Royal Air Force Yacht Club

Report J/109 Class Association

The Autumn Championships for the J/109 UK Class took place over the weekend 10/11 October 2009 with racing run by Hamble River Sailing Club.  Six races were scheduled (4 on Saturday, 2 on Sunday) and no discard.  The J/109 UK Class had also arranged for Julian Pearson to coach the class on Saturday, who was ably assisted by James Knight of North Sails and there was a lot of useful video footage and discussion back at the Club after racing. 

On Saturday racing was held in bright sunshine and breeze which built from 10-15 knots, allowing the fleet to put into practice any points raised by the coaches between races.  The first race saw Stalker (Steven Tapper) take the lead from Outrajeous (Richard & Valerie Griffith) and J-Dream (David & Kirsty Apthorp) for the first three boats to finish within 25 seconds of each other.  Beth (Guy Knight) and Jouster (Tim Collins) tussled for 4^th with Beth crossing the line 14 seconds ahead.  The second race saw J-Dream improve her starting procedure and together with Beth they led the fleet.  J-Dream passed Beth at the first spinnaker hoist and led for the rest of the two lap race.  Beth held onto 2^nd with Outrajeous finishing 3^rd and Me Julie (Dom Monkhouse) only 14 seconds behind in 4^th.  The third race saw Beth out of the blocks together with Jouster who they held off to the finish.  Meanwhile J-Dream passed J2Eau (Steve & Jody Maine) on the final run to claim 3^rd by 8 seconds.  The final race of the day was won by J-Dream from Jouster and Stalker who had regained her form from the first race. 

After the first day of racing J-Dream had 8 points, Beth 11 points, Jouster and Stalker equal on 16 points and Outrajeous on 17 points.

 Only one race was held on Sunday in a westerly 15, gusting 22 knots.  This was a slight disappointment as many of the boats were keen to put into practice the lessons learnt from the day before.  Stalker had obviously paid attention in the debrief session as they nailed the Committee Boat end of the line, whilst Jouster was caught amongst Beth, J-Dream and Outrajeous and with a lack of clear air was forced to watch the fleet yacht off.  Halfway to the first mark Stalker had taken a convincing lead whilst Beth and J-Dream were trading tacks with Me Julie. 

 J-Dream closed the gap on Stalker during the first run and took the lead by the second windward mark to claim her 3^rd win of the Championships.  Jouster had moved into the back of the following pack and on the second downwind leg was one of the first to hoist a big spinnaker.  The short beat to the finish saw Jouster hold off the challenge from Stalker to take second place by 17 seconds and 3^rd overall.  Beth meanwhile pulled back to finish 5^th securing her second place. 

The Autumn Championships provided two days of excellent sailing for the J/109 fleet, with perfect conditions for a productive training session.

 Overall

1^st – J-Dream (David & Kirsty Apthorp)        3,1,3,1,1                                  9 points

2^nd – Beth (Guy Knight/Five Star Sailing)      4,2,1,4,5                                  16 points

3^rd – Jouster (Tim Collins)                               5,7,2,2,2                                  18 points

4^th – Stalker (Steven Tapper)                          1,6,6,3,3                                  19 points