J/109 East Coast Circuit

(East Coast, America)- In addition to Bill Sweetser's offering up the gorgeous trophy now hanging at Annapolis YC, US J/109 Class President Rick Lyall has outlined a proposed schedule of J/109 events for the 2010 season.  The key one-design events are:
- J109 Mid Atlantic Championship at the Annapolis NOOD (Part I- East Coast Series)
- American YC Spring Series
- Breakwater Yacht Club Sprit Fest
- Block Island Race Week
- J109 North American Championship at NYYC Race Week
- J109 East Coast Championship- Larchmont NOOD (Part II- East Coast Series)
- American YC Fall Series
- Storm Trysail Club Intercollegiate Regatta

I have also included a number of events where J109s are likely to sail under IRC, hopefully in the IRC 35 Class.  These include:
- Larchmont YC Edlu Distance Race
- Roosevelt Cup
- Storm Trysail Club's Block Island Race
- NYYC Annual Regatta
- NYYC Race Week 2nd half: IRC National Championship
- Vineyard Race
- Long Island Sound IRC Championship
  For more information on the J/109 East Coast Circuit.

SpritFest- June 5-6- Breakwater YC

(Long Island, NY)- Ok, so it is cold outside (yes, we are way North of the Equator), your boat is covered and the snow is once again on the forecast but do not fear! Breakwater Yacht Club is already working on Sprit Fest 2010 and we are proud to be sponsoring it once again!

We will be returning to Noyack Bay on June 5th and 6th to battle it out!  You can expect the same great racing as year's past and the same after race social events that Breakwater is known for!  Limited dockage is available at Breakwater Yacht Club's Community Sailing Center in Sag Harbor.  There is a Gin pole at the club and reduced rates for stepping masts and launching at the Sag Harbor Yacht Yard.

Party? Doh! Of course we are going to have a party! This is a Breakwater Yacht Club event! We always have a party! Details of the party to follow when our Entertainment Committee returns from Jamaica (with some new ideas, too)!

J/80 Hot Spot? This is a big year for the J/80 class and the racing calendar is full of amazing races all season long culminating with the North American Championships in September and the Worlds in October! Sprit Fest has been selected as the LI Championship as well as one of the 9 races of the J/80 2010 USA Tour!  Boats coming from Annapolis can stop here on their way to Newport!  Contacts for each of the Classes:  J/80   Don Suter- vesail@aol.com / J/105 Bruce Tait- bruce@taityachts.com / J/109 David Betts- dab12355@gmail.com / J/120 Bruce Tait- bruce@taityachts.com / PHRF for Sprit Boats Chris Dowling- chris@taityachts.com   For more regatta and sailing information at Breakwater YC.

J/109 East Coast Series

Bill Sweetser, owner of the J/109 RUSH, has a challenge for you!  "The RUSH team will proudly display the prestigious J/109 East Coast Regatta Series trophy at the Annapolis Yacht Club until someone takes it away."  All you have to do is compete in this year’s J/109 Mid-Atlantic Championships at the Sailing World Annapolis NOOD, and the Sailing World Larchmont NOOD, and achieve the best average points. Each year the Class Association defines the Series events.

The SW Annapolis NOOD is on April 30-May 2 and the SW Larchmont NOOD is September 11-12.  The Larchmont NOOD’s will be the awards ceremony. The Class Association will ship it to the yacht club you designate where it will remain on display until another team wins it. The "keeper trophy" is a beautiful 16 inch silver tray engraved with the year and names of the Series regattas.  For more J/109 sailing and regatta information.

RSYC Doyle Sails Frostbite Series

Crews Scrape the Ice for Second Weekend

(Southampton, England- Feb 6-7)- The series name was apt as crews scraped ice from the decks of their boats in preparation for the second day of racing in the Royal Southampton Yacht Club’s Doyle Sails ‘Frostbite Series’. The clear skies and -4ºC slowed the build up of the wind, resulting in the AP being raised at 1000. Eventually the WNW breeze steadied at about 7 knots which allowed class 1 to start at 1140. Everyone was happy to be moving again and warming up.

In Class 1 IRC, David and Kirsty Apthorp's J/109 J-DREAM is hanging onto third spot overall for the series, just one point out of second place.    After starting the first weekend with two seconds, the fifth place this past weekend dropped them to third overall.  Also competing is IvanTrotman's J/105 JOLENE, enjoying the challenging conditions on the Hamble River/ Solent.

The J/92 fleet were close at the start but soon split into two groups choosing different routes to the first mark.  Andy Howe's BLACK JACK edged into the lead with Mike Cooper's JAVA LITE and the trio of Andrew, Matt & Pete aboard JAMMIN in hot pursuit. The slower class 1 boats were soon overtaken by the J92’s which were enjoying the lighter wind conditions. Racing remained tight all round the course with shouts for water at the mark roundings. Andy Howe kept BLACK JACK in the lead to take line honours and the class win. Close behind were JAVA LITE and JAMMIN who crossed the line together allowing JAMMIN to take second on handicap. After an hours racing only 40 seconds covered the first three boats.  In the series lead after two weekends is JAVA LITE followed by BLACK JACK and Mike Garvey's J-ARROW.

For more RSYC Frostbite Sailing series info.   Photo credits- Hamo Thornycraft Marine.