Fleet 20 – Lake Ontario, Canada/USA

From J/80 Fleet 20 Captain, David Doyle 

March 2018 Update

Greetings, J/80 sailors…
I have many updates for you as we put winter behind us and look to a new season.  You have seen some on our FaceBook page.  Of course, FB is not for everyone, and content tends to get buried there over time, so this email is packed with sailing calories that we hope will help your planning.
 
A Growing Class
If you follow our FaceBook page ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/J80.LakeOntario.Fleet20/ ) you will have noticed our recent growth.  Please offer a warm welcome if you get the chance, to Ed Berkhout (former J/105 owner) in Niagara-On-The-Lake, and to Richard Bruneau (former Martin 242 owner) at National YC.  With other new faces earlier in 2017, we now have 11 active boats in the GTA.  2017 also saw the Ottawa fleet grow (5, + Hugh in Kingston, who has been known to ‘drop in’).   See the attached updated list for other recent updates in your J/80 community.
 
We know of interested parties and fence-sitters who like the growth they see in our fleet and the fun we have with our boats.  That is why you see occasional postings about used boats for sale in our Facebook page.  J/80s are much loved by their owners (we know why) so when they do appear for sale they sell quickly.  We have the resources to help transport a boat to our fleet, whether it has a trailer or not.  If you know of someone who is interested just ask them to get in touch with any of us and we can help get a boat moved.
 
Class Membership
Please renew your class membership. Now’s the time.  It is easy – one and done right here. https://www.j80na.com/membership.html  Your class sticker will swiftly follow, to be displayed proudly on your transom while racing level as a class. 
 
The page outlines the value and support on offer to you as a class member.  Modest as it is, the funds created are your class’ primary revenue source.  Your class is a low-budget operation (just ask Ramzi Bannura!) that gets a lot done with the resources and with the yeoman volunteer efforts of a hard-working few.
 
Win New Sails (and support your fleet)
Right now, our fleet has an important and ingenious fund-raising initiative.  A raffle for new Quantum sails!  The raffle is also open to J/70 sailors, but cleverly all the funds raised go to the J/80 Class.  We obviously want the winner to be a J/80 sailor, so buy your ticket to ensure you have a shot.
Some tickets remain and the draw will be held at the Annapolis NOOD Regatta on May 4/5.  https://www.j80na.com/store/p12/J%2F80_or_J%2F70_Sails_-_Raffle_Ticket_%24100.html – easy PayPal or credit card process.
Buy a ticket now… Win new sails, and support your class.  Great odds – only 50 tickets to be sold.  As they used to say for the Irish Sweepstakes “If you’re no in, you can’t win!”
 
2018 Calendar
https://www.j80na.com/20_lake_ontario.html
 
Toronto area fleet, note that the ABYC regatta is included in the calendar.  While not one that counts for the series (if that’s your focus), this is a perennial favourite for the One Design fleets in the GTA, and a great opportunity for our fleet to show off in front of the others.  It’s also a great rust-remover and a chance for the crew and boat to get tuned in.  We expect another strong J/80 showing!
Ottawa/Nepean fleet highlight will be the NOD regatta  http://nod.nsc.ca/
 
J/Fest 2018
Toronto’s first J/Fest was a great success, both as an event and especially for our fleet. 
The event is back for 2018, hosted by the National YC.  http://www.thenyc.com/racing/regattas/2018-jfest/  Trudy Murphy’s hard work in the 2016 J/80 North Americans at National YC has not gone unpunished, and she is leading National YC’s work in hosting J/Fest.  So we can be sure the J/80 fleet will be well treated at this terrific event. J/Fest will also be our Hans Fogh Memorial J/80 LO Championship.

LYRA 2018 – Rochester YC and Genesee YC
2017 flooding hit the East end, south shore of the lake particularly hard, flooding out the yacht clubs and forcing the cancellation of LYRA.  However LYRA is back, hosted by these two great clubs.  You can be sure of great breeze and a warm welcome, and our local J/80s are excited to once again host their fellow J/80 sailors. 
 
Class Rule Changes (Details on NA Class site)
1) Backstay Flicker now allowed
2) On-Board Camera allowed
​3) Total Crew weight increased to 350kg
 
PHRF Rating update
Many thanks to Owen Schneider in his work with PHRF-LO Central for helping tidy up the inconsistencies in the ratings for various J/80s in the area.  We now have a uniform One Design rating.  This means that a J/80 compliant with class rules will be assigned a 126 second/mile handicap for PHRF Racing.  There will be no need for sail measurements, etc.  If an owner wishes to sail with a genoa configuration (as a few do) or for any other reason prefers to have their sails measured they can opt to do so and have whatever that rating produces as any other boat in PHRF.  

J/80 North Americans
The Beverly YC in Marion is a special place, and Buzzard’s Bay is an epic sailing venue.  Count on top-drawer race management, and the local organizers plan to house visitors, store boats and do everything needed to execute a great event. https://beverlyyachtclub.org/regattas
 
Promoting our fleet
Our FB page in particular generates much profile for our fleet.  We can see that it is being watched by many non-J/80 sailors who are interested in our growth and momentum. Please jion in the conversation, post a picture of your boat launch, a weeknight sail, or comment on the content.

You are all great ambassadors for our fleet, thank you.  Keep spreading the word, invite people to sail with you, or pass them along to Trudy, Lawrence, Will or anyone in the fleet and we will be sure to take them out for a sail.

Fair winds and best wishes for a great season.…

David, Will, Trudy and Lawrence