RORC IRC Nationals Report

(Portsmouth, England)- Yachts from Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, South Africa and the United Kingdom  gathered in the Solent for the twelfth edition of the RORC IRC National Championship. Split into five IRC classes, the J/Teams were participating in three of them- IRC2, IRC3, and IRC4- and they all either won or had top five finishes!

The Royal Ocean Racing Club was determined to open the IRC National Championship in style and three excellent races on challenging windward-leeward courses was the result offshore of Portsmouth. With virtually no wind forecast for the central Solent, as well as tidal and depth issues, the Race Committee decided to take the fleet east in search of a decent breeze and the result was a magnificent day on the water.

For the second day of sailing the RORC P.R.O chose Hayling Shoal as the combat zone. With five races now completed, battle lines were emerging for the three classes J's were racing. Day Two was another light winds affair with the 54 strong RORC fleet heading once again to the best sailing grounds available. With the wind speed barely reaching 10 knots, starts were important and getting into clear air gave a distinct advantage. However, some yachts were over-eager with several general recalls and a number of boats were called over the line on individual recalls. Only two of the scheduled three races were sailed, however the race management team were roundly applauded for getting in two good races with difficult weather conditions.

In IRC Two, Cornel Riklin's J/111 JITTERBUG had posted three finishes in the top five (3-4-4) but had an 8th in race 5 to hurt their chances for the podium.  Her sistership, Andrew Christie's J/111 ICARUS, sailed like her namesake, not melting her wings as she streaked to the front of the fleet, posting a bullet to her scoreline.

For the final day of racing on Sunday, the crews faced a fairly grim forecast-- next to no or little wind was on the cards and it would be difficult for the RORC committee to get the ball rolling and have a "fair" race for all.  As it happened, all classes got away off Gillkicker Point, but a substantial shift in the light breeze was too much to provide fair racing and the race was abandoned shortly after the start.

Consequently, Cornell Riklin's J/111 JITTERBUG snatched a fourth place in IRC2 having sailed a solid series in the middle three races.  Chalmers J/35 BENGAL MAGIC took IRC honors.  "It has come as a complete surprise to win our class!" commented an ecstatic Chalmers. "We have been racing against some well sailed boats but now and again everything clicks together and that has been the case this weekend. We are absolutely thrilled to be national champions. I have just spent a fortune with Spinlock, so I am delighted to hear that we will be receiving some prizes from them, as well!  Thanks for contribution from RORC/ Louay Habib.  Sailing Photo credits- Paul Wyeth- http://www.pwpictures.com For more RORC IRC Nationals Championship sailing information

J/109 "Kids" 3rd Commodore's Cup

(Cowes, IOW, England)- The Royal Ocean Racing Club's Commodores' Cup fleet received an inadvertent visit from His Majesty's Queen Elizabeth II the morning of the 4th inshore race, her Diamond Jubilee Tour taking in Cowes Yacht Haven where the 21 boats were based in the premier three boat team event for international amateur crews.  It proved to be one of the highlights of the events for two of the J/Teams participating in the regatta.

That afternoon only one race was held, again along the Lee-on-Solent shoreline as it was on the first day with the 6 - 9 knot southeasterly, enough for the boats to race. The boats then had to head out into the tide to round the first mark and spreader mark before heading back downwind. The course was shortened, when a southwesterly sea breeze filled in after a brief transition just short of the finish line.

Winner of the day was the young British Keelboat Academy crew on former RORC Commodore David Aisher's J/109 YEOMAN OF WIGHT competing in RYA Team GBR Black, whose time corrected out to more than two minutes ahead of John van der Starre's J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER in the Benelux team.

At the end of the regatta, the French team with the J/122 NUTMEG IV managed to finish 3rd overall and the "numero uno" GBR Black team member that shined on that special day happened to be the J/109 YEOMAN OF WIGHT.

In addition to winning on that special day, after four races the J/109 YEOMAN OF WIGHT and her young crew were the leading boat across all seven teams at the Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup!  And, at that time the French team with the J/122 JOOPSTER were the overall team leaders!  After all the remarkably challenging racing, the youngest team at this year's RORC Commodore's Cup Team, sailing a 10 year-old design in the form of Sir Aisher's J/109 YEOMAN OF WIGHT, basically "kicked booty" against the best that European IRC teams had to offer and finished 3rd OVERALL on an individual points basis!  Not bad for a bunch of "kids".  :)    For more Brewin Dolphins RORC Commodore's Cup sailing information

RORC Commodore's Cup update

J/109 & J/122 Top Three Overall
(Cowes, IOW, England)- The Commodores' Cup fleet received an inadvertent visit from HM Queen Elizabeth II this morning, her Diamond Jubilee Tour taking in Cowes Yacht Haven where the 21 boats are based in this premier three boat team event for international amateur crews.

This afternoon only one race was held, again along the Lee-on-Solent shoreline as it was on the first day with the 6 - 9 knot southeasterly, enough for the boats to race. The boats then had to head out into the tide to round the first mark and spreader mark before heading back downwind. The course was shortened, when a southwesterly sea breeze filled in after a brief transition just short of the finish line.

Winner of the day was the young British Keelboat Academy crew on former RORC Commodore David Aisher's J/109 YEOMAN OF WIGHT competing in RYA Team GBR Black, whose time corrected out to more than two minutes ahead of John van der Starre's J/111 XCENTRIC RIPPER in the Benelux team.

Meanwhile, the French team with the J/122 NUTMEG IV are hanging on to the top three overall along with the GBR Black team that has the J/109 YEOMAN OF WIGHT.

In addition to winning today, after four races Yeoman of Wight and her young crew is the leading boat across all seven teams at the Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup, having taken over from RYA Team GBR Red's small boat, CNBC, that had her worse day of the regatta today.  For more Brewin Dolphins RORC Commodore's Cup sailing information

JEEZ LOUISE Wins Vice Admirals Cup 111s

Steven Tapper's STALKER Trumps J/109 Class
(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- The weather may have been grey and murky on the Solent today, but the quality of racing at the opening day of the 2012 Vice Admiral's Cup was spectacularly vibrant. For the 71 teams in six classes the day brought light to moderate shifty winds of circa 6-12 knots combined with a strong ebb tide, giving tacticians and navigators plenty to think about.

Race Officer Bob Milner set up shop for Classes 0, 1 and 2 along the Ryde bank, whilst his colleague Robert Lamb took Classes 3, 4 and 5 up onto the Hillhead plateau.  All fleets were sailing windward leeward courses and the race committee succeeded in completing the three races scheduled for all classes.

After racing Jonathan Goring confirmed that his overall impression of the day was, "Incredibly shifty! The wind was veering right all day and there was a massive 90 degree shift just before the third race. Our boat is the highest rating in the fleet so we're constantly looking to pick our gap and find clear air. The tide played a crucial part too although at times, particularly in the first race, it was hard to decide what to do for tidal advantage. We got forced off to the right into more tide and expected to loose out, but at the first mark we'd gained on those who came up the bank! This is a crucial regatta for those of us hoping to be selected for the GBR Team and the Commodores' Cup so we're crossing our fingers for more breeze tomorrow."

In Class 2 for the J/111's David and Kirsty Apthorp's J-DREAM won the first and last races and came 4th in the second, while Jame's Arnell's JEEZ LOUISE scored 3-1-2 leaving the boats tied on six points overall with J-DREAM claiming the lead on count back. Duncan McDonald and Phil Thomas's SHMOKIN JOE sat in third place overall, two points being the leaders, thanks to a 2nd and two 3rd places.

The fifteen J/109s in Class 3 put on a great showing with some exciting racing that got so close at times that the Protest Committee had two protests to resolve after racing. Steve and Jody's Maine's J2EAU took the honours in race one from Christopher Palmer's J-TAIME with David McGough's JUST SO 3rd.   But it was Steven Tapper's STALKER that claimed the boat of the day prize thanks to a 4th in race one followed by wins in next two races. In the overall standings STALKER had a two-point lead over J2EAU while Jonathan Hearth's JAGERBOMB took 3rd place on 11 points with J'TAIME fourth on 16.

For the second day of sailing, the teams were delighted when day two brought sunshine and wind, albeit a shifty 6-10 knots from the west, enabling all six fleets to complete three more races - races 4-6 of the series. With more tricky wind and tide conditions to contend with and the discard in play there have been plenty of place changes on the leader boards and there's all to play for going into the final day on Sunday.

Race Officers Robert Lamb and Bob Milner took their fleets up onto the Hillhead Plateau with the race area for Classes 0 to 2 set to the south-west of that for Classes 3 to 5. The big boat fleets were able to get underway on time at 10.30, but the smaller boats, which were closer in to the mainland shore, had a postponement whilst they waited for the lighter and shiftier inshore wind to settle.

There were big changes for the J/111s where the normally ultra-reliable David & Kirsty Apthorp's J-DREAM had a shocker of a day finishing last in races four and five before recovering slightly to take 4th in race six. As a result they drop from first to fourth in the overall standings. James Arnell's JEEZ LOUISE moved up into the lead from second thanks to a 4-3-1 score. Ricardo Tavoncelli's MANIC finally found form winning races four and five but dropped back into last in the last race although it was enough to move them up into second overall on equal point with Duncan McDonald and Phil Thomas's SHMOKIN JOE. MANIC held second on count back.

Steven Tapper's STALKER had a firm grip on the 16 strong J/109 fleet thanks to two further wins and a second place. They counted 6 points and had an 11 point lead over nearest rival J2EAU, owned by Steve and Jody Maine, who managed to hang onto second overall by adding 3-8-7 to their card. Six points behind them was Tor McLaren's INSPARA, who moved up from fifth, and fourth place was now held by Paul Griffiths' JAGERBOMB. STALKER's run of luck almost came to an end in the fifth race when their jib sheet snapped as the tacked onto the starboard layline for the first mark. Fortunately the crew's quick thinking saved the day and within a few seconds three of the team had hold of the flapping sheet tail and clew and they were able to sheet in effectively enough to allow them to continue towards the mark at almost full speed as their team mates rigged up a replacement sheet.

The wind Gods smiled at last on the final day of racing, where the fleet enjoyed two final races in a 12-16 knot north-north-easterly. An ebb tide kept the sea relatively flat and conditions were near perfect for the final showdown.  Again the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club's Race Committee took their race courses up onto the Hillhead Plateau and with the stronger winds they were able to set longer windward leeward courses using a mix of laid and permanent marks.

Class 2 for the J/111s saw plenty of "thrust & parry" as the boats enjoyed the stronger breeze.  JEEZ LOUISE held their lead thanks to a win in the first race followed by a 5th, which they discarded to take the series by 8 points.  SHMOKIN JOE pulled up into second overall while J-DREAM hit their stride again after yesterday's misstep, jumping back up into third overall.

STALKER gave the J/109s of Class 3 a master-class (e.g. a "schooling") as this well-drilled crew took two further bullets to win the series by 22 points, the biggest margin of all the fleets. Although STALKER had first place sewn up the battle for second and third raged.  The Main's J2EAU put in a steady day to take second place leaving Mclaren's INSPARA and Griffiths' JAGERBOMB, vying for third.  JAGERBOMB put in a sterling effort but at the end of the day both boats were tied on 39 points with INSPARA taking third on countback.  Post-racing Steven Tapper commented, "It all came good for us really, we had our worst race first of all with very flukey winds and we didn't read it very well, but it then got better and better for us as the weekend went on."   Sailing photo credits- Fiona Brown   For more Vice Admirals Cup sailing information