So Long No Quarter J/70
At the end of June I said goodbye to the J/70. It had been a ton of fun and I’m sorry I didn’t get to sail it more, but with school and all of the other commitments I have coming up it was best to downsize my fleet.
Tag: No Quarter J70
J70 #781 sailed at Fishing Bay Yacht Club from 2015-2017
2016 FBYC Offshore Fall Series #2
Today started out as a pretty light-air day and the wind quickly built for the 2nd race of the FBYC Offshore Fall Series #2. We sailed with just 3 of us – Andrew, Nathan and myself and we sailed a good first race, picking the correct side and finishing 1st in the 4-boat fleet.
As the 2nd race started the wind piped up closer to 20 and two of the teams dropped out and we knew at that point we just needed to finish the race to win the day. Unfortunately for us we were late at the start having been doing some rig tuning and not being closer enough to the line. Hotty Toddy had a 10-boat lead at the start, but by the time we got a mile upwind we had caught up and were neck and neck. We pulled away for another 1st.
2016 FBYC Offshore Fall Series #1
Back racing the J/70 after nearly 2 months we had nice wind and clear skies for the FBYC Offshore Fall Series 1. We had out Louise, Andrew and Patrick and it was Patrick’s first time on the J/70. In the starting sequence Louise had a minor family emergency so we transferred her to the Mr. Roberts and had to sail 3 up. Having practiced 4-up and with no time until the start, we winged it and did our best with only 3 of us.
We weren’t able to quite keep up with E.L.E. but we did well nonetheless and were able to finish 2nd. In between races Louise was back and joined us for the 2nd race of the day. In this race all 4 J/70 were a lot closer and we got behind early on the wrong side of the course upwind. We came back downwind, but weren’t able to get back ahead of Spice to finish 3rd. All in all a fun day back in the boat. Thanks Louise, Andrew and Patrick for sailing!
2016 Leukemia Cup Regatta
For the 2nd year in a row I’ve sail the J/70 in the Southern Chesapeake Bay Leukemia Cup Regatta. We had mostly sunny skies and winds in the 8-12 range with 7 J/70s on the course. Early in the day we really had a groove going and were able to make good boat speed putting up 2-2 in the first two races. A 4th in the 3rd race put us in 2nd overall just one point out of first going into day 2.
Sunday started out with a close race where we finished 3rd. The wind got lighter and we struggled putting up a 6th to hang onto 3rd overall. Thanks Carrie, Brad & Louis for a great weekend of sailing!
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2016 FBYC J/70 Friday Night Series – July 1
Tonight was the first night of sailing the J/70 Friday nights. My Dad came down earlier in the day and we were able to go for a sail in between some storms.
J70 Mid Engine Storage Bracket
While I had the J/70 back in Richmond a few improvements were made including mid-boat storage cradle for the engine. This puts the engine low next to the keel underneath the cockpit and not taking up valuable space up front nor adding weight to the front of the boat.
Using a piece of teak from a retired trophy – I build a bracket that mounts to a bulkhead under the companionway. It has a notch cut for the engine to hold it just below the power head. And the way it is set up and angled it’s easy to slide the engine towards the center of the boat to get it into place.
Beneath the power head of the engine is another block of wood mounted to a stringer with some foam padding added to it. This tips the head of the engine upright and keeps oil from getting into the parts of the engine that it shouldn’t.
Having used it a few times now seems to work well and I like the space we got back in the bow for storing
J70 Trailer Dock Box Ventilation
I had seen this idea when I sailed the J/70 Winter Series last year and finally had a chance to add it. In short I cut a hole in the aft end of both dock boxes on the trailer and added a screen with a vent cover over it. This allows a little more air flow into the dock box in case any wetness ends up in there. The vents are on the back of the trailer so no rainwater gets in when trailering in wet conditions.
Parts:
- Louvered Vent
- Piece of screen
- 5200
- Nuts/washers/bolts
Tools
- 2″ hole cutter
Photos:
2016 FBYC J/70 Spring Regatta
Sunday was the Fishing Bay Yacht Club J/70 Spring Regatta with 6 boats racing in 14-16 gusting to 20 out of the West. With Andrew, Evan and Mark on board we had a great crew and were really able to get the boat around the course well in the higher winds. We even kicked it up a gear planning downwind when we could.
We sailed 5 races with some pretty tight finishes with the other boats. In 3 of the races we finished a boat length or less behind someone. The shifty and puffy conditions made it both challenging to stay in phase and hard to keep changing modes to keep the boat going fast.
We finished a consistent 1-3-3-2-2 including having to restart on the final racing having been OCS. Another great day.
The series concludes next Sunday at Spring Series #4.
2016 FBYC Offshore Spring Series #3
It took a while to get out on the J/70 for the first time this year and it was a great day for it at the Fishing Bay Yacht Club Offshore Spring Series #3. Onboard today were Andrew, Evan and Nathan and there were 3 other J/70s in the fleet among the 20 other boats out racing.
Saturday started light WNW around 6-8 and built to the 10-13 by the end of the 3rd race. We had good boat speed up wind, played most of the shifts well and went 2-1-2. On most of the downwinds Ron Thompson sailing Nostalgia put on a clinic and either pulled ahead if he was ahead or caught up if he was behind. The next day we realized we had the spinnaker rigged wrong and wasn’t getting it to full hoist.
All in all a great first day back in the boat and excited to continue the season this spring.
Following racing we were hanging around the club as it rained and cleared and we were treated to a beautiful rainbow.
2016 FBYC Opening Day
This weekend should have been Fishing Bay Yacht Club‘s Opening Day Race followed by a J/70 clinic on Sunday – but the weather conspired to have it cancelled. With no sailing to do and only a Blessing of the Fleet and party to attend – it became a work weekend and thus the J/70 that was not yet rigged was packed and hauled to Richmond.
While at home it was easy to get a couple projects done:
- Trailer visibility
- Aft engine storage cradle
- Dock box vents
