J /109 J-Dream wins Vice Admiral’s Cup

by Event media on 4 Jun 2009
The weekend of 29-31 May saw Royal Corinthian Yacht Club host the Vice Admiral’s Cup and for the first time the J/109 fleet raced as the invited Class 3. David and Kirsty Apthorp fresh from winning the J/109 Western Solent Championships romped away to take the event.

The first day saw J-Dream (David & Kirsty Apthorp) fresh from winning the J/109 Western Solent Championships win the three windward/leeward races, with Jouster (Adam Wright) take second in the first two before getting caught in traffic at the windward mark in the 3rd race to finish sixth. Exceptionally close racing between Aria (Luca Rubinelli) and Outrajeous (Richard & Valerie Griffith) saw a photo finish and the PRO was unable to determine.

The second day saw more sunshine and the J/109 fleet were thoroughly enjoying racing in t-shirts and shorts! The first two races on Saturday were round Solent racing marks and the fleet was too keen to get going, resulting in a general recall.

Order was resumed when the restart was run under Flag Z. Jouster convincingly won the first race from J-Dream with Aria in third. The second race saw J-Dream regain her winning form, with Jouster taking second from Red Arrow (RAFSA) and Beth of Five Star (Guy Knight) in 3rd and 4th respectively.

The final race of the day was another windward/leeward which was convincingly won by J-Dream. Meanwhile there was a battle between Aria, Shiva (Matthew Boyle) and Red Arrow for second place which eventually saw Aria victorious. The J/109 fleet then retired to the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club for daily prizegiving and a well-organised social on the balcony.

Sunday saw the PRO run a further 2 races. The first start saw a wind shift which resulted in the PRO hoisting the AP. The fleet was over zealous on the restart, resulting in a general recall and a restart under Flag Z. The restart saw three boats fall foul of the Z Flag with only Zelda (Ben Richards/Michael Ewart-Smith) returning.

Meanwhile Red Arrow raced perfectly and demonstrated excellent layline calls in what was shifty wind, only to find that they together with Jouster were OCS. This gave victory to Shiva and saw J-Dream finish second to win the regatta. The final race of the day saw Zelda find their winning form in the challenging northerly breeze on the Hillhead plateau, with Jambahla (Richard Sainsbury/Gill Ross) tussling with Beth of Five Star for 2nd.

Three days of racing in the Central Solent in glorious sunshine, 10-16knots and excellent courses - champagne sailing.

J/109 fleet at Vice Admiral’s Cup Results:

1st – J-Dream David & Kirsty Apthorp 1,1,1,2,1,1,2,(6) 9 points
2nd – Jouster Adam Wright 2,2,6,1,2,7,(OCS),4 24 points
3rd – Zelda Ben Richards/Michael Ewart-Smith 4,3,3,7,6,6,(9),1 30 points
4th – Shiva Matthew Boyle (12),4,2,6,9,3,1,8 33 points
5th – Beth of Five Star Guy Knight 3,(9),4,9,4,5,8,3 36 points