|
|
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
11
|
|
12
|
13
|
14
|
15
|
16
|
17
|
18
|
|
19
|
20
|
21
|
22
|
23
|
24
|
25
|
|
26
|
27
|
28
|
29
|
30
|
|
|
|
Photo by Kristin Rutkowski | Gallery
Annual Fleet President’s Message
January 5, 2023
Dear J/30 Fleet, Happy New Year!
My name is Heidi Frist and I am the owner/skipper of Suzie Q, hull #203 located in the Chesapeake Bay. I am so honored to be elected to serve as the 16th Class President and the first female in the history of our association. I have had a lot of fun serving as the Chesapeake Fleet Captain and look forward to expanding this fun to a national level!
I want to thank our outgoing President, Bruce Irvin, for his leadership and guidance. Bruce is a dedicated member of our class and an excellent skipper and competitor who continuously displays the spirit of honesty and integrity. He is always there to offer a supportive hand in giving tips on racing strategy and boat handling to encourage members of the class to participate in various regattas and events. I remember he twisted my arm to enter Suzie Q in Eastport Yacht Club’s Lights Parade in 2019. He said it was the most Christmassy thing you can do. And sure enough, he was right! So, thank you Bruce for your devotion to our class!
I also want to thank Dave Erwin for his support and friendship and Dan Mather for keeping us straight with our finances.
Hailing originally from the hills of West Virginia, I did not grow up sailing. When I moved to Maryland in 2002 and experienced other life changing events, I discovered the Chesapeake Bay and what it is like to be powered by the wind to move through the water. I purchased my J/30 on Mother’s Day in 2012 and my life hasn’t been the same since! As I’ve grown to love racing in the Chesapeake Bay, I’ve also grown to love cruising with friends, visiting some amazing places by water. My favorite so far is sailing Grenada and the Grenadines. I’ve done a couple Golden Rock Regattas (a race from St. Martin to St. Eustasia including all the islands in between that was sadly discontinued) and in 2016, I participated in the Key West to Cuba race. I have even done a couple amazing boat deliveries along the east coast with my partner who is a licensed captain. If you want a little more info about me, check out Spinsheet’s Start Sailing Now article in their February 2022 issue.
I am enthusiastic about the upcoming sailing season! My goal as your Class President is to encourage racers and cruisers of the J/30 fleet to get out on the water and enjoy what this lifestyle has to offer. I am hoping to get some of us together in-person for social meetups and build up our camaraderie nationwide. I want to welcome newcomers to our class and encourage young sailors to learn from our fleet so they may keep the sport of sailing alive and well. I am also hoping to learn from you! I am optimistic that you all share the same enthusiasm and will help me achieve these goals.
To get things started, please mark your calendar for the 2023 North American to be held in Bristol, RI on August 24-27, 2023. Anyone who is planning to go to Bristol, RI should start thinking about their accommodations and making those reservations as soon as possible. Even if you don’t want to, or are unable to compete, please consider joining us and participating in the on-shore events. Bristol is a New England tourist haven with amazing seafood, beautiful views and historic attractions. It is also arguably where our boats were born! A great place to have a little vacation and fleet camaraderie at the same time! For the Notice of Race and other info please check out Bristol Yacht Club’s website for this event.
Make sure to keep your dues current. To pay your 2023 Class Association membership dues, please visit the J/30 class website: http://j30.us/renew/
I also encourage everyone to share their experiences sailing and owning a J/30 on the J/30 Facebook page and utilizing the class association’s website and forums.
I look forward to meeting you all in person in Bristol, RI. Have a great year on and off the water!
Heidi Frist
J/30 Class President
Suzie Q #203 |
J/30 JetLag Switzerland
March 31, 2022
Hello J/30 Class Members,
Spring 2022 has finally arrived. Here in the Mid-Atlantic region we are still experiencing sub-freezing nights in late March, but there are many reasons to be thankful as a full season of racing, cruising and general enjoyment of sailing is right around the corner. Boat yards are starting to bustle with the sound of sanders, the smell of fiberglass and new bottom paint. Sailmakers are busy and divers are cleaning their gear. Soon the warm evenings of late April will envelope Wednesday night racers as they stretch their muscles into familiar positions not available on land. Crews will be juggling the musical chairs of graduations, weddings, reunions, vacations, summer camps and regatta events. All the everyday wonderful things that bring so much meaning to our lives. Enjoy your time on the water this season. The mirror finish of an early morning anchorage, the pull of the tiller, the chaotic symphony of a crowded leeward mark rounding, and the adrenaline rush of the starting horn. Invite new people to sail, get juniors involved, above all have fun sailing.
The expected 2021 J/30 North American Championship planned for last October New Orleans, and 40th Anniversary, had to be postponed and ultimately cancelled. I know that was an extremely disappointing result for the event planners and participants. This year, the 2022 NA Championship and 40th Anniversary event will be held in Annapolis, hosted by the Eastport Yacht Club, regatta link: J/30 North American Championship – Eastport Yacht Club. Dates are September 23/24/25. We plan to make the New Orleans folks proud with a large party fitting the 40th anniversary of this great class. Please make every effort to attend this special event. The Annapolis Fleet Captain, Heidi Frist, Suzie Q, is doing tremendous work to make this a signature regatta.
The BOG has approved the next three North American Championship event locations:
2023 – Bristol (August 24-27)
2024 – Annapolis
2025 – New Orleans
Additionally, there are 5-6 never-used masts that look to be available from RigRite’s inventory, plus a used mast purchased last year. This should keep the fleet well provisioned into the future. We are also looking at a solution for Martec prop availability issue. Our Treasury balance is sound, as there have been (unfortunately) fewer regatta expenses the past two years. We are looking at updating the NA Perpetual Trophy since we have run out of room on the original plaque and the extension board, we need to make room for 40 more NA winners!
I would like to thank all the members of the Board of Governors for keeping this fleet in such good shape. Their enthusiasm and commitment the J/30 Class is truly outstanding. It is inspiring to be in the company of such accomplished and dedicated people. Your board members are:
Dave Erwin, Past Co-President
Dan Mather, Past Co-President, Treasurer
Bill Kneller, Past President
Carl Sherter, Past Treasurer
Larry Christy, Class Chief Measurer
Bob Rutsch, Governor at Large
Dennis Bartley, Governor at Large
Heidi Frist, Chesapeake Fleet
Mark Rotsky, Southern New England Fleet
Rod Johnstone, J/Boats Representative
Steve Buzbee, Long Island Sound
Randy Boyles, Carolinas
TBD, Southeast
Billy Ross, Gulf Coast
Dell Todd, Western Great Lakes
Special thanks to Dave Erwin for all his work and to Dan Mather for staying on as Treasurer.
Please reach out to me with any questions or needs relating to NA’s and don’t forget to keep your dues current, details are on the J/30 Class website: http://j30.us/renew/
Have a great year!
Respectfully,
Bruce Irvin
J/30 Class President
Shamrock
j30shamrock@gmail.com
410.353.2275
Renewing your 2022 Class Association membership. Once renewed, you will receive an email with discounts to your 2022 US Sailing and Boat US Memberships.
Continuing to leverage our J30 Class website and forums
Clicking here to go to our new J/30 National Class Association Facebook Group and joining, posting comments, sharing photos, announcing events, etc.
 Class Association
|
Annual Fleet President’s Message
March 31, 2021
Hello J/30 Class Members,
I want to thank the J/30 Board of Governors for their support and vote of confidence in me to be the next Class President. It’s a huge honor to be nominated for this position given the history of our class, much less to step into the role. I look forward to working with the board and membership to keep the class vibrant into the future.
I also want to thank our outgoing President, Doug Stryker, for his leadership and excellence as a fleet member and competitor. Thank you also to Dan Mather and Dave Erwin for their dedication and outstanding support of our national class.
Many of our members are original owners or grew up sailing these exceptional boats in the 1980’s through to today. The longevity and strong legacy of the national J/30 class is testimony to it being one of the most storied classes in the US. The people drawn to the J/30 over its 40 year history range from world-class racers, to exceptional club racers, to casual beer-can racers, to family cruisers. My goal is to not get in the way of this success and to support the class to continue to prosper into this new decade.
As background, I grew up sailing on the Chesapeake Bay’s West River just south of Annapolis, MD. My parents had a sailboat that we sailed every weekend and lived on for 3 weeks each summer. My earliest memories are of sailing and cruising to the many great anchorages on the Bay. My brother and I rode our bikes to sailing school in the summers where we learned to sail Penguins and then began racing Jet-14s. I attended my first CBRYA Jr. racing event at age 12 as crew for an excellent skipper. It was there that I fell in love with racing; being on water, the adrenaline rush, the competition, the camaraderie shown at the awards event. My first chance to race on a big boat came the next year when I had the opportunity to crew on a C&C 33 named Brown Sugar for Wednesday night racing on the West River. I will never forget the great opportunity that owner gave me. For this reason, I welcome new sailors and juniors to come out with me whenever possible for Wednesday night racing in Annapolis. Over the last few years, 4 or 5 people have experienced their very first sailboat race onboard and it’s a great feeling to pay that forward. Sailing needs the next generation, and I highly recommend taking a new-to-sailing or racing crew member out with you. You may just develop a great new bowman, spinnaker trimmer, or the next J/30 owner. And, you never know who will catch the spark of a lifelong passion.
I taught beginning sailing for three summers while in college and in 1988 I restored and took our Jet-14 ##53 to the Nationals in Toms River, NJ. After moving to Annapolis in 1996, I bought a used Laser and began racing it year round, and eventually went to the 2002 Laser Masters World Championship in Hyannis, MA. During that summer of ’96, I had the great fortune to be a coach for the J/World Performance Sailing School owned by renowned sailor and racer Jahn Tihansky. From those contacts, I got chances to call tactics in two J/105 Chicago NOODs, a Mumm 30 NAs, and numerous local events. Sailing and good fortune continued for me as I met my wife during a Solomon’s Island distance race. The owner of the Evelyn 32 Accomplice called Jahn an hour before the race looking for a last minute crew member. I just happened to be in Jahn’s office when the call came in and he looked at me and said, ‘hey, Chuck needs someone, do you want to go?’ Life changes that fast. Finally, in the winter of 2014, I began looking to purchase a one-design boat to race with my family. Again, good fortune intervened and I bought J/30 hull ##488 out of Warwick, RI. When considering names, it was simple, to keep the good luck going, 488 became Shamrock. Thus began the seven year journey that has led me here.
Owning a J/30 has been as transformative as that first junior event. I had very basic goals at first, simply to get out on the line for Wednesday night racing (on the same West River) and to teach my son (14) how to do bow (where I started), then to drive,. He was a fast learner and was my bowman for 6 years in a row, he competed in two high school national championships and is now in college. I took my younger son (12) along with us for the 2016 J/30 North Americans and he took home a tray at the awards ceremony for being the youngest competitor. It’s those things that build great experiences and memories.
It has been a long and enjoyable ramp up to compete with the veterans of the Annapolis fleet. I am grateful for the friendships I have developed along the way, the great competition, and now for the opportunity to be Class President. I have enjoyed the opportunity to meet and compete against J/30 owners and crews from across the country at the 2016 and 2019 North Americans. Everyone is willing to share tips to help new owners get the most out of their boats. There is a strong sense of community and sportsmanship in the class throughout the regional fleets, and it’s great to experience that on and off the water.
I want to thank everyone for your support and for your dedication to the timeless J/30 class. It’s great to be here with you.
Respectfully,
Bruce Irvin
J/30 Class President
Shamrock
j30shamrock@gmail.com
410.353.2275
Renewing your 2021 Class Association membership. Once renewed, you will receive an email with discounts to your 2021 US Sailing and Boat US Memberships.
Continuing to leverage our J30 Class website and forums
Clicking here to go to our new J/30 National Class Association Facebook Group and joining, posting comments, sharing photos, announcing events, etc.
Marking your calendars for the 2021 J/30 North American Championship, hosted by New Orleans Yacht Club, October 14-17th.
|
|
|
