16.Jun.13 - Doyles Win NYYC Annual Regatta  Sean and Susan Doyle won a closely contested New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta. Only five J/105s participated, but the competition was first rate and the racing extremely tight, with numerous position changes. In almost every race, the winner was decided moments before the line. The top four boats finished with 11 points, 12 points, 13 points, and 14 points for the five race series. The Doyle's Kestrel won two of the races, as did Mark and Jolene Masur on Two Feathers, who led after the first day of racing. But Kestrel took a 1st and a 3rd on the second day, while Two Feathers had less luck. Fred Darlington's Tonto finished the 159th annual NYYC event in second, Two Feathers was third, John and Marisa Koten's Planet Claire fourth, and Ned Joyce's Dark n Stormy fifth.  Full report

16.Jun.13 - Cleveland Race Week  71 one-design boats invaded Cleveland Race Week at Edgewater Yacht Club in Cleveland, Ohio from June 14-16. Seven fleets competed, including 5 J/105s. Light and inconsistent breeze on Saturday allowed only the J/105s to complete a race. Sunday dawned with winds between 14-16 knots, and all fleets were able to run three races. Mindy Sminchak on It made it a perfect weekend with a line of 1-1-1-1 for just 4 total points.  Complete results

15.Jun.13 - Leukemia Cup  Eastport YC and Annapolis YC co-hosted the 21st annual Leukemia Cup regatta in Maryland. More than 100 boats were out there supporting this cause. The racing was held on a very sunny, 70-degree day with 10-15 knots of breeze. Perfect conditions on the water for sailing, except for the 2 knots of current that plagued the fleet much of the afternoon. Scott Gitchell bested 11-boats and took top honors in the J/105 class on Tenacious.   Website

15.Jun.13 - SailMaine Shakedown Regatta  The Annual SailMaine Shakedown Regatta was held under the threat of the remnants of Tropical Storm Andrea, which cleared through the area well before the delayed captain's meeting and first gun. PRO Ted Smith and Race Committee Boat host Dave Gooch set a short course in 18 knots of northwesterly breeze for a brisk first race. The breeze persistently backed and diminished throughout the day, but some longer courses were set to challenge the sailors. In the A division, it was a battle throughout the regatta that included Keemah, Don Logan's J/105 helmed by Stephanie Helms. With two firsts in the final two races, Team Keemah captured the division and the overall trophy for the regatta.  Regatta website

15.Jun.13 - Susan Hood Trophy Race  Every year, the western Lake Ontario offshore yacht racing fleet looks forward to what many consider to be the start of their offshore sailing season - the 76 nm overnight race called the Susan Hood Trophy Race held on Memorial Day weekend and hosted by Port Credit YC. In PHRF 3 class, the J/105s took first and second with Mandate (Terry McLaughlin and Rod Wilmer) winning by nearly an hour and a half over Belles & Whistles (Gordon McIquham). Terry McLaughlin and Rod Wilmer on the Mandate from Royal Canadian YC in Toronto were one of those yachts that won their division with a finishing time of 0:12:35:29 over 30 minutes ahead of the next J/105, making them this year's Susan Hood Trophy Race Cup Overall Winners.  Regatta website

10.Jun.13 - June Invitational Regatta  17 J/105s participated at the Invitational Regatta at San Francisco Yacht Club from June 8-9. Jason Woodley/Scott Whitney raced Risk to the top of the pack with 11 points and a line of 2,1,1,5,2. After the five races, Phillip Laby's Godot trailed in second with 18 points, and Bruce Stone's Arbitrage rounded out the top three with 24 points.  Complete Results

09.Jun.13 - Chicago NOOD  Wind, waves and sunshine greeted competitors on day 1 of the Chicago NOOD over the weekend. While conditions calmed down on day 2, it was a beautiful weekend of racing in the nine-boat J/105 fleet. Clark Pellett's Sealark snagged the victory with 22 points in seven races. Michael Tuman's Striking was two-points back in second, and John Moore's Here's Johnny finished just one more point behind him with 25 points.  Complete results

03.Jun.13 - Cedar Point One Design Regatta  The racing was ultra tight at the Cedar Point One Design Regatta at Cedar Point Yacht Club in Westport, CT over the weekend. Only three points separated first through fourth, but Kevin Grainger's Gumption3 came out on top with 14 points. In the 14-boat J/105 fleet, seven races took place. Damian Emery's Eclipse was just one point back in second, and there was a tie on points for the next spots between Harald Edegran/Jeremy Henderson's Conundrum and Paul Beaudin's loulou (17 points).  Complete results

03.Jun.13 - Cal Race Week  It was a clean sweep for Gary Mozer at Cal Race Week. With 5 wins in 5 races, Current Obsession 2 took the victory in the seven-boat J/105 fleet. Rick Goebel's Sanity was runner-up with 10 points, and Rich Bergmann's Zuni Bear placed third with 19.  Complete results

31.May.13 - FIGAWI Race  This year's famous FIGAWI race was perhaps one for the record books. It was wild, wet, cold, rainy and windy. The several thousand sailors in the race faced the same conditions as many of their sailing friends who were participating in the Storm Trysail Club Block Island Race just a bit further east of Nantucket - powerful NNW winds of 15-25 kts and mountainous seas drove the fleet fast across Nantucket Sound from Hyannis to Nantucket in an epic, wet and windy roller-coaster ride. Of the 210 boats that registered, about 75 percent of them completed the race due to the crazy conditions. The pursuit-style race with quartering seas and winds were fun conditions for most of the teams planing and surfing like mad all the way across Nantucket Sound. In Division S were lumped all the fast asymmetric spinnaker sprit boats, with 13 boats vying. First boat home was the J/105 Dark'n'Stormy sailed by Andrew Reservitz.   Regatta website

31.May.13 - Swiftsure Classic in Victoria, BC  In the Cape Flattery Race, Lorenzo Migliorini's Allegro Vivace was first in class, first division and first overall in the toughest class with 59 entrants. Perhaps even more impressive was that fact that the whole race was light air with only five minutes of spinnaker work on a J/105, yet they were still able to win overall.  Regatta website

20.May.13 - Aldo Alessio  18 J/105s competed at the Aldo Alessio Perpetual Trophy Regatta at St. Francis Yacht Club (San Francisco) over the weekend. It was tight racing amongst the leaders, but Bruce Stone's Arbitrage took the victory with 16 points in the five-race series. Adam Spiegel's Jam Session was close behind at 18 points, as well as Scooter Simmons' Blackhawk with 19.5. Two teams tied on points for the following places-Jason Woodley & Scott Whitney on Risk and the Donkey Jack group of Shannon Ryan, Rolf Kaiser & Steve Kleha (both with 21 points).  Complete results

20.May.13 - Seattle NOOD  Jerry Diercks repeated as Seattle NOOD J/105 champion over the weekend. Diercks raced Delirium to all top-three finishes in the 12 races, including six bullets, for 19 overall points. Erik Kristen's Jubilee tallied an impression line as well, with four race victories, to total 29 points and second place. Eric Hopper's Free Bowl of Soup placed third with 38 points. Seven J/105s competed.  Complete results

20.May.13 - 3rd Annual Manhattan Regatta May 18-19  Despite the fact that several Fleet 10 J/105s are still on the hard due to the wrath of Hurricane Sandy, this year's Manhattan Regatta was still able to sustain its reputation as an exciting and challenging event for J/105s in the NY/NJ metro area. 8-10kt winds on Saturday and 10-15kt winds on Sunday gave seven teams enough power to push their J/105s around NY Harbor and tolerate the soaking rain. And as always, the currents, ferries and barges did not disappoint. Paul Beaudin's loulou won the coveted Libby award with finishes of 1-1-3-1-1-2. Planet Claire, helmed by John Koten, finished second and Dave Spence's Synergy grabbed third. Marcus Wunderlich's Stratos showed a much stronger second day with a couple of thirds and second place finish, but not enough to break their 24pt tie with Circe, whose bullet on Saturday gave them the decision and a fourth place finish. Though on paper the scores seem pretty consistent, the reality was anything but. Many legs of the windward/leeward courses saw several place changes across the entire fleet. And everyone, especially the winners, had their share of mishaps, including swamped spinnakers and hitting marks. As one racer noted, "This is the regatta that reminds you all the things you forgot over the winter."  Complete results

20.May.13 - Lakewood Yacht Club's Shoe  
Lakewood Yacht Club's Annual Shoe Regatta was held May 18 and 19 on beautiful Galveston Bay. The big bright Texas sun and moderate temperatures brought forth SSE winds in the 15-20 knot range with a few gusts to 26. Five J/105s battled it out in sometimes difficult but extremely close racing. The five competitors frequently finished within seconds of each other. Bill Lackenmacher's Radiance held on to first place throughout the regatta finishing with 2,2,1,2,2,1,2. Monty Python's Killer Rabbit, OOPS that's Mark Young's Killer Rabbit finished second with 1,1,4,4,1,2,3 followed by Bee Bednar's Stinger with 3,3,2,1,3,5,1.  Lakewood YC website

15.May.13 - J/105s Shine at Larchmont Edlu  Breezy conditions made for some challenging sailing conditions under the 58th Edlu Distance Race, which took place on May 11. Larchmont YC's Race Committee decided to go for an early start with the first warning sound shortly after 9AM. Southerly winds gradually increased from 12-15 knots to 20 knots with gusts up to 25 knots throughout the race. Several J/105s attended and finished at the top of their respective divisions. Morning Glory not only won PHRF division II but finished (on time-adjusted basis) as the fastest PHRF boat of the day. Morning Glory was followed by Young America, which finished just four minutes later after approximately 32 miles of sailing. The PHRF double-handed division was also dominated by J/105s. Stratos finished first, followed by EnGarde. Jaded finished in fifth position. An onboard view from Marcus Wunderlich on Stratos: "Southerly winds of 20 knots with gusts up to 25 knots made for some challenging but exciting sailing conditions, the kind of weather under which the J/105s perform best. It all came down to the right choice of sails and avoiding being overpowered under broad reaching conditions. We frequently hit 13 knots and despite the shortage of crew (we sailed double-handedly), we were able to keep Stratos well under control during the entire race."

14.May.13 - Oregon Offshore  J/105 #519 Free Bowl of Soup, out of Portland, Oregon, was fifth to finish, placing first in PHRF B and seventh overall in the Oregon Offshore. This was the 37th annual running of the Oregon Offshore 193 mile race from Astoria, Oregon to Victoria, BC as a feeder to the International Swiftsure. This year was true to form with variable conditions consisting of no wind to the upper 20s for some boats (though Free Bowl of Soup never saw anything over 18kts). The race started at 10:05am Thursday in remarkably nice conditions of 10-12kts out of the North. The wind built throughout the afternoon, also clocking a bit West creating some steep seas, before finally dying to almost nothing in the morning. The next day was light and variable until getting around Cape Flattery and past Neah Bay. Inside the Straits of Juan de Fuca, they had a nice midnight broad reach with speeds from 9-11.4 kts for several hours. At daylight, the wind backed and eventually shut down creating a challenging fight against the fading ebbing tide. Free Bowl of Soup was lucky to ride the beginning of the flood tide near Sooke through Race Passage in virtually no wind. Finally, they caught a new 7-8kt Southeasterly that brought them into Victoria at 4:10pm Saturday afternoon. The J/105 is a great versatile boat and handles offshore conditions quite well. Their sail inventory consisted of class jib, main, and spinnaker supplemented by a light air reaching 1A, a light air running AP, a heavy air reaching kite (not used) and a daisy staysail. They sailed with four crew this year, which was nice for space, but another set of hands would have been nice periodically, particularly downwind. They look forward to switching into One-Design for the Seattle NOOD. The main items that will come off consist of the life raft (strapped on in front of the mast), emergency rudder, Man-Overboard-Module (MOM), ditch bag w/EPIRB, jack lines, gimbaled propane burner, and lee cloths.  More info and complete results

07.May.13 - Revelation Repeats as AYC Spring Champ  Revelation wrapped up its second consecutive American Yacht Club Spring Championship with finishes of 2-3-4-9-1 over the second weekend of the 11-race regatta. George and Alex Wilbanks started Saturday in second place, but their team moved into the lead by making fewer mistakes than the competition. Sean and Susan Doyle matched Revelation's three race victories with three of their own in the 14-boat fleet. But Kestrel finished 10th twice and had to count one of them in the series that only allowed one discard. That accounted for much of the nine-point difference that separated the two boats in the event. Paul Beaudin came on strong the final weekend. His loulou won two races and moved up to third. Harald Edegran and Jermey Henderson finished fourth aboard Conundrum, while Kevin Grainger finished fifth on Gumption3. Conundrum and Gumption3 both won one race, as did Carl Olsson's Morning Glory. The top 12 boats in the event all had at least one finish of 5th or better in the changing conditions.  Complete results

05.May.13 - Tequila Storm Hits San Diego  The typically sleepy sailing conditions of San Diego got hit by a tequila storm for the annual Yachting Cup, with 20+ knots on Saturday preceding the Cinco de Mayo party that night. Amid stories of torn sails and broken boats, there were 83 boats competing in 10 PHRF and one-design classes. Winning the Scuttlebutt Sailing Club overall crown was Dave Vieregg's Triple Play team, which took the title in the 13-boat J/105 class.   Complete results

05.May.13 - Annapolis NOOD  18 J/105s competed in this weekend's Annapolis NOOD, which is the same host as the 2013 J/105 North American Championship. Cedric Lewis and Fredrik Salvesen took Mirage to the victory with 33 points. Also the winners in 2011, they tallied a line of 5,2,9,2,1,8,5,1 to beat the MBE Syndicate of Marty Hublitz, Bobby Marinelli and Eddie Hornick on Veloce who totaled 45 points. Jim Konigsberg's Inigo placed third with 52 points. Eight races were completed in all, with Friday as the nicest day of breeze around 15 knots. For Saturday and Sunday, the winds began around 10-12, but decreased and became shifty with choppy seas.  Complete results

30.Apr.13 - Race for the Case  The Lloyd Harbor Yacht Club Spring Series Race for the Case is less than 3 weeks off. Entry is now available.  Sign-up early

30.Apr.13 - Doyles Lead Halfway Through AYC Spring  Sean and Susan Doyle are at the top of the leaderboard midway through the American Yacht Club's Spring series. Their Kestrel posted finishes of 2-2-4 on Saturday and then came back with a 2-1-1 on Sunday. The performance left them with 8 points counting one throw-out at the halfway point of the regatta. One might think that recording only eight points in six races would have left Sean and Susan with a wide lead. It did not. Hot on their heels with just 9 points are the veteran J/105 sailors from Cedar Point, George and Alex Wilbanks, on board Revelation. Their finishes: 6-1-3 and 1-2-2. That one point difference between the Doyle and Wilbanks teams on Sunday is the difference so far in the event. Kevin Grainger, winner of the third race on Saturday, stands in third with 14 points. Tied for fourth: the new AYC junior team sailing Kincsem and Harald Edegran/Jeremey Henderson aboard Conundrum. Thirteen boats raced in the 105 class, which has the largest one-design turnout at the event. The racers all got beautiful weather for the season opening weekend, with warm temperatures and plenty of wind to sail six races. The event concludes next weekend.  Complete results

29.Apr.13 - Houston Yacht Club Offshore  The Houston Yacht Club's annual offshore triangle is part of Texas Offshore Race Week. It is one of a three-part series required to win the Texas Navy Trophy. The eight yachts competing in the spinnaker class included two J/105s, a J/109, a J/120, a Beneteau 44.7, a Beneteau 36.7, a Macgregor 65 and a Contessa 34. Bee Bednar's Stinger finished in second just behind the J/109. Except for the care required to get to the start, the race was unremarkable in that it was basically a parade from the start to the finish. Another big compressed natural gas tanker required the RC to postpone the start in order to allow sufficient time for all of the spinnaker boats to arrive at the starting line.

29.Apr.13 - Houston Yacht Club's Reach Down the Beach  Houston Yacht Club's second annual Reach Down the Beach from Galveston to Freeport (40 nm) was held on April 25. Two J/105s signed up but only one showed up and finished. Bee Bednar's Stinger took line honors about 30 minutes ahead of a J/120. That elapsed time also resulted in first overall. Average wind backed and veered around 105 degrees providing a 120 TWA resulting in an average overall speed of approximated 8.2 knots. Surprisingly the most interesting part of this race was yet to come. As Stinger neared the Freeport City Marina, she was stopped by two Coast Guard ribs with mounted and manned 50 caliber machine guns. The Coasties had established a 1000 foot security zone around a compressed national gas tanker that was poised to exit the channel. Their ribs were making sure that no one came withing 1000 feet of that boat. As Stinger circled, the larger of the two ribs came up and asked what Stinger's intentions were. Stinger responded by saying that she was heading to the Freeport Marina. That produced an escort, in the narrow channel, by the smaller rib allowing Stinger to safely pass the tanker. Interestingly, the Coastie manning the 50 cal was a 20+ year old young lady. Seeing that she had both hands on the 50 cal, Stinger figured the best option was to keep very clear.

26.Apr.13 - J/Fest San Francisco  This year's J/Fest hosted by St. Francis Yacht Club had another strong turnout. The J/105 class on San Francisco Bay continues to remain a strong fleet and fresh blood is always popping up over the course of time to make life interesting. Such was the case this past weekend. Leading the way home was Steve Kleha sailing the renown Donkey Jack to first place with a 3-5-10-4-1 record for 23 pts to just nip a group of four veteran boats hot on their tail. Second was the team of Jason Woodley and Scott Whitney sailing Risk to a 4-2-5-5-9 tally for 25 pts, just two points back. Third was Pat Benedict on Advantage 3 putting on a strong effort to finish in the money with a 5-7-6-6-3 scoreline for 27 pts. Rounding out the top five based on a tie-breaker at 29 pts were Scooter Simmons on Blackhawk in fourth and Walter Sanford on Alchemy in fifth.  Complete results

26.Apr.13 - Grand Slam Wins Chile J/105 Nationals  For two consecutive weekends of April (6-7th and 13-14th), the fleet of 18 J/105s sailed on the beautiful waters in the Bay of Algarrobo, competing for top honors in the Chilean J/105 fleet's first National Championship. Both weekends had a great wind conditions for sailing, between 10 and 15 knots from the southwest - the best local wind - and gently rolling offshore swell in excess of 6.5 feet. Teams that could master good upwind speed and turn the top mark and make use of the great surfing conditions often made significant gains on their competitors. From the beginning, it was clear that three teams were battling for the podium and dominated the regatta. However, notably five boats won races in the nine race event, and 13 of the 18 boats (nearly 75 percent of the fleet) posted top five scores in their overall records. That's a wonderful indicator of good, close, competitive racing to have the kind of scoring distribution across the fleet. In the end, Patricio Seguel's team on Grand Slam were declared Chile''s first J/105 National Champions. They managed to hold off their two closest competitors and after two discard races, scored all top three finishes for a total of 13 net pts. Scoring two firsts and two seconds was not enough to chase down the leader for Miguel Salas' team on Big Booty, ending up with 19 net pts to secure a well-deserved second overall. Chasing both teams was Vernon Robert's Arachimides, themselves also counting two firsts and a second in their scoreline, but not enough to catch the others with a 22 pts net for the regatta. Rounding out the top five were Pedro Perez's Recluta with 28 pts net in fourth place and in fifth was Daniel Gonzalez's crew on Tricalma with 31 pts. The J/105 was introduced in Algarrobo, Chile 17 years ago with a few units, and at the end of 2010 the class was launched by Algarrobo Yacht Club members. Nowadays there are more than 25 boats in the central part of Chilean Coast. As a result of that effort and passionate enthusiasm by Chilean sailors, the J/105 class has become the principal family-fun, one-design yacht in Chile. The fleet will meet again on May 11-12 in Vina del Mar for the Chilean Navy Day Celebration, locally known as Glorias Navales, where many classes join together to celebrate the event.  More Chilean J/105 Nationals sailing information and photos

24.Apr.13 - Minutes posted  Minutes from the 4/18/13 Executive Committee meeting are posted.  Class Business page

13.Apr.13 - North Americans NOR posted and registration open  The Notice of Race is now posted for the 2013 J/105 North American Championship. Be in Annapolis October 31 through November 3 for your chance to compete with many of the best J/105 sailors in the world! Registration is open, so enter early to save. Do not wait until the last minute to register. Everyone wants to know who is coming!  NAC website

09.Apr.13 - Houston Yacht Club's Elissa  Over the weekend of April 6-7, six J/105s battled it out during Houston Yacht Club's annual Elissa regatta. The Elissa regatta is held every year to benefit Galveston's Tall Ship Elissa. Winds in the 15-25 knot range made for some exciting extremely tight racing under beautiful Texas skies and very comfortable temperatures. First place changed hands several times during the 6 races, but Mark Young on Killer Rabbit won his first ever J/105 regatta and was properly doused in the drink afterward by his admiring competitors. Has Fleet 17 found a new tradition? Bill Lakenmacher on Radiance stole second by one point from Bee Bednar on Stinger. A great time was had by all.

02.Apr.13 - Dark Star Shows Well at St. Thomas Rolex Regatta  
Jonathan Lipuscek's J/105 Dark Star from Puerto Rico was leading the last race and the regatta in the CSA II class at the 40th International Rolex Regatta in St. Thomas USVI when the forestay broke on the downwind leg. Even with the DNF, they finished third in the event. The forestay pin came loose and as it worked out bent the toggle too severely to repair on the run. They took the mainsail down with the spinnaker flying to access a halyard to hoist the bowman, but could not get it reattached while surfing at 10 knots. Good idea to check these periodically. Paul Beaudin, also on board, built a new Carbon jib to the CSA Rule which does not measure girths. The sail had about 6" more roach and put the leech right on the spreaders. Dark Star also tested a class sized spinnaker using 1/2oz cloth. Both sails made a big difference in performance with no penalty under this rule. The rule also allowed a much heavier crew, 1700 lbs, which was a real treat in the 15-20 knot Caribbean trade winds. This is a beautiful place to sail.  Regatta website

31.Mar.13 - Register now for Fleet 10 annual Manhattan Regatta  Please join Fleet 10 in competitive sailing and merriment in one of the most exciting ports in the world, New York Harbor. The challenge of navigating between tugs, barges, and the Staten Island ferry, whilst in a current, makes for intense and complex, competitive racing.Last year there were nearly a dozen boats on the starting line with talk of even more this year. Courses will be primarily windward/leeward under the watchful gaze of the statue of liberty and multi-support boats. Social events include an outdoor barbeque aboard Liberty State Park's lightship and an awards party at North Cove Marina on Sunday after racing. Please bring family and friends to watch the action. Never far from the shores of either New York or New Jersey, the race provides spectators and tourists alike with the site of big boat racing.   Register

28.Mar.13 - Winter Newsletter  Members will receive the Winter edition of the J/105 newsletter via e-mail. It is also posted on the  Newsletter page.