J/122 JINJA Rocks The Fleet!
(Hamble, England- 3-6 June)- Having already had two days of awesome ‘shorts and shades’ racing at the J-Cup 2010, the 74 boat fleet were postponed ashore for a short time on Saturday until ten to twelve knots of breeze filled in from the south east. The J-Cup 2010 was hosted by the Royal Southern Yacht Club and the Principal Sponsors of the regatta were B&G, Dubarry of Ireland, North Sails and Universal Marina. The J-Cup series comprised eight races in total and on Saturday the J/109s, racing for their UK National Championship had just one race left to complete whilst all other classes had two.Neil Kipling’s brand new J/122 JOOPSTER had her best day on the water in IRC 1 on Saturday with a third place in Race Seven and a fourth in Race Eight, consolidating their fourth position overall. Once again it was Ian Matthews team on JINJA who took the top slots in both of the final races, resulting in a perfect first place scoreline and a convincing class win. David Hunt’s team on the J/122 JACOB'S LADDER finished second overall with Herman Bergshaven’s J/133 SOLNES III in third overall at the close of the event. SOLNES III was presented with the North Sails Boat of the Day prize on Saturday.
The bar was open, the sun was shining and (appropriately) Elvis was on the sound system as competitors returned to the dock to see the overall results and to prepare for the legendary J-Cup Gala Dinner and Prize Giving Party. Silverware and goodies donated by the numerous, generous Prize Sponsors of the J-Cup 2010 were presented to the podium finishers. This year each class winner also took home (or consumed on the spot!) a bottle of Wight Vodka and some rather special Wight Vodka caps as well as other fabulous gifts.
B&G have been a Principal Sponsor of the J-Cup for several years now, and their generosity continued unabated. This year, Chris Greetham of B&G was racing at the event in IRC 1 for the first time but, it has to be said, he didn’t get his hands on any of his own prizes! A set of Deckman software was presented to JINJA for winning IRC 1.
Dubarry of Ireland is another Principal Sponsor of the J-Cup and has been involved with the event for many years now. They present some of their fabulous footwear as prizes each year and this is accompanied by two trophies, fashioned in bronze, to represent the iconic Dubarry Boot.
The Dubarry Boot for Outstanding Achievement was presented to the crews of the three boats which were entered in the event by the charity Toe in The Water. This charity works to re-inspire and rehabilitate injured servicemen through the sport of sailing. They entered one J/109 and two J/80s in the J-Cup. They have to beg, steal and borrow boats and the host Club funded their entry. These guys and girls are amazing. Many have never sailed before and a number of them have just the most horrific injuries it’s incredible that they ever take to the water at all. Then they go out, race hard and competitively and are right in the mix with the rest of the fleet both afloat and ashore. They are all monumentally courageous and there have never been such unanimously popular winners of a trophy. The 500 person standing ovation seemed to last forever.
Universal Marina hosted the opening party at the J-Cup 2010, complete with pink mojito cocktails and a rocking band. In addition to this, they also ran a photographic competition at the J-Cup 2010 for which the prize on offer was a free marina berth at their Hamble facility for one year. Awesome! The berth was won by JIKA JIKA, for a rather clever photo of the Universal Marina Solent race mark, a couple of pink Universal Marina backstay flags and a JIKA JIKA crew member!
The J-Cup trophy itself is the silverware from which this regatta takes it’s name. Over the years it has been presented for many different reasons; sometimes racing related, sometimes not, but nobody has ever won it twice. Ian Matthews and his family have raced at the J-Cup for many years, formerly in a J/120, winning their class on so many occasions that their boat name was eventually stenciled on to the transom of the half-model trophy! This year Ian and his red-headed clan won IRC 1 on their J/122 JINJA with eight straight bullets and the J-Cup is deservedly theirs.
This was the fourth visit to the Royal Southern Yacht Club for the J-Cup, and each time we go there things just get better and better. Racing was faultlessly managed by Peter Bateson and Tony Lovell and their huge team of volunteers and helpers on the water. On the ‘house’ side, Mike Rogers and Natalie Gray kept everyone (including your author) organised and on-track. The whole team of staff, volunteers, committee boat owners, RIB drivers and the friendly Club members we met along the way must be congratulated. If invited, the J-Cup will return to the Royal Southern Yacht Club without hesitation.
J-UK would specifically like to express our enormous gratitude to the four Principal Sponsors of the J-Cup 2010: B&G, Dubarry of Ireland, North Sails and Universal Marina. Without the partnership of these companies the event could simply not maintain its current size and status. For more J/Cup sailing information Photo credits- Tim Wright
