J70 World Qualifier to be held at the Hamble One Design Championships
by Trevor Pountain 4 Oct 2018 15:01 BST
13-14 & 20-21 October 2018
Action from the 2017 Hamble One Design Championships © Paul Wyeth /
www.pwpictures.com
The Hamble One Design Championships will make its entry into the HYS Hamble Winter Series on the second weekend of the series, 13th & 14th October and conclude the racing on the following weekend, 20th & 21st October. As usual racing will be run for the J70, J80 and SB20 one designs, and any other one design class who can muster 8 starters. Entries are building well with 10 days still to go.
With the 2018 West Marine J70 World Championship literally just finished at the Eastern Yacht Club, Marblehead in the USA, thoughts are turning to the next championship which will be at the Royal Torbay Yacht Club in 2019. This UK based venue is generating huge interest in the 70 plus J70's racing in the UK & Ireland fleet. Twenty slots are up for grabs for UK & Ireland teams in next year's championship and, the class association are using their 2018 Grand Slam series as the qualifying route for the 2019 event.
This year's Hamble One Design Championships are the final two weekends of the J70 UK Grand Slam series. With the best 5 results to count from the 9 Grand Slam events, quite a lot can change in the last two rounds. With 55 boats in the Grand Slam list it is possible to discard in excess of 100 points over the last two weekends. Leading after 6 rounds was Darcey, Clive Bush with DSP, Geoff Carveth & Doug Struth in second and Soak Racing, Marshall King in third. This is a hot fleet with some big names currently nowhere near the top 20, including current National Champion, Mark Lees in Serious Fun.
In the SB20 fleet last year's champion Charles Whelan is back with Breaking Bod. Championship regulars Herbie, Phil Tilley, Dark 'n' Stormy, Andrew Bell and 6a Vision Homes, Peter Noe are signed up already.
There will be a Sunday prize giving in the Hamble River Sailing Club and the Championship prizes will be presented on 21st October after racing.
Roger Wilson and Stephen Parry are the two senior Race Officers charged with keeping the One Design's under control.
Online entries can be made here: www.hamblewinterseries.com/online-entry