J/CUP 2009 and UK Nationals
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J-Dream on Friday of J-Cup. Photo by Tim Wright.
The competition between the 29 109s at J-Cup came down to the wire in the final race of the series. Clearly the class was bestowed with much eagerness to get going; a black flag start was the result. ZELDA took up the hunt for J DREAM, whom they would have to sail down the fleet in order to win the regatta. Unfortunately, ZELDA's focus resulted in a black flag for her and a stalled start for the J Dreamers. Neil MacLachlan's JAI HO led off the line, but later lost their grip on first to David McGough's JUST SO. J DREAM, meanwhile could only come back to 11th after their slow start.
After much counting, the J/109 UK National Championship went to Kirsty and David Apthorp's J-DREAM with Brian Moreton and his team on JUKE BOX forced to settle for the runner-up slot. Richard Sainsbury and Gill Ross, racing on JAMBHALA, were selected as the North Sails Boat of the Day at their first ever J-Cup.
With all competitors ashore by 14.00 (and with the J-Cup beer tent well and truly open) it was impressive that 470 competitors turned out in their eclectic assortment of glad rags, kilts, Dubarry Boots, pirate hats and other finery for the Gala Dinner and Prize-Giving Party. B&G have sponsored the J-Cup for a number of years now and Kirsty and David Apthorp and the crew on J-DREAM were given B&G branded Henri Lloyd gilets for winning the 109 National Championship.
The Dubarry Boot for Endurance was presented to Mike and Sarah Wallis and JAHMALI. This husband and wife have been competing in assorted J Boats for several years and have had more than their fair share of podium finishes. Rarely seeing the inside of a protest room, and a joy both to sail with and against, Mike and Sarah are the personification of the spirit of sportsmanship which both Dubarry of Ireland and J-UK strive to promote.
The Dubarry Boot for Outstanding Achievement was presented to Brian Moreton's JUKE BOX. Based in North Wales, a long way from the largest concentration of 109s, Brian and his team came all the way to Torbay and missed the National Championship title by just one point, truly an outstanding achievement.
Excerpted from the Key Yachting site.
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Stamford-Vineyard Race: How the 109's Did
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The 238-mile Labor Day weekend race has always been one of the highlights of the racing season on Long Island Sound. The IRC Doublehanded division saw Andrew Berdon's STRIDER from Hartsdale, NY finish third. David Rosow's LOKI from Southport, CT won the IRC35 Class, Paul Steinborn's 3 CHEERS finished in third place, and Jeff Warren's ARIEL from Easton, CT finished seventh.
More info
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J/109 success in RORC Season 2009
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Photo of TOE IN WATER, courtesy of Paul Wyeth Marine Photography.
There have been
19 J/109s racing in the Royal Ocean Racing Club Series in 2009. These have included JANGADA TOO
(Richard Palmer) who finished 8th in the Rolex Fastnet 2-handed and OFFBEAT (David McLeman) who was the highest placed J/109 in the Rolex Fastnet
in 2009.
The J/109s race
in IRC 2 which is fiercely competitive and had 146 entrants in 2009. With the best five results to count the
class was won by the French boat EXILE/MIRABAUD (Nicolas de la Fourniere) who won
the 2-handed class of the Rolex Fastnet in 2009. The J/109s JIBE (Robin
Taunt) and ARIA (Luca Rubinelli) finished 5th and 8th
respectively.
A few years ago
Luca Rubinelli, owner of ARIA, very kindly presented a trophy to RORC for the
top J/109 who competes in the series and has the highest score from her best
five points races, to include the Rolex Fastnet Race in the years which it is
held.
The RORC J/109
Trophy was decided in the final race of the 2009 series, which took place over
the weekend of 4th September from Cowes to Cherbourg. WINSOME (Harry Hiejst) took victory in
IRC 2, but ARIA and JIBE were both in contention for the RORC J/109 Trophy. Despite ARIA finishing 2nd
and beating JIBE on the water by one minute and 31 seconds, this was not enough
for them to win. In addition to
winning the J/109 RORC Trophy, JIBE has also been awarded the Alan Paul Trophy,
for consistent high performance excluding the Class Season's points winners. The two J/109s also finished 3rd
and 5th overall for the whole season, only being split by the J/105 DIABLO-J (Nick Martin) which has raced 2-handed for the season.
Submitted by the J/109 UK Class Association
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J/Fest 2009
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Robert Wallenberg from LINSTAR took lots of photos at J/Fest in San Diego, CA. At right is ELECTRA, who won her class. Complete gallery
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Cowes Week: A Gorgeous Spectacle
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Photo courtesy Rick Tomlinson.
Over 700 boats were presented with everything from a good breeze to rain and no wind during the 2009 edition of Cowes Week. Added to this was the usual; massive amounts of current (kedging is a unique local talent and expertise acquired by some of the best sailors in the world). Despite the difficult conditions, the race committee team kept the troops racing in whatever the weather Gods presented. The J/109 Class had a fleet of thirty-two boats, the largest offshore
one-design class gathering known in recent years on the Solent for 36
footers.
The first race was held in a shifty Force 3-4 and rain. J-DREAM (David & Kirsty Apthorp) and ZELDA (Michael Ewart-Smith/Ben Richards) led the fleet and finished some 3 minutes ahead.
Day 2: sunshine with a westerly Force 3-4, building to 5 during the mid afternoon. Another Committee Boat start put ZELDA comfortably out in front. Red Arrow (RAFSA) led the rest of the fleet. J-Dream rounded in 25th but used the long run back down the Solent to pull back 3rd place. The fleet enjoyed close racing with NEWTONS WONDER (RYS) and HIGH TENSION (Andrew Given) crossing the line together and SHIVA (Matthew Boyle), securing a top ten spot from OUTRAJEOUS (Richard & Valerie Griffith) by only 8 seconds.
Day 3: Gusty winds, with puffs of up to 30 knots, had thousands of competitors wearing huge grins as they blasted around the courses, and there were no bigger smiles than amongst the J/109 fleet. J-DREAM enjoyed the broad reach back to the finish line to take their third win of the week, followed by VELVET ELVIS who beat SHIVA by five seconds. ZELDA lost her kite and still finished 6th despite white sailing for part of the 8 mile reach.
Day 4: light winds. This was probably good news for the J/109 fleet as they had attended two parties the evening before - the J/109 UK Class Party and also the Key Yachting party. After a postponement to allow the wind to settle, the skill was to avoid the wind holes across the Solent and to keep out of the tide. SHIVA, JAMBHALA and ZELDA filled the podium.
Day 5: a running start heading east down the Solent with the last of the flood tide pushing the fleet over the line. Both ZELDA and J-DREAM had to restart. ZELDA demonstrated her excellent knowledge of the tide in the Solent and pulled back to 3rd.
This left all to play for on the final day: J-DREAM held a one point lead over ZELDA. Although somewhat shifty and gusty, the north-westerly held. ZELDA had a brilliant start and was closely followed by RED ARROW and OUTRAJEOUS who left the fleet behind to enjoy the m�l�e on the start line due to the strong tide. A poor spinnaker drop by J-DREAM saw them foul SHIVA and drop to fourth after taking the penalty, enough to see ZELDA take another Cowes Week victory.
The J/109 class has been racing one-design at Cowes Week since 2004. ZELDA has won in 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009.
More info
Results
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Autumn is here, with its collection of events on both sides of the pond. Before you haul your boat, ship it to Key West, or pull together your gear for frostbiting, take a moment to check out all the 109-related news you might have missed from the busy past few months. Enjoy, and see you on the water! 