J/22 Canada
16Dec/110

2011 World Championship

The J22 World Championship for 2011 was sailed at Southern Yacht Club in Louisiana. For those of you who haven’t sailed there, the yacht club is located on Lake Pontchartrain, in Metairie LA, which is a suburb of New Orleans, about 12 km from downtown New Orleans. The lake is very shallow and notorious for its chop. There were 64 boats competing with boats from Canada, Cayman Islands, Germany and the USA.

Most of the racing was sailed in 4-6 knots of breeze, with only one day, Thursday starting with winds of around 12 knots which died to around 5 knots throughout the day.  Saturday, the last day of racing, there were big waves and whitecaps when we arrived at the club, and we thought we were going to have great conditions. It turned out that we only had about 5 knots of wind, and in the big waves, it was really tough to get the boats to  move. Lots of boats changed positions on that last day. Rob Johnston started the last day with 62 points to 48 for Jimmy Barnash, and after the 11th race, Jimmy was still leading by 2 points. Rob turned in a 5th place finish in the last race to Jimmy’s 13th to win the overall regatta.

Two boats attended from Canada – Jazz, CAN 1610 with Ron Harris, Pete Amos and John Marten, and Alternative Girlfriend, CAN 341 with Trevor Collins, Doug Mair, Alexandra Leus, and Lauren Laventure (all  newcomers to the class)– both boats from Hudson, Québec. Jazz finished 11th overall, and won the Masters’ trophy. Alternative Girlfriend finished 56th, which was a great finish for a team new to the J22 and sailing in their first regatta on the boat. For full results, see http://www.j22worlds.com/index.php/the-event/results/.

The race committee was led by Hank Stuart from Rochester. He and his team did a great job to get off 12 races in the very challenging conditions we faced, with the predominantly light air. The event was very well  organized and the Southern Yacht Club did an outstanding job of running the regatta and hosting all the competitors. They set a very high standard for a regatta that will be hard to beat.

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21Sep/110

J22 2011 Canadian Championship

We had another good J22 Canadian Championship regatta for 2011, provided by the great team at CORK. The first 2 races were light wind, but then the famous Kingston lake breeze filled in and we had winds over 15 knots for the remaining races. We had 12 boats competing this year, including 7 from the Montreal area, 4 from Toronto and 1 from Ottawa.

We had a few new boats and crews out this year: Paul Davignon and team as the new owners of 457, Jenny Marten as the new owner of 1421, Chris Hobbs with 815, Onur Bodur with 1065, Cathy Harris as the new owner of 693, Nick Townsend with 921 and Stephan Hollander with 948. Thanks to all of you for coming out.
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18Jun/110

CYA Women’s National Keelboat Championship

Winners of the 2010 CYA Women's National Keelboat ChampionshipJune 3-5 2011
The Hudson Yacht Club hosted this year’s CYA Women’s National Keelboat Championship. In addition to running a flawless event, HYC also took first place. The team on String Theory CAN1421, Nicole Bastet, Jenny Marten and Jessa Chenier finished 1st overall after 6 races.

There were ten teams competing from across Canada with representation from British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. The event was held for the first time in J22’s thanks to the generosity of the local fleet that provided the boats. Teams who had never set foot in a 22 quickly noticed how responsive the boat was and also appreciated how manageable it was in stronger winds.

The first day of the regatta was dedicated to a training day with a tactics course led by Geoff Moore from North U. Geoff’s outstanding knowledge was well received by all competitors and his easy approach to understanding complex situations was tremendous. Conditions on Friday were great for practicing in moderate conditions with winds ranging from 12 to 15 knots. Geoff was on the water with local J22 experts Ron Harris, Pete Amos and John Marten. Their coaching helped everyone to acclimatize quickly to the boats and achieve success over the weekend.

6 races were sailed over the remaining 2 days in conditions that varied from light to very light. At the end of Saturday 5 races had been completed and there were only 2 points separating the first four teams. It all came down to the last race which made for some great racing and a few skipped heartbeats in the spectator boats.

In these conditions String Theory, using North Sails, focused on ensuring correct rig tension between each race and minimizing tacks to ensure good boat speed. There was up to a 1kt current across the race course. Tactically it was important to favor this more than play individual shifts. The importance of sticking to our game plan was emphasized following a bad start in the second and third races. Lesson learned - it’s better to stay on the favored side of the course and gain back positions 1 by 1 rather than split from the fleet.

Jenny Marten
String Theory CAN 1421
Hudson Yacht Club
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2Dec/100

From Montreal: The J/22 – Pure Class

J/22 - Built for racing

The Canandaigua Jackrabbit, the Lake George North-East Championship, Rochester’s Jimmy regatta, the Canadian J/22 championship at PCYC, and the North American Championship in Buffalo: having participated in all those events, the Montreal J/22 fleet is active and is growing rapidly. The Hudson Yacht Club now has seven boats and hopes to add two more to the start-line for next season. Top racers in other fleets on the lakes are seriously discussing the opportunity to join the class. Rumors has it that a sharp looking J/22 has even been seen sailing Lake St-Louis.

For those fortunate enough to be members of the fleet, the 2010 season has been extremely exciting. The number of events within a few hours drive from Montreal makes this class extremely competitive. If you love a challenge and are ready to mix it up with top sailors, you’ll find yourself competing with champions such as Chris Doyle, Greg Fisher and Travis Odenbach, to name just a few. There is no better way to improve your sailing skills (and to identify your opportunities for improvement) than going head-to-head on the start line with the great names of the sport.

The fleet is dynamic with a great team spirit and everyone lends a hand. When the Montreal fleet decides to hit the road, within ninety minutes all boats are hauled out, mast are dropped and they are ready to go. Everyone participates and the convoy hits the road on time.

Is the J/22 for me?

The J/22 is a boat that is very easy to handle. The set-up is simple and efficient, allowing a crew of three to easily manage the boat. Physical strength is not a requirement and sailing enthusiasts of all ages enjoys its agility and speed. The winning crew at the Lake George regatta last summer was a mother, a father, and a daughter and son of twelve and fifteen years old. Further proof is that the Montreal champion, HYC’s Ron Harris, is the same age as my father who is a seven times grandfather and trims the jib and spinnaker by himself on our J/22 Wonton!

How much does it cost?

It’s always important to consider the total cost of ownership of a boat. There are some ridiculously low priced race-boats on the market that look like a great bargain. But once the initial purchase is made, the extra expense and time to get the boat back to basic racing condition can drive the budget through the roof. Often, the extra expenses required to make the boat competitive can surpass the resale value of the boat and just don’t make financial sense. Typically J/22’s are a little more expensive to acquire than other similar sized boats – but they are in good race-ready condition and hold their value nicely.

When buying a second hand racing sailboat, purchase price is not the only criteria to consider. It is equally important to consider the costs of equipment upgrades and most of all, the cost of the sails. Old sails will put you at the back of the fleet. The J/22 has only three small sails: jib, main and spinnaker, and the class rules don’t allow the use of expense materials like Kevlar. That represents a considerable cost saving (only 3700$ for the set). Thanks to the high level of the competition, sailmakers sponsor a lot of J/22s and a set of sails with less than one weeks’ use can easily be found on the class websites at 30% off.

Is this story true?

It’s a real pleasure to race identical sailboats designed exclusively with performance and fun in mind. The class design is strictly regulated so it is only the skill and quality of the crew that makes the difference when you’re racing. All the advantages mentioned draw many sailors into the class so we frequently see over forty sailboats on the start line at regattas in the are, while at the Worlds over one hundred boats were on the line..

The J/22 fever is highly contagious and the infection is spreading rapidly.

It’s a reality on Lake of Two Mountains.

David Godin
J/22 #959 Wonton

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20Jul/100

2010 J22 Canadian Championship

Port Credit Yacht Club put on a great 2010 Canadian Championship regatta for us on July 10 – 11. Despite fairly light wind, we were able to get 7 races off, and newcomers to the fleet, Gord Mcilquham, his wife Maryann Turcke, and their 2 daughters, Emily and JJ, showed us all how it’s done, walking off with the trophy.

We had a few new boats out this year: the winning boat Prudence from RCYC, 383 from NYC (Jerry Wendt), Spaceball from Nepean (Marg Hurley), and Eclipse from BHYC (Brian Young). Thanks to all of you for coming out.