J/109 UK Nationals at Royal Torbay Yacht Club - Preview

by J/109 UK Class Association 17 Aug 2009 17:31 BST 20-22 August 2009

So far there are 29 J/109s entered for the UK National Championship which will be run as part of J-Cup from Royal Torbay Yacht Club from 20-22 August inclusive. With three races scheduled for Thursday and Friday and two on Saturday the J/109 UK National Championship will be hotly contested.

This season has seen J-Dream (David & Kirsty Apthorp) have strong winning form with former National Champions Zelda (Ben Richards/Michael Ewart-Smith) knocking them off the top spot recently at Cowes Week. Johnny Blue II (Jeff Dakin/Bruce Jubb) who has won the UK National Championship for the last two years will also be hoping to retain the title.

There are boats coming from the West Country, Scotland Tigh Soluis II (Dr Ken Grant), Wales (Juke Box (Brian Moreton) and Joker (John Maybury) from Ireland who was 5th in the J/109 Open Irish National Championship. The boat tipped to watch is Jouster/Velvet Elvis (Adam Wright) as his crew have excellent local knowledge from their days sailing Melges.

The J/109 fleet is continuing to grow in popularity due to the excellent one-design racing and camaraderie amongst owners and crews. There will be several new faces competing for the title of J/109 UK National Champion including Jambhala (Richard Sainsbury & Gill Ross), former J/105 owner Geoff Payne in Jolene II and the most recent addition to the fleet Jai Ho (Neil MacLachlan) from the Channel Islands.