Dave and Bill here wishing everyone a Happy New Year! What a year for the J/30 class in 2012! We noted 66 official active class members, 69 US Sailing members and have captured fleet information for 526 J/30 hulls.  Our fleets continue to be recognized across the world.

We continue to work together to produce a class built on the foundations of sportsmanship and camaraderie. On the forum and on the water, we continue to be each other’s teachers. When we accept each other’s ideas, nothing is lost. May our approach to sailing be the same approach to life – to win the respect of others.

In 2013, we need to enable the J/30 sailing experience to reach more parents and children. We are announcing an exciting partnership with the National Sailing Hall of Fame to help local educators who are using sailing to teach math and science by giving connections to our sailing community. Let’s help NSHOF educators achieve learning objectives though use of our J/30s. For more information see the link below:

 

Bill and I are currently seeking future J/30 fleet leadership candidates.  If interested in serving the J/30 class at the National level, please let us know.

We want to highlight a few areas noteworthy of recognition during the past year.

RECOGNITION: J/30 Presidents’ Recognition Awards

2012 North Americans – Ken Buhler and Billy Ross with Pontchartrain Yacht Club based crew aboard Jalapeno.

J/30 Programs traveling over 1000 + Miles to attend NAs: Dan Rather’s Oswego NY based team, Crusader and Russ Akinson’s Rockwood, MI based program Wildcat. We really appreciate these two teams coming the distance to New Orleans!

J/30 Loaner Boat Program: Special Thanks to Jason King for loaning his boat Rambunctious to Carl Sherter and the crew of Fat City.

Newest Member to Finish Top 5 at NAs – David Bolyard Jr. with Land Shark – 2^nd Place. The sailors on this boat are in the missing demographic as mentioned by Nicholas Hayes at the Friday night NA presentation.

Best J/30 Musician – Terry McDermott (team Zephyr) who placed second on NBC’s The Voice. See the video of Terry and Peter Frampton performing at the Season 3 Finale.

Best idea to recruit new J/30 sailors with parents – David Erwin

Best Mentor to Grow the Next Generation of Sailors – Vic Farmer with his Vee Jay programs in Naples, FL and Newport, RI

Taking one for the Team – Amanda Baker (French Quarter 1 – Amanda – 0)

Best J/30 Photographer – Leighton O’Connor and his full mutli-media coverage at the 2012 J/30 NAs

If you would like to recognize a J/30 class member for accomplishment visit this forum thread.

NORTH AMERICANS

Congratulations to Jalapeno skippered by Billy Ross to win the North American Championship hosted by New Orleans Yacht Club. For the first time in the history of the class, a father David Bolyard Sr. called tactics on the first place boat and raced against his son David Bolyard Jr. the skipper of Land Shark, the second place boat. Dale Steinkamp skipper of Team Zephyr sailing with Nicholas Hayes and parent child crew members Donny and son Andrew Brennan with David and daughter McKenzie Erwin finished 3^rd. The parent child participation is an important topic in Nicholas Hayes’ book Saving Sailing. Two J/30s were skippered by women: Black Magic – Laura Webb and Hot Chocolate – Debby Grimm. The 2013 North American Championship will be hosted by Barrington Yacht Club in July 25-28. Pre-registration is open and costs only $50 to reserve your spot on the starting line.  The $50 pre-registration fee is applied to the regatta registration fee due by 1 June.  Please register early if you are planning to race.  The official regatta page is http://j30.us/na2013/. The J/30 North American Championship continues to be the largest venue of J/30 sailors sharing ideas and stories.

COMMUNICATIONS

The level of discussion on the J/30 forum has continued to increase with sailors from all over the world exchanging sea stories, 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.

Since our boats are one year older, there are many who have taken extra steps to preserve the legacy and material condition of their boats.  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’re missing a great resource available at no cost for your use.

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

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 are now selling large battle and smaller back stay flags. We are also offering a 20% US Sailing membership discount through the Membership Partner Program– those who pay J/30 class dues online and enter their US Sailing number get a custom link to get this discount with their data already entered.  In 2012 the J/30 Class partnered 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.

J/BOATS PARTNERSHIP with Waterline Systems LLC

We have some good news for all J/30 owners.  On 28 November 2012 an announcement was made that Waterline Systems LLC had acquired the drawings, files and rights for all J/Boats manufactured by TPI.  This means that there is an official source for J/30 parts and repair once again.  See the Waterline Systems LLC announcement on the J/30 forum.  Additionally, there is equipment and manufacturers’ support information listed on the J/30 website.  Mouse over “Market” on the menu at the top of the J/30 site, then click on “Equipment”.  Waterline Systems LLC was one of the sponsors for the 2012 J/30 North American Championship.  They will be creating a J/30 parts page very soon that will benefit J/30 owners.

Finally, we will be sending an email with a request for your J/30 Class record update and 2013 class dues by the end of January. Class dues will remain at $50 for each owner/co-owner and $25 for associate membership (crew members). We have also created 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. Starting in January 2013, 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.

Happy Sailing!
Bill Kneller & Dave Erwin