Well, no sooner has our trusty J/120 returned back from the 2008 Pacific Cup race to Hawaii and our offshore cruise back to California, than we are launching into another epic Race/Cruise combo! The mighty vessel J/World is in the yard right now getting all new standing rigging, and then she’s off to the races in the 2008 Rolex Big Boat Series.

Right after this grand-prix event wraps up, all the comfort items get loaded aboard again and she goes into ‘cruising mode’ for the J World Annual Cruise to Mexico! This series of coastal/offshore cruising courses begins in mid October, and is one of our very favorite things we do. Each of the legs is a truly special adventure, and we even join in the world famous cruiser’s rally from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas… that’s right, you too can join the 2008 Baja-Ha-Ha!

If you haven’t seen it, here is the report from last years’ cruise south. It was an absolute blast, and this year promises to be just as great. Click here for more info…

We’ll keep you posted on how the racing goes… we have a ton of work to get done before the event starts… we hadn’t planned on pulling the rig before the regatta, but the unfortumate timing of the broken intermediate shroud (see below) has forced our hand. In the fiercely competitive J/120 class, this gear failure has cut into any practice time we had hoped to have which will likely cost us down the line, but we have a fabulous team and I’m sure we’ll rise to the occasion! And a huge thank you goes out to my long time buddy Chris at Svendsen’s for working to get the boat back together quickly…

Eugenie, rested after the offshore trip from Oahu to SF, has been out practicing with the J/145 Raincloud in preparation for the Big Boat Series. Barry and Josh will both be aboard the IMX 38 Hawkeye, while Travis will be slugging it out aboard the J/122 TKO. Yours truly will be on our trusty J World, so we’ll try to post a lot of updates as we go along…

Wayne here: Late Wednesday night, an intermediate shroud broke on the starboard side. When the crew figured out what had happened, they gybed over to port tack relieving the pressure on the weakened side of the mast, then reduced sail area until the morning when they could better assess the situation.

It appears that the starboard shroud broke at the lower spreader. The rigging on the boat is solid stainless steel rod rigging, and the entire mast and rigging had been pulled and inspected in June, so the failure is surprising and the cause of it won’t be determined until the parts can be inspected ashore.

The team aboard did a great job in responding quickly; and we got some fabulous advice from Glenn Hansen at Hansen Rigging and Chris Tibbe at Svendsen’s, which was relayed to the boat. As a temporary fix, they have rigged a checkstay on the starboard side to support the mid-section of the mast and reduced sail area.

The bad news is that their surfing days and speed records are over. The good news is that the rig is stable and should be fine for the remainder of the trip.

2100 HST 40.17 x 137.03

Winds S at 10kts, sailing at 5kts with jib only. We couldn’t hail the fleet last nite, communication was rough, had a boat to relay, felt no love! All boats east of us have north winds. We are stuck between a low and the high, wishing we could just ounch thru to the NW, but with our reduced speed that probably won’t happen for a couple of days.

We are on a broad, beam reach on stb tack, the mast is showing little S curve, from the front looking up and back at it; it looks like the port intermediate shroud is pulling the mast that side, with no tension (obviously) on the stb where its missing. We’ll ease off some port intermediate tension, and that should straighten it. If it gets lighter tomorrow we’re going up the mast and gonna try to bend the end of the broken shroud, attach a line and running it down. it would be nice to be able to sail on stb tack especially coming in to SF…

Is there any way you can airlift a case of champagne? Uh…, sorry, fuel?

Thanks and cheers, Euge

Wayne here, and I’d like to offer a bit of explanation: At the start of the trip, ebrone aboard is given a ‘boat birthday,’ and when this given day arrives, that particular individual is given special treatment… a break from the watches, choice of menu items, massages… the whole works! So when you see them referring to all the birthdays, that’s the scoop (no, it’s not a boat-load of Leos!)…

0600 HST 35.35N x 152.18W

Winds super light all night, out of SE @8kts. We sailed thru it though 070 maybe at 4, 4.5 kts; giving the engine a break after refueling (we lost one little black screwy top) and giving everybody a chance to start practicing sailing downwind. Right now motor sailing, Simon (autopilot) driving. Winds still SW- at 7kts or so. The throttle (or prop) clacks at certain RPMs… wierd, i’ll check it later, everything else in great working order and everybody in great mood.

We did not do the radio check-in last nite, as i wanted to keep battery topped off by not turning the SSB nor the chart plotter.

Today is Ann’s boat birthday, she wants curry, and bean burritos, a back massage and new yoga poses. We made a pinata and cards. (the cards I got for mine are super). She doesn’t have to stand watch, which makes her super happy.

Caught a 30 pounder yesterday: Mahi-Mahi. It was an awesome fight…. and delicious.

Thanks for the Angelina update Barry, more please…

Cheers,

Euge

33.10N x 156.57W

We are all in very good shape. Made guac, and mashed potatoes tonight, as some stuff was getting a bit ripe. We are still making good way up north, wind veered a little E and lightened up today, then back to normal. Generally lighter today, less squalls, horizon looks great for once.
We should make it to 35N by tomorrow, friday night, then probably will start heading a little east. Hula Girl is going east seems…

Cheers, and love from all of us here at J World.

PS Finally everybody’s got their sea legs now!