A sort of meeting was held on Saturday 14 March.

These are the notes of the meeting plus information which should be made available to members of the class association.

1)      IRC data – please send me a copy of your 2009 rating certificate and I will summarise and compare.

2)      Finances – we have £756 in the bank. We had two new members last year and one new member so far this year. Expenditure amounted to £164 being the hire of a room at the RAF for last year’s meeting plus a present for Kirsty. There is no need for a subscription this year – to be reviewed again in 2010.

3)      2008 Traveller Series Trophy – won by Fay J, second Jolene, third Voador.

4)      2009 Traveller Series Trophy – results to be posted on the web site regularly (as last year). Cowes Week to be excluded for 2009 and possibly replaced by a Royal Southern regatta. So we have: Spring and Winter Series, ROIW, J Cup, Nationals plus possibly a RSYC event.

5)      Nationals – RAFYC 4 / 5 July 2009.

6)      J Cup – another event not to be missed. Mary Sturgess (Jaldi), being local, has offered her help and assistance if required. Mary can be contacted on 01626 773408 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

7)      Deauville Sailing Week – It is probably too late to generate interest this year (but Jeopardy are going), but it would be good to organise a few boats for next year.

8) 2010 is the 20th anniversary of the design, 2011 being the series date anniversary. It is generally felt that we should arrange a "European Championship" to celebrate, but in what year and where. Spi West is a possibility with reputedly great racing (but it is a long way, and very early in the year). Deauville is another possibility. Feedback requested.

We regret that in accordance with Black Group SI 9.2(e) the races for IRC3 and J/105 had to be abandoned.

Better luck next week!

It hardly seems like yesterday that I was “persuaded” to become the Class Captain for the J105’s but here I am writing my first annual review at the end of what has been an eventful, windy year with sadly only a few fleeting glimpses of summer. Thanks again to Kirsty for all her work over the last few years. It is good to see that a new boat has not restricted her trophy collecting activities.

I will start by highlighting the J105 successes during the year in IRC rather than one design races:

• Slingshot (Michael Boyd and Niall Dowling) – RORC overall double handed champions and second overall in IRC2. Michael has written a memorable piece for the web site which is well worth a read.
• Voador (Simon Curwen) – RORC double handed winner of the windy Myth of Malham, Round Eddystone race.
• Juliette (Rod Knowles) – RORC double handed  third overall
• Diablo J (Nick Martin) – winner of the bluqube Petit Bateau 1000 miles single handed race.
• Juneau (Oscar Mead) – winner of the Royal Southampton Double Handed Series  (now for the Ostar!)
• Journeymaker (Chris Jones) – winner of the Three Peaks Yacht Race
• And last and very much least - Fay J (Paul Griffiths), winner of the JOG Cognos Illingworth Challenge to La Trinite

The real highlights here have to be: Slingshot, obviously, Diablo J, I just could not do that (50 knots in the Bay of Biscay) and Journeymaker, the Three Peaks has to be one of the ultimate challenges.

Have I missed anybody?

We have had the usual One Design events during the year all contributing towards the Traveller Trophy, which this year has been won by Fay J. Regular updates have been posted on the web site and the final results should be on there soon.

Raymarine, Warsash Spring Series

First: Fay J, Second: Voador, Third: Java (Rob Dornton-Duff) – it is a while ago now but I can remember very close tussles with Voador over the five races held in the series.

J Cup (Royal Southern)

This really is a fabulous event. It will be well worth the effort to get yourselves to Torbay in August for next year’s edition. The event this year was won by Jelly Baby (William Newton), who revelled in the strong conditions on day two, just pipping Jolene (Geoff Payne) by one point.

Sadly I missed this event after damaging myself getting Fay J to Hayling Island but I understand that it was very enjoyable, mostly sailed in something called sunshine. Over nine, short, windward leeward races Java (Rob Dornton-Duff) came our victorious followed by Fay J (driven by Mark Griffiths) with Voador third. 

Round the Island Race

Without question the best RTI for years, with plenty of wind and big seas round the back of the island – just a blast! Moontiger (Marc Noel) over from France for the day showed us how to do it in our own backyard (!) with Jelly Baby second, Jolene third and Jeopardy (Richard Watney) fourth – all separated by less than 7 minutes.

Cowes Week

As a class we need to decide what to do about Cowes Week. For the second year running (or is it the third or fourth) the entry was very disappointing with only four of us (Jeopardy, Bojangles, Jolene and Fay J). Jeopardy did really well in the generally very windy week coming third overall in J Sprit. It is very expensive, it can all be a bit chaotic, it is very easy to damage things and J Sprit just does not work with a mixture of 92’s, us and Joe 90 a one off carbon “sled”. Having said all that it is the only racing we do where you can be hoolying down to a leeward mark doing 15 knots in 30 knots of wind, fighting for position against 30 or more other boats!! Thankfully Cowes Week has changed the rules again and will allow daily entrance rather than having to sign up for the whole week. Hopefully this will encourage more boats.

Garmin Hamble Winter Series

First: Fay J, Second: Voador, Third: Journeymaker. Out of the 9 races held, out of a possible 16, after an unprecedented number of cancellations due to the weather, Fay J won 5, Java 2 (they won both the races they entered!) and Bojangles and Journeymaker one each. I think this shows the depth of competition within the class. Watch out for Journeymaker next year – their new North Sails have turned them into a rocket ship!

The Winter Series was also notable for the Autumn Championships where there was some of the closest racing of the year over the weekend of October 25 / 26. It was great to see Jambalaya (Andy Bird) back in the Solent (hopefully to stay?)

There have been four newcomers to the class during the year.

• Jeopardy (Richard Watney) and Jackpot (Vernon Bradley) are now well known to everybody.
• Andy Dennis (who looks after our web site), bought Repete during the summer and renamed her Orijin. She is based in the Helford River but hopefully he will make the trip to the Solent in July for the Nationals.
• The most recent change is that Ivan Trotman has acquired Jolene from Geoff Payne, who has bought a 109. I understand that Jolene will be based in the Solent so another addition to the Solent fleet. I am really sorry to lose Geoff and his team since they have been loyal supporters of One Design events over the last two years, travelling from the East Coast every weekend. 

Slingshot is for sale, having won the RORC double handed series Michael and Niall have achieved what they set out to do. J Spot is also on the market but I do not know where she is being advertised and J UK is marketing Panther.

• Boat show, Thursday evening 15 January, late night opening – meet in the “Black & White” bar at 1900.

• Training day, Saturday 14 March – we have 10 boats signed up. We can only cope with six so we will need to be creative on the day, possibly extending it into a second day. Does anybody know of a rib we can use / hire for the day?

• Warsash Spring Series – I am hoping / assuming that since we have 10 boats signed up for the training day that we will have at least 10 boats entered for the Spring Series.

• AGM – It would make sense to have the AGM on Saturday 14 March. I will put out an agenda nearer the time (venue RAFYC).

• Nationals, Saturday / Sunday 4 / 5 July, RAF Yacht Club, Hamble – a DIY, credit crunch beating event. A Notice of Race will go out around March time.

• J Cup, Torbay, 20-22 August – not to be missed.

• More One Design events – something to talk about at the AGM but I am keen to promote more one design events (especially if we dump Cowes Week). In principle it is easy, we just need at least 8 boats to turn up and we can have our own start (or at least separate results) during any of the Royal Southern Regattas during the summer. I am however aware that some of you will have other priorities in a Fastnet year.

Paul Griffiths – 3 December 2008

Race Status; Sunday 23rd November

All racing was eventually cancelled

On arriving in the racing area, the vis in heavy rain was about 100 metres, and it was consistently blowing 30-35 kts. Racing would have been both unsafe and very miserable. Our apologies to the 30 or so boats that came out to play

Journeymaker (Chris Jones) with their brand new, first time out, North Sails claimed the boat of the day prize in Sunday's two races in the Garmin Hamble Winter Series. This was no mean feat since the conditiuns were not easy with a shifty, oscillating breeze. 

In the first race Fay J, despite a start that could only be described as completely inept, had a great first beat rounding second, only just behind the leader Voador (Simon Curwen) with the rest of the fleet strung out behind led by Journeymaker. Fay J got her nose in front on the first run, a position she held to the finish with Voador second and Journeymaker third.  

The second race started after some considerable delay mainly caused by the class 1 boats being recalled twice - they should stick them out at the back of the fleet next time that happens! Fay J had another appalling start but managed to reach the first mark in close proximity to Voador and Journeymaker. Very close racing followed with all three boats rounding the final leeward mark line abreast with Voador holding the inside line. The final beat saw Journeymaker hitch into a favourable shift on the right hand side beating Voador and Fay J to the line.

Having said all that the actual boat of the day was Java (Rob Dornton-Duff) who had not entered the Winter Series but came out to race anyway and was first over the line in both races (just). This all goes to show just what close, competitive racing can be found in the J105 fleet.