J/Teams Sailing Fast In RORC Easter Challenge

J2X Smokes 80s, J/97s Dust IRC 4A
(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- One of the long-standing traditions on the Easter Holiday sailing on the Solent has been the RORC Easter Challenge.  The question always being, "who's in the chocolates" first?  The plot may be the same, but the characters and the scenarios on the Solent, typically, are always changing as fast as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

A strong turnout of both the big J's in IRC and the little J's (J80s) assured the teams of great sailing over the course of the weekend.  In the J/80s, it was a three-way battle for first, but in the end, Robert Larke's J2X team dominated with four 1sts in six races.  Tied for second were William Goldsmith on EXESS and Mike Lewis on JESTER, with EXESS getting the nod on the tie-break for second place.

In the IRC World, the J/Teams all sailed well against formidable competition.  Yet again, the J/97s demonstrated superior form and performance, dominating their IRC Class 4A with a 1-2.  Leading the way home by virtue of a trio of bullets in the last three races were Mike & Jamie Holmes on the famous JIKA-JIKA.  Just behind them after leading the first part of the series was Grant Gordon's crew on FEVER.

In IRC 3 a fleet of seven J/109s were dueling for supremacy with a range well-sailed 35 footers, an incredibly tough fleet overall!  In the end, David Aisher's J/109 YEOMAN OF WIGHT sailing for the British Keelboat Academy managed a second place just 1.0 pt off the lead!  Fourth and fifth in class were Robert Stiles on the J/109 DIAMOND JEM and Jonathan Hearth on BASIC INSTINCT.

The IRC 2 fleet also saw a narrow band of forty-odd footers (plus or minus) all sailing in very close quarters, with places changing in the blink of an eye.  The J/Teams had a great showing at the end of the day.  Sailing to a well-deserved 2nd in class was Jackie Dobson and crew on the J/133 JERONIMO, finishing strongly with two bullets.  Third was Neil Kipling's J/122 JOOPSTER starting off slowly, but finishing with a flourish of top three finishes to just finish 7 pts off first overall!  Fourth was Niall Dowling's latest J/111 JAZZBAND, sailing strong in four of the six races with a "barbell" finish record- 7-1-2-5-5-7, just 6 pts out of 2nd.  Close racing indeed.  Here are the daily sailing reports and synopses below.

DAY ONE- Light to moderate breeze and a mostly sunny outlook is on the cards as three days of racing got underway on the Solent.  The forecast shows the wind mostly to be under 10 knots for the duration of the event, but gusty and with significant shifts occurring over the three days: the wind easterly, but backing into the NNW tomorrow, returning to the east on Saturday before backing into the northwest again and dropping on Sunday.

As the day dawned, it was light, shifty, and bracingly cold wind from the north, combined with a substantial tide made for challenging conditions on the opening day.

Racing started on time at 1300 and with the wind rarely getting above 6 knots, the tide was a vital factor, ebbing throughout the afternoon at more than 2 knots (and due to increase with a 4.9m spring tide coming on Sunday).

"The tide was a pretty major factor, particularly at the starts and some of the laylines in the second race," commented Luke McCarthy, Racing Manager and Head Coach at the British Keelboat Academy.

In addition to the BKA's three J/80s, they also sail on David Aisher's J/109 Yeoman of Wight in IRC Three, on which Luke McCarthy is competing this weekend with a BKA crew. After today's two races they are leading IRC Three. In race one they demolished the opposition finishing more than six minutes ahead on corrected time and this was despite being over at the start. "We always wanted to go right up the beat and we piled in there and pushed hard right and then we just extended after that." In the second race they (and a number of other boats) were involved in a big pile up at the pin end of the start line and finished fourth.

McCarthy attributes this partly to the four weekends of training they have put in over the last six weeks and also perhaps benefitting from their J/109 being rated with slightly larger jibs than the six other J/109s racing here.

Approaching low tide during race two, a number of boats went aground on the Brambles Bank, including the J/133 JERONIMO.  Meanwhile in IRC Four A Grant Gordon posted a pair of bullets aboard his J/97 Fever while Robert Larke had the same aboard J2X in the J/80s.

DAY TWO- Today proved a difficult one for both competitors and race officials alike. Under a grey overcast sky, race three of the series got underway on time in light breeze, but on the second beat the wind turned inside out, causing the race to be shortened, finishing at the end of that leg. After this the wind resolutely failed to return, causing today's final two races to be cancelled.

In IRC Two, Niall Dowling's new J/111 JAZZBAND remained in second, although today's race was won by JOOPSTER, Neil Kipling's J/122.  "The bias was swinging at the start and we were going for the pin end and then the bias went 10deg the other way, so we went back to the committee boat," explained one sailor about his start. "We weren't going fast at the gun, but we were going in the right direction and we spotted the pressure up on the left and those that went right lost on the first beat."

On the second beat, matters were made all the more challenging for the IRC 2 teams as there was a tide line just short of the weather mark. "There was east-going tide approaching and then for the last 50 yards, definite west-going tide," a skipper observed. "What became a good layline suddenly became a bad layline...so another two tacks, but it was the same for everyone."

Elsewhere in IRC Three the British Keelboat Academy squad sailing David Aisher's J/109 YEOMAN OF WIGHT remained in second. In IRC Four A Grant Gordon and his J/97 FEVER continued her unbroken run of bullets.  However, in the J/80 one design class, Rachel Woods' JUMBLESAIL won today's race breaking Rob Larke's previously perfect scoreline on J2X.

Round-the-world navigator Steve Hayles, racing with the British Keelboat Academy, felt that the race committee had made the right call to send the fleet home mid-afternoon.  "It was a bit confusing," he said of today's situation. "It wasn't really a sea breeze, there just wasn't much gradient about, so a bit of breeze funnels up the western Solent at 270deg, it funnels down Southampton Water and it comes off the north shore, so all it takes is a slight change in balance..."  But it was really the tide turning that finally killed the wind altogether today. "In theory that should have built the breeze a little, but I think it just held it back. To can it was the right thing to do."

As to tomorrow, Hayles (who also runs the weather forecasting company GRIB.US) says: "We hope it will go southwesterly...I was hopeful yesterday, but I'm not today. There is a bit of southwesterly out there, it is just whether it pushes up here. It could be the same again. I am a little more hopeful tomorrow. If it starts more left it will pull left."

DAY 3- Conditions finally came good for the last day of the RORC Easter Challenge with the wind backing into the south and building to double figures. To make up for yesterday's lack of wind, three races were held for all classes.

Despite a strong final push by Jackie Dobson and the crew of the J/133 JERONIMO winning today's two final races,  they still couldn't make it to the top of the podium and settled for second overall.

In IRC Three competition was tight.  David Aisher's British Keelboat Academy crewed J/109 YEOMAN OF WIGHT, which was top of the seven J/109s, finished second just one point shy of first overall.

After today's three races there was a leader change in IRC4A with father and son, Mike and Jamie Holmes and their J/97 JIKA JIKA overhauling sistership, Grant Gordon's FEVER, to win by just two points.  "It was our first time out this season, so it took a while for us to blow away the cobwebs," admitted Jamie Holmes. "We led FEVER during the race the day before a couple of times, but we threw it away through kedging badly!" Of today's race management on their course despite the powerful spring tide, Holmes added: "They did really well to get three fair races off, particularly after yesterday being so challenging. The tide was more of an issue yesterday, going backwards, than it was today."  According to Mike Holmes, their win came as a surprise as they hadn't expected three races to be held today - one more than scheduled.

With a near perfect scoreline was Robert Larke in the J/80 one design class, dropping yesterday's one race to the Rachel Woods-steered JUMBLESAIL.  While Larke posted three bullets in today's races in the Northern Solent, so consistently second was William Goldsmith's Slam-sponsored team on EXESS.  "Yesterday was frustrating to say the least," said Goldsmith. "Today it was a day of no mistakes or fewer mistakes. We struggled with starting earlier on in the week, but finished with a very good start and rather than J2X being off on their own, today we were keeping up with them and it was us and them and the rest of the fleet behind."

Goldsmith is with the British Keelboat Academy and is gunning with his team - average age 20 - for a good position in the J/80 Worlds to be held in Dartmouth later this year. "They will be huge and we want to try and stay up with the top of the fleet there. With the Worlds coming up its in our best interest to have all the British boats work together and that is part of the RORC Easter Challenge to get everyone coached."

At the prize-giving held in the Cowes Yacht Haven Events Centre, Commodore of the RORC Mike Greville thanked the race officials before Easter eggs were handed out as prizes to all of the winners.   Sailing photo credits-  Paul Wyeth  For more RORC Easter Challenge sailing information

Spectacular Sailing At SPI OUEST France Regatta

J/111 J-LANCE 7 & J/80 INTERFACE CONCEPT Winners
(La Trinite sur Mer, France)- The weather was challenging- ranging from sunny and windy to grey, cool, light and shifty.  Nevertheless, the host club, the Société Nautique de la Trinité-sur-Mer, masterfully orchestrated a fabulous, gracious and excellent competition across the board for the enormous 438 boat fleet and the giant J/Classes. In short, one of the most famous spring regattas in the world lived up to its billing as one of the premiere sailing events on the international sailing calendar.

In one short burst of spontaneous combustion and energy, the quaint, lovely little seaside town called La Trinite sur Mer on Quiberon Bay became a bustling metropolis for some of the world's best sailors in both offshore sailing as well as one-design classes.  All the boats that participated were in for a challenging four days of sailing: great 20-25 kt sunny breezes the first day, two days of cloudy, grey shifty sailing, concluding with another partly cloudy windy day for the finale.  For many of the classes, the regatta outcome was not determined until the last day.  The huge J contingent of 141 boats (32% of the fleet with J/Boats being the largest brand in the regatta!) from across Europe and the U.K. had a wonderful time.  Nine J/111s sailed their first European One-Design event and the 119 J/80s were treated to a tour'de'force by a renown French sailing team.

For the J/111 class, the racing could not have been any closer.  Literally, the outcome came down to the last leg of the last race to determine who would win!  And, even crazier was the fact that the winner was determined on a tie-breaker!  Prophetically, it became a titanic battle between one of the top offshore French sailing teams led by Didier LeMoal on J-LANCE 7 and the #1 British J/109 offshore team that has now hopped into the J/111 class- the team of David & Kirsty Apthorp on the famously-named J-DREAM.  The regatta went down to the wire for the top three boats.  After six races, J-DREAM was a leading with a 2-1-2-3-1-1 record for only 10 pts, J-LANCE 7 was in second with a 1-3-3-2-2-2 for 13 pts and third was John Van der Starre's XCENTRIC RIPPER with a 3-4-1-1-3-5 for 17 pts.  But, the last four races changed everything for this group.  Didier's team on J-LANCE 7 managed to finish off with a 1-1-3-1 to J-DREAM's 8-2-2-2 and XCENTRIC RIPPER's 2-5-1-3.  As a result, J-LANCE 7 won the tie-break on most 1sts to win the class with J-DREAM second and XCENTRIC RIPPER third.  Rounding out the top five were two other French teams, Stephen Blanchard's LE JOUET in fourth and G. Thomas' ALPHALINK EXTREME YACHTING in fifth.

The J/111s enjoyed excellent media coverage of their event, thanks to BLUR.SE founder Peter Gustafsson (he was sailing his brand new J/111 BLUR!).  For a preview of what it's like to sail the J/111 in tight-quarters one-design racing, see these videos edited by Peter's friend Stefan Blom on VIMEO and also read John Van de Starre's report from X-CENTRIC RIPPER below in the J/Community section.

VIMEO - Day One/  Day Two/  Day Three/  Day Four

Without question, the dominant one-design class in SPI Ouest France were the 119 J/80s-- by far the largest one-design class the SPI OUEST Regatta has ever experienced for several years in a row. Why?  Because they're having fun and it's a simple sportboat to sail in France!  Considering the strength and the depth of experience seen at this year's world-class event, it was remarkable to see one team simply dominate the racing over a wide variety of sailing conditions.  The top Frenchman at last year's J/80 Worlds in Copenhagen, Denmark simply demonstrated speed, smart tactics and great boat-handling-- congratulations to Eric Brezellec and crew on INTERFACE CONCEPT for a fantastic sailing series-- hard to beat a record of 1-2-7-1-2-1-7-4-1 tossing a 7th for an aggregate of 19 pts!  Nevertheless, while Eric's was a dominating performance, two other top French teams were giving him a "run-for-the-money".  Coincidentally, like their big brother J/111 teams, they also had to settle for "who-beat-who" on a tie-breaker!  Second was Vincent Vandekerhove sailing DUNKERQUE PLAISANCE to an equally strong 6-1-1-7-bfd-1-1-5-2 record for 24 pts.  Were it not for a BFD in race 5, Vincent and the very fast, smart-sailing DP crew might have won the regatta outright.  Third was Nicolas Lunven sailing GENERALI to an incredibly consistent 2-16-2-2-3-3-2-6-4 also for 24 pts.

Congratulations must go out to the top women sailing team that was led by the French team of Maxime Rousseaux on CN ST CAST- GRAND OUEST ETIQUETTES, finishing 4th overall out of 119 boats!  She ended up defeating a number of Olympic Medallists, World and European Champions along her route to to the top five.  Fifth behind here was French J/80 Champion Luc Nadal on GANJA.  Top British team was Royal Southern YC's Kevin Sproul sailing ULTIMATE SAILS to sixth and top Spanish team was Inigo Jauregui on GOLD SAILING in eighth.

The J/122s and J/133 had a tough road to drive in a very competitive 32 boat IRC 1 Class.  In the end, the top J/122 was MADE IN LOVE (J. Patier) finishing 7th, followed by another J/122 JOLLY JOKER (R. Marchais) in 12th.  Ending up 13th was Yves Grosjean's J/133 JIVARO and just behind them was the J/122 NUTMEG IV (F. Lognone) in 16th.

Finally, in the largest IRC fleet, IRC 4 class with 64 boats, the J/97 MISPICKEL V sailed by B. Fagart managed to finish 6th despite a "slow start" in Races 1 & 2 and a bad race 8. Otherwise, the MISPICKEL V team were on track to be a regatta leader with a 4-2-8-1-4 for one of the best records in the fleet!  "Next time" promised the crew!   For more Spi Ouest France sailing information

Sunny April Fools Sailing At Warsash

(Hamble, So'ton, England)-  The light conditions continued for the third week of the Warsash Spring Series on Sunday, 1st April. With a forecast 7/8 knots north-easterly diminishing and veering southeasterly then southerly, the Black Group committee boat set up station at Flying Fish buoy.

The early breeze enabled the first three classes to go ahead without delay. IRC1 and IRC2 got clear away on time. For the J/109 class the wind started drifting right and the boats were bunched at the committee boat end. Red Arrow (RAFYC) started prematurely and had to return. The sequence was then halted briefly as the wind swung, the line was adjusted and a new windward mark plotted. After the turning point, all classes were taken to East Knoll, West Knoll and South Bramble. Into the second leg, the breeze turned very light and fickle with large patches of calm water. Second placed J-DREAM, David and Kirsty Apthorp’s J/111, used very different tactics for the run past the Brambles Bank. In fact, it seemed from the first two classes that every tactician had a different idea on the best route south.

For the smaller classes, the problems increased as the route to the windward mark at Fastnet Insurance became increasingly difficult.  With conditions deteriorating, the decision was made to shorten course for four classes at Flying Fish, the next mark after South Bramble. The bigger boats went on to Prince Consort before shortening at Sunsail Racing.

The introduction this year of a separate class for J/Sprit boats has enabled a mix of mainly J/92s and J/97s to enjoy some very close racing which has resulted in the only perfect score in the series so far. David Greenhalgh and John Taylor’s J'RONIMO has won all three races, this week by an impressive margin of six minutes.

Mike and Sarah Willis JAHMALI added a win to their two second places to edge ahead of David McLeman’s OFFBEAT in the J/109 standings.

The sportsboats in White Group had set up stall near the entrance to Southampton Water and initially there was enough breeze to get both classes away on time. A significant wind shift on the first lap negated the windward/leeward design of the course and made for a somewhat processional race. Being closer inshore, the new south-southeasterly breeze took some time to reach the race course. However, the upside of this was that the sportsboats did not have to suffer the gradual shift in wind direction that had affected the Black Group. By 1230, the wind had steadied and strengthened sufficiently to allow both classes two more good races. Rob Larke (J2X) with two wins this week has opened up a small lead at the halfway stage in the J/80 class.  For more Warsash Spring Series sailing results.

J/111 JATO Wins "Border Run"

J/120 J-ALMIGHTY & J/124 MARISOL Dominate Too
(Newport Beach, CA)- With 223 boats entered in this years 2012 Border Run, it seems the Southern California yachting scene may have a new favorite sailing event.  "The Border Run", that begins in Newport and heads to Dana Point (the Sprint course), or to San Diego (the Short course) or San Diego via the Coronado del Norte Island (the 90 mile Long Course), has provided SoCal sailors with a viable race that satisfies appetites for long-distance racing.  The race attracted a lot of SoCal J/Sailors, too.

In their inaugural race, the J/111 JATO sailed by Bill Webster and Mike Moorhead won their class by a significant margin in the Long Course PHRF Light A class.  They were up against some hot Farr 40s, a Turbo OD35 and a Ross 40, not an easy task to beat this group of boats.

The J/120 Class showed up with a strong group of ten boats.  Leading the way home was Mike Hatch's J-ALMIGHTY in first, followed by Tom & Terri Manok's POLE DANCER in second and Chuck Nichols' CC RIDER in third.

In Long PHRF C, the J/30 EGGEMOGGIN sailed by Thomas Lehtonen sailed to a respectable second overall just 8 minutes off the pace after 19 hours of sailing the 90 nm!

In Short PHRF C Light class, the J/Teams simply smoked their class, led by Seth Hall's J/124 MARISOL.  Three hours behind them was Joe Simpkin's J/124 FORGIVENESS followed by yet another well-sailed J/109 ELEKTRA sailed by Tom Brott.  Win-Place-Show, these guys dominated.

In Short PHRF D Light class, three J/105s were sailing but it was Bill Moore's KESTREL that simply out-sailed the rest to take top honors in their class by nearly two hours on corrected time.

In Short PHRF B, the J/35 MACS! sailed by Eric and Steve McClure finished fourth, narrowly missing third by just 6 minutes.  Just behind them was the J/33 PRIMA sailed by Mark Weinberger just 14 minutes back in fourth place.

After the exciting start, the wind challenged sailors as the south wind stayed on the bow making the race an upwind battle for all three courses until the wind died to a whisper once the sun went down. On the Short and Long Course to San Diego only half the fleet finished with the other half enjoying the full moon and flat seas as they motored to the party at Silver Gate Yacht Club, this years venue for the San Diego trophy party.

The annual race is in its fourth year and has grown to over 200 boats since it’s inception in 2009. What started as a response to one of the founders being excluded from the Newport to Ensenada has become an event whose tag line is “where everyone’s invited”.

“It’s funny how things work out,” said co-founder Randy Reynolds. “It gave us the opportunity to put together an event with new elements and components we thought the racing community would want. We’re delighted with the progress of the event.”  Reynolds believes one of the key reasons why the event has become so popular in such a relatively short time is the fluidity in which they approach each year’s contest. While some yacht races are steeped in rigid traditions and formulas, the Border Run continues to experiment with ideas that they believe respond to the changing nature of the sport itself.

This year they employed a single start concept. Most races begin a rolling class-by-class start, but in an effort to make this particular start more fun and exciting, organizers had the entire fleet begin at the same time.

“We’re looking to find ways that make the event special,” said co-founder Bob Long. “We’ve offered multiple course options, a European style start, a special course to challenge dinghy sailors and we’re always looking for unique elements for the parties.”

Reynolds and Long are also visibly proud when they speak of the charity aspect of the event. Last year the Border Run raised money for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society and this year competitors raised over $19,000 for both LLS and local charity City2 Sea that provides free education in the ocean sciences and an introduction to sailing to at-risk children.

“I have to say, being a part of something that not only allows for a great time for those involved, but also raises awareness and money for these charities is really a great feeling,” Long said.

The 2012 Border Run is sponsored by Ullman Sails and outfitted by Pirates Lair. The Border Run team, consists of XS Racing of Huntington Beach, South Shore Yacht Club of Newport Beach (the Organizing Authority) and Dana Point Yacht Club of Dana Point.  Sailing photo credits- Peter Howson   For more Border Run sailing information

SPI OUEST France Preview

(La Trinite sur Mer, France)- Perhaps one of the most significant rights of spring every year in the sailing world in Europe has to be the famous SPI OUEST France sailing regatta held in the quaint, lovely little seaside town called La Trinite sur Mer on Quiberon Bay.  The ambiance is renown, the restaurants delicious, the wine even better, and the international gathering of sailors from all points of the compass make for a highly entertaining venue.  The beautiful harbor often has some of the elite monster multihulls parked stern-to on the main quay (the 130 footer Banque Populaire or 100 footer Groupama, for example) and, due to their enormous popularity the 100+ J/80s are parked on the other side, a commanding presence at the heart of Grand Prix French sailing.

This year another good turnout was anticipated.  A total 438 boats of which 141 (32% of the fleet) are J sailing teams are coming in from across Europe and the UK.  Nine J/111s will be participating in their European One-Design debut, 116 J/80s are racing for class honors and sixteen J/Teams are sailing in the four IRC handicap classes.

Starting with the J/111 class, nine boats are represented from across continental Europe and the UK.  So many of these teams have never sailed against one another it's impossible to make any predictions as so many are well-sailed.  Most certainly all the teams will have steep learning curves as they learn to extract maximum performance from their J/111s race-to-race. There are three French teams, LE JOUET (Stephane Blanchards- must see his website- http://www.lejouet.eu), J-LANCE 7 (Didier Le Moal) and ALPHALINK EXTREME YACHTING (G. Thomas).  Two teams are from the United Kingdom, including J-DREAM (the champion J/109 team of David and Kirsty Apthorp) and OJE (A Hill).  From Benelux are two entries, XCENTRIC RIPPER (John Van der Starre and Robin Verhoef from the Netherlands that sailed the Fastnet Race Doublehanded) and DJINN ( Jean-Patrick Smal) from Belgium.  Long distance awards will surely be contested between JUSTICE (B. Flavio) from Italy and BLUR (Peter Gustafsson's J/109 champion team from Sweden).  For a preview of what it's like to sail the J/111, see the BLUR/Peter montage video-- totally cool!!

The dominant one-design class in SPI Ouest France are the 116 J/80s-- easily the most consistent and largest one-design class the SPI OUEST Regatta has ever experienced over the course of three decades of hosting this famous regatta.  Like their J/111 big brothers, it's going to be pretty hard to determine who's going to the dominant teams, but certainly there are a few standout J/80 sailing teams that are worth mentioning that will factor into the leader board.  From France, you have renown class leaders like GANJA (Luc Nadal), ATLANTIS (Louis Sambron), INTERFACE CONCEPT 1 & 2 (Eric Brezellec and JC Moriceau, respectively) and TBS (Pierre Follenfant-- perhaps the "sleeper" in their group of world-class sailors, Pierre is a former 470 and Flying Dutchman champion).  From Italy you have their class leader JENIALE! sailed by Massimo Rama.  The Spanish contingent have nearly a dozen boats sailing with one of their top boats in attendance, GOLD SAILING skippered Ignacio Jauregui.  The host of the 2012 J/80 Worlds are the United Kingdom and their contingent is pretty strong, including ULTIMATE SAILS (Kevin Sproul, a multi-class champion), RAF BENEVOLENT FUND (Terry Hanlon of the British RAF Sailing Team) and BALTIC WHARF LTD (Henry Bomby, a top youth sailor in the UK).

The IRC Handicap rule grouping has significant competition across all four classes- IRC 1 to IRC 4.  In the 32 boat IRC 1 Class, the big J's are sailing with the J/133 JIVARO leading the charge sailed by Yves Grosjean, followed by a very tough group of J/122s, including NUTMEG IV (F. Lognone), JOLLY JOKER (R. Marchais) and MADE IN LOVE (J. Patier).  Given a good series, any one of these boats has proven over the course of time at various events around France, Italy, the UK that they can win.

In the 32 boat IRC 2 class, the top J is the J/120 RHAPSODIE V (J Godet), with two J/109s taking chase in the form of POULICO 10 (CV Arcachon) and FRANJPANE (P. Mouret), followed by the J/105 J-SQUARED (V. Jomier).

The 46 boat IRC 3 fleet has the J/92s UNISAILS BAINBRIDGE (SP Quiberon) vying for honors against a fellow J/105 MISS J (F. Guillemot).

Then, in the largest IRC fleet, IRC 4 class has 64 boats battling amongst the a wide range of boats, from the J/24 up to the super-fast J/97.  If things go well, the J/97 may prove again that it's the master of its domain, this time the J/97 MISPICKEL V sailed by B. Fagart will be up against some formidable competition.  Thrown into the fray doing battle against all the "modern" boats is the "classic" J/24 with four of them competing against the big boys, including J'ADORE (E. Richard), JINETTE (C. Gury), MARTA (P. Lemaistre) and INSULARIS (A. Garcia).  For more Spi Ouest France sailing information

Roller Coaster Sailing for Warsash Leaders

(Hamble, So'ton, England)-  The J/109s saw a dramatic flip-flop, roller-coaster ride going on in their standings after the previous weekend.  Now leading are Mike & Sarah Wallis on JAHMALI with a 2-2.  Second is David Mcleman's OFFBEAT with a 4-1, third is Paul Griffiths on the J/109 JAGERBOMB with a 1-5, fourth Owain Franks & Jean Lockett on JYNNAN TONNYX with a 5-6 and fifth is David & Mary McGough's JUST SO with a 12-3.  Tumbling down the standings was Roger Phillips on DESIGNSTAR 2 with a 3-14 for sixth at this time.

The J/Sprit class is proving to be quite competitive.  Nevertheless, while the J/92 J'RONIMO (John Taylor and David Greenhalgh) now has two firsts to count for a good lead, the next four positions are all in a horse race. Andy Howe's J/92s BLACKJACK is in 2nd with a 3-3, Nick & Adam Munday's J/92 INDULJENCE is in third with a 5-2 and John Cooper and Ian Townend’s J/92 JAMMIN is in 4th with a 2-6.

Like their counterparts in the J/109 class, the J/80s saw a significant jumble in their standings with four counting for the series by now. Leading the J/80s is Ian Atkins sailing BOATS.COM with a 2-7-2-1.  Second now is Rob Lark's J2X with a 6-3-1-3 scoreline.  Early leader SLIGHTLY STEAMY sailed by Nick and Annie Haigh now lie third with a 1-5-8-7 tally, leading by virtue of a tie-breaker over Jon Powell's BETTY with a 5-6-4-6.  Fifth is Stewart Hawthorn's J'AI DEUX AMOURS.

After two weekends of racing, the Black Group IRC 1 Class only have two races due to the unusual conditions.  Currently, Ivan Trotman's J/122 JOLOU is surviving with a 5-7 to remain in contention in 4th overall.  Just behind are David & Kirsty Apthorp's J/111 J-DREAM with an 8-5 in 4th place.  And, fifth is Ken Lowes' J/122 GHOST in 5th overall with an 8-8.  Tough class!  For more Warsash Spring Series sailing results.

Innovative Warsash Spring Series Starts

(Hamble, So'ton, England)-  The 29th Warsash Spring Series gets underway this Sunday 18th March. Again the Spring Series and Spring Championship will follow the popular tried and tested formula but the race management team at Warsash Sailing Club has also taken on board feedback from competitors with a view to improving the event still further.

New for the 2012 Spring Series will be a J-Sprit class for J/105, J/100, J/97, J/95 and J/92 designs, racing together under IRC ratings. Spring Series Chairman Peter Bateson commented: “We feel this addition will benefit those boats with very similar sailing characteristics and competitors can enjoy courses designed for them, rather than sharing with conventionally rigged boats.”

The Spring Championship weekends, with racing on Saturday and Sunday, are being held on 21st/22nd and 28th/29th April. The Championship is being held on the final two weekends with multiple races for IRC1, IRC2, J/109s and J/80s, amongst others. There is also a separate class for trialists for the Brewin Dolphin Commodores’ Cup, currently with 10 entries in Black Group IRC 2 Class, including David Aisher's J/109 YEOMAN OF WIGHT.

Many class trophy winners of 2011 are returning to the fray to defend their titles – including JAHMALI (J/109) and AQUA-J (J/80). David and Kirsty Apthorp have been keen contenders in the J/109 division for several years but for 2012 their J-DREAM is a J/111 which will enjoy keen competition with J/111 sisterships ICARUS sailed by Charles Rolls and Andrew Christie, JEEZ LOUISE skippered by James Arnell and SHMOKIN JOE sailed by Duncan Mcdonald. It looks like the Black Group IRC 1 Class will have some pretty extraordinary competition in addition to the 111s.  Factor in two J/122s, Ken Lowes' GHOST and Ivan Trotman's JOLOU and two J/133s, Neil Martin's JAMMY DODGER and Dave Ballantyne's JINGS! and you have nearly half of IRC 1 being J/Boat owners vying for the podium.

The J/109 class has a very strong showing of fourteen boats and amongst them are some familiar names returning to the Spring Series for a shot at some silverware.  Sure to be in the contention include Mike & Sarah Wallis' JAHMALI, David & Mary McGough's JUST SO, Richard & Valerie Griffith's OUTRAJEOUS, Paul Griffith's JAGERBOMB and David Mcleman's OFFBEAT.

In the newly formed J/Sprit Class, the mix of J/92s, J/97s and J/105s will make for some excellent racing by several successful teams over the past few seasons.  Chief amongst them should be the leading J/92s, including Andy Howe's BLACKJACK and John Taylor and David Greenhalgh's J'RONIMO.  Within the J/97s, Nick and Adam Munday's INDULJENCE and last year's champion Michael Holmes' JIKA-JIKA should be at the top of the pack.  If there's good J/105 weather with a bit of reaching, look for Chris Jones' seasoned offshore campaigners on JOURNEYMAKER 5 to factor into the results depending on weather and course layouts.

The J/80 section continues to grow in popularity, with Stewart Hawthorn on J'AI DEUX AMOURS and Nick and Annie Haigh on SLIGHTLY STEAMY swapping from Black Group classes. The increase in numbers may perhaps be due to the J/80 World Championships being held in Dartmouth later in the summer. Also, some class veterans notably missing from last year's action are back on course, including Ian Atkins' BOATS.COM and Tony Hanlon on the Royal Air Force Sailing Team's SPITFIRE.  For more Warsash Spring Series sailing results.  Sailing Photo Credit- Tim Wright- photoaction.com