J-80 UK Class Association

The weekend of the 4th and 5th of July saw the first ever get-together of the growing East Coast J/80 fleet and competitors travelled from as far afield as Kent and Cambridge to race at the inaugural J/80 East Coast Championship. The event was run under the auspices of the well established Felixtowe Regatta and was sponsored by Haven Gateway, Adnams Brewery and Musto. Run out of the beautifully situated Suffolk Yacht Harbour all visitors received a friendly welcome and full shore service, including ‘instant’ craneage on arrival. 

Saturday dawned hot with some cloud that eventually cleared the way for a bright sunny day. However, with the gradient breeze and the sea breeze in opposition it made for a difficult day for both PRO Ewen Stampe and also the competitors with some big shifts and holes to watch out for on the race course. 

Race 1

Will Goldsmith and his young crew having only sailed Exess just a handful of times either left the marina very early for some practice or found that with the whole crew sleeping onboard they needed to get to sea for some fresh air! Nonetheless, the practice worked as they nailed the port end of the line, sailed into the port hand shift as the gradient breeze relaxed its grip on the direction and led from start to finish of the shortened one lap race! Double Jeopardy (owned and raced by local hero Nigel Theadom) struggled to find pressure off the line and rounded the windward mark fourth. Eventually Double Jeopardy managed to find a bit more puff on the right on the downwind leg and finished second with Paul Gosling’s White Lightning, from West Mersea, in third place.

Race 2

With the IRC fleet racing on the same race-track and with this fleet in their sequence, the wind gave up and those lining up for a port end start drifted away with the tide and were no doubt pleased to see that start aborted. Three more attempts and an hour and a half later and with a breeze showing some promise Race 2 eventually got underway in a shifty southerly 8 knots. 

Places changed frequently on the first beat as first one side then the other paid. White Lightning rounded first, followed by another West Mersea boat, Geoff Payne’s Surf n Turf. Tim French’s Jabberwocky rounded third with Double Jeopardy fourth. On the run an early gybe by Double Jeopardy looked to have provided a bit of a ladder but approaching the leeward mark another shift became a snake to consign her to her original position! Surf n Turf and Jabberwocky were both taken by Double Jeopardy on the second beat and the young Exess team recovered from a second row start also passed Jabberwocky. On the final run Double Jeopardy closed on White Lightning but couldn’t find a passing lane. A wider than usual mark rounding by White Lightning allowed Double Jeopardy to get her bow inside but couldn’t find sufficient height and speed to pass. White Lightening tacked, Double Jeopardy ducked, carried on, picked a shift and won by a boat length from White Lightning, with Surf n Turf finishing third and Excess in fourth.

 Race 3

Having given the IRC class their three races, the PRO and his team showed admirable stamina and re-laid the course for the ‘nth’ time as the sea breeze started to prevail in order that the J/80s could complete Race 3; hats off to them – it would have been so easy to call it a day. 

Double Jeopardy won the start at the committee boat end and looked in control of proceedings until a 40 degree lift upset the order of things. Exess, White Lightning and Surf n Turf said ‘thank you very much’ and the positions stayed the same for the short, single lap race. The whoop of delight from the young Exess team at having won their second race of the championship could be heard in downtown Felixtowe!

Arriving back in the Marina at 6pm the party kicked off. A bouncy castle was provided for the crews who had any energy left, the jazz band entertained during the first couple of Après sail drinks and led nicely into the dance band (definitely not ballroom), till the wee, small hours. 

Sunday dawned with sunshine, clear blue skies and a south westerly breeze which built to 20 knots! Perfect sailing weather if not just a tad on the bright side for those late night revellers.

 Race 4

The whole fleet crossed the line in unison on starboard. White Lightning and Surf n Turf had sufficient pace to nose ahead of Double Jeopardy at the weather mark. At this point, the fleet was so tightly bunched that great care was needed when extending the pole so as not to hit the boat in front. An early gybe by Double Jeopardy on to a big gust took her to the front with sufficient cushion to hold this place to the finish. Surf n Turf had followed Double Jeopardy and arrived at the leeward mark and also held to the finish. White Lightning finished Race 4 in third.

 Race 5

With the wind at a steady 20 knots and gusting more, it was Double Jeopardy’s race from start to finish. With the tide pushing the fleet up to the committee boat and a starboard line bias it was amazing that the fleet started cleanly. Certainly more than one crew had a longer look down the tailpipes of the 50′ sunseeker committee boat than would have been comfortable! The West Mersea boys clearly revel in the heavy stuff and Surf n Turf crossed the line in second. Simon Jacklin and his team on Strumpet pushed White Lightning hard for the third spot and eventually pipped them on the line.

 At the close of the regatta there were just six points separating the top four boats. A close championship and a great weekend. It was also a mighty fine start to a fixture that will surely grow as the East Coast fleet grows. We wait to see whether the softies on the South Coast will rise to the challenge in 2011!

 White Lightning, Surf n Turf and Strumpet all sailed the 20 miles back to West Mersea straight into 30 knots of breeze! They breed them tough on the East Coast.

Another three races took place today, on this penultimate day of the J/80 European Championship. It was a day that tested and challenged this most impressive fleet. Tough competition and a high level of expertise among these crews means that every race is something they all have to fight very hard for, and today the top three positions have changed again. 

The wind was constant and gradually increased throughout the afternoon, providing more stability to the conditions than this championship has previously seen. Today we have a new leader in the Spanish boat Peraleja Golf  helmed by Carlos Martinez, who took a superb first, third, and first today placing him firmly ahead of the rest of the fleet with 22 points. This is not such a surprise to J/80 followers, as they came thrid in the World’s in Keel in 2008 and again in Santander in 2009. 

Second is another Spanish boat, Mustang, helmed by Luis Martinez, a boat that is also often found in the top few places. Today Mustang had a second, eighth and seventh, giving them 32 points and thus 10 points behind the leaders. Mustang was second in the World’s in Santander 2009 and so already his reputation precedes him.

However, new to such high placing in the international circuit and thus a boat to watch out for in the future, is the Italian boat OLJ Spirit helmed by Federico Rajola. Today they came twenty-fifth, tenth and second giving them 41 points and a third overall. There you have the present top three.

Two more Spanish boats take fifth and sixth places respectively – Jose Maria Torcida’s ECC Viviendas finished the day with a fourteenth, second and eighth and 48 points whilst Rodr Camino’s Nextel Engineering took a twenty-third, fourth and fourth today and finished up with 50 points. 

To complete today’s top ten, we have Lauren Sambron’s Atlantis from France in sixth position with a twenty-first, fifth and OCS today. The British Team Baltic helmed by Henry Bomby lies in seventh position with 60 points and a fifth, fourteenth and fourteenth today. Another Spanish boat Crocs, helmed by Javier Aguado lies in eighth position with 72 points and a fifteenth, twenty-fifth and fifth today. The French boat Geodis goes down to ninth position overall with a nineteenth, sixteenth and tenth today giving him 78 points. The German boat Procedes Diva helmed by Beilken Bjoern enters tenth position, also with 78 points and today doing very well with a fourth, twenty-fourth and second. 

With only one more day’s racing to go, we wonder if the crews will have an early night? Judging by the atmosphere in the bar area at Fraglia Vela Malcesine, I doubt this will be the case. Everyone is enjoying the atmosphere and great hospitality provided by the hosts. But of course the best entertainment is on the water and they all want to win. 

Attention les francais! How things on the water can change in just a day!

This event is truly European. After three races on Thursday, the French boat Atlantis helmed by Laurent Sambran from APLC takes the honour of now lying firmly in first place with a ninth, fifth and second today, giving them 30 points overall.

Second overall at close of play yesterday was the Italian boat OLJ Spirit helmed by Federico Rajola taking first, eighth and fourteenth today giving them 33 points. Following right behind in their shadow, also with 33 points is the Spanish boat Forty Five helmed by Luis Martinez. The British boat Baltic Wharf  helmed by Henry Bomby lies in fourth place. So now the four countries and their teams will battle it out over the next few days to maintain or improve their leading positions. 

In fifth and sixth positions are once again the Spanish, with ECC Vivendas and Crocs. It was a great day for the French, with boat Geodis helmed by Luc Nadal taking a first place in thesecond race and a seventh in the third, placing them seventh overall today. This boat has already proved itself this year by sailing well at Spi-Ouest in Brittany at Easter. The Spanish however  have five boats in the top ten, the French and the Italians have two and the UK has one.  

The three races of today provided great entertainment and emotion for all of the participants, with the “ora” wind arriving punctually and providing consistency throughout the afternoon. This was a welcome relief for all the teams who yesterday faced such challenging conditions with unstable winds all day. 

So the motto of the day is “Vive la France!” But all the teams from every country will remember that we are just half way through this championship, and tomorrow is another day… Racing continues on Friday.

See www.j80euro.it for the full set of results.

The J/80 European Championship kicked off today with a delayed start. The usual “Ora” wind from the South was delayed which resulted in a delayed start and only two races taking place today. Just as the wind was full of surprises, so were the races. The Spanish dominated the leading positions all day finishing first (Martinez Luis in Forty Five), second (Ecc Viviendas) and third (Peraleja Golf). Happily for the hosting country, Federico Rajola’s OLJ Spirit Hatamuri took a first place in the first race, leading the fleet around the windward mark. They came tenth in the second race which left them lying fourth overall.

Of the UK entries, Team Baltic, helmed by Henry Bomby lead the UK boats finishing eighth overall followed by Aqua J helmed by Patrick Liardet in eleventh position and the Cardiff based Purple Haze helmed by Roger Dunstan in thirteenth position. So it was not a bad day for the ‘Brits’ considering it was such a large fleet of 46 boats. Let’s hope for good conditions tomorrow and another great day on the water for all the boats that have travelled so far. All wanting one thing – to win this Championship. If a country were to win, then Spain is surely  dominating. But of course everyone will try to learn from today and have a better result tomorrow. So watch this space! 

See www.fragliavela.org for the full set of results.