Nigel Theadom Reports from the J/80 East Coast Championship
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.
| Place | Sail No | Name | Type | Club | Race_1 | Race_2 | Race_3 | Race_4 | Race_5 | Nt Pts |
| 3 Jul | 3 Jul | 3 Jul | 4 Jul | 4 Jul | ||||||
| 1 | DOUBLE JEOPARDY
Nigel Theadom |
J 80 | HPYC | 2 | 1 | (4) | 1 | 1 | 5 | |
| 2 | SURF AND TURF
Geoff payne |
J 80 | WMYC | (4) | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 10 | |
| 3 | WHITE LIGHTNING
Paul Gosling |
J 80 | DSC | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | (4) | 10 | |
| 4 | EXESS
William Godsmith |
J 80 | HPYC | 1 | 4 | 1 | (5) | 5 | 11 | |
| 5 | JABBERWOCKY
Tim French |
J 80 | MYC | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | (6) | 19 | |
| 6 | STRUMPET
Simon Jacklin |
J 80 | DSC | (7) | 6 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 22 | |
| 7 | JEMINI
David Gould |
J 80 | MYC | 6 | (7) | 6 | 7 | 7 | 26 |

