J/122 Posts RORC Wins

The Cervantes Trophy Race, a 115nm race from Cowes to Le Havre and back, is the 3rd event on the RORC 2007 racing schedule and this year greeted the fleet with mostly medium to light conditions except for at the end when the small boats finished in a freshening breeze.   Philippe Delaporte, owner of J/122 Pen Azen, topped the 25 boat class in IRC 1 taking home the Noryema VII Cup. Philippe sent along this brief report:

“Cervantes trophy was a great race for us. The course was 115 miles long. After 2 hours of racing going to windward out of the Solent we were among Class O and super O, TP 52 and Farr 52 ahead of Farr 45, DK 46 & Ker 46. The wind was 11 knots. Then while crossing the Channel, the wind shifted and decreased to 2 knots during the afternoon. During the evening it went back to 5-6 knots and Pen Azen crossed the line at 3 o'clock in the morning. At that time we were hoping for an overall IRC win but the wind increased to 10 and later 15 knots and so the small classes finished very fast… frustrating us from the overall victory.”
.... results  

J/122s Win @ American Spring Regatta

American Yacht Club in Rye, NY kicked off the '07 Long Island Sound sailing season with it's annual Spring Regatta sailed over two weekends. In the debut of the J/122 in the USA, Andrew Weiss, steering his new Christopher Dragon, and Jim Johnstone from J/Boats, sailing Ragtime, turned more than a few heads as they dominated IRC div 6 finishing 1, 2 and together winning 7 of the 8 races in the series. J/133s also had a very strong showing in IRC div 4 with Tom Carroll's Sirensong placing 2nd & Ron Richman's Antidote finishing 3rd for the event.... results  

J/122 Wins Obelix Trophy Regatta

Didier le Moal, J Europe Executive Director has lead the brand new J 122 to an undisputed victory in the Obelix Trophy held in Benodet over April 28-30. The new 40 footer unveiled in December at the Paris Boat Show and exhibited at the London Boat Show in January of this year, combines elegance and efficiency at sea. Coming after a remarkabale 3rd place at the Spi Ouest-France, this new success once again underlines J's ability to offer fast, fun and an easy to sail yachts.
"3 victories and one second place gave us a large margin over the runner up" says a jubilant Le Moal. "The Spi was our very first race on board "J Lance 4" and we needed a little time to adjust. We're very pleased with the way the J 122 behaves and handles all kinds of sea situations. Our crew is a mix of seasoned sailors and young yachtsmen all strongly motivated. That made for a winning recipe." ... results  

New J/122 Debuts at Spi Ouest

Two J/122s were recently launched in France to compete in the 2007 Spi Ouest Regatta, sailed off of La Trinite, France on Easter weekend. This highlight event is limited to 700 entries and this year included a class record 80 boat J/80 fleet as well as a J/105 class start, in addition to the debut of the new J/122.

Didier Le Moal’s J-LANCE 4 and Phillipe Delaporte’s sparkling dark blue ATLANTIS sailed against a 46 boat class that included X-40s, the new X-41, IMX 40s, First 40.7s, Grand Soleil 40s, a custom Mills 39, a new Archambault 40 racing version, a Corby 40, Dufour 40, IMX 45s, Dehler 44 and many others. The J/122s finished 3rd and 4th in class overall with only two larger professionally sailed boats ahead in the standings. Many were impressed to see the J/122 in or close to the lead at the first weather mark in several of the races in this large 46 boat fleet.

“As this was our first competitive regatta we tamed our expectations and focused primarily on learning how best to sail and trim the boat for the conditions of each day. After placing second in race 1 and the other J/122 winning we were very excited. Looking back now with the event completed, we are delighted to have finished within the top boats of this competitive class,” said Le Moal. “The J/122 has proven to be a competitive, elegant and simple to sail boat with a forgiving and light touch on the helm and a complete cruising interior. She has performed beyond our expectations and we look forward to many more fun regattas.” Even the winning skipper of the IRC class Gery Trentesaux took notice and complimented Didier Le Moal and the J/122 for a successful debut. complete results.