Allright! After launching the year with a BUSY February, things slowed down in March! NOT!
Seems like there is a lot more energy in the air as all the sailing clubs get their opening day and spring events underway.

- All three traveling fleets - J/22, J/24, and J/80's - had events in March.
-J/World-Annapolis held a 2 class-4 day clinic at AYC
- LYC hosted Bay Cup1

The J/24 2011 US Nationals are coming to Texas!
March 10 - 14th

Dallas Corinthian Yacht Club is the host club! From the late 70's thru the early 80's there were 750 J/24's sold into Texas! If you don't own one, go rescue one and sign up! If you have one-sign up now! The regatta organizers can do so much more if they know they have 60 boats coming versus 40. Your registration counts and the sooner the better!

Learn more about it here: HERE
See Promo Video HERE

Bay Cup I - Lakewood Yacht Club
March 5, 2011

Edthemainsailguy: "I'm not sure that I have ever seen the Bay in such a short-cycled choppy state...hats off to those of you that finished the race...and hats off to the 33 of 44 boats that chose to stop the punishment"

or this one from Grind4Beer "We had several 10kt+ surfs enroute to the starting area, and decided, after a few minutes, that even a small headsail just wasn't all that necessary to sail any direction in particular. And a few minutes after that, heading anywhere other than back to the dock began to seem rather un-necessary too. The chop wasn't quite as bad over by TCYC, but it still took another hour of slogging to get back under the bridge. Hats off to the stout-fellas who stayed out and finished."

In the Spinnaker A class only 2 boats stayed out - Al Goethe on "Hamburg" and the Navy 44. The Navy 44 had more then enough wind to wake up and nose out the J/109 for first!
The final report that I received was that on Monday morning every sailmaker in the Seabrook vicinity had a smile on their face and a spring in their step! Congrats to those brave souls that stayed out! As another poster stated "Great training for when you do get caught in the snot".

The Sundance Women's Invitational

March 10-12

Sundance Cup-Womens Invitational Match Racing at FWBC - White Rock Lake "Pam's Patter" blog HERE

I was told by Paul Bregenzer that this annual event at FWBC is not to be missed. Judging by the write-ups in the blogspot and in the FWBC "Full and Buy" newsletter it is a great event to watch and even a greater time for the female participants.
Find Results HERE
Find Photos HERE

Opening Day Regatta
Austin Yacht Club
March 13, 2011

Opening Day with all of the pomp and circumstances, the stories, and memories, the blessing of the fleet and even BLUE BLAZERS! Yes at AYC! Not a tie dyed shirt to be seen on opening day!

But even nicer then that is the 65 boat fleet that hit the start line including One Design fleets of J/22's and J/24's. In A fleet, 8 of the 12 boats were J/Boats and 6 of those were J/80's! John Bartlett in his brand spanking new J/80 "Speed Racer" got off the line with a clean downwind start and led the way down to Lakeway and back. Matt Romberg on the J/29 "Imagine" was in second. I was happy to sail with Greg Buck and Bob Leonard on "Lickety" taking a 4th - just barely beating the brand new J/80 "Jack Rabbit" steered by Claude Welles. Great fun racing point to point on a J/80!

Find Results HERE

The Conundrum IV
GBCA
March 19, 2011

Conundrum definition:
A logical postulation that evades resolution, an intricate and difficult problem...

Doesn't that mean every sailboat race? Somehow Kevin Bednar and Bill Charles found the answer finishing first in the Double handed Spinnaker class on their J/105 "Stinger". Shelton Alsup, in his J/24 "Silver Bullet" resolved the riddle with a 3rd and great fun was had by all.

Find the results HERE

Photos courtesy of John Lacy
Find more great shots HERE

J/24 Circuit Stop #1
Austin Yacht Club
March 19 - 20, 2011

We spectated, courtesy of Bob Leonard loaning his great pontoon boat - and what a spectacle we saw! Absolutely great conditions, Great RC work, and GREAT racing!

As usual on the Texas Circuit the name Harden was on the top! But wait! The name is Ryan Harden! Huh? Maricio Santa Cruz-3 time world champion was in the fleet, Bob Harden-Mr. Happy was in the fleet-who is this Ryan guy? Just the little brother of Bob Harden, and we predict the J/24 fleet will come to know his name well over the next several years. Great job Ryan and team on "Runing on Empty"! How did it shake out overall? Bob Harden-"Mr. Happy" finished 4th and when getting his trophy said he couldn't be happier!-way to go! 3rd went to Mauricio Santa Cruz on "Ambassador", and 2nd went to Eric Faust on "New Rules". Eric is well known in the J/22 circles and had a great Sunday taking 1st place in each of the 2 Sunday races to move into second. All 15 J/24's were in the hunt all of the time. Sometimes going around the windward mark the boats would be five abreast! I could watch racing like this every weekend!

Find Results HERE
Find more Bruce Mcdonald Photos HERE

Lake Canyon Yacht Club

J/22 Circuit #1

March 26 - 27, 2011

The J/22 Class started off their Southwest District season at Lake Canyon YC, March 26th and 27th.

Terry Flynn is always on his game and wrapped up 1st place. After a stellar showing in the J/24 class a few weeks before Eric Faust grabbed 2nd, Max Scott was in the "Fastlane" taking 3rd and local Fred Lindsey in 4th. Brant Koepke rounded out the top 5. 20 J/22's registered-great start for the J/22 season. Full results HERE
Find more photos HERE

Forth Worth really raised the bar for hosting a circuit event! They provided flawless race management for 7 challenging races, good food, plenty of beer, and even threw in some awesome crew swag. A bargain considering the modest registration fee.

Day one was a perfect day for J80 sailing, sunny skies with 15-25mph winds and 13 boats hitting 13kts on the runs! Huge wind shifts really kept the race management team working hard to keep the course square as the wind clocked right all day long. They did a fantastic job. The racing was tough at the top with the local Ft. Worth fleet showing their J80 skills. After 5 exciting races "Le Tigre" was out front on the score card, followed by "Tiamo" & "Yoko", with "C’est Nasty" not far behind. Cloudy skies, lighter breeze, and cold temperatures welcomed the fleet on Sunday morning. Race 6 was the clincher for Hilliard/McConnell and Team "Le Tigre", they opened with a bullet to secure their victory. Bruno Pasquinelli and company on "Tiamo" remained consistent to secure second place by sailing a 2-2 for the day. Rick Shaffer and the "C'est Nasty" boys needed the throw out and a bullet in the last race to move ahead of Yoko for third place. Mike Lattimore and crew on "Yoko" finished in fourth place, and the only out of town competitor to crack the top 5 was Claude Welles sailing his brand new boat "Jackrabbit". Claude had the comeback of the regatta in race 6, he started dead last after getting shut out at the boat, but ground back to 5th place, saving his podium finish.  Written by Grey Rackley-crew on Jack Rabbit

Fort Worth Boat Club

J/80 Circuit Stop #2

March 26-27th

GBCA Spring Regatta - March 26, 2011

This was a One Day Regatta format - 5 Races in one day! good stuff. I was fortunate enough to be invited by Al Goethe to sail on his well oiled "Hamburg" program. Three J/109's made fleet and the racing was tight. The final race order would determine the order for the event. Team "Hamburg" went out to the port tack layline made the windward mark first and led the race home. Great victory! The J/105's raced One Design as well, and Team "Stinger" stung the other contenders by taking all five first places! Detailed results HERE
Photos courtesy of John Lacy - Find more HERE

The Ellssa Regatta - Houston Yacht Club
April 2 - 3, 2011

Kevin Hayes, Hayes Rigging, mentioned to me that he'd like to get 007 out in a few of the spring events - That's all the motivation I needed! We put together a stellar team of people that Kevin sails with from Melges 32, J/122, and Swan 42 programs-Huey, Jesse, Melissa, Mike M., along with Edmund Martinez, Mason Stokes and myself and signed up for the Elissa regatta! Great fun racing against the C&C 115 and the Summit 40! Two days of light to moderate breeze and 007 completed her second mission in grand fashion for an overall score of 2-2-1-1-1! Great fun! 007 eagerly awaits the next assignment! Find Results HERE Photos courtesy of Christopher Dies

The Road to Rolex Clinic is an all-women racing clinic that prepares women
sailors to participate in keel boat racing in general and to compete in the US
Sailng Rolex International Women's Championship (RIWKC) which will be
hosted by Rochester Yacht Club (NY) from August 27th through September
1st, 2011. Women may participate in the clinic regardless of their plans to
attend the RIWKC.
Registration Fee: $185 per team
Register HERE
Registrants will need to provide their own J-22, housing and food.
We will attempt to find a team for individuals who wish to attend.
Rooms are available at Houston Yacht Club for a nominal fee.
Call the HYC Office at 281-471-1255 for reservations.
For more information, contact Andrea Zaite at amzaite@yahoo.com

NOTE: Several women crew are looking for skippers with boat. If you can bring your boat you can get crew. Great opportunity! Don't miss out!

Bill Coates and the J/122 "Otra Vez" team sailed their beautiful boat to first place in the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta on March 6th. Full story HERE

What does driving a J/80 very well lead to?

How about an invitation to driving an RC-44! Read Scott Young's thrilling account of getting invited to drive one of these speed machines in San Diego HERE

I need to talk to Scott about getting on the J/111 and taking her for a spin! Wonderful RC44 site HERE

Great article on Sailings' "True Value"

Find it HERE

Nice J/109 Video by the active owner of the J/109 Blur in Sweden

J/World Annapolis held two classes at Austin YC from March 8-10th. Thanks to the local J/80 owners Bruce McFarland, Larry Ratliff, and Ira Rush for supporting this event with the loan of their boats. I ran into about half of the attendee's and the rave reviews were over the top! Same time next year! For 2012 the plan is to teach the class in symmetrical spinnaker boats. Put March on your calendar and save that pocket change to sign up and attend!

Check out our J/Boats Southwest YouTube Channel!

See it HERE

John Tyrone, new owner of the J/92 "Yo Man" continues to provide feedback. Excerpts from and e-mail dated March 9th: "Scott the J92  is unbelievable.
Brought it home from Green Cove last Friday in 20 to 25 knots held 8.5 to 9 knots on reach ( 10 miles same tack) all the way home. The boat has no weather helm . You can release the tiller with the boat healed over at 25 degrees and it tracks straight. On a couple of big gusts, I rounded up slightly , but was never out of control!"

We hope to have a few new stories next month after Greg Scully gets his J/80 ready to sail and in the water! Greg's boat is the tenth boat in Austin Yacht Clubs fleet 6. Way to go! Ten J/80's are the most that we have ever had at AYC! This is a real milestone as with ten boats there should be a good fleet of J/80's on the water for each event.

John Bell-Commodore Corpus Christi YC closed on the J/105 Elixir on Thursday March 17th and on Friday headed out to the Gulf to sail her home. Excerpts from John's e-mail dated March 20th:

"We had a great trip delivering the boat. We left the dock at 1:15 and rounded the south jetty at 6:15. We had a nice steady breeze through the night and cruised at an average of 7 knots. The wind died at daybreak, though, so we motored a little over 5 hours - the last half we found we could bump our motoring speed up to 7+ knots by using the main as well given our course at about 100 degrees off the light wind. (Speed under sails alone was 3-4, speed under power alone was at 6.)

The real fun began at about 12:30 when we put up the chute. The conditions were perfect and everyone took a turn at the helm. The wind built up to about 15 knots by the time we reached the Port A jetty at 4:45.

The real thrills, though, started as we hoisted the chute again while passing Port A headed down the channel to Corpus Christi. The winds perked up dramatically and after two broaches, I figured out better how to control the beast. We hit 13.6 knots at the max, and we all kind of got bored when we were "just" zipping along at 9-10 knots across the Bay. We made the 17 miles in about a little over an hour and a half - a lot better than the 3 hours on my best day before. We made it safe and sound,

As you can imagine we were pretty tired, but the boat worked great and the trip went great.

Thanks for all of your help. I'll be in touch as our sailing schedule shapes up for this season. We have a lot to learn on this boat, but it is quite a rush blowing down wind and learning to keep it just on the edge and avoiding the blowout."

Keep buying these J/Boats! Keep the stories coming! I love sharing them!

Beautiful J/100 optimized for single handed sailing. Take a look HERE

2001 J/80 coming! Priced right but will need work.

Check out all our great listing HERE