Month: August 2025

(Santa Barbara, CA)- An annual mid-summer classic in southern California has been the 80.0nm Santa Barbara to King Harbor Race. It has been a tradition for Santa Barbara and King Harbor sailors for 52 years! In recent years, the race has been popular with a significant number of J/sailors hoping to challenge the straightforward, but wildly tricky race course.
From the start to the first turning mark- the Anacapa Islands- is a relatively straight shot on starboard tack with Code Zeros or spinnakers to the western end of the islands, leaving them to port. Thereafter, it becomes a “roll of the dice” to avoid the massive wind shadow to leeward of the high peaks in the standard NW breezes. Once escaping that windless hole, “death grip”, the fleet generally heads toward Point Dume, a prominent point with very tall cliffs and mountains just to the west of Malibu. The southeasterly flowing winds tend to accelerate near the shoreline by a solid 3 to 8 knots, so it more often than not pays off to go this route, instead of doing a straight shot offshore from Anacapa to King Harbor beneath the Palos Verdes peninsula. From Point Dume, it’s a coin flip on which gybe to take to the finish line inside the King Harbor breakwaters.
Many J/teams over time have won not only their divisions, but also overall in the PHRF division. This year, there were only strong performances in various divisions. Here’s how it all went down.
ULDB A- 7 boats1. Dan Murphy’s J/125 JAVELIN
ULDB B- 7 boats3. Jeff Shew’s J/121 RAVEN
PHRF A- 7 boats3. Dr. Laura Schlessinger’s J/122 WARRIOR4. Mark Stratto’s J/122 CHEEKY7. Scott Wildman’s J/122 RESOLUTE
PHRF B- 8 boats1. David Newland’s J/92 DREAMLINE3. Juan Lois’s J/105 ROCINANTE4. Stephen McMillan’s J/99 MERLIN5. Jack Mayer’s J/109 ZEPHYR
For more Santa Barbara to King Harbor Race sailing informationhttps://sbyc.org/sb-kh

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- For the first week of August, the Cowes Combined Clubs are hosting their annual highlight of the summer sailing season on the Solent- the famous Cowes Race Week off Cowes, Isle of Wight. Yet again, hundreds of boats and thousands of sailors will grace the quaint seaside town with raucous parties and challenging sailing on the capricious waters of the famously fast-flowing Solent Water.
Again, dozens of J/Teams are sailing for a full seven days on the water! Here is how that all breaks down by division.

Day 1: Light winds, building breeze, and spectacular racingThe bigger boats were moved from the Squadron Line to a Committee Boat start off Beaulieu, with the remaining committee boat fleets starting just off Thorness. All classes were initially postponed for two hours, moving to a single AP as the breeze slowly made its way up the Solent.
The wind that took its time to build, and kept everyone on their toes as they tried to get the first starts from the Squadron line. At 1300, the breeze seemed to be building as forecast, and at 1324, a call was made to lower the AP.
First off was the 36-strong J/70 Class. The following classes became a bit bunched as the breeze went more east and proved rather fickle for a while.
Meanwhile, in the western Solent, the larger boats on the committee boat started delaying their first starts until 1425 and were rewarded with a consistent breeze, giving fabulous racing for all the fleets.
As racing got underway with the J/70s, several boats left it a bit late to get the right side of the line after the lengthy postponement, resulting in a general recall. The class eventually got away at 1340, with individual recalls which saw six boats scoring OCS.
As the fleet tacked up the shore, it gave spectators on the shore a fantastic view. Bruce Huber’s ENDEAVOUR emerged as the early leader, while SARDONYX suffered the misfortune of running aground in front of the crowds. The J/70’s course took them round Gurnard, then across to Contessa 32, west to Jane, then Hill Head before finishing at East Knoll. CASTIGN COUCH took the first race win, followed by ENDEAVOUR, LADY KHUMBU, and JELVIS fourth.
Faye Chatterton on LADY KHUMBU described the start: “A bit wacky and wonderful as it always is, tide against not a lot of wind… we managed to sneak around the fleet to finish third in the first race from pretty deep off the line. It took a lot of patience.”
The class managed to fit in two further races, both won by JELVIS, but a win and two seconds saw CASTING COUCH, leading the class at the end of the day, JELVIS second, and CALYPSO third.

Day 2: Tight racing, big waves, and family funFirst to set off for the day were the J/70s at 1030. As with most of the day’s Squadron starts, the fleet fought it out for the pin end, with the breeze steadier and stronger than inshore.

Day 3: Weekend warriors and inspiring figuresA few keen souls also made the most of the gusty, stormy conditions. A couple of the Cape 31s went out for a morning practice, with a few blown-out spinnakers the reward for their efforts, just in case anyone was doubting the race committee’s decision.
Today was Charity Day. Sailing is such a brilliant vehicle for so much charity work, and there are various organisations that use the sport and Cowes Week as a great way to help all kinds of disabled or disadvantaged groups.
The official Cowes Week charities this year are the RNLI and Autism on the Water, which provides free-of-charge sailing for autistic people and their families.

Day 4: Series winners and racing womenThe classes starting from the Squadron line were all off on time, bunching to start from the pin end before the wet, windy beat to the first mark. Today, these include a few of the cruiser classes and smaller IRC boats, as well as the small keelboat and one-design classes with just a few individual recalls in some of the keener fleets.
As the start sequence progressed, the wind built to around 19 knots. Later in the day, spectators enjoyed the entertainment of these fleets finishing close inshore on the Squadron line.
Committee Vessel 1 started the larger IRC classes to the east, where they saw around 10-14 knots and shifty conditions. The J/70s were on Committee Vessel starts all day for the three races, which completed series racing for both classes.
Winner of the J/70 Mini Series was Martin Dent’s JELVIS, followed by Cate Muller-Terhune’s CASTING COUCH. These two were neck and neck until today, but it was JELVIS who pulled ahead, counting two wins and a second for the day.

Women’s DayWomen’s Day aims to highlight the achievements of female sailors across the fleets competing in Cowes, and also encourage an extra effort with female participation. While some have been sailing all week, for others it was an excuse to sail with an all-female crew or female helm for the day.
Racing off the Committee Vessel 4 startline, IRC4 had three female helms who were battling it out around the course. Sarah Allen was just one of the female skippers in this class, also with an all-female crew on the J/105 TAIKA. “We had slightly lighter winds, so there were lots of holes and a huge amount of shifts – the shifts were like 30 degrees, so there were lots of tactical tacking and lots of wins and losses on that. A tactically interesting race, a long day on the water, we enjoyed it tremendously – champagne sailing and sunshine.”
“We’re sailing with a great bunch of girls on the boat who are all really good sailors. This is our first season, so we’re still learning a lot. We’ve got Susan Glenny, who is an excellent offshore sailor and skipper, but we also had a young Tara Scully who’s done Nacras and things, but it’s her first time on the mainsheet. We had a great little battle with the J/92 J’RONIMO with Libby Greenhalgh helming, and another really good all-female crew was Libby Finch’s J/92 NIGHTJAR, so it was neck-and-neck in our group.”
“It’s nice to see so much support for women’s sailing, and when we’re all working and being mums, it’s really nice to have a day out on the water and being together and learning.”

Day 5: Another Glamma DayThe day started with light variable winds, which meant all classes were postponed initially for two hours, with the White Group boats starting on the Squadron line postponed for three hours. Black Group got off at 1300, but White Group had a further lengthy wait for the breeze.
In IRC 2, there was a really good battle on the water between David Franks’ J/112E LEON, Rutger Krijger & Caroline van Beelen’s J/112E JACK RABBIT, and Adam Gosling’s YES! Today, these three were battling around the course as they approached the first windward mark. YES managed to get ahead as LEON and JACK RABBIT jostled for position around the mark, LEON snuck the inner berth, forcing JACK RABBIT to give them room. But, on the hoist, it was JACK RABBIT that got ahead. The three later crossed the line in short succession, YES first with JACK RABBIT hot on her heels, LEON just slightly further behind. LEON led the class by some margin with a clean sheet of firsts going into the day, but on corrected time, it was JACK RABBIT that took the day’s win, YES second, and LEON third.
Sailing in the J/70 fleet for their mini-series has been 21-year-old Arthur Farley, who’s campaigning for the Olympics in the ILCA class. Unfortunately, a collision occurred on starboard tack his racing short. “We were almost joint third, we were looking to stay on the podium, and we’ve obviously got our redress, but think we ended up fifth or something. I’ve only just started racing J/70s, predominantly learning this stuff. Cowes Week is a really enjoyable one to do and usually it doesn’t clash for us, so I’ve done five so far!”
For more Cowes Week sailing informationhttp://www.cowesweek.co.uk

Seven IMOCAs are all set to take on The Ocean Race Europe, a 4,500 nautical mile loop across the Old Continent. Team Malizia, founded by Yacht Club de Monaco vice-president Pierre Casiraghi, will be on the start with Boris Herrmann at the helm of the team’s boat, Malizia-Seaexplorer. After two days of high-speed races on 8 and 9 August, the starting gun for the main event will be fired on 10 August. With Boris Herrmann’s experience and a competitive crew driving the boat, the goal is a podium finish.

(Harbor Springs, MI)- Traveling far and wide, sailors from across the Great Lakes always look forward to their mid-summer favorite event, the famous Ugotta Regatta hosted by Little Traverse Yacht Club in Harbor Springs, MI. Rolling out the proverbial red carpet for a fleet of J/70s and offshore handicap racers in ORC and PHRF Divisions, everyone enjoyed the great racing and the famous t-shirts dispensed at the crack of dawn early Saturday morning for hundreds of passionate sailing enthusiasts- a Ugotta Regatta tradition!
J/70 ClassWinning, or more accurately, dominating this ten-boat fleet was local hero Sean O’Brien and his McFLY team with just 15 pts total. Their scoreline was all podium finishes of 2-1-1-2-1-3-2-3!! Second place was Martin Johnson’s AQUAHOLIKS with 30 pts, and third place was Roy & Marina Lamphier’s BEAT MACHINE with 35 pts.
ORC B DivisionIn this nine-boat fleet, it was Matt Schaedler’s J/122 BLITZKRIEG that took class honors. Just one race was held on Saturday, as there was no wind for Sunday’s race.
PHRF A DivisionWinning this ten-boat fleet was Jim Caesar’s J/109 LIQUID LOUNGE. The next J/109 was Chris Chatain’s DAYBREAK in seventh place, followed by Jim Milliken’s J/109 DRIVE 2 in eighth place.
PHRF B DivisionFinding the sybaritic sailing conditions to their liking were a pair of J/88s, both of whom unsurprisingly ended up on the podium! Winning was Lindsey Duda’s SIN DUDA, followed by Andy Graff’s EXILE to add the bronze medal to his Chicago-Mackinac Race gold medal for winning the ORR Doublehanded Division for the third time in a row.
For more LTYC Ugotta Regatta sailing informationhttps://ltyc.org/ugotta-regatta

 
(Newport, RI)- An increasingly popular regatta during the busy Newport sailing season has been the Safe Harbor Newport regatta. It’s a fun event both on and off the water. The sailing on Narragansett Bay is always fun and challenging, dealing with currents and shifty winds. But, where the Safe Harbor regatta has developed an enthusiastic following amongst sailors is their “apres sailing” events onshore at their world-class yacht harbor facility. With great food, a huge tent, and great bands on Friday and Saturday evenings, the parties are well attended by the eccentric mix of yachties off the magnificent super yachts and the enthusiasts on a range of offshore racing/ cruising yachts.
PHRF Nav B DivisionFour J/crews are sailing in this division, all capable teams that have podiumed before. Sailing are Jim Phyfe’s J/44 DIGGER, Mark Nannini’s J/120 SALACIA, Brian Nelson’s J/112E HONEY BADGER, and Doug Curtiss’s J/111 WICKED 2.0.
PHRF D DivisionThis eight-boat fleet is nearly an all “J” class. Five J/109s are participating- John Greifzu’s GROWTH SPURT, Ted Herlihy’s GUT FEELING, Cam Nash’s MISTRAL, Brooke Mastrorio’s URSA, and Bill Kneller’s VENTO SOLARE. Joining them are John Sartorius’s J/120 ALIBI and Joe Brito’s J/121 INCOGNITO.
PHRF E DivisionThis is another fleet dominated by J/Teams. Four of the five teams are Js, including two J/105s (Chris Tate’s BLITZ and Ned Joyce & Andy Reservitz’s DARK’N’STORMY 2), Kevin Dakan’s J/110 MEMORY, and EC Helme’s J/92S SPIRIT. ORC B DivisionA trio of J/122s will be doing battle in this ten-boat fleet, all of whom are silverware winners in multiple regattas over time. Those J/122s are Tom Sutton’s LEADING EDGE, David Rosow’s LOKI, and Jack Gregg’s TARAHUMARA. Joining them will be Ed Kaye’s J/111 PRAVDA 2 from Marblehead, MA.
For more Safe Harbor Newport Regatta sailing informationhttps://yachtscoring.com/emenu/17003

 
(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- For the first week of August, the Cowes Combined Clubs will be hosting their annual highlight of the summer sailing season on the Solent- the infamous Cowes Race Week off Cowes, Isle of Wight. Yet again, hundreds of boats and thousands of sailors will grace the quaint seaside town with raucous parties and challenging sailing on the capricious waters of the famously fast-flowing Solent Water.
Again, dozens of J/Teams will flock south from their glass tower offices in London and other parts of the United Kingdom and look forward to engaging their passion for sailing for a full seven days on the water! Here is how that all breaks down by division.
IRC 1 DivisionSailing in this fleet will be Ellie Wollmann’s J/111 FREQUENT FLYER and twin J/122s (Nick Southward’s WHISKEY JACK and Derek Shakespeare’s BULLDOG).
IRC 2 DivisionA pair of J/112E’s will be racing in this dozen-boat fleet, the Dutch team on JACK RABBIT (Rutger Krijger & Caroline van Beelen) and the British crew on David Franks’s LEON.
IRC 4 DivisionThis nine-boat fleet is quite literally an all J/Boats division, an internecine battle to say the least. There are two J/99s (Jan Scholtes’s WARP 5 & Charles Balman’s SNAPSHOT), two J/105s (Sara Allan’s TAIKA & Richard Newsom’s JAVELIN), two J/97s (Stew Hawthorn’s JES & Alastair Fry’s JAB CRAB), and three J/92s (Simon & Sally Shilaker’s JAMBO, David & Libby Greenhalgh’s J’RONIMOO, & the trio on NIGHTJAR- Libby Finch, Jack & Joe Banks, & Perry Jeffcoaste).
J/70 ClassAs the largest international one-design class at Cowes, the thirty-four J/70s will have very competitive racing off the iconic Royal Yacht Squadron starting line. Several class veterans will be in the mix at the top of the leaderboard, including Ali Hall’s CALYPSO, Cate Muller-Terhune’s American team on CASTING COUCH, Patrick Liardet’s COSMIC, Marshall King & Doug Struth’s DSP, Graham Clapp’s JEEPSTER, David McLeman’s OFFBEAT, William Edward’s SARDONYX, and Jack Davies’ YETI.
J/109 ClassThis nine-boat fleet is never lacking for passionate, enthusiastic owners who, year after year, enjoy sailing their J/109s around the cans in the always capricious Solent waters. Amongst those veterans are John Smart’s JUKEBOX, Chris Burleigh’s JYBE TALKIN, Rob Cotterill’s MOJO RISIN, and the Dutch team of Arjen van Leeuwen & Silvy Leijh’s JOULE.
For more Cowes Week sailing informationhttp://www.cowesweek.co.uk

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- The 100th edition of the ROLEX Fastnet Race, hosted by the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC), will go down in history as one of the world’s biggest offshore races, with 381 IRC-rated yachts competing. From the start off the famous Cowes/ Royal Yacht Squadron starting line in the Solent, the fleet rounded Fastnet Rock just off the southeastern tip of Ireland, then headed for home to the finish off Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, France- a distance of 695.0nm. In short, the race turned into a monster windward-leeward race, beating to windward from the Cowes start to “the Rock”. The fleet then popped kites and headed for France on a downwind sleigh ride. There were some amazing highlights for J/Teams in this race.
IRC 3 DivisionIRC Three line honors went to Philippe Girardin’s J/120 HEY JUDE, one of the highest rated boats in the fleet. She had held the lead not just on the water, but also under IRC, for much of the race. Their hopes for the IRC 3 fleet win were dashed when the strong adverse tide around Alderney and the Cotentin peninsula slowed them. As a result, the lower-rated boats that arrived at that point later were sailing in nearly slack current, such is the roll of the dice in the Fastnet Race!
Eventually, HEY JUDE took sixth place on IRC handicap time, a good outing for the grizzled offshore racing veterans on Girardin’s beautiful navy-blue J/120.
“We were pleased with the weather this year, because Philip has a problem with his back – we are now old men,” mused crewman Louis-Marie Dussiere, who has been a friend of Girardin’s since they were at dental school 40 years ago. “We had a very bad start. But, we were able to come back towards the head of the IRC Three fleet, leaving the Solent. We had a very good exit at the Shingles, and we were back at the head of the IRC Three fleet at Portland Bill.
At Fastnet Rock, there was a little rain and very low clouds. We could see nothing-not even the light of the Fastnet Rock-until we were one mile away. We even had to do a very late tack for Fujitsu British Soldier 70-footer!”

Ultimately, it was Julien Bentz’s J/99 WHIMJY 99 that crossed the Cherbourg-en-Cotentin finish line at 0042 local time to take victory in IRC 3 after IRC handicap time by 19 minutes.
“The weather changed a lot, and it was really difficult over the last 24 hours. The conditions were shifty and the current very challenging,” Bentz commented. “It was a roller coaster of emotions, but we fought until the end, and it paid off!
For most of the crew, it’s our first Fastnet, so it’s a great achievement to beat a fleet of 87 boats! We have been working on this project for two years, and, while it was a mix of intense racing and adventure, there was also a lot of discovery for us along the way.”
What was their winning formula? “A mix of many things, of course. We prepared very well for two years. The crew and the atmosphere also were important, we’ve been sailing together for a very long time, maybe 45 years with Romain Troublé!”
“It was a very good race for this boat- upwind and downwind, with no reaching- it was perfect,” added Troublé, son of former America’s Cup skipper and supporter Bruno Troublé. “The Fastnet Rock two days ago in the fog and the dark at two o’clock in the morning was quite an amazing memory for us!!”
IRC 1B DivisionThe large 36-boat fleet had four well-prepared offshore J/crews. In the end, after pushing hard for the entire race, it was Mike O’Donnell’s J/121 DARKWOOD team from Ireland that took fourth place.
The other J/Teams fared well but had their fair share of issues on the race track. Francois Charles’s J/133 SUN HILL IV from France was having a solid race until a bad tactical decision dropped them back. Then, Nick Edmonds’s J/45 STICKLEBACK suffered a torn mainsail soon after passing Land’s End on the way to Fastnet Rock. That was a disappointing blow to the STICKLEBACK team, having to resort to sailing with the first reef in the main for the balance of the race and dropping down from their top-five position!
IRC 2A DivisionThis large 33-boat fleet has a significant armada of J/crews- nine boats total. It was a “tour de force” for five of those teams.
Following on their second place in IRC Two in the Myth of Malham, Lawrence Herbert’s J/133 CORAZON and his young crew (all under 30) sailed a strong race, taking the silver medal for their hard-earned efforts!
Taking the bronze medal was the J/122 MOJITO, owned by Peter Dunlop and Victoria Cox, and racing out of Pwllheli Sailing Club.
The other J/crews in the top ten were Frans van Cappelle’s experienced crew from the Netherlands, racing their J/122 MOANA to fourth place. Following them were Chris Power Smith’s J/122 AURELIA from Ireland in sixth place and Nick Southward’s J/122 WHISKEY JACK with his Hong Kong-based crew finishing in 7th place.
IRC 3A DivisionIn this fleet of 43 boats, Frenchman Philippe Girardin’s very experienced, winning offshore crew on his J/120 HEY JUDE fulfilled their desire to garner silver in this epochal 100th edition celebration of the ROLEX Fastnet Race. While they just missed IRC 3 division overall honors due to the tidal gate near the finish, they took the silver medal in IRC 3A division, missing the fleet win by a mere 4 minutes!!
For more ROLEX Fastnet Race sailing informationhttps://www.rolexfastnetrace.com/en

Palma Bay once again lived up to its promise. For the 43rd Copa del Ray MAPFRE, which this year hosted the ORC European Championship, conditions were worthy of this major Mediterranean event. More than 130 teams from 24 countries competed in the typical thermal breezes of Mallorca, ensuring an intense week of racing.