J/111 J-XCENTRIC 3rd IRC Doublehanders(Cowes, IOW, England)- This year's Rolex Fastnet Race provided the sailors plenty of drama but mostly of the anxiety-inducing kind associated with watching enormous leads evaporate into thin-air while sitting at anchor, in no wind, and watching the night horizon behind you growing into an armada or red and green lights descending upon you like locusts!
As we said earlier, for those who love the 608 nm traverse offshore of southwestern England and southern Ireland, the 2011 race delivered on all counts. It proved a hugely tactical race and competitors fought for speed in a whole variety of conditions from 30 knots of breeze through to what was a complete shut-down in the pressure. Extraordinarily frightening for some, gut wrenchingly frustrating for others, incredibly rewarding for those who got it right.
The J/122 NUTMEG IV, owned and raced by Francois Lognone and his crew were the top J overall in the Fastnet 2011. As a seasoned offshore campaigner, it's a well deserved and hard fought result for the French skipper and crew of this forty footer. Their 8th IRC overall translates to 3rd in IRC 2 Division and 1st in IRC 2A Class! Another J/122, Neil Kipling’s JOOPSTER finished 16th place in IRC Overall and 5th in IRC 2A. By virtue of this strong showing in the Fastnet Race, Neill's JOOPSTER now leads the RORC Season Points Championship in IRC 2!
Yves Grosjeans’s bright red forty-three foot J/133 JIVARO was just a few steps behind in 20th place overall and 5th IRC 1B. Another J/133, Angus Bates' ASSARAIN IV was 27th IRC Overall and 9th in IRC 1B.
The
J/111s sailed fast, but the real issue for them has been whether or not
they went fast in the wrong direction too quickly. For the IRC
Doublehanded class, the J/111 team on J-XCENTRIC, the Dutch team of John
van der Starre & Robin Verhoef finishing first boat-for-boat on
elapsed and finished 3rd in class. At the time they anchored just 200
meters from the finish line in an adverse current and no wind, the J/111
J-XCENTRIC had been winning its class for 99% of the race!! This was
their first Rolex Fastnet Race and Van de Starre said he was impressed:
"This is a great challenge of tactics, handling and everything. There is
so much in it - I had a really good experience. Racing double-handed is
about management - everything has to work well, you need a good
autopilot, all the preparation in advance should be perfect, and we had
it very well organised." Read more about Robin's and John's epic story below in the J/community section. Second boat to cross in the Doublehanded Class happened to be the J/120 NUNATAK sailed by Mike Jaques and crew. NUNATAK ultimately finished 12th on corrected. Perhaps the biggest story of the Doublehanded Class, other than the near-certain win by J-XCENTRIC was the remarkable come-back and amazing sailing by the family team on the J/97 JIKA-JIKA, a great offshore bonding experience (we're sure) for both Mike and Jamie Holmes! JIKA-JIKA sailed to a hard-earned 5th in class against some long-time veteran offshore teams. Some of their "Tweets" were amusing on the RORC website. Just behind this group were some of those veteran J/105 campaigners, with Niki Curwen and Alex Adams finishing 16th on their J/105 VOADOR. Just behind them in 17th was Nick Martin's DIABLO-J, currently 4th in the RORC Offshore Season Points Championship in the Doublehanded Class (VOADOR is now up to 5th).
For more Rolex Fastnet Race sailing information
