Tabares Three-Peats J/80 World Championship

(Hamble, England)- Rayco Tabares (ESP) is the 2017 J/80 World Champion, retaining the title for the third consecutive year, racing HOTEL PRINCESA YAIZA with a crew of Alejandro Bethencourt Fuentes, Alfredo Gonzalez, Hector Gonzalez, and Francisca Torres Jorge.

Rayco Tabares has now won the J/80 World Championship four times! The Spanish team from Lanzarote, Canary Islands, led the regatta from the first day to the last, but did survive a jitter on the penultimate day. On the last day of racing, the team scored two second place finishes to clinch the world title.

A northerly breeze ranging from 10-18 knots, with shifts both to the west and the east, provided yet another testing race course in the Central Solent. All fourteen scheduled races were completed, much to the satisfaction of the competitors, which roundly showed their approval for a World Championship that was extremely well run.

"It has been amazing.” commented Rayco. “This is the fourth J/80 World Title for us, and we are really, really happy. I want to emphasis the incredible work done by the organization of this J/80 Worlds. On the water it has been perfect with a great team running the races, and ashore the Royal Southern has been looking after all of us in a great way- Perfect organization!”

"I am really proud of my team. We are colleagues, we are friends, and we are a family. The team had worked brilliantly, leading to winning the Worlds. Except for yesterday, when we raced in a conservative mode, we have raced as normal, and the results have been great. The race area is quite complex due to the currents, but I have felt really comfortable with the medium to strong winds; it´s quite similar to the average wind speed we sail in Lanzarote.”

Eric Brezellec (FRA) was runner up for the second year in a row. The team from Northern Brittany, racing COURRIER JUNIOR, scored seven podium finishes, but it was not enough to win a highly competitive regatta.

Simon Moriceau (FRA), racing ARMEN HABITAT, won both races to finish the championship in third position. The team from Nantes had scored five podium finishes, including three race wins, to take third by just two points, from Jose Maria Van Der Ploeg (ESP), racing VSA COMUNICACION.

Javier Chacártegui Cirerol (ESP), racing HM HOTELS, was the top Corinthian Boat. Runner-up for the Corinthian Class was Pepequin Orbaneja (ESP), racing CENYT HOSPITAL MARBELLA TEAM, and third was Luc Nadal (FRA) racing his famous GAN’JA.

Top Lady helm was Capucine Vitel’s VITEL SAILING TEAM- CDV 22 from France in 20th place. Top all-women’s team was another French team led by Elodie Bonafous, racing J’AIME VOILE BAIED DE MORLAIX in 22nd position. Luke Patience, racing RYOKO MEKA, was the top British boat in 6th overall, suffering from a DSQ and a last race 29th that severely affected their otherwise fantastic results. Patrick O’Neill, racing MOJO was the top Irish entry in 13th place and Peter Paul de Vries, racing LED 2 LEASE was the top boat from the Netherlands in 23rd spot.  Here is how it all evolved over the course of the five-day racing series.

Day One
The J/80 Worlds got off to a flying start with two spectacular championship races for the 48-boat fleet.  A southwesterly wind of 12 knots built during the afternoon, piping up to over 20 knots in the gusts. With wind over tide shortly after the start, the combat zone boiled up with the J/80s powering upwind, and then surfing downwind, in a full-on foam up. Rayco Tabares (ESP) took the early lead, with Kevin Sproul (GBR) in second and Luke Patience (GBR) in third.

PRO Stuart Childerley held a practice race in the morning, and after a big wind shift, moved the course to the east. “It can be a devil of a race area but we got two good races in today, helped by the competitors who settled into the tidal conditions very well at the start, but I expect that from this fleet, which is full of talented sailors,” commented Childerley.

Reigning J/80 World Champion, Rayco Tabares, who was atop the leaderboard, won the battle of the day but the Spaniard did not have it all his own way. Reigning UK National Champion, Kevin Sproul won Race One but Rayco scored a 2-1 to Kevin's 1-4. The battle is due to continue all week.

"Coming from Lanzarote, we are used to sailing in strong winds. But the tide and short chop is something different for us,” commented Rayco. “There are strong local teams, which have better knowledge of the Solent, and there are other high quality teams from overseas as well.”

Olympic 470 Silver Medallist, Luke Patience was in third. “It is great to score two keepers on the first day, as we have only just put this team together,” commented Luke. “The plan is to try and improve our performance as the regatta develops, so we are happy to have got off to a good start in a very good fleet.”

Spain's Javier Chacártegui scored an 8-2 to finish the day in fifth. 2012 J/80 World Champion, Jose Maria Van Der Ploeg, scored a third in Race One but was over eager in Race Two, and having returned to re-start correctly, finished the day with a poor result.

Day Two
Tabares (ESP) stamped his authority on the fleet with two bullets and a second to open up a commanding lead for the regatta.  But, it was a game of snakes and ladders for the rest of the fleet.

Simon Moriceau (FRA) climbed to second place after an 8-3-1, and Luke Patience (GBR) put into two great races, but slipped up in the last race to remain in third place.

Sproul’s (GBR) team had a shocker, dropping eight places after a 19-24-13. 2012 J/80 World Champion, Jose Maria Van Der Ploeg (ESP), had a good day, scoring a 5-2-5 to move up to fourth. Whilst last year's runner up, Eric Brezellec (FRA), was called OCS in Race Four, and slipped down to fourteenth.

PRO Stuart Childerley and his team set three good races, resulting in a highly competitive start and mark roundings. It was a tough day on the Solent for the competitors; a low-pressure system brought poor visibility and rain for much of the day. With the wind oscillating in speed and direction, making the correct tactical decisions was difficult.

“We had good speed today, especially downwind, and we made the right tactical choices,” commented Frenchman Simon Moriceau. “Today, we worked well as a team, and there was good communication. When we were down in the fleet, we remained calm, and just concentrated on passing one boat at a time. Coming from Brittany, we are used to this kind of weather; it is not a problem for us.”

Jose Maria Van Der Ploeg (ESP) had a great day on the water scoring a 5-2-5 to finish the day in eighth place, which is likely to improve once the discard kicks in tomorrow. Among their crew is the youngest competitor in the championship, Luis Miro, just 12 years old. “Jose Maria is a good friend of my family, I sail Optimist normally, so this is very exciting for me!” smiled Luis. The current French National Champion, Simon Bertheau, scored an impressive 4-6-6 to place fifth.

Day Three
Tabares (ESP) retained his lead after day three, but a crack appeared in the Spanish team's seemingly invincible armor, scoring eighth in the last race of a tricky day in the Solent.

Luke Patience (GBR) took his first race win, to move up to second place, and Eric Brezellec (FRA) had the best day of all, scoring a 3-3-1 to move up to third for the championship. Jose Maria Van Der Ploeg (ESP) scored 10-10-2 to move up to fourth.

PRO Stuart Childerley moved the scheduled start an hour earlier for racing, and it proved to be an excellent decision. “The low pressure system that came through last night had gone through and we were expecting the weather to become unstable in the afternoon, which is exactly what happened. The wind oscillated through an axis of about 45 degrees today, causing plenty of potential traps for the competitors, and the Race Committee had to adjust the course on many occasions to compensate for the bigger shifts, the mark layers and race management team did a fantastic job today.”

Today's top team was skippered by Breton Eric Brezellec; the last time Eric competed in the UK at the J/80 World Championship was in Falmouth, 2005. His team sailed the boat over 200 miles, from St Malo, with tents on board for regatta accommodation. “Time on the boat is very important, we train a lot,” commented Eric! “Today, it was important to take the shifts as they arrived, it was much more open than yesterday. Rayco (Tabares) looks very strong, it looks very hard to beat him, but this regatta has not finished, it is still possible.”

“It would have been very easy to have a shocker today,” commented 470 Olympic Silver Medallist, Luke Patience. “Chris (Grube) did a great job reading the shifts, especially in the penultimate race, but that was a far from an easy race course today. When the wind is coming off the land like that, it can shift both ways. Personally, I tried to concentrate more on driving the boat and that has also paid off.”

Day Four
Brezellec (FRA) had an outstanding fourth day, scoring a scintillating 1-7-1-2, and was now within striking distance of Tabares (ESP). The defending world champion, from Lanzarote, is still in pole position, but a 4-1-16-18, has cut his championship lead to just seven points, with two races remaining. Coincidentally, the 14th July is French National Day, and everyone expected that Brezellec would be coming out with all guns blazing.

“Today was a very tricky day, with plenty of shifts in the wind and changes in the tide, and we did not get the best results, especially in the last two races, but tomorrow we will be strong and sail better,” promised Tabares.

Spain’s Jose Maria Van Der Ploeg (ESP) scored 8-4-11-1 on the day to move ahead of Luke Patience (GBR), in the fight for the podium. Simon Moriceau (FRA) slipped up in Race 10, but came back with a third in Race 12, to have a chance of making third for the regatta.

With high pressure and a light southerly gradient wind forecast, there was the possibility that the gradient breeze would be fizzled out by a sea breeze in the afternoon. PRO Stuart Childerley, moved the scheduled start an hour earlier, and made a late call to change the starting area to East Knoll.  The two decisions proved to be spot on, providing great races and enough time to get four races sailed on a top class race course.

Jon Powell (GBR) had his best day, scoring a 6-2-3-4, to move up three places. Rétho Rémi scored an impressive 11-3-4-5, to move up five places. Chris Body (GBR) came within inches of winning his first J/80 World Championship race, but was just beaten to the line by Brezellec.

“We know we had speed coming into the regatta but that is not enough in this fleet, you have to get off the line well, stay in pressure, and play the shifts. Today, we had four races that were both physically and mentally exhausting, so to post the second best results of the day is very satisfying,” commented Jon Powell.

Royal Southern Yacht Club Commodore, Karen Henderson-Williams, and Regatta Director Jane Windsor, officiated at the J/80 Worlds Prize Giving Ceremony, sponsored by Raymarine, who provided a wealth of top marine electronics for the winners. Harken and Baltic Lifejackets provided even more prizes.

J/80 Worlds sailing videos- Day 1 Highlights   Day 2 Highlights    Day 3 Highlights
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