MIQ Logistics, a global organisation with a rapidly growing interest and investment in the marine sector, has this week announced major financial backing and operational support for the J/80 UK Class in addition to a long-term partnership with Key Yachting Ltd as their preferred logistics partner for 2012.

Competitors at The MIQ Logistics 2012 J/80 World Championship Powered by SLAM, which will take place in Dartmouth in June, will enjoy significant and tangible benefits as a direct result of MIQ’s investment in the event in addition to that of SLAM UK. The intention of both MIQ and SLAM is to deliver the kind of support for the regatta which will directly benefit the eighty or so teams which are predicted to take part.

MIQ Logistics’ Director James Clarke said ‘We are enormously excited about our partnership with the J/80 UK Class and with Key Yachting. The International J/80 fleet features some of the most highly skilled sailors, Olympians, National and World Champions from numerous racing classes all around the world. We understand the huge responsibility that comes with our investment but the opportunity to be involved with the J/80 Class and the World Championship was one that we could not ignore: it demonstrates and cements our commitment to the marine sector. We are a trusted partner to a number of professional and amateur racing teams and serve a wide range of global yacht brokers and individuals. Our dedicated marine division has extensive global coverage. The MIQ Logistics 2012 J/80 World Championship Powered by SLAM will be an awesome event and we are thrilled that MIQ’s support will help to set it apart from other regattas’.

‘The sponsor support for the MIQ Logistics 2012 J/80 World Championship Powered by SLAM is fantastic’ said Terry Palmer, Chairman of the J/80 UK Class Association. It’s a credit to the J/80 Class and to the sport of sailing in general. The foresight and vision of our sponsors means that we are now able to deliver an event which people will remember and talk about for years.’

In recent years Spanish J/80 sailors have reigned supreme at the World Championships and the last five J/80 World Champions have hailed from Spain. However, with the MIQ Logistics 2012 J/80 World Championship Powered by SLAM being co-hosted by the Britannia Yacht Club (the yacht club of Britannia Royal Naval College) and the Royal Dart Yacht Club, the UK fleet is determined that the World Championship title will be retained in home waters this year.

Building on their sponsorship of the J/80 UK Nationals in 2011, Baltic Wharf (a full service boat yard in Totnes, at the top of the River Dart) has stepped up to the mark with yet more investment for the Worlds, precisely targeted to improve the racing credentials of the UK J/80 fleet. The Baltic Wharf J/80 Training Programme, in association with First Class Nautical (another Dartmouth based firm) will enable UK competitors to train in Dartmouth this spring, in the waters where world championship races will be won and lost. Jim Saltonstall, the UK’s most renowned and successful racing coach will be putting the Baltic Wharf squad through their paces in advance of World Championship by way of the most intensive coaching programme that the UK J/80 Class has ever enjoyed.

Nick Haigh (a familiar name in UK sailing circles with vast experience ranging from Lark dinghies to his most recent DK46 yacht) will be sailing his new J/80 with his wife Annie and the current SB3 World Champion Geoff Carveth. Nick explained ‘Geoff has campaigned J/80s before and when he called me to suggest putting a team together, I could not resist. Annie and I live in South Devon and The MIQ Logistics 2012 J/80 World Championship Powered by SLAM will be raced in our home waters. We are fully revved up and ready to go with our new boat, Slightly Steamy.’ For Carveth, of course, the J/80 Worlds represent unfinished business…

Elsewhere in Europe, the USA and Asia other Nationals teams are also deep in preparation for the 2012 event. Ignacio Camino Rodriguez is the skipper the J/80 ‘Nextel Engineering’ and is the current J/80 World Champion having won the 2011 event in Denmark. He said this week ‘I have raced in all five J/80 world championships since 2007 and I have now won the title twice. The 2012 World Championship in the UK this summer is not to be missed. We Spanish are looking forward to a great event in Dartmouth with a really strong entry list, tight competition, sound organisation and superb sponsor support from MIQ Logistics and SLAM. We also hope that the weather will be good!’

The MIQ Logistics 2012 J/80 World Championship Powered by SLAM will take place between the 9th and 15th of June and the J/80 International Class is buzzing with excitement and anticipation. Further information can be found online at www.j80worlds2012.com and entries for the event can also be made via the website.