J70 UK Class Association 2026 Program of Events
There will be plenty of J/70 events both in UK and in Europe in 2026.
2026 J/70 UK Grand Slam Series
The main UK competition organised by the class association is the Class “J/70 UK Grand Slam” series, this is supported by other local and international events.
The Grand Slam is a seven event series. Five of the events are usually 7 race weekends with Windward/Leeward courses plus a 3 day National Championship and the 4 day / 12 race Cowes Week Mini Series. Run by individual host clubs, each event has its own prizes, plus overall series prizes which will be awarded by the UK Class at the end of year class dinner and prizegiving.
The Grand Slam events in 2026 are:
| Event | 2026 Dates | OA | NoR, Entries and Boat & Crew Declaration 2 |
| GS#1 | 25-26 April | RTYC | |
| GS#2 | 9-10 May | RTYC | |
| GS#3 | 6-7 June | RYS | |
| GS#4 and Nationals1 | 26-28 June | RSrnYC | |
| GS#5 Cowes Week Mini Series | 1-4 August | CWL | |
| GS#6 | 19-20 September | RSrnYC | |
| GS#7 | 3-4 October | RYS |
1 – The UK Nationals will be non-discardable for the series results.
2 – The Boat and Crew Declaration forms will need the World Sailing IDs for all crew members plus your Vakaros Atlas 2 serial number and confirmation of the current software revision level.
Entry is for each individual event is also subject to that events own NoR. There is no separate entry required for the Grand Slam series.
Details of eligibility, series scoring etc. is in the 2026 Grand Slam Notice of Series.
The class will be using Vakaros Racesense to run all the starts and results for the Grand Slam events. All boats must have a working Vakaros Atlas 2 installed with a valid Racesense subscription (a promotional discount will be offered on the Racesense subscription for UK class members early in 2026).
All crew must have valid and current Group 1 or Group 3 World Sailing Categorisations and these must be declared using the J70 class Crew Declaration Form before the event (see links below).
In addition all J/70 Owners must have Full membership of the J/70 Class Association; any non-owner Group 1 category helms also need Associate Membership unless they are using a club J/70 chartered from RYS, RTYC, RSrnYC or Ryde School for which Cat 1 helm membership is already covered; all Group 3 category sailors must also have Associate Membership of the Class Association.
Permitted helmsperson: The helmsperson shall hold a valid Group 1 Categorization in accordance with World Sailing Regulation 22 except that a Group 3 crew who owns and pays for 100% of all costs for the J/70 may helm.
For Corinthian entries Driver and Crew must ALL be valid Group 1 category. If you are entering this event as Mixed (at least 2 female crew) and/or Youth (all crew under 26 on 1st Jan 2025) see clause 8.0 in the GS NoR.
If your crew don’t have World Sailing IDs or categorisation has expired the process is simple and quick to address at: https://www.sailing.org/sailors/sailor-categorisations/
To apply for membership follow the links here https://j-70.co.uk/join-the-class
As detailed in the J/70 UK 2026 Grand Slam Notice of Series, the allocation of places by the UK J/70 Committee for the 2027 J/70 World Championships will be based on the results in the 2026 Grand Slam.
Other 2026 UK Events
J70’s will be sailing at a number of other UK events, including:
| Event | Dates | OA |
| Warsash Spring Championships w/e 1 only (w/e 2 is the same weekend as GS#1 run by the RTYC) | 18/19 April 2026 | WSC |
| Cowes Week (full week) | 1-7 August 2026 | CWL |
| HRSC Autumn Championships | 3/4 and 17/18 October 2026 | HRSC |
Training
The class is organise two training weekends before the start of the Grand Slam series with a professional coach each with a pre-event online briefing and post event debrief. The dates are:
| Event | Dates | OA |
| Class Training – Solent | 14-15 March | RSrnYC |
| Class Training – Solent | 11-12 April | RSrnYC |
Details will be published in due course.
2026 J/70 Continental and World Championships
There are four European based Championships in 2026, so a great opportunity to travel to some super venues and enjoy top level racing. Dates are:
| Event | Location | 2026 Dates | OA |
| Corinthian World Championship | Marseilles, France | 23rd – 30th May 2026 | Union Nautique / Club la Pelle |
| European Championship | Barcelona, Spain | 21st to 26th July | Real Club Náutico de Barcelona |
| Mixed Plus World Championships | Copenhagen, Denmark | 13th to 16th August | Royal Danish Yacht Club |
| Open World Championships | Cascais, Portugal | 4th to 12th September | Clube Naval de Cascais |
Note that some Championships will require qualification and invitation. All Championships are likely to fill up quickly – so get your entry in!
International Events
The Italian J70 fleet is probably one of the most active European Fleets. In 2026 they will run a series of 3 day events, these will be published on their website in due course: https://www.j70.it/en/
Winter Series Racing
There will be J/70 winter series run in both Cascais and Monaco from Oct 2024 to April 2025
The Cascais Winter Series (2nd Cascais WJ70 Winter Series) will be run by Club Naval de Cascais, dates are as follows:
| Event | Location | From | OA |
| SailCascais J/70 Grand Slam | Cascais | 2025 October 24th to 26th | CNC |
| Atlantic Cup | Cascais | November 28th to 30th | CNC |
| 2nd Cascais J/70 Winter Series | Cascais | 2026 January 23rd to 25th | CNC |
| 3rd Cascais J/70 Winter Series | Cascais | February 20th to 22nd | CNC |
| 4th Cascais J/70 Winter Series | Cascais | March 20th to 22nd | CNC |
| Cascais J/70 Winter Series – Season Finale | Cascais | April 10th to 12th | CNC |
Boat storage, help with transport and potentially charter can be arranged with SailCascais.
The Monaco Sportsboat Winter Series (Monaco WS) will run as follows:
| Event | Location | Dates | OA |
| Act 1 | Monaco | 6-9 November 2025 | YCM |
| Act 2 | Monaco | 4-7 December 2025 | YCM |
| Act 3 | Monaco | 12-15 February 2026 | YCM |
| Act 4 (Primo Cup) | Monaco | 5-8 March 2026 Primo Cup – UBS Trophy | YCM |