J/122 Joss continues winning in Western Australia
by J/Boats 21 Feb 2020 03:29 PST
J/122 JOSS © J/Boats
The Perth-based J/122 JOSS and owner/skipper Ian Clyne continued their winning ways in Western Australia and is proving to be one of the hottest boats on the Western Seaboard. There doesn't seem to be a week go by that JOSS isn't on the podium.
Saturday, February 1st saw the 32.0nm "Pot of Gold Race" from Fremantle to Hillary's Yacht Club. While Hillary's YC is located only 14.0 nm north of Fremantle as "the crow flies", so to speak, the zig-zag course produces over 32.0nm of sailing.
The race started in a very fluky ESE breeze which saw a spinnaker run to the first mark. That breeze ultimately dropped out during the first seaward leg. During this leg, the breeze shifted south and started to increase. The largest boat in the fleet, a Carkeek 47 began to ease away as the breeze increased.
However, JOSS was in the pack with other front runners and it became a closely fought battle between the J/122, a King 40, an Archambault 40 RC. As the race progressed the breeze strengthened and moves to the southwest at about 24 kts, culminating in an exciting duel between JOSS and a King 40 owned by local sailmaker Geoff Bishop. The IRC results produced a 3rd place for JOSS.
The next day was the return to Fremantle Race, known as the "Shepherdess Cup". The fleet left Hillary's in a very blustery ESE breeze starting with a 6.0nm tight reach. As the fleet moved south, the wind dropped away to a glass out, and it was all about maneuvering to get the new wind first.
JOSS was well placed with the southwest wind change and finished 1st on IRC with a corrected time of nearly four minutes ahead of the second placed boat. As a result, Clyne's JOSS won the weekend with their 3-1 record!