Cracking J/80s
March 27, 2007 by Rob Fox | 0 comments
J/80s at the Raymarine Warsash Spring Series A cracking Force 3-4 greeted the 12 J/80s that entered the three races scheduled for the white group boats.
J/80s at the Raymarine Warsash Spring Series – Report by Rob Fox
A cracking Force 3-4 greeted the 12 J/80s that entered the three races
scheduled for the white group boats.
Kevin Sproul joined the fleet and immediately set out his store by
reaching the top mark in the first race in first place, closely followed
by MC & Paul Heys in Jenga Trois and Stuart Hawthorn in Wee Jump. Wee
Jump then infringed Jenga which allowed Jevan (Rob & Jon Fox) through to
take second place at the bottom mark, closely followed by Jenga and Nemo
(Peter Henney).
The next beat saw Jevan lose her second place to Jenga, who were playing
the shifts very well. Jenga then went off in hot pursuit of Jane (Kevin
Sproul) who was still front, but was still very catchable.Jenga finally
overhauled Jane following an uncharacteristic mistake by Kevin Sproul by
overstanding the finish line. Nemo who had showed excellent speed both
upwind and downwind got in front of Jevan to open up a 50 yard lead,
only for Jevan to fight back on the final leg, with the gap between the
2 boats at the finish being half a boat length in favour of Nemo.
Race 2 saw a great tussle between Jenga and Jane once again. Shane
Hughes from North Sails was calling tactics on Jenga this weekend, and
was keeping everyone onboard on their toes emphasising the art of
trimming…....even Mr Heys learnt a thing or two! Nemo once again
showed fantastic speed and clean sailing to eventually get in between
the 2 pro boats to gain and very well deserved second place. Well sailed
Peter! Unfortunately it was this race that saw the first big collision
of the season, which happened during the pre start….thankfully
everyone was unhurt.
The final race again saw Jenga lead from the front all the way around
the course. With the wind dropping slightly, the fleet compacted behind,
and great fight broke out between four boats for the final podium place.
Duncan Johnston & Michelle Dance on Mosquito sailed a great race to
secure their best result so far, closely followed by Nemo, Savage
Sailing and Just Chilling.
Once the final race was completed, the day was topped off by a great
spinnaker ride back to the mouth of the Hamble, with boats popping up on
the plane and speeds easily reaching double figures.
Who needs 10 crew or a swing keel when you can have a J/80!
