J/122E Wins, J/109s & J/111s Enjoy Tight Class Racing!
(Cowes, England)- The Royal Ocean Racing Club’s annual Vice Admiral’s
Cup Regatta was sailed this past weekend on the every capricious
Solent. The fleet was treated to a wide variety of weather conditions,
cloudy to sunny, light to breezy, shifty to streaky, and, of course,
lots and lots of current off Cowes! Here is how it all went down over
the three-day event for the one-design classes of J/70s, J/109s, and
J/111s.
Day One- Light Freaky Friday
The opening day served up light airs, with big shifts and wind reversals
that challenged competitors and race officials alike. A quiet morning
quickly gave way to an afternoon that started with fast-paced action on
both course areas.
The first start was for the J/111 and J/109 classes in a very shifty
southwesterly of 10-12 knots that created plenty of tactical challenges
in a tight race with a short 0.8 mile windward leg. The fleet strongly
favored the committee boat end of the line and the first start was
abandoned with 40 seconds to go.
In the restart, the fleet was more spaced out, with Cornel Riklin's
J/111 JITTERBUG closest to the pin end of the line. Both Simon Bamford's
KESTREL and Joerg Sigg's LALLEKONIG appeared well placed mid-line, but
the former was OCS.
It was an intense race for the J/111s, with two laps completed in only
35 minutes, and the first five boats finishing just 69 seconds apart.
Joerg Sigg's Swiss LALLEKONIG took victory, 20 seconds ahead of Tony
Mack's McFLY, with Cornel Riklin's JITTERBUG third.
Day Two- Strong, Shifty Saturday
The second day of racing delivered four short, sharp races that tested
the 72 competing boats and hundreds of sailors over a wide range of
conditions. It was day of intensely close racing in a very shifty
north-northwesterly breeze of mostly 10-15 knots, but with a number of
lighter spells and a brief squall that saw gusts above 20 knots.
“Today was really enjoyable, with great racing and good courses set in
tricky conditions,” said Christopher Daniel- his J/122e JUNO was leading
the Performance 40 class. “It was a big challenge to make sure we
stayed in phase with the 20-25 degree wind shifts, but it was champagne
sailing. We came ashore with big smiles.”
The J/70 class joined the action for the first time on Saturday, with
the fleet enthusiastic to get away. Five boats – Andrew Barraclough’s
JENGA 8, David Atkinson’s RASCAL RACING, Patrick Liardet’s COSMIC, Doug
Streuth’s DSP and Adam Munday’s OCEAN ROPE – were all called over at the
start of the first race.
This left the way open for Paul Ward’s EAT SLEEP J REPEAT to pull out an
impressive 10 length lead by the end of the first beat. He was followed
by Charlie Thompson’s BRUTUS and “the comeback kids” on Liardet’s
COSMIC, even though the latter also lost out through overstanding the
first mark. In the end, Ward finished more than a minute ahead of Clive
Bush’s DARCEY, while COSMIC took third just four seconds later.
DSP won the second race, but slipped down to 11th in the third race. The
fourth and final race of the day saw Darcey take a commanding win,
ahead of BRUTUS. In the tightest of finishes, Philip Rees’ BRYN took
third place just three seconds later, and DSP fourth, seven seconds
later.
The larger yachts sailed in a different course area, further east. The
third race of the day saw fast-paced action in its closing stages as a
shower swept across the race area. With the wind speed peaking beyond 20
knots the leaders powered to the finish in full planing mode.
The Performance 40 class raced for the first time today. Christopher
Daniel’s J/122e JUNO rose to an early overall lead with a second place
followed by two wins over the fast King 40s.
Tony Mack’s McFLY asserted near dominance in the J/111 fleet, taking two
decisive wins and two second places. The winner of yesterday’s race,
Joerg Sigg’s LALLEKONIG took a 30 percent points penalty for an
infringement in race 3, and now lies one point behind McFLY in the
overall standings.
Competition further down the fleet is equally strong in this class, with
Chris Jones’ JOURNEYMAKER II on 14 points, and both Jan Van Berne’s RED
HERRING and Cornel Riklin’s JITTERBUG on 15 points going into the final
day.
Chris Preston’s J/109 JUBILEE started the day with back-to-back race
wins, and took second in the next two. However, with a discard applied,
Simon Perry’s JIRAFFE retained a single point advantage in the overall
rankings. Mike Yates’ JAGO also notched up three podium finishes today,
but slipped to sixth in the penultimate race and is eight points adrift
in third overall.
Day 3- Simply Splendid Sunday
Summer sun returned for Sunday’s racing, with bright sun and rising
temperatures, but initially without any wind. The committee boats left
the dock when the beginnings of a southerly of 2-3 knots sprang up in
the central Solent at 1030 hrs. Half an hour later, it had swung into
the southeast and increased to 8 knots and the AP flags signaling the
postponement came down at 1100.
The Performance 40 class went into the final day with a much tighter
leaderboard- Chris Daniel's J/122E JUNO led the class, counting four
points from three races, just one point ahead of a King 40.
At the start of the opening race two boats headed off to the right hand
side of the course and rounded 1-2, closely followed by Daniel’s J/122E
JUNO. By the end of the race, the JUNO team sailed impeccably, crossing
the line first and saving her time on the fleet. JUNO took another
decisive victory in the final race to win overall 10 points ahead the
next boat.
At the start of the day, five boats were still in contention for a
podium place in the J/111 fleet. A win in both of today's races sealed
Tony Mack's class victory on McFLY, 6.5 points ahead of Sigg's
LALLEKONIG. The three-way fight for third was resolved in favor of Chris
Jones' JOURNEYMAKER II, thanks to his two second places.
Last year's J/109 class winner, Simon Perry's JIRAFFE went into the
final day one point ahead of Chris Preston's JUBILEE. Both were neck and
neck at the end of the first run of today's first race, with JUBILEE
rounding the mark inside JIRAFFE. Both had been late to drop their
spinnakers, which were still hoisted to the lower spreaders, as they
turned up to windward. JUBILEE was quick to complete the drop, however
JIRAFFE had a snag and had slipped to leeward and astern by the time it
was sorted.
In a tight finish, that saw more than half the fleet cross the line in
just 22 seconds, JIRAFFE recovered to lead by 12 seconds ahead of
JUBILEE, with RNSA's JOLLY JACK TAR taking third place five seconds
later and David Richard's JUMPING JELLYFISH fourth, just five seconds
after that.
JUBILEE won the final race, but JIRAFFE took second, just 19 seconds
ahead of John Smart's JUKEBOX. It was enough to seal overall victory for
JIRAFFE by one point. A very consistent performance by JUMPING
JELLYFISH, with an almost straight run of 4ths, secured third overall,
one point ahead of JOLLY JACK TAR.
The J/70 class used the regatta as Round 3 of their 2019 UK J/70 Grand
Slam Series. A win in both races today saw Paul Ward's EAT SLEEP J
REPEAT cement overall victory ahead of Clive Bush's DARCEY, while
reigning Grand Slam Champion, Doug Struth's DSP, was third. All races
were decided by a minute or less, with race five going to Ward’s ESJR by
just five seconds from DARCEY.
"This was the first time for the J/70s at the Vice Admiral's Cup and the
race team did a great job for us, with six exciting races over two
days," says Ward. "Onshore at the RORC clubhouse, we enjoyed catching up
with the other classes over a few beers and a curry. Thanks to all of
the team at RORC for a great event!” For
more RORC Vice Admiral’s Cup sailing information
Add to Flipboard Magazine.
(Stamford, CT)- The second major Memorial/ Bank holiday offshore race
to start is a classic for Northeast sailors in America. Storm Trysail
Club’s Block Island Race is a 186.0nm race from Stamford, east down Long
Island Sound, out around Block Island and back to the finish off
Stamford. The race starts on Friday, May 24th at 1400 hrs, with IRC 1
class first away.
The
race starts in Oban (northwest of Glasgow) with a short hill run, and
then the teams sail to Salen on the Isle of Mull, about 20.0nm south.
After a run over Ben More on Mull, back to the boats and a sail to
Craighouse on the Isle of Jura, about 45.0nm further south. After
running the Paps, back aboard for the longest sail to the Isle of Arran,
about 82.0nm to the south, then east. The last run is around the Goat
Fell, then a short sail east over to Troon, about 17.0nm. The race takes
3 to 4 days in total. The sailing part is about 165.0nm, the running
part covers about 60.0 miles and 11,500 feet of climbing.
