French Laouenan & Moriceau top European J/80 Championship in Saint-Cast-le-Guildo, France
by J/Boats 11 Jul 2022 06:49 PDT
2-9 July 2022
French Laouenan & Moriceau Top European J/80 Championship © Europeanj80.com
The 2022 J/80 European Championship took place off the historic waterfront of Saint-Cast-le-Guildo, France, known as the "Emerald Coast" for its verdant green landscape cascading into the gorgeous emerald-green waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
From July 2nd to 9th, the Centre Nautique de Saint-Cast gave the fifty-six J/80 teams from across Europe more than they could've ever bargained for, fourteen races in four days! In the end, the championship ended up being a battle between five teams for the podium, three from France and two from Spain. By a mere three points, a new J/80 European Champion was crowned- Pierre Laouenan's ELITE ECOLE NAVALE- TEAM CUSTO POL. Here are the regatta reports for each day.
Day One - Racing starts
The first day produced three races, marked by recurring general recalls that were exacerbated by the enormous tidal currents.
After the day's first three races, it was the Spanish crew of GP BULLHOUND, skippered by Per Roman, that was at the top of the score table. However, he acknowledged that he had committed a rule infringement against Simon Moriceau's ARMEN HABITAT- PL YACHTING. As a result, he suffered a 30% penalty to drop off the leaderboard. Instead, Moriceau's ARMENT HABITAT team was the leader.
Day Two - more tight battles offshore
The second day saw even more intense racing as the teams got more familiar with the weather conditions and their competitors. There was a lot of jockeying for starting line positions and very tight maneuvers at all mark roundings... with several collisions in such close-quarters.
The French teams struck hard on Tuesday. Moriceau's ARMEN HABITAT- PL YACHTING won the first race. Then, Patrick Bot's ECOLE NAVALE LOCAPONTON just nipped them at the finish in the second race. Then, Pierre Laouenan's ELITE ECOLE NAVALE- TEAM CUSTO POL ended the day in the lead. It was a fitting birthday present for Philippe Michel, National Technical Consultant for the FFV and coach of these three teams.
After six races, Moriceau was overall leader, followed by Laouenan in second, and the Spanish World Champion on ENBATA 80, skippered by Iker Almandoz, in third.
Day Three - "bumper cars" around the cans
After three days of racing things seemed to be getting clearer on the provisional leader board, with the two French boats, Moriceau's ARMEN HABITAT and Laouenan's ELITE ECOLE NAVALE, well in the lead with 23 and 24 pts, respectively. The Spanish team on ENBATA 80 was lying in ambush in third place in front of their compatriot- Roman's GP BULLHOUND.
Unfortunately, the J/80 SNBSM GLOBE FOR YOU, skippered by Titouan Sessa, was the victim of a racing collision on Wednesday and had a deep split in its port side freeboard to show for it. The crew could have thrown in the towel, the boat being in such a state. But, not a bit of it! Late into the evening, with tools in hand, the crew moved heaven and earth to make running repairs using plywood and resin. "We would like to finish the week racing,!" explained one of the crew.
Day Four - the Grand Finale
After fourteen races with one discard, Laouenan's ELITE ECOLE NAVALE- TEAM CUSTO POL was the newly crowned European J//80 Champion by just three points over Moriceau's hard-charging, tenacious crew on ARMEN HABITAT- PL YACHTING. The two Spanish J/80 World Champions could not overcome the dominance of these two French teams. Consequently, Almandoz's ENBATA 80 and Roman's GP BULLHOUND finished 3rd and 4th, respectively. Rounding out the top five was Patrick Bot's ECOLE NAVALE LOVAPONTON.
Awards and crew dinner
The crews had the pleasure of sharing an excellent dinner with a Brittany-flavored theme. Here's the delicious menu:
- Crudités and vegetables of the season and crispy Breton (black wheat patties stuffed with goat cheese, andouille, etc.)
- Shredded pork with cider, honey, and mushrooms and mashed potatoes or
- Vegetarian plate
- Dark Wheat Chocolate Fondue and Salted Butter Caramel Mousse
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