From: sanjuan23@mobilegeographics.com
Date: Sunday, January 25, 2004 06:38:55
To: sanjuan23@mobilegeographics.com
Subject: January Race, Middle Georgia

Greetings from Middle Georgia,

Our club held it's first race of 2004 on Saturday: 65 degrees, sunny, wind 10 to 15 with gusts up to 20 mph, 8 boats competing. I was the only SJ on the course, a triangle of about 2 miles around. My neighbor who also has an SJ23 and usually races was under the weather and didn't compete. I was single handing using main and 155% genoa, way overpowered. My rail was in the water many times and rounded up often. It was not one of my better days. I usually finish in the top half of the fleet. This time I finished in the bottom half. In hind sight, I should have put up the small jib. I would have enjoyed the day much better and probably would have finished higher.

Check the club out at www.osyc.net .

Jimmy Harrell
SJ 23 and other boats
Lake Sinclair, GA

Date: Monday, October 13, 2003 18:53:02
To: 'San Juan 23 Internet Fleet'
Subject: Good Old Boat Regatta Report

I participated in the 4th Annual Good Old Boat Regatta in Annapolis, MD on October 11th, 2003. I trailered the four hour drive from Cheaspeake, VA and it was well worth the trip! I was the only San Juan 23 that made the trip this year but I hope to see some of you there next year. It is a really fun event and growing every year!

The race was held in the Chesapeake Bay, just south of the Bay Bridges. We sailed two long upwind legs, a short reach and two long runs. The wind was in the 15 knot range for most of the race, with 3-4 foot waves and a fairly strong current. This made for challenging sailing in a light boat like the SJ23 but we still beat several longer and heavier boats!

The post-race party was also great fun. It was co-sponsored by Good Old Boat Magazine and hosted by a couple who run a B&B/marina on Mill Creek. They opened their home and marina to the participants and provided great hospitality. Several people brought musical instruments and played and sang into the night on the deck of the house. Many of the crews rafted up in the creek or took slips at the marina for the night.

I would like to propose that we use next year's GOB Regatta as a San Juan 23 gathering opportunity. If at least three boats race, we would be given our own start and it would be great to get together with other owners to compare boat upgrades, modifications, etc. How about it?

Raleigh Martin

�Liberty Call�

Thursday, January 16, 2003 06:43:20
Subject: Things to do

Hi Skippers:

Here are couple things you may want to add to your calendars, mid-February a trip to Tampa Bay for Gasparilla, the Mardi Gras of Florida, mid-March the cherry blossom regatta in Macon Ga.on Lake Juliette, April 12 a flotilla of 15 to 25 boats will sail to Bimini in the Bahamas for a week or two. After the Bimini trip, the 49th or 50th running of the Mug race is just down the road, the race starts on May 3rd at the Palatka Florida and sails 41 miles down the St. John's River to Jacksonville. The St. John's River is the only River in the United States that flows north. It's quite a site to be involved in a regatta that has 150 to 200 boats in it. If we can get 5 boats we can have our own class. For more information about the race you can contact a Rudder club in Jacksonville or me, my email adders is Autowizard@aol.com and my phone # is 478-742-7426.I hope to see yall on the water.

Ron Katz
Macon Ga

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Thursday, January 16, 2003 08:27:28

Subject: SJ 23 events

Ron:

I'd be open to travel to an SJ 23 regatta/cruise - however, my spring budget is already allotted to a Charter in the Virgin Islands...

Do you sail Lake Lanier?

For future reference, the Lake Norman YC (Charlotte) hosts a multiclass keel boat one design 'midwinter' regatta third weekend in March - three boats gets you a start...this year, San Juan 21's, Ultimate 20's, S2 7.9's and Soverel 33's are holding their midwinter championships in conjunction with this event. We also host three super regattas in the year- a Hospice regatta in April, a nice party (with the possibility of sailing ) July 4th, and a good saling event for Labor Day. Three boats will usually get you a start, or there is always PHRF. We have three SJ 23's (at least) on Lake Norman.

Mike R

Statesville, NC

#363

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October 15, 2002

I did a fair amount of racing here in Seattle this summer. My club Corinthian Yacht Club of Edmonds has a weekly summer series then they put on a race called Foulweather Bluff race. The summer series is pretty small per race, about ten to fifteen boats and when it was all said and done we came in 11th out of 21 boats. Then we did Foulweather Bluff a couple weeks ago and placed fourth for Division 1, corrected. We placed 34 out of 60 boats and beat a few I would have never thought possible. We rate 257 PHRF. We are having a blast and owe lots to the rigging tips you post. Thanks for the good work.

Here's a link to the final standings http://home.attbi.com/~cycedmonds/cyce/Fwb_results.html. The Summer Series results are also within that site.

Yes I'm gloating a bit and I'll tell my story to anyone who'll listen! :-)

Are you still in Friday Harbor area? I was up there this summer cruising and wondered if I'd bump into your boat. I saw a couple SJ 23's but didn't recognize them as yours from the pictures posted.

Bret Hart
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August 22, 2002

2002 Commissioner�s Cup Sailing Race:

The August long weekend saw the running of the 20th Commissioner�s Cup sailing race. In 1982, the Commissioner of the NWT, John H. Parker donated a silver cup to the Great Slave Cruising Club, to be awarded to the winner of the annual race across Great Slave Lake to Hay River and return. This race, known as the Commissioner�s Cup was previously held on the Labour Day weekend but in 1997 the race was switched to the August long weekend, prudence having outweighed tradition, given the potentially perilous conditions later in the season.

The race is composed of 4 legs in the event that no wind or adverse weather conditions scrubs any portion. The first leg is approximately 20 nautical miles and runs from Yellowknife to Yellowknife fairway buoy. The second, approximately 90 nautical, runs from the Yellowknife fairway buoy to the Hay River river buoy. The same legs are run in reverse when returning. The accumulated results of the 4 legs determine the winners. There are two awards being contested, the Commissioner�s Cup and the Fast Plaque. The Commissioner�s Cup is the lowest accumulated corrected time and the Fast Plaque is the lowest accumulated uncorrected time. Each sailboat has different sailing properties and the handicap system allows all boats to compete on equal footing.

Four boats competed in the 2002 race:
- Cirrus, a Catalina 25�, captained by Barry Lange (Ann Lange and Lee Flemming crew). Cirrus took the Fast Plaque during the 2001 race.
- Nightide, a Contessa 32�, captained by Ian Girvan (Bruce Elliott crew).
- Pegasus, a Mirage 30, captained by Phillip duToit (Phil duToit and Arthur Von Kursell crew). Captain duToit won the 2001 Commissioner�s Cup race on Qupanuaq, an Alberg 22.
- Joy IV, a San Jan 23�, captained by Mike Foreman (Joyce Foreman crew). Mike and Joyce foreman traveled up from Cold Lake, Alberta to participate in the race. Joy IV did not finish the 2001 and were returning to set the record straight.

The race started at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, August 3 with the revered Captain Todd Burlingame orchestrating the start. Captain Burlingame had just finished an Atlantic crossing aboard Sunblood, his cutter rigged Bayfield 29. The fleet was accompanied by Snow Bunting, a Grampion 26 skippered by Kevin Quinn. Snow Bunting proceeded to Gros Cap after reaching the YK MOA as they were having such a good time flying their spinnaker they did not want to take it down to head up to Hay River. Cirrus got off to a quick start and headed the fleet to Mosher Island. The first leg was completed quickly with Pegasus taking line honours on leg 1 in 5 hours 19 minutes and 17. Nightide was 2 minutes and 6 seconds behind, Joy 4 minutes 43 seonds behind with Cirrus trailing the pack, 14 minutes 4 seonds behind. After applying handicaps Joy 4 jumped into the lead on corrected time with a 7 minute 12 second lead over Cirrus, 13 minute and 22 second over Nightide and 15 minute 17 second over Pegasus.

The 2nd 90 mile leg saw the fleet switch to white sails for a close reach to Hardisty Island, however, diminishing winds saw the fleet motoring the last 10 miles to Hardisty Island where racing once again commenced. The winds were light throughout the night but gradually built and shifted to the south east permitting boats to surf into Hay River under spinnaker. Line honours on leg 2 went to Pegasus in 15 hours 37 minutes with Nightide 20 minutes and 8 seconds behind and Cirrus 1 hour, 52 minutes 1 second behinds. Joy 4 got caught on the south side of rhumb line in a windless hold for 2 hours during the night and gave up precious time on leg 2. Joy 4 finished 3 hours, 1 minute and 27 seconds behind Pegasus. After handicaps were applied, Pegasus and Nightide were virtually tied with Nightide only 14 seconds behind. Joy 4 still managed to hang on to 3rd place, 1 hour, 16 minutes and 10 seconds behind Pegasus with Cirrus 32m and 25 seconds.

The 3rd leg saw the fleet motoring for 2 hours out of Hay River on Sunday, August 4. Building winds saw all boats on a starboard tack through out the day and into the next morning. Joy 4, having given up so much time on leg 2, bit the bullet and flew their storm spinnaker on a beam reach to the YK fairway buoy and down the bay. Legs 2 and 3 were combined with Joy 4 taking the combined legs by 1 hour, 8 minutes and 46 seconds over Cirrus; 1 hour, 9 minutes and 53 seconds over Nightide and 1 hour 20 minutes and 37 seconds over Pegasus.

Overall standing for the Commissioner�s Cup saw one of the closest finishes ever. Nightide took the Commissioiner�s Cup with a lead of 6 minutes, 3 seconds over Joy IV and 10 minutes and 30 seconds over Pegasus. Cirrus finished a respectable 31 minutes and 4 seconds off the pace. Nightide is long overdue for a win as Captain Girvan has been racing for the cup for over 10 years.

The Fast Plaque was taken by Pegasus with a lead of 33 minutes and 30 seconds over Nightide, 3 hours, 27 minutes and 34 seconds over Cirrus and 3 hours, 35 minutes and 33 seconds over Joy IV.

Complete results as follows.

2002 Commissioner�s Cup Standings:
First Nightide Ian Girvan, skipper; Bruce Elliott, crew. 30 hours, 25 minutes, 18 seconds
Second Joy 4 Mike Foreman (Joyce Foreman, crew) 30 hours, 31 minutes, 21 seconds
Third Pegasus Phillip duToit (Phil duToit and Arthur Von Kursell crew 30 hours, 35 minutes, 48 seconds
Fourth Cirrus Barry Lange, (Ann Lange, Lee Flemming crew) 30 hours, 56 minutes, 22 seconds
August 11, 2002

Late news from the Neuse:

Back in early June during a club race with the Oriental Dinghy Club my rudder broke off ... completely! Luckily, it did not float away.

We were on the last weather leg about 50 yards away from the leeward mark and doing quite well, thank you, when suddenly there was no "feel" to the tiller. Juan Mo' Time went into a tail spin ... totally out of control in 20-25 knot winds.

All was not lost (although the race was) since we could get home on the outboard, I thought. However, the gas tank was a bit low and we had about five miles or so to go dead to weather. One of my crew came to the rescue then he told me that his boat was berthed next to a mutual friend in Pierce Creek at about the halfway mark. We limped into the creek and tied up next to Skip's boat and I called Claire to come pick us up at the Whipple's house.

An examination of the rudder revealed water soaked foam in the center. It had snapped right at the bottom of the cheek blocks. Aha! I thought ... dry it out, drill a couple of holes with a long half inch bit and put some re-bar in the holes, a bit of WEST system epoxy, seal it up and go back sailing again.

It worked fine for the Whortonsville Summer Sailabration (see picture "Ahead of the Fleet") in very light airs ... so light that the race was cancelled.

Then came the really big interclub regatta August 3 and 4. Fifty plus boats from five clubs! We were in the cruising division B with seven other boats. I started out with full main and the 155 genoa. That proved a bit much so we dropped to the 120 and gave the weather leg a try before the start. Still overpowered! Take a reef in the mail ... hard to handle, but doable. The breeze was building to what proved to be up to 28 knots!

After winning a good start we opted to sail on starboard almost to the gybe mark then take a port tack back toward the weather mark. We crossed on port tack a starboard boat whose anchor was partially overboard. OK, we're on the starboard layline for the first mark. We tack. Making the line quite nicely and it looks like we are going to cross ahead of the rest of our division.

Crunch! It's that sinking feeling again, or more accurately lack of feel on the tiller. Sure enough, the rudder has broken again! This time, however, we have enough gas to get back to Oriental Harbor and race headquarters. I don' know how many SJ23 skippers have had to steer the boat with the outboard, but let me tell you, it ain't no fun! To make the long story a bit shorter, we got back on a broad reach, tied up, had lunch and a couple of brewskis.

The repair hadn't held. Back to the drawing board. Drill out all the foam that can be reached. More re-bar. This time fill with epoxy and saturated micro fibers ... a work still in progress.

I am also looking at building a new rudder. Originally I thought that epoxy-glueing two pieces of 5/8" quality marine plywood then shaping and epoxy/fiberglass coating would be the way to go. I called our local marine designer, Aussie Graham Byrne, who keeps a stock of French plywood. He quickly dissuaded my plywood idea in favor of building a "quarter-sawn" blank by cutting clear 2x4's into 1.25" strips then turning them end for end, epoxying up then shaping the blade. This project is not yet started, but I'll keep you up to date complete with pix.

Has anyone else in the on-line club had similar experience with rudders breaking or building new ones?

Without direction in Oriental,
Mick Roberts

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July 22, 2002

All the news that wasn't ... (on the Neuse River)

The annual Whortonsville Yacht and Tractor club's Summer Solstice Sailabration brought out two SJ 23's and 28 or so "other craft". The usual suspects attended making (or trying to) their way around the ten NM course. Starting at 12:00 noon, the slowest boat crossed the starting line with Michelle Bisette's "Sea Shell" starting ten minutes later. Mick Roberts on "Juan Mo' Time" kicked off as boat number nine at 12:19.

Light, flukey airs plagued all sailors who managed to plug away around the weather and second marks before the breeze stopped altogether (either that or it was blowing straight down as the tell tales indicated) at which point the race committee in their infinite wisdom cancelled the race so that overheated sailors could get back to the pig pickin'/pot luck dinner and tap beer social. Somehow, the after race party draws about twice as many participants as the race.

Roberts managed to pass a couple of boats without being passed himself, holding onto his record of registration for four regattas with two cancelled, a first and a second.

Mick Roberts

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August 10, 2001

Juan Mo' Time seems to be stuck in a second place rut! Congratulations to my neighbor up north on the Pungo ... nice going, Paul Bailey! Come on down to the Neuse. The Oriental Dinghy Club's fall invitational is coming up Sept. 22 & 23. I'll be there and most likely so will Sea Shell - Walt Brown's '78 23.

Back to other racing news, with one expert and one novice crew, Juan Mo' time managed to eke out a second out of 38 boats in the Whortonsville Yacht and Tractor Club's Solstice Sailabration. After winning three years ago with a ten minute after slowest start, the race committee tacked on another eight minutes (four more than Walt Brown's SJ 23). Conditions were very similar to three years back when the wind died at the Neuse River entrance mark after we had passed it. It was a delight to look back and see boats getting even smaller! By that time there were only two boats in front of us ... a Sea Pearl (first to start) and a Cape Dory 26 (third starter).

The Sea Pearl decided to go dead downwind winging out the cat ketch rig. We headed for the mark using a gps rhum line as did the Cape Dory. We managed to pass the Sea Pearl and closed on the Cape Dory but the course was not quite long enough (10 nm).

Plenty of brewski and dead pig meat was consumed at the social after.

Mick in Oriental

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October 26, 2000

Chuck,

Here are some images from the Millenium Solo race on the Neuse off Oriental, NC. Race started in heavy air - 20-30 knots, settled down to about 18 at the finish. Began with 120 jib & single reefed main, shook it out on the last leg and a quarter.

[Webmaster Note: The pictures are posted on the Index and photo pages.]

Other news: finished second in the Oriental Dinghy Club/Neuse Sailing Association Fall Series, 2, 3, 2, 1. No pix.

Last fleet racing of the season this Saturday.

Mick Roberts
Juan Mo' Time
Oriental, NC

Saturday, September 9, 2000

From: Bob Spencer
To: San Juan 23 mail list
Sent: Saturday, September 09, 2000 6:59 PM
Subject: A grand first day

> My son, Scot, his daughter, Jillian, age 14, and I spent the day sailing > today. We had light airs, but a great time was had by all. This was the > first day of sailing in the new boat, and we could not be more pleased. My > granddaughter had never sailed before, and we were most anxious that it be > a pleasant first experience for her. It was, without doubt.

> > Since the winds never exceeded 8 knots, and were usually less than half > that, we flew the 153% genoa all day, and are much impressed with the > performance of that sail. We seemed to move in spite of there being no > visible wind, and sailed 7 miles in 5 hours, much of it to windward. The > boat seems very easily driven, and accelleration was impressive when a good > puff did happen along. We had a short period during which we were able to > heel about 20 degrees, so we took that opportunity to tension the shrouds > as recommended by Clark.

> > Weather helm is light, even close-hauled in the 'heavier' winds, with the > genoa. Tracking is straight and true, and rudder pressure very comfortable. > Marvelous feel, like a much larger, heavier boat.
> > When we tried the boat for a few minutes last Saturday, we were both very > concerned with the outboard and its management. It was rigged with a 5-part > tackle for raising and lowering, but it just plain didn't work. The motor > is a 9.9 hp Mercury 4-stroke, and the blasted thing weighs a ton...well, > 130+ pounds, actually. The lifting tackle had been attached to an eye on > the transom, and the line of pull was all wrong, almost horizontal. It took > all the two of us together could give it to make it work at all. Before > this trip, I moved the attachment to the top rail of the stern > pulpit....what a difference! Even this feeble old man can easily raise and > lower it, and we are both much, much relieved.

> > It's a grand little boat, as every SJ23 skipper on the list already knows, > and we can't wait to get her out in some real air. We agreed, today, that > the boat is perfect for us and our situation, and that we were very smart > to have decided on her. We have a lot ot learn, but this is going to be a > good schooling experience.

> > Bob
> Sail #619

Wednesday, August 11, 1999 6:47 PM

yes sir , i did...it's just that lately, we have been super busy with work and play and just returned from the bike ride to sturgis, south dakota...well, if you remember, about a year ago, i quieried about theoretical hull speed , target speeds and maybe what are the other sj23's getting for speed... knowing that all knot meters are knot created equal... but some idea... as to try to figure out why my boat was not performing well...main sail #117 is a boat i bought for salvage as she had taken a lightning hit.. while on her trailer, mast up... the lighning stuck the top of the mast and went down straight out the bottom leaving a hole the size of your fist, of course it took out the electrical wiring and also left a hole where one of the trailer bunk bolts was close to the hull....we got great advise on repair while at the dallas boat show and she was back on the water that following spring...while in a spring tune up regatta in 30 mph winds... a port side stay failed and we demasted her.pronto..thanks to johnson sailing in st. petersburg.. we replaced the mast and up graded our stays and turn buckles through ocean outfitters , cannon drive.. san diego...very nice folks.. we met them while out to the americas cup...these changes made and same sails, she was sluggish and i couldn't get the performance i wanted... we weren't last, but not in the front...well .. thanks to your page on tuning and many hours of brainstorming... walla... i have found the groove .. so to speak..

we took fourth at the nebraska state games.. first time in it. still using the original main and a 130 i recut myself from a 150...we were beat by a capri 22 with new kevlar sails. a new catalina 25 with tall mast and a soling 22. a week later we took our local club regatta.. 1st place.. beat them all, boat for boat and correct to prtsmth. i will be buying a new main this winter. so any helpful hints would be gladly received... happy racing..

gary�

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