J/133 JIVARO SILVER & J/122E BURAN BRONZE IN IRC D CLASS!
(Les Voiles de St. Tropez, France)- Traditionally, the mixture of classic yachts with ultra-modern boats is the main characteristic of the world-famous Les Voiles de St Tropez Regatta. Organized over a week, from September 30th to October 8th, this event offers spectacular, beautiful sailing in an exceptional environment.
From the cozy confines of St Tropez Harbor, the sailors depart each day to explore the widely varying race courses offered by the regatta PRO in the Bay of St Tropez, truly one of the most picturesque coastlines in the world.
In this amazing challenging year, a few J/owners have managed to excel and have fun with their family and friends.
After a four-day, four race event in rather changeable weather, between beautiful weather with a light wind and more difficult weather with strong winds, the J/99 KING OF BLUE finished 1st in the IRC E Class of twenty-boats with a remarkably consistent record of 1-1-2-1 for 5 points total! With all podium finishes, no other boat in their class even came close to challenging them! As the winner, they were also awarded the Marines de Cogolin Trophy.
We had a chance to catch up with owner Pascal Fan, owner of KING OF BLUE:
“We are very happy with our races at Les Voiles. This year has been very special for us. We bought the J/99 at the beginning of the year, before the Covid-19 crisis. We were only able to sail on board in regattas in the spring. In fact, during the Sémac Trophy, we were fortunate to have finished 3rd overall!
It is with great pleasure that we’ve participated in this 2020 edition of Les Voiles in St Tropez. We are so happy and so grateful to participate as a family and friends. During the various coastal races, we were around 3rd or 4th on the downwind tracks and 1st on the upwind tacks. Our J/99 KING OF BLUE is the real bomb! We were all delighted to sail on board! You really have to try it to enjoy!"
Meanwhile, two other J/Crews had remarkable performances as well in huge, twenty-boat IRC D Class. Winning the silver medal was a familiar French crew, Yves Grosjean's J/133 JIVARO with a 2-3-2-3 tally for 10 pts. Taking the bronze in his first major offshore regatta was a Russian team; Alexey Moskvir's J/122E BURAN had a 3-4-3-4 record for 14 pts. Learn more about the J/99 shorthanded offshore speedster here: