01.Sep.10 - JFest Southwest  The first annual JFest Southwest will take place at Lakewood Yacht Club in Seabrook, TX from October 16-17. Crane facilities will be provided for easy in-and-out, and the J/105 Class will race one-design. There will be a team of on-the-water coaches available, and after Saturday's racing Bob Congdon will be presenting "How to Maximize Your Instrument Data." The presentation and discussion will focus on systems from simple speed, depth, and wind through advanced performance packages. A steak dinner will be offered on Saturday night (poolside) followed by a Steel Band.  Lakewood Yacht Club website

01.Sep.10 - CORK Offshore Regatta  At the CORK Offshore Regatta in Kingston, Ontario from August 27-29, 12 J/105s were entered for the event which sailed 9 races. Peter Hall on Jamaica Me Crazy topped the fleet with 22 points. Following in second was David Shaver on Return (28) and then Stuart Kilpatrick on Planet B (31).  Complete results

31.Aug.10 - Sarcoma Cup  Seventeen J/105s constituted the largest One-Design Class at the Sarcoma Cup at Berkeley YC from August 28-29. Five races were completed, and Adam Spiegel on Jam Session took the top spot (9 points), trailed by Bruce Stone on Arbitrage (14) and Phillip Laby/ Richard Pipkin on Racer X (19).  Complete results

26.Aug.10 - Affordable Key West Race Week Options  Check out the link below for lots of information on affordable arrangements for Key West Race Week. Now is the time to plan!  Key West Race Week 2011

23.Aug.10 - Gary Mozer wins SoCal Championship with solid team  After posting three first-place finishes in a row on Saturday, local favorite Gary Mozer's J/105 Current Obsession 2 hung on Sunday to take first place honours in the second annual J/105 SoCal Championship hosted by Long Beach Yacht Club and sponsored by Ullman Sails, North Sails, West Marine and JK3 Nautical Enterprises.  Complete article and results

23.Aug.10 - Sealark Wins Overall Verve Cup  Shocked is the word to describe how Clark Pellet, owner of Sealark, looked upon realizing he'd not only won first place in the J/105 fleet, but also the prestigious honor of the Overall Verve Cup trophy. The Overall Verve Cup trophy is awarded to the winner of the most competitive fleet in the Verve Cup Offshore regatta, which was held at Chicago Yacht Club August 20-22.  Complete article and results

17.Aug.10 - San Francisco Yacht Club Summer Keelboat Regatta  
15 J/105s raced for the San Francisco YC's Summer Keelboat Regatta in winds from 11-25 kt, with Adam Spiegel's Jam Session starting the regatta off with a pair of bullets before being gradually ground down by Bruce Stone's Arbitrage. Stone started with a 3-3 before putting up a 2-2 and finishing off with a bullet to win with 11 points. Second was Jam Session with 15, and third was Rolf Kaiser's Donkey Jack with 24 points. (Photo by Heike Schwab)  San Francisco YC website

09.Aug.10 - Eclipse Blasts Through  Damian Emery's Eclipse blew away the competition in both the West Passage Regatta and the Narragansett Bay Championship series. Damian got the best of 10 other J/105s in the inaugural WPR with 12 points in the eight-regatta series. The weather cooperated with moderate (12-16 knot) breezes from the S and SW which allowed eight races to be sailed in two days. The second and third place boats for the WPR were Tonto (Fred Darlington, 18 points), and Power Play (Bruce Stone and Scott DeWeese, 24 points). For the three-regatta Narragansett Bay Championship, Eclipse had .913 to Kincsem's (Joerg Esdorn/Duncan Hennes) .790 and Power Play's .746. There were 24 total participants in this series. You may view the West Passgae Regatta results at http://fleet14.j105.org/racing/results/WPRResults.pdf and the  2010 Narragansett Bay Championship Standings here.

05.Aug.10 - Squan Tri-Sail Offshore Regatta  Big boat sailors raced last weekend in the 31st annual Squan Tri-Sail regatta, sailed in the ocean outside of the Manasquan Inlet. Race divisions included a J/105 fleet, won by John Pearson on Red Sky (3 points). David Spence on Synergy followed with 7 points and Austin Fragomen on Warlock with 8 points. Four J/105s competed in 3 races.  Complete results

04.Aug.10 - Santa Barbara to King Harbor Race  In the 81-mile Santa Barbara to King Harbor (Redondo Beach) Race raced last weekend, Charles Spear won the J/105 division aboard Twelve Bar Blues. Trailing him were Scott McDaniel racing Off the Porch and Mark Noble on Escapade.  Complete results

04.Aug.10 - Announcement from WCMR Committee on Postponement of 2010 Windy City Match Race  Due to circumstances beyond our control, the organizing committee of the Windy City Match Race has made the difficult decision to postpone the 4th Windy City Match Race. The event, scheduled for September 10-12, 2010 in Chicago, will be rescheduled for Spring 2011. We hope that you understand how difficult this decision was for our committee and that it was not made lightly. We believe postponing the event is the fairest course of action for our competitors, our charity partners, our spectators, and our generous hosts, the Chicago Match Race Center (CMRC). An event in Spring 2011 will help us guarantee a successful event both on and off the water. We will announce the new date shortly. If you have any questions, please contact WCMR chairman, Bow Lingle at bow@windycitymatchrace.org.

03.Aug.10 - Aldo Alessio Perpetual Trophy Regatta  The Aldo Alessio Perpetual Trophy Regatta was held at the St Francis Yacht Club over the weekend. The J/105 fleet boasted 16 boats. Scooter Simmons on Blackhawk came in first, winning the tie-breaker over Bruce Stone on Arbitrage. After 4 races, each team scored 11 points. In third was Phillip Laby and Richard Pipkin on Racer X (14 points).  Complete results

01.Aug.10 - A Little Friendly Competition on the Water  Read the The Sag Harbor Express coverage of the J/105 racing and fun happening at Breakwater Yacht Club  here.

01.Aug.10 - New England Solo Twin  Nelson Weiderman and Jim Heagney won Class 1 of the New England Solo Twin aboard Kima, defeating 11 other boats in their class including two other J/105s, Dark & Stormy (winner in 2009) sailed by owner Michael LaChance and Eric Irwin and Jaded, sailed by Joe Cooper and Emmet Todd. The double-handed race took the entrants 94.1 miles around Block Island's R4, to Nomans Island's R2, to the Racon off Newport and finished at Castle Hill Light. The predictions were for light wind, but the wind kicked up and held throughout the night. The second place boat finished just 37 seconds behind on corrected time, and boats were still overlapped at the second mark after sailing 62 miles. The race started at noon on Friday, July 30 and finished in the early hours of Saturday morning.  Final Results

29.Jul.10 - Fiesta Cup  Saturday had a slow start in light air but the breeze continued to build all day. Because of the fickle conditions off the yacht club, the whole course was moved up by the point were there was better wind. Steve Howell's Blink from San Diego YC had a great day in the J/105 Class with 8 points followed by 3 Santa Barbara boats with 10 points each. Not an ideal racing day but the RC did a great job of shifting marks with the shifts. By Sunday, after the breeze settled in, the standings flip-flopped with Blink taking a beating, getting a 7-8-6 to drop down to sixth overall. The locals ran the table, with the Santa Barbarians taking the top three positions on the podium. Last year's winner, Rasmussen's Free Enterprise nearly pulled off a repeat of last year's win. However, two sixths mid-series hurt Free Enterprise's chances (with a 4-1-6-6-1-2 record), losing by a point to Larry Harteck's Repeat Offender which managed to get a more consistent tally of 5-4-1-2-4-3 for 19 points. Third was J/105 Class President, Bernie Girod, sailing his well-traveled Rock & Roll to a 1-2-7-4-7-1 record, winning both first and last races to happily finish off a well-sailed series.   Santa Barbara YC website

28.Jul.10 - Level Regatta  From July 24-25, the Youngstown (NY) Level Regatta fielded a fleet of 177 boats including six J/105s. After seven races, Peter Hall racing Jamaica Me Crazy won with 11 points, followed by Stuart Kilpatrick on Planet B (14 points), and Terry Michaelson on The Usual Suspects (21 points). Hall finished all races in the top three, including four bullets.  Complete results

28.Jul.10 - Women's Open Keelboat Championship  Women's Open Keelboat Championship 2010 saw Louise Morton's Espada beat 16 other teams to win the event. It's the third time Louise has claimed the trophy, but this year the competition was hot on her heels. In a closely contested championship, Pip Hare came second, with Elaine (Elan 37), and in third was JOS of Hamble (J/105), skippered by Clemency Ives.   Complete article

27.Jul.10 - Race to Mackinac  The 102nd running of the 333-mile Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac has wrapped up for the 17 J/105s regsitered. Mark Nichols on Certare finished in the top spot, followed by Clark Pellett on Sealark and Tomas & Gytis Petkus on Vytis.  Event website and results

26.Jul.10 - Marblehead NOOD  Peter & Doug Morgan racing SteelAway III won the J/105 division at last weekend's Marblehead NOOD. The team finished with a total of 8 points over 5 races (one discard). In the battle for second and third place, Fred DeNapoli on Allegro Semplicita (15 points) edged out Kevin Colcord on Circe's Cup (16 points). 22 J/105s were registered.   Complete results

23.Jul.10 - Minutes posted.  Minutes from the 7/13/10 Executive Committee meeting are posted.  Class Business page

20.Jul.10 - Pure Michigan Bayview Mackinac Race  A total of 206 sailboats in 22 classes raced in the 2010 Pure Michigan Bayview Mackinac Race, starting from Port Huron, MI on July 17 under blue skies and a light 12 knot breeze and ending with a rainstorm and 20-knot gusts on Saturday in Lake Huron. Six J/105s raced, with Matt Haglund on Rampage leading the fleet, followed by Brian Smith on Sorcery.  Results

20.Jul.10 - New York Yacht Club Race Week  
The first half of the biennial New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex, has finished up for seven classes, and has also concluded for five more one-design classes that have been racing since Saturday. The catch, however, was that the finla day's first race had to be abandoned and then competition cancelled when severe thunderstorms passed over Rhode Island Sound, leaving winners to be determined by cumulative standings posted Sunday. The circumstances left J/105 skipper Damian Emery (Shoreham, NY), sailing Eclipse in the largest class here (20 boats), very happy. He is now the 2010 J/105 East Coast Champion, a title he also won in 2008 at this regatta, coincidentally under similar circumstances when a storm aborted racing on the last day. "The difference was that then, we shredded all of our sails because we didn't get them down fast enough," said Emery at the early afternoon Rolex Awards Ceremony where the sky had returned to sunny blue. "This time, we could see the front coming through and we were the first to drop our sails." According to Robin Wallace, the principal race officer for the White Course, where the J/105s and the Beneteau First 36.7s sailed, "It had looked as if the initial storm cell would track north of the course, but then a knuckle developed right across the sailing area, with heavy, heavy rain and winds up to 27 knots." Since the Race Committee had forewarned everyone to keep their radios on, both fleets--which by then were approaching the first leeward mark on a twice-around course--knew to change course for home. Eclipse's tactician Dan Neff (Manhasset, NY) explained that his team only needed an eighth or better in both races to win. "Based on our previous performance (victories in four of six races), we felt reasonably comfortable that we'd do that," said Neff, "but the stress was still on." Joerg Esdorn's (Katonah, NY) Kincsem, which finished second overall, "was capable of posting two bullets if we weren't there." Following Eclipse (11 points) and Kincsem (25) was Brian Keane on Savasana (Weston, MA) with 29 points. Six races were completed. (Photo courtesy of Dan Nerney)  Complete information and results

18.Jul.10 - Red Grant Regatta  The 2010 Red Grant Regatta was a huge success. Thousands of dollars were raised for New Jersey Hospices. Eight J/105s registed for the July 10-11 regatta, with John Pearson taking the top spot on Red Sky with 6 points. Paul Zajac on Skal came in second (7 points), and Marcus Wunderlich on Stratos third (11 points). Three races were completed.  Event website

15.Jul.10 - San Diego YC One Design Weekend  12 J/105s competed in last weekend's One Design event at San Diego Yacht Club. Dennis & Sharon Case racing Wings took the top spot with 4 points. They were trailed closely by Doug & Pam Warner on Javelin (5 points), then Mark Mitchell on Straight Edge (7 points). Two races were completed.  Complete results

14.Jul.10 - Deadlines for 2010 J/105 North American Championship  This year's biggest J/105 event--the North American Championship--hits Chicago from September 13-19. Please make note of the following deadlines! Eligible boats may enter by completing the Entry Form available on the Chicago Yacht Club website at www.chicagoyachtclub.com or at www.yachtscoring.com and paying the required fee(s) to Chicago Yacht Club, 400 E. Monroe, Chicago, IL 60603. The entry closing date is 2300 hrs on Friday, August 20. A copy of the boat's weight certificate, the list of sails and sail tag numbers that will be used in the regatta, the crew list and the Proof of Insurance must be submitted in writing prior to 1800 hrs on September 6 in order for an entry to be complete and to avoid a late processing charge of $100. Late entries will be accepted until 1800 hrs on September 13 under the following conditions: Completion of the Entry Form and its delivery along with payment of the entry fee and the late registration entry fee together with all required documentation, including but not limited to a copy of the boat's weight certificate, the list of sails and sail tag numbers that will be used in the regatta, the crew list and the Proof of Insurance. Entries will not be accepted after September 13.  Regatta website

12.Jul.10 - Coastal Living Newport Regatta  Bruce Stone & Scott DeWeese on Power Play defeated 13 other J/105s at the Coastal Living Newport Regatta last weekend. The team scored 4 points over 2 races. Chris and Carolyn Groobey on Java took the silver position with 5 points. Nelson Weiderman racing Kima came in third--in a 9-point tie with Harald Edegran and Jeremy Henderson (Conundrum) and Duncan Hennes and Joerg Esdorn (Kincsem).  Complete results

06.Jul.10 - 2010 Windy City Match Race Scheduled September 11-12  New things come in threes for the 2010 Windy City Match Race (WCMR), an annual charity event scheduled for September 11-12 in Chicago: a new boat, a new organizing authority and new charity partners. For the first time, the charity sailing event whose mission is Chicago sailing helping youth, will sail in J/105s. WCMR will serve as a terrific tune-up opportunity for those competitors planning to participate in the J/105 North American Championship, scheduled for September 1319 and also in Chicago. Chicago Match Race Center will serve as the event's organizing authority; and requests for invitation are currently being accepted for the ISAF Grade 3 event. Interested participants should contact Sarah Renz at srenz@experient.com. Please note--all boats need to be supplied to the competitors, but charter boats are available. The two new charity beneficiaries are both Chicago-based organizations. The first, Jobs for Youth, helps young men and women from low-income families become part of the mainstream. The second, Near North Health Services Corporation, is one of the largest community health centers in Chicago. Chief Umpire Steve Wrigley will oversee this year's WCMR, and racing will be held near the entrance to Belmont Harbor, with starts each day intended for 10 a.m. Shore-side activities will include post-racing briefings, umpire debriefs, awards ceremony and WCMR's silent auction.  Website and NOR

06.Jul.10 - Eastern Yacht Club Annual Regatta  In Marblehead, MA, Eastern Yacht Club's Annual Regatta welcomed 10 J/105s on July 4. Laurie Willard on Shooting Star topped the fleet, trailed by Jim Flanagan on Achiever V and Charlie Garrard on Merlin.
  Complete results

06.Jul.10 - Shearwater Sailing Club Twilight Race  There are some years when the annual Shearwater Sailing Club Twilight Race is a painfully slow drifter in sticky hot conditions. In other years, the regatta has been spoiled by the evening thunderstorms that tend to predominate during this time of the summer. Much to the delight of organizers and competitors alike, this year's Twilight Race featured the fabulous scenery and sailing conditions that make this one of the most fun and unique events on the Chesapeake Bay. Five J/105s competed. Chris & Carolyn Groobey racing Java came in first, followed by Donald Santa (Santas Reign Dear) and Michael O'Toole (Varmint).  The Capital article

02.Jul.10 - J/105 Featured in Sailing Magazine  The July issue of Sailing Magazine provides an impressive look at the J/105 in its monthly feature 'Used Boat Notebook' by John Kretschmer.   Read the Feature

30.Jun.10 - NOOD Champs "Lose It" to Win It  J/105 partners Scott Whitney and Jason Woodley keep their summer winning streak rolling at the San Francisco NOOD. Read the Sailing World article  here.

30.Jun.10 - Cleveland Race Week  Cleveland Race Week's 30th year just finished on June 27 after 10 days of racing at Edgewater Yacht Club in Cleveland, OH. The first weekend was devoted to one-design racing. In the 4-boat J/105 fleet, Doug Moose & Jim Sminchak won the division with 13 points. Following It, was Joe Colling on Ja2 (17 points) and then Colin Mills on Wish (18 points). Seven races were completed. CRW's second weekend is referred to as the Offshore Division weekend. In PHRF F, Doug Moose & Jim Sminchak on J/105 It again took top honors. Five races were completed in this series.  Results

28.Jun.10 - HYC Leukemia Cup  Light, consistent, but very shifty winds prevailed in brutally hot Texas conditions to provide some interesting tactical opportunities for four J/105s entered in the Houston Yacht Club's annual Leukemia Cup. Bee Bednar's Stinger managed to take the day with 6 points followed by Bill Lakenmacher's Radiance in second with 11, Malcolm Bremer's Babe in third with 16, and Alan Bates' Zippity in fourth with 18 points. Stinger also took class honors in the fleet's contributions. Fleet 17 contributed $3,330 to Leukemia and Lymphoma Research.  Leukemia Cup website

27.Jun.10 - San Francisco NOOD  12 J/105s competed at the San Francisco NOOD from June 26-27. Jason Woodley & Scott Whitney on Risk won the 5-race series with a total score of 11 points, including three bullets. Bruce Stone on Arbitrage followed in second (13 points), and in third was Adam Spiegel on Jam Session (17). The 2010 Sperry Top-Sider San Francisco NOOD marked the series' return to the Bay area after a six-year absence.  Complete results

27.Jun.10 - Long Beach Race Week  Gary Mozer racing Current Obsession2 won Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week with 12 total points. Held from June 25-27, nine J/105s competed over seven races. Mozer and team finished first in five of the races, and never placed below fourth. Tricky conditions prevailed, with the moderate, shifting breeze from the south stirring a few whitecaps. In second place was Jeremy Davidson on Sanity (20 points); in third was Doug & Pam Werner on Javelin (27).  Complete results

26.Jun.10 - Block Island Race Week  After five days and nine races, Damian Emery on Eclipse won the J/105 division at Block Island Race Week. Emery's team finished with 13 points in the 6-boat fleet. Following Emery were Carl Olsson on Morning Glory (20 points) and Andrew Kennedy on Bat IV (22).  Complete results

24.Jun.10 - J/Fest Northwest  Eight races were completed over two days (June 19-20) in the waters off Shilshole Bay Marina, sponsored by Seattle J-Boats dealer Sailboats Northwest, with Corinthian Yacht Club running the racing and hosting post-race parties. Erik Kirsten's team sailing Jubilee were not only winners of the J/105 class, but got Top Performance Award for best regatta in biggest fleet at the event. Second was Petersen racing Last Tango and third was Pinkham's USAWI.
  Website

22.Jun.10 - Spring Newsletter  Members should have received the Spring edition of the J/105 newsletter via e-mail recently. It is also posted in the Members area of this website.  Newsletter page

16.Jun.10 - Risk Wins J/105 Invitational at San Francisco Yacht Club  Read the race report courtesy of Jason Woodley on Risk  here.

13.Jun.10 - NYYC Annual Regatta  Known as the longest running regatta in America, the New York Yacht Club's 156th Annual Regatta presented by Rolex also has the distinction of kicking off the sailing season in New England. This past weekend, June 11-13, over 1,000 sailors on 111 boats gathered from across the U.S. and Europe for three days of racing on Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound. In the J/105 fleet, Michael Mountford on Live Edge came in first with 13 points, followed by Dudley Nostrand on Jaded (19 points) and Chris Beane on Vixen (20 points). Nine J/105s competed over 5 races.  Event website and results

13.Jun.10 - Chicago NOOD  Donald Wilson and his team on Convexity dominated the 16-boat J/105 fleet at the Chicago NOOD. Finishing first in 4 of the 6 races, they scored just 15 total points. Following Convexity, Tomas Petkus on Vytis (26 points) edged out Dorin Candea sailing Messy Jessy (27 points) for the second and third positions.  Complete results

11.Jun.10 - Sprit Fest Regatta  Breakwater Yacht Club in Sag Harbor, NY on the end of Long Island played host to yet another fun start for the summer sailing season. The J/105s saw Wayne Morse on Roxanne win with a 1-1-2-1-2 record over Bruce Tait's Buckaroo with a 2-2-4-2-1 score. Lying third was Sedgwick Ward's Mambo.  Event website

09.Jun.10 - Narragansett Bay Championship  There are three exciting events being held in Rhode Island this summer with sponsorship from Samson, Waterline Systems, North Sails, West Marine, and Brewer Wickford Cove Marina. View the next 3 news topics below for information on each event. The top three boats in each event will win the newest hi-tech running rigging from Samson. Brewers is offering half-price haul-out and power wash, and deeply discounted dry storage. The cumulative winner will be crowned the Narragansett Bay Champion and receive a half-model, a valuable prize from West Marine, and a gift certificate for spare parts from Waterline Systems.

09.Jun.10 - Coastal Living Sail Newport Regatta  The first event of the Narragansett Bay Championship is the Coastal Living Sail Newport Regatta from July 10-11.  Website

09.Jun.10 - East Coast Championship at NYYC Race Week  The second event of the Narragansett Bay Championship is the J/105 East Coast Championship at NYYC Race Week from July 17-19. If 25 or more J/105s enter, the winner will be awarded a Rolex watch.  Website

09.Jun.10 - West Passage Regatta  The third event in the Narragansett Bay Championship is the West Passage Regatta at Wickford Yacht Club from August 7-8. North Sails is conducting a free on-the-water clinic for all comers at Wickford YC on Friday afternoon, August 6. On Saturday evening, August 7, a North Sails raffle will take place for a new Light Air VMG Spinnaker optimized for racing in lighter winds. Proceeds go to the Wickford YC Junior Program (must be present to win).  Website

08.Jun.10 - J-Cup 2010 at the Royal Southern Yacht Club  Having already had two days of awesome racing at the J-Cup 2010, the 74-boat fleet were postponed ashore for a short time on Saturday until 10-12 knots of breeze filled in from the southeast. The J-Cup 2010 was hosted by the Royal Southern Yacht Club. The J-Cup series comprised eight races in total. Andy Dennis and his team on the J/105 Orijin travelled all the way from Helford to compete at the J-Cup 2010 and the final day of the regatta was their best, having got used to the Solent and working the boat on boat one-design racing to their advantage. If the regatta had been just a day longer, the top slots might have looked a little different, but in the end it was Hamble based Java, owned and raced by Rob Dornton-Duff who took the top slot, just a point ahead of William Newton's Jelly Baby in second place overall with Richard Watney's Jeopardy in third. Jeopardy also won the North Sails Boat of the Day prize on Saturday.   Royal Southern Yacht Club website

07.Jun.10 - 156th NYYC Annual Regatta this weekend  This is the last chance to sign up for the 156th NYYC Annual Regatta this coming weekend. Weather is looking good! The event includes an Around-the-Island Race on Friday, June 11 and a 2-day event on Saturday/Sunday June 12-13. Entries close tonight.  Website

06.Jun.10 - Detroit NOOD  Jim Sminchak racing It won the 7-boat J/105 fleet at the Detroit NOOD with 14 total points. The Ohio team scored 4 bullets over 6 races from June 4-6. Don Harthorn on Snake Oil finished second (17 points), followed by Mark Symonds on Pterodactyl (21 points).  Complete results

04.Jun.10 - Class Scale rental  The J/105 Class Office will rent a Model S-10 scale to Class members and fleets to weigh their J/105s. It is a seven-day rental, and the $250 fee includes two-way shipping within the continental United States. (Reference the Racing link from the J/105 homepage to review the process of weighing and signing of weight certificates.) Upon your rental request, the Class Office will contact you to schedule the rental period.  Merchandise page

03.Jun.10 - Figawi Race  The 39th Annual Figawi Race from Hyannis to Nantucket was held on May 29, which saw 15-20 knot southwest winds and a steep Nantucket Sound chop of 3-5 feet. In Division S-Sprit Boats, the J/105 Vixen skippered by Chris Beane placed first by just 1:40 over Wagner Reservitz's J/105 Dark'n'Stormy.   Figawi website