2010 00:20:17 +0100 http://www.j109.org (Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- Racing conditions for this year's Cowes Week could be described as challenging interspersed with "champagne sailing" for those sun gods and goddesses looking to enjoy the "southern climate" of England; enjoying all the Solent could possibly muster over the week long event. At the end, the J/109s proved they're the class to beat. With excellent one-design competition, it was clear it would not be a "cake walk" for the winners atop this class. Nevertheless, the mid-week leader continued to sailing consistently to take first-- Rick Garret's JEROBOAM won with a convincing record of 1-3-1-2-1-2 for ten points to finish 13 points clear of second place finisher Adam and Helen Wright's VELVET ELVIS (7-4-2-3-6-1). Third was Mike Smith's ZELDA with a 8-9-1-5-1-3 record, fourth was Matt Boyle's SHIVA and fifth was Glyn Locke and Gill Ross' JAMBHALA. (via the Aug 11 J/Newsletter) J109 Class Association Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:02:00 +0100 http://www.j109.org Hi All, We are just back from an exciting week of racing in Newport where the class held its 2010 North American Championship during the first three days. Gut Feeling followed up on their win in 2008 and is now the only J109 to have won more than one North American title (which also means Ted Herlihy now has more than one Rolex!) Caminos was second and Gossip was third. Congratulations to all three competitors on a well sailed regatta. The second half of the week featured theUS-IRC National Championship. The J109’s really showed their competitiveness under this measurement rule sweeping the podium in Class 5 with Storm 1st, Rush 2nd and Nordly’s 3rd. While class racing is generally close, this competition was even closer with Storm and Rush posting identical point totals and having to go to the 5th tie breaker to determine first and second (same number of 1sts, 2nds, 3rds and 4ths with the winner determined by who had the best finish in the last race). Nordly’s showed tremendous progress coming up the learning curve by winning the last two races to capture third in a very competitive fleet. Looking to the future we have some important events on the horizon. The first will be the J109 East Coast Championship run in conjunction with the Larchmont NOOD on September 11-12th at Larchmont Yacht Club. Butch Ulmer of UK-Halsey, who will be the PRO for this event has spoken with Larchmont Yacht Club and offered the J109 Class the opportunity to race on Friday, September 10th as well so we can have a 3 day event. We need to respond quickly if we would like to take them up on this kind offer. If you are planning to attend, please let me know as soon as possible if you would like to sail two days or three days for our East Coast Championship. I received some feedback at the NAs that three days is not a long enough regatta for a North American Championship. We generally hold 4-day events but were limited by NYYC’s schedule at Race Week. I personally would like to see a 3-day regatta for this year’s East Coasts but will go with whatever the majority of participants would like to do. Again, please let me know ASAP so I can respond to Butch Ulmer and Larchmont Yacht Club. The following weekend, September 18-19th, the Storm Trysail Club is running the very first US-IRC Championship of Long Island Sound at Riverside Yacht Club. For those of you who would like to race against a variety of boats under a competitive rating rule I would strongly urge you to consider participating in this event. Stay tuned for further details on this event. The NOR will be posted shortly. Of course after that we have American Yacht Club’s Fall Series 9/25-26 and 10/2-3 with the Storm Trysail Intercollegiate Regatta the following weekend on 10/9-10. I am hoping we can get a one design start for AYC Fall but if we can’t then entrants can race in the IRC 35 Class. We currently have 5-6 owners signed up to participate in the Intercollegiate Regatta and could use 4-5 more. The regatta is being expanded to 45 boats from 40 last year and we are again hoping that the J109 Class will be among the regatta’s largest. Please consider joining us at this event as we help transition the current generation of college dinghy sailors to a lifetime of participation in big boat sailing. One obvious benefit is expanding your potential crew list. Just last week my regular bowman could not make the first half of the event and I recruited a young sailor who had sailed aboard my boat at the Intercollegiate regatta several years ago. This is a very worthy cause and I hope you will support it. If you’d like to know more, please contact me or Adam Loory at UK-Halsey (adam@ukhalsey.com ) I look forward to seeing you on the water this fall. Best regards, Rick J109 Class Association Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:50:34 +0100 http://www.j109.org (Cork, Ireland)- The "almost Mediterranean" weather combined with some classic Irish wind/weather to make this year’s CORK Week another memorable one. All classes had great racing and on the last day of racing you could feel the tension on the dock, with virtually all the classes still to be decided. Cork Harbour and the surrounding area have huge land effects on the wind and, especially on the last day, the gradient made for constant changes which drove tacticians crazy.
The eighteen 109’s (ten from England and eight from Ireland) were competing for their European Championship and as Greg Burgess's BLUEJAY took the gun on the first race of last day, the crew punched the air with delight, knowing they'd clinched first overall. Brian Moreton's JUKE BOX was second and Ian Nagle and Paul O'Malley's JELLY BABY, snatched third place on the last day from Robert O'Leary's JEROBOAM. J109 Class Association Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:17:00 +0100 http://www.j109.org The North Americans were held in conjunction with the Rolex New York Yacht Club Race Week. Sunny days, southwest winds, and nearly postcard perfect conditions prevailed. Ted Herlihy's GUT FEELING is again overall NA champion with three firsts, two seconds and a fourth. Second was Dave Filippelli's CAMINOS with three seconds and three thirds. Third was Steve Kenny and Greg Ames' GOSSIP with a 1-3-4-2-3 score. As it is in many one-design events, consistency, speed and the ability to recover paid off big. At times, any one of the top three boats looked like it was "toast", but a bit of serendipity, perseverance and the right shift/ tactical move paid off big to keep them in the hunt. J109 Class Association Mon, 26 Jul 2010 20:37:54 +0100 http://www.j109.org The Larchmont NOOD will serve as the J109 East Coast Championship and as the second leg of the East Coast Regatta Series Championship (reflecting the combined scores of the participants at the Annapolis NOOD and the Larchmont NOOD). There are some prestigious trophies on the line so please consider attending! J109 Class Association Mon, 12 Jul 2010 13:41:24 +0100 http://www.j109.org ... is August 6-8 in Marion. We will race OD ONLY if we can get 8 boats to register. The RC is trying to limit the number of starts in each circle in order to keep things running smoothly. However, we can have separate scoring. The deadline is July 11 to get 8 registrations, so trophies can be ordered. So please register as soon as possible. BBR was featured as a 'must do' in Sailing World's Summer Road Trip article in the June issue. With the reliable Buzzards Bay sea breeze and National and International Race Officers, we expect great racing -- this year including a distance race. And over 200 volunteers are working to ensure a warm welcome, smooth logistics, and great post-race festivities. Again, please register before July 11. Dan Grossman, J109 Fleet 6 Captain J109 Class Association Tue, 06 Jul 2010 19:24:11 +0100 http://www.j109.org Hi All, Sail Newport has allowed us to secure dock space at the Alofsin Piers for boat and sail inspections on July 16th, 2010 prior to the commencement of the J109 North American Championship at NYYC Race Week the next day. To make this go smoothly, I suggest we schedule 20 minute time slots starting at 12:30pm-3:00pm so we can accommodate two boats at a time. This should make the inspection process go smoothly and leave plenty of time for practice during the afternoon. Remember, each team will still need to register and weigh in at New York Yacht Club Sailing Center so please consider that when making your plans. Please email me with your first and second choice of preferred time. Slots will be available on a first come, first served basis. The time slots are 1230, 1250, 1310, 1330, 1350, 1410, 1430 and 1450. As I noted in my previous email, sail and boat inspections will involve the following: 1) Sails should be available for inspection with the royalty tag on the tack displayed. I will record the type of sail, tag number and sail maker and then sign or stamp the sail to indicate it has been registered for the regatta. 2) For sails that were built prior to September 2006, please have a sail declaration sheet from your Sailmaker attesting that the dimensions of the sail comply with Class rules. 3) Boats will also be required to display the following: main salon table installed, all doors installed with the exception that the forward door leading to the V-berth which may be removed while racing, all cushions in their normal positions with the exception that the V-berth cushions can be removed while racing, anchor and rode, emergency tiller, and propane tank in its normal position. We will also check life line tension. While the standard test is to hang an 11.2lb weight and verify that the lifelines do not deflect more than 1.96 inches we have adopted a simpler standard that the upper lifeline should be taught and the mid-point of the lower lifeline (between stanchions) should not extend less than 9” above the deck. 4) An owner is responsible to ensure that his or her boat complies with all aspects of the Class rules. If you have any questions about whether installed equipment meets class rules I would strongly urge you to contact Adrian Begley Adrian.begley@verizon.net Class Measurer, or Jeff Johnstone jeffj@jboats.com , Member of the J109 Class Technical Committee, to review your inquiry well before the event. Brad Read, Executive Director at Sail Newport, has graciously offered to allow J109 owners to secure dock space at the Alofsin Piers at Sail Newport during the regatta at the bargain rate of $2.00/foot per night. This compares to rates of up to $5.00/foot/nite elsewhere in Newport, and will be available on a first come-first served basis. To take advantage of this offer, go to the Sail Newport website and click on the link for the online form to secure dockage. This is still in process so it may be a few days before the link/form is available. Sail Newport is a terrific organization/facility that has been a tremendous supporter of our sport over the years. They have also been very helpful to the J109 Class by offering us a protected area to handle boat inspections and for participants at the 2008 and 2010 North American Championships to have very reasonably priced dockage to moor their boats. It also helps that Sail Newport is only minutes away from New York Yacht Club’s Harbor Court location where registration and all of the social events take place. I strongly urge you to consider becoming members of this fine organization or making a gift to support their work. Here is a link describing membership costs and benefits for your review. http://www.sailnewport.org/npt/membershipinfo.aspx As always, please feel free to contact me or any of the other officers if you have questions about this event. We look forward to seeing you in Newport in July! Regards, Rick J109 Class Association Sun, 20 Jun 2010 20:11:11 +0100 http://www.j109.org The J109 2010 North American Championship will be sailed July 17-19, 2010 in the waters off Newport, RI as part of NYYC's Race Week. An Amendment to the NOR will apply specifically to the J109 class has been posted under regatta documents. Here is a quick summary of things competitors should be aware of as they approach this regatta. 1) This is our North American Championship so we will weigh in crews. The maximum crew weight, excluding the driver, is 1215 lbs. Weigh ins will be conducted at registration on Friday July 16th, 2010 at the NYYC Sailing Center. 2) Crew lists for each boat shall be submitted to me by July 9th, 2010. A valid ISAF number and category shall be indicated for each crew member so we can verify them against the ISAF Sailor database in advance of the regatta. If you expect to have any substitute crew members during the three day regatta, please indicate which days they will be sailing and which crew member they will replace. Substitute crew members will need to weigh in as well and the boat’s overall weight will need to be in compliance with the 1215lb limit each day the yacht competes. As you may be aware, ISAF eliminated the Category 2 designation in 2010 and reassigned sailors that had been in that designation to either Category 1 (Amateur) or Category 3 (Professional). I would strongly suggest that you have all of your crew members verify their ISAF status as soon as possible as some former Category 2 sailors may need to go through a review process with ISAF. If that is the case they may not have a designation in time for the regatta. PLEASE don’t wait until the last minute to focus on this! 3) All owners AND helmsmen will have to be current members of the J109 Class Association to compete in this regatta. Please arrange to pay 2010 dues on the Class website : http://www.j109.org/index.php 4) Sails used in the regatta will have to comply with class rules. We will be registering sails and inspecting them for Class royalty tags and reserve the right to measure any sails used at the regatta. PLEASE make sure that your sails have valid Class royalty tags in place. If they don’t, contact your sail maker now to make sure they are REGISTERED with the Class and have tags affixed to the sails. Anyone competing with sails that were purchased before September 2006 will need to furnish a sail declaration form signed by their Sailmaker attesting that the measurements of the sails comply with Class rules. These forms can be found on the Class web site. All yachts will be restricted to one (1) Class mainsail, two (2) Class jibs and two (2) Class spinnakers. As you will see from the amendment, owners will be allowed to change jibs and spinnakers (that have been registered for use at the regatta) each day at their discretion, except as provided in the amendment. If a sail is damaged beyond repair during the regatta please contact me and I will allow you to substitute a replacement sail as long as it complies with Class rules. 5) All participating boats will be inspected on Friday July 16th either at New York Yacht Club or at Sail Newport. I will verify the location as soon as possible. Owners will be responsible for ensuring that their boats have the appropriate safety gear aboard. We will verify that each yacht is carrying an anchor, emergency tiller, propane tank, dining table, cushions etc. in compliance with Class Rules. Sail inspection/registration may take place concurrent with boat inspection. We generally check life lines during these inspections to make sure they meet a minimum test for height above the deck (indicating taughtness). As you know, this is our Class’s most prestigious championship so we need to abide by and respect Class Rules. If anyone has any questions, please contact me (rel@jwbristol.com), Class Secretary Ed Dailey (edailey@sunsteinlaw.com), Class Measurer Adrian Begley (Adrian.begley@verizon.net) or Class Treasurer Ric Campeau (ric.campeau@gmail.com). If you have any questions about the New York Yacht Club or the regatta itself I’d suggest contacting NYYC’s Sailing Office at: Address 5 Halidon Avenue Newport, RI 02840 Phone (401) 845-9633 Fax (401) 846-3303 E-mail sailingoffice@nyyc.org Please pass this on to your respective Fleet Members and encourage them to consider attending. Historically Rolex has awarded a Rolex watch to the winner of a North American or National championship held at Race Week, although they typically require a minimum fleet size of 15 boats to qualify for that award. This should be a great event and I hope many of you will attend. Please let me know if you are planning to participate in this event. Best regards, Rick J109 Class Association Sun, 20 Jun 2010 20:14:47 +0100 http://www.j109.org June 5 and 6 is the Sag Harbor Sprit fest regatta. Hope to see you all there. J109 Class Association Tue, 11 May 2010 15:31:12 +0100