Roskilde Sailing Club tops Danish J/70 Sailing League, Act 1
by J/Boats 3 Jun 2023 23:38 AEST
The 2023 sailing season for the Danish J/70 Sailing League started with fabulous weather off Svendborg, Denmark, a very cute, picturesque little seaside village. Playing host to 48 sailing teams over a six-day event was the Svendborg Sunds Sejlklub.
The first wave of 24 sailing clubs participated in the 1st League from Wednesday to Friday. Then, the 2nd League sailed from Friday to Sunday.
The weather was almost perfect on the first day, with steady winds and a good view from the slope in front of the clubhouse towards the water. It was perfect "stadium sailing" conditions with the fleet sailing so close to shore. All in all, fantastic conditions to start the season in Svendborg.
There was excitement right to the end at the year's first 1st division meeting in Svendborg, where Roskilde Sailing Club was led by none other than the World Sailing top-ranked Match Racer- Jeppe Borch. He had just returned to Denmark having just sailed in the finale of the Congressional Cup in the USA!
Joining his local Roskilde Sailing Club team, Borch's crew consisted of August De La Cour, Nikolaj Borch, and Mathias Rossing. Starting their first race with a less-than-stellar 5th place, they quickly found their top gear and proceeded to tear up the race course over the next few days. Ultimately, by winning their final race, they took the first win of the season!
Just behind them, it was a real battle for the balance of the podium. It all came down to the final race to determine who got on what step, in the end winning that battle was Kjøbenhavns Amatør-Sejlklub (KAS) by just one point over Bandholm Sejlklub.
It was an incredibly high level of competition. It was readily apparent that any small mistake was very costly- a blown tack, a slow chute set, a bad gybe; any of those would result in places gained and lost measured in just feet.
Commenting on the level of competitiveness, Jeppe Borch said, "It was two fantastic days in South Funen. It's fierce competition and the teams just get better year after year. We have to go home and train further so that we are ready for Helsingør!"
League 2 Highlights
Following the top sailing club teams was another set of 24 club teams sailing in the 2nd league. Winning was the young team at Svendborg Fynske Bank, essentially outsailing their competitors quite handily, winning four of their first five races and closing the regatta by winning their last four races straight for a total of eight wins in eleven races!
What was notable about the 2nd League was the breadth of experience among the sailors, with several all-women's teams, all youth teams, and even all senior teams! The podium reflected that mix, with the "old men" of the Thuro Pirates Team taking the silver medal, the slightly younger Thuro Brothers team (in their mid-50s) taking the bronze, the KAS RACING TWO team in fourth, and the WOW all-women's team of HAPPY MOMS taking 5th place!