J/80 World Championship at the Royal Southern Yacht Club - Day 1
by Louay Habib 10 Jul 2017 22:38 BST
8-14 July 2017
The 16th edition of the J/80 World Championship got off to a flying start with two spectacular championship races for the 48 boat fleet. A southwesterly wind of 12 knots built during the afternoon, piping up to over 20 knots in the gusts. With wind over tide shortly after the start, the combat zone boiled up with the J/80s powering upwind, then surfing downwind, in a full on foam up. Rayco Tavares (ESP) leads the championship, Kevin Sproul (GBR) is second and Luke Patience (GBR) third.
PRO Stuart Childerley held a practice race In the morning, and after a big wind shift, moved the course to the east. "It can be a devil of a race area but we got two good races in today, helped by the competitors who settled into the tidal conditions very well at the start, but I expect that from this fleet, which is full of talented sailors," commented Stuart Childerley.
The battle of the day was won by reigning J/80 World Champion, Rayco Tavares, who is top of the leaderboard after the first day, but the Spaniard did not have it all his own way. Reigning UK National Champion, Kevin Sproul won Race One but Rayco scored a 2-1 to Kevin's 1-4. The battle is due to continue all week.
Coming from Lanzarote, we are used to sailing in strong winds but the tide and short chop is something different for us," commented Rayco. "There are strong local teams, which have better knowledge of the Solent, and there are other high quality teams from overseas as well."
Olympic 470 Silver Medallist, Luke Patience is in third. "It is great to score two keepers on the first day, as we have only just put this team together," commented Luke. "The plan is to try and improve our performance as the regatta develops, so we are happy to have got off to a good start in a very good fleet."
Spain's Javier Chacártegui scored a 8-2 to finish the day in fifth. 2012 J/80 World Champion, Jose Maria Van Der Ploeg, scored a third in Race One but was over eager in Race Two, and having returned to re-start correctly, finished the day with a poor result.
Commodore of the Royal Southern Yacht Club, Karen Henderson-Williams, officiated at the daily prize giving, which was sponsored today by Ocean Safety.
Tech Talk - The Perfect Start by North Sails Ruairidh Scott (2005 J/80 World Champion)
The trick is you have to practice how to sail really slowly and not get stalled or go head to wind. You need to find the slowest that you can sail, and remain in control, which on a J/80 is 3 knots or less. If you can be just approaching the line at that speed, sailing very high, possibly inside the jib and inside the main a little bit. Then you bear away a little bit, fill the sails up and go.
If you get your time on distance right, it is a very low stress and an easy way to start the boat well. You want to start at target speed with height, and then it is difficult for anyone to attack you. Control and consistency means that you are the master of your own destiny.
For live updates from the 2017 J/80 World Championship, including video and pictures from the race course visit www.facebook.com/J80Worlds2017 For more information visit www.royal-southern.co.uk
Results after day 1:
| Pos | Sail No | Boat name | Owner/Skipper | R1 | R2 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | ESP 783 | Hotel Princesa Yaiza (Corinthian) | Rayco Tabares | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | GBR 1360 | J.A.T. | Kevin Sproul / Phil Taylor | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 3 | GBR 948 | Ryoko Meka | Luke Patience | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| 4 | ESP 1116 | HM Hotels (Corinthian) | Javier Chacártegui Cirerol | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| 5 | FRA 1302 | ArMen Habitat | Moriceau Simon | 11 | 6 | 17 |
| 6 | FRA 1420 | Courrier Junior | Brezellec Eric | 10 | 7 | 17 |
| 7 | FRA 956 | APCC Equipe Jeune (Corinthian) | Bertheau Simon | 15 | 5 | 20 |
| 8 | GBR 1530 | MockingJay | Chris Body | 12 | 9 | 21 |
| 9 | FRA 639 | Ecole Navale (Corinthian) | Patrick Bot | 6 | 17 | 23 |
| 10 | GBR 725 | Purple Haze | Shane Armitage / Oliver Dunford | 9 | 15 | 24 |
| 11 | GBR 1363 | Betty | Jonathan Powell | 4 | 21 | 25 |
| 12 | ESP 1158 | Cenyt Hospital Marbella Team (Corinthian) | Pepequin Orbaneja | 7 | 18 | 25 |
| 13 | FRA 691 | Gan'Ja (Corinthian) | Luc Nadal | 17 | 8 | 25 |
| 14 | GBR 1414 | Slightly Steamy | Nick Haigh | 13 | 12 | 25 |
| 15 | FRA 1497 | Vitel Sailing Team ‑ CDV 22 (Corinthian) | Capucine VITEL | 18 | 10 | 28 |
| 16 | IRL 1551 | Mojo | Patrick O Neill | 14 | 16 | 30 |
| 17 | FRA 1455 | J‑Traffic | Launay Thomas | 20 | 13 | 33 |
| 18 | GBR 1410 | MegStar | James Harrison | 23 | 14 | 37 |
| 19 | GBR 1305 | Jester (Corinthian) | Mike Lewis | 19 | 19 | 38 |
| 20 | FRA 1289 | Dunkerque Voile ‑ White Sails (Corinthian) | Rémy Hurdiel | 16 | 25 | 41 |
| 21 | ESP 1513 | VSA Comunicacion | Jose Maria Van Der Ploeg | 3 | 43 | 46 |
| 22 | FRA 793 | E.Leclerc Tourlaville (Corinthian) | Pierrick Letouzé | 26 | 20 | 46 |
| 23 | FRA 651 | Startijenn | Claire Montécot | 28 | 23 | 51 |
| 24 | FRA 420 | J'aime voile baie de Morlaix (Corinthian) | Bonafous Elodie | 30 | 22 | 52 |
| 25 | GBR 553 | Seafire (Corinthian) | Anabelle Body | 29 | 24 | 53 |
| 26 | GBR 1411 | No Regrets (Corinthian) | Chris & Hannah Neve | 43 | 11 | 54 |
| 27 | NED 841 | BabyJ (Corinthian) | Paul Kersten | 27 | 27 | 54 |
| 28 | GBR 511 | Emoji (Corinthian) | David Hollingsworth | 25 | 30 | 55 |
| 29 | GBR 1262 | Boysterous (Corinthian) | Angus Gray‑Stephens | 32 | 26 | 58 |
| 30 | NED 838 | Led 2 Lease (Corinthian) | Peter Paul de Vries | 22 | 37 | 59 |
| 31 | GBR 1532 | Checkmate (Corinthian) | Ray Mitchell | 21 | 39 | 60 |
| 32 | GBR 901 | Wildcat III | Andy Ash‑Vie | 31 | 29 | 60 |
| 33 | GBR 743 | Swallow | Gordon Craigen | 33 | 28 | 61 |
| 34 | GBR 165 | Aqua J | Terence O'Neill | 35 | 34 | 69 |
| 35 | GBR 1339 | Joyeuse (Corinthian) | Chris Eccles | 38 | 33 | 71 |
| 36 | FRA 693 | NUMERO J | Ludovic GILET | 24 | OCS | 73 |
| 37 | AUS 1927 | Will o' the Wisp VI (Corinthian) | Keith Cockburn | 42 | 31 | 73 |
| 38 | GBR 1055 | UKSA 3 (Corinthian) | Felix Trattner | 41 | 32 | 73 |
| 39 | GBR 694 | NOW4 (Corinthian) | Rory Cheetham | 36 | 41 | 77 |
| 40 | GBR 433 | The J Team | Richard White | 37 | 40 | 77 |
| 41 | GBR 891 | Harley Quinn (Corinthian) | Nigel Skudder | 39 | 38 | 77 |
| 42 | GBR 751 | J‑Wife (Corinthian) | Simon Watson | 44 | 35 | 79 |
| 43 | GBR 479 | Joie de Vivre (Corinthian) | Adam James | 45 | 36 | 81 |
| 44 | GBR 605 | Jambiya (Corinthian) | Vincent Lattimore | 40 | 42 | 82 |
| 45 | FRA 1082 | Yacht Concept ‑ CNP (Corinthian) | Rétho Rémi | 34 | OCS | 83 |
| 46 | NED 112 | Acutronic / J‑String | Edwin Spaans | DNS | DNC | 98 |
| 47 | GBR 565 | Ninja (Corinthian) | Nicholas Allen | DNC | DNC | 98 |
| 48 | GBR 1529 | Emoji | Jim White | DNF | DNC | 98 |