J/109 Fleet 1 News

PHRF Meeting & Holiday Party

J109 Fleet 1 — 2009-12-08T19:46:38+00:00

We will have a PHRF business meeting for the skippers, followed by the annual holiday party including crews, at the Sail Northwest offices at Shilshole. When: Wednesday, December 16th PHRF Business Meeting: 6pm in the SNW classroom Holiday Party: Starts at 7pm in the main office area. We hope to see all the fleet together again! We will also award the Season Fleet Championship trophy, and discuss the sailing schedule for next year.

Diva participating in Van Isle 360

J109 Fleet 1 — 2009-06-11T22:41:38+00:00

Jim Prentice & crew on "Diva" are participating in the 10 leg race that circumnavigates Vancouver Island. The photos on the race website (www.vanisle360.com) are impressive and you can find some very nice shots of Diva from Sean Trew. It looks like a fabulous race and a great time!

It's only Rock 'n Roll wins NOOD and PNW Championship

J109 Fleet 1 — 2009-06-01T19:22:31+00:00

In an abbreviated two race NOOD regatta, Bob Arney & crew sailed well and posted a 1, 2 scoreline on Friday to win the Seattle NOOD regatta, and also repeat as J/109 PNW Champion. To the dismay of the fleet, both Saturday and Sunday of the regatta resulted in no races as the crews bobbed around in brilliant sunshine but no wind. The guys on J/Tripper won the hospitality/best refrigerator award for taking pity on some seriously dehydrated J/24 sailors--the frosty cold Sapporos were very much appreciated! Congratulations to Bob & crew on a job well done!

Illusionist first in PSSR

J109 Fleet 1 — 2009-04-22T21:00:46+00:00

Dave MacLean & crew aboard Illusionist won a hotly contested Puget Sound Spring Regatta (PSSR) by 4 points, with a mere 3 points separating 2nd through 4th. The win puts Illusionist one point shy of the Season Championship lead, behind Tantivy, the Center Sound Series winner. Congratulations to Dave & crew on a fine performance!

February 17th Fleet Meeting Notes

J109 Fleet 1 — 2009-02-18T21:33:50+00:00

Notes from last night�s fleet meeting: 1) Stuart stiffed us, so after slagging on him mercilessly, got around to discussing fleet business. 2) In light of Stuart�s executive decision to make NOOD the PNW championship, we agreed this was the right course of action. Many of us thought this was still an open issue, but agreed with the decision after the fact. 3) We did not finalize the fleet schedule as it relates to the northern regatta choice (PITCH or Cow Bay). The sentiment was that if our Canadian members will commit to one or the other, then we should include it. Dave MacLean made a point of committing to the travel if we get Canadian participation. He also noted that it doesn�t make sense to include it if we don�t get commitment from our northern friends. If we don�t do PITCH or Cow Bay, then there was some interest in adding a September fleet event to replace NW Harvest Benefit. 4) We discussed Center Sound Series registration, and there was some concern we�d get a one-design start (5 required). Jerry will likely not be ready for Blakely Rock, but is already registered for the series. We were wondering about the status of �Rock and Roll� and �Jeopardy� for CSS. If/when you register, please note a desire for a one-design start. 5) Jerry updated us on his keel issues, which appear to be pretty severe (refer to his update below). Payment from Pearson is a huge concern for him � it is still a TBD. I related Ed�s concern about not getting reimbursed yet as well. His report also underscores the necessity of getting this work done, if you haven�t already! 6) We created a PHRF rating committee consisting of Dave MacLean and Jerry Woodfield. Dave just got his rating changed, and had some pertinent observations about performance, and Jerry has done extensive research on the topic. If you have input on this topic, get in touch with Dave. 7) We discussed class sail buttons (mainly to raise awareness), and clarified that it only applies to class sails, not PHRF genoas or our fleet-adopted 121sqm kite. It sounded like people were getting them, and that the process is working in general.

UPDATED: Fleet meeting scheduled for February 17th

J109 Fleet 1 — 2009-02-05T20:27:42+00:00

A fleet meeting has been scheduled for February 17th, 6pm at the Red Door in Fremont. The Red Door is one block west of the Fremont Bridge. Here's a map: http://www.urbanspoon.com/u/map/3264/restaurant/Fremont/Red-Door-Seattle. AGENDA: 1) Finalize regatta to host PNW Champs 2) Finalize 2009 Fleet schedule & scoring 3) Fleet building ideas 4) Class sail registration 5) Update on potential changes to class rules from Stuart 6) Eat, Drink & Socialize

Fleet Holiday Party

J109 Fleet 1 — 2008-12-30T00:38:18+00:00

The fleet had a jovial Holiday party hosted by Bob Ross at his Sail Northwest office. Stuart Burnell and crew added the Tantivy inscription again on the fleet championship trophy - for the 3rd straight year. Congratulations to Tantivy for a great season! Some fleet business was discussed, including re-electing Stuart Burnell as fleet captain, and Tom Niccoli as secretary. Some discussion of including more northern events in the fleet series might help entice our Canadian fleet members to participate. PITCH in Bellingham was mentioned, along with Cow Bay. It was agreed that the fleet would finalize the schedule prior to the Center Sound Series, which kicks off the sailing season in early March. It was agreed that the Center Sound Series as a whole would count as one event in 2009. Another decision was to drop the NW Harvest benefit from the schedule, and replace it with something that might be better attended. A few photos of the event are posted in the Photo Albums section under "2008 Holiday Party." Many thanks to Bob Ross, and congratulations to the entire Tantivy crew. Well done! Happy New Year everyone - here's to another great year of getting the most enjoyment out of our J/109's we can!

Round the County on Illusionist

J109 Fleet 1 — 2008-11-15T23:39:53+00:00

Dave MacLean & crew on Illusionist did the Round the County race last weekend, hosted by OIYC. Here is his recap: This is a great race. Saturday was interesting. The first leg of the course from the start to Davidson rocks on the south shore of Lopez was a mess with steady 25kts+ and negative (2kts at times) tide. The new #4 I got along with a reefed main seemed to be a great combination with boat speed averaging in the mid to upper sixes even with BIG waves. Once around Davidson rocks it became a heavy air reach in BIG waves. Hit a new boat best of 15.4 kts with full main and the 4 up. Unfortunately with the course and the wind direction, it made this a non-tactical parade around the south half of the county with the larger boats proving waterline is everything. We did not score well but had enough adrenaline going to party well after the race. Sunday as you probably heard was a different story. Light broad reaching with spinnaker was the conditions at the start. I feel the 109 is made for this. With a good start and more boatspeed than anyone else we lead the fleet to the NW tip of Stuart where we ventured too close to the island and fell into its shadow and watched everyone sail around us. It sucks being the marker boat for the first �hole� on the course. Once around the corner we found the whole fleet struggling on a starboard beat in light to zero winds. With 12 miles to go to Patos Island(the half way point) in 3 hours and no hope in site We withdrew and started the long process of getting the boat and ourselves home. We got what we came for on Saturday; Sunday was disappointing....oh well that IS sailboat racing. Illusionist spinnaker reaching shortly after Sunday's start:

Tantivy wins PSSC Regatta and Fleet 1 Season Championship

J109 Fleet 1 — 2008-10-14T02:26:19+00:00

Congratulations to Stuart & crew on Tantivy for a fantastic season! With their victory in the Puget Sound Sailing Championship regatta (won on tie-breakers over Dave MacLean's Illusionist), they put an exclamation point on their season championship. In fact, Tantivy had wrapped up the season championship with one regatta to spare, but went out in style anyway. The Fleet Championship points spreadsheet has been updated in the "Documents" section of this site.

Pathfinder circumnavigates Vancouver Island

J109 Fleet 1 — 2008-11-16T22:41:36+00:00

Lino & Elisabeth Niccoli took their J/109 "Pathfinder" well beyond their normal cruising grounds this summer, completing a circumnavigation of Vancouver Island in about two months. They returned last night, docking at Ivar's Salmon House on Lake Union to enjoy a delicious "welcome home" meal, as well as wait for the draw bridges leading back to her home slip on Lake Washington. Now comes the task of sorting through about 1500 photos taken by themselves and their various guests who joined for shorter legs along the way. The boat performed very well, and the new XM weather system allowed Lino to avoid the occasional gale that blew through. The two most treacherous legs, around Cape Scott and around Brooks Peninsula, turned out to be no problem at all, and in fact featured some brilliant sailing conditions. Perhaps the biggest lesson learned was to bring fishing gear next time! Tom & Lino working deep on the run up Esperanza Inlet: Lino, Elisabeth & Tom at Rugged Point: