In the Bay of Quiberon off of La Trinite, France no less than 79 J80s arrived for the Easter weekend of the 30th annual Spi Ouest Regatta in France. The talent level was very high and the first 10 in the overall standings battled until the last race. Sylvain Pellissier and his crew were first, followed by the German Ulrich Muenker and Luke Nadal, a mainstay of the class. Under extremely cold conditions and strong wind (especially on Saturday), the forest of white mainsails at the start of each of the five races offered a magnificent spectacle to observers. The J/80 class has clearly arrived and the 2008 season is now off to a great start.In the IRC 1 division, J/133 Jivaro with an all amateur crew finished a respectable 6th place in a fleet of over 44 boats while J/122 J/Lance 4 skippered by Didier Le Moal finished 8th. The J/Lance team suffered sail damage in the heavy air of race 1 which forced them to withdraw. The 44 points proved too much of a deficit from which to recover a podium position, but the crew gave it their best effort for the final three races. results & info.
