J/80 Worlds 2015 Announcement

(Kiel, Germany)- Please join us for the 2015 J/80 Worlds in Germany! The regatta will take place from July 4th to 10th in Kiel, Germany on the Baltic Sea.

Host of the J/80 Worlds 2015 is the Kieler Yacht-Club (KYC), which annually conducts the famous Kieler Woche and organized excellent international Sailing Events (ORC Worlds 2014, Star Europeans 2009, 505 Worlds 2014, German Sailing Grand Prix 2007) and the J/80 Worlds 2008. It is the second World Championship of the sporty and dynamic J/80 class in Germany. Up to 300 sailors from 15 nations are expected in the Olympic Center Kiel-Schilksee.

The races of the World Championship 2015 will be staged on the well known Kieler Woche race area. The persons in charge, Ulrich Münker, Peter Hecht, Thore Hansen and Felix Weidling of KYC, German class representatives, Andreas Rose and Frank Ruehr are absolutely motivated to organize such a fantastic and fair race week as in 2008. You will find the race-village and berths close to hotels, apartments and camping site in the Olympic Center Kiel-Schilksee. Numerous accommodation located in Kiel-Schilksee and village of Strande are within 15 min walking distance from berth. The Olympic Center is from 1972 but due to ongoing usage for Kieler Woche, many national and international sailing events and training facilities of the German sailing federation the infrastructure is kept up to date.

Apart from top-notch infrastructure ashore, we expect ideal wind an weather conditions in July. Beside the yacht harbor you and your family will find sandy beaches with shallow waters in Schilksee and Strande. Both places are tourist destinations and offer shops for tourists and sailors like supermarkets, marine chandlers, sail-maker, bakery, restaurants, swimming-pool, pharmacy etc. Everything else you will find in Kiel city, which is 15 km along Kiel Fjord to the south. Kiel is the capital of state Schleswig-Holstein with maritime and naval tradition and offers your family a range of activities for the case of bad weather. Further tourist informations about Kiel and the charming countryside surrounding you will find on www.kiel-sailing-city.de in English, Danish and Swedish. Among the staff of the Kiel Tourist-Information you will find English, Spanish and French speaking organizing team members.

Two weeks prior to the J/80 Worlds the Kieler Woche will take place with 4 days of J/80-regattas Saturday June 20th to Tuesday June 23rd. Please find all information online: www.kieler-woche.com. Three more J/80 regattas in Kiel will start in May and June (MAIOR, May 01-03; WetterWelt Cup, blau-gelbeKanne, see www.j80.de in February, when schedules are published). Further information on event-website www.j80worlds2015.com. Notice of race is expected for December. 

J/80 Teams Training for Marseilles Worlds

(Marseilles, France)- In just about six months, over 150 J/80s are expected to participate in the J/80 Worlds hosted in Marseilles, France from July 6th to 13th.  A majority of the fleet will most certainly come from France as it has evolved as the largest one-design class in the country, some fleets will send over a dozen boats.  Strong contingents will also include Spain, home to the past few year's World Champions, as well as strong contenders from England, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Sweden and Denmark.  Over 15 nations are expected to be represented at the event.

Marseilles is a remarkable place to sail, situated as a city-by-the-Mediterranean sea at the southern end of a long chain of mountains that are part of the French Alps.  If weather fronts aren't passing through and generating good breeze, the near "adiabatic" winds that can be generated in the form of "mistrals" and "sea breezes" provide the sailors plenty of challenges as they look for advantage on the race course.  As a result, the Match Race France event is always held in Marseilles in their fleet of J/80s, part of the World Match Race Tour.   For more J/80 Worlds Marseille sailing information

As part of team training, it's evident many French fleets and others around Europe are already making preparations to be in top shape for the event.  Here's a quick synopsis of what is happening so far in France:

J/80 La Rochelle, France:
Despite the fact it's middle of winter on the Bay of Biscay, several J/80s have already gone sailing in the New Year!  Four boats went training, BALAJO, CHARLY, J'ILE DE RE and JYPSIENS.  Saturday it was very cold and rainy but all were bundled-up to stay warm! At 1400 hrs, the boats went out in a fresh 20 kts NE breeze for about three hours of sailing on small douses and performing both boat speed and boat-handling maneuvers.

On Sunday the teams sailed from 1000 hrs to 1530 hrs with a WNW wind 10 knots and above all a beautiful sun! The program again for the day was speed tests, adjustments, and course exercises. All of this was filmed and recorded with GPS for debrief and analysis afterwards onshore.  Thanks to contribution from Ann-Pascale.

J/80 Pornic, France:
Like their friends in La Rochelle, the Pornic fleet is starting its training this coming weekend.  About twelve boats are expected on the water for training.  Great weather with 5-10 kts northerly winds swinging WNW, sun and a pleasant temperature are expected.

J/80 La Trinite sur Mer, France:
This year, the La Trinite J/80 fleet is hosting its 5th edition of La Trinité J/80 Challenge! There are always five weekends planned for a combination of training and racing with commentary/ analysis afterwards.  To make it fun, the top three events will be selected for the general results.  The format for each weekend is:
- Saturday- training with a specific theme and coach
- Sunday- racing short courses with results counting for the Challenge.

On the last weekend, the races will take place on Saturday and the awards ceremony on Saturday evening.  This year, each weekend is named after one of our sponsor/ partners!

1 - Nautic Sport - 2/3 February
2 - La Plancha - 16/17 February
3 - Casino Partouche - 2/3 March
4 - Armorlux - 16/17 March
5 - Zing Café - 23/24 March

Finally, for SPI OUEST France, on Friday, March 29 at 18:30, there will be a "Soiree Nacional" that will honor the best crews of all fleets in France.  Thanks for contribution from Arnaud Walter.
For more information on French J/80 sailing & training events.

JOIE DE VIVRE Sails Perfect Benelux Championship

(Gravelines, Belgium)- This year's Open Benelux J/80 Championship saw a champion crowned with an unprecedented series- 7 1sts in seven races.  Laura Vroon and crew sailed their hearts out and simply established themselves at the front of the fleet like no one could ever imagine.  Girls Rule!!

It was a beautiful battlefield with hard, stormy winds, perfect race committee work, good organization, excellent sportsmanship and fair play at a very competitive level for the entire field of sailors. Participants spoke of the best regatta ever. The Regatta Jury had no objection to being needed as there were no protests lodged whatsoever-- everything on the water was handled by self-imposed "criminal circles", as all competitors seemed to judge by one another fairly.  The fair play award went to Henk Everwijn, who after a port/ starboard situation at the finish, withdrew without a protest.

The "fair play" amongst the fleet is even more remarkable given the compactness of the field.  A single error immediately took many places, tactical situations were the norm, and this meant the difference between position 2 and 6.  This was not the case for JOIE DE VIVRE Team, their first place was a serene one without one challenger. JDV took every race from the start line. Sailing fast and high with superb boat-handling and superb sail-trim, JDV was first at the upwind mark virtually every time.  After which their lead steadily extended every time, so they cashed-in after the seven races for the gold.  An amazing performance for Laura Vroon and crew!

Just behind them was quite a battle for second in this epic regatta.  JUUL's Bernard Holsboer, who sustained some damage in the stormy 32 kts winds on the first day were pleased with their performance, despite dropping from 2nd to 3rd overall. Dueling it out for the balance of the podium were the defending champion JALAPENO- Erik Scheeren and JUUL.  After a storm-tossed first day and a match-race for second, it was JALAPENO that took the lead to take second overall. JUUL was third.  NJOY's Coen van Veen sailed well to take fourth and fifth was MENTAQUILIBRIUM's Christopher Savoy.

Of note, it was nice to see a new J/80 sailor learning the ropes and improving race-to-race over the course of the season.  The "Rookie of the Year" had to be Eric Hogervorst sailing QUICK & DIRTY, displaying a remarkable increase in his speed boat and tactics, taking 8th in the regatta.  More next year, we promise!  For more J/22 Netherlands/ Benelux sailing information.

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

German J/80 Youth Team Report

* German J/80 Youth sailing team report- from Fynn Terveer- like their Long Island Sound youth sailing buddies, this German J/80 youth team has been having a fun and successful season sailing their boat "Bibelot GER 529".  Here's Fynn's report-

"Our team of BIBELOT GER 529 got funding from the German J/80 Class Association to participate in the 2012 German J/80 Open sailing circuit this season.  Some of you we have probably already met, others we have not met on the race course. Therefore I would like to report briefly on our crew.

Our crew is comprised of Malte Harneit (18 yrs old) on main sheet, Felix Stallforth (19 yrs old) on jib sheet, Patrick Flob (17) on the gennaker, and me Terveer Fynn, as skipper.  All of us have been sailing for about five years in the Kieler Yacht Club. Here Felix and Malte had been sailing 29ers for two years in the Kieler Yacht School. Good things have been happening there with great changes for junior sailors.  Patrick and I have sailed for five years and active in the yachting school, along with 35 other young members, we added four more boats and two dinghies.

As with most other J/80 teams, we are ready to race in the Schlei One Design Cup and at German Open in Flensburg. Furthermore, we are ready to sail in Berlin or Hamburg, provided there are enough sailing teams to race us!! We are looking forward to a fun end-of-the-season sailing program!  Best regards, Fynn!"

Spain Sweeps J/80 Worlds

(Dartmouth, England)- At a constant wind speed of 33 knots coupled with swells in excess of 4 metres (12 feet plus) across the race area had necessitated the decision to abandon racing for the day and for the regata. An excited round of applause rang around the Race HQ as the assembled fleet congratulated the new J/80 World Champions: Jose Maria van der Ploeg and his crew on board NILFISK: Luis Mas, Juan Merayo, Hugo Ramon and twelve year old Jose ‘Junior’ van der Ploeg.  A sweet and well-deserving victory for this family crew!

The nine races sailed at The MIQ Logistics 2012 J/80 World Championship Powered by SLAM each delivered a different winner: a fact that is testament to the level of competition on the race-track within the International J/80 Class. Van der Ploeg’s team on NILFISK never conceded a single result outside of the top 14 boats during the course of the regatta but nor did he finish a race within the top two. Skilled consistency in crew work, boat handling, tactics and intelligent regatta strategy delivered a World Championship win for NILFISK with a four point lead over the second placed boat, Rayco Tabares’ Hotel Princesa Yaiza and six points over third place Carlos Martinez’ Mapfre.

All 76 J/80s were de-rigged and lifted back on to their road trailers on Friday afternoon along Dartmouth ’s North Embankment so that 350 competitors could rush home to spruce themselves up in advance of the Closing Ceremony and Prize-giving Dinner scheduled for Friday evening. The venue for the closing ceremony (by virtue of the fact that the Britannia Yacht Club shared the hosting of the World Championship with the Royal Dart Yacht Club) was Britannia Royal Naval College .

Competitors enjoyed dinner, wine and a fair few tots of SLAM-buca on Friday night in the stunning surroundings of The Senior Gun Room and The Ward Room at the college before moving on to the official Prize-giving Ceremony which was held on The Quarterdeck. Prizes were presented to the top ten boats at the MIQ Logistics 2012 World Championship Powered by SLAM. Several British J/80 teams featured in the role-call: Kevin Sproul’s J.A.T finished in fourth, Robert Larke’s J2X took sixth place, Simon Ling’s RAF benevolent Fund Team Spitfire finished ninth overall and Simon Johnson and Ruairidh Scott’s Joyeuse finished tenth overall. The largest piece of silverware presented on the night war Rennie and Ruth Miller’s J/80 One-Design Cup which went to Sproul and his team from J.A.T who were the best performing British team at the Worlds. Special prizes from Allspars of Plymouth were awarded the best performing furthest travelled boat, which went to Andrew Moore’s Tigrina from Hong Kong and to stalwart supporter of the J/80 UK Class, Scott Cole and his team on Purple Haze.

At the Prizegiving Commodore Simon Williams of Britannia Royal Naval College explained how much the college had enjoyed being involved with the World Championship and without need to recourse to spoken word his presence at the Ceremony meant that all competitors were duly reminded what an honour and privilege it was to take part in such an auspicious event in such dramatic and historic surroundings.

Paul Heys of Key Yachting thanked Britannia Royal Naval College , Mike Moody and his team at the Royal Dart Yacht Club, the PRO Mike Pearson, the massive team of volunteer helpers and all of the sponsors of the event: Principal Sponsors MIQ Logistics and SLAM. Supporting Sponsors Baltic Wharf, Brittany Ferries, Coast Graphics and Dart Harbour and Prize Sponsors Allspars, Café Alf Resco, Chandlery.co.uk, Lifedge by Scanstrut, Paul Barclay, Rowbury Gallery and the Royal Castle Hotel.  Dancing and celebrations continued in to the small hours of Saturday morning.    Sailing photo credits- Tim Wright- http://www.photoaction.com  For more J/80 Worlds sailing information

J/80 JALAPENO Wins Almere Regatta

Fresh to Frightening Winds Challenge Sailors
(Muiderzand, Netherlands)- The JALAPENO Team skippered by Piet Vroon and powered by Joie de Vivre wins Almere Regatta six races.  The Regatta had two perfect days to  determine the winners in very challenging and changing weather conditions. Saturday averaged 30 knots with gusts of 45-- yes, the "blowing dogs off chains" variety! Sunday it blew between 0 and 24 knots from the north and the south and everything in between. The J/80 has again proven that it can sail in all extremes and hang together.  Even then, gusts to 45 kts are a bit much.  Amongst the "surfing content" winners was ELF, managing a shade shy of 20 knots on the speedo!

Behind Vroon's JALAPENO team, who by the way had straight 1sts as counters, second went to Holsboer's JUUL, third went to Everwijn's ELF, fourth was Spaan's J-STRING and fifth was Elsink's J'ZUS.   For more J/80 Almere Regatta Sailing information

J/80s Sailing Grevelingen Cup Practice

* J/80 Grevelingen Cup Regatta in The Netherlands are having fun getting themselves up to speed in the middle of the European winter.  Conditions have been less than ideal, but they did manage to get some good "GoPro"-like video of their racing.  You can watch some of it here:

YOUTube video---http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w1KKeVJ7wU

J/80 Grevelingen Cup

(Marina Port Zelande, Ouddorp, Netherlands)- Over the course of the second weekend in January, the J/80 fleet in the Netherlands have their sites set on a good showing in this summer's J/80 World's in Dartmouth, England.  Like their French sailing friends to the south, they recognize the opportunity to grow their fleets, increase overall participation and have some good performances to show for their efforts.   Even further south in Spain, the evidence is abundantly clear that organization coalescing around several key events with training/practice weekends designed to get "everyone" up-to-speed makes an enormous difference for even the top crews! That the Spanish J/80 class has created several J/80 World Champions is no accident.  They have fun sailing and, most importantly, make sure that no one is left behind.  No prima-donna's there, that's for sure (must the sangria and tapas)!

As was reported this past week from J/80 sailors at the Grevelingen Cup, "training is clearly starting to bear fruit.  In the Grevelingen Cup last weekend, the fleet of fourteen boats sailed very close together.  How you finished was determined by meters or less for the top five positions.  That's great racing!"

For 2012, the J/80 class in Belgium and the Netherlands have a number of objectives to continue growing the class and participation in major events.  One of those is to grow a fleet of ten boats in the northern Benelux areas.  As a result, the summer 2012 sailing season is envisioned to encompass the following events:

February- Grevelingencup Series

March- last Grevelingencup plus awards.  JOIE de VIVRE proposes sail training between the G-Cup matches, time and place TBD.

April 28-29- Almere Regatta Muiderzand. Berths for the entire fleet in the harbor are "FREE"! Working on "free beer", too.

June-August- Naarden- sailing Wednesday "beer-can" races, minimum 5 J/80s present. Create a Netherlands/ Benelux Nationals.

Please contact us at the J/80 Benelux/ Netherlands class association.   For more J/80 Grevelingen Cup sailing information   For a nice video on J/80 sailing the Grevelingen Cup.

JALAPENO Burns Benelux J/80 Championship

(Grevelingenmeer, Belgium)- Last weekend the Benelux J/80 sailors were greeted by unseasonably warm, sunny weather like their British counterparts across La Manche (the Channel).  In the the bright weather was some "bright sailing" by Team JALAPENO, sailed by Erik Scheeren.  "Hot weather, hot boat", they played a dominant role all weekend.  The first race marked the JALAPENO boys "thankful" streak as well-- after a failed start in race one, they chose the "other side" of the field and the race course, this decision ultimately resulted in a spectacular first place in race 1!

The mild weather and shifty breezes resulted in position changes every race for the compact fleet.  Amazingly, the mild weather also resulted in conservative starts, no recalls, an unusual scenario for the J/80 fleet!  One team got their boat well underway while others were looking for the right settings.  Plus, while the wind strength was building gradually all day, one also had to be looking for wind streaks and stay in them.  This was especially important for finding the right course for downwind speed to the finish line.  Saturday saw a lot of good racing!  At the end of the day, Laura Vroon's JOI DE VIVRE stayed close and took a first place in race 4, but it was not hard enough to beat TEAM JALAPENO, who were hotter than hot!

On Sunday, the Grevelingenmeer was just like the rest of the Netherlands (or for that matter, the rest of Europe), with a dense fog shrouding the entire lake.  After the racing was postponed twice, it was decided not to sail anymore race.  This made for a slightly anticlimactic finish for the regatta, but despite the limited number of races, there was no dissatisfaction with the results-- it was quite clear to most all of the contestants that the superior performance of TEAM JALAPENO on Saturday made them a worthy 2011 Benelux Open Champion!  And, speaking of being "thankful", we must give "Thanks" to Tom-Erik "Chief" of the lake and Grevelingencup organization.   For more J/80 Benelux Open Championship sailing information

CO-PILOTES Dominates French J/80 Nationals

(Saint Cast, France)- The record fleet of seventy-four boats were treated to a superb weekend of sailing in the 2011 French J/80 Nationals, hosted in Saint Cast along the Bay of Biscay by Centre Nautique Saint Cast.  The event also marked the "changing of the guard" amongst the leaders in the French fleet.  Many of the top teams that had been dominating the standings all season long found themselves fighting for contention at the top of the fleet.  A new leader emerged that probably surprised everyone in the fleet, the team of CO-PILOTES for YC Granville won sailed by the team of Benoit Charon, Christian Ponthieu, Gael Fichet and Olivier Camebourg.  And, they won BIG!  Twenty four points big after seven races!

The first day of racing dawned with spectacular sailing conditions.  Gorgeous weather, moderate breeze, sunny.  Most importantly, the 74 boat strong fleet managed to get in three races on the first day.  It was an impressive level of competition.  At the end of the first day, the leader-board saw Yannick Le Clech's COTE D'ARMOR BLANC in first with an 8-2-5, followed by Charon's CO-PILOTES in second with a 2-13-4 and Clement Guihot's APCC J-PRANGOO in third with a 7-6-15.  Clearly, high scores for all in the top three.

Day two was a tough day for most teams.  Only two races were sailed that put a premium on getting clear lanes, clear air and to the correct side of the course.  Large gains and losses happened to many of the teams.   After a delay due to the presence of haze, driven by the wind, the fleet sailed in light ESE winds from 2 to 9 knots under clear skies and mild temperatures.  A pretty day for sailing, but tough on the tacticians!  There was a tremendous premium on getting off the starting to get to where you needed to go.  And, the multiple general recalls only heightened the anxiety for the top skippers in the fleet.  After the clouds of dust cleared from the battlefield, a new leader emerged to lead the pack, Charon's CO-PILOTES overcame great odds to win both races!  Dropping back significantly was Le Clech's COTE D'ARMOR BLANC with a 9-DSQ.  Ascending rapidly up the ladder was Quentin Ponroy's JIINGLE with a record of 3-10-24-12-7, good for third overall going into the final day of racing.

The third and last day of the French J/80 Nationals was an opportunity for the committee to launch two nice races in a 12-15 knot wind, an ideal setting for the final, determining races in the regatta. The best performances of the day went to top French women skipper, Christine Briand, racing J'ILE DE RE to a 5-6, and also to Simon Moriceau sailing INTERFACE CONCEPT III to an 8-2.  As a result, the top five again saw a significant change in the standings as some of the top French teams all season long prevailed in their consistency to stay in the top ten in most races.  Sailing a superb regatta, and "congratulations" to his team, was Benoit Charon's CO-PILOTES from YC Granville, finishing out with a 7-10 for just 25 points after 7 races!  Behind them in second was Nicolas Troussel's BRETAGNE CREDIT MUTUEL with a record of 14-8-33-11-2-1-13 for 49 pts (drop included).  Third was Quentin Ponroy's JIINGLE, fourth was Christine Briand's J'ILE DE RE and fifth was top French sailor at the J/80 Worlds, Eric Brezellec on the familiar INTERFACE CONCEPT II.

Congratulations to the CNSC Race Committee for getting off seven excellent races over the three days.  Not an easy task considering the conditions of the wind, current and the aggressiveness of the fleet that caused a number of general recalls.    Sailing photo credits- Luc LeGrand/ Fox Images  For more French J/80 Nationals sailing information

Spanish Teams Sweep J/80 Worlds

Camino, VDP, Martinez, Tabares Go 1-2-3-4!
(Copenhagen, Denmark- July 8th)-  As one of the world's leading one-design keelboat classes, this year's J/80 World Championships did not disappoint.  With sixty-eight competitors participating in a world-class regatta sailed by some of the top sailors in the world, most sailors expected the top Europeans to factor in amongst the leaders.  With multiple Olympic and World Champions participating as skippers or tacticians and the best sailors from Spain sailing as a team, too, it was also expected the Spanish teams would be amongst the leaders at the end of the regatta.  In fact, the script for this "movie" played out nearly the same as it has in past worlds.

The last day racing dawned with grey skies, easterly winds of 10 knots and rain pouring down in Dragor, but that was not going to stop the Royal Danish YC's PRO from pressing forward to complete yet another challenging World Championship.  One where the actors were nearly the same as in the past four championships, but with roles swapping as to the new "cinderella story" and who would be the "new sheriff in town" for 2011.

After four days and nine races of excellent sailing in conditions that saw light to moderate winds for the entire event, it was clear the Spanish sailors are not only fast in a big breeze and big waves, they're also quite fast and smart in shifty, wind streak, "drag race-type" sailing conditions on the Baltic Sea where the winds never exceeded 12 knots!  Showing their extraordinary versatility was the new sheriff, World Champion for 2011, Ignacio Camino's team sailing their renown NEXTEL ENGINEERING to a very well deserved win over some extremely tough competition.  Ignacio and crew only had to get two good top 10 finishes on the last day to win, finishing with a 4-6 to win his second J/80 World Championship, the second Spanish sailor in a row to do so (countryman Pichu Torcida won the 2010 J/80 Worlds in Newport, RI in epic conditions).  They finished with a total score of 34 points to win by 10 points over the second place boat.

The Cinderella (and family) story of this year's Worlds has to be the remarkable comeback of Jose Maria van deer Ploeg (a.k.a. "VDP") sailing his boat GREAT SAILNG. Jose started off the series on the first day barely in the top 20 with a 27-17-11, disappointing to say the least.  Thereafter, from day two to day four, Jose's team (including his young son) simply smoked the fleet!  Perhaps, near total domination and a "schooling" of the fleet may be a better perspective regards how well Jose's team sailed the last six races.  How about a scoreline against Olympic medallists and World Champs in multiple classes that would be the envy of any team sailing in Dragor-- a 5-1-5-2-2-1 to finish with 44 points and win a tie-breaker with another Spanish team-mate Carlos Martinez (himself a former World Champion).  Proof that "family teams" can be competitive at a world-class level in one of the world's premiere one-design keelboats!

Third in the Spanish sweep of the podium was Carlos Martinez racing MAPFRE with his very strong, well-practiced team.  Carlos' team was yet another Spanish team that raced up the ladder after a disastrous first day, starting with a 3-26-4, to then finish off the series with an average of 6th place to finish with 44 points and lose the tie-breaker to Jose Maria!

Fourth yet another Spanish J/80 World Champion, Rayco Tabares and crew on HOTEL PRINCESS YAIZA GRAND CANARIAS, the same boat he's raced for years.  Amongst the top five, it was apparent that Rayco was the most despondent after the first day's racing- starting off with a disastrous 4-9-52.  Nevertheless, Rayco has proven to be a strong, indomitable competitor, and his "never say die" attitude serves him well.  Rayco's team confidently bounced back to be the only team to score back-to-back 1st places in races 7 & 8 to jump higher than most kangaroos and finish with 53 points.  In fact, had Rayco pulled off a miracle and finished in the top three in the last race, he would've finished 2nd overall!

Perhaps the "hard luck" award has to go to American Glenn Darden, yet another J/80 World Champion, sailing with his veteran team aboard LE TIGRE.  After starting off strongly to lead the regatta for the first two days, a lapse in race 7 on the third day was too much for them to absorb to stay in contention for the top three.  Now having to count both an 18th and 15th, Glenn's team nevertheless showed the rest of the world the LE TIGRE team is never to be counted out in the final results.  After getting the second best record of the final day behind Jose Maria's 2-1, LE TIGRE's 5-2 bounced them back up the ladder to fifth place overall with 56 points.

If Glenn's LE TIGRE team fell on some hard luck in some races, so too the same can be said for Sweden's Ingemar Sundstedt SWE 243.  Sundstedt was lying second going into the last day with a very good chance of being the first Swedish team to win the J/80 Worlds, especially since their worst race up to the last day was a 14th and their average finish was about 6th place, the most consistent team on the race course for the first three days!  However, the first race of the last day erased all chances of that happening, finishing with a 27th, then followed by a 7th in the last race to end the regatta with 58 points and finish 6th overall.

Finally, mention should be made of the very strong showing by the top French teams, Eric Brezellec on INTERFACE CONCEPT 2, the current French J/80 National Champion, finishing 7th and Jean Charles Moriceau finishing 8th!  Furthermore, it was also the first time the German teams showed both good boat-speed and good tactics, getting the next four places in the standings!  German teams finished 9th- Sven Vagt's GER 1027, 10th- Martin Menzner's GER 614 (a regatta leader on Day One), 11th- Bjorn Beilken's GER 1107 and 12th- Malte Christopherson's GER 745.   Top Danish team from the host country was Jesper Kragh Jespersen's DEN 850 in 13th, the top Italian team was Massimo Rama's EXTREME SAILING TEAM beating fellow Italian Aldo Samele's CANARINO FEROCE 2 by a HALF point! The top Russian team was Vitaliy Tarakanov RUS 999 in 29th, top British team was Tom Phipps' HAMBLE YACHT SERVICES in 32nd, top Polish team was Pawel Boksa's POL 1187 in 39th, top Netherlands team was Laura Vroon's NED 831 in 36th, top Estonian team was Peeter Meressaar's EST 603 in 56th and top Finnish team was Otto Reittila FIN 1144 in 64th.

In the final analysis, the racing was extraordinarily close going into the last day, as has been the case for at least the past four J/80 World Championships.  Excellent world-class sailing by the top fifteen, at least.  What was interesting was to see the depth of the teams that could pull off a top three finish during the course of the regatta, particularly in conditions where hitting corners often did NOT pay-off.  The top three podium finishes only accounted for 8 top three finishes (of a potential 27 possible!) and only four 1st places (just 44% of the 9 races!).  That's stunning fleet depth.  Moreover, the only teams that could get two first places in the series were the winner, Ignacio Camino's NEXTEL ENGINEERING and Rayco Tabares' HOTEL PRINCESS YAIZA GRAND CANARIAS.  The lowest placing race winner (race #4) was Frenchman Luc Nadal who finished 24th; lowest place 2nd (race #5) was the Danish/American team of GULDFAXE (Tom Klok, Will/Marie Crump and Will Welles) in 17th overall.  Lowest place 3rd (race #2) was Italian Naval Academy Sailing Team's Giorgio Guzzi who finished 37th.  There are few, if any, international one-design keelboat/ sportboat classes of any kind that can demonstrate that kind of fleet depth and ability to sail a boat fast enough, easily enough to fire one into the top three in any given race! That's cool.  Moreover, a "family boat", finished second overall- the father/son team aboard Jose Maria van deer Ploeg's GREAT SAILING-- that's even cooler.

The two women's teams faired well considering the depth of the competition, the best was TEAM MALTESERS ("The Sweeter Side of Sailing"), Gritt Bjornshave's five women team on DEN 1176 getting three finishes in the 20s and finishing 43rd overall.  Sailing Photo credits: Peter Sogaard Photos      For more J/80 Worlds sailing information

  

Record 105 J/80s Racing SPI Ouest!

(La Trinite sur Mer, France)- The largest one-design fleet in the history of SPI Ouest-France is expected for the J/80 class with more than 105 teams planning to attend.  Seven countries are represented with international crews from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Sweden. The strength of the French J/80 class have contributed to this record turnout, it's considered the best one-design class in France and routinely attracts the best French one-design sailors; included amongst them is Bruno Trouble, the managing director of Louis Vuitton's participation in the America's Cup.  Bruno is again expected to sail with most of his "Jurassic Park" COYOTE crew that accompanied him in Newport for the J/80 Worlds--- one tough group of hombres!

This strong turnout also bodes well for the J/80 Worlds 2013 that will take place in France (over 140 crews expected) and for which preparations have already begun (applications of organizing clubs are open, the final site selection will be done later this year).

Of note will be the fact that one of the best PRO's in France, Christophe Gaumont, will be managing the races at SPI Ouest, as he did for the 2007 J/80 Worlds.  The fleet will be split in two with four flights rotating against one another to determine the Gold and Silver fleets, then competition will commence to determine the ultimate overall champion.  For more SPI-Ouest J/80 sailing information.
Sailing photo credits:   Eric Rousseau - VELOX IMAGES    Laurent Vidal - PHOTOMER  

Copa del Rey Invites J/80 class

(Palma de Mallorca, Spain)- The J/80 class has been invited to participate in one of the most prestigious events on the Spanish sailing calendar, the eponymous Copa del Rey held on the beautiful bay and waters off Palma de Mallorca, Spain.  The event is hosted by the Real Club Nautico de Palma e Mallorca and includes select one-design classes, IRC and Maxi boats.  The regatta will run from July 30th to August 6th.  The entry limit is 40 boats and 5 berths have been reserved for foreign (non-Spanish) competitors, so please chose your best team and make an early entry.  If you wish to sail, you can find more information on sailing a J/80 in Copa del Rey.