A glorious start to the UK season on the Solent, which delivered two standout days of racing in a steady south easterly. 25 teams lined up for Grand Slam 1, hosted by the Royal Thames Yacht Club, with tight racing and a constantly shifting leaderboard.
Day One
Jeepster, picked up where they left off at the end of last season. The team, comprising of Max Clapp, Horatio Sykes, Miles Jones and Mathieu Cadei, won the day, with consistency paying despite two bullets from Jiraffe.
Simon Perry’s Jiraffe made an early statement, owning the pin in races one and two. They had control of the fleet and extended up the left-hand side, where there was a small tidal gain throughout the weekend. With a left-favoured course and some pin bias, it was high density at the pin. Jeepster profited by starting a few up from the pin, rolling teams who got caught up in the fight but still benefiting from the bias.
Always in the mix, they rounded off the day with a win in the final race, combining strong starts, pace and slick handling around the track.
Day Two
A stronger breeze brought a mix of planing, wing-on-wing and displacement modes downwind, with teams often able to find gains on the fast-moving waves.
Genius, the island-based team helmed by Fred Salter, took the first bullet of the day, with Jeepster, continuing their strong form, close behind in second.
Jelvis climbed up the leaderboard, winning the penultimate race. With everything still to play for, they passed DSP on the final leg of the last race to secure the overall win, just one point ahead of Jeepster.
“Thanks to Tim and the Royal Thames team for delivering a great weekend’s racing and for successfully debuting Race Sense which the J/70 Class has adopted. The racing was epic – Henry, Ruby, Rick and I had to fight for every metre, and we crossed most of the finish lines overlapped.” – Martin Dent (Jelvis)
Jeepster finished as second overall and as the top Corinthian team, with Calypso just behind after also being in the mix throughout the regatta.
“Great to see so many new faces and teams out there this weekend. The class has started the year in the healthiest position I can remember in recent years.” – Max Clapp (Jeepster)
Jiraffe finished fourth, while also a strong regatta for new team Lady Khumbu, helmed by Jacintha Love-Hamilton, saw them take fifth overall.
Racing was efficient and expertly run by the Royal Thames Yacht Club. Zero general recalls and quick turnarounds between races marked a successful debut of Vakaros RaceSense.
The UK J/70 Class would like to thank its supporters Rooster and Ocean Rope.
Next up, Grand Slam 2 takes place in two weeks’ time, 9-10 May, hosted again by the Royal Thames Yacht Club.
Overall Results (top 5)
- Jelvis – Martin Dent
- Jeepster – Max Clapp (Corinthian)
- Calypso – Ali Hall (Corinthian)
- Jiraffe – Simon Perry
- Lady Khumbu – Jacintha Love-Hamilton
Full results: https://sailevent.net/viewdoc.ashx?m=n&v=515
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