25.Jul.14 - Pacific Cup  This year's Pacific Cup ran from San Francisco to Hawaii. Many in the fleet suffered light airs in the beginning of the race and at least midway through the race due to the wobbly Pacific High that couldn't make up its mind which way to move next. After 13 days at sea, the big winner in the Weems & Plath PHRF Division B, was the J/105 Free Bowl of Soup from the Corinthian YC in Portland, OR (Eric Hopper skipper with crew of Eric Albertson, Scott Davey, Keith Sheets, and Doug Schenk as Navigator).   Regatta website

21.Jul.14 - Chicago-Mackinac Race  At 333 miles (289.4 nautical miles), the Race to Mackinac is the oldest annual freshwater distance race in the world. The Mac starts at the Chicago Lighthouse just off Navy Pier and continues to Mackinac Island. Twenty J/105s competed this year. John Moore's Here's Johnny! was first in class and 11th overall. Mark Gurney's Buzz was second in the J/105s and 17th overall. Mark Symonds' Pterodactyl followed, and was 24th overall.  Overall results

17.Jul.14 - Bayview Mackinac Race  This year's Bell's Beer 90th Bayview Mackinac Race began on July 12 in Southern Lake Huron, with 9-11 knots of breeze offering the 227 boats in 14 classes a swift downwind leg along the two courses offered, either to the Presque Isle Lighthouse (on the Michigan shoreline), where the Shore course begins taking a left, or the Cove Buoy where the Cove Island Course does the same (about 130 miles away from the start). The shorter Shore course covers 204 nm along the Michigan shoreline before heading west to Mackinac Island Bell's Beer finish line. The longer Cove Island Course is 259 nm and takes sailors around a buoy off the tip of the Bruce Peninsula in Canadian waters before heading west toward the finish line. A westerly breeze of 9-11 knots allowed an initially mellow downwind spinnaker run to the first turning points in each of two courses. During the evening, however, "a lot of everything" happened when it came to weather and wind, including rain, dense fog and gusts up to 36 knots. The front continued to move and produced a brisk westerly breeze that kept the fleet "on its nose" throughout Saturday evening and into Sunday. That meant the Cove Island course had the unfortunate task of playing windshifts for nearly 90nm upwind to Mackinac Island after rounding the Cove Buoy. PHRF D division had an eclectic, diverse group of boats in their fleet of 16 entries. The J/105s swept the class. The resounding winner by over 1.5 hours on elapsed time was the J/105 Pterodactyl (Mary Symonds). Behind was the J/105 Send in the Clowns (Terry Timm) in second place. Fourth was Snake Oil (Don Harthorn).  Regatta website

16.Jul.14 - Southern Chesapeake Bay Leukemia Cup Regatta  For the 2014 edition of the Southern Chesapeake Bay Leukemia Cup Regatta, Mother Nature served up better weather than in some recent years, although Saturday was a better day for power boating than for sailing, with pleasant temperatures but light airs. Four Fleet 15 boats signed up for the regatta: David Clark's Corryvreckan, Bob Rock's Shamrock, Don DeLoatch's Special K, and Rich Payne's Flying Colors. Since the regatta organizers required five entries to constitute a one-design class, the J/105s were forced to sail with the crowded, 10-boat PHRF A fleet.  Continue reading

15.Jul.14 - Minutes posted  Minutes from the 7/7/14 Executive Committee Meeting are posted.  Class Business page

01.Jul.14 - NYYC Rolex  New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex will feature the J/105 class racing Thursday to Saturday, July 17-19. For complete information and to register by July 4, go to the  regatta website.

25.Jun.14 - Spring Newsletter   Members will receive the Spring edition of the J/105 newsletter via e-mail. It is also posted on the  newsletter page.

23.Jun.14 - J/105 Midwinter Championship Returns to Key West Race Week in 2015  Quantum Key West is excited for the return of the J/105 Class to beautiful Key West. Mark your calendar for January 18-23, 2015 as the J/105 Midwinter Championship. Race Week is the perfect winter escape with a full racing schedule, unique shoreside fun, and fantastic sailing conditions. Event details, information on logistics and planning, and more will be posted on the  event website.

22.Jun.14 - Offshore PHRF Series at Cleveland Race Week  Cleveland Race Week concluded its 10-day event with 69 boats competing in the PHRF Offshore Series. The 'Big Boat' portion of the regatta began Thursday night with beautiful breeze on Lake Erie, and continued Friday night with lighter air. Friday featured a finish line at the William G. Mather steamship in the heart of downtown Cleveland's harbor. Both Saturday and Sunday's races took place under sunny skies and winds that started on the low end each day but built in the afternoon. Six J/105s competed in PHRF Spin E with Jim Sminchak and Doug Moose winning on It with a line of 1-1-1-1-[3]-2 for 6 points. Rob Mock's Unbridled placed second with 9 points, and Jim Uhlir's Trio rounded out the top three with 15 points.   Regatta website

16.Jun.14 - Cleveland Race Week  Eight fleets of one-design boats invaded Cleveland Race Week at Edgewater Yacht Club in Cleveland, Ohio from June 13-15, including five J/105s. Winds started strong on Saturday morning, but died off throughout the day. Sunday dawned with light breeze but increased, making for a beautiful day of racing in Cleveland. The J/105s were able to complete six total races, of which Jim Sminchak and Doug Moose on It won four. They won with 9 overall points, followed by Jim Uhlir's Trio with 13 points, and Rob Mock's Unbridled with 14.  Complete results

13.Jun.14 - RORC de Guingand Bowl  The Royal Ocean Racing Club's Seasons Points Championship continued last weekend with the De Guingand Bowl Race, the fifth offshore race of the annual RORC offshore championship. Designed to last 24-36 hours, the De Guingand Bowl Race starts and finishes in The Solent and is a flexi-course allowing the Royal Ocean Racing Club to design a bespoke course. In IRC 3 Class, Nick Martin's J/105 Diablo-J took second overall and also third in the IRC Double-handed class. At this juncture in the overall RORC Season Series, Martin's J/105 is lying second in IRC Double class, second in IRC 3 and sixth in IRC Overall.   RORC website

09.Jun.14 - Chicago NOOD  Prior to the 2014 Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta Chicago, Skipper Steve Knoop had raced in the previous 25 Lake Michigan NOOD stops aboard his Tartan 10. Making his maiden NOOD appearance in the J/105 fleet this weekend, Knoop looked anything but a newcomer, sailing his way to Overall Winner honors at the country's largest regatta series. After strong winds on Lake Michigan Sunday led to an eventual abandonment, Knoop and crew aboard Bella were awarded the prestigious honor based on their overall performance during the first two days of racing in the highly-competitive J/105 Class. "This was our first year in the J/105, before that I was with T/10 for 26 or 27 years," said Knoop. "We took lessons learned from T/10 and brought it here. Chicago is a unique weather system, light air in the summer brings thermals out of the southeast and it's a matter of how you play them. This regatta has been about what side of the course you were on and how it played out. Local knowledge was a huge factor." As overall winner in Chicago, Knoop received a charter aboard a Jeanneau 44i courtesy of Sunsail, to compete in the NOOD Caribbean Championship.  Complete results

06.Jun.14 - North Sea Race  A fleet of 52 yachts entered the 180nm Royal Ocean Racing Club North Sea Race - the fourth race of the RORC Season's Points Championship. Starting from Harwich on the East Coast of England, the line was blessed with a 15 knot easterly wind, providing a true beat to the first turning mark of the course. The breeze was to fade during the race, which suited the big boats in general. The J/105 Dream Machine sailed by John Van Veen and Rob Vis were the overall IRC Double-handed Class winner amongst the 15 teams competing from France, Belgium, Netherlands and the UK.
  Royal Ocean Racing Club website

06.Jun.14 - Southern Bay Race Week  The J/105s sailed in the PHRF A2 fleet as a two-boat competition at Southern Bay Race Week. Rich Payne's Flying Colors and Don DeLoatch's Special K conducted a match race for fleet honors, with Special K winning six of the seven races sailed.  Complete report

02.Jun.14 - Cedar Point One Design Regatta  Seven fleets attended the 2014 Cedar Point One Design Regatta on Long Island Sound, hosted by Cedar Point Yacht Club in Westport, CT on May 31-June 1. Fourteen boats comprised the J/105 fleet, won by Paul Beaudin's loulou with 12 net points. Six races took place, and Damian Emery's Eclipse snagged second place with 14 points, while Richard Swann's Ghost Dog came in third.  Complete results

30.May.14 - FIGAWI Race  The 43rd Annual Figawi Race did not disappoint the 206 boats and 3,000+ sailors making the annual pilgrimage from Hyannis to Nantucket Harbor nearly 25.0nm away. According to Brad Mascott on the J/105 Two If By Sea, "Big wind and big seas made for a fast sleigh ride to Nantucket for those brave enough to carry their chutes. Wind was 15-20 knots from NE, which made for a broad reach on port tack for the spinnaker fleet on Course #5 on their way to Tuckernut Shoal Bell #1. As the J/105s started, Dark 'n' Stormy had a great start, popped the chute and never looked back on their way for a 3-peat win in its division. Another J/105 to my starboard had trouble with another spinnaker boat as they both nearly broached with a t-bone, and then when the dust settled the J/105's spinnaker exploded on the forestay! Other boats also blew spinnakers and halyards. We chose not to fly our spinnaker as we had our cruising crew onboard and still thoroughly enjoyed the fast and easy ride at 7-9 knots surfing down the waves! Our second leg was a slog upwind to #15 north of great point and thank God it was only approximately four miles long in some huge waves. The J/105 took it in stride. The J/122 Patriot trucked past us as they looked to be in fine fighting form. Both Patriot and the J/44 Spice popped their chutes one last time to the finish and both looked good on the nearly dead downwind final leg. Really hard to complain with sunny skies all day, strong breeze and temps in the 50s-60s leading into a raucous scene at the wharf. The BaHa Brothers band were in fine form in the tent as crews and friends told stories, danced and drank the night away." The Division S2 Spinnaker saw Dark 'n' Stormy, sailed by Joyce & Wagner Reservitz, win followed by Jonathan Bloom's J/105 Bear Spirit in third and Diana Brown's J/105 Clio in fourth. The top four boats all finished within a two minute time span!   FIGAWI Race information

30.May.14 - Block Island Race  The 69th Storm Trysail Club Block Island Race, which started on the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend, attracted 69 boats. While George David's custom 90 footer Rambler won IRC on both handicap and elapsed with a fully professional crew, the polar opposite was true of the J/105 that won the hearts of everyone at the awards ceremony on Sunday. That team was Young American, the J/105 that won PHRF 1 and represented American Yacht Club with its junior offshore team aboard. According to the team's coordinator and adult crew member Peter Becker, "The seven Young American juniors are part of the club's junior big boat program, which sees 35 kids between the ages of 14 and 17 spending a huge amount of time on the water learning sailing and seamanship skills. Beating out the Sound, we were under-powered, and there was a funny sea wave, but they magically called a couple of shifts, got inside some big lifts and were in good company. The biggest problem was the big boats, which were in better wind and better current, while the smaller boats had the current turn on them. Coming back we were in foul current, which was not enjoyable at all." Finishing around 4 a.m. on Sunday, the Young American team thought they had done horribly but soon learned they were first in PHRF Class 1 and third overall. The team also won the Harvey Conover Memorial Overall Trophy awarded to the boat that has won her class and, in the judgment of the Flag Officers and Race Committee, had the best overall performance. Becker's son Key who was one of three designated skippers onboard, summed up the experience by saying, "It was pretty light, but instead of getting frustrated, we held it together, worked as a team, shared our ideas and made it work."  Storm Trysail Club website

22.May.14 - Blackhawk Wins Swiftsure Regatta  The Swiftsure Regatta is a classic city front event that takes place along the San Francisco city shoreline, just south of Alcatraz Island. The regatta is well attended by the local J/105 fleet on San Francisco Bay. Scooter Simmons' son, Ryan sailed and skippered Blackhawk to the overall win in the J/105 class. They won by a whisker, beating Jeff Litfin's Mojo crew on a tie-breaker. Starting with a 1-3-1, Simmons' crew nearly lost it all by taking a 10th in the last race to Litfin's first. Blackhawk took the tie-break on most firsts. Third, just three points back was Jason Woodley & Scott Whitney on Risk followed by Bruce Stone's Arbitrage then Doug Bailey on Akula in fifth.  Complete results

19.May.14 - Seattle NOOD  Mostly light winds and strong current on Puget Sound provided the backdrop for the Sperry Top-Sider Seattle NOOD Regatta, held May 16-18. One hundred ten boats competed in 17 classes, including seven J/105s who completed six races. Jerry Diercks three-peated as regatta winner on Delirium with three bullets and a total of 14 points. Todd Rickard's SeaMist and Erik Kristen's Jubilee tied on points at 18 for second and third place, respectively.  Complete results

19.May.14 - Manhattan Regatta  Twelve J/105s competed in this year's Manhattan Regatta under blue skies, good wind and of course a strong current. After a storm that passed through the day before, the ebbing tide was intensified by the river's surge, making starts quite challenging. With the exception of one distance race, course legs were short (under a mile) which offered lots of quick action and lead changes. New owner Dennis Driscoll (Hornet) did not let the New York Harbor's chaos rattle him, as his team took the lead on the first day with a couple of bullets in four races and held on to it Sunday to win the regatta. Overall second place goes to Mark Van Schalkwyk (Circe) who almost lost everything in the fifth race with an OCS but clawed his way back to a fourth place finish. A big welcome back and third place goes to Fairhope, skippered by Gareth Gaston. Fairhope snuck onto the podium spot in his first regatta since getting his boat repaired from Hurricane Sandy damage.  Complete results

15.May.14 - Edlu Distance Race  The format of the Edlu Race in Larchmont, NY was transformed back in 2005 into a day race. The starts have been made much earlier, and the distance is set so that all boats can finish before sunset. The course for this year was 32 nm from Larchmont Breakwater to Gong 11B off Eaton's Neck and back. The J/105s took the top two spots in the Edlu. Winner was George & Alex Wilbanks' Revelation, and in second was the American YC Junior Big Boat team with coach Peter Becker aboard Young American.  Regatta website

11.May.14 - Oregon Offshore International Yacht Race  29 yachts started the 38th annual Oregon Offshore International Yacht Race on May 8. This 193-mile race began at 8:10 am in confused seas and heavy chop, with winds at the start of the race from the south, gusting to 20 knots. Rain went from drizzle to pelting as the southerly front enveloped the fleet, air temperature was 51 degrees for the start of the race. The race begins off the coast of Astoria, Oregon, starting off the mouth of the Columbia River, with the fleet heading north along the coast, then turning east into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and finishing in the harbor at Victoria, British Columbia. Division winners in PHRF Overall include the J/105 Free Bowl of Soup with Eric Hopper, Doug Schenk and Matt Davis in PHRF B.  Complete results

08.May.14 - Vallejo Race  149 boats showed up to race at the Vallejo Race in Vallejo, CA. After a short postponement on day one and with a fickle, light southwest breeze, the race committee sent the first two divisions off to fight a building ebb for the long 21 miles to Vallejo. Then the wind died. Once half of the divisions were started, the northwesterly finally arrived at 1330, as a wall of wind hit the boats, and within seconds they were off. Once around the windward turning mark, they had a one tack beat to get into San Pablo Bay for the real fun to begin. After Point San Pablo, the boats turned down just enough that some chose to set the chute. A building breeze, ebb and big waves created surfing all the way to Mare Island. The racers woke up Sunday morning under gray skies, and some drizzle fell before the sun came out. At noon the starts were off with a bang in plenty of wind to get out of the Napa River and into San Pablo Bay. Although it was building as the day wore on, it was nothing like Saturday's 25 knots. On Saturday's 21.5nm race down the bayou, PHRF 3 was won by the J/105 Racer X sailed by Mary McGrath. In the one-design J/105 class, the top three were Arbitrage (Bruce Stone), Godot (Phil Laby) and Advantage 3 (Pat Benedict). On Sunday's 14.5nm race back, Bruce Stone's Arbitrage continued their winning ways, bulleting the race and winning class overall.   Vallejo YC website

08.May.14 - Race to the Straits  It was a blustery weekend of sailing in Seattle, WA for the Race to the Straits regatta. Class 7 Double-handed was made up of seven J/105s. The winner was Erik Kristen sailing Jubilee, followed by Matt & Tessa Gardner-Brown aboard Dulcinea. In third was Paul Henderson & Ramona Barber on Delirium, followed by Bob Blaylock & Mario Laky on Usawi in fourth and Ian Wesley-Smith on Cyrano in fifth.  Sloop Tavern YC website

05.May.14 - Conundrum Dominates American YC Spring Series  The final day of the American Yacht Club Spring Series saw gusts to 35 knots and planing conditions. Several boats reported speeds in the mid teens, with newcomer Zack Fluhr (sailing his boat Ajax) hitting 17 knots. Needless to say, he was pretty stoked. Everyone on the course handled the big breeze without any major issues. Two races sailed, and everyone went with spinnakers on all the downwind legs. Jeremy Henderson and Harald Edegran sailed Conundrum very consistently and rarely not in front to win the event by a comfortable 12 points over Loulou and Morning Glory respectively. Conundrum posted five firsts in the eleven race series.   Complete results

05.May.14 - Annapolis NOOD  Strong westerly winds on Chesapeake Bay delivered favorable racing conditions for sailors competing in the final day of the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta Annapolis (held May 2-4) where the current J/105 North American champion dominated the 17-boat J/105 fleet. James Rathbun's Hey Jude of Toronto tallied a near perfect scoreline of 1,1,1,1,2,1 for just seven points in the six races. The local team of Lewis/Salvesen on Mirage was a distant second with 24 points. Michael Mountford's Live Edge, also of Toronto, rounded out the top three with 28 points.  Complete results

04.May.14 - Rick Goebel's Sanity team selected Overall Winner at Yachting Cup  The heat wave that had hovered over California began to give way Sunday as the 42nd annual Yachting Cup regatta awoke to its third and final day for the 11 competing fleets. As coastal clouds and the cool Pacific put locals on notice that 'May Grey' weather may soon return, it proved to be only slightly cooler and only slightly windier than Saturday. But progress nonetheless. The Near Roads Course, closer to Point Loma, fit in three races for its six fleets. Making the most of the day was Rick Goebel's Sanity team, posting all bullets to move up and win the J/105 fleet. After reviewing the competition within all 11 fleets, the Organizing Authority selected Sanity team as the Overall Winner of the Yachting Cup.  Complete results

01.May.14 - AYC Spring Series  Seventy-eight boats participated in the American YC Spring Series last weekend. After two days and six races, the fleets were pleased with the performance of AYC's excellent Race Committee work on this opening weekend of the Series. The J/105s have a clear leader in the form of Conundrum (Harald Edegran & Jeremy Henderson) who managed to score three firsts and two seconds for just 7 points net. Trailing them in a tie-breaker at 14 points each are Carl Olsson on Morning Glory and Paul Beaudin on LouLou.
  Complete information