Strong J Fleet @ St. Maarten Heineken Regatta

A Real GREEN Eco-Friendly Event, Too!

(Simpson Bay, St. Maarten)- This coming weekend will be the 30th Anniversary of this renowned event, a favorite for Europeans, South Americans and even a few Norte Americanos.  Billed as the only "Serious Fun" event in the Caribbean circuit, it has also committed to the Sailors for the Sea Clean Regatta program as it strives to achieve Bronze level certification- the Regatta Organization tries to reduce our impact on our oceans and coastal waters and operate as environmentally friendly as possible. The use of reusable bow numbers, paperless registration, biodegradable products in the office and with the help of sponsors creates environmental awareness to all of those involved with the biggest sailing event in the Caribbean.  Giving new meaning to the infamous description "have a Greenie", the title sponsor Heineken has ordered biodegradable cups that will be used at the parties during the event. And with the success of last year, the bracelets will be sold in order to raise money to protect the natural environment of both the French and Dutch marine parks on the island.

After the racing is done, the partying can begin!  Every night from the 4th up to the 7th of March fantastic parties will take place at different booming locations on St. Maarten. Heineken will make sure that the beer is cold and the music is superb. Make sure you don’t miss out the best four party nights of the year!

Amongst the J/Community participating in this year's event includes the first J/95 in the Caribbean, Tom Mullen's SHAMROCK VIII.  Also in attendance will be renowned race winner BAD GIRL, Bob Armstrong's fire-engine red J/100 (pictured above in the regatta summary); Jonathan Berwin's J/160 BIG BEAR; Rick Wesslund's Key West Race Week winning J/120 EL OCASO (pictured here at KWRW); Dortmondt van Remco's warhorse, the J/35 SUNBELT REALTY; and Jorge Gorbea's J/105 UMAKUA.  Good luck to all and hope to report good news next week!  For more Heineken Regatta and Sailing Info.

J/30 Midwinters- New Orleans Mardi Gras!

Ken Buhler's JALAPENO Wins

(New Orleans- Feb. 20-21)- Hosted by the amazingly charming and low-key New Orleans Yacht Club, this year's J/30 Mid-Winters regatta was held in the balmy 65 degree temperatures and persistent 10 knot plus breezes.  The venue was Mardi Gras Regatta in New Orleans. It was great to shake off the icicles with some hot racing. As always, starts and mark roundings are critical in One Design J/30 racing.  The fleet speed was very close with multiple leaders and three individual first place finishers; BLACK MAGIC, ZEPHYR V2 and JALAPENO.  As a result, with multiple boats winning with a certain amount of braggin rights, it all culminated in great story telling at the bar. JALAPENO was lucky enough to hold off the hard pressing fleet to win the J/30 Midwinters for the third time since 2004. The crew gave credit to their newest crew member, Henrietta, for calling tactics. Second went to  the tough team aboard ZEPHYR V2.0 and third just off the pace was GRITZ II not having won one race.

The Gulf Coast will hold NA 2013 and the Midwinters again next year.  New Orleans is a great venue for J/Boat sailing all year long.  Come on down and join us next time!  Here's a YouTube video of our NOYC "Welcoming Crew".   For J/30 Midwinters regatta and sailing info.

J/30 Class Growing Stronger

Bill Kneller and Dave Erwin, J/30 Class Co-Presidents have been doing a magnificent job re-connecting many J/30 sailors from across the country.  The resurgent interest in the class is heartwarming to see and, more importantly, they're having a helluva lot of fun!  Like the J/24 Australia story below regards "revamp that old boat", the J/30 Class has similar initiatives.  Read more about what Dave Erwin did to take a J/30 wrecked by Hurricane Katrina and resurrected it as the great "as new" looking J/30 called TOY BOX.  Furthermore, another great story on Tim Lawton resurrecting another J/30 called CHAOS.  Read more about these J/30 Class building efforts.