| The Hamble Yacht Services J/80 and 1720 UK National Championships were held in the Solent under the burgee of the Royal Southern Yacht Club from the 10th to 13th of June. A sportsboat sailor himself, the PRO for the event was Nick Hollamby. The series consisted of eight races each for the 1720s and for the J/80s, which were sailed in a variety of conditions from five to twenty-eight knots over the course of the three days. |
 |
| Ultimately it was Kevin Sproul and his team on Jane's Sister who took home the National Championship title for the J/80 Class, and Steve and Tom Forrester-Coles secured the 1720 National Championship for the second year running in Ricochet, but neither title was secured until the final day of racing. |
| In the 1720 fleet, whilst Ricochet seemed to have things all her own way initially, never slipping out of the top two boats for the first five races, the rest of the fleet took a little while to slip in to their stride but pressed Ricochet hard on the water with some nail-bitingly close races and mark roundings and several finishes which were defined only by mere fractions of boat lengths. |
| Tom Clay and family sailing Finn M'Coul had just one result outside of the top three and was able to discard this, earning him second place in the Championship. Rob Derham of Cardiff, racing Merlin had a major battle with Neil Angel's Alltalk; a proper fight to the finish which resulted in both boats earning equal points but with Merlin clinching third place on count-back. |
| In the J/80 fleet, no one would deny that Sproul and the team on Jane's Sister sailed an A1 series, never dropping a result out of the top five, but here again, the on-track leaders were just too close to call on many occasions during the racing. |
| The major pressure on Jane's Sister was from Victoria Gregory and Rob Larke's Joystick and Ian Atkin's Boats.com. After two races on the final day Joystick had secured her second place overall and had just pushed Boats.com into second place by just two points. In fourth place overall was Charles Somerset and his boys on board Loudwater. These guys are relative newcomers to the J/80 Class and charge at their racing; their results are impressive. Tom Phipps of Plymouth University also slotted in a great result of fifth overall and this is his first J/80 UK Nationals. |
| Hamble Yacht Services (HYS), the event sponsor gave both fleets free use of their launch and lift facilities for the duration of the event, along with some great prizes, and whilst the benefit of HYS' investment in the event, the three J/80s which were racing for the charity Toe In The Water could not have competed at the National Championship without their support. This charity aims to speed the recuperation and rehabilitation of injured servicemen and women through sailing, and it seems to work; Kev O'Brien's Toe In The Sky topped the three in fourteenth place and Sam Mettam's Toe In The Sea came in sixteenth overall leaving Lloyd Hamilton and his team on Toe In The Sand in nineteenth and buying the beers. Those Toe In The Water boys and girls were certainly thirsty… |
| The prize-giving took place on Saturday night at the Club. Along with the Championship trophies and the prizes from the event sponsor, Hamble Yacht Services, a brand new trophy and prize was presented at the event, kindly donated by the Church House Inn in Marldon, Devon, for the Best Corinthian 1720 Team. This went to new national champions, Steve and Tom Forrester-Coles. |
| The winning skippers from each fleet thanked Hamble Yacht Services, fellow competitors, the Race Officer and all at the Royal Southern Yacht Club for running a superb regatta. Or, as Kevin Sproul put it 'Pretty much a perfect event'. |
Hamble Yacht Services - Malcolm Hearnden: Tel: 02380 454111
Email: malcolmhearnden@hambleyachtservices.co.uk
Church House Inn and Wisteria Cottage: Tel: 01803 558279
Web: www.churchhousemarldon.com |
Janes Sister
|
Ricochet
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |