J Class yachts at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in Sardinia - Overall
by J Class Association 6 Sep 2014 21:20 BST
1-6 September 2014
With Costa Smeralda delivering the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup the perfect finale to a great week of racing, 17-22kts of W'ly breezes, flat water and yet more lovely sunshine, Lionheart emerged from a spectacular pair of closely fought windward leeward races to win the J Class title after race winner Rainbow was disqualified from the final race as a result of a port-starboard protest.
Lionheart's regatta victory is their third in a row, remaining unbeaten now in Menorca, Palma and Sardinia, counting two first places, three second places and a fourth.
Ranger finished in second place for the second time, only one point behind Lionheart with Rainbow's DSQ dropping them from regatta winners to third overall.
As if to rise up and match the sparkling conditions, the four boat J-Class, cranked up the tension and unfolded their own dramatic conclusion to the seven race event which saw all of the crews win at least one race. Going into the final race three teams – Lionheart, Ranger and Rainbow – were all locked on the same 10pts tally after six races.
Lionheart with Bouwe Bekking calling tactics looked to be slowly locking down their third regatta win in a row this season, until their headsail split on the second beat of the first race. A small tear in the middle of the sail soon spread to the leech and by the final turn they had dropped behind Rainbow to fourth.
And not to be overshadowed in muscular wind conditions which are much more to their liking, Velsheda, after a string of 3s and 4s, were no mere bystanders today, winning the first race from a crisp start, making smart choices which were backed up by smooth boat handling. Velsheda who won overall here last year fought to the line in the second race too, finishing only one second behind the red shirted crew on Rainbow.
From a pressure cooker final start it was Rainbow which came off the line with height and pace, sailing with the smaller headsail as did Lionheart and Velsheda. They were able to rise up to Ranger and lead Velsheda around the first turn by just eight seconds. After a less than perfect first few minutes after the start Lionheart squeezed around the windward mark just ahead of Ranger.
With the pendulum having swung back in favour of Rainbow, leading Velsheda narrowly into the leeward gate, the spinnaker drop on Rainbow started messy and got worse by the second, requiring them to jettison the kite into the water, running all the sheets and halyard.
"It is a bit of a surprise way to win the regatta. It is not the nicest way. But that is how yacht racing goes some times. I think our guys did a really nice job and things were going in the right direction when we ripped the genoa in the first race. That cost us." Said tactician Bekking, "I am not saying we would have won the race but we were going in the right direction."
"The second race we were not close enough to them at the start and had to go right which was not so good. We had to tack away when Rainbow dropped their kite in the water which did not help us."
"For sure we struggled in the lumpy seas, the results were OK, but in the flatter water we were going better. But three regatta wins from three is OK, isn't it. It is pretty nice."
"Two boats have a different perspective on an incident and the jury decides. If we had finished second in that race – behind Velsheda – we would have won the regatta and so there was no need for us to infringe Velsheda and that is not good. I think we sailed well enough to win, but we did have few problems on board as you will have seen, but it is only our second regatta together. This was our first day of windward leewards in bigger breezes, it is all a learning curve for the team. It would have been nice to have finished winning the regatta." Said Francesco de Angelis, tactician on Rainbow.
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