J-80 UK Class Association

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.