J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Smack Hurricane Sandy

Michael,

I'm really sorry to hear the news. I hope once you can see your boat that the answer is better.

Ken - thanks for the thoughts.

Belle Faster gone ... that's going to make Xmas Break a little sad. Sorry to hear.
Was the mast out?

Vee Jay made it. Had pulled mast, so can reposition at 25mm in May.

How did the rest of the J30's along East Coast make out in the Storm ??
Dan Mather
Crusader

Can confirm that Belle Faster, hull number 537 was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. Very sad day for us since she was one of the most loved boats in the fleet (and I know that most of them are really loved).

We put so much into them, but they give us so much more back.

Michael - I'm really sorry to hear that you've lost Belle Faster. That is very sad news.

Very Sad to hear of the loss. Hopefully we can find you another J30

I'm sorry about Belle Faster.
Radiant # 255 seems to have survived. She floated off her stands but is leaning on an adjacent boat in the Atlantic Highlands Municipal Marina, where most boats were lost. Wagner's Marina in Leonardo, NJ was destroyed. Ditto Carriage House Marina in Sea Bright.

I just heard from Steve Buzbee who indicated Blue Meanie made it through the storm unscathed. Presto floated off her stands and has a broken mast, with other potential damage. Jeff - are these boats at the same yard as Radiant?

I've heard about the following J/30s along the coast in CT & NY being ok: Pale Rider, High Heels, Excalibur

Magan out of Branford, CT made it through OK and I can confirm the Bayou Bleu is also OK. We rode it out at the Branford Yacht Club in the water. Turns out to be the best decision we could have made due to the storm surge. We had about a 9-10 foot surge and only had about 2' - 3' left to the pilings before the water level began to go down. Never really had strong sustained winds in our area, but the gusts that came in on the bands were like mini tornados! The combination of the surge flooding the boat yards, the wicked gusts (80mph max recorded), and the yards only being a 1/3 full (wide open fields), just caused a lot of boats to fall off their stands. In the yard where Robert and I keep our boats, 7 fell off their stands. Lots more in other yards. The shoreline of CT is in pretty bad shape, but nothing like I am seeing out of NJ! How are the boats doing down in Cedar Point?

Radiant is the only J/30 in the AHMH, but many other racers lost their boats here. It will be weeks, if not months, before the wreckage is untangled. It is reported that the Petersen Yard in Keyport was also totally destroyed. The owner said after the 1992 Nor'easter, he thought he had seen the worst, but Sandy was 4 times as bad.