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