Class 1 IRC had a very boisterous start with two boats OCS. Deliverance 2 was well over and made a good quick tack back to recover its mistake but the new J/95 called J Fever, who would have won the race, ended up finishing still OCS. Racing was close and Malice was having a very good day keeping Alice in her sights and staying ahead of Njos. Alice took line honours, but Malice was close enough to take the class win, with Alice second and Njos third. Just over a minute separated the first three boats. In the second race J Fever, the J/95,  made no mistakes so took the class win.

Pretty and Slippery! The new J/95 – Photo by John Greenway/marineaction

Here’s what Paul Heys of J-UK had to say about the J/95’s racing debut:

We raced the J/95 with Chaz Ivill, owner of the Grand Soleil 54 John B on the wheel, Marie-Claude on the main, Jeff Dakin on tackticks, Bruce Jubb on pit,  and Ash from Quokka on the bow. Ian from John B was our mast-man. We had about 12-18 knots of breeze and it was very cold and wet!

In the first race we were OCS. It did look pretty tight and the boat ahead of us went back but we didn’t. Our corrected time was good  and so had we been a few seconds back and started legally (!), we still could have had a first or second.

By the time of the second race the tide had turned and our prospects looked reduced; a small boat beating against the tide is usually murdered by the bigger boats. However, we had wound the rig up a bit more between races and Marie-Claude and Chaz had now worked out how to get the best out of the boat upwind. We won by a good margin and I’m absolutely delighted. This is a great start for this new J Boat.  

Fast upwind! The new J/95 – Photo by John Greenway/marineaction

Club class 3 had some really good racing despite the poor turn out with the J/109 Beth, the Cork 1720 Vader and the Arcona 370 keeping in very close quarters for the duration of both races. Even though they tried different strategies they came back together for the mark roundings. In race 7  Beth took line honours and the win, with Fusion III sneaking ahead of third placed Vader on handicap. In race 8 Arcadian’s strategy came good giving them line honours but ‘Fusion III’ again came though to take the class win on handicap with Arcadian second and Beth third.

Vader leads the series but Fusion III and Arcadian are still close enough to win so all to play for.

J/92 Class Action! Photo by John Greenway/marineaction

The J/92 class are having a great time racing in what is basically a one design class. It is keeping everyone on their toes as one wrong manoeuvre costs places. The start line for both races was a real line up with everyone getting a good start. J’ronimo started slightly to windward of Jammin and managed to creep ahead by the first mark. The pair of older J/92s managed to stay ahead of the rest of the fleet. ‘J’ronimo took line honours and the class win with Jammin close behind and Blackjack third. The next race was almost a repeat of the first except that Blackjack lost time and a possible protest as they came up from behind and dropped their kite on top of Java Lite.

And more J/92s! Photo by John Greenway/marineaction

The J/92 series is still wide open with only 5 points separating the first five boats!

Class 1 IRC Race 7
1 Malice HOD 35 Mike Moxley
2 Alice Mumm 36 Mike Henning
3 Njos Corby 35 Doyle Sails

Class 1 IRC Race 8
1 J Fever J/95 Paul & Marie-Claude Heys
2 Malice HOD 35 Mike Moxley
3 Alice Mumm 36 Mike Henning

Class 3 Club Race 7
1 Beth J/109 Johnny Charterer
2 Fusion III Gibsea 284 William Bridge
3 Vader Cork 1720 Doug Innes

Class 3 Club Race 8
1 Fusion III Gibsea 284 William Bridge
2 Arcadian Arcona 370 Julian Tickner
3 Beth J/109 Johnny Charterer

J/92 Class Race 7
1 J’ronimo J/92 John Taylor
2 Jammin J/92 Andrew/Mike/Pete
3 Black Jack J/92s Andy Howe

J/92 Class Race 8
1 J’ronimo J/92 John Taylor
2 Jammin J/92 Andrew/Mike/Pete
3 Java Lite J/92s Mike Cooper