PIKE Dominates J/80 German Open

(Flensburg, Germany)- This past weekend nineteen J/80s from Germany, Denmark and Poland sailed in the J/80 GERMAN OPEN 2012 off Flensburg, Germany. The GER-614 "PIKE" with helmsman Martin Menzner celebrated an outstanding title defense- with 6 bullets in 8 races (3-1-1-1-1-1-7-1 = 9 pts net)!  This performance equalled their triumphant victory in Kieler Woche earlier this season.  PIKE was the leader for all 3 days of the J/80 German Open championship, dominating in all conditions from 4 to 22 kts of breeze.  With this win the team continues to maintain their #1 position for J/80s in Germany.  So far, PIKE has enjoyed an excellent record sailing in the J/80 German sailing circuit, in six years of campaigning their J/80, they've won four German Opens and five Kiel Week titles!

Giving PIKE tough competition all year long were the second placed PROCEDES DIVA (1-2-2-10-2-4-5-4 = 20 pts net) and CAMPAIGN (4-5-5-2-DNF-2-1-8 = 27 pts net).   For more J/80 German Open sailing information

J2X Wins J/80 UK Nationals

(Hamble, England)-  Following on from the very successful J/80 World Championship held in Dartmouth this June, the J/80 fleet returned to the Solent on the weekend of the 8th September for the The MIQ Logistics 2012 J/80 National Championship. Hosted by Hamble’s Royal Southern Yacht Club, the event was included in the final weekend of their summer series. Sponsors MIQ Logistics, SLAM clothing and Coast Graphics continued their support from the World Championship.

The fleet of 27 boats was just one less than the previous highest total for the UK Championship. There was a very broad speed of ages competing, from the hugely experienced senior statesmen through to a handful of boats being sailed by students and other young teams. The generosity of owners who had loaned their boats had facilitated this.

Day one dawned with a lack of wind in the morning increasing to 8-10 knots in the afternoon.  Race officer Dermod O’Malley made the wise decision to postpone ashore for two hours.  The program got under way just before 1pm in a 6-8 easterly, in flat water conditions and warm sunshine. The hottest helm on day one was Rob Larke sailing J2X. Rob and his team achieved a perfect score of three bullets which converted into a six point overnight lead. Second best for the day was Nick Haigh sailing Slightly Steamy, a  very tidy two seconds and a fifth were the proof that Nick’s transition from his last boat, a 46 footer, had been a success.  The late start, combined with a breeze that softened as the ebb tide increased, saw the third race shortened and the fleet sent home at 5 o’clock. Allan Higgs’s Juicy completed the podium on the first day.

Saturday night saw the liveliest of the fleet mixing with the rest of the Royal Southern Yacht Club’s September regatta sailors, at the appropriately titled "Best of the Eighties Party".

A further three races were scheduled for Sunday. With the easterly breeze once again established, the program got under way on time and finally saw J2 X beaten as Stuart Hawthorn’s J’ai Deux Amours struck gold in race four. Second was Mark Baskerville’s Mistral, third place went to Jon Powell’s Betty.  The race team now signalled a postponement prior to race five, the easterly was waning and intelligence from the West of the race course indicated a new weather system was about to arrive.  Sure enough after an hour a nice South Westerly of 10 knots kicked in, which built to a solid 20 throughout the afternoon. Race five saw the fleet in full planing mode and if this was to be the last big event of the summer it truly was a great day to remember. Rob Larke managed to claw back the lead from Patrick Liardet’s Aqua J to score his fourth bullet. Aqua J followed home in second with Mark Lees’ boats.com in third.  In the sixth and final race J2X achieved an incredible fifth bullet. Boats.com took second and J.A.T took their second bronze of the weekend.

At the prize-giving, Rob Larke’s J2X was crowned the MIQ Logistics 2012 J/80 National Champion. Nick Haigh’s Slightly Steamy took a very solid second, Jon Powell’s Betty was third. A stellar performance from the team of 420 sailors on Chris Taylor’s J.A.T saw them sweep fourth.

Next year the National Championship is bound for England ’s East Coast for the first time in the class’ 15 year history. The 2012 J/80 World Championship will be held in Marseille, France in June with a forecast 150 boat entry, this will eclipse the previous record of 131 in Santander, Spain!  For more J/80 UK Nationals sailing information

J/80 UK Nationals Preview

(Hamble, England)- For The Royal Southern Yacht Club, Hamble, the weekend of Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th September marks the last of their 2012 regatta series, one which provides competitive top class racing for one-design and IRC keelboats. Commencing on Saturday morning, the series will incorporate The MIQ Logistics 2012 J/80 National Championship, for which twenty boats are expected to compete.

The MIQ Logistics 2012 J/80 National Championship will be warmly welcomed back to Hamble after a brief hiatus in Dartmouth in June last year. Among the boats expected to collect silverware will be Hamble-based JAT, skippered by Chris Taylor. Chris is the son of co-owner Phil Taylor, who along with Kevin Sproul put in a fantastic performance at the 2012 World Championship, making JAT winner of best British performing boat. Chris will also be hoping to retain his father’s trophy; JAT was crowned National Champion in 2011.

The competition, as well as being a significant stand alone event, is great preparation for the world competition in Marseille next year, for which the international fleet predicts a record breaking 150 entries. At this year’s event, host town Dartmouth welcomed seventy-six J/80 sailors from Ireland to Hong Kong , demonstrating the on-going strength of this exciting fleet. Sixty new boats have just been sold in Europe, with even more in America.

The Race Officer will keep the J/80 fleet busy on the water; four races are scheduled for the first day of the event and three on the second and final day. A fitting and no doubt lively 80’s themed party will take place at the Royal Southern Yacht Club on Saturday night for those celebrating or commiserating their start to the Championship. The prize-giving will take place on Sunday afternoon, where as well as silverware and glassware, the top teams can expect to collect some desirable first-rate sailing gear from supporting sponsor SLAM.  For more J/80 UK Nationals sailing information

QUANTUM SAILS wins J/80 Pornic Cup

(Pornic, France)- As the next leg in J/Cup France 2012 series, the Pornic Cup hosted by the Cantiere Navale Pornic saw twenty-six boats participate in the hopes of securing good results to end the season-long championship in the top five.  It has been a battle all year to determine which teams would emerge unscathed from the battle to survive and command the podium positions at the end of the 2012 series.  New actors on the stage are introduced all the time and this regatta was no exception.  Sailing to a well-deserved victory was the QUANTUM SAILS team led by Jean Queveau along with team-mates Axel Trehin, Damien Iehl and two women- Veronique Soule and Claire Pruvot.

The weather forecast was quite promising, with strong winds for sailing on Friday and Saturday with winds diminishing into the single digits for Sunday with warm weather and sun!  Sailed over the August 24th to 26th weekend, the teams couldn't have asked for better sailing conditions.  After sailing six races, the QUANTUM SAILS team managed to post a 1-2-1-1-4-6 record for a net of 9 pts.  Top French J/80 team INTERFACE CONCEPT II sailed by French Champion Eric Brezellec also managed to sail a consistent scoreline, his 3-3-2-7-1-2 for 11 net pts was good enough for the silver and an improved position in the top three for the overall J/Cup France trophy.  Perhaps the most frustrated team was that led by Vincent Vandekerkhove, their DUNKERQUE PLAISANCE team sailed the most consistently of the top three, scoring a 2-1-3-3-2-3 for a 14 pt gross total and 11 net total to not only lose the tie-breaker to Brezellec's IC-II team, but also lose the win on gross pts to end up third overall!  The balance of the top five included Jacques Hubert sailing EOS to a 6-4-6-8-3-1 score to finish on a high-note with just 20 pts net to secure 4th overall and lying fifth was Paul Chiron sailing JULES to a 4-8-7-5-5-4 for 25 pts net.  Sailing photo credits- Pierrick Contin/ France. For more J/80 Pornic Cup sailing information

"Girl Power" Trumps Hebe Haven J/80 Series

(Hong Kong, China)- Sailing is growing faster and faster in China and nowhere is this more evident than the J/80 teams that are sailing off the two principal clubs on Hong Kong's amazing harbor- Royal Hong Kong YC and their counterparts on the north side, Hebe Haven YC.  Both clubs have done a remarkable job to cultivate sailing as both a recreational activity and competitive sport-- especially for women, children and newcomers to sailing in China.  Well, it seems the program is beginning to demonstrate that it has some interesting dividends.  Recently, it looks like the "girls" beat the "boys" in the Hebe Haven Typhoon J/80 Series.

More to the point, Lauren Mead's all-girls team won on their J/80 HAKAWATI!  Here is Lauren's report (courtesy of SA)- "Team Danger, as we're often referred to by the "boys" on the other teams, has had its share of moments in Hong Kong sailing.  The Hebe Haven Typhoon Series concluded with a windless race around the islands (Typhoon Tembin has been threatening to give us some awesome sailing conditions all week but they failed to materialize on the day).  I helm the J/80 HAKAWATI as part of Hong Kong's first all-girls team in about 15 years (we are known as "Team Danger" in Hong Kong for reasons entirely un-deserved), and we won our series overall - with help from some suspect swimwear and distraction tactics!

Thought I would pass the photos along to you as a demo of what NOT to wear sailing (but, our clothing sponsors demanded we needed to!), but also to prove that girls can wear literally anything on a boat and they will get attention!" - Anarchist Lauren.   For more Hebe Haven YC J/80 Sailing information