Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Sproul Crowned British J/80 National Champion

J/80s sailing offshore (Southampton, England)- Over the June 17-18 weekend, the Royal Southern Yacht Club, in conjunction with the UK J/80 Class Association, welcomed nineteen teams for their U.K. J/80 Nationals. The event was good training program to tune up boats, sails, and teamwork in preparation for the J/80 World Championship the second week of July that will be held at the same venue (http://www.royal-southern.co.uk/J80-Worlds-2017).
After a full-on schedule of nine races, it was Great Britain’s own Kevin Sproul on J.A.T. that won the UK National Champion title with his crew of Helen Yates, Adrian Gray, and Chris Fisher. In fact, British teams swept the top five in what bodes well for a strong British performance at the upcoming World Championship.

Kevin Sproul- J/80 UK ChampionFor the balance of the podium, it was a battle for 2nd place with just one point separating the two teams.  Starting out slowly, but closing with three bullets in a row in the last three races was Luke Patience’s RYOKO MEKA.  However, that was still not enough to overcome the more consistent Jon Powell on the famous BETTY that took the silver.  Rounding out the top five were Chris Body’s MOCKING JAY in 4th place and Nick Haigh’s SLIGHTLY STEAM in 5th position.   For more UK J/80 Nationals sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.