Tideway Wealth Management J/70 UK Nationals at the Royal Yacht Squadron
by Max Clapp 19 Jul 2024 04:56 BST
12-14 July 2024
Tideway Wealth Management J/70 UK Nationals at the Royal Yacht Squadron © Paul Wyeth /
www.pwpictures.com
It was back to the Solent for this year's Tideway J/70 National Championship, with Royal Yacht Squadron hosting the regatta.
Charles Thompson's Brutus were clear favourites, despite having had a mixed start to 2024. They went into this regatta as reigning World & National Champions. There were 5 teams capable of causing an upset: Jelvis, Sardonyx, Calypso, Jeepster and DSP, but in the end Brutus proved too good, winning 6 of the 8 races sailed and ultimately winning the regatta by a 16 point margin.
There was no racing on the Friday due to a lack of wind (but plenty of practice starting). Hats off to PRO Peter Saxton and his expert team for managing to get 8 races in for the weekend despite this.
On Saturday we had a delayed start due to lack of wind in the morning, and nerves were beginning to run high in the marina as time ticked on with no racing, but eventually we got under way at midday in an 8-knot breeze. This built throughout the day - conditions were marvellous for the rest of the regatta.
Brutus won 3 of the 4 races sailed and dominated the day, but did have a relatively weak 2nd race where they were passed by 2 teams on the final downwind leg to finish 5th. This left the door open for challengers, and Willliam Edwards' Sardonyx obliged scoring a solid 3, 4, 3, 2 for the day.
Noteworthy performances elsewhere in the fleet included a 2nd place finish in race 1 from EV Experts (who had another flurry into the top 5 in race 4), a top 10 in race 4 for the RTYC team led by Ella Brown, and 2 top 10 finishes from Ryde School (the youth team impressed throughout the weekend). The top Corinthian teams after day 1 were Calypso, DSP and Jeepster.
A lovely evening was enjoyed by all who attended the RYS barbecue on the Saturday - thank you again to the club for their hospitality.
On Championship Sunday Brutus hammered the point home, scoring a 2nd and 3 bullets. They were particularly impressive on the upwind legs, where they had another gear for both height and pace. This saw them get out of a few tricky situations with ease. Jelvis, with a new line up including British Sailling Team's Martin Wrigley, also impressed by staying in the top 5 all day, leapfrogging Sardonyx in the final race much to Arran Holman's dismay (P.S. Arran please return my Sail Mon charger ASAP).
In the Corinthian division Calypso were rewarded by sailing consistently all weekend and won. This was also a new team for Calypso, with Alastair Hall and Benno Marstaller joining Jonathon Calascione and David Kohler this time out. They managed to beat Jeepster late in the day, with Miles Jones, Mathieu Cadei, Felix Trattner and I succumbing to the U Flag in the final race. DSP rounded out the Corinthian podium. Jemima Lawson and her RTYC team which included Arthur Henderson, Sophia Holloway, Tim Gratton and Phillipa Lawson also impressed on day 2, with a string of top 10 finishes.
Congratulations to this year's National Champions, Brutus and Calypso. As always, the whole fleet enjoyed racing in the best sports boat fleet in the Solent. Come join us for the rest of this season's Grand Slam Series.
Overall Results:
If you finished in the top ten at the J70 nationals then enter your Gear Guide information here