Ole! Spanish Armada takes on J/80 Worlds

First a great showing at the America’s Cup, both as host country and a leading challenger, and now Spain has shown its stuff at the top of the one-design world with 3 out of the top 4 placings in the 2007 J/80 World Championship. Spain is the newest country to adopt the J/80 as its one-design keelboat of choice (100 new boats delivered in the past 14 months with another 30 on order) but you wouldn’t know it by the way they handled the windy conditions and a record 124 boat fleet off of La Trinite, France last week. Spanish skippers Jose Maria Torcida Seghers and Ignacio Camino battled against each other until the last and decisive 11th race. Torcida Seghers aboard ECC VIVIENDAS emerged as the new J/80 World Champion with an impressive 5 wins in 11 races.

"We came here with very limited objectives knowing we would face the word's best. We've only been sailing seriously and competitively in the J/80 since last October. We decided to train as a team with the entire 30 boat fleet gathered in Santander. All that hard work has paid off."

Germany's Ulrich Muenker's third place overall prevents the Spaniards from heading home with a unique grand slam in the J/80's World history. For the very first time, the Worlds winner did not come from the organizing country. The 2008 Worlds will take place in mid-July in Kiel, Germany.

Overall top six (results...)
1. Jose Maria Torcida Seghers, ESP, 29 points
2. Ignacio Camino, ESP, 46
3. Ulrich Muenker, GER, 57
4. Rayco Tabares, ESP, 61
5. Sylvain Pellissier, FRA, 65
6. Glenn Darden, USA, 66

J/80 Class Growth Explodes in Europe

Spi-Ouest Regatta in France will serve as the official European kick off for 2007 J/80 one-design racing season and (as of this post) has registered over 77 boats, a record for the class and an explosive 40% growth rate over the fleet at the event last year. Needless to say this will be the largest class at the event for the second year in a row.

J/80 demand is on the rise in a major way with over 100 new J/80s being built this year alone and production set to resume in the USA at Pearson Composites. J/80 is the official Royal Yachting Association training and match race keelboat, the choice training boat of the French Naval Academy, the latest new fleet in America’s Cup host nation, Spain, with a newly established J/80 one design fleet now in Italy. It is also the training boat of choice for J/World Sailing Schools around the world. J/80 is coming of age and 2007 promises to be a great year! more on the J/80.

J/80 Class Nearing Milestone

Now in its 14th year, the J/80 is in more demand than ever. 45 boats were recently shipped to Spain and another 50 are on order for England, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden and the States. By year’s end, over 1000 boats will be sailing worldwide. The French Navy selected the J/80 for use at their Naval Academy and sailing clubs, and last year hosted the Military Sailing Championships. The Royal Yachting Association (UK) picked the J/80 as their sole keelboat for training, match-racing and corporate sailing. The Swedish Sailing authority (SSSR) features the J/80 for its match-racing development program, and J World Sailing School uses J/80s at its locations in Annapolis, San Francisco, San Diego, Puerto Vallarta and Stockholm. Class racing is booming and the 2007 J/80 World Championship will be sailed in La Trinite sur Mer, France July 1-7. 70+ boats expected from at least 7 nations.

Large J/80 Fleet for Spi Ouest

The annual Easter weekend regatta based in La Trinite, France is the highlight sailing event of the year for most French sailors. The International J/80 class participation has grown each year and in 2006 was the largest class of the regatta with over 50 boats. This year promises to be even larger with over 60 boats (30 of which have already entered) in the first event of the 2007 French J/80 Annual Circuit. In early July, La Trinite will also host the 2007 J/80 World Championship where over 70 boats are expected to attend. J/80 sailors who wish to charter a boat for the worlds are encouraged to contact J/Europe directly in order to make arrangements to reserve a boat.

Kerry Klingler Wins J/80 NA's

J/80 Fleet One hosted a fleet of 29 boats for the J-Jamboree 2006 J/80 North American Championship Regatta held on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire on September 8, 9 and 10. Friday’s racing was cancelled due to lack of wind, but breeze slowly arrived on Saturday and less so on Sunday to make for some challenging racing. Kerry Klingler of “Lifted” took first place overall with 8 points, followed by Blake Fleetwood of “USA 352” in second place with 9 points and Les Beckwith of “FKA” in third place with 19 points.

At the awards ceremony winners were presented granite trophies in the shape of New Hampshire, along with other J-Jamboree items. Bob Knowles was commended with a plaque for his leadership of the event. Bob thanked the attending boats and praised the volunteers who helped make the event a success. www.j-jamboree.org

Darden Wins J/80 Worlds

Texas is famous for having the biggest and best of many things. Now they can add J/80 talent to the list. After 10 races and four days of racing at Corpus Christi Yacht Club, Glenn Darden emerged as the 2006 world champion, out gunning fellow Texans John Kolius, Scott Young and Rick Schaffer plus the rest of the international fleet. Windy conditions prevailed for most of the event and the leaderboard was deep, with notable former class champions Kerry Klingler (USA), Ruairidh Scott (GBR) and Jay Lutz (USA) finishing up 5th, 7th and 9th respectively. http://www.j80worlds.com

French Sweep J/80 Europeans

Benjamin Diouris and his crew of Nicolas Pauchet, Felix Pruvot and Thomas Le Breton, sailed a nearly flawless regatta to capture the 2006 J/80 European Championships held over the May 26-28 weekend in Brest, France. Representing the event host (ECOLE NAVALE), Diouris and team bested 37 boats from four countries (France, UK, Germany and Spain) in the 12-race, 2 discard series. Fellow countrymen Victor Lanier and Remy Arnaud took 2nd and 3rd place respectively, just ahead of Kevin Sproul of the UK. http://www.j80european2006.com/

Scott to Defend J/80 World Title

Ruairidh Scott, winner of the 2005 J/80 Worlds in Falmouth, UK will be on hand to defend his title during the 2006 J/80 Worlds coming up July 9-14 in Corpus Christi, Texas. It won't be an easy task, as strong US fleet is expected, including Glen Darden, Kerry Klingler, John Kolius, Jay Lutz and many more. Visit the regatta website at: www.2006j80worlds.com