It's a dream

A final report from the big and boisterous J-Cup held at the Royal Southern Yacht Club

The final two races of the seven race series for the 58 boats at the J-Cup 2006 were sailed on Saturday in 14 to 17 knots of south westerly breeze. The series discard did not kick in until Race 6 which meant that even on Saturday morning, for all of the five classes, (including the J/109s who were racing for the UK National Championship) the medals and chocolates were still up for grabs.

Race 6 of the J/109 UK National Championship was won by Matt Boyle in Shiva. Boyle lead the race from start to finish, holding off Peter Bresnan’s Newton’s Wonder and pushing them back into second with event leaders Michael Ewart-Smith and Ben Richards settling for a safe third in Zelda. With the discard now in place, this was enough to secure Richards, Ewart-Smith and team Zelda the 2006 J/109 UK National Championship.

Going in to the final race of the series there was still a fight for the rest of the rankings. Chas Ivill’s Johnny Blue II was looking good for second place overall but it wasn’t a done deal and Newton’s Wonder and Shiva were vying it out for third place, with Newton’s Wonder having a two point advantage now that the discard was applied.

Almost by way of a lap of honour, Zelda once again showed the fleet her transom and went on to win the final race. Shiva took second, Nigel and Suzie Brooke were third in Jalapeno and the team on Johnny Blue II were no doubt delighted with their fourth place because this secured them second place overall in the National Championship. Newton’s Wonder finished the race in sixth place, which meant that Shiva were third overall.

In Class One Stewart Hawthorn’s J/133 Jump won both races and Graham Hall’s J/133 Quicksilver VI came second in both, losing the final race of the series by just three seconds. The J/120 Jinja of Ian Matthews finally got on top of Jonathan Webb’s J/120 J’Ouvert, beating him by a single point at the end of seven races and securing the J/120 Championship for the third year running.

Kirsty and David Apthorp’s J-Dream won both of the two races on Saturday and also the J/105s one-design Class Two. Colin Wall’s True Love took two second places and Shaun Murphy’s Slingshot achieved two thirds, which meant that they finished second and third overall respectively.

Pete and Pip Tyler also won the two final races and Class Three overall in their J/92 Neilson Redeye. Andrew Roberts and Stephen Etheridge just pipped Charlie Wise and Phil Thomas’ J/92 J’Ronimo in their J/92 S Just in Time in races 6 and 7. This meant that Just in Time was second in the championship with J’Ronimo third.

In the J/80s Kevin Sproul completed his series with a complete string of first places in Jane. Liz Savage and the Savage Sailing Team finished second overall, and Robert and Jonathan Fox were third in Jevan.

The J-Cup prize-giving party on the final Saturday night is always a huge event but this year it was bigger than ever thanks to an entry almost twice as large as in previous years and also to the huge number of prize sponsors from the marine industry. The key sponsors of the J-Cup this year were B&G, Bolle, Dubarry and North Sails.

The J/109 National Championship Trophy went to Michael Ewart-Smith and Ben Richards in Zelda, rounding off a fabulous season which included a Class win at Skandia Cowes Week.

Stewart Hawthorn and the team from the J/133 Jump won the Dubarry Boot which is presented each year at the J-Cup for Outstanding Achievement. Jump have won the class at the J-Cup for three consecutive years and also sailed a fantastic series at Skandia Cowes Week finishing second overall in IRC 2.

Ian Mathews and his squad of family and friends racing on Jinja won the J/120 half model for the third year in the row and the trophy was presented amidst calls that it be made a ‘permanent’ fixture in the Matthews household.

Pete and Pip Tyler won Class Three in their J/92 Neilson Redeye. Their prize was collected by another team as The Tyler’s headed south-west to compete at Torbay and Dartmouth regattas.

Kevin Sproul and the team from the J/80 Jane were presented with the B&G Prize (a stunning framed ‘relief’ chart of the Solent) by Jo Bainbridge of B&G.

The J-Cup (the silver trophy that gives it’s name to this event and the most coveted prize of the regatta) was presented this year to David and Kirsty Apthorp and the team from the J/105 J-Dream. In 2006 Kirsty and David have won their Class at the J-Cup and also achieved a hard fought second place at Deauville International Race Week. Kirsty and David bought their boat three years ago and have worked her way up through the fleet; they’ve not always been at the front. Couple with this Kirsty’s tireless work as J/105 UK Class Captain and the fact that she is largely responsible for the double figure entries that we now see at the J/105 one-design events and it is clear why the J-Dream team were such popular winners.

In her speech Kirsty thanked all of the competitors at the event for their sportsmanship, the PRO Peter Bateson and his Committee for the superb race management and the whole team at the Royal Southern Yacht Club (from the Sailing Secretary through to the Catering Staff and the Bar Team) all of whom pulled out every single stop to ensure that this event was a success.

The J-Cup 2007 is scheduled for the 23rd to 25th of August. It will be hosted by the Royal Western Yacht Club in Plymouth.

Overall results can be found here: http://www.royal-southern.co.uk/public/results/jcup06.htm