Read's Puma Wins Volvo Inshore

(Galway, Ireland)-  Ken Read's PUMA Mar Mostro Wins Volvo Inshore Title!  A PUMA team decked out in Irish rugby shirts rounded off the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 in style on Saturday, securing victory in the In-Port Race series with a win on the waters of Galway on a day that saw Franck Cammas's GROUPAMA celebrate the overall win in the Volvo Ocean Race.

Ken Read's team scored a commanding first place in the Discover Ireland In-Port Race, their ninth podium finish of the 10-race inshore series and a first victory.  An electrifying scrap for second between CAMPER and Groupama saw the two teams virtually inseparable right to the end of the 8.2-nautical mile course with Chris Nicholson's team stealing the runners-up prize on the day, and in the series as a whole.

Driven to score their first in-port win, there was no stopping Kenny and the PUMA gang as a flawless performance saw them extend their lead at the first mark, holding on to take the win around the 8.2 nautical mile course by one minute and 19 seconds and secure the overall in-port title.  “It tastes very sweet,” said Ken Read who punched the air in delight as he steered Mar Mostro over the finish line.  “To race against the best offshore sailors in the world and come out on top is all we can ask for.”

Thank goodness all that practice winning five J/24 Worlds paid off over the course of time!  Congratulations to Ken, the Puma Team and Kimo Worthington for job well-done!  Time to retire and go for a cruise to Cuttyhunk and Canada with Kathy and Tory for a bit of R&R and family time.  Next up?  Ken is going sailing on the Chicago-Mackinac Race on his first Volvo 70- Puma il Mostro (a bit of a "busman's holiday", eh?)!  No rest for the weary.

A Media-Gasmic J/24 Easterns!

(Howth, Ireland)- Thirteen boats attended this years Mediagasmic J/24 Eastern Championships in Howth.  The Howth YC laid out the red carpet for the competing crews and all had a wonderful time sailing over the weekend in "fresh to frightening" north-easterlies.

With a third place in the opening race being his worst result in the six-race series, JP McCaldin in JAMAIS ENCORE from Lough Erne YC was an impressive winner of the Mediagasmic-sponsored J/24 Eastern Championships at Howth over the weekend.

Even National Champion Flor O'Driscoll on HARD ON PORT couldn't match the level of consistency that the northern visitors demonstrated while another feature of the weekend was the steadily-improving performance of the HYC K25 Team on KILCULLEN EURO CAR PARKS who finished 5th overall.

Discarding an 11th in the first race, the crew - led by John Blake and with Cillian Dickson on the helm - clearly learned a lot as the days went on, culminating in top notch 2nd and 3rd finishes on the second day.   

The Championship started on Saturday with four races in fresh north-easterlies and first blood was drawn by Howth's JIBBERISH (Fergus O'Kelly & others) whose gamble of a left-side long tack paid off handsomely for a sweet victory ahead of O'Driscoll and McCaldin.

Race two, three and four saw NYAH (Hyde & Deasy, RCYC/RStGYC) and JAMAIS ENCORE take turns to head the fleet, with NYAH winning two to head the fleet overnight. The fourth race highlighted just how competitive the fleet was, with 12 boats finishing within five minutes.

Fortunes were reversed on Sunday when NYAH had a disastrous 9th in the opening race and then a 4th while major rival McCaldin by comparison, had a dream day on the water. The fifth race in the series saw the Lough Erne crew win by a massive margin and while they only had to sail safely in the last race, second behind HARD ON PORT was more than enough to secure the Eastern Championship trophy with a margin of four points.

The Mediagasmic-sponsored event attracted visiting boats from Malahide, Lough Erne, Lough Ree, Lough Swilly, Royal Cork and Carrickfergus and was considered an outstanding success by the 13 crews, with much praise heaped on PRO David Lovegrove and his team for the quality of the racing.  For more MediaGasmic J/24 Irish Eastern Championships Sailing information

RELOADED Blasts BMW J/24 Europeans

(Dublin, Ireland)- In ideal conditions - moderate to fresh south-easterly winds and sunshine - the BMW J/24 European Championships concluded at Howth with four back-to-back races to complete the full 10-race program.  Top of the table was the American team of RELOADED (Mark Penfold) with 34 points, three ahead of the leading European entry IL RICIO (Ian Southworth/Chris McLaughlin) which takes the European Championship trophy.

For the 210 competitors from nine countries this year's J/24 Europeans was a resounding success both on and off the water.  Despite the fact that the event had seen real, honest-to-goodness, nuclear gale conditions the first day.  That day (Monday) fell victim to the weather, when winds in excess of 30 knots and gusts over 50 knots left the Principal Race Officer David Lovegrove with no option other than to abandon racing.

A major factor in the event's success was the generous sponsorship from BMW Ireland whose displays added immensely to the occasion. BMW's contribution was huge, not just in financial terms but also by way of support in several other key areas.  The Race Management team, led by Principal Race Officer David Lovegrove, deservedly received countless plaudits for completing the 10-race schedule despite severe weather conditions preventing two full days of racing. The quality of the courses and the efficiency of the race management were also applauded.

Ashore, the pre-event measurement and registration went smoothly and the craning in and out of 42 boats was an exercise in real co-ordination by the marine staff. Organising Committee Chairman Derek Bothwell paid tribute to the core group on his committee who handled general administration, measurement, accommodation, PR and social activities and to the 60 volunteers who helped in other ways such as RIB drivers, committee and mark boats personnel, race office etc.

With the exception of their discard of a 20th in the fifth race, RELOADED was consistently in the top four in most races and had one bullet, while closest rivals IL RICIO had two bullets and only a 9th to discard.  That they had some 28 points to spare over the third placed SERCO (Bob Turner) emphasized their dominance over the series. The German champion ROTOMAN (Kai Mares) was only a point behind in 4th place and won the final race of the regatta while Stuart Jardine, the oldest helm in the championship, had the distinction of winning three races, including the first two races of the final day. Another German boat HUNGRIGER WOLF (Johann Huhn) had six top ten results to earn 6th overall.

Local boat JIBBERISH (O'Kelly/Wormald/Walsh) enjoyed its best result when finishing second behind STOUCHE (Jardine) in the seventh race while German entry JJONE (Frithjof Schade) was looking at the same transom in the eighth race. The Southworth/McLaughlin crew topped the fleet in the penultimate race followed by the Hungarian boat NAVISCON (Farkas Litkey) while SERCO took second behind ROTOMAN in the final race.

Needing to beat their US rivals by several places in the last race to take 1st overall, IL RICIO could only manage an 8th to RELOADED's 5th. The leading Irish crew was HARD ON PORT (Flor O'Driscoll, HYC) in 10th overall with JAMAIS ENCORE (John-Patrick McCaldin, Lough Erne YC) next best in 17th.

The 42-boat fleet had faced a tough schedule of five back-to-back races on the third day of the regatta, sailed in ideal conditions. They made up for the weather-affected program and it was the consistency of the sole American entry and a leading UK contender over those five races which put them very much in command going into the final day.

RELOADED (Mark Penfold, Rochester YC) with Mike Ingham on helm, won the first race of the day, sailed in a brisk westerly, with Irish champion Flor O'Driscoll (Hard on Port, HYC) producing the best local result to date by finishing 2nd ahead of the much-fancied IL RICIO (Ian Southworth/Chris McLaughlin, RCYC Cowes).

The British boat moved up a gear in the second race, winning from defending champions SERCO (Bob Turner, Castle Cove SC) and the Greek champions EVNIKI (Aitsiadis Dimitrios) but RELOADED bounced back by taking the gun on the series' 4th race ahead of SERCO again and JELI (Stig McDonald, Royal Western YC).

Race 5 in the series saw a complete reversal of fortunes, with the honours going to boats not previously in the frame. Victory went to JAWBREAKER (David Cooper, Royal Western YC) in front of German boat JJONE (Frithjof Schade, Joersfelder SC) and the Italian champions LA SUPERBA (Ignazio Bonanno, C V Marina Militara).  At the same time, it proved disastrous for RELOADED and SERCO who finished 20th and 22nd respectively. Added to a black flag on the opening race, that result had a significant impact on SERCO's chances of retaining the trophy.  The fifth race of a long day was a triumph for one of the J/24 Class stalwarts Stuart Jardine whose STOUCHE headed HUNGRIDER WOLF (Johann Huhn, SVAOe) and RELOADED to the finishing line.  With one discard in force at the moment, RELOADED had just two points of a margin over IL RICIO, with SERCO 21 points adrift in the bronze medal position.   Sailing photo credits-  FOTOSAIL
For more J/24 Europeans sailing information

  

BMW J/24 Europeans Update

(Dublin, Ireland)- To date, the J/24 Europeans have seen real, honest-to-goodness, nuclear gale conditions.  The first day fell victim to the weather (Monday 12th September), when winds in excess of 30 knots and gusts over 50 knots left the Principal Race Officer David Lovegrove with no option other than to abandon racing.  The event has attracted 42 boats from nine countries, which include the national champions of Ireland, Britain, Germany, Italy and Greece.

After losing the first day's racing to the weather, day two at Howth (Tuesday 13th) saw one race completed in fresh and gusty south-westerly winds and witnessed a win for the defending champions (and current British champions) 'Serco' (Bob Turner) with Nathan Batchelor on the helm.

The 42-boat fleet got away at the second time of asking in winds touching 30 knots and it was the right-hand side of the course which was favored, with 'Serco' leading around the windward mark. The downwind leg proved precarious for several boats who struggled with spinnakers in the gusty conditions, with sail damage forcing a number of retirees.

By the end of the second beat, another British boat, 'Il Riccio' (David Southworth/Chris McLaughlin) had taken over the lead but as a shredded spinnaker put paid to their chances of victory and dropped them back to 5th. 'Serco' took the gun ahead of another British entry 'Madeleine' (McCarthy/Phelps), with German boats filling the next two spots, with 'Max Bahr' (Stefan Karsunke) and 'Rotoman' (Kai Mares) 3rd and 4th respectively.

Four German boats finished in the top eight while 9th place went to the highest-placed local boat, Irish champion Flor O'Driscoll and crew on 'Hard on Port'.

With winds forecasted to increase later in the day, the fleet was sent ashore and a subsequent decision by the Race Officer David Lovegrove and his team confirmed that the conditions would not allow any further racing on the day.

It is hoped to run up to five races back-to-back on Wednesday (14th).  At the moment, the top five are 1st- SERCO, Bob Turner, GBR; 2nd- MADELEINE, McCarthy/Phelps, GBR; 3rd- MAX BAHR, Stefan Karsunke, GER, 4th- ROTOMAN Kai Mares, GER and 5th- IL RICCIO, Southworth/McLaughlin, GBR.  For more J/24 Europeans sailing information

  

BMW Joins J/24 Europeans!

(Dublin, Ireland)- Howth Yacht Club has announced that BMW Ireland is the title sponsor of the J/24 European Championship at Howth this coming September when up to forty boats from six countries are expected to compete.

One of the major regattas in Ireland this year, the BMW J/24 Europeans has already attracted interest from J/24 sailors in the UK, Holland, Sweden, Monaco, Italy, Germany and Greece. Racing will take place over four days (September 12th to 15th), and will be preceded by registration, measurement and practice starting on the 9th. The Principal Race Officer will be ISAF International Race Officer David Lovegrove while Bob Milner (UK) will chair the International Jury.  Howth Yacht Club has previously hosted six World and European Championships in the past, testimony to its ability to host major regattas. The BMW J/24 Europeans is the biggest event in a program of 22 local, national and international events being staged by the club in 2011.   For more BMW J/24 Europeans sailing information  and more sailing sponsor information from BMW Yacht-Sport here.