J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Katrina/Rita J-30 Status

Below is the status of J-30's in New Orleans / Gulf Coast area. If you know status of other Gulf Coast J-30's please post.

Cuba Libre - Hull 049 - Broken rudder, still floating - may sail again.

Blue J - Hull 37 - Did not sink. Severe damage to hull deck joint - probably totaled.

Jalapeno - Hull 33 - OK.

Jackpot - Hull 345 - OK. Has sailed since Katrina/Rita.

Mavrik - Hull 445 - Sunk during Katrina. Dismasted. Now salvaged and totaled.

Gritz - Hull 396 - Sat on top of piling for 4 weeks after Katrina. Slipped off piling during Rita. Sunk. Salvaged onto a barge. Totaled

Halfaglass - Hull 437 - In the "pile" at SYC. Sunk and dismasted. Probably totaled.

Chaos - Hull 197 - No word

Land Shark - Hull 222 - OK

Zephyr - Hull 324 - Sunk at bow. Piling through hull at starbord quarter berth area. Probably totaled.

Atalanta Hull 280 - OK

Beach Bird - Beached during Ivan in 2004. Totaled then scraped in May 2005.

George Hero - Gritz

[This message has been edited by Geo (edited 11-14-2005).]

[This message has been edited by Geo (edited 11-15-2005).]

This is worse than 1983's Category 3 hurricane Alicia where six J/30s were lost and two more severely damaged at Houston YC. Is there any sense of the future of NOYC, SYC and the J/30 Class?

"Is there any sense of the future of NOYC, SYC and the J/30 Class?"

NOYC was the least damaged during Katrina. It lost windows, suspended ceiling tiles, flooring, committee boat, hoists, and other equipment. Since NOYC was on the 2nd floor, they should be able to rebuild.
SYC flooded, then burned flat. They already had approval from the membership to do a major renovation before Katrina (BK). Now that the SYC's clubhouse is totaly destroyed. They will be able to do a full rebuild with insurance money from the fire and a membership approved assesment.
PontYC on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain was destroyed by flooding and reciently bull dozed. They now boast a new double wide trailer. They too will rebuild.
South Shore Yacht Club SSYC, also flooded and destroyed. I have no word on their intentions, but am sure the desire is to rebuild.
Tammany Yacht Club also on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain was located on the 2nd floor. Their area suffered some of the worst destruction with storm surge leveling everything along the lake edge and miles inland. TYC's club house is probably OK except for wind and rain damage. The facility under TYC, a restaurant, was probably destroyed, making access to TYC dificult for some time.
As far as J-30's on Lake Pontchartrain, out of ten boats, 5 will sail again - Cuba, Jalapeno, Jackpot, Land Shark and Atalanta. The other five, Blue J, Mavrik, Gritz, Halfaglass, and Zephyr are totaled and will end up in a salvage yard for scrap metal and parts. All of the totaled boats except Blue J were underwater for weeks.

I suppose the question we're all asking is, given an insurance settlement, are we going to see most of these folks put the money into another J/30, or... something entirely different. With half the fleet gone, I could see it being a hard call to put my money into quarter century old boat, but, I could also make a pretty good case that you'd be hard pressed to do better, without spending a lot of money beyond an insurance settlement.

If it's any help, I suspect most of us (Myself certainly) are rooting for folks to go snag one of the many solid J/30s on the used boat market and help bring the New Orleans fleet back to full strength.

- David

"are we going to see most of these folks put the money into another J/30"

Short term - probably not. Right now New Orleans is like Pompeii - only with water instead of ashes.
All facilities associated with boating are destroyed. Marinas and slips - out, fuel docks and repair yards - out, retail parts stores (West Marine, etc) - gone, yacht clubs - out. All of the things needed to support boating are gone.
The J-30 owners who lost boats in Katrina/Rita are in the midst of non-boating life cycles - Blue J, Halfaglass, and Zephyr are fathers of infants. They were very active sailors BK. In the family battle between boat and infant for time and money, boats usually lose. Maverik was seldom used BK and I'm sure it won't be replaced. The insurance settlement from my boat, Gritz will go into the bigger-house down-payment-kitty.
On the other hand, each of the owners already has parts, sails, and knowledge of J/30's. And a J/30 is a great boat for Lake Pontchartrain.
So short term, I see no significant boat replacement on Lake Pontchartrain for any model, and probably more local boats being sold as people try to rebuild their homes and businesses.
Slowly facilities will come back. Once boating facilities return, and people's lives and careers stabilize, then boating will slowly return.

MHO
George

Does anyone know what boats were damages back in 1983 at the Houston YC area? I think I have one of those resurected J-30s. It is Hull # 195. I heard it had been damaged at one time in a hurricane. I can see it had some repair done to it. I had to work on it to get it looking better than it did when I bought it.

J/30 Journal Vol 5 dated December 1983: Succubus, Trouble, Insanity, Warrior, Moon Turkey, and Bad Company listed as destroyed. Wild Turkey reported a two-foot hole in her port side. Shooting Star was blown ashore sustaining hull and topside damage. Red Hot and Heaven & Hell were not damaged. No report of hull or sail numbers on any of these.

It looks like "Trouble" was raised from the dead. I have hull # 195 the name of the boat was trouble, when I bought it in Kansas City. If this is the same boat it has lived up to it's name. Supposedly destroyed in a hurricane and then repaired, then I heard it fell off a jackknifed trailer at a launch ramp once in Kansas. The trailer broke an axle once, bent an axle another time. It usually breaks free from or drags the mooring once a year. It got broken into and was vandalized this summer.
It was named "Trouble" when I bought it. I decided to keep the name - I didn't want and "BAD LUCK" to happen by changing the name.
It is the "baddest" sailboat on Lake Jacomo.

My trailer broike an axle

Not sure where this one was but it sold for $2225.00 damn that storm
http://www.usauctions.com/BoatDetail.aspx?BoatID=6581

This boat was one of 2 J30s in Miami which were total losses in Katrina... and though the pictures don't really show it was a horrible mess... stayed sunk at the dock with lots of water in it. The buyer certainly has a project boat.