EAT SLEEP J REPEAT Tops J/70 U.K. Nationals

USA’s WARCANOE Wins Open Fleet Overall
(Torquay, Devon, UK)- The 2019 edition of the Open J/70 U.K. Nationals had spirited, close competition as a result of thirteen of the thirty-five teams registered coming from the USA, Europe, Asia, Australia, or South America.  Hosting the event was the Royal Torbay Yacht Club, with sailing taking place in the beautiful surroundings of Torbay.  The fleet enjoyed two lightish days and one moderate wind days over the three-day event, with mostly sunny skies. Only six races were completed due to the waiting for sailable sea breezes to build on the lighter days. Winning the J/70 U.K. Nationals was Paul Ward’s EAT SLEEP J REPEAT. Here is the report on how it all went down in the principal J/70 “Pre-Worlds” event of the season.

Day One- Moderate Winds and Pretty Day!
Caribbean-style conditions on the first day had the J/70 fleet grinning form ear to ear, after three highly competitive races in the beautiful surrounding of Torbay, nicknamed “Torbados” but the J/70 fleet.

Calascione & Ripard's CALYPSO was the top performing boat racing for the J/70 UK National Championship. Second in the British pecking order was Doug Struth's DSP, and third was Wilson & King's SOAK RACING.

10-12 knots of breeze from the east, created light conditions with subtle shifts during the course of the day. A good start is always a winner in the J/70 fleet, especially so in light airs and with the caliber of teams racing at the J/70 UK National Championship.

“We have been working on our starts for quite a while,” commented CALYPSO’s skipper, Seb Ripard. “Today, the left was favored with lifts and acceleration coming from the land. Although the left was down tide, the better pressure on that side out weighed that negative. Downwind we always have our tactician looking back at the fleet, to see any changes to the situation but the big focus for us is to maximize our VMG and get to the bottom mark as fast as we can. All in all it was a good day for us, but we were a bit disappointed not to win the second race, having led at the top mark.”

“We started well today, choosing a slot about three in from the pin, which was slightly conservative but avoided the big fight between some well sailed boats at that end,” commented Doug Struth on DSP. “Once you get a good start, it is essential that you can hold your lane, and that is all about boat speed, which seemed to be on the money. We did get pretty deep in the fleet in the second race, but Geoff Carveth did a great job on the helm to get us back into the top part of the fleet.”

Top of the Open standings was Joel Ronning's CATAPLUT (USA). Michael Goldfarb's WARCANOE (USA) took a bullet in the last race to end the day second on countback from CALYPSO (MLT). Marcos Soares' HIGHLANDERS (BRA) won Race 2 but finished the day in fourth position. Alberto Rossi's ENFANT TERRIBLE (ITA) won the first race of the championship, but having been called over at the start of Race 2, ENFANT TERRIBLE scored a 28. ENFANT TERRIBLE came back to place third in the final race. Making the top ten in the open category after three races: Luis Albert's PATAKIN (ESP), Geoffrey Pierini's SURGE (USA), Claudia Rossi's PETITE TERRIBLE (ITA) and Renato Faria's TO NESSA (BRA).

Day 2- Light and Sunny
The second day was one to keep your head out of the boat. After a delay ashore, a sea breeze materialized producing super-light conditions for the international fleet. Avoiding the wind holes, and tuning into the breeze direction as it slowly shifted south, were the keys to a top performance. PRO Stuart Childerley and his race team were roundly applauded for providing three windward- leeward races in 5-7 knots of wind.

The stand out performer of the day was Paul Ward's EAT SLEEP J REPEAT, scoring the best score of the entire fleet with a 5-8-4 to take the lead for the teams racing for the J/70 UK National Championship. King & Wilson's SOAK RACING showed early promise to come with in a single point of EAT SLEEP J REPEAT after Race 5, but a poor result in the last race today put SOAK RACING in second place, 20 points behind the leader for the Open UK crown.

“What was important today was joining up the lumps of pressure,” commented Paul Ward, owner/driver of EAT SLEEP J REPEAT. “Yesterday we finished with a bad race so we came off the water feeling a bit miserable, but a good fish restaurant in Torquay seemed to sort out that! It was a day for keeping your head out of the boat, and Charlie (Cumbley) is very good at that, and we set up the boat so we were quick. We are very happy to be where we are in a very competitive fleet, but we have already scored our discard, and one bad race tomorrow and we will be off the top.”

In the Open Class, Michael Goldfarb's WARCANOE (USA) led, but only on countback from EAT SLEEP J REPEAT (GBR). Luis Albert's PATAKIN (ESP) is third, just two points from the top of the leaderboard, having finished the day with a 2-1 to come back strongly from a poor first race.

Eleven teams are competing in the Corinthian Class and the top three are all British. SOAK RACING had a seven-point lead for the Corinthian title. Calascione & Ripard's CALYPSO could not repeat yesterday's top performance and dropped to second for Corinthian Class. Doug Struth's DSP did not have their best day, but is still on the podium for the Corinthian Class.

Saturday’s races were won by Sergei Dobrovolskii's AMAIZ Sailing Team (CYP), Luis Albert's PATAKI (ESP), and Alberto Rossi's ENFANT TERRIBLE (ITA). Teams that scored podium finishes today included: Marcos Soares HIGHLANDERS (BRA), Renato Faria's TO NESSA (BRA), Henry Brauer's RASCAL (USA), and Jose Maria Torcida's NOTICIA ESP).

Day 3- More Light and Sunny conditions
For the final day, light airs conditions continued. The two races were won by the highly impressive Luis Albert's PATAKIN (ESP) and Peter Duncan's RELATIVE OBSCURITY.

Paul Ward was awarded the J/70 UK National Championship Trophy by UK Class Captain, Hannah Le Prevost. “A big thank you to Bob Penfold and the Royal Torbay Yacht Club for all of their hard work in hosting this event. I would also like to thank all of our friends from the international fleet, which have helped us Brits to go faster! I am sure I speak on behalf of all the competitors to congratulate the race committee led by Stuart Childerley for giving us great racing in difficult conditions,” commented Paul Ward. “Looking at the trophy, it dates back to 2013, when I was thinking about buying my first J/Boat. Since then, I have been lucky enough to get involved with a very good team, which really enjoys being together. We have spent a lot of time sailing together and that is paying off.”

Ian Wilson and Marshall King won the championship in 2017, and third in 2018. “We are back with a bang this year, and this is a special one with so many great international teams competing. It was brutal out there; you made a mistake and you dropped 10-15 places, just by being slow out of a tack,” commented Ian Wilson, who is also President of the J/70 International Class. “I brought the nationals and the worlds here because it is one of the hardest places to sail in the UK, if not the world – they don't play the US Open Golf at Augusta because it is a nice easy golf course, and so we have come to Torbay. This race area rewards those that keep their head out of the boat and it punishes those that don't.”

“We didn't know what to expect coming here for the first time,” commented Warcanoe's Michael Goldfarb, top team out of all 35 contestants. “The yacht club is fantastic and the race management has been very good. The conditions have been light but sailable, and we have had a great time sailing, and we are very excited for the giant turn out for the worlds.”

Rounding out the podium for the J/70 UK Nationals were Wilson & King’s SOAK RACING in second and Calascione & Ripard’s CALYPSO in third place.

Behind the American WARCANOE team in the Open J/70 UK Nationals, was EAT SLEEP J REPEAT taking the silver, and Dobrovolskii’s AMAIZ Sailing Team taking the bronze.

Racing at the Darwin Escapes 2019 J/70 World Championships, hosted by the Royal Torbay Yacht Club, will commence with a practice race on Sunday 1st September. Five days of world championship racing will follow, with the 2019 J/70 World Champions crowned on Friday 6th September.  Follow the J/70 UK Nationals and J/70 Worlds on their Facebook page   For more J/70 U.K. Nationals sailing information and resultsAdd to Flipboard Magazine.


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