(The Hague, The Netherlands)- If the J/111s are getting faster and
smarter in the UK sailing on the Solent as one-designs, the teams in the
Benelux region and France were also getting into the act by hosting a
training and tuning session themselves. Called "How to Tune Up Your
J/111", many J/111 sailors attended the Grevelingencup event in Port
Zeelande. Principal hosts were the crew of the J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER.The "Ripper" team have donor a lot of ocean miles in their J/111 over the last two years! This year they sailed the Covenant Majeure Broom and the Dutch Open in IRC2 and won both! They also sailed such international events as the Rolex RORC Fastnet Race, SPI OUEST France and the RORC Commodores' Cup.
All the experiences the "Ripper" team had accumulated over the past 1.5 years regarding their boat preparation, modifications of hardware, mast and rig tuning settings were discussed and explained during a morning "theory" session.
Then, with the help of the "Ripper" team they went down to the boat and they explained their J/111's mast base settings together with their trim tables for the sails and their polar VPP targets-- a nice guide for improving everyone's performance in their boats.
After lunch was on-the-water training. The "Ripper" crew distributed themselves over the four J/111s, their own boat as well as the three other J/111s attending. They explained how they sailed their boat, including sail trim and boat-handling knowledge.
Afterwards, all the 111 teams could look back on a beautiful day where a large amount of information became available and everyone was looking forward with great enthusiasm to the next Grevelingencup on 16 December where the 4 boats will compete against each other as one-designs within the ORC field!
Ultimately, the common goal next season is for everyone to sail at a much higher level in the competitions they participate in. A number of boats, including "Xcentric Ripper" will definitely participate in the new one-design "J/111 European circuit". Thanks for the contribution from John van der Starre, owner/ skipper of XCENTRIC RIPPER.
