Can Topaz shine on Saint Barths debut?
by J Class Association 17 Mar 2016 06:36 GMT
17-20 March 2016
There is no preamble, no warm up, no dress rehearsals for the J Class yacht teams as the 2016 season starts Thursday in Saint Barths when three crews will race for the most prestigious trophy of their racing year, the King's Hundred Guinea Cup.
The return of the magical J's as a class to the legendary Saint Barths Bucket regatta, for the first time since 2013, is universally welcomed. The usual diet of scenic round the buoys races Friday, Saturday and Sunday is prefaced by an intense, no holds barred, winner takes all windward-leeward race for the most coveted award.
The well proven and successful Ranger and Velsheda will be immediately up against the newest J Class yacht, J8 Topaz, which makes her racing debut after being launched last July.
Built in Holland to an original unbuilt 1935 Frank C Paine design, the new J has been widely reported to incorporate the lowest wetted surface and highest keel aspect ratio of all Js. Mast position, stability, sail area and hull stiffness have been extensively researched.
In theory the new boat would be expected to have the upper hand in terms of speed in many conditions not least the big, rolling swells and brisk, reliable Saint Barths conditions, but the team – many of whom were successful together previously on the Hoek 24m Drumfire – have a big deficit in terms of J Class experience when compared with the successful Ranger, lead by skipper-helm Erle Williams, and Velsheda, lead by renowned Kiwi tactician Tom Dodson, which convincingly won last season's RYS Bicentenary Regatta in Cowes, England.
Conventional logic suggests that the strengths of the Ranger and Velsheda crew work should be most in evidence around the tight, physically demanding confines of the upwind-downwind circuit. So it will be a real baptism of fire for the Topaz team which includes Germany's 2000 Star Class Olympic silver medallist Gunnar Bahr and an afterguard comprising Jorge Heinritz on the helm supported by tactician Matthias Adamczewski and Canada's double Olympic medallist Ross Macdonald as strategist.
Velsheda have made few changes to their winning set up from Cowes last year and are the holders of the King's Hundred Guinea Cup which they won in Falmouth in conditions which could not contrast more sharply with Saint Barths.
Ranger have Peter Isler as navigator following the retirement from international grand prix racing of Mike Quilter who bowed out in Saint Tropez at the end of last season.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday the J Class have their own start and will race ahead of the large, competitive Superyacht fleet but Thursday all eyes will be on the J Class which are the only fleet racing.