J/80 World Championship at Les Sables d'Olonne, France - Day 2
by Agence TB Press 11 Jul 2018 07:07 BST
7-14 July 2018
J/80 World Championship 2018 © Pierrick Contin
Due to a lack of breeze, those competing in the J/80 Worlds in Les Sables d'Olonne were not able to race on the Vendée region's race zone this morning, but they did manage to complete three fine races this afternoon through until 19:00hrs in a thermal breeze that favoured the on-the-water jousting.
The 73 competing crews, a mix of amateurs and professionals, put on a fantastic show for the onlookers and tourists, who can admire the competition from the beach at Les Sables d'Olonne. In the summery conditions, the Spanish crews are still holding out on the strong French delegation, who are sure to be slightly ruffled by the prospect of the football match that awaits their compatriots in Russia as we go to press!
Despite being disqualified under a black flag for being on the course side of the start line, thanks to a discard following the six races run so far, "Ibo.es" skippered by Javier Chacartegui has retained his lead in the provisional overall ranking ahead of "Garatu" skippered by Iker Almondoz and Rayco Tabares' crew, which has won the J/80 Worlds some four times. Finally, it's worth noting the fine performance posted by Sylvain Pellissier's crew on "Intuitive Sails", who made a fantastic comeback this Tuesday.
Achille Nebout, Intuitive Sails: "In contrast to yesterday, we got off to some good starts today. The wind was stable, fluctuating no more than 5 to 10 degrees and this proved to be a successful combination for us. Potentially, there are still 9 races to go and anything could still happen. We've come back to the dock late, but we're still going to be able to watch the football match this evening."
Juan Luis Paez, Puente Romano Marbella: "We've had a superb day's sailing in the top five in the three races. In one-design racing it's crucial to get off to a good start. We nailed that every time. It's our third World Championship and we really enjoy the J/80 circuit. In Spain, there are a lot of training centres on this craft so we're often in good shape at the Worlds!"
Solal Henry, Leclerc Tourlaville: "I find that the J/80 is easier than the Optimist, which I was still sailing a short while ago! It's my first J/80 Worlds and even though we don't always read the race zone very well, we're making progress with every race."