09.Mar.14 - Terry McLaughlin Prevails at J/105 Midwinter Championship  Terry McLaughlin dominated the fleet at the J/105 Midwinter Championship hosted by Lakewood Yacht Club in Seabrook, Texas. Sailing Avici with Paul Parsons, Kevin Taylor, Jeff Cooke, Emmett Dickheiser and Monica Parsons, McLaughlin (recently named Sail Canada's Rolex Sailor of the Year) totaled only 22 points in the 11 race series. They endured a 20 percent penalty in race three, and otherwise tallied all top three finishes. Hometown helmsmen Bill Lakenmacher on Radiance (32 points) and Uzi Ozeri on Infinity (46 points) rounded out the top three. McLaughlin raced with Paul Parsons years ago, but actually didn't know the rest of his crew, since Paul did the organizing. "Our win was a true team effort," McLaughlin said while accepting his trophy. He also complimented the great Race Committee, noting, "It has been a long time since I have experienced 10 races in two days!" With favorable breezes on Friday and Saturday, the Race Committee was able to complete five races per day, leaving just one on Sunday (won by Lakenmacher). The top five: Terry McLaughlin, Avici (22 points), Bill Lakenmacher, Radiance (32), Uzi Ozeri, Infinity (46), Mark Young, Killer Rabbit (50), Greg Turman, Horny Toad (51). Eleven teams competed. Photos (courtesy of John Lacy Photography) are available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacyphotos/sets/72157642007204024/, and complete results are available at the  regatta website.

08.Mar.14 - Terry McLaughlin Extends Lead Heading into Final Day of J/105 Midwinters  Terry McLaughlin lengthened his advantage after another five-race day at the J/105 Midwinter Championship. Sailing Avici with Paul Parsons, Kevin Taylor, Jeff Cooke, Emmett Dickheiser and Monica Parsons, McLaughlin (recently named Sail Canada's Rolex Sailor of the Year) notched another round of consistent scores to total just 20 points in 10 races heading into the final day of competition. The event is being hosted by Lakewood Yacht Club in Seabrook, Texas with 11 teams. Local Bill Lakenmacher on Radiance continued his stellar performance, and kept hold of second place with 31 points. Fellow Texan Uzi Ozeri on Infinity maintained his bronze position with 43 points. The day dawned with light breezes around 4-5 knots, as Greg Turman's Horny Toad lodged Saturday's first victory, trailed by McLaughlin and Lakenmacher. Radiance won the ensuing contest over Ozeri and McLaughlin. The breeze kept creeping up a couple knots each race so by the third bout, teams saw 10-12 knot winds, when Mark Young's Killer Rabbit took the bullet. Again Lakenmacher and McLaughlin made it into the top three. Avici returned to the first spot in the next battle, followed by Alan Bates on Zippity and Matt Arno on Blue Flash. McLaughlin ended the day with another victory, ahead of Turman and Lakenmacher. Racing concludes Sunday. Photos (courtesy of John Lacy Photography) are available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacyphotos/sets/72157642007204024/, and complete results are available at the  regatta website.

07.Mar.14 - Terry McLaughlin Earns Advantage at J/105 Midwinter Championship  Terry McLaughlin, recently named Sail Canada's Rolex Sailor of the Year, has taken the lead after day one of the J/105 Midwinter Championship hosted by Lakewood Yacht Club in Seabrook, Texas. Sailing Avici with Paul Parsons, Kevin Taylor, Jeff Cooke, Emmett Dickheiser and Monica Parsons, McLaughlin won three of the day's five races, and has a point total of 10. Locals Bill Lakenmacher on Radiance and Uzi Ozeri on Infinity hold the next two spots, with 15 and 20 points, respectively. Winds on Galveston Bay held at a steady 10-16 knots throughout Friday. McLaughlin started the event with a bullet, as Greg Turman's Horny Toad placed second, and Bee Bednar's Stinger third. Avici again took first in the next contest, while Lakenmacher and Ozeri moved up to the silver and bronze positions. Mark Young's Killer Rabbit earned the victory in race three, as again Lakenmacher and Ozeri rounded out the top three. McLaughlin returned to the highest mark in race four, followed by Young and Bednar. The closing battle was won by Lakenmacher, as McLaughlin settled for second and Ozeri for third. Racing continues through Sunday. Photos (courtesy of John Lacy Photography) are available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacyphotos/sets/72157642007204024/, and complete results are available at the  regatta website.

04.Mar.14 - Midwinter Championship launches Friday  11 J/105 teams are gathering for racing at the Midwinter Championship this Friday through Sunday in Seabrook, Texas. Lakewood Yacht Club is again our gracious host. Keep up with all the action at the regatta website, and look for photos on the J/105 Class Facebook page.  Regatta Website

15.Feb.14 - Chiloe Island Regatta in Chile  The 2014 Chiloe Regatta was the second year of participation for the J/105 fleet in Chile. With 14 boats attending, the J/105s are by far the biggest and most successful one design in Chile. And there where many boats sailing with family crew. The competition between Scimitar and Recluta was tough from the beginning. Recluta was the top J/105 in the previous edition, so they were hoping to continue the tradition and started off on a good track. During the week these guys from Valparaiso had many good races, so they managed to stretch into a little lead for the final day. But, in Chiloe, any position is uncertain until the very end and the very shifty 18 to 20 kt breezes on the last day broke down the tradition. Recluta had a bad result in the first of two windward leeward races, losing the lead to Scimitar. After the first race, the conditions in Puerto Montt Bay were very tricky with 50 degree wind shifts, lots of rain and current. So, when the RC at 16:15 communicated to the fleet that there would not be more races, the championship was complete. Scimitar's young crew, that had been under the deck staying somewhat dry and warm from the heavy rain, were about to explode! They jumped on deck and started taking off their clothes and were getting ready to jump into the 14 degree Celsius water in the rain. But, before they managed to leap, both fathers Toti and Maceta and Carola (Maceta's wife) managed to control the kids exuberance and kept them aboard. Their crew of nine managed to get back to the yacht club and have a dry celebration. The Chiloe Island Regatta is the most famous and competitive regatta in Chile. It runs every two years around Chiloe Island, 650 miles south from Santiago and after the first version in 1990, 23 editions have been organized since. The regatta is mainly long distance races of 12 to 30 miles plus some windward leeward courses during a seven day program with one day off in the middle.

10.Feb.14 - Lookin good  
Guess what's on the front cover of the in flight Air Canada magazine?

06.Feb.14 - San Juan Regatta  Gusts blowing 20+ knots and rolling seas created challenging yet exhilarating conditions for nearly 100 sailors from five islands that competed in the 13th Club Nautico de San Juan International Regatta (CNSJIR), held January 31-February 2 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The CNSJIR Race Committee reveled in the brisk conditions launching as many as 13 races for the six classes that sailed with teams hailing from five Caribbean island nations. In the 7-boat CSA Spinnaker class, which included three Melges 32s, it was Puerto Rico's Jonathan Lipuscek's J/105 Dark Star that won with a decisive five firsts in six races. "We did very well considering the conditions and the competition," explains tactician, Rafi Martinez. "Our strategy was to focus on good boat handling, make few errors and on the downwind when the Melges plane to maximize the waves and puffs to our advantage."  San Juan International Regatta sailing information

31.Jan.14 - Mount Gay Round Barbados Race Series  Billed as Barbados' Ultimate Sailing Challenge, the new format Mount Gay Round Barbados Race Series was deemed a huge success. It incorporated a series of coastal races as well as the iconic Mount Gay Round Barbados Race, and a final 300-mile sprint to Antigua to tie-up with the Superyacht Cup. Organized by the Barbados Cruising Club in association with the Barbados Tourism Authority and Mount Gay, this annual event (January 15-24) played its part in kick-starting the Caribbean racing season. With nearly 50 boats from all around the world (Great Britain, USA, Canada and New Zealand plus a strong Caribbean contingent from BVI, St Lucia, Antigua, Barbados) close competition prevailed throughout the week. The breezy conditions made for some spectacular racing conditions. "We had excellent conditions and we sailed well as a team," said Peter Lewis, skipper of the J/105 Whistler. "We touched about 14 knots of boat speed in 25 knots of wind so our spinnaker runs added excitement." Whistler took the 35 and Under Class honors with an elapsed time of 7:37:06. They also took second in CSA Racing Class during the three-day regatta held earlier.  Regatta website

24.Jan.14 - Minutes posted  Minutes from the 1/13/14 Executive Committee Meeting are posted.  Class Business page

17.Jan.14 - Fast track to Key West  It was a quick race for the 30 boats competing in the 160 mile Ft. Lauderdale to Key West Race. David Bond's J/105 Loki won PHRF B!  Results

09.Jan.14 - NOR posted and registration open for 2014 J/105 Midwinters  Lakewood Yacht Club, J/105 Fleet 17, and the J/105 Class Association invite you to attend the J/105 Midwinter Championship to be held March 7-9, 2014 in Seabrook, Texas on the waters of Galveston Bay. On the regatta website, you will find: the official Notice of Race (now posted!), online registration form (now open), information on charter boat availability, information about lodging and information on Galveston Bay weather. Here is the deal. It's going to be a cold winter. Your 105 is going into storage. It may even be going up on blocks. Why not store it in sunny South East Texas and join locals for the Icicle series, the GBCA Spring, the HYC Midwinter, and then the J/105 Midwinter Championship? This is what March should look like - shirt sleeve weather and big winds.  Regatta website

03.Jan.14 - Chilean J/105 Nationals  With shifty winds and a closely fought regatta for the top five finishers, it was anyone's guess who would emerge as the ultimate winner in the Chilean J/105 Nationals. Providing the stage was the Club de Yates Algarrobo, with sailing taking place on Algarrobo Bay (located about 60 miles west of the capital Santiago). The championship was raced over the December 7-8 weekend. Saturday's sailing had light wind conditions and only two races were completed. On Sunday, the fleet was blessed with much stronger Northwest breeze conditions, large Pacific swells and much better racing conditions. The CYA PRO and Race Committee managed to do an amazing job to get four windward-leeward course races completed before the cut-off time to send the sailors back to shore exhausted, but happy, for the exuberant awards ceremonies. In the end, a familiar boat known to J/105 sailors in the Northeastern USA won by a large margin. With her new owner driving fast and staying out of trouble, the famous Scimitar and her skipper/owner Jose Manuel Ugarte were crowned 2013 Chilean National Champions, accumulating a 4-6 on the first day, but following up with three straight bullets in the windier conditions on Sunday to take the title with just 13 points total. The battle for the balance of the podium was fierce between Patricio Seguel on Grand Slam, Jorge Gonzalez on Plan B and Miguel Salas on Big Booty. Leading this trio after the first day's racing was Gonzalez's Plan B by just two points over Seguel's Grand Slam; Big Booty didn't figure in the picture yet for even the top five. With the light air specialists now having to contend with big breeze and epic waves flowing into the crescent-shaped Algarrobo Bay, the game was changing dramatically for all the players wanting to grab silver on the stage at the end of Sunday's racing. After their 8-1 on day 1, Seguel again started off the day with an eighth, rose to third, dropped to 21st, then won the last race. Seguel and crew secured second overall on a three-way tie-breaker at 21 points total for the silver medal. Gonzalez started the regatta well and seemed to excel in the light air on Saturday, knocking out a 3-4 to be leading the regatta. Sunday was a different story for them, struggling with finishes of 6-9-6-2, but still managing to secure third overall on the podium. Perhaps the toughest break was that taken by Salas. They sailed five of the six races in the top five but still lost the tie-break to take fourth overall. Fifth overall was Rodrigo Gumucio's Spin Out, also sailing in the top eight all regatta-long but not good enough to hop onto the podium.  Chilean J/105 Nationals sailing information

02.Jan.14 - Updated Documents  The updated J/105 Class Rules and Constitution, effective February 1, 2014, are now posted. The Rules can be found through the Racing link at left, and the Constitution through the Governance link at left.

23.Dec.13 - Rest in Peace Walt  
Walt Nuschke passed away on December 20. Thank you to Nelson Weiderman for the following words: Walt took over as J/105 Chief Measurer in 2008, and he only retired from that job in 2012 when his health took a turn for the worse. Previously he had been the Vice President, the President and on the Technical Committee for the J/105 Class. He was a tireless worker for us and saw it through many changes in the Class Rules and many Rule interpretations. He wanted the Rules to be simple as possible, but no simpler. He made the technology work for us and spiced up many a North Americans with the apps (that he commissioned) that went on all the boats. He was there when we had 75 boats (and two starting lines) at the 2007 North Americans in Annapolis. And he was a great one for affordability. He used his engineering background to engineer better solutions to problems. When we still had forestay measurements, he helped me get mine right at Block Island Race Week. Walt will be missed. He was always the "go to" guy for questions, even after he was no longer the Chief Measurer.

Walt's obituary: Mr. Walter L. "Walt" Nuschke, 66, of 130 West North Street, Waynesboro, PA, died at 7:55 P.M., Friday, December 20, 2013 in Meritus Medical Center, Hagerstown, MD, following a courageous battle with cancer. Born August 16, 1947 in Clarksville, TX, he was the son of Paul and Thelma (Brumley) Nuschke of Fayetteville, PA. Walt graduated from McLean High School, McLean, VA, with the class of 1965. He later graduated from Penn State University in 1970 with a Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering. He and his wife, Judith S. "Judy" (Stinson) Bartholow have been together since December 20, 1989 and were married on October 4, 2013 in Waynesboro. Walt has been the owner and president of L.S.I. Controls, Waynesboro, since 1979. He was a member of J105 Sailing Associates in Annapolis, MD, where he was a past president. He was also a member of Joe Stickell American Legion Post #15, Waynesboro, the National Woody Club, and Delta Epsilon at Penn State. Walt was passionate about sailing and also enjoyed being outdoors, gardening, Penn State Sports, antique cars, especially his 1931 Woody, and spending time with his grandchildren. He was also a little league coach and a youth basketball coach for many years. In addition to his parents and wife, he is survived by three children, Sarah Petsky and her husband Tim of Severna Park, MD, Paul Nuschke and his wife Annie of Philadelphia, PA, and Jesse Nuschke and his wife, Tizzie of Richmond, VA; one step-son, Jason Bartholow and his wife, Kristia of Waynesboro; seven grandchildren, Chloe, Kyle, Conrad, Luka, Stella, Caroline, and Madison; one brother, David Nuschke and his wife, Melissa of Enola, PA; one sister, Paula Alford and her husband, Jim of Great Falls, VA; and a number of nieces, nephews, and cousins. A memorial service will be held at 1:30 P.M., Thursday, December 26, 2013 in Grove-Bowersox Funeral Home, 50 S. Broad St., Waynesboro. Burial will be private at the convenience of the family in Green Hill Cemetery, Waynesboro. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to The American Cancer Society, 384 Floral Ave., Chambersburg, PA 17201.   Online condolences

13.Dec.13 - Hot Rum Series  The infamous Hot Rum Series in San Diego attracted 143 entrants to compete over three Saturdays on Nov. 9, 23, and Dec. 7. Using an inverted start system, with the 11.9 mile course routed around fixed marks, wind direction and strength frequently impact the final results. The J/105s generally seem to dominate Class 3 by sheer numbers as well as by some remarkable performances. Not surprisingly, a perennial contender topped the fleet, Dennis & Sharon Case's Wings. They were followed by Steve Howell (sailing with wife Lucy) on the ever popular Blink!, taking third in class. Ed Sanford's Creative sailed nicely to take fourth.  Full results

13.Dec.13 - Santa Barbara YC Holiday Regatta  The annual Santa Barbara YC Holiday Regatta has been known over the course of time to experience the extremes in weather. The forecast for the weekend event was exciting for those who enjoy downwind planing conditions. With morning winds of 10-20 kts NW increasing to 20-30 kts in the afternoon and gusts to 35 kts with 6-10 ft seas, the fleet was going to be in for wild ride on Saturday! The J/105s saw Mark Noble's Escapade take the win followed by Larry Harteck's Repeat Offender in second and Tom Bollay's Armida in third.  Santa Barbara YC Holiday Regatta sailing information