J/122 Wins Silver in RORC Season Championships

(London, England)- It was a tough year.  It was a Fastnet year.  And, an RORC 600 year.  It was not going to be easy for any boat participating in this years RORC Seasons Points Championships to easily walk off with all the silverware and pickle-dishes.  Nevertheless, some J/Teams prevailed despite some harsh and very, very challenging conditions offshore- some absolutely not within the "wheelhouse" of where these J/Teams can succeed, if not dominate offshore.  Again, this year's series points to the fact that a good all-around design is critical to offshore success-- too "type-formed" and you win big in one event and get crushed in the next.  Such was the case this year.

In the IRC Classes the best five offshore races are counted towards the RORC Season's Points Championship. These were heavily contested and in some of the classes, the results were undecided until after the Cherbourg Race, the last race of the season.  For the J/Teams, "Congratulations" are in order for those that persevered and prevailed against the best offshore sailors from Western Europe.  Here's the scoreline for these J/Teams:

- Emily Verger Plate - IRC Two Overall-  JOOPSTER- J/122 - Neil Kipling (GBR.

In addition to the winners, special mention should be made of the following performances:

- IRC Overall- the J/122 sailed by Neil Kipling was third overall.

The net, net of the 2011 RORC summer sailing season is that it takes solid, easy-to-sail, all-around boats to succeed in the RORC events.  Again, with primarily all amateur/ corinthian teams, the fleet of J sailors not only had fun but won their fair share of silverware, too.  Nothing like adding a few more pickle-dishes to the serving inventory at home!  For more RORC Offshore Season sailing information.

  

IRC Atlantique Regatta

(Lorient, France)- Concurrent with the J/80s sailing one of their French J/80 Season Series, the offshore boats were racing one of their premiere fall regattas on the offshore French sailing circuit- The Groupama IRC Atlantique Regatta.  Sailing in IRC 1 were a range of J's including Jean Marie Patier's J/122 ILE DE FRANCE, Yves Lanier's J/120 LES QUATRE VENTS BREST (a.k.a. the "four winds of Brest"), Stephane Blanchard's recently launched J/111 LE JOUET and Alain Rouaults' veteran offshore team on the J/133 JIVARO just back from the Rolex Fastnet Race.

After a series of races that saw all forms of weather thrown at them, it was Patier's J/122 ILE DE FRANCE that managed to capture a fourth place in fleet with a 5-7-3-9-1 score.  Just two points behind them was Lanier's J/120 LES QUATRE VENTS BREST with an 8-4-4-6-5.  In one of their first tune-up regattas of the season, Blanchard's J/111 LE JOUET managed 9th overall.    For more IRC Atlantique Regatta sailing information

  

Foggy Cherbourg Race Finale

J/105 DH'ers Knife Through Mist to 1-2
(Cherbourg, France)-  After a record breaking Rolex Fastnet Race, the final race of the RORC Season's Points Championship took place last weekend. After a scintillating season of racing with the Royal Ocean Racing Club, current weather models predict a light airs race, in sharp contrast to a very windy season, for the 78 nm dash across from the eastern end of the Solent across "La Manche" to Cherbourg.

The Royal Ocean Racing Club's Season's Points Championship consists of a testing series of races that attracts an international and varied fleet. For the serious offshore sailor, trying to win the Season's Points Championship is a real challenge. The Season's Points Championship this year included the tactically and physically challenging Rolex Fastnet Race, the oldest and most prestigious offshore yacht race in the world.  Pending the outcome of the race was the IRC Overall Season Points Championship for IRC 2 for Neil Kipling's J/122, JOOPSTER.

At the end of it all, one could call this race "the foggy bottom version".  After a wet and windy season the weather gods conjured up a new and unusual challenge for the finale of the RORC 2011 season: light airs and thick fog. Speaking after the race, RORC Vice Commodore, Mike Greville said that it was a good and challenging tactical race. "The combination of thick fog and light patchy breeze made it really difficult to sail to the wind. The instruments were not a lot of help because of the wind sheer and we struggled to see the tell tales in the thick fog in the dark. The secret of success appeared for many was to go west. There was more breeze and at a better angle particularly as boats closed the finish at Cherbourg."

The fog also caused the race committee problems at the start and the RIB at the outer distance mark was invaluable in checking for OCS boats. The wind was westerly force 3 and the fleet were just able to carry their kites. Exiting the Solent to the East there were large holes in the wind to spot and avoid off Bembridge.

The light wind prevailed throughout the race.  David Ballantyne's J/133 JINGS took second in both IRC One and IRC Overall finishing at 1057. After them there was a long wait until the rest of the fleet trickled into Cherbourg over the course of the afternoon.  In IRC Three Nikki Curwen triumphed in her J/105 VOADOR from sister ship DIABLO-J sailed by Rear Commodore Nick Martin, a remarkable feat considering they're racing against fully-crewed boats.  Both boats finished 3rd and 4th, respectively against their IRC Doublehanded competitors.

The outcomes of the race had a meaningful impact on the overall standings with J sailing teams well represented in the top five in each class, by far the best performance of any sailing brand in European waters.  For IRC Overall, the J/122 JOOPSTER finished fifth and in IRC Two, the J/122 JOOPSTER wins!

For more RORC Cherbourg Race Sailing information 

NUTMEG IV Wins Fastnet Race IRC 2A

(Cowes, IOW, England)- This year's Rolex Fastnet Race provided the sailors plenty of drama but mostly of the anxiety-inducing kind associated with watching enormous leads evaporate into thin-air while sitting at anchor, in no wind, and watching the night horizon behind you growing into an armada or red and green lights descending upon you like locusts!

As we said earlier, for those who love the 608 nm traverse offshore of southwestern England and southern Ireland, the 2011 race delivered on all counts. It proved a hugely tactical race and competitors fought for speed in a whole variety of conditions from 30 knots of breeze through to what was a complete shut-down in the pressure. Extraordinarily frightening for some, gut wrenchingly frustrating for others, incredibly rewarding for those who got it right.

The J/122 NUTMEG IV, owned and raced by Francois Lognone and his crew were the top J overall in the Fastnet 2011. As a seasoned offshore campaigner, it's a well deserved and hard fought result for the French skipper and crew of this forty footer. Their 8th IRC overall translates to 3rd in IRC 2 Division and 1st in IRC 2A Class! Another J/122, Neil Kipling’s JOOPSTER finished 16th place in IRC Overall and 5th in IRC 2A.  By virtue of this strong showing in the Fastnet Race, Neill's JOOPSTER now leads the RORC Season Points Championship in IRC 2!

For more Rolex Fastnet Race sailing information

 

Fastnet Race Update

(Cowes, IOW, England)- Drama has yet again struck the Fastnet Race, continuing it's legendary status as not only one of the oldest offshore yacht races in the world, first taking place in 1925, but also one of the roughest and toughest.  As most offshore racers recall, the 1979 Fastnet was no picnic- over half the fleet retired from broken boats to broken bodies and, sadly, tragedy too.

The 608-mile race passes Land’s End (notorious for raging currents, whirlpools and awesomely steep (scary) breaking waves) before turning north-west across the Celtic Sea towards West Cork. Participants round the famous Fastnet Rock lighthouse three miles off Cape Clear Island before heading to their ultimate destination of Plymouth, leaving the Scilly Isles to port on the way home.  A total of 314 boats started the race off Cowes on the Isle of Wight on Sunday, beating the previous record turnout of 303 entries registered for the tragic 1979 installment.  However, the race so far has taken it's toll, with several boats breaking masts/ tearing sails and, in the case of George David's RAMBLER 100, losing its canting-keel and capsizing (story below) just after rounding Fastnet Rock.

For those who love the Fastnet Race, the highlight of the European offshore summer season, the 2011 race has delivered on all counts. It has proved a hugely tactical race and competitors have fought for speed in a whole variety of conditions from 30 knots of breeze through to what was almost a complete shut-down in the pressure. Extraordinarily frightening for some, gut wrenchingly frustrating for others, incredibly rewarding for those who got it right.

So far, the J/122 NUTMEG IV, owned and raced by Francois Lognone and his crew were the top J overall in the Fastnet 2011. As a seasoned offshore campaigner, this is a well deserved and hard fought result for the French skipper and crew of this forty footer. So far, with only one-third of the fleet finished, the eighth IRC overall translates to third in IRC 2 Division and first in IRC 2A Class!! 

Another J/122, Neil Kipling’s JOOPSTER crossed the finish line in very good shape and is currently in fourteenth place in IRC Overall.  


More later next week. For more Rolex Fastnet Race sailing information

 

JINJA 2nd Cowes Week

(Cowes, IOW, England)- Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week simply had an epic week, bashing and crashing around the buoys on the Solent in winds ranging from 10 to 30+ knots, with boats literally flying downhill under spinnakers at 20+ knot boat-speeds!  It was the "thrilla from Manila" reincarnate on the famous Royal Yacht Squadron starting line.  The competitors played "rope-a-dope" with each other, battling for advantage on every gybe and tack, trying to avoid spinnaker wraps, launching crews overboard (by mistake), or "shrimping" spinnakers for the umpteenth time!

The big battle for supremacy on the Solent was seen in the huge IRC 2 Class.  Sailing like maniacs was Ian Matthew's beautifully sailed J/122 JINJA, garnering a few wins during the week on their way to second in class. 

Wednesday summary:
As to the conditions for Cowes Week, after a strong start on Sunday through Tuesday (as reported last week), Wednesday saw more high adrenaline racing in strong winds and bright sun- a sailing photographers dream come true! The Solent was sandwiched between areas of high and low pressure and as the day progressed, the wind began a relentless non-stop upwards trend that lasted for five hours, peaking with mean speeds of 25 knots and gusts well over 30 through the afternoon.  It was another day of hard, wet beats to windward, followed by high speed downwind blasts that had competitors grinning from ear to ear as they came ashore.

Thursday summary:
The big winds continued, powering the biggest J's to blistering speeds approaching 25 knots. Most dayboat classes were set short courses that ensured they had finished racing before gusts to 38 knots were encountered in the afternoon.

Friday summary:
The penultimate day of the event was a more gentle day than those earlier in the week, starting with bright sun and a gentle breeze that built to 15-18 knots. It also saw incredibly tight racing across dozens of classes.  The top of Class 2 turned into a super-tight battle between three fast J's. with Ian Matthews’ J/122 JINJA getting a second.

Saturday summary:
A blanket of cloud over Cowes in the morning quickly gave way to bright sun and a rapidly increasing wind. Weather forecasters outlined several possibilities for Saturday, but the most likely scenario prevailed-- the initial south-westerly wind of 10-14 knots building to a west-south-westerly of 13-19 knots by midday, with gusts adding as much as 40 per cent to the base wind speed.

“It’s the first time I can remember such a consistently breezy Cowes Week,” said CEO Stuart Quarrie “It’s certainly the first one with an average windspeed over 20 knots, but the feedback we’ve had so far was that it’s been one of the best Cowes Weeks ever.”
Sailing photo credits- Rick Tomlinson- http://www.rick-tomlinson.com
For more Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week sailing information

 

J/122s Battle in RORC Channel Race

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- The RORC Channel Race is often considered the last, final good run at getting teams functioning well and in offshore mode prior to the classic Rolex Fastnet Race later in August.  It's a good test of navigators and crews since the teams are presented with a wide variety of conditions in what is, in essence, a large ocean triangle that takes the teams out into "La Manche", criss-crossing shipping lanes, tidal lanes, wind lanes and throws in a mix of inshore/offshore tactical decision-making.  It's a tough race to do well in and hard to escape from bad tactical errors.  It also rewards consistent sailing and boats that can perform well on a variety of wind/ wave conditions.  In short, an amazing race for J sailors, taking 7 of the top 16, including 5 of the top 10, taking 1,2,4,6,8 overall.

This year, the RORC fleet set off east under spinnaker for the start of the 122 mile race with the entire fleet hugging the island shore in the best of the early tide. Despite the fickle breeze the 98 yachts in the fleet made relatively good speed past Hurst Castle. However in the vicinity of the Bridge Light Buoy the wind faded away causing the fleet to compress.

The leg to St Catherine's down underneath the south side of the Isle of Wight to its westernmost point was painful and as the new breeze filled in from the South West it was those who were offshore that benefitted. Later one, those who stuck it out were rewarded with some excellent sailing in a moderate breeze once they got to Bembridge Ledge.

The shy reach east to Saltdean Light Buoy (off Brighton) favored the yachts carrying asymmetric spinnakers and by the time the fleet finished back in the Solent it was a glorious day with fair winds for a wonderful finale to the race.

IRC Two produced a titanic battle between two J/122s, Neil Kipling's JOOPSTER from England, and Alain Catherineau's LORELEI from France. JOOPSTER won class by just under three minutes on corrected time.  For more RORC Channel Race sailing information

J/122s Prep for Rolex Fastnet

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- The waiting is nearly over for the 44th edition of the 608 nautical mile Rolex Fastnet Race, one of the great ocean challenges, starting on Sunday, August 14th. With a staggering 350 entrants at the ready, 1979’s record-breaking tally of 303 participating yachts will almost certainly be surpassed. The sheer size of the fleet is impressive. Its quality and diversity quite breathtaking. Inspiring and exhilarating in equal measure, there is every reason to believe that the 2011 Rolex Fastnet Race will maintain the event’s pioneering and prestigious tradition.

Regarding the "draw" of the Rolex Fastnet, one sailor said, "It is a mythical race. This year will be our seventh time and we are always very pleased and enthusiastic to participate with the crazy dream of winning it one more time."   John Towers is helming the J/122 OOJAH (GBR) with a US-based crew joining British boat owner Peter Tanner, their navigator for the race. The English Channel is some distance from their usual racing haven of the east coast of the United States. "As a group of Americans, we consider the Rolex Fastnet Race to be a once in a lifetime adventure that is a natural compliment to our passion for distance racing," explains Towers, "the Fastnet is a big deal for us and an adventure that we have been planning for the last two years.  Our goal will be the same as any other race we enter. Priority one is a safe passage. Priority two is that the experience is very positive for all members of the crew. Our third priority is to be competitive."

IRC 2 Class, with 77 boats, the largest and arguably the most competitive in the entire Fastnet fleet!   J/122s have a very experienced contingent of offshore veterans, including JOLLY JELLYFISH (David Richards), JOOPSTER (Neil Kipling), two French teams that include LORELEI (Alain Cathireneau) and NUTMEG IV (Francois Lognone) and an American team on OOJAH (John Towers).   For more Rolex Fastnet Race sailing information

 

J/122s @ J-Cup St Peter Port

(St Peter Port, Guernsey)- The J-Cup 2011, our tenth anniversary regatta, was brought to you by the principal event sponsors B&G, Dubarry of Ireland, Lombard Marine Finance, North Sails, Universal Marina and Nautical Guernsey, and was supported by Ray and Scott, Zenith Watches and Harken. The indisputable stars of the show were, as ever, the 350 J Boat owners and crew who made it happen.

The final day of racing at the J-Cup 2011, hosted by the Guernsey Yacht Club, took place on Thursday in The Little Russell just off St Peter Port. The breeze was a light 6 to 10 knot north westerly. Whilst the PRO had planned to run three races for each of the four competing classes but the dying breeze and the fact that the fleet had their monster J-Cup Prize-giving Party scheduled for later in the day meant that two races were sailed and the fleet were sent home in good time for tea and medals at 1300 hours.

The two top boats in IRC 1 as set off for the two final races on Thursday were Nigel and Donna Passmore’s J/133 Apollo 3 in first place and Rob Craigie’s J/122 J Bellino in second, each tied on nine points. Key Yachting’s J/111 J Spirit was in third with twelve points and Colin Wall’s J/111 True Love had fourteen points. Tricky, sticky, light stuff for two races and it was ‘All Change’ in IRC 1 at the end of the seven race series. True Love won both races on Thursday which shot them into the top slot for IRC 1. Apollo 3 finished second in class, on equal points with the winner and only losing out to True Love on the count-back for number of race wins! J Bellino took third in class. The North Sails Boat of the Day Prize for IRC 1 was presented to David Cule’s J/122 Mint Julep.

As the 350 J-Cup 2011 prize-giving party-goers took their seats at their dinner tables on Thursday night, everyone of course knew who had won each of the competing classes, and the champagne duly flowed freely. However, those who have never attended this epic event in the past were blissfully unaware of the sheer number and variety of seriously significant prizes and awards that were yet to be presented to a whole host of winners.

As supper commenced so did a game of ‘Heads and Tails’ the like of which most of us had never previously experienced. Ray and Scott (a specialist jeweller and diamond specialist on Guernsey) had arranged with Zenith Watches to offer a beautiful and extremely valuable Zenith Watch in response to donations from the J-Cup fleet for their chosen charity, Toe In The Water. Everyone present made a donation to Toe in the Water by way of an ‘entry fee’ to the game  and then 350 sailors stood on chairs to make their ‘heads or tails’ calls as the coin was tossed by Jeff Fox of Ray and Scott. After much hilarity, Paul England of the J/122 Majic won the Zenith Watch. However, the real winners here are the injured servicemen and women whom Toe in the Water help to rehabilitate through the sport of Sailing. Toe in the Water is £1773 better off today, thanks to the generosity of Zenith Watches, Ray and Scott and the J-Cup fleet. What a way to go!

The J-Cup 2012 will be hosted by the Royal Southern Yacht Club in Hamble from Wednesday 18th July to Saturday 21st of July. You have to be in it, to win it.   For more J-Cup sailing information.  Sailing photo credits- Tim Wright/ Photoaction.com

 

122s Slog Through Cowes-St Malo Race

(St. Malo, France)-  The 164 nm race to St. Malo from Cowes has always been a popular event and this past weekend 177 yachts raced across the English Channel to the famous port where the the race finishes just outside St Malo- the medieval walled port.  It was a spectacular start from the Royal Yacht Squadron Line in Cowes, England. The impressive RORC fleet got off to a flying start reaching across the line in an awesome display of power. The Race Committee elected to start the fleet to the East to avoid sending the fleet through Hurst Narrows where 30 knots of wind over tide and congestion may well have proved hazardous for the racing yachts. The wind persisted in direction and strength as the fleet sailed down the Eastern Solent to turn to the west and out into the English Channel.

"The wind was forecast to abate and veer to the West, which it did and those yachts that went West made big gains" commented RORC Racing Manager Ian Loffhagen. "The tricky decision was how far West to go and those that got their tactics right held the advantage. The breeze dropped as it veered but the wind held for most of the fleet until they got to Jersey. However, the faster boats had breeze all the way into the finish, this year, the conditions definitely favored the faster boats."

In IRC Two 48 yachts entered in one of the most competitive divisions.  Proving their RORC Season Points win two years ago was no fluke, Frenchman Phillipe Delaporte's J/122 PEN AZEN finished fourth in class and 12th IRC Overall, just 8 minutes out of 2nd overall and 34 minutes shy of winning the class.  Another French J/122, NUTMEG IV sailed by Francois Lognone finished 9th and yet another French J/122 LORELEI sailed by Alain Catherineau finished 14th.  Top British J/122 was Dave Richard's JOLLY JELLYFISH lying in 24th place.

For more RORC Cowes-Dinard-St Malo Race sailing information

 

JOOPSTER 2nd in RORC Çervantes Race

(Le Havre, France)- Over 100 boats were bound for Le Havre, Frances from Cowes, Isle of Wight, England for the RORC's first race of the European season, the Cervantes Trophy Race.  Just a 125 nm race- WSW from the Cowes/ Royal Yacht Squadron starting line to the renowned Needles (and the darn wreck!).  Turn left and go SE to St. Catherines Point.  Then back NE across Sandown Bay to Nab Tower (off eastern point of Isle of Wight), then SE 90 nm across La Manche (English Channel) to Le Havre, France.  Simple race?  Hardly.  And, it can be fraught with shipping channel issues, massive holes in the middle of 20-30 knot winds and the like.  This year was hardly any different than past "ditch races".  Smart sailing tossed in with a bit of luck would pay off yet again.  It was a race that had about 80% beating/ fetching and the other 20% a mix of the rest, in other words a waterline race.

IRC Two had no less than 25 yachts.  It was a close battle for line honours in class between the J/122 JOOPSTER sailed by Neil Kipling's crew and the J/111 sailed by the well-traveled Niall Dowling.  At the end of the race, the J/122 finished in front by 22 minutes.  As a result, JOOPSTER got second corrected and ARABELLA 4th on handicap.  Overall, they finished  4th and 7th, respectively.

Paul Heyes was sailing on Niall's J/111 ARABELLA and offered this insightful report on the race proceedings:  "The start was downwind in 10-14 kts, dead run down the Solent with tide, so about an hour and a half to the Needles turning mark.

At the start, ARABELLA took off with the first group, which included "La Reponse", a very custom First 40 built by Beneteau as a works boat for Gerry Trenteseaux. JOOPSTER, the hot J 122, and a successful Beneteau 40.7.

On the run we could not quite match the VMG of the 2 or 3 fastest symmetrical boats who were sailing at 170 or deeper to our 160. Our VMG was identical to the Elan 410 and X 41. We arrived at the Needles Fairway buoy 4th in class just ahead of JOOPSTER and JELLYFISH, another J/122.

We then had a 15 mile beat against the tide to St Catherines Point, slowly the 40 footers edged away from us, we were sailing with 7 crew. Many of our class sailed at IRC max weight of 12 bodies, so giving away nearly 500 kgs on the rail for stability is not helpful in these conditions. The wind built to 25 kts as we approached St Catherines Point sailing upwind.

Shortly after the point the breeze reduced to less than 10 knots and we quite quickly regained all our losses.  In under one hour we passed the 5 or 6 class 2 boats that had been ahead of us, the class 1 leader (a 54 footer) and the remainder of the class 3 and 4 boats that had started before us. The performance of the J/111 was awesome on this short tacking against the tide light-airs situation. Normally in this situation you gain places on the tack in and lose after the tack to deeper water. ARABELLA gained a place on every tack and conceded none, we must have passed close to 30 boats arriving in Sandown Bay leading on the water of everything that we could see, the race winner a Farr 52 having disappeared over the horizon.

The original SE breeze re-established itself at 12 knots with the J/122 JELLYFISH furthest offshore and first to find the breeze, taking the lead. As the breeze filled in a drag race for the Nab Tower ensued between ARABELLA, La Reponse and the 2 J 122s.  Once again the 40 footers slowly edged ahead, La Reponse and JOOPSTER arriving at the Nab some 5 minutes prior to us after probably 10 miles of sailing mostly against the tide. The J/122 JELLYFISH was just ahead of everyone.

Prior to starting we had been told that the long leg of the race which was 60 miles from the Nab to a buoy off Le Havre would be a 110-115 TWA leg, so we had anticipating trying the A0 (Code 0) and making pace, sadly for ARABELLA the wind had clocked and it was now a 65 TWA leg, so another benefit for waterline length.  Couldn't "buy a break", could we?

After an hour or so the wind backed enough to allow us to change to a Jib-top, this was a sweet sail and we made good progress, with a wind that built to 28kts at one point. At this point we were flying.

At the end of the 60 mile leg we were unsure of our fleet position, with the exception of an X 41 that we rounded the mark with, the final 20 miles in to the finish were pretty much close hauled.

The final result showed us 4th in class and 7th in fleet. We were beaten by La Reponse and the J/122 JOOPSTER who took about 20 minutes out of us on the 90 miles of fetching and beating.  We were pretty pleased to have held off the many, much faster-rated 38-40 footers with longer waterlines that followed us in.  Next time we need the course setters/ Wind Gods to just give us a quarter of the course or more as a reaching leg, then the ARABELLA will really light up--- here's to looking at the Fastnet Race!"
For more RORC Cervantes Race sailing information. 

  

J/122 Wins RORC Cowes-St. Malo

J/122 Revels In Tough Going

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- This year's race to St Malo proved to be a light airs affair but that is something that can happen in any yacht race (it's a 164 nm race course that takes you from Cowes, England to Casquets to Les Hanois and finish in St Malo, France).  As British Racing Team coach, Jim Saltonstall, pointed out: "Whether you are sailing in big waves with 40 knots of wind or ghosting along in light airs, you need to sail to the best of your ability to get the results that you wish for. In very light conditions, sailors really need to concentrate on maintaining their focus. Boredom can create mental apathy and the bottom line is that concentration levels have got to be 100% in light airs, just as much as at any other time."

The French teams appeared to have enormous amounts of focus and managed to eclipse their rivals in the two largest IRC divisions- IRC Zero and IRC One.

IRC Zero was won by Yves Grosjean's J/133, JIVARO, by nine minutes on corrected time from last year's overall winner, Hugues Riche's Grand Soleil 44, Spineck. JIVARO also finished third overall in the IRC fleet behind the two TP 52s. 

In IRC One the first eight boats on corrected time were all from France. Francois Lognone's J/122, NUTMEG IV, was the winner and took home the Yeoman Trophy.  Philippe Reminiac's J/133, BLACKJACK finished third in class.  NUTMEG IV sailed well enough to finish fifth overall in the IRC Fleet and BLACKJACK was tenth.

For more RORC Cowes-St Malo sailing info

  

J/122s Enjoy Giraglia Rolex Cup

NIKITA Top J/122

(St Tropez, France)- The 2010 Giraglia Rolex Cup comprises a series of inshore races in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez, followed by a 245nm offshore race starting in St. Tropez via La Giraglia islet off Corsica, then to San Remo in Italy.  It is one of the world's most picturesque coastlines, the views are dramatic and the people equally as beautiful-- the "apres sailing" is just as much fun as the gorgeous sailing venues.  Making it all happen are, of course, Rolex as primary sponsors, as well as strong event organization, managed by the Yacht Club Italiano in collaboration with the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez. 

The racing had more than its fair share of shifty, windy offshore winds (Mistral like but not too strong) to moderate air on-shore seabreezes.  A total of four races were sailed between San Remo and St. Tropez.  The J sailors faired reasonably well, although based on some of the results of well-campaigned J's it was clear the off-the-water festivities must've been taking their toll-- after all, it is the French and Italian Riviera at the height of summer with far, far too many distractions (or attractions) for one to focus on sailing all week long!  Nevertheless, there were over two dozens J's participating.  Notable performances include Andreas Farber's J/122 NIKITA.

In the 58 nm St. Tropez Race, the Farber's J/122 NIKITA won IRC B class quite handily.  And, for the Giraglia Race Week Combined Overall results for all four races, Farber's J/122 NIKITA finished sixth in IRC A class within a fleet of 137 boats

For more Giraglia Rolex Cup Sailing information        

 Photo credits- ROLEX/ Kurt Arrigo

  

RORC IRC Nationals Preview

(Solent, England- June 25-27)- This year's RORC IRC National Championship includes competitors from Belgium, France, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Ireland and the Netherlands.  Several well-sailed J's will be competing, ranging from the J/97 to the J/122s.

IRC One has a highly competitive international line-up. Philippe Delaporte's, PEN AZEN, is over from France and the J/122 is a proven winner; having been awarded RORC Yacht of the Year in 2008.

For more RORC IRC Nationals sailing information.

  

J/Cup Mediterranean Biggest Yet

MADE IN LOVE is Top J/122

(Ill de Porquerolles (Hyeres), France- 4-6 Jun)- just south of Hyeres, France lies one of the most beautiful islands of the French Mediterranean.  Iles de Porquerolles is nothing but short of magical.  Renowned for French island/ fishing cuisine, extraordinary hospitality and fabulous weather, it's hard to go wrong with a venue of such international repute.  There was record participation with 29 entries for the fourth edition of the J-Cup on the Mediterranean island of Porquerolles.

Third place was the J/122 MADE IN LOVE owned by Jean-Marie Patier and skippered by Catherine Chabaud.

The racing was very close amongst the fleet overall.  In fact for the long distance race, the traditional tour of the island of Porquerolles and the opening race for the regatta on Saturday, there was less than 30 minutes separating the first from last boat to finish!

The weekend of racing ended with a cocktail party and dinner bordering the Perzinsky estate and vineyard, musically accompanied by the popular Hyèrois group "shush".  For more J/ Med Cup sailing and regatta information