Ling’s RAF SPITFIRE Takes Corinthians!(La Rochelle, France)- Sun and wind dominated the 2015 J/70 World Championship, and the J/70 itself put on the show this week in La Rochelle, France. Superb sailing conditions and fierce competition marked the week, which ends with the victory of the Mexican team FLOJITO Y COOPERANDO (MEX 384) and its skipper Julian Fernandez Neckelmann. The crew included fellow Mexican Erik Brockman and Americans Bill Hardesty and Willem Van Way. In the Corinthian fleet, it was the Englishman Simon LING on the TEAM RAF BENEVOLENT FUND SPITFIRE (GBR 123) who won the amateur trophy with crew Craig Burlton, Ian Southworth and Tony Hanlon.
It was one of the more memorable weeks of sailing for most of the eighty J/70 teams that hailed from seventeen countries and all five major continents. Starting on Monday’s measurement day and Tuesday’s practice day, the teams got accustomed to sailing in “classic” La Rochelle summer weather conditions. Albeit a bit warm at the outset, the next few days brought the “northwesterlies” the bay off La Rochelle is renowned for, with winds ranging in the 8 to 17 kts range. Only on Friday did the fleet experience an offshore easterly that challenged the sailors’ tactical capabilities. As host of the J/70 Worlds, the Societe Regates Rochelaises team did a fantastic job both on and offshore, with solid race management on the water and fun, easy-going onshore festivities after the racing.
First dayThere was a lot of sun, some clouds and a good wind for the first day. The first two days of sailing were scheduled for start times at 1300 hours. The competitors left the port in the late morning to get to the racing area. Three races were held Wednesday, under a partly cloudy sky and with a slightly oscillating wind between 12 to 17 knots from the west.
Around half past one, after a general recall, the competitors took their first start of the Championship, a start under black flag. A clockwise rotation of the wind required a change of course, and it was the English team on BOATS.COM skippered by Ian Atkins who won the first race in 53 minutes- this year’s Spi Ouest France winner in the J/70. At the start, the wind shifted so far left (approximately 45 degrees), that not one boat could cross the line on starboard; the entire fleet ended up flipping onto port tack to clear the line and the left-most teams never had to tack to lay the first mark. From there, the first run became a reach down the track, but a course change for the next two legs ensured more proper windward-leeward legs.
The second race was more difficult since the tidal current combined with the wind were pushing the boats on the line. Three general recalls were necessary before having a good start, and more than a eighteen boats were declared BFD (disqualified for premature start) for that race and had to wait for the start of the next and last race of the day.
After
the first day, it was Mexico’s Fernandez sailing FLOJITO Y COOPERANDO
that took the overall lead. Just behind in second place was the US team
HELLY HANSEN with Tim Healy as skipper, the 2014 J/70 World Championship
winner. As Tim explained, "The conditions were good, but the wind was a
bit shifty which made the race quite tricky. We missed such a change
during the third race so we didn't make a very good start, but we
managed to climb back into the race to 13th, which was not so bad.
Anyway, we have not been BFD today, like many competitors, which is
good." With a crew he knows very well and with whom he is used to
sailing for several years, Tim HEALY was happy with the first day in La
Rochelle on a body of water he did not know but had heard off. However,
he is well aware that nothing is determined yet for the championship,
saying, "This is a large fleet, and everyone came very well prepared.
The best are here, so inevitably, there will be excellent competition,
but if conditions remain as they were, it will be a good week. "In third place overall, was the Italian team on CALVI NETWORK and its skipper Carlo Alberini, who won the J/70 European Championship in 2014.
In the Corinthian classification of the event, leading the fleet and in 5th place overall in the Open Division was the English team of Simon Ling on RAF SPITFIRE, followed bu the USA team of Heather Gregg on MUSE in 6th overall and 2nd Corinthians. Taking third was GILL RACE TEAM’s skipper Ian Wilson.
Second day
After the races of the first day, three charter boats were in the top 10, which shows that with little time to train, the crews have managed to find their marks very easily and be competitive. Having left the harbour in the late morning, the competitors competed three more races Thursday under a clear blue sky.
The crews enjoyed a thermal breeze between 8 to 17 knots from 270 to 280, typical of La Rochelle, that maintained itself throughout the afternoon. Lovely weather and some ideal conditions gave rise to some wonderful races. The Mexican team on FLOJITO won the third race (race 6) and remained in first place in the provisional rankings. The Italian team on CALVI took second position overall after the day, just ahead of the English led by Ian ATKINS on BOATS.COM. Like the day before, racing started at 1300 hrs and the sailors did not even get back into the docks until around 7pm, the light being so bright and sun so high that you could have mistaken the time for being later afternoon anywhere else!
Third dayYesterday evening, the crews enjoyed a dinner party with a beautiful view on the harbor and the sunset. Encounters, jokes and cheerfulness were on the menu, but the competition resumed early Friday morning. The crews reported to “duty” significantly earlier than the previous two days, having to leave the port by 0900 hrs in order to make a starting time of 1030 hrs out on the bay.
Under a radiant sun and a cloudless sky, the crews completed two races in an incredibly shifty easterly wind that started at 6-12 kts, increased to 8-15 kts, then died back off to around 6-10 kts. The English on BOATS.COM (GBR 557) and Italians on NOTARO TEAM (ITA 725) each won a race that morning, but it was still not enough to overturn the top two.
Mexico’s Julian Fernandez from the Valle de Bravo fleet west of Mexico City and his crew were still leading the competition on FLOJITO. Just behind, Carlo Alberini’s CALVI NETWORK. However, it was Tim Healy on HELLY HANSEN that took back third place overall from Atkins and the BOATS.COM crew.
There was only a few points between the top five crews so there could be still some surprises before the end of the regatta. Especially since in fourth place was the Italian NOTARO TEAM (ITA 725) and its skipper Luca DOMENICI- the won the 8th race. Giallongo Benedetto from the Italian crew explained, "We have a very good tactician, Diego Negri, and we usually are well positioned in the beginning, but we still need to work on our teamwork and our mastery of the boat in the strongest winds."
In the Corinthian class, the English were now leading the competition with Ling’s RAF SPITFIRE in first with Ian Wilson’s GILL RACE TEAM in second and Heather Gregg’s American crew on MUSE now in third overall.
Final daySaturday dawned with a slightly cooler temperature than Friday and a 5-10 knot wind at 300 for race 9 and 260-270 for the last race. It was the Australian Steve McCONAGHY on VAMOS that won race 9, followed by the English LITTLE LOUISE and Elisabeth Vaillant on TRISKELL. Peter Duncan's RELATIVE OBSCURITY was victorious in the tenth and final race of the championship.
With the final tally scored for all teams, nothing changed in the top three for both divisions. Fernandez’s FLOJITO earned a well-deserved victory and was crowned Mexico’s first World Champion of any International Class in over 38 years! They were followed by Alberini’s Italian crew on CALVI (Sergio Blosi, Brcin Branko, Karlo Hmeljak) in second and Healy’s American team on HELLY HANSEN (John Mollicone, Gordon Borges, Geoff Becker) in third. Taking fourth was Englishman Ian Atkin’s and crew BOATS.COM (Rory Scott, Ben Field, Dan Brown) and in fifth was the Italian skipper Franco Solerio and crew on L’ELEGAIN (Daniele Cassinari, Simon Alltree, Luca Albarelli).
In
the Corinthians, Ling’s TEAM RAF SPITFIRE (Craig Burlton, Ian
Southworth, Tony Hanlon) took first followed by Wilson’s GILL RACE TEAM
(Geoff Carveth, Marshall King, Martin Cowel) in second and Gregg’s MUSE
team (Stuart Johnstone, Joe Bardenheier, Patrick Powell) in third
overall. Rounding out the top five was Frenchman Ludovic Senechal’s
crew on LULU NANTAISE (Glen Hiliquin, Bertrand Maillard, Rodolphe
Deschamps) in fourth and Malta’s Sebastian Ripard on TEAM BETS-ON (Benji
Borg, Matt Sicluna, Gordon Budgeja) in fifth place.Thanks again to the team at Societe Regate Rochelaises for magnificent sailing in the historical seaport of La Rochelle. Also, thanks to SPERRY for the Sailing Anarchy.com coverage by Alan Block, Petey Crawford and Sander van der Borsch. Sailing photo credits- Christophe Breschi J/70 Worlds sailing videos here.
J/70 Overlap Productions video summary here. For more J/70 World Championship sailing information
SPERRY/ Sailing Anarchy coverage:
Day 3- http://sailinganarchy.com/2015/07/11/get-it-while-its-hot/
Day 2- http://sailinganarchy.com/2015/07/10/once-you-go-black/
Day 1- http://sailinganarchy.com/2015/07/09/black-and-blue/
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