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For Immediate Release:
Contact Ed Dailey, fleet captain 617.443.9292 or 617.852.7110
(cell)
Marion, Massachusetts
BYC TO HOST 2004 NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP FOR J/105s
Beverly Yacht Club Commodore Henry P. Roberts has announced that
the Club will host the 2004 North American Championship Regatta
for J/105s. The event, which attracts US and international racing
sailors, will be held on Buzzards Bay from September 16th through
the 19th 2004. The 2002 event was hosted last September by the
Chicago Yacht Club, and the 2003 championships was hosted in August
by the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco. While Buzzards
Bay is a big boat sailing and racing area, its southcoast village
setting offers a marked contrast to the urban environments of
Chicago and San Francisco. J/105 fleet captain Ed Dailey has no
doubt that many J/105 sailors will be captivated by the area and
by racing in the bay.
The J/105 is a 35 foot racing sloop designed by Rod Johnstone
of Newport based J Boats and built by TPI Composites in Warren,
Rhode Island. Since its inception in 1990, the J/105 has become
the most successful and most competitive off-shore one design
sloop ever built. Like the J/24 which Johnstone designed and introduced
25 years ago, the J/105 has revolutionized amateur, one design
off shore sailing; its retractable bow sprit replaces the conventional
spinnaker pole. There are 23 J/105 fleets in the United States
and internationally. Major fleets are based in Massachusetts,
Narragansett Bay, Long Island, Chesapeake Bay, the Carolinas,
Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, San Diego, and San Francisco.
Roberts said the Beverly Yacht Club has sponsored J/105 racing
in Marion since 1997 and looks forward to a regatta that will
feature at least fifty of the best J/105 racing crews in the world
in 2004. Vanguard Sailboats CEO Chip Johns, who is also a BYC
member, will chair the event.
Beverly Yacht Club is a 130 year old sailing club with a long
history of sponsoring major amateur racing events, including the
Marion to Bermuda Race, the Buzzards Bay Regatta, and numerous
one design championships. BYC has twice received US SAILING’s
prestigious award for race management excellence. “When
the J/105 Class Association first approached us in last fall,
we knew this is an event that merits our support”, Roberts
said. “We already sponsor all of the Buzzards Bay racing
for J/105s, and we are delighted to invite J/105 sailors to Marion
and Buzzards Bay in 2004”.
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