GJW Direct J/70 UK National Championship at the Royal Southern Yacht Club

GJW Direct J/70 UK National Championship at the Royal Southern Yacht Club - Overall

by Louay Habib 23 Jul 2018 08:54 BST 20-22 July 2018

Mark Lees' Serious Fun (Royal Southern YC) is the 2018 Open J/70 UK National Champion. Doug Struth's DSP (Royal Southern YC) is the 2018 Corinthian J/70 UK National Champion. Glorious conditions prevailed over three days of racing in the Solent, typically a gentle start built during the day with afternoon sea breeze piping up the wind speed to 17 knots by the final race.

Mark Lees' young team, racing Serious Fun, only splashed their brand new boat on the first day of the championship with virtually no pre-regatta preparation, the team scored four wins out of ten races 'straight out of the bubble wrap', to claim the National Open Title. In a fleet of 35 boats including sailors from the Olympics, America's Cup, and World Champions, the young team took a victory that they will always remember.

"A big thank you to Stuart Childerley and his race team for organising ten really good races, and to Robert Vose and the team at the Royal Southern Yacht Club, for hosting such a lovely regatta; and finally thank you to my team, it is rare to get to sail with some of my very favourite people, we had so much fun," commented Serious Fun's Mark Lees.

Doug Struth's DSP (Royal Southern YC), helmed by Geoff Carveth, was the top Corinthian team, winning the 2018 Corinthian J/70 UK National title. "Really good racing - a fantastic weekend," commented Doug Struth. "All of our races went very well except one, so we are happy with our consistency, and we sailed the best on the last day, which was a great way to finish the championship."

"As a team we have definitely made some progress," commented Geoff Carveth. "The UK Class still has some way to go to beat the top teams from Italy and America but this championship has put us closer to our goal of getting on the podium for the Worlds at the Royal Torbay Yacht Club in 2019."

GJW Direct J/70 UK Nationals day 3 - photo © Gillian Pearson / Royal Southern YC

Martin Dent's Jelvis (Island SC) scored a bullet in the last race to take second in the Open Class, having been seventh overnight. DSP was third in the Open Class. The 2017 Open J/70 UK National Champions, Ian Wilson & Marshall King's Soak Racing (Royal Southern YC) was fourth, and Calascione & Ripard's Calypso (Royal Yacht Squadron) was fifth.

Second in the Corinthian Class was Soak Racing. Fiona Hampshire's Elizabeth (Royal Thames YC) was third. The 2017 Corinthian J/70 UK National Champion, Patrick Liardet's Cosmic (Royal Southern YC) was fourth, and Jack Davies Yeti (Royal Solent YC) was fifth.

The GJW Direct J/70 UK National Championship was a non-discardable regatta in the J/70 UK Class Grand Slam Series. The next event will be Lendy Cowes Week. With a mini-series running from 4-7th August.

Tom Milne, Doyle Sails UK, with Corinthian winners DSP at the J70 UK Nationals (L-R) Christian Birrell, Dan Schieber, Lauren Mead, Doug Struth, Geoff Carveth - photo © Tanya Robinson / Royal Southern YC

Open Results:

Pos	Sail No	Boat name	Owner/Skipper	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	Pts
1	GBR 1383	SeriousFun	Mark Lees	3	9	1	2	1	18	3	1	1	7	28
2	GBR 108	Jelvis	Martin Dent	13	8	2	22	4	4	4	2	10	1	48
3	GBR 1248	DSP (Corinthian)	Doug Struth	8	3	4	8	6	21	5	8	5	2	49
4	IRL 1123	Soak Racing (Corinthian)	Marshall King Ian Wilson	1	2	9	24	3	6	1	5	2	23	52
5	MLT 441	Calypso	Calascione/ Ripard	2	6	15	4	2	19	2	6	3	16	56
6	GBR 1127	Eat	Paul Ward	6	4	3	1	13	3	9	14	15	14	67
7	GBR 1278	Sorcha J	Peter Harrison	4	1	16	7	10	2	8	19	8	12	68
8	GBR 746	JDog	John Greenland	7	10	5	3	5	13	11	12	4	26	70
9	GBR 933	Darcey	Clive Bush	10	5	6	18	19	9	13	4	6	15	86
10	GBR 1169	Jeepster	Graham Clapp	16	7	19	5	9	1	7	3	22	21	88
11	GBR 1203	PHAN	Jeremy Thorp	5	13	21	28	12	10	19	7	9	4	100
12	GBR 744	Elizabeth (Corinthian)	Fiona Hampshire	9	12	7	16	15	5	15	10	27	13	102
13	GBR 282	oceanrope.com	Adam Munday	17	11	17	26	17	8	12	18	7	3	110
14	GBR 741	Cosmic (Corinthian)	Patrick Liardet	15	15	12	13	16	22	6	22	13	9	121
15	GBR 972	Yeti (Corinthian)	Jack Davies	25	19	14	20	14	12	20	15	19	6	139
16	GBR 1282	Mjölnir	Thor Askeland / Robert Larke	27	16	8	19	7	23	16	11	25	17	142
17	GBR 1209	Alfie	Ossie Stewart	19	25	20	29	24	14	18	9	12	5	146
18	GBR 828	Brutus	Charles Thompson	14	22	13	9	22	7	24	24	21	19	151
19	GBR 745	RTYC Academy (Corinthian)	Tarra Gill‑Taylor	12	26	11	12	21	20	17	26	23	11	153
20	GBR 1290	Bryn (Corinthian)	Phil Rees	22	17	23	10	23	15	14	23	24	8	155
21	GBR 974	EV Experts (Corinthian)	Tim Collins	20	14	24	31	8	16	22	17	14	24	159
22	GBR 937	Injunction (Corinthian)	Steve Venables	21	20	18	25	11	11	27	13	30	22	168
23	GBR 130	Waterjet Precision Cutting (Corinthian)	Steve Northmore	11	27	25	17	30	25	10	28	16	10	169
24	GBR 263	Jinx (Corinthian)	David Atkinson	18	24	33	21	18	17	21	16	17	18	170
25	GBR 1206	Offbeat (Corinthian)	David McLeman	24	21	10	15	29	26	23	21	11	28	179
26	GBR 1210	Jalapeno (Corinthian)	Brian Denney	26	23	30	23	20	28	30	20	20	20	210
27	GBR 1384	JM7 (Corinthian)	Susie Moore	23	29	27	6	26	24	29	31	18	31	213
28	GBR 290	Jenga8 (Corinthian)	Andrew Barraclough	30	18	22	11	25	27	28	27	32	25	213
29	GBR 137	Aqua J (Corinthian)	Terence O'Neill	31	33	32	14	28	30	32	29	28	29	253
30	GBR 1051	Just4play	Simon Cavey	28	30	26	27	27	29	31	30	29	27	253
31	GBR 748	Polaris (Corinthian)	Alexander James	29	32	31	33	32	34	26	25	31	30	269
32	GBR 868	Jackall (Corinthian)	Simon Spraggs	OCS	28	34	30	34	32	25	33	26	34	276
33	GBR 1327	BlackJax (Corinthian)	Philip Chandler	34	31	28	32	31	33	34	32	34	33	288
34	GBR 800	Jackatoo	Robert Orr	32	34	29	34	33	31	33	34	33	32	291
35	GBR 1325	Jezebel (Corinthian)	Kate Sawbridge	33	35	35	35	35	35	35	DNC	DNC	DNC	315

Corinthian Fleet Results:

Pos	Sail No	Boat name	Owner/Skipper	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	Pts
1	GBR 1248	DSP	Doug Struth	8	3	4	8	6	21	5	8	5	2	49
2	IRL 1123	Soak Racing	Marshall King Ian Wilson	1	2	9	24	3	6	1	5	2	23	52
3	GBR 744	Elizabeth	Fiona Hampshire	9	12	7	16	15	5	15	10	27	13	102
4	GBR 741	Cosmic	Patrick Liardet	15	15	12	13	16	22	6	22	13	9	121
5	GBR 972	Yeti	Jack Davies	25	19	14	20	14	12	20	15	19	6	139
6	GBR 745	RTYC Academy	Tarra Gill‑Taylor	12	26	11	12	21	20	17	26	23	11	153
7	GBR 1290	Bryn	Phil Rees	22	17	23	10	23	15	14	23	24	8	155
8	GBR 974	EV Experts	Tim Collins	20	14	24	31	8	16	22	17	14	24	159
9	GBR 937	Injunction	Steve Venables	21	20	18	25	11	11	27	13	30	22	168
10	GBR 130	Waterjet Precision Cutting	Steve Northmore	11	27	25	17	30	25	10	28	16	10	169
11	GBR 263	Jinx	David Atkinson	18	24	33	21	18	17	21	16	17	18	170
12	GBR 1206	Offbeat	David McLeman	24	21	10	15	29	26	23	21	11	28	179
13	GBR 1210	Jalapeno	Brian Denney	26	23	30	23	20	28	30	20	20	20	210
14	GBR 1384	JM7	Susie Moore	23	29	27	6	26	24	29	31	18	31	213
15	GBR 290	Jenga8	Andrew Barraclough	30	18	22	11	25	27	28	27	32	25	213
16	GBR 137	Aqua J	Terence O'Neill	31	33	32	14	28	30	32	29	28	29	253
17	GBR 748	Polaris	Alexander James	29	32	31	33	32	34	26	25	31	30	269
18	GBR 868	Jackall	Simon Spraggs	OCS	28	34	30	34	32	25	33	26	34	276
19	GBR 1327	BlackJax	Philip Chandler	34	31	28	32	31	33	34	32	34	33	288
20	GBR 1325	Jezebel	Kate Sawbridge	33	35	35	35	35	35	35	DNC	DNC	DNC	315