What a great year sailing in 2014! At this year’s North American Championship @ Cedar Point Yacht Club, the J/30 Board of Governors elected Dan Mather from Oswego, NY and Dave Erwin from New Orleans, LA as the 2015 Class Co-Presidents.  We want to thank Bill Kneller for his tenure of the class over the past 6 years!  Under Bill’s leadership he developed a partnership with V-Sport for apparel, initiated West Marine affiliate program, developed standards for organizing and conducting North American Championships (document is on the forum), developed specifications and source for the new J/30 DC panel replacing the obsolete model as the manufacturer was no longer in business – wrote installation procedures and related technical document and documented thousands of hours of J/30 maintenance and repair work to share with others.  Bill says that “I will continue to visit often as I made a boatload of friends I’ll enjoy for the rest of my life!”.

The class is now operating in its 35th year and has hosted 34 North American Championships special thanks to your membership and continued support.

There are a few areas noteworthy to highlight.

2014 NORTH AMERICANS

1st Place – Blue Meanie	2nd Place – Bebop	3rd Place – Falcon
4th Place – Smiles	5th Place – Fat City	The J/30 NA Band

Congratulations to Blue Meanie skippered by Steve Buzbee to win the 2014 North American Championship hosted by Cedar Point YC. Second place went to five time National Champion Bebop skippered by past J/30 president Bob Rutsch & Mike Costello.  Class Measurer Charlie Stoddard skippered Falcon to finish third place. Rounding out the top five was John McArthur Carl Sherter from Cedar Point YC who skippered Fat City. Carl continues to maintain top honor of skippering the most J/30 North American Championships.  Check out the final results and 34 year regatta history.

2015 NATIONAL & REGIONAL REGATTAS

March 13-15 J/30 Midwinters @ New Orleans Yacht Club http://www.mardigrasracing.org

July 25-26 Southern New England Regional July 25-26th @ Barrington Yacht Club Official Web Page

Sept to 24-27 North American Championship @ Beverly Yacht Club http://j30na.us/

COMMUNICATIONS

The J/30 Forum continues to be the official communications medium for the J/30 Class. We continue to have discussions from sailors from all over the world exchanging sea stories, posting videos, sharing photographs, getting maintenance tips, coordinating cruises and scheduling races. Don’t forget to check out the discussions on the district forums that are local to your area.

After talking to other J/Boat classes such as J/105 and J/109, we have been nominated as one of the best National Class forums across the sailing world.  There is a wealth of information on the J/30 Forum made possible by people who have shared information on core replacement, engine rebuilding, running rigging upgrades, deck repair, and the list goes on. If you have not registered on the J/30 Forum, you are missing a great resource available at no cost for your use.

Don’t forget to engage and speak to your district governors and ask “how can I help” so the J/30 Class can serve you better.  Create opportunity to meet and connect with other J/30 owners in your area.

SOCIAL MEDIA AWARDS

Brandon Forbes “Endeavour” Canada Coverage of Tropical Storm Arthur

Vic Farmer “VJay” Naples, FL St. Patrick’s Day Sail

David Erwin “Zephyr V2.0” Season of Sailing (Music by Zephyr)

MERCHANDISE

The J/30 Class continues to partner with V-Sport, the J/Boat licensed apparel supplier to offer member discounts on J/30 logo merchandise that can be personalized for your boat. The class has also partnered with North Sails to offer J/30 flags available for purchase online. We offer both the large battle size and smaller back stay flags. In 2013 the J/30 Class Association partnered with West Marine and is now a member of the West Marine affiliate program. You can support the J/30 Class when you make your West Marine purchases online. The J/30 Class Association receives a percentage of sales from your purchases when you click through from our website you are directed to the West Marine website with a cookie that identifies you as a J/30 affiliate. You can also use any discounts that you may be authorized. We will keep a link visible on the J/30 website and on the J/30 Forum so you can easily locate the click through link.
The J/30 Class continues to partner with Boat US so that J/30 Class members receive a 50% discount on their annual Boat US membership as described in the Members Only section of the J/30 forum. We are also offering a US Sailing membership savings ($10 discount for individuals, $5 discount for youths, $15 discount for families) through the Member Value Program? those who pay J/30 Class dues online and enter their US Sailing number get a custom link with their data already entered to get this discount.

ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP

The class will be sending an email with a request for your J/30 Class record update and 2015 class dues by the end of January. Please take the time to complete the annual directory survey.  National and Fleet Membership is optional. National class dues will remain at $50 for each owner/co-owner and $25 for associate membership (crew members). We also have a Junior Membership category for crew members who are age 16 or younger. We hope this category will encourage Junior sailors to be recognized and added to the fleet roster. It is intended that when Junior Members pass the age of 16, they will become associate members, and eventually J/30 boat owners. The Chesapeake and Gulf Coast fleets will pay optional national and local dues using the national fleet tracking and renewal process. This helps us in so many ways to keep fleet information current while offering a service for local fleets. If you have not received an email message by 1 February, please contact us to be sent a custom registration link for your boat. We ask that everyone please support the class and pay dues, so we can continue to build the momentum with resources such as the web site, forum and National Championship.

FINAL NOTES

We have developed many friendships over the years due to the J/30 Class.  Let keep this spirit alive.  The J/30 Class will remain successful as long as its membership is active and participating. We would also like personally thank all of the J/30 Board of Governors, local fleet leadership and the many volunteers dedicated to the mission. Without the work and dedication of these individuals, we would not have the successful class that exists today.

Happy Sailing!

Dan Mather and Dave Erwin

Class Association