J/122 & J/133 Revel In Tough Going
(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- This year's race to St Malo proved to be a light airs affair but that is something that can happen in any yacht race (it's a 164 nm race course that takes you from Cowes, England to Casquets to Les Hanois and finish in St Malo, France). As British Racing Team coach, Jim Saltonstall, pointed out: "Whether you are sailing in big waves with 40 knots of wind or ghosting along in light airs, you need to sail to the best of your ability to get the results that you wish for. In very light conditions, sailors really need to concentrate on maintaining their focus. Boredom can create mental apathy and the bottom line is that concentration levels have got to be 100% in light airs, just as much as at any other time."The French teams appeared to have enormous amounts of focus and managed to eclipse their rivals in the two largest IRC divisions- IRC Zero and IRC One.
IRC Zero was won by Yves Grosjean's J/133, JIVARO, by nine minutes on corrected time from last year's overall winner, Hugues Riche's Grand Soleil 44, Spineck. JIVARO also finished third overall in the IRC fleet behind the two TP 52s.
In IRC One the first eight boats on corrected time were all from France. Francois Lognone's J/122, NUTMEG IV, was the winner and took home the Yeoman Trophy. Philippe Reminiac's J/133, BLACKJACK finished third in class. NUTMEG IV sailed well enough to finish fifth overall in the IRC Fleet and BLACKJACK was tenth.
The IRC Two David McGough's J/109 JUST SO hung in there in the tough light air going to finish 5th in class. For more RORC Cowes-St Malo sailing info
