109 Shorts
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Jean-Eudes Renier and Patrick Baune won the J/109 RORC Trophy in
JEE-RAFT
Marcus Wilson and those magnificent flying RAF men on RED ARROW won the Haylock Cup for Best British
service Yacht in IRC |
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| We've Gone Digital
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Welcome to the new J/109 electronic newsletter! After much discussion the class decided to replace the biannual newsletters with a monthly enews update, which will enable better communication thoughout the year. If you have any additions, corrections, or stories for the next newsletter, please let us know.
Photo from J-Cup, courtesy of Lee Whitehead (www.photolounge.co.uk). |
Cast Your Boat's Vote
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The polls are now open, so please vote. Newly elected J/109 Class Association officers will serve from October 2007-October 2009. Cast your vote on the website by October 27th; results will be posted online by October 29th. The format is "one boat, one vote." For co-owners, the vote of the first owner will be recorded as that boat's vote.
On October 30th, outgoing and incoming class officers and Fleet Captains will hold a conference call to discuss past and future class growth. Please vote before October 27th, and let your Fleet Captain know if you have any topics you would like discussed on the conference call.
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Verve Cup 2007 : Short and Sweet
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 As one of the only major offshore regattas held in the U.S.
during the month of August, Verve Cup dates back to 1893. In 2007 it attracted 176 yachts in the
offshore regatta and 50+ yachts in the Verve Cup One Design Regatta
held the weekend prior.
In a weather shortened regatta, the one design section
of J/109s raced three windward leeward races on Friday and a long
distance race on Saturday. Other fleets raced under PHRF rules or
individual one design class sections. Sunday's threat of lightning and
variable winds forced cancellation of what normally would have been a
7-race series. At the end of the four races Rob Zerban's J/109
ZEITGEIST finished on top of the eight boat fleet.
1. Zeitgeist, J 109, Robert & Cornelia Zerban, Kenosha, WI, USA, 1-2-1-1;5
2. Lucky Dubie 2, J 109, Len Siegal, Chicago, IL, USA, 2-1-2-2;7
3. K III, J 109, Irv Kerbel, Lincolnwood, IL, USA, 3-3-3-6;15
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A Year in the Life: 2007 highlights from the UK
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 Fun and games for the J/109 Class in 2007 actually commenced well before most boats had even hit the water. On a cold, dark February night owners, crew and general 'J/109 enthusiasts' congregated in Southampton for the first ever Class Prizegiving and Dinner. Trophies were presented for J/109 successes during 2006, and much mayhem, merriment and dancing ensued.
March: training weekend on the Solent with the great Jim Saltonstall. Visitors from around the UK and Ireland joined forces with local crews to check whether anything could be gleaned from the Master Coach. The simple answer from all concerned was a big 'yes'.
April: Twenty-two boats turned out for the the Raymarine Warsash Spring Series. New owners of Johnny Blue II, Bruce Jubb and Jeff Dakin, emerged victorious. And at the Red Funnel Easter Challenge the victorious J/109 from 2006, Andrew Allen's No Naked Flames, missed another IRC win at this event by just one point.
May: The Spring Regatta took place on the Isle of Wight on what should have been a sunny weekend in May. Instead, it blew dogs off chains and rained pretty hard too. Three races of a potential six were sailed in what some described as 'survival conditions'. Clearly Mike Ewart-Smith's survival instincts are finely honed because Zelda won the regatta by two points.
June: Sixteen 109's from the UK and France competed for the 2007 J/109 EuroCup in Deauville. After a monumental battle it was Matt Boyle and his team on Shiva who took the EuroCup home by just one point.
July in a non Cork Week year? Go to Dun Laoghaire Week instead. The burgeoning J/109 fleet in Ireland and a number of visiting boats from the UK, Wales and Scotland added up to fourteen boats for this four day event. The winner was Jambo, owned by Nick Fry and Kate Buckingham.
August: Twenty-four 109s raced in class at Skandia Cowes Week 2007, and the ultimate victor was Matt Boyle and his team on Shiva. However, at the J/109 Nationals (part of J-Cup 2007) Bruce Jubb, Jeff Dakin and Mike Flood of Johnny Blue II emerged victorious, securing both the J/109 UK National Championship title and the prestigious J-Cup trophy.
Still ahead: The J/109s will be racing in Class at the Hamble Winter Series, and there are plenty of Class One-Design events already scheduled for 2008. Go to j-uk.com for more details.
Photo from J-Cup, courtesy of Lee Whitehead (www.photolounge.co.uk). Thanks to Becci Eplett from J-UK for this report.
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Pacific Northwest Champs
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 Fleet #1 is pleased to announce the first J/109 Pacific Northwest Championship Regatta, June 11-15, 2008. The event will include 3 days of buoy racing, and even more nights of parties. The event will be held in Seattle, WA on Shilshole Bay. The rough schedule includes registration and the opportunity to race against the local fleet Wednesday June 11th, registration and a practice race on June 12th, followed by 3 days of racing June 13th through June 15th. This regatta will be run in conjunction with Sail Northwest's legendary J/Fest regatta (June 14th & 15th), so there will be no shortage of fun festivities, and you can expect expert race management. For further information and logistics questions contact regatta chairman Stuart Burnell (smburnell@att.net). The NOR and other regatta documents will be posted on the fleet #1 website in the next few months.
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JUKEBOX Goes to Abersoch
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 Brian Moreton from Fleet #7 in the UK writes:
Although it was not a J/109 event (this year!!) we took JUKEBOX to Abersoch Keelboat Week at the end of August.
We raced in a fleet of ten Class 1 Boats and between 8 of these (2 Primas, 2 X35s, 1 First 36.7, 1 Dehler 38, 1 Dufour 40 and our 109) there was often only a couple of minutes between us on corrected time with each boat having its moment of glory. We had two back to back races per day, a Coastal race on one day and one race on the final day. With winds between force 3-6 all week and sunny days it was great champagne sailing with good gybes being the difference between winning and losing. We got some great comments on the Coastal Race as we were the only boat to gybe our Code 3 in front of the club house and then power away through the moorings in a force 5-6. All others dropped their kites!! SCYC were great hosts with moorings and club launches that got us to the bar straight after racing.
We will not only be returning to Abersoch for Keelboat Week next year but will be racing there through out the season. As it is only a 8-10 hour sail from Dublin Bay we hope that other 109's will join us at least for Keelboat Week!!
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J/109 Crew caught with Champagne
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Adam Wright in the UK writes:
Here is a very amusing shot of JOUSTER's crew for the Thursday racing at Cowes Week, as published in OK magazine. The text below identified the sailors as "the cream of international sailing"....
Thankfully I escaped as I was taking the boat back to the Hamble while my crew for the day got stuck into the Champagne in Cowes itself - a lucky escape in my view....
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AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST...