![J/80s sailing offshore](https://gallery.mailchimp.com/1efe1999a3cf99000c29f8528/images/06aa61d8-2606-49d5-aa15-803c10657f1b.jpg)
(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 Champion](https://gallery.mailchimp.com/1efe1999a3cf99000c29f8528/images/12f43b0d-5388-450b-8292-84db44398450.jpg)
For
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
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