Questions? Please email Zach Brown: [email protected]
–too late for press, but Connecticut College will be there too!
For more information please email Zach Brown: [email protected]
Blog
J/70: A Rival One Design to J/Brethren?
The J/70 – It’s about Expanding the Pie
By Airwaves Writer Dan Rabin
Editors Note: We’d like to welcome and introduce Dan Rabin to our readers as our newest Airwaves writer/editor. Dan was a standout All-American sailor at Boston University, and since then, along with a MBA from Dartmouth’s Tuck School, has won many regional and national titles in the Lightning and J/24 classes, topped off with a world championship in the J/24 class. Dan also finds time to help coach the Brown University Sailing Team. We are excited to welcome Dan to the team. Enjoy his first piece:
In the business world, product introductions and competitive strategy are often categorized as a “share game” or a “rising tide”. In a share game, the overall market has very little growth, and a company can only have relevant growth by stealing share from its competitors. In a rising tide, companies participate in a high growth market, and just by holding their market share, experience strong growth. In introducing the J/70, J/Boats may have done something quite rare, expanding the pie – meaning that, they might be increasing the size of the market, capturing that growth piece, and doing it without significant share losses to other one design fleets. Early indicators look promising for the J/70. The Eastport Yacht Club hosted the Fall Brawl the first weekend of November and saw 21 boats on the line – pretty impressive for a boat in its infancy. In addition, Key West Race week currently has 36 entries, more than 60% greater than the next largest fleet.
The Newly Introduced J/70
Courtesy J/Boats
I was recently asked if I thought that the introduction of the J/70 might be the demise of the J/24 and the J/22. If we look at recent history, though, I think the introduction of the J/80 serves as a good data point in measuring the robustness of the stalwart J/24 fleet. The J/80 hit the market in 1993, and at that time, I expect some people were predicting that J/24 regatta participation would eventually dwindle down to irrelevance. However, if you look at some of the recent major regatta results, you see the J/24 and J/80 still coexisting with healthy fleets:
To get more insight into the potential effects of the J/70 introduction, I spoke with J/24 World Champion and new J/70 owner, Tim Healy:
Do you worry about the J/70 cannibalizing the J/24 Fleet?
The J/24 isn’t going away, and in fact, you can see from the 2012 participation there’s been a bit of resurgence. There are 5700 of them scattered across the globe, they’re well built, and it’s relatively inexpensive to pick one up. Boats have come and gone during the 24’s lifetime (introduced in 1977). Some people will buy a 70 and keep their 24. Some might want to sell their 24, but there will be a buyer for that boat.
Do you have different thoughts in regards to the J/22?
I’m not as close to that fleet, but again, it’s a well built boat with global adoption. If people want to sell a 22 and buy a 70, they will find buyers for their boat.
You participated in the April sea trial of the J/70, initial thoughts?
It’s quick and responsive. The layout is simple and easy to handle for both men and women. You really only need 3 people in any wind condition. What really struck me was how much bite the rudder has, the steering is amazingly responsive.
You went ahead and bought a boat and have signed up for Key West Race Week. What do you think will attract others to the boat?
Expanding on my point about the ease of handling – the jib is non-overlapping and it has the modern asymmetrical spinnaker design. Costs can be kept relatively low – the main and the jib have to be Dacron. The beauty of the boat is really that you only need 3 people.
Tim Healy participating in J/70 Sea Trials, Newport RI
Courtesy J/Boats
In order to gain more insight into the strategy behind the J/70, I reached out to Stuart Johnstone, who helps J/Boats in their marketing strategies and business development:
What’s the target market for the J/70?
It’s aimed at a market that J/Boats has never been able to expand upon since its inception in 1977 with the J/24: in short, an easily trailer-able, performance boat that can be ramp-launched anywhere in the world. As such, all previous models J/Boats built required a slip, mooring, or a dry-sail facility with a hoist, thus eliminating several thousand lakes, bays and ramp access points near water around the world.
How do you think you’re approaching this market differently than some of the other players?
95% of the sailing market that are interested in one-design sailing cannot sail a boat like a Melges 24 competitively. The next group of similar, smaller designs in the 20 foot range has many of the same challenges and end up filling a small niche and struggling for broad adoption. The net-net is that women and kids end up being disenfranchised the most
.
What are some of the design aspects that you think allow for reaching a broader base?
The basic parameters were less than 8.5 ft beam, draft of 5 ft max, less than 1,700 lbs for easy trailering by a 4 cylinder engine car/ truck/ minivan, easy launch / retrieve off a ramp and be sailed by Mom and the kids with ease – in other words a controllable, fun boat to sail. This meant the keel lifting mechanism and the keel hull box had to be robust, easy to use and that even an 8 year old wielding a portable power drill could raise and lower the keel. It also meant the mast /boom had to be built cost-effectively out of carbon-fiber, be light, and easily raised/lowered by women/ teenagers. This generated a performance boat with forgiving sailing characteristics, so it was balanced upwind and could knife through waves, but more importantly, could sail downwind without feeling skittish and wipeout instantly while not having to pile people on the transom.
Do you think this boat will take away sailors from the older J designs?
The J/24 was designed in 1976, over 35 years ago, and has enjoyed a healthy participation rate across four continents. The same can be said about the J/22 and J/80. The J/70 will certainly attract some sailors from current J one-designs since convenience, cost of sailing, ease of transport are all major factors in today’s sailing. For those fleets with large dry-sail facilities and mooring/slip access, there will be continued participation in the J/22, J/24 and J/80 classes since they naturally settled into areas where they could easily exist as one-design fleets.
What kind of early appetite are you seeing for the J/70?
The J/70 is dramatically expanding fleet development in areas that have had limited or no J one-design fleet development because ramp-launching capability is a necessity. By way of example, we’ve signed on nearly a dozen new J/Dealers in the USA alone because of the J/70 – it’s creating enormous demand in sailing areas that could never use our older one-designs and none of the competitive lifting keel boats met the needs of 95% of the sailors—those boats were too extreme, impractical and too intimidating for most sailors. I think the J/70 is bringing old and new J sailors who either haven’t been sailing recently or simply need a boat that fit into their style of sailing in the new economy.
Sailors tend to develop emotional ties towards the designs they are engaged with or have history in. Perhaps that’s why so many classes dwindle, but don’t die. When I look at the one-designs that enjoy longevity and broad adoption, though, I see a balance of a quality boat and matching it with the right market segment – for example the Lightning introduced in 1938 still regularly attracts over 50 boats in North American and World Championships. From what I can see on first inspection of the J/70, J/Boats may have done an exceptional job in targeting and addressing an underserved segment of the market, and in doing so, expanded the pie.
To learn more about the J/70, please visit: http://jboats.com/j70/
First Impressions: Sail1Design Test Sails the Farr B/One
13 December 2012, Annapolis- Heading down to the launch site in downtown Annapolis to meet the Farr team of Ian Gordon and Keith Carew, as we crossed the bridge we saw a light northerly and flat water. Since the temperature was not much above 50 degrees, this was going to be just fine.
The Farr Bavaria One (known as the B/One) is a new boat being built by Bavaria Yachts in Germany, and designed by the Farr Yacht Design team. The design parameters were set by Bavaria, and our sail test sought to get a feel for how well they did: [Read more…] about First Impressions: Sail1Design Test Sails the Farr B/One
Zim Sailing Responds to ICSA Championship Boat/Sponsor Agreement
This letter was published this morning on the ICSA List-serve and sent directly to Sail1Design. It follows our earlier publication here
Earlier this fall, the NEISA Executive Committee approved a directive that has forced the ICSA President to convene a special meeting of the ICSA Board of Directors to discuss the sponsorship contract with LaserPerformance (LP) and the manner in which it was negotiated. Notice of this meeting was sent out to the NEISA list serve on December 4th. The meeting is scheduled for tomorrow December 11th.
It has been offered that the new sponsorship agreement mandates the use of LP brand boats in the spring semifinal and championship regattas and that this constitutes a ‘change in conditions’ for ICSA championship. This means that a host venue that does not have LP brand boats can’t host these events. Each of the schools affected (MIT, Fordham, Columbia, SUNY Maritime) have been sent a direct email from the President of the ICSA stating this.
It does not seem apparent that all regional conferences have received public notice of the upcoming meeting. Zim Sailing would urge those that have an opinion on the matter to send an email as such to their respective board members (http://collegesailing.org/contacts/) in advance of this meeting so each board member can act in the best interests of their representative conference.
Although the specifics of the agreement are confidential, the ICSA have shared the following salient points:
- LP will provide ICSA with fleets of new Lasers and Radials for the Singlehanded Championships
- LP will provide a cash contribution to ICSA
- LP will provide media support (i.e. video coverage)
- LP will now be the Official Boat Supplier for all of ICSA championships (including semifinals) except for match race. This new agreement requires all of these championships be held in LP or Vanguard built fleets of boats.
- The agreement is for eight years
There has been some opinion exchanged via the Sailing Anarchy (http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showtopic=139886&hl=%20college%20%20sailing&st=) Sailing Scuttlebutt (http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=14539) as well as the Sail1Design Airwaves ( https://www.sail1design.com/airwaves/high-school-college-news/971-controversy-in-the-icsa-the-future-of-the-college-sailing-dinghy) forums.
Of interest is LP’s response offering the following:
“LaserPerformance has nothing to hide and should the ICSA decide that the contract is not in the best interest of its members, we would be happy to still continue our support for Collegiate sailing by providing the 36 Laser or Laser Radials to the ICSA at our own expense.”
Obviously Zim Sailing is in not in favor of this agreement. While the intent may not have been to create a monopoly, it certainly has. We believe the ICSA has a great opportunity to rescind the agreement as LP has offered to do. Singlehanded’s would still be supplied boats and Double handed hosts would be free to buy and use whichever equipment met their needs the best. The media coverage could be easily sought by another sponsor. College sailing offers a fantastic demographic to many large companies with “real” marketing dollars. I believe energy drink companies, bank and insurance companies would be very attracted to the college sailing market.
Zim Sailing has worked very hard to support our growing customer base by building high quality durable boats and having the replacement parts needed to serve our customers. If there is an opportunity to further support college sailing we are eager to participate. The ICSA is your representative body, please ensure they have your thoughts and feelings in mind as they act on your behalf.
VIDEO: The American Youth Sailing Force is San Francisco’s Team in the 2013 RedBull Youth America’s Cup
Submitted by Vince Casalaina, Media Coordinator, American Youth Force Sailing Challenge
{youtube}mO0HADYM3N0{/youtube}
A year ago when RedBull announced their sponsorship of the Youth America’s Cup, five of us began planning for this day. We started with good sailing resume’s but little else. Today we stand as one of the teams competing in the RedBull Youth America’s Cup where we will represent Oracle Team USA and the City of San Francisco.
I can’t begin to describe the emotions running through all of us in the American Youth Sailing Force as we waited for the results of the tryouts. We knew going into them two weeks ago that it was a “win or go home” competition. So now that we have our spot in the regatta assured, the most important question is what’s next for the AYSF? Two big words, Training and Fundraising.
Over the past five months we’ve done a lot of cross training in big fast catamarans to develop some basic boat handling skills. Now that we know we’ll be competing, we can focus on training both on and off the water. We’ve seen the level of physical fitness we need if we want be the best prepared team come September 1st. We’ve also seen how much there is to learn about team mechanics and crew positions on the AC45 boats.
Having the support of Oracle Team USA allows us access to all their accumulated knowledge about getting the most out of sailing the AC45s. Their two boat training program gives us a jumpstart on what it takes to race them competitively.
At the same time we are in the gym and on the boats, we will be moving forward on raising the funding our program needs. While we have received early support from both sponsors and donors that helped get our campaign to this point, we are now kicking our fund raising into high gear. We need to raise a lot more money since this will be our “job” from March through early September next year.
We are looking at corporate sponsorship to raise significant dollars and individual donor contributions to supplement that. We also have plans to hold fundraising events both in the Bay Area and Seattle to broaden the base of our support. Crowd source funding sites like Kickstarter will give us the opportunity to reach out to much bigger groups of people to find our needed cash. As you can see we
Our team has partnered with the non-profit Skiff Sailing Foundation so we are able to accept tax-deductible donations. You can find out more about how you can help us at www.americanyouthsailingforce.com and clicking on the donate tab.
I want to wholeheartedly thank everyone who has helped AYSF to this point. The success of this team cannot be solely placed just on the sailors. The guidance and backing from numerous people and businesses have been the true backbone of this team. We know that with your support we will keep growing on that.
Keep following the team as we take the next big step forward. You can stay tuned in by following us on our website, facebook page and video site for more exciting news as we pave the way towards the 2013 RedBull Youth America’s Cup on San Francisco Bay.
Ian Andrewes
Team Manager
Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/AmericanYouthSailingForce?ref=ts&fref=ts
Video page
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1B649F56C67CB086
The American Youth Sailing Force – Team San Francisco
|
Ian |
Andrewes |
23 |
|
David |
Liebenberg |
21 |
|
Michael |
Menninger |
23 |
|
Matt |
Pistay |
22 |
|
Tommy |
Pstalka |
22 |
|
Mikey |
Radziejowski |
21 |
|
Evan |
Sjostedt |
19 |
Media Coordinator
Vince Casalaina [email protected] 510-841-8524
Still Photographer
Erik Simonson [email protected] 650-355-1080
Lightning Boat Grant Program – Now Accepting Applications!
By Airwaves writer Martha Pitt
Attention sailors: Want to experience high level sailing in a competitive boat, have all of your sailing paid for this summer while receiving mentoring from a class veteran? The International Lightning Class Association has just the opportunity!
The Lightning Boat Grant Program offers sailors age 19 and older the opportunity to sail a race ready Lightning for the season. Recipients receive a championship condition boat, practice and race sails, a mentor, and funds to cover the sailing related expenses for the 2013 summer racing season (May-September).
Spring Classic Regatta, Lake Pymatuning, PA. 39 Boat Start.
The program started in 2007, and is entering its 7th season. It began as an opportunity for both the class to expand by drawing in young talented racers, and for aspiring young sailors to break into the circuit, those who may not have the funds to buy their own boat and pay for a racing program; it is geared towards college students and recent graduates looking to race in a competitive one-design fleet at minimal cost. The recipients receive a boat for a season and set up their own program for the summer season for almost no cost. As a testament to the success of the program, multiple boat grant recipients have purchased their own Lightnings after their grant summer was over. Past recipients include, Bobby Martin in ‘07(Boston University ’08), William Brown ’08 (Brown University ’10), Clinton Hayes ’08 (University of Vermont ’10), Caroline Patten ’11 (HWS ’11), James Simmons ’12 (URI ’12), . Though generally new to the boats, with the great equipment and guidance from other Lightning sailors, the grant recipients have faired well racing with top-ten finishes at major regional events and top-thirty finishes at the North Americans. James Simmons used his grant boat to qualify for the World Championships next summer in Italy; he has recently purchased a boat and will be headed to Italy in June 2013 to compete. The Class’s strong international presence also assures the Boat Grant teams a chance to compete against athletes from around the world during the summer season.
I was able to speak to Will Brown who was a grant recipient back in 2008 and has since remained involved, now acting as the co-chair of the Lightning Boat Grant Committee. To Will, the program has been a success in large part because of the mentors and the great members of the class. For him, “one of the more challenging aspects was learning how to properly tune the boat, but every member of the class was more than willing to help. The fleet is one of the deepest and most talented fleets I have sailed in which leads for very serious racing but it also has a great off the water atmosphere with tons of sailor camaraderie.” Though some might be intimidated by the strength of the class and its deep field of competitors, for Will, that was one of the greatest benefits; “I mean — forty plus boats on the line at a dozen regattas each summer? That’s pretty amazing. And with this much talent, your team absolutely gets better at each regatta.”
Justin Coplan – 2008 Grant Recipient – winning race #6 of the 2009 World Championship, Burlington, VT (60 boat fleet, 10 Countries represented)
2008 recipient Clinton Hayes had a similar experience; “the boat is a great introduction to the fundamentals of small keelboat sailing without having to own a keelboat. We learned a lot of basics of rig tuning that is transferable to all types of sailing. Everyone in the class is super friendly, always willing to help. They are known for competitive racing and fun times. I can say from personal experience that this is true.” The summer of 2008 marked the 70th Anniversary Regatta for the class with 125 boats competing in the event in Newport, RI, and Hayes insists that he will be back for the 80th! “Its a great boat,” commented Hayes, “so easy to set-up and travel with but a real challenge to sail well. The level of the top 20 at 2008 NA’s was ridiculous! I hope to get back into Lightning racing when I settle down a little.”
Will Tyner – 2011 Grant Recipients, Team Tyner – Bow 42, racing in the 2011 North American Championship, North Cape, MI (56 Boat Fleet)
For Andy Camarda, who sailed at URI and was a boat grant recipient in 2010, insists that “the summer of the boat grant was the best summer of my life. The fleet was great, super supportive, everyone would answer questions and were generally a lot of fun. The racing was tight and I learned a ton about close racing tactics and boat tuning.” Andy is from Chicago where there is no Lightning fleet, but if there was one he says that he would buy a Lightning in a minute! The highlight of his summer was going to the Pan Am qualifiers in Tampa, FL. The extremely tight 20 boat fleet made racing very exciting, and Camarda’s golden moment was winning one of the races!
Andy Camrada – 2010 Grant Recipients – Team Camrada sailing at the 2010 Spring Classic, Pymatuning, PA (39 Boat Fleet)
L
ast year’s recipient, Jamie Simmons, has found a new passion for sailing in the Lightning class, and it has given him a new outlet to race now that he has graduated. “This is a good direction to go after college sailing” explains Simmons. “It was a great experience, the racing was exciting and everyone is easy going and super friendly. I look forward to sailing more Lightning regattas.”
Jamie Simmons – 2012 Grant recipients, Team Simmons – Bow 36, racing in the 44 boat fleet at the Atlantic Coast Championship, Atlantic Highlands, NJ. Photo: Arthur E. Petrosemolo
If you are interested in this unique opportunity, the application can be found on the Lightning class website – www.lightningclass.org.
Applicants are graded on the following criteria:
1. Plan for use of boat, including projected regatta schedule. Applicants will need to provide a narrative describing who will be sailing, what they plan to do with the grant money, where they plan to go to practice and compete, when they plan to sail, and how they will get there. They should describe their transportation resources, options or needs, etc.
2. Proximity to an existing Lightning Fleet
3. Strength of sailing resume
4. Recommendations
5. Ability to care for the boat and where it will be stored.
An interview of top applicants is also factored in. Applications are due on December 31st and applicants will be notified prior to March 15th. The ILCA will award at least two teams grants for the program.
