ECC VIVIENDAS Leads El Trofeo Maqueche

(Santander, Spain)- If the previous weekends were tough on the past J/80 World Champion, it was clear that Pichu Torcida and team were not going to take the defeats lightly.  This past weekend, with spectacular winds, sun, gusty westerlies in the Bay of Santander, the J/80s were simply flying around everywhere, most of the time upright!  After a month worth of October's light wind conditions, the sailors were happy to see the more typical breezes of this time of year.

This regatta is fun because it incorporates both buoy racing and "coastal tours" for the 20 sailing teams that were participating.  The coastal tours were starting and finishing in front of the Club Maritimo and turns in front of Marina Beacon Bay of Biscay in Camargo, and turns near the Isla Horadada. The sections of the course heading west saw spinnakers hoisted, vibrant in color, pulling with enormous power, with boats exploding off the tops of waves.

The best team of the day was ECC VIVIENDAS, with Pichu Torcida scoring a 2-1 for 3 pts.  They were three points clear of a three-way tie for second place, which included Paul Santurde/ Dave Madrazo's GO FIT with a 1-5, SOLUCIONES CINCO's Alfredo Gonzalez with a 4-2 and NEXTEL's 3-3.

Watch this group of world-class sailors continue to duel for the top of the podium over the next few weeks, a bunch of tough hombres who don't give any quarter in the tightest of situations.  For more Spanish J/80 sailing information

J/80 Rocks SAILING WORLD!

(Newport, RI)- The final day of racing at last year's J/80 Worlds in Newport, RI produced fantastic opportunities for sailing photographers to capture the essence of sailing a high-performance sport boat in epic sailboat racing conditions- ginormous, breaking waves, 18-30 knots winds from the southwest, and clear, azure blue skies with torn-cotton shaped clouds scudding across the horizon.  When other 20-32 foot sport-boats stop racing at 22 knots, the J/80s RULE!!  And, of course, have a LOT of fun sailing on such spectacular days--- where men are men and women are women and have a blast! Just ask Mr. J/80 France, Bruno Trouble, what it's like to sail in up to 30 knot winds!  Bruno and his crew (average age of 64 years old), sailing COYOTE/ JURASSIC PARK, LOVED it and sailed every race, often finishing in the top 15!

One of those sailing photographers at the event, Paul Todd from Outside Images New Zealand, captured some remarkable photos, many of them memorialized in his J/80 coffee table book that you can buy from Blurb.com.  Here's another photo from that epic day of bashing, crashing and flying off the waves-- it's New York YC members Henry Brauer and Stuart Johnstone on the J/80 RASCAL screaming into the finish line of the last race.  Get Sailing World's March issue on the news-stands now- http://www.sailingworld.com