The Landsail Tyres J-Cup and J/70 UK Class Training Event - Day 1
by Louay Habib 20 Jul 2019 02:30 AEST
18-20 July 2019
Before the start of the 2019 Landsail Tyres J-Cup, the J/Boat family gathered for a special tribute to Paul Heys. All of the racing fleet gathered their yachts and all crew observed a minute silence. Surrounded by the J/Boat fleet, Marie Claude Heys, accompanied by Paul's daughters Gemma and Natalie, released a seashell containing Paul's ashes into the Solent.
Funds are being raised to support a campaign for a permanent mark in the Solent, the Paul Heys Memorial Buoy. Nearly £20,000 has been raised of the target, to maintain the racing buoy for generations of sailors to come. To make a donation see www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/paulheys
Racing for the 2019 Landsail Tyres J-Cup and J/70 UK Class Training Event, started shortly after noon, with 15 knots of breeze from the south west. Six classes enjoyed highly competitive racing with 24 teams achieving race podiums in the three races held for all classes.
Michael Wallis' J/122 Jahmali leads the Large IRC Class, from J/112 Davanti Tyres, skippered by Marie-Claude Heys. Isabelle Hung's "The Outsider" racing J/122 Jolly Jellyfish is third on countback.
"Paul Heys was like a father to all of us, and personally we go a long way back," commented Michael Wallis. "We have been coming to race at just about every J-Cup. It is a fantastic get-together with like minded people, who like to race but observe the rules, and every now and then you let someone cross ahead, knowing they will return the favour. Paul Heys was a huge inspiration to all of us, and it was wonderful to pay tribute to him with such good people out on the Solent."
There was close racing in the J/92 Class right from the start, with a tie for the win in the first race between Robin Stevenson's Upstart and Alan Macleod's Samurai J. Upstart continued to impress with a second and first to end the day at the top of the leaderboard. David Greenhalgh's J'ronimo scored a 4-1-2 to finish the first day in second place, just 1.5 points in front of Samurai J.
In the J/111 Class, Tony Mack's McFly scored a 3-1-1 to lead the class but only by a single point for Chris Jones & Louise Makin's Journeymaker II. Paul van Driel's Sweeny is in third position. In the J/109 Class, John Smart's Jukebox is ahead by a single point from Christopher Preston's Jubilee, Simon Perry's Jiraffe is third. In the J/88 Class, Kirsty Apthorp's J-Dream scored a 2-1-1 to hold a five point advantage over Gavin Howe's Tigris. Richard Cooper's Jongleur is third. In the Small IRC Class Frédéric Bouvier J/99 J Lance 14 scored a 1-1-2 to top the leaderboard. Bob Baker's J/97 Jaywalker is just a point behind in second, and Jeff Johnstone's J/99 Jet is third.
In the J/70 UK Class Training Event, Paul Ward's Eat, Sleep, J, Repeat was fully launched, winning all three races. Eat, Sleep, J, Repeat was the top performing J/70 at the recent European Championships, and that time on the water against top international competition, is reaping rewards.
Clive Bush's Darcey posted a 5-3-2, to end the day in second place. Charles Thompson's Brutus is third by way of countback despite equalling Darcey's scoreline. Martin Dent's Jelvis is fourth, also by virtue of countback from Tim Collins' EV Experts.
Landsail Tyres J-Cup results: yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=6117
J/70 UK Class Training Event results: yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=9454
The Landsail Tyres J-Cup is organised by the Royal Southern YC and by Invitation of Key Yachting Ltd: www.j-cup.co.uk