J/109s Sweep & J/105 Win Class & Double-handed!(Wicklow, Ireland)- Here's the short story on the RORC Round Ireland 700nm dash from J/109 SGRECH owner, Stephen Tudor- "We achieved 1st in Class 3 and 5th overall. We started from Wicklow, Ireland on Sunday and finished the 700 mile race on Friday having experienced all types of wind conditions and I am pleased to say our J/109 SGRECH was a delight to sail in all conditions - light and heavy. Thanks!
Stephen". To prove a point, Stephen's team lead a tour'de'force of J/Teams in the overall standings, with J/109s, 105, J/122 and J/133 taking six of the top 15 overall places- nearly 50% of this leading group!
The Round Ireland Yacht Race is Ireland’s premier offshore sailing race and is held every two years by Wicklow Sailing Club in association with the Royal Ocean Racing Club. The 704 nautical mile race was first held in 1980 and still retains the original course; “leave Ireland and all its islands excluding Rockall to starboard.” It's one helluva tough race most of the times and the teams will see everything the North Atlantic and the infamous Irish Sea can throw at them- light air fog, heavy air fog and lightning, gales and near-freezing temperatures, to sun and glorious runs under chutes in 70 deg F temps.
In addition to Stephen's success on his J/109 SGRECH, the long-time successful short-handed sailor Nick Martin sailed with his daughter Niki on the J/105 DIABLO-J- sailing Class IRC 3 and Class IRC 8 Double, finishing 4th and 1st respectively-- quite a showing for this tough duo!
As for the rest of the IRC 3 Class, it was packed with a bunch of J/109 trouble-makers, JOKER 2 skippered by John Maybury from Royal Irish YC helped lead a sweep of the class behind SGRECH, finishing 2nd with the JEDI team sailed by Andrew Sarratt from Royal Irish YC in third.
Finally, the J/133 SPIRIT OF JACANA sailed by Bruce Douglas from Carrickfergus YC finished 4th in IRC 1 Class and the J/122 AQUELINA sailed by Jim Tyrerell from Arklow SC finished 4th in IRC 2 Class. For more Round Ireland sailing information
