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Class President Rick Lyall Looks Back at 2009
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Fellow J/109 Class Members,
Time flies. As
we enter the last month of 2009, it seems remarkable that another year, and
more importantly, another sailing season, at least for those of us in the
northern half of the US, is coming to an end. As we reflect on the year, I'm sure many of you have
mixed feelings. Some are sorry to
see another year pass. Others are happy
to wish 2009 good riddance given the economic challenges and volatile markets
that have affected all of our lives.
I look back on 2009 with mixed feelings too. On the one hand, I am pleased with the high level of
competition in the class, especially at high profile events in both the US and
Europe. I am also pleased with the
level of enthusiasm owners have for the class and their boats. During 2009 I have witnessed... read Rick's full report
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Garmin Hamble Winter Series
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JUMPING JELLYFISH slides downwind during one of the moderate days of the Garmin Hamble Winter Series. Photo by Paul Wyeth Photography.
J/DREAM dominated the 2009 Garmin Hamble Winter Series, held over a series of weekends in October and November. Plagued by the usual fall weather challenges, the fleet was kept up to date by website postings such as this one: "latest info we have is SW 25 - 30 kts, with gusts to 45 kts, increasing towards midday with averages of 35 kts with gusts to near 60 kts in thundery showers. This forecast has increased again since last night and racing is clearly impractical."
The racing was close and at times demanding, apart from the third weekend when racing was abandoned due to lack of wind. More info on the Garmin Hamble Winter Series website.
1 J DREAM David & Kirsty Apthorp 6
2 ARIA Luca Rubinelli 15
3 OUTRAJEOUS Richard & Valerie Griffith 17
4 BETH Guy Knight 40
5 J2EAU Steve & Jody Maine 43
6 AUDAJIOUS David Jobson 51
7 ME JULIE Dominic Monkhouse 55
8 JUMPING JELLYFISH Mr David Richards 62
9 RED ARROW RAF Sailing Association 67
10 OFFBEAT Mr David McLeman 72
11 GO EASY Mr Stephen Armitage 73
12 STALKER Steven Tapper 74
13 JUST SO David McGough 74
14 MUNKENBECK Munkenbeck & Partners 91
15 SHIVA Mr Matthew Boyle 96
16 JAMBHALA Gill Ross 96
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109 Captures PHRF Honors
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 Photo courtesy of Leighton O'Connor
Boston may not seem like a "hub" of J/109 sailing, but for SUPERSTITION (pictured left), it was a great place to compete in 2009. Owners Christopher Zibailo and Steve Spangler raced every weekend from Memorial Day to Columbus Day, as well as 20 Wednesday nights. According to Chris, they had "the best possible year imaginable. We won every series we entered and Competitor of the Year for Mass Bay to boot!"
A total of 24 people raced on SUPERSTITION during the season - 12 men and 12 women. The core group included Rachel French (Main), Karen Stelle (Pit), Jim Murphy (Spinnaker) and Karen Kirby (Bow).
Based out of Constitution Yacht Club, a paper club that was named Club of the Year by the Mass Bay Sailing Association, SUPERSTITION raced weeknights against "an eclectic mix" that included a Farr 40, Farr 395, J/46, Henderson 30, and R/P 30. On the weekends, they were consistent winners in Class B (PHRF 65-100), the biggest of the seven different classes.
Chris Zibailo provided this report:
"The boat goes great regardless of whether we are doing a true windward/leeward, a reaching type course (due to the limitations of racing in the Inner Harbor of Boston) or a pursuit/point-to-point course. We have worked with Chris Howes at Doyle Sailmakers to optimize the design of our headsails and spinnakers to give us a lot of versatility for conditions and points of sail without needing to carry a bunch of different sails. The asymmetrical in particular makes us extremely competitive in the pursuit type races.
"We usually race with eight on board. Much of our sailing is in pretty light conditions (6-10 knots). But when the breeze kicks every now and then to 20+ knots up we hoist the #3, go to vang-sheeting on the main and surf the waves downhill.
"There are only two other 109s that race in Mass Bay, HEATWAVE up on the North Shore and LADYLOVE on the South Shore. With the lack of any one-design in our area we have focused on PHRF, and have been able to make some great improvements.
"What is great about this boat is not only can we go out and be very competitive with a full crew racing, but I can take her out by myself and singlehand easily. Or two or three of us can go out for some "speed trials" in the harbor and fly the chute no problem, throwing in dozens of gybes up the small boat channel or down The Narrows. When we have away regattas that cover a couple nights, we can comfortably sleep 5 or 6 on the boat.
"Overall it has been a great first six years with the boat, looking forward to the next six, and beyond."
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Team Larchmont 2nd in NOOD Finals
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 Yup, right you are - these boats are NOT J/109s.
Team Larchmont (Rick Lyall, James Gallocher, Tim Longo, Bjorn Wisecup,
Bill Heintz, and Mike Floyd) finished second overall at the 2009 Sperry
Top-Sider Caribbean NOOD Championship, sailed in Beneteaus 393's out of Tortola. They
earned one of the eight berths by winning the overall prize at this
year's Larchmont NOOD.
San Francisco has been added back into the NOOD calendar for 2010. View the full listing of NOOD events.
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2009 Intercollegiate Regatta a Great Success
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 Photo courtesy of Allen Clark at PhotoBoat.com
Like they've been doing every Columbus Day weekend for nine years, Storm Trysail along with Larchmont Yacht Club and a multitude of sponsors have once again introduced the joys of big-boat racing to boatloads of college sailors. Held October 10-11 on Long Island Sound, the 2009 Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta, which has become the largest college regatta in the U.S., hosted 31 schools and 40 teams racing in five divisions. With Weather Gods smiling, the young sailors -- 327 of them to be exact - competed against each other on teams and with mentors (owners who donated their boats for the cause and served as coaches and safety officers) in brisk 18-22 knot breezes on Saturday and a more forgiving 10-15 knots on Sunday. Six windward-leeward, twice-around races were sailed.
In the 10-boat J/109 class the teams from the University of Michigan and Webb Institute
tied for first. But the tie only existed because Michigan did not finish the third race due
to blowing up a chute and losing the wind instruments off the top of the mast in a broach
that occurred when a 30 knot-gust hit a majority of the J/109 fleet halfway through the
race. Michigan, sailing Andrew Berdon's STRIDER, had to count the 11-point DNF since the regatta had no throw-outs. On the water, the team out-sailed the other
J/109 teams upwind and downwind. When it got stuck on the wrong side of a shift,
Michigan clawed its way back instead of waiting for a "Hail Mary" shift to save them.
Their finishes were 1, 1, 11, 1, 1, 3 for a total of 18 points.
"This regatta could not happen without the generosity of the boat owners who not only
lend their boats but lend their expertise onboard," said Regatta Chair Adam Loory.
"These guys come because we work hard to convince them that the regatta is a chance to
give something back to the sport, but they return because they have so much fun with the
kids learning from them and, at times, they learn from the kids."
FULL RESULTS
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