Landsail Tyres J-Cup at the Royal Southern Yacht Club - Day 1
by Louay Habib 25 Jun 2021 10:54 NZST
24-26 June 2021
Racing at the Landsail Tyres J-Cup started today with two windward leeward races in the Eastern Solent. North Sails weather forecaster Chris Tibbs predicted a building south westerly, breeze and he was spot on. 50 J/Boat teams, racing in five different classes, enjoyed excellent sailing conditions for the first day of the regatta.
Congratulations to today's race winners. Robin Stevenson J/92s Upstart, Jack Banks J/92 Nightjar, Paul Ward's J/70 Eat Sleep J Repeat, Martin Dent's J/70 Jelvis, Johnny Cooper's J/112E Jooped, David Richards' J/109 Jumping Jellyfish, Mike & Susie Yates' J/109 JAGO, and Chris Jones & Louise Makin's J/111 Journeymaker II.
"Beautiful sailing conditions today with a stable wind direction just oscillating five degrees either side of 245, we had an average wind speed of about nine knots, just perfect conditions." Commented PRO Stuart Childerley.
IRC Two
Jack Banks J/92 Nightjar corrected out under IRC to win Race One by just 15 seconds from Robin Stevenson J/92s Upstart. Amazingly, David Greenhalgh's J/92 J'ronimo was a single second behind Upstart! In Race Two, Nightjar was the winner, J'ronimo second, and Nightjar third. Upstart leads the class after two highly competitive races. "Great racing, really competitive," commented Upstart's Robin Stevenson. "At times the wind was all over the place, lots of disturbed air from the boats around us. It's great to back out racing at the J-Cup."
J/70 Class
Paul Ward's Eat Sleep J Repeat scored a 1-2 today to lead the 20 strong J/70 fleet. Martin Dent's J/70 Jelvis won Race Two to finish the day in second place, but only on countback from Nick Phillips Chaotic. Patrick Liardet's Cosmic is the top Corinthian boat after two races, five points ahead of Charles Thompson's Brutus II. David McLeman's Offbeat is third.
IRC One
Johnny Cooper's J/112E Jooped scored two bullets, but it was far from straight forward with both race wins scored by about 30 seconds from Michael and Sarah Wallis' J/122E Jahmali. J/105 Jacana, skippered by Mark Stevens, was third. Johnny Cooper only purchased his J/112E three weeks ago. "The Jooped team has only just started sailing together, we all come from dinghy backgrounds," commented Johnny. "We wanted a boat that rates well under IRC and Jooped does exactly that. We are really pleased with today's performance and looking forward to tomorrow."
J/109 Class
David Richards' Jumping Jellyfish had a stellar day scoring a 1-2 to top the leader board. Mike & Susie Yates' JAGO got away to a flying start to win the last race of the day to place second after two races. Rosie Berry's Jenie, which is a new team for the J/109 Class, scored consistently to finish the day in third.
J/111 Class
Chris Jones & Louise Makin's J/111 Journeymaker II won both of today's races to lead the J/111 Class by three points. Paul Griffiths' Jagerbomb scored two podium finishes to place second, just a point ahead of Tony and Sally Mack's McFly. "Two good starts and very few mistakes," summed up Journeymaker's Louise Makin. "Getting off the line is important in the J/111 fleet, but even more so when the wind is light. The whole team did a great job on the manoeuvres, but as always the competition was really close."
After racing, a sit-down prize-giving was held on the Royal Southern's al fresco Quarter Deck. Key Yachting Sales Director, Hannah Le Prevost announced the winners. The J/Boats family enjoyed complimentary burgers and a bucket of beer from the 'Southern. Singer/Song Writer Jonny Moody played a great live set with sailors grinning from ear to ear after a fantastic day on the water. Today's prizes were generously donated by North Sails and Wight Vodka.
Racing at the Landsail Tyres J-Cup continues tomorrow, Friday 25th June with three races scheduled for all classes.
Full results available here.