J-Boats in the 2018 IRC European Championship preview
by J/Boats 9 Jun 2018 15:53 AEST
Mike Bridges' Elan 37 Elaine will be among the lowest rated boats in the IRC Europeans and the team are looking forward to the challenging event © Paul Wyeth /
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The Royal Ocean Racing Club will be hosting a stellar fleet of thirty-three teams from nine countries (Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Turkey, USA) at their Cowes, Isle of Wight facility this coming weekend for the 2018 IRC European Championship, incorporating the famous Commodore's Cup. The event will be a great "test" event for many of Europe's top offshore teams that are also planning to participate in the IRC/ ORC World Championship that will be taking place in The Hague, The Netherlands in a few weeks time.
Several J/crews are participating. The British J/122E team on Juno will be led by her owner/skipper Chris Daniel in the twelve-boat IRC 2 class. Also, sailing against them will be the USA crew on Andy Middleton's J/120 Sunset.
The twelve-boat IRC 3 Class includes two J/Crews; Fred Bouvier's hot French crew on the J/112E J-Lance 12 and the British team on John Smart's J/109 Jukebox.
So far, J-Lance 12 has proven to be a consistent winner, having won her class in the enormously popular SPI Ouest France Regatta earlier in the spring. J-Lance 12 skipper is Didier Le Moal, Managing Director of J/Composites.
"We are sure it will be a great competition," says Commercial Manager Frédéric Bouvier, J/Lance 12's captain. "We are participating in the event to prove that you can still win races with a pure cruiser-racer."
This is the third J/112E they have campaigned, but J-Lance 12, launched in March, is the first fitted with a "grand prix" package including a carbon fiber mast, fin (rather than bulb) keel and other race boat features. "We are trying new systems, which might be useful on future boats," explains Bouvier.
The team has been highly successful racing on France's Atlantic coast, winning all they entered in 2017. On board J-Lance 12 for the IRC Europeans is reigning Solitaire du Figaro winner and Volvo Ocean Race navigator- Nicolas Lunven.
More IRC European Championship sailing information can be found here.