Blustery Cold Conditions @ Warsash IV

(Warsash, England)- An exhilarating day’s racing was completed for the fourth gathering of the Brooks Macdonald Warsash Spring Series on 6th April 2014. Competitors come from near and far for this early season contest and journeying through the driving rain to their boats early on Sunday morning, the sailors might well have been thinking an indoor sport could have been a better choice. During the racing however the visibility cleared, the deluge stopped giving way to glimpses of warm sunshine.

The weather forecast had suggested a brisk south-westerly in the 14 to 20 knot range but with, unusually, the possibility of double that in the gusts. The Black Group committee boat set up station at Bart’s Bash buoy just above the North Channel. Courses were set, largely cross-tide, cascading east with windward legs towards the Isle of Wight shore, giving protection from the heavier seas building up from the Western Solent. Nonetheless, flag “Yankee” was hoisted requiring life jackets to be worn. IRC1 and IRC2 shared a course and completed 15 miles. J/109 and IRC3 had a similar designed circuit of 12.5 miles. Tacticians were kept busy at times hugging the shallower water to avoid the worst of the rising tide on windward legs. Given the strong winds, there was many a spinnaker trawled in the water. Warsash Sailing Club member Iain Mcluckie, the Club’s photographer, multi-tasked to rescue several boats. There was close racing in all classes with many boats nip-and-tuck on the beats- altogether an exhausting but rewarding day’s racing.

In IRC1 the J/111 J-DREAM sailed by David and Kirsty Apthorp holds a five point class lead in the Series. Trailing them in second for the series is Simon Boadle’s MUNKENBECK and in third is Charles Ivill’s team on ETB TYRES- JUST LIKE THAT!

Tired but elated sailors gathered at Warsash Sailing Club after racing, well deserving the free beer! Tracey Gray, Investment Manager from Brooks Macdonald, presented the weekly champagne prizes to class winners and Douglas Struth of the J/80 DSP won the jacket donated by SLAM UK. Next week the pace hots up, with the start of the Spring Championship on 12th-13th April. 80 boats are already entered and more are welcome in all classes. The second weekend of the Spring Championship follows on 26th-27th April. There will be a party at Warsash Sailing Club on the two Saturday nights (12th and 26th April) with live music, food and a friendly bar available. The Spring Series continues on 13th April, then takes a break over the Easter holidays before reconvening for the grand finale on 27th April.  For more Warsash Spring series sailing information

Hamble Winter Series- Weekend VI

(Hamble, England)- After weeks of gales, it was with some trepidation that the Garmin Hamble Winter Series fleet nosed out of the river on Sunday in time for their start. Fears of wintry weather were misplaced, however, and some hours later the fleet returned with grins on their faces. ‘Awesome day on the water’ and ‘Champagne sailing conditions’ were some of the phrases heard bandied around the clubhouse after racing by competitors sporting that most unseasonal of things – sun-kissed faces.

The north-west 15-18 kts breeze provided some delightful but testing sailing conditions for the assembled racing yachts, with big shifts offering up big gains for some competitors with their eyes out of the boat and big losses for the less fortunate. One race was sailed.

In IRC 0, David & Kirsty Apthorp’s J/111 J-DREAM continued to sail a consistent series in their class and maintained their strong record with a 2nd this past weekend to hold on to their bronze podium position as well as their gold position in the J/111 one-design class overall.   For sailing photo credits-  Paul Wyeth Pictures   For more Hamble Winter Series sailing information

Chilly & Rainy "Winter" Series Update

(Hamble, England)- The Garmin Hamble Winter Series lived up to its name on Sunday with torrential rain and a chilly 18 knots from the northwest that left competitors glad to retire to the bar after racing for a few "hot toddies" and warm Guinness! But despite the conditions the crews and the volunteer race teams alike braved the conditions to fit in two exciting races.

The worst of the rain held off until the second race, with the first sailed in a marginally preferable light drizzle. In IRC 0, Cornel Riklin's J/111 JITTERBUG sailed fast to snag a 2-3 to be tied for second, just three points clear of David & Kirsty Apthorp's J/111 J-DREAM with a 4-4 tally.

In the J/111 class, Riklin’s JITTERBUG are sailing fast and smart and managed to beat the Apthorp's J-DREAM in both races to take first overall. Lying third is William Naylor's BRITISH SOLDIER.

Day prizes were – quite appropriately, given the foul weather conditions – provided by clothing supplier Hudson-Wight at the prize-giving back at Hamble River SC after racing, as well as by Southern Ropes, whose prizes went un-awarded last week due to the lack of wind.

Kudos to all the teams who braved Sunday’s weather and to the volunteers who manned the committee and mark-laying boats. Here’s hoping for better weather next weekend, which hosts the final MDL Hamble Big Boat Championship weekend and the third race day of the Garmin Hamble Winter Series, with One Sails as the Day Sponsor.  Thanks for contribution from Ben Meakins.    YouTube sailing video of Hamble Winter Series   Sailing photo credits- Malcolm Donald   For more Garmin Hamble Winter Series sailing information

Garmin Hamble Winter Series Preview

(Hamble, England)- Garmin (UK) will be supporting the Hamble Winter Series as title sponsor for the eighth time when the 2013 series gets under way on the weekend of the 5th October. The series organized by the Hamble River Sailing Club and now in its 32nd year, will retain the same successful format as last year. The main series will run for 8 Sundays with a break on 3rd November to avoid the start of the oyster dredging season in the Solent. It will cater for IRC Classes as well as J/111 and J/109 one-design classes.

In addition to the Garmin sponsored main series,  HRSC will be running the Hamble Big Boat Championships again on the first and third weekends of the series,  the 5th & 6th and the 19th & 20th October. The Big Boats will be sponsored by MDL Marinas again this year. IRC class plus the J/111 one-design class will be sailing.

The series will also contain the Hamble One Design Championships for J/109, J/80 and the J/70 class. The one-designs race on weeks 2 and 4 of the Garmin Hamble Winter Series, the 12th & 13th and the 26th & 27th October.

J/111 one-designs have an excellent turnout of competitive teams, including BIELA-MUNKENBECK, BRITISH SOLDIER, ICARUS, J-DREAM and JITTERBUG.   Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth- http://www.pwpictures.com.  For more Garmin Hamble Winter Series sailing information

J/Teams Love Champagne Sailing At Cowes Race Week!

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- As Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week 2013 drew to a close on Saturday evening, organisers Cowes Week Limited (CWL) reflected on another highly successful regatta which saw an increase in overall entry and visitor numbers, plus online interaction figures which already surpass the totals seen for the whole of 2012.

With the exception of a forced lay-day on Tuesday 6 August, the conditions provided some champagne sailing throughout the Week and at the overall prize-giving on Saturday evening, there were many happy faces. Stuart Quarrie, CEO of Cowes Week Limited commented: “It’s been a fantastic, very rewarding week. The weather Gods have been smiling on us and it’s a testament to the huge efforts of our entire team that this year’s regatta has been so successful”.

Martin Gilbert, CEO of title sponsor, Aberdeen Asset Management, added: “There was a terrific buzz around this year’s event and there was a tremendously exciting atmosphere. Our guests all had a great time and it felt like the event achieved even more positive press coverage than in previous years. We’re all tired but happy after the week, it couldn’t have gone any better.”

Five J One-Design classes participated in this year's Cowes Race Week (J/70, J/80, J/105, J/109, J/111), a record number of fleets for any sailboat brand by a significant margin and in six of the nine IRC handicap racing and cruising classes, J/Teams placed several teams in the top ten plus winning two of them.

Racing in the nine boat J/111 was extremely tight for most of the series with just twelve points separating the top five in the end.  Some boats started strong but had a few niggles to deal with in their scores, others started slow and closed with a flourish of good races.  Sailing the most consistently and avoiding any enormous pitfalls was James Arnell's JEEZ LOUISE, posting a 1-2-3-1-1-4 tally for 8 pts net to take class honors.  Sailing quite fast but dealing with a few niggles was Duncan McDonald's SHMOKIN JOE, bobbing and weaving to a 2-1-5-3-4-1 record for 11 pts net to snare second overall.  Starting out quite slowly, but clearly finding a second or third gear for the last four races was TOE IN THE WATER led by Capt Lloyd Hamilton MBE. TOE's 8-7-4-2-2-2 scoreline for 17 pts net was just enough for them to win the tie-breaker for third overall.  Losing the tie-break was past champion J-DREAM sailed by David & Kirsty Apthorp, posting a 4-4-2-4-3-5 tally for 17 pts net.  Also starting fast but having a tough go of it for the last three races was Tony Mack's MCFLY, having to settle for fifth with a 3-3-1-10-7-6 record for 20 pts net.  Sailing photo credits- Rick Tomlinson    For more Cowes Week sailing information

Fastnet Race Preview

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)-  Coming up in less than a fortnight is one of those "bucket list" offshore challenges that is on many sailor's wish list to conquer, vanquish the enemy and go home- the infamous Rolex Fastnet Race-- a simple 608 nm jaunt from Cowes westabout to a lighthouse on a rock and back to Plymouth.  Not to surprisingly, thousands have dreamt the dream, only to survive yet another 608nm journey again, then return for more punishment at the hands of the great Lord Neptune.  For many, it's part of that movie, "Never ending story, part XXXX, chapter XVXLV".  How many chapters later does one have to tell the story of nearly winning it all, but having to anchor yet again just yards off the Plymouth finish line within stone's throw (literally) of the race committee?  Like that famous British mountain climber once said about scaling Mt Everest in the Hindu Kush-- they keep coming back for more "because it's there".  Remarkably, a record numbers of boats signed up this year (mostly in 48 hours!), so plenty of sailors will be telling their version of the story sometime soon!

While the Rolex Fastnet Race's top prize is the Fastnet Challenge Cup and a Rolex watch/ chronometer for the first of the 302 boats winning under the IRC Rating rule, everyone has their fair shot at it all from the start on Sunday, August 11th off the Royal Yacht Squadron starting line in front of Cowes.  There will be forty-two J/Teams sailing- 14% of the total fleet-- easily the largest sailing brand represented within this famous British and European event.  Next closest brand is Beneteau with 12% followed by Sigma at 7% and a host of other major brands at less than 5% each-- like Swan, Jeanneau, X-Yachts, JPK, Grand Soleil, Archambault, Ker, Dehler, Bavaria and so forth.

Given any kind of a fetch or reaching race, the fleet of five J/111s will be quite formidable in the overall IRC handicap standings.  Look for these teams amongst the leaders, including two English teams- BRITISH SOLDIER (Army Sailing Association) and OJE (Andre Hill); the French team on ALPHALINK/ XTREME YACHTING (Benjamin Diouris); the Belgian team on DJINN (Just 4 Sailing Team), and the famous and highly successful Netherlands team on XCENTRIC RIPPER (John van der Starre & Robin Verhoef- also sailing Doublehanded Class).

It should be a fascinating Fastnet Race to watch given the enormous cross-section of J/Teams participating in this 2013 edition!  Live YellowBrick.com tracking will be available, so cheer on your favorite team to the finish!  Sailing photo credits- ROLEX/ Kurt Arrigo.   For more Rolex Fastnet Race sailing information

Cowes Race Week Preview

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week is a key part of the British sporting calendar taking place in early August each year. These dates result from early traditions when the great and the good came to Cowes between Goodwood and the Glorious Twelfth – day one of the grouse shooting season. The event is a great mix of competitive sailing and a vibrant social scene and has evolved enormously since the early days; it now attracts up to 1,000 competing boats, around 8,500 competitors and over 100,000 visitors.

Hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron and the Cowes Combined Clubs, the sailors are treated to incredibly challenging, fun sailing; especially when each day dawns with a new course on the famous Solent-- full of capricious currents and shifty, gusty breezes.  The event puts a premium not only on boat-handling and boat-speed, but on the navigational capabilities of the crew to find all the marks and make it back to the extraordinary finish line immediately off the flag deck onshore lined with massive cannons at the Royal Yacht Squadron.

There is a combination of IRC handicap racing as well as a multitude of J/One-design classes participating.  Starting with the one-designs, there will be J/70s, J/80s, J/109s and J/111s sailing.  In the nine boat J/111 class, a number of veteran Cowes regatta and race winners will be present, including SHMOKIN JOE (Duncan McDonald), J-DREAM (David & Kirsty Apthorp), MCFLY (Tony Mack), JEEZ LOUISE (James Arnell) and JITTERBURG (Cornel Riklin).  In addition, new teams participating in Cowes Week include Sebastien de Liedekerke's team from Belgium will be sailing DJINN, ICARUS sailed by Andrew Christie and John Scott, SWEENY skippered by Kees van Vliet from The Netherlands and TOE IN THE WATER led by Capt Lloyd Hamilton MBE.   Sailing photo credit- Rick Tomlinson.  For more Cowes Week sailing information

J's Dominates Round Island!

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- Saturday 1st of June was certainly a day to remember, a day of highs, and more highs and, it was a day for Round the Island Race records to tumble.  It was the day when Great Britain's most successful Olympic sailor, Sir Ben Ainslie (past J/24, J/80 and J/109 sailor/tactician) and his all-British crew aboard JP Morgan BAR, trounced the existing Round the Island Race multihull record, held for 12 years, by an impressive 16 minutes.  Equalling this awesome, impressive feat was Simon Ling's team aboard the J/70 SPITFIRE, just blowing away their 15 boat Sportboat Class by 15 minutes on corrected time and were declared winner of the prestigious Sir Edward Heath Trophy (named after a former British Prime Minister who dearly loved sailing).

As dawn broke over the Solent, a weak weather front was clearing away to the east, leaving clear skies and a northerly airflow in its wake. The wind strength peaked at 17-22 knots as the front passed over, reducing to 13-17 knots for the first starters. It was clear it was going to be a day to break records for all kinds of boats, especially with flat water and a good wind angle on every leg of the course.  A critical turning point in the race, St Catherine's Point, had a comfortable 15 kts with occasional gusts to 20-25 kts to make for fast surfing or planing for the lighter boats. It was nearly idyllic sailing conditions for the massive 1,500 boat fleet. However, by the time Simon Ling’s J/70 SPITFIRE, the leading sportsboat, was approaching Bembridge Ledge at 1030 hrs there were holes appearing in the breeze, with just 5-6 knots reported in places. Otherwise, conditions remain glorious on the water, with almost unbroken sun now warming the 15,000 sailors after a cold start to the day.

The many J teams that sailed enjoyed a fabulous day on the water, many having the opportunity to hop on the podium as well.  In IRC 1A with 28 entries were the five J/111s.  As J/111 champion and sixth in class was Tony Mack's McFLY.  Second J/111 and 10th in class was JITTERBUG.  Third J/111 and 14th in class was Rick Barne's MUNKENBECK.  Fourth J/111 and 16th in class was James Arnell's JEEZ LOUISE.  Fifth J/111 and 19th in class was the Belgian team DJINN sailed by Sebastien de Liedekerke.  The J/122 JACOB's LADDER was 21st in class.  Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth @ PWPictures.com.  For more Round The Island Race sailing information

Round the Island Race Preview

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- Hold on to your hats, bloomers and knickers!  This coming weekend the annual JP Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race, organized by the Island Sailing Club is taking place.  The one-day yacht race around the Isle of Wight, an island situated off the south coast of England, attracts over 1,700 boats and around 16,000 sailors--  making it one of the largest yacht races in the world and the fourth largest participation sporting event in the United Kingdom after the London Marathon and the Great North & South Runs (in other words, more sailors participate than any of the famous Harrod's department store sales in downtown London!).

Competitors come from all over the United Kingdom, other parts of Europe and as far away as America to sail the 50nm course round the Isle of Wight. Starting on the famous Royal Yacht Squadron line in Cowes, the fleet races "westabout" to The Needles, round St Catherine's Point and Bembridge Ledge buoy and back into the Solent to the finish line at Cowes.

Since 1990, the J's have always been factor in this famous race, often winning class or overall.  It attracts the famous and not so famous and that's what's so fun about sailing the original "100 Guinea Cup" race course (e.g. the original infamous regatta where the yacht AMERICA "stole" the silver cup, took it home and renamed it the "America's Cup"-- using an entirely professional crew of sailors-- as our English sailing friends might say, "that's not cricket!").

The balance of the J/Teams will be spread across multiple IRC Divisions, sportsboat and one-design classes.   In IRC 1A with 28 entries are five J/111s including JITTERBUG, MUNKENBECK, DJINN, JEEZ LOUISE and McFLY plus the J/122 JACOBS LADDER.    Good luck to all!  Fair winds, clear skies and fair tide!  For more Round The Island Race sailing information

Big Fleet For Cervantes Trophy

(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- 104 boats lined up for the opening race of the RORC offshore racing season, the Cervantes Trophy.  Organized by RORC in association with the Societe des Regates du Havre and the Royal Yacht Squadron, the Cervantes Trophy race kicked off on Saturday 4th May from the RYS line taking the fleet across the channel to finish in Le Havre.

The weather conditions leading up to the race looked uncertain, with a complex pressure system over northern Europe which could make it a good test for the international fleet from Belgium, Britain, France, The Netherlands and Russia.  Nevertheless, as Saturday morning dawned on the fleet, the sailors sprang to life and took off on a fast and furious 100 nm race across the English Channel to Le Havre, France for the coveted Cervantes Trophy. A Volvo 70 completed the course in a blistering pace, just over 7 hours for a 14 kts average!

"Here we go again! It's seven months since the last race of the 2012 season, which saw DIABLO-J clinch the Two-Handed and IRC Three titles, 3rd in IRC overall and the coveted RORC 'Yacht of the Year'. It's all to play for again, with a clean slate and no advantage! Every race has to be fought hard and won. We've done a lot of pre-season preparation; replacing, fixing, upgrading and ensuring everything works as it should for performance and safety. And for me, a particular feature for the season - ensuring I have a dependable co-skipper for the full season (unlike last year with 5 different guys!). Andy Boyle from Dublin, Ireland, with whom I won the Two-Handed and Team Trophy in the 2012 Round Ireland Race, is fully signed up and we're excited about the season ahead."

In IRC 2, the Army Sailing Association's brand new J/111 BRITISH SOLDIER was the scratch boat and only managed to get across the Channel less than 30 minutes faster than her older J/105 sibling, correcting out to 9th in IRC 2.  Finishing just behind them was the Belgian J/111 DJINN sailed by Jean-Patrick Smal. Their fleet, too, was led by "off-the-wind surfboards".  For more RORC Cervantes Trophy sailing information

Glorious Warsash Spring Championship!

Awesome sailing for J/111 Fleet
(Warsash, England)- It was a busy weekend for Warsash Sailing Club on 20th/21st April with racing on both days for the Brooks Macdonald Warsash Spring Championship and the fifth Sunday of the Spring Series. Perhaps the warmer weather had enticed new entries on the water, resulting in 150 boats ready to enjoy a busy programme of racing. Over the weekend, the race officers ran 40 separate races - a challenging but rewarding time all round.

Saturday- Spring Championship Day 1
The Spring Championship offers an intense schedule of four days’ racing, with no discards allowed. This year all IRC classes are eligible in Black Group as well as J/109s.  J/111s racing in IRC1 were also given extracted results to show how they performed as a “class-within-a-class”. 

Although the day dawned with the River Hamble resembling a millpond, everyone was pleased to see the wind fill in and racing got underway without delay.

Windward/leeward courses were set for all classes in Black Group varying in length from 4.3 to 6.2 nm for IRC1/IRC2 and 3.1 to 5.5 nm for J/109 and IRC3. IRC1 had an impressive lineup that included six J/111s as well as J/133s. After an initial general recall, the class was given a second chance to start under a ‘P’ flag and all went well.

Sunday- Spring Series Day 5,  Spring Championship Day 2
The weather was bright and sunny with a forecast south-westerly breeze set to build from 10 to 17 knots during the day. The Black Group committee boat set up station near Universal buoy using courses with an initial windward leg to Williams Shipping or West Knoll buoy. The plan was to offer a longer race well over two hours to the Spring Series competitors followed by a short race for those boats entered in the Spring Championship only. The conditions offered the best sailing in the series so far, only a few sunbeams short of champagne sailing – the champagne instead being presented after racing. Smaller boats needed to choose carefully to find clear air avoiding the  powerful IRC1 and IRC2 classes speeding downwind. Sundays in the Solent are also also busy with commercial traffic and the North Channel saw several shipping movements to avoid.

As a result of the weekend's sailing, taking an early lead in the J/111 class is James Arnell's JEEZ LOUISE with a consistent 2-1-3-1-1 tally for 8 pts.  Just behind with just two points separating them are Duncan McDonald's SHMOKING JOE in second with a 4-2-1-4-2 for 13 pts and Tony Mack's McFLY in third with a 5-3-2-2-3 for 15 pts.

Finally, the Spring Series IRC3 class continues to have an absolutely insane, panic-inducing, anxiety-driven, nose-to-nose dust-up to the grand finale next weekend.  Should create a few sleepless nights for these crews next weekend!  The betting is getting HOT, HOT, HOT at Ladbrokes betting parlor for this gang of four!  Sailing photo credits- Iain McLuckie   For more Warsash Spring Series sailing information

J/122 Sailing Fast- Wins Hamble Series!

J/111 J-DREAM & J/109 JAGERBOMB Take OD's
(Hamble, England)- Despite the combined efforts of a pessimistic forecast and ABP, who helpfully removed nearly all the racing marks in the Solent last week, boats racing in the final day of the Garmin Hamble Winter Series managed to squeeze in a race before the wind shut off completely.

Early morning saw 7-9 knots at the Bramble Bank and thick ice on decks. A short postponement accompanied a temporary lull in the breeze, but the race team was able to get all classes away in a 5-7 knot North-Westerly breeze and spring tide.  The flood tide meant that many classes were line shy in the light airs. After the start crews needed to keep their eyes out of the boat to locate areas of breeze - and to identify the large shifts, especially up the right hand side of the course.

Using inflatable marks instead of the missing racing marks, the race team set a series of windward-leeward courses, but were forced to shorten at the first leeward mark as the wind threatened to disappear completely. Nonetheless, some extremely close racing could be witnessed, even if it was in nerve-jangling slow motion. All in all, it was a beautiful day on the water, even if there was a lack of wind.

IRC 0 saw a closely fought series throughout the Winter Series and Dr Ivan Trotman's crew aboard their J/122 JOULOU hung on to their lead despite tallying a 5-4 in the last two races.  Their wonderful performance was attributed to good, solid sailing and avoiding enormous mistakes, something that plagued many of their competitors.  In the end, the JOLOU gang finished with just 13 pts total for the series, sufficient to win by four points!

Nick & Adam Munday's J/97 INDULJENCE started out the series very strong, leading the event until the last three races.  At that point, the INDULJENCE team was having a tough go of it, collecting a 4-6-4 at the end to finish second overall in the competitive IRC 3 Class by just five points.  Their J class peers were two J/92s, neither of whom managed to sail the entire series.  However, when the J/92s were sailing, it was clear that David & John Taylor's J-RONIMO and Andy Howe's BLACKJACK were able to fire off top five finishes and give the leaders a run for the money.

Tony Mack's McFLY won the last race in the J/111 class, but it was David and Kirsty Apthorp's J-DREAM that took the top spot overall with just 13 pts.  Cornel Riklin's JITTERBUG from France sailed an excellent series to finish second overall with 15 pts-- they will be a tough team to beat come spring-time when the French host their famous SPI OUEST France Regatta in April!  In the end, Tony's McFLY sailed incredibly well whenever they showed up on the race track and took third in class.  For having sailed just 6 of 10 races, Tony and the gang averaged just 1.5 pts per race- three 1sts and three 2nds.

In the J/109s, Owain Franks' JYNNAN TONNYX beat Paul Griffith's JAGERBOMB to take the day prize, but JAGERBOMB ended up taking the overall series by three points. Their nemesis all series long was Owain's team on JYNANN TONNYX, ultimately finishing second with 17 pts.  Finishing comfortably in third was David McLeman's OFFBEAT with 22 pts.  

Event Sailing Photographer Paul Wyeth took some brilliant photos of the entire Garmin Hamble Winter Series and many evocative images can be found on his website.   For more Hamble Winter Series sailing information

J/122 Leads Hamble Series

J/111 J-DREAM & J/109 JAGERBOMB OD Leaders
(Hamble, England)- If last week's lack of wind was anything to go by, this year's Garmin Hamble Winter Series looked set to be one of the lightest in memory. And then Sunday came along. In a brief gap between two ginormous Lows that came screaming up the Channel in quick succession, all classes fitted in a race on a windy, wet and cold day.  In fact, the weather was so ferocious, some crews faced logistical nightmares in making the start via a flooded and storm-battered countryside, which was reflected in slightly lower entries this week.

A deceptively light 10 knot breeze wafted boats to the start line, before a line squall heralded the arrival of 20-28 knots of Southwesterly wind - and frequent showers of icy rain, which persisted throughout the day. The blustery conditions heralded some impressive broaches and saw some shredded spinnakers. But luckily, the advancing Low held off just long enough for the assembled crews to enjoy the spectacle from the comfort of the HRSC clubhouse as it whistled in across the Solent.

Out on the water, IRC 0 was first away and Dr Ivan Trotman's crew aboard their J/122 JOULOU had a rough go of the conditions, managing a 5th place, sufficient to hang onto their lead for the series by two points.

For Nick & Adam Munday's J/97 INDULJENCE the conditions were generally to their liking but again managed to hang on tenuously to their position in second overall, hoping for a good last race next weekend!  The "feel good" story of the day had to be Andy Howe's J/92s BLACKJACK that sailed a good race to snag a 2nd!

Of the J/111s on the water, Cornel Riklin's JITTERBUG finished first in what amounted to a match race for the top of the class.  At this stage, David & Kirsty Apthorp's J-DREAM has a 3 pt lead on the class and short of a crushing last race or two, they hope to hang onto the lead for the Winter Series win.  JITTERBUG can mathematically have a shot, but it's at pretty long odds that J-DREAM will be displaced at the top of the leader board.

In the J/109s, Paul Griffiths' JAGERBOMB was first of the two J/109s that completed the race, further tightening their grip on first place overall and pulling into a 6 pts lead in the class.  Like their former J/109 competitors, J-DREAM, the Griffiths' JAGERBOMB team look set to take home the crown for the J/109 class next weekend barring an apocalyptic race of sorts.  Second is Owain Franks' JYNANN TONNYX with 16 pts and in third is David McLeman's OFFBEAT.

Event Photographer Paul Wyeth took some brilliant photos of the day's racing and more evocative images can be found on his website - http://www.pwpictures.com.

Thanks to Force 4 Chandlery, who, as Day Sponsors provided prizes in the clubhouse after racing.  One race remains - and crews wait to see what the weather gods have in store!   For more Hamble Winter Series sailing information

J/122 JOULU & J/111 JDREAM Lead Winter Series

(Hamble, England)- The Garmin Hamble Winter Series entered its second half of the series on Sunday with thick fog drifting down the Hamble River in the early morning. But competitors expecting wintry conditions were surprised by bright sunshine and a fluctuating, light and shifty breeze that offered big gains for those who kept in phase with the shifts.

A strong west-going tide at the start made time-on-distance calls important as the classes got clean away to beat their way from near Universal Marina buoy towards Hill Head and South Coast Sailing. As the tide turned, boats rounded their leeward marks and began a long beat against the tide and in a fickle breeze up the Hill Head shoreline towards the finish at Coronation.  Gains were there for the taking for those with the confidence to stand on inshore and cheat the tide – and for those with well-calibrated depth sounders.

In IRC 0, Dr Ivan Trotman’s J/122 JOLOU continues to lead the fleet overall with an impressive scoreline of 1-2-1-3-2-1-1-2 for a total of 8 pts over a host of top British IRC boats like a Grand Soleil 46, Mills 43 and and Arcona 430.

The IRC 2 class has two J/105s sailing against a thicket of IRC optimized beasts and at the end of the day, the J/105 guys are having fun, taking their good races with the difficult ones (e.g. all beating against tides).  Currently, Chris Jones' JOURNEYMAKER 5 is sailing well and lies 5th.

The largest IRC class has traditionally been the toughest one to win.  This fall's IRC 3 class sailing the Winter Series is no different.  A J/97 and J/92 are racing against formidable competition.  At this stage, Nick & Adam Munday's J/97 INDULJENCE has a steady record of 3-1-3-2-6-2-4, dropping out of the lead due to their last three races, but lying second with 11 pts just 4 pts back.  The J/92 J-RONIMO sailed by David John Taylor has sailed consistently in the top five when they are actually out sailing on the race course.  To date J-RONIMO lies 8th but is only 12 pts out of 5th with a long shot at even a 3rd place given their excellent sailing performance to date and taking into account some strategic drop races (like DNC's they don't want to count).

The J/109s were topped this week by a newcomer to this year’s series, Richard Hinde-Smith’s TIGH SOLIUS, which beat David McLeman's OFFBEAT in 2nd and Paul Griffith's JAGERBOMB in third.  So far, JAGERBOMB continues to lead their standings with a string of top five finishes, counting a 1-3-1-1-4-6-3 for a total of only 9 pts.  David's OFFBEAT and Owain Franks' JYNNAN TONNYX are tied for second with 14 pts apiece.  Fourth is Todd Wells on JE VANTE with 18 pts and fifth is Roger Phillips on DESIGNSTAR.

David & Kirsty Apthorp's JDREAM won another race in the J/111 class to now lead her class by just four pts, with a 2-1-2-3-3-1-1-1 scoreline for 8 pts total.  French J/111 owner Cornell Riklin has been sailing like a madman, his team onboard JITTERBUG are sailing very well and have amassed  a steady 1-3-1-2-2-3-3-3 for 12 pts to be within striking distance of the lead.  Tony Mack's team on McFLY have sailed to a 1-1-2-2-2 in their last five races to get within striking distance of the two leaders just one point back from the French team.  What is abundantly clear is that the J/111 teams are pushing each other so hard that had they been IRC handicap racing, their elapsed time finish positions would put them at or near the top of the heap in their IRC class.  As usual, one-design racing forces teams to sail better, smarter, faster and make fewer mistakes than others they race against-- the results speak for themselves.

The day's sponsor was Andark, who provided prizes to the assembled crews in the HRSC clubhouse after racing. Sailors will be keeping an eye on the long-range forecast for next week to see if the warm, dry weather will put in another appearance, although the consensus in the clubhouse concluded that a little more wind would be nice.   Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth- PWPictures.com  For more Garmin Hamble Winter Series sailing information

J/111 European Circuit 2013

(Paris, France)- The J/111 owner group in Europe has planned five events for 2013 including a European Championship.  The main goal is to ensure that at least ten boats will be participating in every event and more than fifteen for the Le Havre race.

The 2013 European J/111 calendar includes the following events:
- SPI Ouest France – France: 28th March- 1st April 2013
- Porquerolles – France: May 2013
- Euro Championship/ Normandy Sailing Week – Le Havre: 6th to 9th June 2013
- Cowes Race Week- England:  3rd to 10th August 2013
- Breskens–The Netherlands: September 2013

For more sailing information about these events, please contact either Paul Heys at J/UK (info@keyyachting.com) or Frederick Bouvier at J/Europe (fred@jcomposites.eu).

J.A.T. Wins J/80 Hamble One-Designs

J/122 JOULOU, J/109 J'TAIME, J/111 JET Lead Hamble Winter Series
(Hamble, England)- Winter finally showed its ugly, nasty teeth to the Garmin Hamble Winter Series and Lewmar Hamble One Design Championships over the past weekend, to mark the halfway point of the series.  While nothing like what their American colonialist counterparts had to survive with an even nastier gal named "Sandy", the gangsters sailing around the Solent certainly had their fair share of bad stuff to contend with for weather.

Saturday was the first day of the final weekend of the Lewmar Hamble One Design Championships. But a ferocious forecast and bitingly cold northerly wind put paid to the plans of the J/80 class, whose racing was cancelled. Only the J/109s ventured out for one race, before racing was called off for the day. One boat lost their rig, which broke above the top spreader, and another two boats had already retired. Steve Maine’s J2EAU won the race, around a minute ahead of JYNNAN TONNYX and YEOMAN OF WIGHT.

Hopes were high for better conditions on Sunday, with competitors enjoying an extra hour in bed as the clocks went back. Despite the cold morning, competitors were greeted by a much more civilized 11-18 knots from the west. The race team set each class two races from up to Hill Head for the smaller boats, and East Knoll for the bigger boats, to laid gate and leeward marks downwind.  J/80s in the Lewmar Hamble One Design Championship fleet raced in the mouth of Southampton Water, sailing three races.

Lewmar Hamble One Design Championships
After the final three races of the two-weekend Lewmar Hamble One Design Championships on Sunday, Phil Taylor’s J.A.T won the J/80 class overall, three points clear of Jon Powell’s BETTY.

After the cancellation on Saturday losing 4 races, the final 3 races on Sunday were always going to set-up for a grand finale between the main protagonists at the top of the leader-board. 15 boats lined up just off from the Royal Southern race mark with a mixed forecast and strong tides set for the day.

Race 1 - saw Patrick Liardet 'Aqua-J' dominate from start to finish and the team of J.A.T for most of the race were not anywhere near the chocolates, getting the final mark with a strong tide proved the decider where Phil Taylor and Kevin Sproul's 'J.A.T' shot back up to 2nd place just beating John Powell's 'Betty'.

Race 2 - the J/80 class is always known for never backing down from a start, and on this occasion it was only a matter of time when the inevitable was going to happen. At 20 seconds (due to about 2 to 3 knots of tide taking the fleet over the line) to go pretty much the entire fleet where recalled and the the PRO decided to break out the Z-Flag... much talk went around the fleet as usually the black flag is usually pulled. 2nd time lucky and the fleet got away, from start to finish it was lead by the team of 'J.A.T' followed by the new Royal Southern YC Academy team 'Spitfire' in 2nd and 'Betty' in 3rd.

Race 3 - with everything still to play for and no outright winner just yet, race 3 was all about getting away at the start. Off the line 'J.A.T' got caught in the pack but the vast experience of the team shot them out towards the front of the fleet. The course now with very little tide was a game of getting the right shifts upwind and down and therefore the fleet remained incredibly tight. At the finish though it was Phil and Kevin's 'J.A.T' bringing the fleet home first with John Powell's 'Betty' snatching 2nd place from new UK Chairman Mark Baskerville's 'Mistral'.

So overall the team of 'J.A.T' won but it wasn't an easy task. The fleet would like to thank Hamble River SC for organising a great event and look forward to working with them in 2013 to develop this fantastic end of year championships.

The J/109s raced with the main Garmin Hamble Winter Series fleet. Christopher Palmer’s J-TAIME posted two firsts on Sunday, but this wasn’t enough to beat Owain Franks’ JYNNAX TONNYX, whose 2 second places on Sunday, was enough put them two points clear overall.  In second is Richard & Valerie Griffith's OUTRAJEOUS with 25 pts.  This is Paul Griffiths' JAGERBOMB a scant one point back with 26 pts in third.  The balance of the top five is Steve Maine in J2EAU tied on points but in fourth on the tie-break with David Rolfe & Andy Johns' SHADOWFAX.

Garmin Hamble Winter Series
In the main series, the shifty, patchy breeze meant that large gains and losses were there for the taking, and in many classes the status quo was upset by some fantastic displays of tactical sailing. Andark was the day sponsor, and presented prizes to the winners in each class.

In IRC 0 Class, Ivan Trotman’s J/122 JOLOU posted two firsts to take them four points clear at the top of the class.  Things were closer in the IRC 3 class with Nick & Adam Munday's J/97 INDULJENCE having an "off-weekend", scoring a 6-2 to drop back to second in class just two points off the pace for 1st overall with 11 pts.

In the one-designs, David and Kirsty Apthorp’s J-DREAM enjoyed similar success in the J/111 class taking two bullets for the weekend to be winning class with 10 pts.  Second is Cornel Riklin's tough French crew onboard JITTERBUG with a 3-3 to keep 2nd place and third is Tony Mack's McFLY with 16 pts total.

For the J/109s, Paul Griffiths' JAGERBOMB is leading with 10 pts followed by Owain Franks' JYNNAN TONNYX in second with 14 pts and David McLeman's OFFBEAT in third with 18 pts.

Next week, there’s a break in the series, before it resumes on the 11th November. The next four weeks have one race per day to get competitors in before the light fades. Enjoy the break and see you in a fortnight!   For more Garmin Hamble Winter Series sailing information

Stunning Solent Sailing

J/122 Leading IRC0, J/97 Leads IRC3, JITTERBUG Tops 111s, JAGERBOMB Tops 109s
(Hamble, England)-  As fall sailing continues unabated in the south of England, cooler air is beginning to make its presence felt on the Solent.  However, this past weekend saw the weather Gods provide another stunner for the sailing teams in the Garmin Hamble Winter Series and MDL Hamble Big Boat Series.

Big Boat Championship
Saturday saw the start of the final MDL Hamble Big Boat Championship weekend. The forecast was appalling, with a mirror calm greeting the race committee as they motored out to the race course, and no-one really expected to get any racing in. But competitors couldn’t believe their luck as 4-5 knots of southeasterly filled in after an hour’s postponement, allowing the race team to get four races in from a start-line near Wight Vodka.

On Sunday, a good NorthEasterly 10-15 knots was forecast, and, unlike Saturday, that was exactly what the weather gods served up. Racing started from the vicinity of Sunsail Racing buoy at low tide, with courses cascading down the East Solent in a sluicing flood tide. The MDL Hamble Big Boat Championships fleet raced alongside the main Garmin Hamble Winter Series fleet, with two races for all classes.

In the J/111 class on Saturday, David & Kirsty Apthorp's J-DREAM won the first race, but couldn’t hold off Cornel Riklin’s JITTERBUG, who took first in the remaining three races.  Then on Sunday, JITTERBUG took two seconds on Sunday, but that was enough to keep them nine points clear at the top of the fleet – an impressive showing for their first regatta.  With JITTERBUG winning the Big Boat Championships, J-DREAM managed to hang in for second place overall with a 3-3 showing.  Third was Alfred Munkenbeck's MUNKENBECK with 21 pts.  Finally, it was good to see Tony Mack's crew closing out the series after a slow start by winning the last two races.

IN IRC 0, Neil Kipling's J/122 JOOPSTER continued her winning ways and stayed at the top of the leader board, closing out the regatta with a 1-2 on Sunday for a total of just 21 pts.  Her classmate JAMMY DODGER, the J/133 sailed by Neil Martin managed a 5th in the very competitive class.

Garmin Hamble Winter Series
The Garmin Hamble Winter Series ran as usual on Sunday, this time from the same start-line as the Big Boats in ideal conditions. The day sponsor was Southern Ropes, who provided prizes at the clubhouse after racing. All classes sailed two races, with the smaller boats finishing on the Hill Head plateau, and the bigger boats finishing near Browndown.

In IRC Class 0, Dr Ivan Trotman's crew on the J/122 JOLOU are now leading their division with a 1-2-1-3-2 record for 9 pts.  They are currently on top of a rogue's gallery of IRC special purpose boats like the Grand Soleil 46, Mills 43 and Arcona 430.

The IRC Class 3 saw the J/97 INDULJENCE sailed by Nick & Adam Munday tied on points for the lead with a 3-1-3-2 record for 9 pts.

The J/111s, whose results also counted for the MDL Hamble Big Boat Championships, were led by Tony Mack’s McFly, who took two bullets ahead of JITTERBUG.  Consequently, JITTERBUG is still leading with 9 pts followed by J-DREAM then McFLY in third.

Similarly, Paul Griffiths’ JAGERBOMB posted two firsts in the J/109 class and is currently leading their class with a comfortable lead due to an impressive scoreline of 1-3-1-1-1 for 6 pts.  Second lies David McLeman's OFFBEAT with a 4-1-2-6 record for 13 pts.  Just one point back is Owain Franks' JYNNAN TONNYX with a 3-4-4-3 tally for 14 pts.  The balance of the top five has Paul Coward's JACOBI in 4th and Roger Phillips' DESIGNSTAR 2 in 5th.

So, looking ahead, there’s one more weekend of racing before the mid-series break. Next weekend is the final Lewmar Hamble One Design Championship weekend, as well as the fourth Garmin Hamble Winter Series race day, for which the day sponsor is Andark.  Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth   For more Garmin Hamble Winter Series sailing information

J's Enjoy Close Sailing- Solent's Winter Series

J/122 Leading IRC0, J/97 Leads IRC3
(Hamble, England)- The second weekend of the Garmin Hamble Winter Series, which incorporated the first weekend of the Lewmar Hamble One Design Championships, saw some champagne sailing conditions. Bright sunshine and 8-12 knots of breeze burned off the thick frost and eerie mist that started the day off, giving some stunning, if shifty, sailing conditions for all classes.

The race team got two races in on schedule on windward-leeward courses, with big shifts and a strong ebb tide giving competitors the chance to make big gains - and losses.

IRC 0 was first away. Dr Ivan Trotman’s J/122 JOLOU won her race and continues to lead IRC0 with a 1-2-1 scoreline for 4 pts.  Nick and Adam Munday’s J/97 INDULGENCE topped the IRC 3 class, with a 3rd and a 1st to be leading their series in IRC 3.

In the J/111 class things were close. Cornel Ridkin’s JITTERBUG and David and Kirsty Apthorp’s J-DREAM are tied overall on 5 points, with a first each. Third lies Charles Rolls & Andrew Christie's ICARUS with 10 pts.  Similarly in the J/109s, Paul Griffiths’ JAGERBOMB leads the class overall by a point, with a first and a third, ahead of David McLeman’s OFFBEAT and her score of a 4th and a 1st.  Third is Owain Franks' JYNNAN TONNYX with a 3-4 tally for 7 pts.  A look at the full results shows some close battles lining up in all classes, which should prove fascinating to watch as the series unfolds.

Lewmar Hamble One Design Championships
The weekend also hosted the first of two Lewmar Hamble One-Design Championships weekends. This popular event had 48 entries, and featured racing for J/80 and J/109 classes on both Saturday and Sunday, kindly supported by Lewmar.

Paul Griffiths’ JAGERBOMB tops the J/109 class with a good smattering of top 3 results, accumulating a formidable scoreline of 5-3-1-2-1-3 for 15 pts. They finish the weekend three points ahead of Richard and Valerie Griffith’s OUTRAJEOUS who have a 1-2-2-4-8-1 record for 18 pts and are sitting in 2nd place.  In third is David McGough's JUST SO with 3-1-8-1-5-5 scores for 23 pts.  Currently lying fourth is Owain Franks' JYNNAN TONNYX and fifth is David Rolfe & Andy Johns' SHADOWFAX.

The J/80s sailed 7 races over the weekend. Phil Taylor’s J.A.T leads the 13-strong class overall with fairly consistent low-point scores of three 1sts, three 2nds and one 8th for 17 pts.  Jon Powell’s BETTY from France has been sailing very fast and smart and could easily be leading were it not for an RET in Race 4.  As a result "the BETTY" scoreline is four 1sts, two 2nds and an RET for 21 pts!  Next up in third overall is Patrick Liardet’s AQUA-J with a 3-4-3-4-2-7-3 record for 26 pts.  Rounding out the top five are Yannig Loyer sailing J-OUT-OF-THE-BOX in fourth and Dr Ross skippering  ROCK & ROLL in fifth.

Next weekend is the final MDL Hamble Big Boat Championship weekend, as well as the third race day of the Garmin Hamble Winter Series. Everyone is hoping the fine weather continues.   Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth  For more Garmin Hamble Winter Series sailing information

JITTERBUG Dancing a Jig On The Hamble

J/122s JOULOU & JOOPSTER Sashaying to IRC Leads
(Hamble, England)- Someone forgot to tell the weather gods that it was the start of the Garmin Hamble Winter Series this weekend. Light and fluky winds plagued competitors and race officers alike, with PRO Jamie Wilkinson describing it as 'possibly the lightest wind I have ever run a Winter Series race in!'

The first and third weekends of the series also host the MDL Hamble Big Boat Championships, and competitors racing in the J/111 and IRC classes managed to get in two of the scheduled four races on Saturday in a decreasing breeze that set the scene for the remainder of the weekend.  French J/111 JITTERBUG, sailed by Cornel Riklin, won both races in the J/111 class and in the IRC fleet there were also some wins for the J/122 JOOPSTER sailed by Neil Kipling.

Sunday saw a battle between the gradient northerly and a light southeasterly, which cancelled each other out for much of the morning as the fleet waited under an AP. The race team managed to get the Big Boat championships fleet, IRC 0, IRC 1, IRC 2 and the J/111's away before the wind stalled again, and by 1300, racing for the rest of the competitors in the main series was postponed, to be sailed another day.

Those that did manage to start had a frustrating race, with the windspeed not exceeding 5 knots. Nonetheless, in the MDL Hamble Big Boat Championship, the J/111 MUNKENBECK sailed by Alfred Munkenbeck ended JITTERBUG's two-race reign, claiming first place on Sunday. She now trails JITTERBUG by two points in the J/111 one-design class with a 2-3-1 record for 6 pts.  Just behind them are David & Kirsty Apthorp in J-DREAM with a 3-2-3 score for 8 pts.  And in IRC, Neil Kipling's J/122 JOOPSTER won Sunday's race to take the top spot overall!  In the main Garmin Hamble Winter Series, IRC 0 was topped by Dr Ivan Trotman’s J/122 JOLOU.

Next weekend the club hosts the first of two Lewmar Hamble One Design Championship weekends, with racing for One Design classes including the J/109 and J/80. Next Sunday will also see the second race day of the Garmin Hamble Winter Series. Everyone are keeping their fingers and toes crossed for some more breeze!   Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth  For more Garmin Hamble Winter Series sailing information

Cowes Week Preview

(Cowes, IOW, England)- Since 1826 Cowes Week has played a key part in the British sporting summer calendar and is one of the UK's longest running and most successful sporting events. It now stages up to 40 daily races for around 1,000 boats and is the largest sailing regatta of its kind in the world.

This year, Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week, as the event is now known, offers a great mix of competitive sailing and social activities from August 11th to 18th. The 8,500 competitors range from Olympic and world class professionals to weekend sailors. In excess of 100,000 spectators come to watch the sailing, enjoy the parties and live entertainment, and to experience the unique atmosphere. It is genuinely a one-of-a-kind event.

Traditionally, Cowes Week takes place after Glorious Goodwood and before the Glorious Twelfth (the first day of the grouse shooting season) - occasionally the traditional dates are changed to ensure optimum racing, taking account of the tides. Over the years the event has attracted British and foreign royalty, and many famous faces.

The first race was for a Gold Cup of the Value of £100, held in 1826 for just seven yachts under the flag of the Royal Yacht Club (which later became the Royal Yacht Squadron in 1833). The next year King George IV indicated his approval of the event by presenting a cup (the King's Cup, presented at every subsequent event until 1939) to mark the occasion, and the event became known as Cowes Regatta. This was run as a three-day, then a four-day, event and quickly became part of the social calendar.

It was not until 1964 that, on the suggestion of HRH Prince Philip (a regular competitor and Admiral of the Royal Yacht Squadron), Cowes Combined Clubs was formed to run and organise the regatta. This body represented the seven clubs involved in managing the racing (Royal Yacht Squadron, Royal London Yacht Club, Royal Thames Yacht Club, Royal Southampton Yacht Club, Royal Southern Yacht Club, Island Sailing Club and Royal Ocean Racing Club) and Cowes Town Regatta Committee. The Royal Yacht Squadron line became the universal start line and there was one set of sailing instructions and racing marks for the Week-- it was a brilliant suggestion by the Prince as since the regatta has mushroomed in popularity.

Over the course of time, J/Boats sailors have found the Cowes Week to their liking, enjoying the fabulous on-shore festivities along with the equally challenging sailing up and down the capricious tidal river known as "the Solent".  Participating in this year's events will be one-design fleets of J/109s and J/80s as well as fleets of J/111s, J/122s, J/97s sailing within various IRC classes.  Thirty-one of 180 IRC entries are J/Teams, about 17% of the fleet, quite a good show again and the dominant brand in IRC class sailing-- twice as many as Beneteau or X-Yachts participants in each brand!

Again leading the charge as biggest one-design keelboat fleet at Cowes are the twenty-five J/109s and what amounts to a changing of the guard amongst the top of the fleet will be in the making as last year's top boats are all gone.  Amongst the leaders could be ME JULIE (Dominique Monkhouse),  David Mcleman's OFFBEAT and the RAF Sailing Team on their familiar RED ARROW.  It will be an fascinating fleet to watch as the pecking order gets jumbled rapidly race to race!

The J/Sprit class may again include a selection of J/92, J/97 and J/105 designs. In 2011, there was keen competition for the top spot, the class winner being the J/92s J'RONIMO (David Greenhalgh & John Taylor) followed by Nick and Adam Munday's J/97 INDULJENCE, third was Andy Howe & Annie Kelly's J/92 BLACKJACK.  All three competitors are sailing again and will have to contend with two top J/105s, NEILSON REDEYE (Pip & Pete Tyler) and KING LOUIE sailed by Fiona and Malcolm Thorpe.  Then, the rest of the fleet are no less intimidating, including several J/92s like WHO'S TO NO (Richard Sparrow), BOJANGLES (Richard Sainsbury), HULLABALOO (Andrew Dallas); and a gaggle of fast J/97s like MCFLY (Tony Mack), JACKAROO (Jim and Stephen Dick), JET (James Owen), the champion JIKA-JIKA (Mike & Jamie Holmes) and another champion FEVER GLENFIDDICH (Grant Gordon).

The J/80s recently had their J/80 Worlds in Dartmouth and, as expected, the run-up to that event would have an impact on the large twenty-four boat attendance the J/80s enjoyed last year.  This year it looks like there will be a competitive coterie of nine boats with some familiar top boats in the fray, including JAMMY DODGER, AQUA J and the RAF Sailors on SPITFIRE.

Sure to be a factor will be the six J/111s, starting with David & Kirsty Apthorp's new J/DREAM, winner of this year's IRC Class in the Round Island Race.  Then you have SHMOKING JOE (Duncan McDonald and Phil Thomas- past IRC Class winners in the Round Island Race).  Newcomers include MOJITO from Hong Kong sailed by Simon & Michele Blore, previous owners of successful J/92s of the same name; DJINN from Belgium sailed by Sebastien de Liedekerke, a former J/109 owner; JEEZ LOUISE (James Arnell); and ICARUS sailed by Charles Rolls and Andrew Christie.  If the performance of the 111s in recent offshore events with any amount of breeze is indicative of the possible outcome in IRC2 Class, their friendly J competitors will have a tough time handling them.  Included in this group are the J/122s.

The four powerful J/122s JINJA (Ian Matthews), GHOST (Ken Lowes), THE SISTERHOOD (Susan Glenny), MINT JULEP and JOULOU (Ivan Trotman) will keep everyone honest and perhaps win a race or two and take a podium finish!

Two well-sailed J/133s- JUMP (Ian Dewhirst) and MADJUST (Richard Huges) have proven their capabilities to win races both around-the-cans and offshore may possibly end up in IRC1 or IRC2, in any event they will have their hands full as they strategize how to get around the Solent as cleverly as possible.  Sailing Photo Credits- Beken of Cowes/ Tim Wright-Photoaction.com. For more Cowes Week sailing information