J/80s Racing Santa Margherita

BEAR J GUZZI and JENIALE Winners

(Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy)-  It was a busy weekend for the J/80 class in Santa Margherita, with the final races of the Winter Championship Trophy and the Trofeo Grand Hotel Miramare being sailed in the azure Mediterranean waters just off the beautiful harbor and delicious cafes of Portofino.

The Italian Navy League of Santa Margherita were the perfect hosts, who are committed for five years to an event that keeps growing every year and is becoming a favorite of sailors in the region.  Two races were completed on Saturday with some difficulties due to the lack of wind; forcing the committee to shorten the courses both times.  However, on Sunday a strong ENE wind veered into the SSE gusting to 16-18 knots with beautiful white-capped waves.  As a result, everyone had tremendous fun surfing down the waves and sailing two challenging races.

On Saturday, JENIALE sailed to a 1-2, convincingly winning the J/80 Winter Championship.  Second was BEAR J GUZZI and third was OLD SPIRIT sailed by Hatamuri Rajola.  Sunday was a completely different story racing for the Trofeo Grand Hotel Miramare.  After sailing to a 1-1, JENIALE later found out that one of their firsts was an OCS premature start, dropping them down in the standings to second.  Instead, the final results of the Trophy Grand Hotel Miramare are then: first BEAR J GUZZI, second JENIALE and third JOCONDA MIRELLA ARATA.   If you get a chance, please check out the NEW J/80 Italy website!  Amici, buon lavoro!   

Whitmore Wins J/80 Saltsjobad Regatta

(Saltsjobad, Sweden- May 25th)- The J/80s are warming up in Sweden with some of the leaders of this fleet aiming to get in enough sailing to perform well at this year's J/80 World Championships in Newport, RI.  One crew in particular that is hoping to sail in Newport is Tom Whitmore's on HUNDEN sailing for KSSS.   They've started off their 2010 Dynamant Cup season long championship very strongly, leading this series by winning the Saltsjobad Regatta with a 2-5-1-6-1-2 score.  In second for the regatta was Christer Faith-Ell, sailing brilliantly at times and at others seemingly having the wheels fall off the shopping trolley.  Christer's 1-1-8-1-4-5 for 20 points was insufficient to overcome Tom's more consistent sailing.  Third was Viking Kjellstrom racing VADERLEK to a 5-2-3-3-6-3 record for 22 points, just beating out by one point the team of HEAVY DUTY sailed by Pontus Tornlund.  Fifth was Jonas Dannaeus sailing A2.

In the J/80 Dynamant Cup 2010 season series, Lars Gellerhed on MK-PRODUCKTER has dropped to second overall behind Whitmore's HUNDEN and Pontus Tornlund's HEAVY DUTY has ascended into third overall.  For more J/80 Sweden sailing info.  

J/80s Racing "Sail-East" Regattas

(West Mersea, England)-  The first of the season's five Hutton Construction and HCC Insurance International sponsored Sail-East Regattas took place on the River Blackwater estuary over the weekend of 15th and 16th May.

The event organised by West Mersea's Dabchicks Sailing Club. 26 yachts from around the region took part, with Saturday's first race sailed in a light breeze, before the strong tide and fickle air in the second race made for extremely testing conditions. The wind then increased to a steady force three for Sunday's race, which blew away hangovers from Saturday evening's traditional party and ceiling walking festivities (Michael Jackson "moon-walking" upside down??).

Taking the top position in the J/80 class was home club skipper Nick Glanvill sailing his newly acquired J/80 JALFREZI, which had race placings of second, twelfth and fourth.  Typifying the usual closeness of Sail East inshore yacht racing, only two minutes covered the top eight positions in the final race of nearly two hours.

Sail-East now looks forward to the second event of the season, the Felixstowe Regatta on 3rd and 4th July, when two days of sharp racing round windward/leeward courses is promised.   For more Sail East regatta and sailing information.  

Brezellec Wins J/80 French Nationals

(Brest, France)- Sailing as part of the Grand Prix Ecole Navale in Brest, the large forty-nine boat J/80 class conducted their 2010 French Nationals.  Eric Brezellec and his crew won. And how! At the end of the ten races run off Brest in the Grand Prix Ecole Navale, Eric's J/80 JACCUZZI / GOLD SAILING finished 33 points ahead of second, never finishing below 6th place. Undeniable victory as they say!

Sylvain Pellissier and Dominic Vittet on VOILERIE ALL PURPOSE finished second, as they did at SPI OUEST France earlier in the spring. They take a serious hold to the lead for the J/80 Coupe de France 2010 series as a result of this finish.  Finally, Jean-Charles Moriceau and his team on INTERFACE CONCEPT 1 complete this superb podium, getting third overall.

Eric Brezellec said, "We're really pleased, especially since we sailed together for the first time. But the crew were all Brestois ... this helped because here the wind shifted a lot and the waters are very complex. It's very hard for the nerves. We wish to thank the organization for very nice event and congratulate the excellent race committee who handled the conditions brilliantly. "  For more J/80 France sailing information  

Royal St. George Win Cumberland Cup in J/80s

(London, England) - With a close to perfect score, Andrew Fowler's team of Sam Hurst, Brendan Fafliani, John Sheehy, Nick Smyth, Guy O'Leary, Peter Bailey and Phil Lawton from Royal St George YC in Dublin, Ireland, won the 2010 Royal Thames Cumberland Cup from Ian Ilsley's team from Yacht Club de Monaco.  Firm friend and arch-rival were the Southern Yacht Club of New Orleans that  finished third, claiming by dint of that result the Bourgne Cup, contested on each and every occasion the clubs meet.

The seven teams sailed a total of 54 races over three days at Queen Mary Water hard by Heathrow airport.  A classic bright scarlet Routemaster double-decker omnibus, that iconic symbol of London,  ferried the crews to and from the RTYC's Knightsbridge clubhouse.

Sailing in a fleet of eight carefully-matched J/80s, the competition began with a two-day double round-robin in which each team raced each other team twice. St George topped the league, winning 11 out of their 12 matches and losing only to the hosts and current holders, Royal Thames, and thus apparently setting the scene for the finals. It was a scene dramatically re-shaped by the winner-take-all nature of the Cumberland Cup's competition structure.

With teams traveling from across the globe to compete in this regatta, the organizers deliberately eschew a competition format that eliminates teams early from the competition, espousing instead a format that keeps every team sailing into the final round. The result is The Ladder. On The Ladder, a win carries the double bonus of promotion to the next rung - but every loss earns the double-penalty of relegation. On The Ladder, it is just possible by dint of really good sailing to redeem a disappointing result in the round-robin and climb all the way to the top - as did the Monegasques - while the series leaders - in this case the Irish - must not put a foot wrong if they are to retain their fingertip grip on the crown. -- Malcolm McKeag   For more Cumberland Cup J/80 sailing / regatta information  

Lady's Sailing Team- France J/80

You have to check out this cute blog from a remarkable group of women sailing in France.  This year, this "Lady's Sailing Team" fielded three entries for the 32nd SPI OUEST France! They certainly enjoyed the sailing and the camaraderie socializing with many new friends in La Trinite Sur Mer, the beautiful seaside town that hosts this enormous regatta.  In this photo are- Moana, Pauline, Tara,  Allyson, Cecil-- these gals all raced in the 2010 SPI OUEST J/80 class.  Based on this level of enthusiasm racing their J/80s, it's no wonder French women are the leaders in the ISAF Women's Match Race rankings. Read more about their team and approach to sailing here (all French, but Google Translate does an OK translation).   Lady's Sailing Team- SPI OUEST report.      Lady's Sailing Team Blog.  

Santander J/80 Maqueche Trophy

Piris' FONESTAR Beats the House!

(Santander, Spain)- The Spanish teams continue to build on their competitiveness in the J/80 class.  A strong fleet assembled for Santander's Maqueche Trophy sailed off Isla Santa Marina, with Real Club Marítimo de Santander playing host. 

Few could imagine that after scoring four straight wins in the first half of the regatta that FONESTAR could lose the top spot, but that's the way it is in the Santander J/80 fleet. After sailing ECC VIVIENDAS to a sensational series of 1-1-1-2 in the second half of the regatta, the crew of Pichu Torcida and Juan Gonzalez were just a single point away from overall victory.  On the last leg of the last race, Jaime Piris sailed FONESTAR back into contention to just hold on to their tenuous lead in this highly competitive fleet.

If the fight for the lead was creating a lot of anxiety between Piris' and Torcida's crew, there was even more emotion as to who would take the third overall- a virtual three-way tie going into the last race.  In the end, David Madrazo's LUPA won the tie-breaker and took third overall with thirty points.  Tono Gorostegui sailed FUNDESTIC well, but not enough to overcome some bad scores to finish fourth on the tie-breaker.  Alberto Padron's MABLE got the short end of the stick on a few tactical calls and hung in there to finish fifth overall.   For more Spanish J/80 sailing info
  

J/80 UK National Championship

Ian Atkins' BOATS.COM Triumphant

(Cardiff, Wales, UK)-  The Tacktick Suunto J/80 UK National Championship was hosted by the Cardiff Bay Yacht Club and was presided over by PRO David Cairncross. The fleet were greeted by more breeze on Saturday morning than they had enjoyed over the previous two days of the Championship; a blustery 15 to 23 knots blowing from the cold North East. Going in to the final day only seven points separated the top three at the Championship; BOATS.COM, ELLE S'APPELLE and PURPLE HAZE.

Race Seven was won by JUST DO IT, helmed by Terry Palmer. Having mastered their downwind big breeze sailing at the Spi Ouest Regatta at Easter (alongside 92 other J/80s) the JUST DO IT squad had been hoping for something a little more fruity than on the previous two days, and were duly rewarded. Tom Phipps and Kelvin Matthews sailing for the British Keelboat Academy finished second and Ian Atkins took third place in BOATS.COM.

Having had a couple of frustrating days at the Championship, Kelvin Matthews, sailing with Tom Phipps for the British Keelboat Academy, went on the record on Friday when he said 'We've not yet put in our best performance at this event'. Delighting in the heavier breeze, British Keelboat Academy duly went out on Saturday morning and nailed the second race, Race Eight of the series. In second place was STEP TOE (one of the four boats entered by the charity Toe in The Water) and Ian Atkins settled for a safe third, enough to win him and his team from BOATS.COM the Tacktick Suunto J/80 UK National Championship with a race to spare. Nice one all; Ian Atkins on Helm, Rob Lark on Tactics, Dan Brown on Trim and Karen Schwerdt on 'Pit and making everything happen'.  The final race of the championship, Race Nine, was also won by BOATS.COM; a fitting finish to a consistent and impressive campaign.  The final results saw Ian Atkins team on BOATS.COM sailing to only sixteen points, followed by Thor Askeland's ELLE S'APPELLE with twenty five points and lying third was Scott Cole sailing PURPLE HAZE just eight points back.

It was heartwarming to see the teams sailing for TOE IN THE WATER charity do so well, with three of the four teams finishing in the top ten.  The TITW charity aims to encourage and rehabilitate injured servicemen and women through the sport of sailing.  The "top Toe" was STEP TOE in sixth, followed by LITTLE TOE in eighth and TIP TOE in ninth-- good show there gang!   For J/80 UK Nationals info      Photo credits- Tim Wright  

Royal Thames YC's Cumberland Cup Race J/80s

(London, England) The international battle for the honour of winning the world's oldest yachting trophy - dating back to 1775 and established some 76 years before the America's Cup - will be hosted by the Royal Thames Yacht Club on May 12-16.  The Cumberland Cup is the UK's only regularly-held international two-boat team racing event in keelboats, and the only event to take place in the capital-- sailing on J/80s!  Team racing with four boats, two-on-two, makes for some spectacular  sailing-- last place loses!

This year the event is supported by the Royal Thames Yacht Club corporate partner, the luxury Swiss watch manufacturer Audemars Piguet, and has attracted entries from clubs as far afield as Australia, Germany, Ireland, Monaco, New Zealand, USA as well as the UK.

Held every two years, the 2010 race takes place at Queen Mary Sailing Club, which is situated on one of London's largest reservoirs, conveniently close to London's Heathrow Airport for the arrival of the international crews.

The eight teams - representing the Royal Perth Yacht Club of Western Australia; a combined Norddeutsche Regatta Verein & Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee representing Germany; Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club of New Zealand; Royal St George Yacht Club, Ireland; Southern Yacht Club of New Orleans, USA; Yacht Club de Monaco, as well as a team from the host club, Royal Thames Yacht Club - will battle for the honour of winning the Cumberland Cup in the Royal Thames Yacht Club's fleet of identical J/80 One-Design sailboats- Europe's fastest growing one-design keelboat.

The Cumberland Cup was established in 1775 when the Duke of Cumberland, brother of George III, put up a silver cup for a race on the River Thames and formed the Cumberland Fleet.  This remains the alternative name for the Royal Thames Yacht Club, which is based at Knightsbridge.  For more Cumberland Cup sailing / regatta information  

J/80 SW NOOD Champion- Terry Flynn Interview

* Terry Flynn- a past J/80 World Champion had a great time in the recent SW Annapolis NOOD Regatta, in particular since he had long-time Texas friend Mark Foster sailing with him (a former 470 Champion with Mark Ploch and J/24 Champion, too).  Sailing World's Mike Lovett interviewed Terry, read on below:

With a first-time crew, Terry Flynn won the J/80 class—and the overall prize—at the 2010 Sperry Top-Sider Annapolis NOOD.  As the J/80 freight train rolls northward on its USA Tour, bound for the World Championships in Newport, R.I., in October, the class just keeps picking up steam. The 36-boat fleet at the 2010 Sperry Top-Sider Annapolis NOOD was the largest of the regatta's 16 divisions, and, arguably, the most competitive.

Over the course of eight races, four boats posted first-place finishes; Houston native Terry Flynn had just one bullet in his scoreline, but his team sailed with enough consistency to win both the division and the overall prize, which includes an invitation to compete in the NOOD Championship in the B.V.I. in November.

The Annapolis NOOD was the first time Flynn had sailed with his crew of David Whelan, Mark Foster, and Charlie Snyder, but the Quantum sailmaker had no trouble getting everyone on the same page. "Too many times, when it's your first time sailing together as a crew, everybody's real quiet the first race of the regatta, and you do terrible," says Flynn. "We made an effort to say, 'You start giving input, and if we don't want to hear it, we'll tell you."

With Foster and Snyder feeding information to Whelan, the tactician, Flynn was able to concentrate on steering the boat through the light wind and mixed-up chop on Chesapeake Bay. "I didn't do anything but drive," he says. "I put my head down, concentrated on keeping the boat moving, and listened to what they wanted me to do. I very rarely got involved in the tactical end of things. I'm pretty good at listening, and they're pretty good a putting me where we need to be.

"It's important for everyone on board to give feedback," continues Flynn. "I've been on boats where the tactician doesn't really share the information, he just kind of tells the skipper when to tack. But I think it's important that the skipper know the thought process. That way, it's not like, 'Why are we doing this?'"

Refined communication, uncharacteristically good starts—"I historically have terrible starts," says Flynn—and close attention to changes in wind speed propelled Flynn's team to victory. And, apparently, word is spreading that the affable Texan is a fun guy with whom to sail. "I've already had a few people come up and tell me they want to go to the B.V.I. to crew with me," he says.

Between now and November, Flynn will be competing in the J/80 North American Championships, the aforementioned Worlds, and the J/22 North American Championship. So there's a good chance that, by the time he hops aboard that Sunsail 39 in Tortola, Flynn could have a few more feathers in his cap—and a few more eager crew members.   More SW NOOD Regatta coverage.  

J/80 UK Nationals Preview

(Cardiff, England)- The Tacktick Suunto J/80 UK National Championship 2010 commences this week. The event will be hosted by the Cardiff Bay Yacht Club, racing will take place in the Bristol Channel under the watchful eye of PRO David Cairncross. The J/80 is the fastest selling sportsboat in Europe and the UK J/80 class is delighted that marine electronics specialists Tacktick Suunto are sponsoring the event.

The competition in Cardiff will be hotly fought; alongside the travellers there will be a strong local field of five J/80 teams. J/80 International Class Chairman, Steve Cooper, will be competing in JUNIOR HIGH. Steve sailed the J/80 Worlds in Santander last year. Another local, Scott Cole and his team on PURPLE HAZE, are known to be fast-- both these boats know the sailing area well.

Toe In The Water, a charity that aims to encourage and rehabilitate injured servicemen and women through the sport of sailing, have four boats entered in the regatta. The relationship between the charity and the UK J/80 Class has been established for over three years now. Whilst these crews don’t get to sail with each other as frequently as many of the others at the Nationals, in the past the Toe In The Water teams have proved tactically strong and have shown skilful boat handling as well as pace.

The British Keelboat Academy will be represented by Tom Phipps and Kelvin Matthews. These lads got really strong results at the championships in 2009 and will be well worth watching. The Britannia Royal Naval College will also be racing for the Championship title in J/80 WAVE WARRIOR skippered by Joe Henry.

From the Solent, Thor Askeland makes his J/80 National Championship debut, racing  ELLE S'APPELLE. Thor won the Autumn Champs in Hamble last year and has shown more than a few moments of brilliance throughout the spring season. Terry Palmer (J/80 UK Class Chairman) and Caroline Cooper slotted in a top three result in the 93 boat J/80 fleet at Spi Ouest earlier this year, racing JUST DO IT. Ian Atkins will also be making the trip to Cardiff; having won 5 of 7 races last weekend in the Warsash Spring Series, Ian and his crew on BOATS.COM will always be a force to be reckoned with.   For J/80 UK Nationals sailing info    Photo credits- Tim Wright/ Photoaction.com