J/80 World Championship - Day 3 - Low down and shifty

by Louay Habib on 13 Jul 2017 Rayco Tabares (ESP) has retained his lead in the J/80 World Championship, but a crack has appeared in the Spanish team's seemingly invincible armour, scoring eighth in the last race of a tricky day in the Solent. Luke Patience (GBR) took his first race win, to move up to second place, and Eric Brezellec (FRA) had the best day of all, scoring a three – three - one to move up to third for the championship. Jose Maria Van Der Ploeg (ESP) scored ten – ten - two to move up to fourth.

PRO Stuart Childerley moved the scheduled start an hour earlier for racing, and it proved to be an excellent decision. “The low pressure system that came through last night had gone through and we were expecting the weather to become unstable in the afternoon, which is exactly what happened. The wind oscillated through an axis of about 45 degrees today, causing plenty of potential traps for the competitors, and the Race Committee had to adjust the course on many occasions to compensate for the bigger shifts, the mark layers and race management team did a fantastic job today.”

Today's top team was skippered by Breton Eric Brezellec, the last time Eric competed in the UK at the J/80 World Championship was in Falmouth, 2005. His team sailed the boat over 200 miles, from St Malo, with tents on board for regatta accommodation. “Time on the boat is very important, we train a lot.” commented Eric. “Today it was important to take the shifts as they arrived, it was much more open than yesterday. Rayco (Tabares) looks very strong, it looks very hard to beat him, but this regatta has not finished, it is still possible.”

“It would have been very easy to have a shocker today.” commented 470 Olympic Silver Medallist, Luke Patience. “Chris (Grube) did a great job reading the shifts, especially in the penultimate race, but that was a far from an easy race course today. When the wind is coming off the land like that, it can shift both ways. Personally, I tried to concentrate more on driving the boat and that has also paid off.”

Tech-Talk with Nigel Young – North Sails

Nigel is racing with Pat O'Neill's Mojo from Howth YC, Ireland. Pat has enjoyed success in many forms of sailing but is new to the J/80 Class. For a new team, Mojo is having a great championship and looking to break into the top ten, which would be an outstanding achievement.

Our main aim is to try to get the boat up to speed.” commented Nigel. “The best place is the rig tune. The initial set up had too much mast bend, and we could not generate enough power. Before the championship, we calibrated all of the rig settings using the North Sails tuning guide, which has been created through many hours of work by experts. The importance of setting up a rig in a one design boat is massive, our first aim is to get the boat up to what we call fleet speed and therefore competitive. After that you start to learn how you sail the boat, and you find things that suit your own style, which you modify to your own particular preference. Our boat speed was better today and after a great start were in third place at the top mark, eventually finishing the race in sixth. Getting the boat going and improving performance is really rewarding for all of us.”

Royal Southern YC Rear Commodore Sailing, Robert Vose, welcomed competitors to the Prince Philip Yacht Haven. With complimentary beer and burgers, provided by Synergy Grill, the daily prize giving, sponsored by North Sails, was extremely well attended. There was a special prize for Claire Montécot's team racing Startijenn, which broke their rig yesterday. Startijenn was back out racing today, after working through the night, with assistance from Key Yachting.

For more information visit www.royal-southern.co.uk.

2017 J 80 Class World Championships - Preliminary Cumulative Results

Bow   Sail Number Yacht Name Yacht Design Owner/Skipper Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Race 6 Race 7 Race 8 T O Total World Championships Racing One Design Division J 80 1. 41   ESP 783 Hotel Princesa Yaiza J/80 Rayco Tabares 2 1 1 1 2 1 2 8 [8] 10.0 2. 37   GBR 948 Ryoko Meka J/80 Luke Patience 5 3 2 5 15 5 1 9 [15] 30.0 3. 43   FRA 1420 Courrier Junior J/80 Brezellec Eric 10 7 7 49/OCS 4 3 3 1 [49] 35.0 4. 11   ESP 1513 VSA Comunicacion J/80 Jose Maria Van Der Ploeg 3 42 5 2 5 10 10 2 [42] 37.0 5. 25   FRA 1302 ArMen Habitat J/80 Moriceau Simon 11 6 8 3 1 7 13 4 [13] 40.0 6. 33   ESP 1116 HM Hotels (Corinthian) J/80 Javier Chacártegui Cirerol 8 2 3 12 10 2 8 13 [13] 45.0 7. 44   FRA 956 APCC Equipe Jeune (Corinthian) J/80 Bertheau Simon 15 5 4 6 6 14 7 5 [15] 47.0 8. 28   FRA 691 Gan'Ja (Corinthian) J/80 Luc Nadal 17 8 10 4 3 13 15 3 [17] 56.0 9. 22   ESP 1158 Cenyt Hospital Marbella Team J/80 Pepequin Orbaneja 7 17 6 9 7 4 26 16 [26] 66.0 10. 21   GBR 1363 Betty J/80 Jonathan Powell 4 20 17 8 11 15 25 7 [25] 82.0 11. 32   FRA 1289 Dunkerque Voile - White Sails J/80 Rémy Hurdiel 16 24 11 13 17 17 5 6 [24] 85.0 12. 40   IRL 1551 Mojo J/80 Patrick O Neill 14 15 19 10 12 24 6 18 [24] 94.0 13. 7   GBR 1530 MockingJay J/80 Chris Body 12 9 29 16 29 8 9 12 [29] 95.0 14. 4   GBR 1360 J.A.T. J/80 Kevin Sproul / Phil Taylor 1 4 18 24 13 19 24 19 [24] 98.0 15. 36   FRA 639 Ecole Navale (Corinthian) J/80 Patrick Bot 6 16 13 7 14 34 16 26 [34] 98.0 16. 8   GBR 1411 No Regrets (Corinthian) J/80 Chris & Hannah Neve 43 10 49/DSQ 14 19 6 12 11 [49] 115.0 17. 13   GBR 1414 Slightly Steamy J/80 Nick Haigh 13 11 25 15 9 20 32 23 [32] 116.0 18. 19   GBR 1410 MegStar J/80 James Harrison 23 13 36 18 18 21 4 21 [36] 118.0 19. 35   FRA 1082 Yacht Concept - CNP (Corinthian) J/80 Rétho Rémi 34 49/OCS 21 26 21 11 17 14 [49] 144.0 20. 16   NED 838 Led 2 Lease J/80 Peter Paul de Vries 22 36 12 22 8 27 22 34 [36] 147.0 21. 31   FRA 1455 J-Traffic J/80 Launay Thomas 20 12 20 21 32 9 49/UFD 33 [49] 147.0 22. 9   GBR 725 Purple Haze J/80 Shane Armitage / Oliver Dunford 9 14 23 29 24 30 20 29 [30] 148.0 23. 6   GBR 1305 Jester (Corinthian) J/80 Mike Lewis 19 18 32 11 22 28 18 32 [32] 148.0 24. 30   FRA 1497 Vitel Sailing Team - CDV 22 J/80 Capucine VITEL 18 49/DSQ 9 40 49/DNC 12 11 15 [49] 154.0 25. 38   FRA 693 NUMERO J J/80 Herve Delaroux 24 49/OCS 26 27 16 22 29 10 [49] 154.0 26. 48   FRA 420 J'aime voile baie de Morlaix (Corinthian) J/80 Bonafous Elodie 30 21 27 42 41 16 14 22 [42] 171.0 27. 39   GBR 743 Swallow J/80 Gordon Craigen 33 27 15 19 35 25 19 37 [37] 173.0 28. 47   FRA 793 E.Leclerc Tourlaville (Corinthian) J/80 Pierrick Letouzé 26 19 33 20 26 32 23 30 [33] 176.0 29. 29   GBR 1532 Checkmate J/80 Ray Mitchell 21 38 30 23 20 29 37 17 [38] 177.0 30. 46   GBR 1262 Boysterous (Corinthian) J/80 Angus Gray-Stephens 32 25 14 41 31 23 33 20 [41] 178.0 31. 26   GBR 511 Emoji (Corinthian) J/80 David Hollingsworth 25 29 28 17 23 35 21 38 [38] 178.0 32. 1   NED 841 BabyJ J/80 Paul Kersten 27 26 22 30 28 31 49/DNC 28 [49] 192.0 33. 10   GBR 553 Seafire J/80 Anabelle Body 29 23 31 25 27 26 35 40 [40] 196.0 34. 23   GBR 1055 UKSA 3 (Corinthian) J/80 Felix Trattner 41 31 16 31 33 37 27 35 [41] 210.0 35. 15   FRA 651 Startijenn J/80 Claire Montécot 28 22 24 49/DNF 49/DNC 38 36 24 [49] 221.0 36. 18   GBR 165 Aqua J J/80 Terence O'Neill 35 33 38 28 34 33 31 42 [42] 232.0 37. 3   GBR 891 Harley Quinn (Corinthian) J/80 Nigel Skudder 39 37 34 35 37 43 30 25 [43] 237.0 38. 14   NED 112 Acutronic / J-String J/80 Edwin Spaans 49/DNS 49/DNC 35 37 25 18 49/UFD 31 [49] 244.0 39. 12   GBR 901 Wildcat III J/80 Andy Ash-Vie 31 28 39 32 39 42 39 41 [42] 249.0 40. 24   GBR 694 NOW4 J/80 Rory Cheetham 36 40 37 33 38 36 38 36 [40] 254.0 41. 20   GBR 479 Joie de Vivre J/80 Adam James 45 35 45 38 49/DNF 41 28 27 [49] 259.0 42. 42   GBR 433 The J Team J/80 Richard White 37 39 41 34 36 44 34 39 [44] 260.0 43. 45   GBR 1339 Joyeuse (Corinthian) J/80 Chris Eccles 38 32 40 44 30 45 43 43 [45] 270.0 44. 27   GBR 751 J-Wife J/80 Simon Watson 44 34 42 36 40 40 41 47 [47] 277.0 45. 17   AUS 1927 Will o' the Wisp VI (Corinthian) J/80 Keith Cockburn 42 30 44 39 42 39 42 45 [45] 278.0 46. 5   GBR 605 Jambiya (Corinthian) J/80 Vincent Lattimore 40 41 43 43 43 46 44 46 [46] 300.0 47. 34   GBR 565 Ninja J/80 Nicholas Allen 49/DNC 49/DNC 46 45 49/DNC 47 40 44 [49] 320.0 48. 2   GBR 1529 Emoji J/80 Jim White 49/DNF 49/DNC 49/DNC 49/DNC 49/DNC 49/DNC 49/DNC 49/DNC [49] 343.0   2017 J 80 Class World Championships - Corinthian Teams - Preliminary Cumulative Results Bow   Sail Number Yacht Name Yacht Design Owner/Skipper Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Race 6 Race 7 Race 8 T O Total World Championships Racing One Design Division J 80 1. 33   ESP 1116 HM Hotels J/80 Javier Chacártegui Cirerol 8 2 3 12 10 2 8 13 [13] 45.0 2. 44   FRA 956 APCC Equipe Jeune J/80 Bertheau Simon 15 5 4 6 6 14 7 5 [15] 47.0 3. 28   FRA 691 Gan'Ja J/80 Luc Nadal 17 8 10 4 3 13 15 3 [17] 56.0 4. 36   FRA 639 Ecole Navale J/80 Patrick Bot 6 16 13 7 14 34 16 26 [34] 98.0 5. 8   GBR 1411 No Regrets J/80 Chris & Hannah Neve 43 10 49/DSQ 14 19 6 12 11 [49] 115.0 6. 35   FRA 1082 Yacht Concept - CNP J/80 Rétho Rémi 34 49/OCS 21 26 21 11 17 14 [49] 144.0 7. 6   GBR 1305 Jester J/80 Mike Lewis 19 18 32 11 22 28 18 32 [32] 148.0 8. 48   FRA 420 J'aime voile baie de Morlaix J/80 Bonafous Elodie 30 21 27 42 41 16 14 22 [42] 171.0 9. 47   FRA 793 E.Leclerc Tourlaville J/80 Pierrick Letouzé 26 19 33 20 26 32 23 30 [33] 176.0 10. 46   GBR 1262 Boysterous J/80 Angus Gray-Stephens 32 25 14 41 31 23 33 20 [41] 178.0 11. 26   GBR 511 Emoji J/80 David Hollingsworth 25 29 28 17 23 35 21 38 [38] 178.0 12. 23   GBR 1055 UKSA 3 J/80 Felix Trattner 41 31 16 31 33 37 27 35 [41] 210.0 13. 3   GBR 891 Harley Quinn J/80 Nigel Skudder 39 37 34 35 37 43 30 25 [43] 237.0 14. 45   GBR 1339 Joyeuse J/80 Chris Eccles 38 32 40 44 30 45 43 43 [45] 270.0 15. 17   AUS 1927 Will o' the Wisp VI J/80 Keith Cockburn 42 30 44 39 42 39 42 45 [45] 278.0 16. 5   GBR 605 Jambiya J/80 Vincent Lattimore 40 41 43 43 43 46 44 46 [46] 300.0