25.Jan.15 - Icicle 4  Another spectacular day on the Bay. GBCA's Cruzan Rum Icicle Series race 4 took place under light 7-10 knot breezes without a cloud in the sky and 60+ degree temps. The J/109 Hamburg was followed by the FT10 ONO, the J/92 77, and Uzi Ozeri's J/105 Infinity, with a J/70 following to collect series points.  Video

25.Jan.15 - J/105 at Key West Race Week  Jon Weglarz of Chicago, IL and his team on The Asylum made the trek south to beautiful Key West for the annual Race Week. Jon placed second in PHRF 2 with 21 points, making him the Midwinter Champion. Ten races were completed. Check out daily report and photos on the  event website.

22.Jan.15 - J/105 at Strictly Sail  
J/105 Fleet 5 had a booth at the 2015 Chicago Strictly Sail Show held at McCormick Place January 14-18. The booth was manned by Fleet 5 members and had the J/105 Bella (Chicago NOOD winner) as the center piece where visitors to the booth could climb aboard and see what the boat looked like. There was also a flat screen with a loop of the 2014 North Americans video running continuously. There was a lot of interest as the Fleet 5 members were enthusiastically talking to potential owners and crew. Fleet 5 grew by three boats in 2014 and is attempting to keep up the momentum in 2015.

22.Jan.15 - Mount Gay Rum Round Barbados Race  Despite generally light airs with winds reaching no more than 15 knots, three teams have won their skipper's weight in rum for breaking records in the 79th Mount Gay Rum Round Barbados Race. Peter Lewis on his J/105 Whistler won the 35ft and Under and the CSA divisions said he couldn't have asked for a better day, "It was an excellent race and despite the generally light airs it was a beautiful day for sailing and one of the best on record. We were a bit concerned the big boats would swamp us towards the end, but thankfully we were far enough ahead."  Full results

18.Jan.15 - GBCA Icicle 3  Finally! GBCA's third Icicle race on January 17 saw some 60+ boats find themselves in 64 degree temperatures and mostly sunny Texas skies. The wind gods' decision to provide fluky 2-10 knot breezes made for some extremely interesting sail choices and some very strange position changes along the 8 mile run. In the 14 boat sprit fleet, including J/70s, J/80s, J/92s, J/105s, J/109s, a GP26 and a single FT10, leads changed from last place to second and then back. The FT10, J/109, Uzi Ozeri's J1/05 Infinity and a J/70 followed by Bee Bednar's J/105 Stinger finished in the top five collecting points for the overall series.

14.Jan.15 - Minutes posted  Minutes from the 1/12/15 Executive Committee Meeting are posted.  Class Business page

10.Jan.15 - GBCA Icicle 2  For once, January in Texas took on aspects of that Northern Yankee weather. GBCA's second Icicle began with the temperature at 39 degrees, heavy cloud cover, and high humidity that switched into light rain for the last two-thirds of the race. Twenty-five brave competitors started, but it was to be a J-sprit race with six J-sprits finishing in the top six. Uzi Ozeri's J/105 Infinity took third just behind the J/109 Hamburg and J/92 77. Bee Bednar's J/105 Stinger finished sixth behind the J/109 Harm's Way and the J/80 Doodah. Hopefully next weekend will be more like the usual winter Texas weather with temps around 60 degrees.

03.Jan.15 - The First Icicle  Galveston Bay's first Icicle race on January 3 of 2015 began in gray overcast skies, 10-12 knot NW winds, 58 degree temps, and finished in beautiful warm Texas sun. On the order of 50 boats started with two 105s, a GP 26, two 109s, two J/92s, a couple of J/80s and one FT 10 in the sprit class. The downwind start saw Bee Bednar's J/105 Stinger round the first mark ahead of all but the 80s and the 92s, with Uzi Ozeri's J/105 Infinity just behind. The second and third slightly off the wind legs were almost perfect for the 105s. Stinger managed to roll the GP 26 at the second mark and then fend the light speedster off at the finish. Infinity finished in third.

30.Dec.14 - 2015 Class Rules  The 2015 Class Rules are posted  here.

18.Dec.14 - Scimitar Repeats at J/105 Chilean Championship  Over a three-day weekend in December (the 6th to 9th), the last event of 2013-14 Chilean J/105 National Championship took place off Algarrobo. An excellent, highly competitive field of 17 teams were on the starting line, ready to do battle to determine the season-ending leaders for this local offshore fleet. The weekend's weather gods smiled on the sailors, providing them great wind conditions, with a 10-15 knot southwest breezes (the best local wind) and enormous waves over 6.5 feet tall. From the earlier regattas, it was clear the three teams that were dominating those events would have to settle in for a three-way battle for the top spots on the podium. Or, they would have to contend with a late bloomer, a new team ready to ascend the leadership with better tacticians or crew. Repeating as they had from 2013, Team Scimitar skippered by Jose Ugarte, finished in first place thanks to their consistent firsts, seconds and thirds. Miguel Salas' Big Booty followed closely with 34 points to take second overall, but had to win a tie-breaker over the Plan B team skippered by Jorge Gonzalez. Plan B got the short end of that stick due to fewer top three finishes. The Chilean J/105 fleet will race again in the Sailing Week 2015, where many classes and fleets join to celebrate this event. This will take place from January 24-31, 2015 off Algarrobo as well.

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

12.Dec.14 - Hot Rum Series III  For the three weekends that comprise the San Diego YC's Hot Rum Series, you can expect just about anything weather-wise. For the last weekend, the weather didn't cooperate, with light airs prevailing most all day. Six J/105s took up the challenge in Class 3 with Dag Fish's Viggen taking class honors and second in class. Third in Class and second J/105 was Dennis Case's Wings, losing a tie-breaker with Viggen at 13 points each.
  Hot Rum Series website

03.Dec.14 - Pacific Northwest Snowbird Series #1  Here's Ben Braden's latest report on the first of their Snowbird Series taking place on the Sound: Stellar, spectacular, this is why we do this, I can't believe how nice it was--these comments and more rolled around the boisterous and smiling group of sailors gathered at the Anthony's Bar after participating in the first Snowbird Series race of the year, hosted by Shilshole Bay Yacht Club. Bookending a spectacular week of cool temperatures, sunny skies and strong Northerly winds, Saturday's weather couldn't have been much better. 'Are there really people crazy enough to race in this freezing weather? Hell ya!' laughs Lisa Cole sailing aboard the J/105 with the most race miles under their keel, Last Tango. With a forecast of 5 knots or less and temps in the 40s, the fleet was met with a building 12-14 knot northerly, sunny skies and temps in the mid 40s, but with the sun shining so hard it was easy to stay warm and enjoy the stellar views. One of those dry sunny winter days when the mountains seem so close that you can touch the little bit of white at their peaks. When the lighthouses stretch so tall that you think you're just a few feet away from them and a day the lucky few that came out racing will be talking about for the next month as they await Snowbird Series Race #2 on December 13. Eighteen boats registered for the first race of the series, and the RC broke them up into a NFS class and three Flying Sails classes with remarkably good rating spreads for their Time on Time scoring. As with many of the smaller races over the year, SBYC is bringing out the sub 125 raters with even a class of raters from 153 to 204 in class B flying sails. Class C brought out an Olson 911, Q boat, Catalina 36, J/30 and a Jeanneau 36. Class D has a J/105, Farr 30, Beneteau 44.7, J/35 and a Wauquiez 42. Eighteen boats of amazingly different designs and eras out racing on an amazing PNW cool & crisp fall day. A course area that starts off Shilshole Marina and took racers up to the always elusive Spring Beach spar buoy, back downwind to West Point, through the starting area and up to the NOAA weather buoy and back downwind through the finish was led off the line by the small class of Non-flying sails boats. As they headed out into the sound on starboard, class B lined up with Perfectly Strange hovering in that pin end position, the precursor to the always sought after port tack start. With the perfect left shift holding through the sequence, they nailed it and crossed the fleet while looking back at the international sign of disapproval held high on some of the crossed boats. But their advantage quickly disappeared as the wind shifted back to the right and built on the outside leaving the little Pocket Rocket sailing in the middle of their fleet, losing the gains they made on the port tack start. The final two starts rolled off the line without a hitch and a few tacks in and around Meadow point led the fleet into that long port tack up to the Spring Beach buoy. The Dufour 34, Frog Prints was charging north, out in the front after starting first in the NFS class, but sailing in that unenviable position of having to be the first boat to find the little white spar buoy that so easily gets lost in the background. As the fleet was consistently lifted with the wind shifting to the NW, Frog Prints finally found and rounded the mark causing many to bump out a few inches on their jib sheets as they put their bows down a degree or two towards the first mark in the course. Poles forward for the first few miles of the run with the waves almost big enough to surf, the wind almost strong enough to scoot, and those stellar views all around the boat. The further south the fleet sailed the more the wind shifted behind them and as they got within the last mile of West point the inside boats had the advantage sailing their hotter angle towards the mark. The Farr 30 Deep Pickle led the low road around the mark with the J/105 Last Tango hot on their tail. Deep Pickle kept legging out on the second upwind, and they extended their lead by over four minutes in front of Last Tango at the shorter weather mark (the first NOAA buoy). Behind them Kowloon led the five boats in Class C with Grayling and Outlaw pushing hard up there transoms. Back to the finish, everyone went after rounding the NOAA buoy with Deep Pickle leading the way finishing over 5 minutes in front of the J/105 Last Tango, but not far enough in front to hold their position after correction, leaving Last Tango in first, Deep Pickle in second & Bonni Jean in third. Full results can be found at the Shilshole Bay Yacht Club website, as well as entry forms for the December 13 race.  SBYC Snowbird Series sailing information

27.Nov.14 - St Croix Regatta  The St Croix International Regatta, hosted by the St Croix YC, has a lot going for it and continues to attract more sailors. What's not to like sailing off their famous beach? For one, the winning skipper's weight in Cruzan Rum is first overall prize; secondly, there are three spectacular days of racing in classic Caribbean sailing conditions; and lastly, there are live bands each night on the beach with island-style hospitality. The event is somewhat unique from a regatta format as well since there is a pre-regatta called the Commodore's Race Trophy. This enables the locals, in particular, to practice. The CSA Racing was dominated this year by Jonathan Lipuscek's J/105 Dark Star, taking four firsts and two seconds on their way to a massive win; the only blemish on their record being a DSQ in race 4.  Event website

27.Nov.14 - Hot Rum Series #2 Report  San Diego's favorite fall racing event, the Hot Rum Series, continues in full swing. This fun-loving "free-for-all" generally sees the fleet starting inside of San Diego Harbor, takes them on a tour that heads out past the majestic Point Loma, around some buoy set offshore, then back home to again finish inside the channel just off Harbor Island. It's consistently one of the largest PHRF pursuit-style races run annually-with the little boats starting first and the big boats starting last; whomever crosses first wins. The enormous Class 3 is generally the provenance of the large, aggressive J/105 class. Sitting in second overall and leading the J/105s is Dennis Case's Wings, followed by Dag Fish's Viggen in fourth.   Event website

27.Nov.14 - HYC Turkey Day  The 36 entries in the Houston Yacht Clubs annual Turkey Day regatta had to be a big disappointment for the race organizers, but can be explained by what turned out to be a bad weather forecast that included winds in the 25-30 knot range with temps in the 40s. Fortunately, the big winds never showed up, the temps stayed in the 60s, and Saturday's overcast dreary skies and 15-20 knot breezes transformed into Sunday's bright blue and clear skies with temps in the 70s. Even better, the winds held steady with a few gusts above 20. The RC split the small seven boat spin fleet into two classes with Bee Bednar's J/105 and two J/109s in Spin A. The only other J/Boat, Scott Tuma's Butter Ball Beaver Nuggets J/80, was assigned to Spin B. At the end of the racing on Saturday, the 105 and 109s were all tied for first place with 4 points. The tie breaker went to the 105. It's worth noting that had the J/80 been in Spin A, there would have been a four-way tie for first. Under the beautiful conditions on Sunday, and in spite of a horrific hoist of a jumbo kite, Bee's 105 easily took first to win Spin A and take home a big 25.6 pound turkey. Next up is HYC's revognah regatta (spell it backwards) on January 1.  HYC website

23.Nov.14 - Bermuda J/105 Invitational Day 3  The final day of the Bermuda J/105 Invitational Regatta, sponsored by XL, saw three races completed in a stiff northerly breeze. The opening race (8) of the day was in 14-18 knots, and the fleet had to deal with large wind shifts as well as difficult chop that this wind direction always brings. The race went to Yabsta (Trevor Boyce) - his second bullet of the regatta, ahead of Chequemate (Peter Bromby). Race 9 (the final International race) started with a shift to the left in strong breeze. A coming together shortly after the start saw protests hailed and flags raised, as the finer points of rules were discussed on the racecourse. Sadiiqi came out of this mess pinned out to the right and behind, never to recover. After two laps, Passion (Bill Lakenmacher) beat Chequemate (Kevin Murphy) to the line. Race 10 (the final Bermuda race) rounded out the series, with Chequemate (Peter Bromby) taking the final win ahead of Passion (James Macdonald). A fun distance race "Last Race" then took the teams on a tour of the Great and Little Sounds, before working down Granaway Deep back to RBYC. Yabsta won this race for the prize presented by Triangle Rigging. After a brief hearing, by International Umpire Bob Duffy, to sort out the protests, the final results were tabulated and prizes were awarded. The "boat of the day," sponsored by Butterfield Bank, went to Chequemate. For the International Trophy, sponsored by Bermuda Tourism Authority: Passion (Bill Lakenmacher) 13 points; Yabsta (Stewart Neff) 15 points; Sadiiqi (Richard Mitchele) 16 points. For the Bermuda Trophy, sponsored by Goslings: Chequemate (Peter Bromby) 10 points; Morning Glory (Glenn Astwood/Jon Corless) 15 points; Sadiiqi (Pete Ramsdale) 18 points. For the Overall Trophy, sponsored by XL: First - Chequemate (Kevin Murphy, Henry Colie, Scott Callahan, Ian Feathers, Peter Bromby, Lee White) 29 points; second - Morning Glory (Jason Owen, Andrew McIrvine, Paul Wiseman, Glenn Astwood, Jon Corless, Paul Wring) 33 points; third - Passion (Bill Lakenmacher, Daniel Lakenmacher, Peter Sutch, James Macdonald, Mary Geraghty, Nik Smale) 33 points. Results are on www.lflag.com under RBYC/J105.

22.Nov.14 - Bermuda J/105 Invitational Day 2  The second day of the Bermuda J/105 Invitational Regatta, sponsored by XL, saw five races completed in a stiff north westerly breeze. The opening race of the day was in 13-15 knots, and the majority of the fleet picked the southerly side of the course to good effect. The opening race went to Morning Glory (Jason Owen), with the boat continuing to lead the overall. Race 4 (Bermuda helm) had a battle between Moring Glory (Jon Corless) and Chequemate (Pete Bromby) for the two-lap race, with Bromby taking the win in a close finish. Race 5 (International) saw the fleet split, with Sadiiqi (Richard Mitchele) hard left and the bulk of the fleet middle to right. With the left paying handsomely, Sadiiqi took her second win of the competition from Passion (Bill Lakenmacher), who was having a very consistent day. Race 6 and the breeze had shifted a little to the south and built to 16-18 knots. Both Morning Glory and Sadiiqi showed solid upwind speed, keeping them ahead of the fracas at the first windward mark as the rest of the fleet converged. At the end of the race, Morning Glory took the win from Sadiiqi, with Yabsta picking up some penalty points. Race 7 - the last race of a very long day. Sadiiqi led after the first lap, but Yabsta had a better leeward rounding and took the lead on the second upwind, and then kept a comfortable lead to the finish from Sadiiqi and a hard charging Passion, making up a number of places. Boat of the day (sponsored by TOPS Limited) went to Sadiiqi.

20.Nov.14 - Bermuda J/105 Invitational Day 1  The first day of the Bermuda J/105 Invitational Regatta, sponsored by XL, saw two races completed in a light northerly breeze. The first race was for International helms, and Morning Glory (Jason Owen) and Yabsta (Stewart Neff) led out on the left side of the course, but Sadiiqi (Richard Mitchele) quickly headed right into more pressure and led at the first mark, and maintained the lead to the bottom of the course. The next lap of the course, Sadiiqi successfully covered the competition and took the opening win, with Yabsta second to Morning Glory's third. Race 2, with Bermuda helms, got under way after the course was reset in the now more easterly and lighter breeze. Congestion at the start boat had two boats shut out and having to circle back to start. Morning Glory (Jon Corless) recovered from a poor start and were well placed after the first lap, with Chequemate (Peter Bromby) chasing hard. Coming down to the finish it was Morning Gory ahead of Chequemate, with Sadiiqi (Pete Ramsdale) holding off Passion (James Macdonald). The format for the event is for alternate races to be helmed (International and Bermuda), with the combined results counting for the XL Trophy. After the first day the overall results are Morning Glory (4 points); Sadiiqi (4 points); Chequemate (6 points). Six International (UK, US, Canada) yacht clubs are represented, in addition to the two Bermuda Royal Clubs. Racing continues Friday and Saturday.

14.Nov.14 - 2014 Caribbean NOOD Championship  Wow. What a week it was! First and foremost a huge thank you to Sunsail for making the 2014 NOOD Caribbean Championship a reality. Eight teams raced in the grand finale event: the five 2014 NOOD winning teams and three teams joined in the Open Class. The weather was on the competitors' side so that all five days of competition were perfect. From buoy racing on the first day, and for all the distance racing, they had the wind and sun beating down, which only made the beach bar rendezvous that much more important to quench thirsts. The Caribbean Championship was five days of competition, but seven days of fun. They managed to sneak in a lay day at the Bitter End Yacht Club that crossed over with Bitter End's Pro-Am Regatta so that after a day of playing with the beach cats, they could rub elbows with the rock stars of the sport. The final day of racing brought them into The Bight on Norman Island, where they crowned the winners and recognized all those that made the week unforgettable. Gary Mozer of the J/105 Class took the honor for NOOD Overall Champion after winning his spot at the 2014 San Diego NOOD.  Pictures

09.Nov.14 - Videos page  Check out the new Videos page at the bottom of the Menu bar at left. Right now, we have two videos--one from Fleet 1 and one from Fleet 4. If your fleet has a video (or would like to make one), please contact the Class Office.  Videos page

07.Nov.14 - J/Fest Southwest  J/Fest Southwest Committee Chairman Al Goethe and the team at Lakewood Yacht Club (LYC) welcomed teams to the 5th Annual J/Fest Southwest Regatta, sailed November 1-2 on Galveston Bay. Over the weekend, most fleets were treated to 6+ races in classic Galveston Bay sailing conditions--breeze, chop and plenty of wind shifts. The well-traveled and very experienced team on Mark and Jolene Masur's Two Feathers won the J/105 class in a closely fought affair. Not surprisingly, just 2 points behind them was Uzi Ozeri's Infinity. However, the biggest fight in the entire regatta may have been for the bronze in the J/105s, with five teams all scrapping for any advantage over one another to claw their way onto the podium. When the smoke cleared, all five teams finished just four points apart! Winning this dustup by just one point was John Barnett's Vici with 32 points to take the bronze. Fourth was Bill Lakenmacher's Radiance with 33 points after suffering an SCP (scoring penalty) in the last race. Then fifth, yet one more point back was Alan Bates' Zippity with 34 points. John Bell's Kinderspiel 2 and Mark Young's Killer Rabbit each won one of the final two races and had a mathematical possibility of finishing third, but instead ended up tied with one another (with Kinderspiel 2 getting the nod on countback for sixth place).   Results

03.Nov.14 - St. Francis Yacht Club wins 100th Lipton Cup  Chris Raab and his crew from St. Francis Yacht Club showered champagne on an 85-year-old dry spell after crossing the finish line for the 100th Lipton Cup challenge. The three-day regatta was a true test of skill, with competitors completing a full rotation through 12 charter boats in conditions that ranged from strong, full winds to shifty, unpredictable breezes. While teams like Newport Harbor excelled in the lighter winds, St. Francis demonstrated their versatility by competing well throughout the range of wind conditions. Some of the best competition didn't come from the 12 J/105s, but from the spectators. Throughout the day a swarm of boats circled the outside of the course, each hoping to secure a front row seat as history was made on the final day of the regatta's centennial installation. Each of the day's four races was filled with exciting sailing, lead changes and demanding technical maneuvers. In the first race of the day, San Francisco broke away from the fleet with an early gybe on the first downwind leg. Though the maneuver initially appeared premature, a wider look at the course revealed what skipper Chris Perkins noticed: the majority of the fleet had overshot the gate mark. San Francisco stole away with a significant lead and maintained their position all the way to the finish line. Behind them was San Diego, who under the direction of skipper Brad Rodi managed to pull off the most impressive comeback of the whole regatta. Between rounding the weather mark on the first lap and coming upwind off the gate mark, San Diego went from the 11th position to second. Four boats were OCS at the start of the next race, giving Seattle Yacht Club the opportunity to gain an early lead. With a solid race, they kept their position to finish in first place. Seattle repeated their victory with another first place victory in Race 11. Going into the final race, it was still anyone's game with a mere six point spread separating the top three teams: St. Francis, San Francisco and San Diego. St. Francis held tight to third place throughout the race, finishing behind Newport Harbor and Long Beach. They won the regatta with a total of 51 points, seven above San Diego who finished second. Newport Harbor's two first place finishes nudged them ahead of San Francisco for third place. Both teams had a total score of 60 points. Coronado rounded out the top five teams in fifth place with a total of 71 points. Overall, the regatta was an incredible showcase of talented, diverse sailing. Not only was the racing technical, but so was the equipment. This regatta featured the innovative RaceQs app, which allowed race fans from their home clubs to watch the action with a 3D race display online. Race replays are available through the Tracking link at the  event website.