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. 

2014 J/80 Worlds Registration Now Open!

(Annapolis, MD)- The USA J/80 Class has announced they've opened for registration the 2014 J/80 World Championship being held September 28th to October 4th, 2014 at Eastport YC in Annapolis, MD.

More information and the registration link can be found on the Worlds website at:
http://j80worlds2014.org/race-documents/registration/

Furthermore, the USA J/80 Class has outlined a 2014 J/80 World Circuit for you J/80 enthusiasts and believe they have a great slate of events, especially with a few events being held at the Worlds venue, to promote practice and familiarization of the sailing area.

The 2014 J/80 Worlds Circuit is as follows:

• Jan 19-24- Key West Race Week & J/80 Midwinters- Key West, FL
• Mar 21-23- Davis Island Yacht Club Regatta- Tampa, FL
• Apr 10-13- Charleston Race Week- Charleston, SC
• May 3-5- Annapolis NOODs- Annapolis, MD
• June 6-8- J/Jamboree, Gilford, NH
• Aug 30- Sep 1- J/80 East Coasts- Annapolis YC- Annapolis, MD
• Sep 10-14- J/80 North Americans- Annapolis YC- Annapolis, MD
• Sep 28 - Oct 5- J/80 World Championship- Eastport YC- Annapolis, MD

There will be an Overall Circuit Champion and Runner-Up Award. Boats need to compete in at least 50% of the races to qualify. Finishes will be weighted in accordance with regatta class size to keep it fair.

Please let us know if you have any questions. We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you on the water!    Chris Chadwick, J/80 USA Class Secretary- email- j80churchkey@gmail.com
USA 59 “CHURCH KEY”

Portugal's Rocha Wins J/80 Worlds Cliff-hanger

First Tie-Breaker That Determines The Championship!
(Marseilles, France)- After all the build-up for the J/80 Worlds 2013 in Marseilles, it would appear the domain of J/80 world hegemony would come down to just two nation's top sailing teams-- that of France and Spain.  Undoubtedly, many top teams from other countries like United Kingdom, America, Germany, Italy and Sweden had aspirations to the throne, no one quite expected the ultimate outcome after sailing in challenging conditions for four+ days on the gorgeous Bay of Marseilles.  Crowned as the 2013 J/80 World Champion was skipper Hugo Rocha from Portugal, sailing his NEW TERRITORIES team with an international crew consisting of Alex Semenov and Pavel Savenk from Russia and David De La Plaza Madraz and Francisco Palacio from Spain!

With 117 boats participating, it was going to be a tough event for any team to rise to the top.  One small mistake would cost you dozens of boats upwind, in the corners at the marks or downwind.  Crew handling was critical as well as general boat speed around the track.  The fleet was split into four flights with a rotation for the first two days to qualify for the "Gold" championship fleet.  At that time after the qualifiers, it looked like the Spanish teams were poised to again sweep the podium and take more than just the top three, creating yet a third sweep of the J/80 Worlds.  However, as fate would have it, for one reason or another the leading Spanish teams had their difficulties in the championship round.

Asked what were his objectives before the J/80 Worlds to take part in the competition? Rocha answered, "We are a new team, it was the first time we sailed altogether. Two crew are from St Petersburg, Russia and two are from Spain and I’m from Portugal. We all trained hard for the championship. Last month I participated in the Spanish Championship and my team finished 3rd, but we had to change the team composition because some of the crew had a setback.  At the beginning of the competition, we struggled a little bit with boat-handling, but then we rapidly improved. I can divide the competition into two parts: the first 50% qualifiers we were good (5-12-14-17) and the second 50% we were very good (1-1-3-1-6). It’s a shame we couldn’t have sailed the last day but the wind was irregular and very light."

The balance of the top ten was reflective of the battle between the top French and Spanish teams with a split between them for the top ten.  Sailing a strong championship series was Luc Nadal from France on GAN'JA, scoring lower total points and tied with Rocha's team on total net point at 43 each-- unfortunately, Luc lost the J/80 Worlds based on 1st places and so had to settle for second overall; a tough pill to swallow after leading the worlds after race 7.  Third was the renown French team on INTERFACE CONCEPT led by Eric Brezellec with 51 pts net.  Fourth and fifth were the famous Martinez brothers- famous Spanish Volvo 70 sailors and World 49er champions and Olympians. Carlos Martinez sailed DELTASTONE to 52 pts net.  Fifth was brother Iker Martinez sailing ENBATA 80/ GOLD SAILING with 53 pts net. The balance of the top ten was Frenchman Quentin Ponroy on ELECTRA in 6th, Frenchman Nicolas Lunven on GENERALI in 7th, Spaniard Jose Maria Van der Ploeg on FACTOR ENERGIA in 8th, Canary Islander Rayco Tabares on HOTEL PRINCESA YAIZA (the early regatta leader) in 9th and Frenchman Herve Leduc on JIBE SET in 10th.

The top, and only, American was Brian Keane on SAVASANA in 11th; top Swedish team was Ingemar Sundstedt in 18th; top German team was Sven Vagt on CAMIL FARR POWER SYSTEMS in 27th; top Netherlands team was Laura Vroon on JOIE DE VIVRE in 28th; top Swiss team was Yannick Preitner on ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE DE LAUSANNE in 31st; top British team was Jon Powell on BETTY in 32nd; top Italian team was Massimo Rama's crew on JENIALE! in 46th; top Polish team was Pawel Boksa on MOONRAKER in 68th; the only Omani team was OMAN SAIL led by Rajaa Al Owrsisi in 91st; and Russia's Maxim Kuzmin on ENERGY was 94th.   Spanish Sailing Photos- Jesus Renedo / Trofeo Conde de Godo and Elena Martinez / RCMS.  For more J/80 Worlds sailing information

J/80 Worlds Marseilles Preview

(Marseilles, France)- With 119 teams participating in this year's J/80 Worlds in Marseilles, France, it look like the J/80s have again set the record for the most Worlds with 70+ boat fleets for any International ISAF one-design keelboat class-- four Worlds over the last ten years, quite a remarkable achievement!

The J/80 dominates the European one-design racing circuits and France, in particular, where it is by far the most favored racer-cruiser. Indeed the Coupe de France (French Cup) circuit, organized by the French J/80 class, has nearly 200 boats that participate in the circuit of ten events every year.

The City of Marseille is hosting the event in a remarkable setting; a wide-open gateway to the Mediterranean and the second largest city in France, Marseille is a multi-cultural metropolis with international influence.  Furthermore, Marseille is the European Capital of Culture in 2013 with a great many events organized as part of the celebration.

From the sailors perspective, Marseille is at the centre of water-sports in the Mediterranean with a fabulous sailing area, recognized as one of the finest in France thanks to its 2 natural bays, a vast, protected race area, easily accessible from the harbor, and its steady sea-breezes.  No wonder major sailing events have been sailed in Marseilles; including the America’s Cup circuit, the World Sailing Games, the World Match Racing circuit (on J/80s no less), the Medcup and the MOD 70 European Tour in 70 foot multihulls.

The sailing schedule starts with a the practice race Monday, July 8th followed by five days of racing with up to three races per day, concluding Saturday, July 13th.  With 119 teams from 12 countries (France, Spain, USA, England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Poland, Switzerland, Russia, and Oman) many will be looking to see how well they've improved their performance over the past year of sailing and training with their boats.  No question, there will be some new faces that will surprise some in the top ten and the event may possibly be the first to dethrone the "Spanish armada" that have dominated the past few J/80 Worlds.

As the most recent World Champions, the Spanish are determined to retain the title but the chances of sweeping the top three spots on the podium may be more difficult this time.  They're sending seventeen boats with many of their top teams, including the current World Champion José María Van der Ploeg sailing FACTOR ENERGIA; past World Champions Rayco Tabares on HOTEL PRINCESS YAIZA and Carlos Martinez on ZHIK/ NOVASAIL; and Volvo 70 TELEFONICA star and World 49er Champion Iker Martinez sailing ENBATA 80. That's a formidable group of sailors!

The French are countering with many top teams, including Eric Brezellec's INTERFACE CONCEPT, Simon Moriceau's INTERFACE CONCEPT II, Vincent Vandekerkhove, Pierre-Loïc Berthet at the helm of Nicolas Lunven's GENERALI, Laurent Sambron's ATLANTIS, Luc Nadal on GAN'JA and the team of Arthur Herreman/ Romain Bethune sailing MATCH THE WORLD!

The next strongest group of teams may be the British and Swedish teams.  The Swedish teams include Anders Rosenberg sailing DYNAMANT, Ingemar Sundstedt, and Lars Gellerhed on MK-PRODUKTER.  The British teams include Jon Powell's BETTY, Patrick Liardet sailing AQUA-J, Allen Higgs skippering JUICY, and Stew Hawthorn sailing J'AI DEUX AMOURS- all very strong teams with a shot at the podium and certainly the top ten.

Highlights of leading teams from other countries include the lone American team sailing- Brian Keane's SAVASANA; top Netherlands team sailed by Laura Vroon on JOI DE VIVRE; Thomas Dehler's ANEGADA from Germany; Massimo Rama's JENIALE! from Italy; Asrar Al Ajmi sailing TEAM AL THURAYA BANK MUSCAT from Oman (the first Omani team to sail a J/80 Worlds); Pawel Boksa on MOONRAKER from Poland; Maxim Kuzmin on J-BLUE 8 from Russia (the first Russian J/80 team to sail a Worlds); and Yannick Preitner sailing POLYTECHNIQUE FEDERALE DE LAUSANNE from Switzerland.

The Worlds promise to be another competitive, if not epic event for the 119 teams sailing for the next week!  Marseilles weather can be capricious if fronts are moving quickly across continental Europe, especially if some of the classic "mistral" conditions kick in and blow cold, strong winds out of the lower French Alps!  Shifty winds and massive blasts rolling off the mountains can be quite a challenge in the Bay of Marseille.

Meanwhile, here's a YouTube of a French team recently practicing in windy, wavy conditions off Marseille.  Looks like they had some fun learning how to gybe better in the big breeze!  Watch on YouTube here.   Spanish Sailing Photos- Jesus Renedo / Trofeo Conde de Godo and Elena Martinez / RCMS.  For more J/80 Worlds sailing information

MATCH THE WORLD Dominates J/80s In Normandy

(Le Havre, France)- Sailing on the northern coastline of France can be an experience many never forget, especially with famously powerful Lows rolling in off the chilly North Sea and slamming the western European coastline with gale force winds and massive 10-15 foot waves smashing into the beaches.  Toss in 20 ft plus tidal range and massive amounts of current across the race courses and the conditions can truly be described as challenging.  This year's Normandy Sailing Week participants had the best of all worlds, sunny skies for most of the event with NE winds in the 15-25 kts range with enormous seas topped by breaking white caps every single day.

The thirty J/80s sailing in the fourth part of their J/80 French Cup Series saw the two leaders run away with the series.  With many of the top teams practicing for the J/80 Worlds in Marseilles, France in July, this event was going to be a good test for how well the various team's preparations were going.  There was no question the J/80s loved the fast and furious pace of the sailing with prolonged surfs and planes in the big breeze.  The conditions also may have had an impact on the outcome of the top five as many of the familiar faces on the French J/80 circuit were eclipsed by some newcomers-- some very experienced "newbies" at that!  Winning the event with a clear demonstration of speed, boat-handling and smart sailing was Romain Bethune sailing MATCH THE WORLD. Starting out by winning the first four races in a row, they never relinquished their lead after the first day of racing.  MATCH THE WORLD's record of 1-1-1-1-3-4-2-1 for 14 pts net was good enough to take the gold and win by five points.  Second overall was a "new girl on the block", Maxime Mesnil sailing MANCHE BASSE NORMANDIE to a very strong 3-2-2-2-1-1-5-3 scoreline for 19 pts net!  Third was yet another class newcomer, Alexis Henri sailing VADK ONE, coming on strong in the end to beat out current European J/80 Champion Eric Brezellec skippering INTERFACE CONCEPT on a tie-breaker at 36 pts apiece!  Fifth was Frederic Hauville from the French Naval Academy, sailing ECOLE NAVALE CG29 to a solid series with most finishes in the five!

Normandy Week is sailed at the end of the Seine River near Le Havre, so current is a very important factor in local tactics. Early on, current maps and information were gathered to be well prepared. Even some famous Belgian Laser sailors with local knowledge got us some extra info. For more J/111 Europeans and J/80 Normandy Sailing Week information

J/80 ELECTRA Electrifies Grand Prix du Crouesty

(Crouesty Arzon, France)- One of the classic late spring, early summer events on the French sailing calendar is the Grand Prix du Crouesty sailed in southern Brittany. It's traditionally been a very strong one-design regatta with additions of handicap fleets over the years.  The GPEN is hosted by Yacht Club Crouesty Arzon and sponsored by the Yacht Club de France. The event is always sailed the weekend of Pentecost on the beautiful bay bordered by Presque'Ile Rhuys and the islands of Houat Hoedic called Mor Braz.

With over 130 boats and 600 sailors competing for three days literally just off the beaches and cliffs, the general public have an exceptional view of Petit Mont on the Bay of Mor Braz.  And, with magnificent conditions blessing the fleet for most of the weekend, the sailors got in some fantastic sailing and some spirited competition.

Like the first major J/80 event, this one also produced yet another "new kid on the block" at the top of the fleet. After sailing eight races, Quentin Ponroy's team on ELECTRA never finished out of the top five, scoring three 1sts and three 3rds to win with 12 pts net, a clear 16 pt margin of victory.  Sailing nearly as smart and fast was Simon Moriceau's INTERFACE CONCEPT, however, two "soon-to-be-forgotten" finishes of 12-18 in races 6 & 7 damaged their efforts to finish atop the podium, settling for second overall with 28 pts net.  Third was Nicolas Lunven on GENERALI, suffering a similar fate as Moriceau, having to face a 17-13-13 score mid-series to otherwise enable them at shot at the top, too.  Fourth was Phillipe Guigene on FAIS TOI PLAISIR MARINE LORIENT and fifth was the familiar team on Luc Nadal's GAN'JA.  For more Grand Prix du Crouesty sailing information

COURRIER DUNKERQUE J/80 Grand Prix Ecole Navale Champion!

(Brest, France)- The 12th edition of the Grand Prix Ecole Navale produced an "upset" of sorts in the French hierarchy of J/80 sailing, one of the largest regional one-design keelboat classes in all of France.  With hundreds of J/80s sailing in France over the past decade, it takes top teams years to migrate to the top of the class and maintain a continuum of success that is not easily achieved.  Last weekend, that status quo was upset by a relative newcomer to the J/80 class in France.

As if destined to win from the very beginning of the vent, COURRIER DUNKERQUE, skippered by Vincent Vandekerkhove managed a great performance to finish first and second in the last two races of the final day of racing, reserving their place atop the J/80 podium as Champions of the GPEN event!  In fact, they never looked back after the first two races, taking their place in the lead spot and never finishing out of the top ten in eight races!  Vandekerkhove dethrones Eric Brézellec and crew on INTERFACE CONCEPT who won the last three editions of the event.

The balance of the podium was comprised of Brezellec's INTERFACE CONCEPT in second place, winning a tie-breaker at 35 pts over fellow team-mate Simon Moriceau's INTERFACE CONCEPT 2, who had to settle for third place. The rest of the top five saw a brilliant performance by Bernard Hughes on ESPOIR PAYS DE LA LOIRE, sailing to a 3-3-1-3 in the first four races, only to "fall from grace with the sea"!  Their next four races were anything but brilliant, having to tack on a BFD-8-13-8 to drop them to 39 pts net, good enough for fourth overall.  Fifth is past J/80 champion Luc Nadal on GAN'JA with 44 net pts.

After four days of intense racing in the harbor of Brest-Morgat Crozon and Camaret, the 177 boats of the Grand Prix Ecole Navale and their 711 crew members completed their competitions on the last day in a moderate westerly flow of 10-15 knots.  Conditions were warmer than the day before and greatly appreciated by competitors after some cool days beforehand

The Grand Prix Ecole Navale event once again confirms the dynamic combination of expertise of the Naval Academy, the Navy and the French Sailing Federation, together with the participation of many volunteers Nautical center of Crozon-Morgat and Club Léo Lagrange de Camaret, led to fantastic regatta organization and on-the-water race management for one of the most famous in European yachting events.
Sailing photo credits:  Pierrick Contin- pierrick.contin@wanadoo.fr/ Jacques Vapillon- photo@vapillon.com    For more J/80 Grand Prix Ecole Navale sailing information

J/Teams Sail Light Air Tour de Belle-Ile

(La Trinite-sur-Mer, France)- The idyllic Brittany setting of La Trinite-sur-Mer was the base for the sixth edition of the Tour de Belle-Ile race in the Bay of Quiberon, Saturday, 4th May. Sunshine and pleasant spring temperatures suggested that this was going to be an excellent event; the issue proved to be the wind. While a thermal breeze was forecast, a frontal sequence, with cirrus and alto-cumulus cloud led to a battle which lasted for most of the day, depriving contestants of the fuel for their sails, namely wind. The start was something of an anti-climax, after all the waiting, at the monohull end of the line, where there was some urgent motoring to get back behind the line before the start in a few cases! It was obvious from the start that the on-going wind battle was not going to provide enough breeze for competitors to complete the Tour de Belle-Ile. Mid-afternoon, as the leader Spindrift approached the Poulains (famous from the photographs of them in storms by the Plissons and others) at the western end of Belle-Ile, the race committee decided to finish the Tour at this location.

With the light winds it appeared that this would be a small boat race. Almost all the entrants finished the shortened race; only about 40 of the 476 competing decided to abandon. The RC PRO wisely decided to postpone the start until 1330 hrs, even then the breeze was just 2-3 kts of wind.  In general, the J/Teams performed very well in the race.

For the J/80 one-design class, Yannick Tabarly's PROXEO too the win by nearly five minutes over his nine other classmates.  Second was Eric Bastard sailing SENJI, third Jean-Marie Liot on STARTIJENN (he's also a famous French photo-journalist), in fourth was Alexandre Bigot sailing CENTRALE-SUPELEC and in fifth was Alexandre Soroko skippering JAM SESSION.

The setting of La Trinité-sur-Mer is ideal, with the town and sailing-related shops immediately across the road from the large marina. The race village was set up by the marina, about 500 metres from the local yacht club, the Societe Nautique de la Trinité. The larger monohulls and multihulls were just the other side of the breakwater from the marina, close to the Capitainerie (Harbour Master's office), so everyone was together - something that most events do not manage to achieve.

Amidst a range of sponsors, Land Rover France came on board (before the Extreme Sailing Series announcement of Land Rover as a partner) - and we would like to recommend to Sodebo, by means of this article, that they extend their sponsorship from the participation of the maxi-trimaran in the event to providing food and sponsoring the event itself. Surely the national and regional TV coverage alone would make this worthwhile, quite apart from the range of people to be found in a fleet of 476+ boats!

The Tour de Belle-Ile is growing in popularity from year to year, and it is easy to see why. The event is smaller than the Bol d'Or on Lake Geneva and far smaller than Britain's JP Morgan Round the Island Race, but has a strong and building following. The race was put back by a weekend this year, into early May, to try to aid entries for another event along the coast a weekend earlier, but that had to be cancelled for lack of entries. However, the Tour de Belle-Ile took place comfortably alongside the Grand Prix Guyader further west, in Douarnenez, near Brest, where many amateur and professional teams are doing battle. Some crews continued from the Tour de Belle-Ile to compete in the Grand Prix, while others left their boats in La Trinité ready for the ArMen Race next weekend.  Thanks for contribution from Anne Hinton @ SailRaceWin.   For more Tour de Belle-Ile sailing information

J/80 Sailors Frozen @ Spi Ouest

(La Trinite sur Mer, France)- Of the 423 boats sailing, over 130 alone were J/Teams (31% of the entire fleet) and, it's safe to say, that after the first day of racing many were wondering how they were going to survive the chilling weather forecasts for the next four days of sailing.  Facing unusually cold, windy conditions for this traditional Easter Regatta, the competitors woke up three mornings in a row to temperatures in below 0 C. (under 32 degrees F), winds blowing 15-25 kts for two of the days. Over the course of the regatta, dropouts were not uncommon, especially with the smaller one-designs-- several people were "med-evac'd" to the hospital using RIBS for treatment of hypothermia.

After a freezing rainy and windy Thursday, the next two days were relatively quiet. However, on Sunday, the last day of racing saw a return to the strong winds and an icy northeast breeze gusting to thirty knots!  While some suffered, others rubbed their hands with glee.  For Eric Brezellec and his tactician, Sebastien Col, the last day of breeze left them ashore. Their J/80, INTERFACE CONCEPT, did not have to sail the last race as they had already won the regatta the day before!

Others in the J/80 class were less fortunate.  The phrase "caught a cold" fits perfectly with the beginning of the competition and for those that endured it for four days.  The OMANI SAIL girls team, in particular, had a tough challenge for them, sailing in conditions they've never experienced in their lives-- icy cold rain, hail, and huge winds.  Said Nicolas Honor, the head of the OMANI SAIL team, "the shock was violent, they'd never seen hail, much less sailed in less than 0 deg C!  After hoisting their spinnaker on the first day, the decided to return to home port-- a good idea and I understand!"

For the rest of the J/80 teams, it was a battle to overcome cold as well as the challenge of sailing smart.  In the beginning, ATLANTIS's Louis Sambron gave Brezellec's crew on INTERFACE CONCEPT some tough battles.  But, a 19-5-38 on Saturday killed their chances of being a contender for the lead.  The same was true for Michael Vasquez's GOLD SAILING from Spain, accumulating a 7, BFD and 14 to drop them from contention as well.  Then, the team on GENERALI led by Nicolas Lunven compounded finishes of 10-9-10 over the first 7 races with a 26th in race 9 on Saturday to torpedo their chances as well.  In the end, while Brezellec's win was a "runaway", a total score over ten races of 12 points (seven 1sts, 2,3 as counters), the fight for the balance of the top five was a dog fight, to say the least.  In the end, Vazquez's team on GOLD SAILING hung in to finish 2nd overall, a full thirty points back from Brezellec's with 42 pts.  Lying third just one point back was Lunven's GENERALI with 43 pts.  One point back in fourth was Sambron's ATLANTIS with 44 pts and rounding out the top five watching all the drama unfold before him was Simon Moriceau's team on INTERFACE CONCEPT 2.

As for the J/70s, suffering no less than their counterparts in the J/80s, the cold was equally taxing on their abilities to sail fast and smart and not be too "numb" from the chilly, windy sailing conditions. In the end, perhaps the ultimate survivor was M Thomas skippering OEUST GREEMENT, winning the J/70 class by just one point! The top four places were so close, that the last race determined how the entire top five finished in the overall standings.  Second was Fred Bouvier of J/Composites sailing J BECRE. Third was M. Kerscaven sailing PL YACHTING with 24 pts.  Fourth was FLAHAULT MARINE sailed by M. Ferchaud, perhaps sailing the most "dyslexic" series-  five 1sts and three 10ths! Rounding out the top five was M. Chapelot sailing ALBERTO.

In the world of IRC racing, many crews either dropped out, replaced crews, or spent time keeping crew-members warm.  With just 18 boats, IRC 4A may well be one of the smaller IRC divisions, but it's incredibly competitive.  And, up to that task was the J/97 MISPICKEL V sailed by B. Fagart, capturing a 5th overall in the difficult weather.

Finally, the "little boat" division is IRC 4B with 40 boats thrashing around the race track freezing their butts off for most of the regatta, much like their colleagues in the J/70s and J/80s.  And, none other than the "classic" J/24, now over 35 years young, managed to sporting a fleet of six boats to duel it out for J/24 "bragging rights".  In the end, top J/24 was INSULARIS's A. Garcia taking 7th in class.  Second J/24 was MARTA's P. Lemaistre taking 9th in class.  And, third J/24 was BOLERO's P. Ravel. Until next year!  May it be much warmer for all sailors in the third weekend of April- Easter Weekend 2014!  For more SPI OUEST France Intermarche sailing information

J/80 French Easter regatta results

Demonstration of the crew of “Interface Concept” in J/80 class finishing with 30 points ahead of second: Eric Brezellec won his third consecutive Spi Ouest France. He will be a great chance for France at the J/80 Worlds to be held in early July in Marseille. Second place is for the Spanish Mikel Vasquez “Sailing Gold” and third for “Generali” skippered by Nicolas Lunven, a former winner of the Solitaire du Figaro. In strong wind and cold conditions, the J/80 French Cup is starting well!

As usual now at La Trinité sur Mer, over 100 (exactly 107) J/80 were present for this major event. Due to the significant number of boats, the J80 fleet has been split in a gold and a silver groups for the final races.

Eric Brezellec: “We won seven of the nine races. This is great! This is a great victory because the level has increased. We had to fight to win so many races. We prepared last winter at Port La Forêt. We make a good team for our workouts. I'm having the same crew for the World: myself, Sebastien Col, Josselin Le Moine and Yann Château".

The same weekend took place the 48^th edition of the SNIM at Marseille won by Stéphane Sollari on “La Nautique” in the J/80 class. Conditions were also windy but temperature much more suitable! J/80s raced at the same area they will next July for the Worlds, close to the beaches and the Corniche, a fantastic viewpoint to the races in the bay.

http://classements.snt-voile.org/freg/finale_spi_2013_s.htm 
http://www.lanautique.com/import/snim__2013_j80%281%29.htm

J/80 Teams Ready For SPI OUEST

Big J/80 Fleet Training for Worlds
(La Trinite sur Mer, France)- The 35th edition of the SPI OUEST-France Intermarché starts on March 28th and goes for four days of racing in the Bay of Quiberon off the famous seaport of La Trinite sur Mer.  SPI OUEST France is one of Europe's largest regattas, and certainly the premiere regatta of the spring sailing season, and over 150 volunteers from the Societe Nautique La Trinité-sur-Mer have been preparing for several weeks to host the 423 registered sailing teams and several thousand sailors. And among the skippers, some of the biggest names in French sailing will once again take part in SPI OUEST; including none other than Thomas Coville, Franck Cammas (Volvo Ocean Race winner on GROUPAMA), Vincent Riou, Michel Desjoyeaux, Nicolas Troussel Souben Daniel, Nicolas Lunven, Franck-Yves Escoffier and others.

The weather scenario is a bit uncertain as a huge depression in the North Atlantic is expected to arrive Monday in the late afternoon, but is preceded by a trough carrying winds. The path it will takes varies from hour to hour based on the various weather models.  Explained Christophe Gaumont (renowned meteorologist), "yesterday, we predicted 35 knots Friday and this morning, we did not expect more than 10 kts!  We should have a weekend with a wide range of conditions, sustained wind Friday and Monday and low to moderate Saturday and Sunday. The east, west, south, a little rain, a little sun. In short, an Easter weekend of varied, colorful and variable weather." Now that's a weather forecast all the sailors can rely upon, isn't it?

Of the 423 boats sailing, over 130 alone are J/Teams (31% of the entire fleet) which makes "J" the dominant sailboat brand at the biggest regatta hosted in France!  Amongst those teams will be an all-women OMAN SAIL team sailing their J/80 LES JUPTIENS in the enormously competitive fleet of 108 J/80s.  This team of women came from Oman to rub shoulders and learn from the biggest names in French offshore and one-design sailing.  Joining them are many familiar names at the top of the J/80 Worlds and most all top French teams will be using SPI OUEST as part of their "tune-up" and training efforts for the J/80 Worlds Marseilles down on the Mediterranean later in July. Amongst those teams are familiar French J/80 names like INTERFACE CONCEPT's Eric Brezellec, INTERFACE CONCEPT 2's Simon Moreceau, ATLANTIS's Louis Sambron, GANJA's Luc Nadal and JIBE SET's Herve Leduc.  One of Spain's top teams, GOLD SAILING with M. Jauregui, will be testing the waters on the Baie de Quiberon.  Alongside him will be Italy's Massimo Rama sailing JENIALE!  For more SPI OUEST France Intermarche sailing information

J/80 Challenge "Casino Partouche" France

(La Trinite sur Mer, France)- As hosts of the 2013 J/80 Worlds in Marseilles, France, it's pretty clear the French J/80 Class is determined to put on a good showing not just as hosts, but as competitors to dethrone the Spanish from winning yet another J/80 Worlds since 2007!  While a formidable challenge, many French teams are capable of winning a world's at this level and at the last two Worlds in Dartmouth, England and Copenhagen, Denmark some of the French teams were on the cusp of taking the podium.

Looking forward to the Marseille Worlds, several fleets in France have already embarked on training programs to improve their overall performance.  In La Trinite, they held the fifth edition of the "Casino Partouche" to focus on training all the teams in the fine-art of sailing a J/80 fast across a broad range of weather conditions.  With eighteen teams participating, the crews enjoyed ENE winds from 8-12 kts on Saturday and more ENE winds ranging from 5-20 kts on Sunday with a bit of chill in the air.

After training and boat-handling, boat-speed drills on Saturday, all the crews sailed four races on Sunday.  In the end the top five teams included, AXELLE J (Damien Zucconi), GREEN SAILS (Julien Bourgeois), CHARLY (Pierre Metais), IMAJINATION (Erwan Gourdon) and JIBI (Yannick Tabarly).

There are two more stops on the training/ racing tour named after their primary sponsors, including:
- March 16-17- "Armor-Lux"
- March 23-24- "The ZING Cafe"

For more information, please contact Arnaud Walter / Arno Skipper on ph# +33-0669-582121 or email- arnoskipper@yahoo.fr     For more J/80 French Class training/ racing programs

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.

J/80 & J/70 UK Nationals- Register Now!

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)-  J/UK and the UK J/80 and J/70 Class are pleased to announce that J/80 and J/70 owners can now submit their entries for their UK National Championships hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes. Registration at the regatta will commence on Thursday 13th June, with racing from Friday 14th June to Sunday 16th June. The overall prize-giving will take place after the final race on Sunday.

As the championships will fall on the same weekend as Isle of Wight Festival, we are advising our customers to book their accommodation as soon as possible, and to transport crew to the island via their J/70 or J/80 as opposed to the ferries, which can become very stacked up during this period.  To enter the UK National Championships and to view the Notice of Race, please visit the event website:
2013 J/80 and J/70 UK National Championships.

The Swedish Report on French J/80 Nationals

(Marstrand, Sweden)- The forecast before departure from Sweden did say the weather was going to be quite challenging- wave height of 5 meters and winds from the west over 17-20 m/s. It was admittedly a little nervous situation, we would drive 250 miles just to sit on the bridge and look out on a raging sea?  But it is an outdoor sport and weather is beyond our control.  If no sailing, we know the oysters will be excellent and we could get in a bit of sightseeing in the worst case.

Our team has not sailed together before, but we have sailed against each other many times across the race track.  This is a bit unusual for me, but it will be fun to do something else (tactics) while Lasse steers, Gitte trims and Pelle does strategy.

Douarnenez in Brittany is probably the nicest place we have sailed in, says everyone when we all arrive. After a great dinner, we look forward to the first race, but it does seem a bit windy.

At dawn on Thursday it was blowing about 15 kts, but gusting much higher, perhaps 30 kts.  It was even windier in the villages, it was raining too, so today's race is canceled. The French sailors are very unhappy, of course, even though the organizers say they must prioritize safety. A sensible decision, we think, although we would happily had sailed out of the protected harbor and into the Atlantic to give it a test.

On Friday, the wind has died down somewhat, so we get out and practice a little before the first start. After the start, we get going good. Up at the first rounding we're 7th with 73 boats behind.  Fun! But, the wind changes 30 degrees and those located on the other side get level or ahead of us while we get into the basement of the fleet! Ugh! But when you go planing along at 15.6 knots, it's hard to not smile!  So, for the next start, we are greatly stoked!

However, it was a tight start and when we dodge a boat before the start we collide with another boat!  Ouch! At the same time we smoke our forestay- gone!  So, when the wind is more than 10 m/s in the Atlantic we can't sail. I jump up and sit forward in the bow, holding the forestay while I get soaked to the skin-- ultimately we get towed into the harbor.

The rest of the day, evening and following morning are devoted to locate spare parts. The French are incredibly friendly and very helpful.  About 7 different sailors from other boats stay around and help us.  Finally, we find what we need in a small village about 1 hour away. By early morning the next day, everything is repaired-- thanks to our dear French friends.

Next race, we are well placed for the first beat, but a big left shift sends us down into the basement again. I have not seen such big wind shifts in the Atlantic before. And 20-30 degree shifts seem to be common here.  This place is worse than Ram in Sweden, but with fast-moving 3 meter waves!  We have some other top boats around us, there are several who have missed the big shift.  But soon, we draw level with the top boats and get a good race finish-- so it's still smiles all the way to the finish.

Today's last race would also be the last of the regatta.  On Sunday it "blew dogs off chains" and then some, so there was no sailing at all.

It is incredibly fun to sail in large fields and, although we were unlucky with the collision and weather, it is still worth the effort to get here and sail. It extends our short season and get a great sailing experience to think back to the dark winter months. The cost is not particularly high, rental boat € 1800, entry fee € 250, accommodation sleeps 4 (with breakfast) € 600 + travel. That is, about 8,000 SKR-- not bad for the experience, really!  Plus, the food and drink and friends were fantastic-- the best!  Until next time, friends!  Sailing photo credits- Jacques Vapillon

Brezellec Wins J/80 Coupe de France

(La Trinite sur Mer, France)- With over 190 participants, it can be said the J/80 Coupe de France is by far the most successful sailing circuit for one-design sailboats in the entire world.  Without a doubt, the level of sailing overall in France has improved considerably since the introduction of the J/80 and the development of fleets on all three coastlines (Bay of Biscay to the west, Mediterranean down south and La Manche in the north).  It is not without coincidence that this year's 2012 Coupe de France was taking on special significance since the next J/80 World Championships are being held in 2013 off Marseilles in July-- and the J/80 French Association are expecting well over 130 J/80s to participate.

The Coupe de France consists of seven events that starts with the famous "monster regatta" known as "Le Spi" (a.k.a. SPI OUEST France) that is sailed in April off the quaint seaside village of La Trinite sur Mer and ends with the Atlantic Telegramme Regatta sailed off Lorient.  The series scoring is based on a "high point" basis that counts 4 of 7 events.  Proving yet again they're the team to beat was Eric Brezellec's INTERFACE CONCEPT I, finishing the series with 359 pts and winning by a clear margin, most notably because of their exceptional performance at SPI Ouest.  Fellow colleague Simon Moriceau also proved they're a rapidly improving team that is a force to be reckoned with for next year's Worlds, finishing 2nd overall with 306 pts due in large part to their strong showings at the Grand Prix Crouesty and the Atlantique Telegramme event in Lorient.  Taking third only one point back was Luc Nadal's GAN'JA with 305 total pts.  Fourth was Herve Leduc's J'ILE DE RE with 287 pts and fifth was Martin Le Pape's ARPEGE PROMOTION with 266 pts.   For more J/80 Coupe de France sailing information

IC2 Wins J/80 French Nationals

(Douarnenez, France)- The J/80 sailing teams in France are clearly gearing up for the J/80 Worlds showdown in Marseilles, France in 2013.  The enormous turnout of highly competitive teams from around Europe meant the seventy-eight teams participating off Douarnenez were going to see spirited competition from the leading teams vying for the top three spots on the podium.

The first day of racing was simply "gray"- the sky, metallic gray, mingled with the sea, just lit by a light cold. But, it was not enough to discourage the crews. The wind had eased a bit before switching to 50 degrees for the first race.  Emerging out of the gloom, somewhat prophetically, to win the first race was Simon Moriceau's team on INTERFACE CONCEPT 2 and, so it went for the rest of the regatta.

Simon's team sailed a strong regatta to win by 5 pts with a 1-6-2-7-2-15 scoreline, quite a remarkable display of sailing for this team.  Second overall was Nicolas Troussel's BRETAGNE CREDIT MUTUEL with a record of 8-1-3-2-9-18 for 23 pts overall.  Third was another top French champion, Luc Nadal, who sailed GAN'JA to a 25-8-6-6-7-4 record for 31 pts.  Rounding out the top five were Quentin Ponroy's ELECTRA in fourth and in fifth was Vincent Vanderkerkhove's DUNKERQUE PLAISANCE.   For more J/80 French Nationals sailing information

J.A.T. Wins J/80 Hamble One-Designs

J/122 JOULOU, J/109 J'TAIME, J/111 JET Lead Hamble Winter Series
(Hamble, England)- Winter finally showed its ugly, nasty teeth to the Garmin Hamble Winter Series and Lewmar Hamble One Design Championships over the past weekend, to mark the halfway point of the series.  While nothing like what their American colonialist counterparts had to survive with an even nastier gal named "Sandy", the gangsters sailing around the Solent certainly had their fair share of bad stuff to contend with for weather.

Saturday was the first day of the final weekend of the Lewmar Hamble One Design Championships. But a ferocious forecast and bitingly cold northerly wind put paid to the plans of the J/80 class, whose racing was cancelled. Only the J/109s ventured out for one race, before racing was called off for the day. One boat lost their rig, which broke above the top spreader, and another two boats had already retired. Steve Maine’s J2EAU won the race, around a minute ahead of JYNNAN TONNYX and YEOMAN OF WIGHT.

Hopes were high for better conditions on Sunday, with competitors enjoying an extra hour in bed as the clocks went back. Despite the cold morning, competitors were greeted by a much more civilized 11-18 knots from the west. The race team set each class two races from up to Hill Head for the smaller boats, and East Knoll for the bigger boats, to laid gate and leeward marks downwind.  J/80s in the Lewmar Hamble One Design Championship fleet raced in the mouth of Southampton Water, sailing three races.

Lewmar Hamble One Design Championships
After the final three races of the two-weekend Lewmar Hamble One Design Championships on Sunday, Phil Taylor’s J.A.T won the J/80 class overall, three points clear of Jon Powell’s BETTY.

After the cancellation on Saturday losing 4 races, the final 3 races on Sunday were always going to set-up for a grand finale between the main protagonists at the top of the leader-board. 15 boats lined up just off from the Royal Southern race mark with a mixed forecast and strong tides set for the day.

Race 1 - saw Patrick Liardet 'Aqua-J' dominate from start to finish and the team of J.A.T for most of the race were not anywhere near the chocolates, getting the final mark with a strong tide proved the decider where Phil Taylor and Kevin Sproul's 'J.A.T' shot back up to 2nd place just beating John Powell's 'Betty'.

Race 2 - the J/80 class is always known for never backing down from a start, and on this occasion it was only a matter of time when the inevitable was going to happen. At 20 seconds (due to about 2 to 3 knots of tide taking the fleet over the line) to go pretty much the entire fleet where recalled and the the PRO decided to break out the Z-Flag... much talk went around the fleet as usually the black flag is usually pulled. 2nd time lucky and the fleet got away, from start to finish it was lead by the team of 'J.A.T' followed by the new Royal Southern YC Academy team 'Spitfire' in 2nd and 'Betty' in 3rd.

Race 3 - with everything still to play for and no outright winner just yet, race 3 was all about getting away at the start. Off the line 'J.A.T' got caught in the pack but the vast experience of the team shot them out towards the front of the fleet. The course now with very little tide was a game of getting the right shifts upwind and down and therefore the fleet remained incredibly tight. At the finish though it was Phil and Kevin's 'J.A.T' bringing the fleet home first with John Powell's 'Betty' snatching 2nd place from new UK Chairman Mark Baskerville's 'Mistral'.

So overall the team of 'J.A.T' won but it wasn't an easy task. The fleet would like to thank Hamble River SC for organising a great event and look forward to working with them in 2013 to develop this fantastic end of year championships.

The J/109s raced with the main Garmin Hamble Winter Series fleet. Christopher Palmer’s J-TAIME posted two firsts on Sunday, but this wasn’t enough to beat Owain Franks’ JYNNAX TONNYX, whose 2 second places on Sunday, was enough put them two points clear overall.  In second is Richard & Valerie Griffith's OUTRAJEOUS with 25 pts.  This is Paul Griffiths' JAGERBOMB a scant one point back with 26 pts in third.  The balance of the top five is Steve Maine in J2EAU tied on points but in fourth on the tie-break with David Rolfe & Andy Johns' SHADOWFAX.

Garmin Hamble Winter Series
In the main series, the shifty, patchy breeze meant that large gains and losses were there for the taking, and in many classes the status quo was upset by some fantastic displays of tactical sailing. Andark was the day sponsor, and presented prizes to the winners in each class.

In IRC 0 Class, Ivan Trotman’s J/122 JOLOU posted two firsts to take them four points clear at the top of the class.  Things were closer in the IRC 3 class with Nick & Adam Munday's J/97 INDULJENCE having an "off-weekend", scoring a 6-2 to drop back to second in class just two points off the pace for 1st overall with 11 pts.

In the one-designs, David and Kirsty Apthorp’s J-DREAM enjoyed similar success in the J/111 class taking two bullets for the weekend to be winning class with 10 pts.  Second is Cornel Riklin's tough French crew onboard JITTERBUG with a 3-3 to keep 2nd place and third is Tony Mack's McFLY with 16 pts total.

For the J/109s, Paul Griffiths' JAGERBOMB is leading with 10 pts followed by Owain Franks' JYNNAN TONNYX in second with 14 pts and David McLeman's OFFBEAT in third with 18 pts.

Next week, there’s a break in the series, before it resumes on the 11th November. The next four weeks have one race per day to get competitors in before the light fades. Enjoy the break and see you in a fortnight!   For more Garmin Hamble Winter Series sailing information

Williams Trumps Match Race France

Englishman Eclipses World's Top Match Racers
(Marseille, France)- The reigning Alpari World Match Racing Tour champion, Ian Williams won the Match Race France title and moved up to take the overall lead of the Tour. Williams did it by defeating the young New Zealander, Will Tiller 2-0 in a downpour and freshening breeze off Marseille in the matched fleet of J/80 one-design racers. The final was delayed by light winds, so the race committee shortened it to the first to two points. When it did freshen enough to start racing, the rapidly increasing breeze came with heavy rain - not exactly Mediterranean conditions! It did not put Williams off his game however, with a shut-out in the first race, he then passed Tiller at the final mark in the second race to close it out.

The overall Tour leader, Bjorn Hansen added no points to his score at Match Race France, after finishing ninth, while Williams scored 25 points for his win. It means that Williams now takes a nine point lead into the final two events of the year, the Gold Cup in Bermuda next week, and then the season finale, the Monsoon Cup in early December in Malaysia.   For some great YouTube video action   For more World Match Race Tour sailing information

J/80 Match Race France

World's Top Match Racers Sailing 80s In Marseilles 
(Marseille, France)- As the world’s top match racers arrive in Marseille for Match Race France this week, they embark on two crucial events in two weeks, which could transform the Alpari World Match Racing Tour (AWMRT) leader-board ahead of the season-finale Monsoon Cup in December. Pierre-Antoine Morvan believes his Vannes Agglo Sailing Team can be one of the surprise packages.

Morvan (FRA) Vannes Agglo Sailing Team comes to his home regatta after a podium finish at the recent St. Moritz Match Race and a strong performance at last week’s final warm-up, Internationeaux de France de Match Racing in Pornichet, where he lost in the final to compatriot Mathieu Richard.

Morvan holds a Tour Card for the first time this year but has proved his abilities against the world’s top match racers, establishing joint third position in the overall Tour leader-board. He now feels that a win at his favorite event of the season can set up an exciting showdown for the Tour title. He said: “We have been looking forward to this event, it will be a great feeling to sail the Alpari World Tour in France. We know the boats as we use the J/80’s at home and we know the event from previous years.  If we win Match Race France, we can start thinking about winning the whole Tour. Coming into our first full season we were targeting a top 5 finish. Now I think we can do a good event here and go to the Monsoon Cup aiming for the podium and challenging for the title hopefully.”

Twenty-five points are available to each the winner of Match Race France and the subsequent Argo Group Gold Cup in Bermuda (1-7 Oct) and should one team manage to win both, they could transform their season as Johnie Berntsson managed in the 2011 season, taking a podium finish at the last event of the season.

Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team went into last year’s final three events in mid-table but managed to take second place at both the Argo Group Gold Cup and Monsoon Cup, securing a third overall in the premier international sailing series. Having recorded a season-best fifth place at the recent St. Moritz Match Race and currently sitting in eighth position on the leader-board, he is hoping that he can recreate that late run of results once again. He said: “I’m expecting us to finish strongly again this year, perhaps even more so than last year. It is still wide open this season I think, there are a few teams that could come through to challenge and we’re one of them."

Match Race France sees wildcard entries from local favorite and 2011 event winner, Damien Iehl (FRA) Wind 2 Win, former ISAF Match Racing World Champion Adam Minoprio (NZL) Black Match and recent Women’s Elliot 6m Olympic Champion, Tamara Echegoyen (ESP) Echegoyen Team.

Gold medallist Echegoyen is excited about taking on the world’s top match races and thinks her team can really hone their abilities amongst a world class professional field. She said: “The Olympics was a great experience and something that made me very happy. This is the a very different challenge and it’s the first time I’ve entered a men’s event at this level. It’ll definitely be a challenge and one I can really learn a lot from every day. It’ll be really good for our development. I am expecting that perhaps the racing will be slightly more aggressive and with the bigger boats, it is likely to be a bit more physical than we are used to. Let’s see how we get on.”   For more World Match Race Tour sailing information