J70 World Championship at La Rochelle, France - Day 2
by Société des Régates Rochelaises 10 Jul 2015 07:31 BST
6-11 July 2015
A second World Championship day under the sun for the 78 boats competing for the title in La Rochelle.
With its 795 kg pulled by a 45m2 asymmetric spinnaker, the J70 goes fast and the show is incredible. The J70 is a boat created in 2012 by Jboat with the aim to become the international one-design of reference, and with crews from 16 countries, 4 different continents present at this world Championship, one can say that it is a success. The fact that it is a one-design boat is surely one of the factor in this success. Indeed, after the races of the first day, three rental boats were in the top 10, which shows that with little time to train, the crews have managed to find their marks very easily, since it was the same boat.
Having left the harbour in the late morning, the competitors took three more depart today under a clear blue sky. The crews enjoyed a thermal breeze between 8 and 17 knots from 270 to 280, typical of La Rochelle, that maintained itself throughout the afternoon. A lovely weather and some ideal conditions were gathered today to give rise to some wonderful races.
The Mexicans on the FLOJITO Y COOPERANDO (MEX 384) skippered by Julian FERNANDEZ NECKELMAN win the third race today (race 6) and remain in first place in the provisional rankings.The Italians on the CALVI (ITA 456) take for their part the second position, just ahead of the English led by Ian ATKINS on the BOATS.COM.The crew has indeed removed its worst mark from the second race yesterday, and rise up whithin in the rankings, taking over the American HELLY HANSEN (USA 2) who left too early in the race number six.
On the french side, the HEMON CAMUS (FRA 722) and its skipper Laurent SAMBRON, winner of the Crouesty Grand Prize last May on J70 ranks fifteenth and the LULU LA NANTAISE (FRA 257) with Ludovic SENECHAL's crew take the 19th position.The DISPOSITIF FRANCE JEUNE TEAM SRR (FRA 865), led by Pierre RHIMBAULT, who participate to this J70 Championship before heading to the grand finale of the match racing Nation's Cup in mid-July in Vladivostok (Russia), take the 24th place for the moment with two good races today.
Nothing is yet settled, since ther is still two days of competition, but until the next race tomorrow, the crews were able to relax and enjoy the regatta diner in front of a beautiful sunset on the La Rochelle harbour.
It is to be noted that it is possible thanks to the Sailing Anarchy team to see all of the event in live video.
The J/70 are visible at pontoon 2 in the Port des Minimes. Ten races are scheduled for this championship. Each day, the race committee should launch at least 3 races, depending on sea conditions.
www.j70worlds2015.com