DEJA VU Wins 10th edition of J/Boats Portugal VR Series

(Planet Earth)- Over time, the popularity of J/Boats Portugal's Virtual Regatta program using the popular J/70 has continued to grow and this past weekend it had its largest participation yet. 169 entries from around the world participated in the 10th edition of the J/Boats Portugal VR Series, a three-day event! After the qualifiers, 20 boats sailed in the Grand Finale on Sunday, the racing was exciting, fast & furious, with many lead changes!  Teams hailed from over 14+ countries, including United Kingdom, Turkey, Russia, Greece, Portugal, Argentina, Spain, France, Denmark, Croatia, United States, Italy, Belgium, and Slovenia. 

To get a feel for how the event was staged, you can watch an hour-long highlights video with live commentary, live analysis, and replay of the principal races. The entire program was produced by eSailing.TV with passionate and knowledgeable sailors providing the blow-by-blow of each race.

Here is that link on YouTube.com.

In the end, it was clear the top British boat DEJA VU, skippered by Mike O'Donovan from Stokes Bay Sailing Club in Aberdeen, Scotland was setting a hot pace throughout the three-day event. However, it was a trio of Turkish sailors from Istanbul, Turkey that were giving him a run-for-the-money! In fact, in the final "Gold Medal" race (modeled after the Olympics where it's winner-take-all) the ultimate outcome literally came down to the last gybe into the finish!


Here is how it all finally played out.  Winning was O'Donovan's DEJA VU from Aberdeen, Scotland. Just losing the finale by a hair's breadth to take home the silver was Turkey's Umut Efe Alpkoçak from the eSailing Club Turkey. Rounding out the podium taking the bronze was fellow Turkish countryman Kaan Mazlunca sailing for Istanbul Yelken Kulübü.

Rounding out the top five and not that far off the pace were Oguz Er in 4th position, sailing for Istanbul Sailing Club and in 5th position was John Kok from the Thessaloniki Sailing Club in Thessaloniki, Greece.

The links to the live stream of the Finals and Medal Race. 

• eSAILING TV- http://www.esailng.tv/
• Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/esailingtv
• YouTube- http://www.youtube.com/c/esailingtv
• Twitch.TV- http://www.twitch.tv/esailingtv
• Twitter- http://www.twitter.com/esailingtv

For more information about the J/Boats Portugal VR Series.

European J/70 Winter Series Announcements

(Monte Carlo, Monaco)- While North American sailors have a well-established J/70 winter series program, their European counterparts are going from strength to strength and building upon their strong participation rates in national, regional and sailing league series programs to develop a series of winter programs across the entire Continent.  There are three “winter series” programs for European sailors- Russia’s in Sochi on the Black Sea, YC Monaco’s events in Monte Carlo, Monaco, and the latest addition- Portugal’s events in Vilamoura, the Algarve (a famous resort/ beach community).  Here is the breakdown for the European J/70 sailing team

Monaco
Venue- Yacht Club Monaco, Monte Carlo
Nov 11-13- J/70 Monaco Sportsboat- Winter Series Act I
Dec 9-11- J/70 Monaco Sportsboat- Winter Series Act II
Jan 13-15- J/70 Monaco Sportsboat- Winter Series Act III
Feb 3-5- J/70 Monaco Sportsboat- Winter Series Act IV
Mar 3—5 J/70 Monaco Sportsboat- Winter Series Act V
For more J/70 Monaco Sportsboat Winter Series information

Portugal
Venue- Club Internacional da Marina de Vilamoura, Vilamoura, Portugal
Nov 19-20- SAILING J/70- Portugal Winter Series I
Dec 10-11- SAILING J/70- Portugal Winter Series II
Jan 14-15- SAILING J/70- Portugal Winter Series III
Feb 11-12- SAILING J/70- Portugal Winter Series IV
Mar 11-12- SAILING J/70- Portugal Winter Series V
For more Portugal J/70 Winter circuit information

Russia
Venue- FGBI South Sports, Sochi, Russia
Nov 18-20- J/70 Winter Series MONTE CARLO RADIO I
Jan 27-29- J/70 Winter Series MONTE CARLO RADIO II
Feb 24-26- J/70 Winter Series MONTE CARLO RADIO III
Mar 17-19- J/70 Winter Series MONTE CARLO RADIO IV- Finale
For more Russian J/70 Winter circuit information.