The J/112 Elegance wins the European IRC Championship
by Tanguy Blondel 19 Jun 2018 00:06 BST
8-16 June 2018
Didier Le Moal and his crew on the J Lance 12 won the European Championships on Saturday all classes combined. The yacht from the Vendée yard has shown once again that you can perform very well in competition with a boat designed for cruising. The team led by the CEO of J Composites, together with double champion of the Solitaire du Figaro Nicolas Lunven calling tactics and doing the navigation, had a fantastic week of sailing on the Cowes race zone in the Solent. Faced with all the different weather conditions, from light airs to breeze, the J/112 Elégance, Grand Prix division, handled tremendously well and continues to assert herself as the perfect harmony of speed and habitability.
"The J/112 Elegance is a fighter plane", explained Nicolas Lunven on Saturday evening following the J Lance 12's victory in the European IRC Championship. "We've had a fantastic week of sailing in Cowes in what were often summery conditions. In a fairly fluky breeze in terms of speed and direction, we always managed to be in the right place and come off well. The J/112 Elégance is a particularly versatile all-rounder considering she's a boat designed for cruising. She has a massive edge close-hauled where we were simply untouchable. Added to that, the crew has been sailing together for the past two years, which facilitates things aboard. I'm now setting a course for the Volvo Ocean Race again for the last leg of this Round the World, which has been incredibly instructive for me."
Didier Le Moal, CEO of J Composites: "A victory in Cowes is a first for me and my crew. It's very satisfying in both sporting and technical terms, as there's great complicity aboard and the J/112 Elégance we build in the Olonne-sur-Mer has a number of assets in her favour. There aren't many yachts, which were able to be so at ease in the light airs and in the breeze in this Championship. Furthermore, this boat was designed for cruising and not necessarily for offshore and inshore racing. That's the strength of J Composites: building high performance cruising boats, without neglecting comfort. For us, performance ranks among the different elements of comfort."
Fred Bouvier, Sales Manager at J Composites: "Everything's rolled out before us like the red carpet. The J/112 Elégance is boat of the week and we've won every class thanks to our haul of good results throughout the week. This victory is down to the whole team: from the naval architect to the crew, to all the staff, who do a superb job year-round in our workshops and design office. I'd also like to warmly congratulate the crews of Alberto Rossi and Peter Duncan, respectively winner and second-placed boat in the European J/70 Championship, which took place in Vigo. They treated us to a classic final."
Indeed, there were two European Championships being played out at the same time, with the other hosted in Vigo in Spain, aboard the bestseller of the J Composites brand, the famous J/70, a quick and popular one-design. At the end of a top-notch week, with countless international champions competing in the J/70 class, Alberto Rossi's Italian team took the win, just one point ahead of American Peter Duncan and his crew.
From a 'sporting' viewpoint, the next major event linked to the J Composites yard will take place on home waters with the J/80 Worlds, which will run from 7 to 14 July on the race zone so cherished by the Vendée Globe sailors.
The crew of the J Lance 12: Didier Le Moal, Cyrille and Christophe Cremades, Fred Bouvier, Cyril Teston, Jean-François Nevo, Jean-Michel Roux and Nicolas Lunven.
Find out more about the J/112 Elégance: www.jcomposites.eu/fr/j-112-elegance-yacht
Find out more about the J/70: www.jcomposites.eu/fr/j-70-sport-sailboat