Roleur

We did the Pt. Roberts Race (65nm), San Juan 100, Northern Century, and the Annapolis DH Distance Race (97nm). As Eric mentioned at the end, it was blowing a steady 34 knots at Race Rocks all Friday afternoon with higher gusts. We started heading to Port Angeles from Orcas and before we reached Cattle Pass we were already seeing gusts to 35. It was going to be 30nm upwind in 35 kts for us. That combined with the dismal forecast for the race meant we did an about face and headed home. A pleasant days sailing and circumnavigation of Shaw Island.

Yep, apologies for the misspelling. I have a Rosenburg on my to do list today and crossed the wires.

Larry Rosenburg, one of the organizers of Offshoredoubles.org indicated that one of the goals of this is to have something like a class association for a group of sailors where there is no specific boat (yet). We joined. We bought a new boat back in March to be able to do mostly DH distance racing and have been fortunate to be able to do a ton of DH racing this year. We've seen a notable increase in DH racing in the Salish Sea this year, which is great. Hoping we can build on that next year.

Quick video from this year's race. We have the red kite. https://www.ussailing.org/news/mixed-dh-distance-race-annapolis/

I believe all the J/111’s built in the US were built at CCF. A lot of them are now 7-9 years old and I’m not hearing of any construction issues except for some of the early rudder posts.

I wonder if this is another difference between the US and European boats? We do all of our autopilot, cables, quadrant work by crawling through the openings aft of the quarterberth. It's tight, but much easier than standing on your head trying to access those things from the cockpit. Actually, can't reach our autopilot at all from the cockpit lazerette. Have to go through the quarterberth.

I think this is a difference between US and European built boats. My US built J/111 is the same as what you describe. Shallow starboard locker and the bottom is not removable, unless you want to use a sawzall. Funny enough on the J/120's it was the opposite. The European boats had a shallow locker and the US boats had a locker without a bottom. We found a 4-person valise that will fit in the aft locker, which is what we will go with. Otherwise, the only real option is a canister on the cabin top or behind the wheel. Or, maybe there is an option to mount a canister on a stern rail?

That’s not the case for OSR Cat 1 races, like going to Hawaii or Bermuda. Your comment only applies to boats built before 2001. a rigid container securely stowed on the working deck, in the cockpit or in an open space; or:- a rigid container or valise securely stowed in a dedicated weather tight locker containing liferaft and abandon ship equipment only which is readily accessible and opens onto the cockpit or working deck, or transom In a boat with primary launch before June 2001, a liferaft may be packed in a valise not exceeding 40 kg securely stowed below deck adjacent to a companionway

So here is where we have arrived. The Cascadian Convoy is this weekend. It is a Van Isle 360 qualifier with an 100nm option. The course is from Victoria out the Straits 50nm and back, much like Swiftsure. The catch? The turnaround has to be on the Canadian side since the border can't be crossed. No big deal, if you are Canadian, but what if you are an American and looking for a Van Isle qualifier and/or an overnight race for the year (most were cancelled earlier in the year)? What can you do? You can participate in the US Shadow Race on the US side of the Straits. Port Angeles to Neah Bay and back. Start time is the same. So, that's the new reality in a Covid World. We are headed to Port A in the morning. It will be our 4th 100nm race of the season. We are gluttons for the overnighters.

Race to the Straits. 100+ doublehanded boats. First day is Seattle to Port Townsend. Second day is race back to Seattle. Great fun, great vibe, great competition.

Most J/111's don't have those options. From your list the only one our boat has is shore power. My guess is that labor & materials for the items you mentioned would be $10k+

Definitely no overlapping headsails. That was one of main reasons for changing from a J/120 to a J/111 for us, double-handing mostly. I probably misjudged the J/125. It is clearly a super boat, but around here we've seen it struggle to sail to its rating on handicap in light air races. That may not be a function of how powered up it is as much as it reflects the fast rating it carries due to the offwind potential in more breeze. FWIW, the rig on a J/111 and J/125 are almost the same height. The 111 sails are just much, much higher aspect than either the J/125 or J/120. Anyway, my point is the J/111 is pretty powered up, especially compared to most J Boats. That suggests lots of rail meat, but we've found the boat to go well even over 20 knots with only 4 onboard. I should have added the J/111 has no need for an overlapping headsail. It is fully powered up in 10-11 knots. It is definitely not a boat that struggles in light air.

I wouldn’t say the 125 is more powered up, upwind. I suppose the 125 is more tender. Certainly rather race a 111 than a 125 in light air given the ratings. But yes the 125 is definitely up there in the J Boat spectrum. Not sure it matters, but there are 10x as many 111’s as 125’s and 90’s combined.

Where are you located? Makes a big difference. We are in the PNW and race almost exclusively double-handed. That’s said the J/111 is not a stiff boat. It is probably the most powered up boat J boats has ever designed. Maybe the J/90? As a comparison the rig is only 2’ shorter than our previous J/120. Displacement is less than 60% of the 120. Our boat came from SF and came with an A2 and A3. That was for windy SF. We’ve since added a larger A2 and A1.5. Location makes a big difference.

Definitely meets the offshore requirements. Lots of offshore races completed (Fastnet and Middle Sea Race come to mind). Not sure if a J/111 has raced to Bermuda yet, but they have done Annapolis to Newport, Van Isle 360, Cabo Race. I believe one did Round Ireland or Round Britain. British Soldier? We are looking at the Cat 1 requirements for Pacific Cup and I believe the only thing we've come up with is the need for a manual bilge pump that can be operated from inside the boat. Polars - Well, many J/111's have reported speeds over 20 knots, but then the polars only go to 20 knots of wind speed. 7 knots upwind is about right. Several of the very first hulls from 2011 lost their rudders. If you are looking at a 2011, you want to know if the boat has already had the rudder replaced. If not, probably want to be asking more questions to people like J/Boats to determine if this particular boat would have a rudder concern.