Brezellec & J/97 Sail To SPI Ouest-France Wins

(La Trinite sur Mer, France)- The largest one-design fleet in the history of SPI Ouest-France delivered in spades.  Great competition, good sailing and a champion whom is greatly respected in French sailing circles.  Eric Brezellec, from Saint-Quay Portrieux, residing in Brest, was the overall J/80 class winner.  With his crew, he won his second brilliant Spi Ouest France.

Eric has won four J/80 Cups in France (2004, 2005, 2006 and 2010). "This morning, I have no aches because we did not have severe weather conditions. For cons, I'm tired mentally because it's not easy for nerves to function in a split-fleet of 100 J/80s (the fleet was split into two flights).  It is the happiness of winning for the second time this great race of the season that brings great pleasure", said Eric.

"I sailed in the J/80 since 2004. Our victory is linked to a good analysis of the water but also to our knowledge of J/80. We know how it works and we have a great set of sails. And, we are used to sailing in large J/80 fleets. In the J/80 Coupe de France, we regularly sail 60 boats on the starting line. We are not surprised at the mark roundings, they can be jammed!"  Eric plans on sailing the J/80 World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark in July 3-8.

While Eric sailed his INTERFACE CONCEPT 2 to a 3-4-2-1-5-6-3 record for races counted, Sylvain Pellisier on VOILERIE ALL PURPOSE sailed a series of very consistent races to start out slowly and make a strong bid to win the regatta, getting an 8-8-3-3-3-1-11-6.  Had it not been for a bad race #7, Pellisier may have won the regatta.  Third was Maxime Roussea on GRAND OUEST ETIQUETTES perhaps sailing the strongest regatta of the entire top three finishers.  Maxime was leading the regatta for the first six races, getting a 3-2-1-3-7-1. But disastrous last two races of 19-46 simply dropped them off the top of the podium, having to drop a 46th just to finish 3rd overall.

Of note, Bruno Trouble's team on COYOTE finished 12th overall, with Phillipe Girardin, Patrice Roynette and Gilles Fournier as crew.  They firmly established primal, senior, supremacy by winning their first race! Nevertheless, they sailed well to get a 1-6-8-10-9-19-20-41.  Their finishes for the first five races put them in the top five but an unfortunate last three races dropped them off the top ten.  Also, Christine Briand (famous naval architect's Phillipe Briand's wife) sailed a great series to finish 6th sailing her J/80 J'ILE DE RE to a good record of 13-3-4-2-5-5-15-45.  Past top 3 finisher Luc Nadal on GAN'JA was 8th.  Laura Vroon's team from the Netherlands, JOIE DE VIVRE, finished 18th, winning a race, too!  And, top Italian team was Massimo Rama's team on JENIALE finishing 23rd.

As for the J/97, Didier Le Moal's team on J-LANCE won with a 1-1-2-2-1-1-1 to simply dominate their class, the largest IRC class at SPI-Ouest-France with over forty boats.  In the J/22 class, Huet's EUROPEAN HOMES managed to squeeze out a victory with a 1-2-4-4-2-3-2-1.  Pouteau's SOFFE was second and Raphalen's BANQUE POPULAIRE ATLANTIQUE was third.  Sailing photo credits:  Eric Rousseau - VELOX IMAGES http://bit.ly/9zQYbc,   Laurent Vidal - PHOTOMER http://bit.ly/avmMWw   For more Spi Ouest-France sailing information   

J/80 Challenge Trinitaine

(La Trinite Sur Mer, France)- Ever wonder why the Spanish and French teams continue to get stronger and stronger every year and the talent level in their fleets overall continue to improve significantly?  The British J/80 teams understand the problem, and do a lot of training with their RYA Coaches at various venues.

The Trinitaine J/80 fleet is conducting their 3rd edition of the Challenge J/80 Trinite over five weekends in the winter/ spring- February 12/13 and 26/27 - 12/13 and 26/27 March - 9 / 10 April.  It's a great program with specific training targeted on Saturdays and race-training on Sundays.  Afterwards, the entire training class goes to a debriefing at the "Cafe Zing"/ Internet Bar for video and tactical review.  Most importantly, to improve training, they're trying a new method for tracking via mobile phones. Go here to check out the iSea 3D program for ANY SmartPhone.  Or, for Apple iPhone's Sailboat Tracking app, you can go to iTunes.    For more information regarding J/80 sail-training in La Trinite Sur Mer, France.   

Vincenzo Onorator- ex-J/24 & J/39 sailor competes for America's Cup

* Vincenzo Onorato- another former J/24 and J/39 sailor from Italy (and leader of the famous MOBY Lines providing ferry service to the islands of Elba, Corsica and Sardinia)- is now the leader of the MASCALZONE LATINO AC34 Challenge.  Vincenzo was a good sailor when he was racing his J/24 and J/39 and was always an honorable and fun-loving person that loved the sport of sailing and, most importantly, included many of his friends and family.  Recently he wrote Michele Tognozzi, editor of FareVela (a leading Italian sailing publication):  "Dear Michele,  I read Fare Vela Online with interest, every day. I have also read the criticism leveled at my club, seen as a sleeping partner of the Defender rather than a Challenger of Record worthy of its name. I partly feel responsible for these opinions as a direct result of our scant communication on the work we are carrying out. Oracle and Mascalzone, and their respective yachts clubs, inherited a disastrous Cup in terms of image, a result of the long and, I point out, legitimate litigation with Bertarelli. Russell and I meet almost every week and our teams are in daily contact.

All decisions taken are thoroughly discussed and thought through. It is also true we are going through an international economic environment, to say the least disastrous, and this is a further incentive to act with utmost care and caution. My silence doesn't mean I'm not doing anything,  but that we are humbly working, among other things, on carrying water to our mill. I'm Italian and my mill is called Italy, I would like to take to our country a series of events of the next Cup, just like I did last summer in La Maddalena.  A Jesuit priest that taught me in school used to say: Look at the substance of things, not their form. That's what I'm doing.  Your faithful and devoted reader, Vincenzo Onorato".  Full story can be read on Scuttlebutt USA here.

  

Superb J/80 Pornichet French National Series

(Nantes, France- Oct 30-31)- With sixty-six participants, under optimal conditions, perfect organization both on water and on land, a good atmosphere and sailors thrilled to be racing, what more could one ask for in the penultimate event of the French National J/80 Series. Great sailing for the large fleet and challenging conditions all four days.

The crew of ATLANTIS, skippered by Laurent Sambron was untouchable for four days. Their composure and consistency enabled them to climb the top of the podium for the third time (they're winners in 2006, 2007).  One notable performance was that of the SPANISH GOLD Sailing crew, comprised of Almandaz Iker, Sanchez Inigo, Borja Ponte, Jaunegi Inigo-- their long journey was rewarded with a second overall! They are part of the top 5 best teams in Spain (the other four went to America to show Americans how to sail J/80s downwind).  Third was INTERFACE CONCEPT II sailed by Yannick Le Clech, Xavier Haiz, Gildas Mahe and Ronan Dreano.

On the last day of racing, the whims of the wind Gods forced a delay for the race committee. Originally scheduled for 10 am, the racing didn't start until 11 am.  Even then, with wind oscillations of 45 degrees every fifteen minutes, the PRO was having a difficult time setting a good course.  Nevertheless, a race was launched at 11:30am with a change of course during the race. The "traditional" general recall, the black flag, had to be used on the aggressive fleet. It's almost a custom for the J/80 class!  But again, it was a very good race under a bright sun and mild temperatures for the season. No one was arguing since it was such a gorgeous day.  After the races, everyone went home happily, feeling it was one of the best regattas all year in the French National Series. It's worthwhile to note the excellent job performed by the race committee team and the PRO from the Metropolitan Club Nantes- Saint Nazaire (APCC).  M.I.A. was dear friend Bruno Trouble on COYOTE/ JURASSIC PARK, perhaps still nursing some strained muscles and some good vintage California (and Newport) wines after the J/80 Worlds (seen here to the right having a ball off Newport!)-- the Clarke Cooke House Candy Store evening after the J/80 Worlds Awards was lots of fun!  For more French J/80 sailing results.  Photo courtesy of Paul Todd/ Outside Images.   

Russell Coutts- on one-design & youth sailing

Russell Coutts has sailed all kinds of boats, including match-racing in J/44s and J/105s.  This past week the America's Cup was on a tour of the East Coast of the United States, with stops at the White House, NASDAQ, CBS Early Show and finally to the former home of the America's Cup, Newport Rhode Island.

In the afternoon, the Russell and the BMW/Oracle team entertained upwards of 400 youth sailors from the Narragansett Bay sailing community. The boys and girls, ranging in age from 8 to 16, were welcomed by Coutts, a past youth world champion.  As Russell explained:

"You don’t have to be a good Optimist sailor to be a good sailor.  When I was growing up in New Zealand I used to read about the races in Newport, but never thought I’d get the chance to compete. I also never dreamed of visiting the White House and meeting the President of the United States. It just shows what you can accomplish with hard work and dedication, and how broad our sport is."    Read more on the Sail-World.com site.
  

J One-Design Champions Leading The Charge At Louis Vuitton Trophy

Who says that former College Sailors of the Year and J One-Design Champions don't know how to match race?  Amongst the world's top teams competing in the current Louis Vuitton Trophy are J sailors such as John Kostecki (Oracle/BMW), Ed Baird (LUNA ROSSA),  Terry Hutchinson (ARTEMIS), Chris Larson (MASCALZONE LATINO), Sebastien Col (ALL4ONE) and Morgan Larson (MASCALZONE LATINO).  And sprinkled amongst the crew of 8 of the 10 boats are champion J sailors of one form or another- guys who raced and cut their teeth on J/22s, J/24s, J/80s and J/105s across the world match racing in various venues.

One of the more amusing anecdotes of the racing in La Maddalena came from American Morgan Larson commenting on tactics that were employed between two former J/24 Champions:  "Mascalzone Latino slammed the door on Artemis with a strategy the Italian team had been refining for some time. The guys on the boat made a great call for the left side and Gavin did a beautiful job of executing that," said tactician Morgan Larson. "We spent a lot of time this morning talking about Terry Hutchinson's weaknesses in the prestart. I think Gavin exploited that weakness. It was very close. Terry was really close to getting an overlap with us that would have shifted everything. If they got an overlap they would have got the left and probably won the race."  Read more about how these top sailors are doing to win the Louis Vuitton Trophy.