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Cracking Winter J/70 Racing in the HRSC One Design Championships

by Louay Habib 12 Oct 2020 06:15 BST 10-11 October 2020

The J/70 Class had a cracking weekend of racing at the One Design Championships, organised by the Hamble River Sailing Club. Beautiful winter conditions with a solid north-westerly breeze produced some electric action for the J/70 UK Class, competing in Round 4 of the J/70 UK Grand Slam Series.

20 J/70 teams enjoyed six races over two days. J/70 Open World Champion, Paul Ward's Eat Sleep J Repeat, won the regatta but it was far from easy with seconds deciding every race. The UK National Champion, Graham Clapp's Jeepster, was second. Jeepster were in red hot form scoring no lower than fifth. Calascione & Peters racing Calypso won the last race to claim third. Martin Dent's Jelvis won the penultimate race but was just a point off the podium in fourth. Nick Phillips' Chaotic continues to impress as one of the exciting new teams in the class, winning Race 3 on the way to a regatta finish in fifth.

"The competition in the class is just getting stronger and stronger," commented Paul Ward. "The established teams are very hard to beat and we have some outstanding sailors coming into the class. The first day of the regatta we had thrilling conditions, fully on the plane. The second day was more shifty and lighter air, so everyone was roughly the same speed and tactics really came into play. Well done to the Hamble River Sailing Club for giving the class a fantastic weekend's racing."

Whilst there was no official Corinthian Class, there was a right ding-dong for the top amateur boat. Doug Struth's DSP came out on top, just two points ahead of the UK National Corinthian Champion, Charles Thompson's Brutus. Corinthian World Champion Marshall King, on the stick of Soak Racing, finished just a point behind Brutus.

A warm welcome to two new J/70 teams racing this weekend; Stuart Bithell's JM7 and James Howells' Lightfoot. Also John Greenland's newly acquired J/70 Woof!

The J/70 UK Grand Slam Series continues with Round 5 and the conclusion of the HRSC One Design Championships, 24-25 October.

Thank you to Ian Wilson for the RIB ride to take pictures.

Overall Results:

PosSail NoBoat NameSkipperR1R2R3R4R5R6Pts
1GBR1451Eat Paul Ward11242‑610
2GBR1169JeepsterGraham Clapp‑52523315
3GBR1452CalypsoJonathan Calascione3471‑8116
4GBR1247JElvisMartin Dent234‑101717
5GBR1203ChaoticNick Phillips4‑8175421
6GBR1248DSPDoug Struth‑86666529
7GBR828BrutusCharles Thompson‑119884231
8IRL1123Soak RacingMarshall King6735‑121132
9GBR141JM7Stuart Bithell75103‑131237
10GBR830GBR 830Sam Richmond1013997‑1448
11GBR972YetiJack Davies‑121112129852
12GBR1206OffbeatDavid McLeman91414‑15101057
13GBR128MadeleineDuncan McCarthy‑1515111111957
14GBR1050LightfootJames Howells1310(DNC)16141366
15GBR974EV ExpertsTim Collins1412131317‑1869
16GBR2BoysterousMelisande Besse16‑171514161778
17GBR1210JalapenoBrian Denney171816‑19151581
18GBR937Powder MonkeyIan Poynton(DNC)161718181685
19GBR933DarcyJulie Fawcett1819(DNC)1719RET93
20GBR746Speedy Peach UnicornCressida Robson1920RET(DNC)DNCDNC100

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