THE J CLASS NEWS
Check back here often for news and information
If you have information relating to the J Class please email the webmaster!
April 30,2010
AMYA Bulletin online reported today
that there was a rumor of an upcoming J Class event in Region 3 around the
mid-July time frame.
More will be posted here as the information becomes available.
April 24, 2010
WHOA! what happened..? I don't know. I did something wrong and locked up the website when I was doing the January revision and have not been able to publish anything new since then. SO we have a steady parade of new boats under construction, there was a Ranger on Ebay that sold to a skipper in Houston and hopefully will be back on the water soon, also talking with a couple of interested guys in the DFW area that might bring a couple more J's to TEXAS. Hulls are going out to Europe and even Hobart, Tasmania and points in between. The NCR is 5 months away in Chicago, so there is still time to get your boat in the water. I am sure it will be here before we know it, and then the cycle will take the event back to New England for 2011 again where the largest number of boats reside. By moving the event around we have stimulated growth in the class at a record rate and the class is benefitting from it nicely.
Sad news to report is that Bob Eger has suffered damage on his Shamrock that will require replacement of the deck. Normally, this would not make the news here but for the fact that this boat has in my opinion THE most photogenic deck of any model sailboat ever constructed. There is just something about the way the light hits the deck of this boat that makes it incredibly unique. A terrible shame to lose it, but it has to go. The upside will be that John and Bob are going to video tape the construction of the new deck and will be something that can be provided for future builders to use as a guide in their own projects.
October 6, 2009
The busiest year for J Class racing in sometime is fairly well wrapped up. See the results to the NCR on the Previous NCR page, but congratulations to Rick West for his first J Class NCR win out in Sacramento. There were quite a few new boats started in 2009, and as we head into the building season up North (and the sailing season in South Texas) I still have very incomplete records as to where, who and which hull.. but hopefully in the next few weeks those will be more organized and posted here. Three scheduled events, a West Coast NCR, and continued growth in the class means 2010 is not here yet and we are already looking forward to more quality events. Bob Eger has proposed a possible series of races held along the West Coast, and that would be a considerable step forward in the amount of racing and new venues. There are quite a few boats in California, more than one might think, but getting them out on the water has proved somewhat tough, so maybe this is just the ticket for stepping up the pace out West. More boats in New England means that the ponds will be getting smaller as the number of boats on the water increases.
August 3, 2009
The first event of the year for the J Class will be held this weekend in Mystic at the Herreshoff Museum and sailing at the Mystic Seaport where the NCR was held a year ago. Look for reviews and reports here after the event. Bob Eger has posted new information on the J Class NCR venue. What a gorgeous pond, this is really going to be a snazzy place to sail your boat. I continue to learn of new boats, but have not had the information that was flowing so readily last year. Just learned of a Ranger in Fort Lauderdale Florida that is from a mold that has not be heard from in many years. The hull is 20+ years old, but being built. The class keeps spreading, and in EC-12 country it might just start something in Florida!
June 23, 2009
Time flies by as boats are being readied for the NCR in Sacramento, CA. John has reported several new boats being registered on the West coast and it could well mean that there will be a turn out for the NCR that will set a record for West Coast boats.
To date, I have received NO EMAILS regarding the proposed rule changes, so either no one is reading, or no opinions exist on the subject. If you have a boat that has been completed and wish to share pictures here... please send them along. This update also includes a NEW EMAIL ADDRESS for the Class Sec. so please update your address books accordingly.
February 12, 2009
New updates and Press Release for the upcoming racing events in 2009. There are 3 events so far, two in New England in August the first in Bristol, R.I. followed by another gathering in Mystic, CT. Both of these events are featuring famous names in the J Class and America's Cup world and are certainly going to be "once in a lifetime opportunities" I will do everything possible to keep the information current and I urge you, that if you ever had a passion for sailing classics, and if names such as Ted Hood, Ted Turner, Dennis Connor, Halsey Herreshoff mean anything to you... that you consider dropping everything else in August and make it out for a truly remarkable chance to sail and see the event. Click on the button on the main page for NOTICE OF RACE 2009 for all the info.
January 14, 2009
We lost a couple of updates in the transition, and rather than spend a lot of time going back and trying to find them and paste them back in I am going to just wing it and get this ball rolling again, and try to make it up on the fly. There is a lot of big news coming out of New England for not one but TWO high profile events for the J Class coming in 2009. Several of our dedicated skippers have been working on putting together two events in the Mystic area coming up this Summer and Fall. I have to get all my notes together but without getting it wrong, I will just say for the moment that big names have been invited and accepted such as Herreshoff, and even some full sized skippers that will have boats in port have been invited to skipper J class models. Again, I don't want to post the wrong thing, but just got the page working again and wanted to at least get some information out while I was here.
One of the previous updates did confirm the Sacramento venue for the 2009 NCR, and John Hanks has supplied me with the dates, which I have lost somewhere in this mess... but as soon as I get things straightened out I will post them here ASAP. Sorry for the confusion, a balky hard drive shot me out of the saddle, but we are getting things back in order.
November 1, 2008
The class does continue to grow and we are moving in many directions. The program to get plans and drawings on the webpage is going slowly... but it is going. We are in the process of looking for volunteers to help translate the webpage into other languages as the Class is truly going international. Hulls are shipping this month to Europe and the Far East. We are getting emails and information from skippers literally all over the world... so if you have an interest or want to become involved in the class, please write in and let us know.
The latest rumor is that Sacramento California will be the host to the 2009 NCR following the pattern of rotating the event around the country. Since being hosted in Mid-USA (San Antonio) in 2006, and East-USA (Mystic CT) in 2007, the West Coast will call home to the big show with many new boats already being sailed in California and Washington State, and several more under construction now. I am sure that there will be more boats started on the Left Coast once the word gets around.
August 24, 2008
Where did the Summer go?? I knew I was behind in updating... but 5 months is a long time with a lot happening. Boats are popping up allover the country and in Europe also! Who would have thought? 4 boats are currently being built (that I know of) Germany, Italy France and UK. The Ranger hull mold from Bob Sennott is completed and in production, new hulls are going out already.
Obviously the NCR in Mystic caused me to sit down and get this done, you will want to check that page for information specific to the event there. Rumor has it that the next NCR for the J class will be in Sacramento CA in 2009. I told John Hanks that if no other offer came forward from Mid-America that we could host it again here in San Antonio in 2010. We have the same venue available as the 2007 event, and should have a new even better location fully operational by then along with a couple more local boats.
I am going to allow the "building boats" list to remain as it is for the time being, and I will refresh it and start a new one for 2009 towards the end of the year. I know that quite a few of the boats on that list are complete and competed in the event this weekend.
Thanks to all the skippers for attending the NCR in Mystic, and the cast and crew that made the event possible, Ken Shaw was RD I am told and did an excellent job. Stay tuned in and I will make certain to get an update on more often than 5 months again.
April 9, 2008
The new Ranger plug is at the mold shop and should be ready within a few weeks. This is great news as Ranger is most definitely one of the most popular boats of the class. Great to know that we will have a working mold ready to provide for the future of the class. Technically, we still have 18 boats under construction because there are some new boats being started almost as fast as some on the list are being completed. News and Rumors keep floating by as the NCR in Mystic is now only 4 months away... it will be here sooner than you think! I hope that everyone gets to go as it is certainly going to be an EPIC event, and remember you read my predictions here first.. this will be the largest attended event in the Class history.
March 28, 2008
Just a routine update today... and a change to the new boats list.. we now have a total for Eighteen (18) boats currently under construction! That is marvelous.. and I can't wait to see some pictures.. so come you guys... send them in! We have the pics of the 3 boats.. but there are now another 15 on the list.
February 28, 2008
Whirlwind has arrived! The first two hulls are out of the mold and looking good. The first hull has already been sold and will be heading to the West coast where J activity has been steadily increasing. There are already 4 new J boats being built (2 in San Diego, 1 in Santa Clara, CA and 1 in Port Orchard, WA) and now I am pleased to announce that Darren Thigpen will be taking the helm of the first Whirlwind. Pictures will be posted as soon as I can manage. Congratulations Darren! Remember, this is the first correct scaled Whirlwind, and the boat is extremely close in dimensions to Endeavour. It has been hard for me to keep that in mind because I have been seeing the Vanguard version for so long which was the smallest of the J models. Not any more man....
January 3, 2008
Updating some of the webpage and uploading some pictures/video of the event last October. Due to the webmaster pulling up stakes and moving everything on short notice, this has been delayed, but I am making every effort to fix this and get out all the latest news.
Bob Sennott reports that the 1/16th scale Whirlwind plug is completed and ready to be molded. I hope to hear something any day now to indicate the mold has been created and the first hull pulled out.
During the event in October Doug Wotring was pleased to tell me that he is working with Scott Todd of Blue Crab Model Yachts, and they are set to begin producing Shamrock V hulls from the mold created by Dave Brawner. Look for them on the links page.
The 2008 NCR will be held at Mystic River Seaport CT. and will be in conjunction with the Star 45 NCR in August.
October 26-28 NCR held in Live Oak Texas
See the information on the website for the 2007 event.
September 26,2007
Cleanup on the lake continues as the City and myself were heavily engaged in log removal and course inspection over the last week. Also the City is committed to helping our event provide the best venue possible will be out with their landscape crews making things as nice and presentable as we can manage. I spoke with Erik Barajas of the local ABC affiliate TV news program and he indicated that they would be very pleased to cover our event so be prepared to shine on television. The new marks made specifically for the event will be going in place quite soon as we go into the final phase of preparations.
August 29, 2007
New boats in the works! I know that this goes in the other section... but it's not up yet.... Let's see... I probably should ask permission before I report these things... but here goes anyway. Jimmie Hawkins is finishing a Ranger and we are hopeful he will be able to attend in October. Bill Liscomb is building an Endeavour and we are hopeful for him to be here as well. Rumor has it that Bob Eger will be going home with one more boat than he arrives with... another Endeavour! Seems that one way to help pay for your trip to San Antonio is pick your hull and spars here and save $200 on the shipping! Bob is a clever fellow. I have heard rumors of others, and when I have them confirmed you will hear of them here first!
August 26, 2007
With just under two months before the NCR here in San Antonio, things are buzzing as we try to nail down the final decisions and details of the event so everything is in readiness for the big event. Ray Seta, Commodore of Woodlawn Sailing Club AMYA #112 our cross town sister club has agreed to be Race Director for the event, and Barbara Hanks a veteran score keeper for events in AZ will be our scorekeeper.
Improvements continue to the lake and surrounding grounds by the City to make it is pleasant and enjoyable as possible. Weather has been pleasant with some rain, but no flooding. In fact, nothing that would be more than an inconvenience for the last 3 weeks. The lake is full and looking ready.
August 10, 2007
Bob Sennott does it again.... Master craftsman Bob is near completion of a 1/16th scale Whirlwind plug which will master a mold and begin producing hulls hopefully early in the new year (2008) This fills a gap for the Vanguard Whirlwind has been the only one commercially available, and even that mold has been out of production for decades.