UBS Jersey Regatta - St Aubin's Bay comes alive

by Bill Harris on 23 Sep 2013 St Aubin’s Bay, nestling on the south coast of Jersey, really came alive over the weekend of the UBS Jersey Regatta. Islanders awoke to a very dismal day on Friday 13th September, with a low overcast and strong westerly winds giving just cause to think that a really miserable day lay ahead. Not so for those setting out to compete in the fifteenth combined clubs’ annual Regatta, sponsored for the first time by UBS AG. The boisterous conditions, with winds gusting to twenty seven knots and moderate seas, provided great if at times challenging sailing in all classes.

The cruiser classes opened proceedings with IRC class one setting off shortly after midday to be followed by class two, predominantly quarter tonners, and class three boats racing under the RYA’s national handicap system. Roger Martel’s Kaya, from Guernsey, put in a sparkling performance throughout the day to win all three races in class 1.

This was indeed Guernsey’s day with Aden Clark’s Blue J’ade and Simon Henning’s Alice taking second and third respectively. Alex Ohlsson and Neil Maclachlan’s Jai Ho came fourth to be the best placed Jersey boat. Ben Rogers’ and David Howell’s Tom Bombadil triumphed in class two on the day with two wins and a second place. Steve Pearl’s X-79, Less Xpense, the only non-quarter-tonner in the class, blocked the hat trick with a win in the second race.

Facing stiff competition in class three, Chris Fritot pulled off two wins with Rondo to take the day.

Racing under a separate race committee, the dayboats sailed into action in the afternoon. Conditions were, again, challenging for these elegant small boats. Richard Gale sailing Moana, a boat whose 100th birthday is long past, won both races. By way of stark comparison and reveling in the strong winds the Hobie Tigers were next on with David Carter and Simon Le Huray winning both races on Faffing. As ever, class six was entirely populated by Hobie 16s and, not unexpectedly, dominated by Gordon Burgis and Ken Snell sailing Pure Energy.

The dinghy fleet appeared for one race only late in the afternoon. Whilst there has been steady growth in the dinghy classes over the years, a record sixty boats entered this Regatta. So it was that a sea of tiny sails appeared in the Bay to bring the day’s racing to a close. First away were the fast dinghies in class eight with Guernsey chalking up another victory with Adam Knight’s RS 800 PTO flying over the finish line. In open dinghy class nine, Phoebe Le Marquand sailed to victory in Optimist 6099.

The wind had veered to the northwest for Saturday and brightened up considerably to provide another brilliant day’s sailing. After three races, Kaya came through again for Guernsey in class one with Tom Bombadil chalking up another victory in class two. Sean Scarsbrook’s mini-tonner Miss Mischief took the honours in class three. Mike Harrison’s diminutive gaffer Jigsaw sailed to top spot with two wins in the dayboat class. History repeated itself in the sport-catamaran classes with wins for Faffing and Pure Energy, a pattern that continued into the final day.

Saturday saw the first appearance of the junior sport-catamaran class with Ollie Voak and Emma Blake’s Hobie Dragoon 1077 pipping Tom and Gemma Newman’s Dragoon 1078 on countback. Victory in the fast dinghy class went to Guernsey’s Alistair Cleal sailing Nose Job whilst Georgia Le Marquand won the juniors sailing Optimist 5871.

The wind backed to the west on Sunday with gusts touching thirty knots and a fair bit of sea running. With gale force winds in the forecast, the Guernsey cruisers having made their mark headed for home. It was, thus, a diminished fleet of cruisers that sailed the final three races of the Regatta. Rhys Perkins and partners’ Abracadabra sailed to win class one whilst French visitor Pierre Paris’ quarter tonner, Pinguin Playboy, prevailed in class two. Rondo chalked up another victory in class three. Mike Jackson, sailing single handed in his gaffer, Charity, was the sole runner in the dayboat class, the smaller boats having decided not to venture out. The day saw both Faffing and Pure energy completing the hat trick in the senior sport-catamaran classes with Tom and Gemma Newman winning in the junior class. George Moisan, sailing Wet Dream, took the top spot in the fast dinghies whilst, surely very disappointing for some, racing was abandoned for the slow dinghies due to the deteriorating conditions.

Overall honours for the three days went to Roger Martel’s Kaya in class one, well ahead of Rhys Perkins & partners’ Abracadabra who was one point ahead of Simon Henning’s Alice. Things were much tighter in class two with Ben Rogers and Dave Howell’s Tom Bombadil pipping Steve Pearl’s Less Expense by just one point. Pierre Paris’ Pinguin Playboy was third. Tom Bombadil also won the Island ARK Quarter Ton trophy, subsequently presented by Commodore Julian Barber during the prize-giving.

Class three was a very close run thing with Tom Vallois’ Moonlight Sonata beating Chris Fritot’s Rondo by half a point and Rondo beating French visitor Patrick Carcaillet and Jacques Morvan’s Moustique to second place on countback. Mike Jackson’s persistence on Charity paid off in the dayboat class with Mike Harrison’s Jigsaw some way behind in second place. David Carter and Simon Le Huray’s Faffing, Gordon Burgis and Ken Snell’s Pure Energy and Tom and Gemma Newman’s Dragoon took the ‘best boat’ titles in the sport-catamaran classes the latter beating Ollie Voak and Emma Blake’s Dragoon by just one point.

Overall places in the fast dinghy class could hardly have been closer with Martin Speller’s Liquid Logic beating George Moisan’s Wet Dream by one point with Guernsey’s Phoebe Lewis just one point further behind. The ‘slow’ dinghy class was decided on countback with Georgia Le Marquand’s Optimist 5871 in top spot and David Raimbault’s Optimist More Mischief second. Phoebe Le Marquand was just one point behind in third place.

Three days of boisterous conditions no doubt left some sailors nursing a few aches and pains but there is no doubt that UBS’ first year in the sponsor’s seat has been a resounding success. Last year saw a record number of entries, this year saw that climb even higher with an increased number of visiting boats joining in and certainly making their mark!

The prizegiving was held in St Helier YC on Sunday evening when Commodore Julian Barber made the welcoming speech on behalf of the three clubs. Olympic Silver Medalist and Abu Dhabi Volvo Ocean Race skipper Ian Walker and Tom Hill, CEO of UBS, presented the trophies, Best Boat in Class awards and first prizes to the worthy winners.

Regatta organiser Bill Harris expressed the clubs’ appreciation to Ian for having helped throughout the three days, especially for his presentation on skippers’ racing tactics and presenting the trophies. Tom Hill raised a great round of applause and cheering when he announced that the Regatta will continue under the UBS banner in 2014. After thanking UBS, Ports of Jersey and Jersey Tourism and all those who had helped in so many ways with the Regatta, Bill Harris announced that next year’s UBS Jersey Regatta, being held from 12th to 14th September, will incorporate the new Spinlock IRC Channel Islands Regional Championships.

Principal results:

Class 1 – IRC cruiser
June Kingham trophy: Kaya – Roger Martel
Ken Budden trophy: Kaya
Commodore’s Cup: Abracadabra – Rhys Perkins & ptnrs
Best-in-class: Kaya

Class 2 – IRC cruiser
Cruising trophy: Tom Bombadil – Ben Rogers/David Howell
Nautilus trophy: Tom Bombadil
Tregear Cup: Pingouin Playboy – Pierre Paris
Best-in-class : Tom Bombadil
Island Ark Quarter Ton trophy: Tom Bombadil

Class 3 – NHC cruiser
Tom Lee Memorial trophy: Rondo – Chris Fritot
Mavourneen trophy: Miss Mischief – Sean Scarsbrook
Bolitho Urn: Rondo
Best-in-class: Moonlight Sonata – Tom Vallois

Class 4 – NHC dayboat
2nd Elfin Cup: Moana – Richard Gale
Wings trophy: Jigsaw – Mike Harrison
RNVR trophy: Charity – Mike Jackson
Best-in-class: Charity

Class 5 – Sport-catamaran
Fotosound trophy: Faffing – David Carter/Simon Le Huray
Fairy trophy: Faffing
Lazard trophy: Faffing
Best-in-class: Faffing

Class 6 – Sport-catamaran
Ratner trophy: Pure Energy - Gordon Burgis/Ken Snell
Gaiety Bowl: Pure Energy
Caprice Salver: Pure Energy
Best-in-class: Pure Energy

Class 7 – Sport-catamaran
Day 1 Shield: Dragoon – Ollie Voak/Emma Blake
Day 2 Shield: Dragoon - Tom and Gemma Newman
Best-in-class: Tom and Gemma Newman

Class 8 – Open dinghy
‘Pop’ Langlois trophy: PTO – Adam Knight
Howard Trophy: Nose Job – Alistair Cleal
Canadian Club trophy: Wet Dream – George Moisan
Best-in-class: Liquid Logic – Martin Speller

Class 9 – Open dinghy
RCIYC Shield: Optimist 6099 – Phoebe Le Marquand
Nick Orchard trophy: Optimist 5871 – Georgia Le Marquand
Best-in-class: Optimist 5871

Full results are available on Jersey Regatta