With 30 boats on one start line, the first day of the J/70 UK National Championship featured the largest fleet of J/70s that have ever raced in the United Kingdom. Ian Atkins racing BOATS.COM, with Ruairidh Scott on the helm, led after the four races and never got knocked off the top spot. As a result, the reigning UK National Champions were able to pull off an amazing repeat performance to be crowned J/70 UK National champions again. It was not an easy task for the BOATS.COM crew as they were up against several very competitive teams who managed to get on the podium during the regatta—teams like Will Goldsmith’s GILL RACE TEAM, Charlie Esse’s BABY J, Ian Dobson’s SAILBOATS.CO.UK, Russell Peter’s NUMBER 6 and Jack Davies’ JUGADOR. On the first day, a light gradient wind from the ESE veered during the day, but also flicked back to the east, which kept the tacticians on their toes. The wind speed rarely exceeded 10 knots but the shifting breeze was a real test of tactical awareness. Starting well was always important but even more so in light air. Two general recalls and a highly competitive start line were indicative of the competition within the fleet. GILL RACE TEAM with Royal Southern Yacht Club Academy sailor Will Goldsmith at the helm had a great day, finishing in second place overall and top boat for both the Under 30 prize and Mixed crew. GILL RACE TEAM had a crew all under 25, including 470 duo Amy Seabright and Anna Carpenter from the RYA British Sailing Team, as well as top Fireball sailor Matthew Rainback. Amy Seabright spoke about the first day of racing, “We have only been sailing the boat for two days but entering the Championship is intentional for our training program to try to further our performance in the 470. You can get quite channeled in how you sail and with your tactics, whereas going into different fleets, you learn how other people sail and the J/70 is great for that because in this fleet it is hard to win. Having 30+ boats on a start line isn’t new to us, but having four people in a boat is. Managing everyone’s views is an interesting dynamic. Also, asymmetric sailing is different and really good for our development, as you have to play the wind more. Will (Goldsmith) did a great job on the helm today, but I have to say that because he is buying the drinks! Seriously, we are delighted with our results!” Anthony Esse, owner of BABY J, spoke about the bright future for the J/70 Class in Europe, “The J/70 fleet has formed a European Champions League. The UK Class is not participating yet but we will next year, running one of the legs, as a joint venture between the Royal Thames YC and the RYA. There will be a test event this October. The league offers short course racing legs of just a few hundred meters, delivering spectacular short-sharp racing.” With no wind in the Solent on day two, racing was abandoned for the day at 1300 BST. Simon Cavey, J/70 UK Class Captain said, “I think the first hump was 20 boats. We now have over 50 J/70s in the UK and I believe that this is the second big hump, and we are going to kick on from here. Next year’s National Championship will be huge. The Class is really thriving. The ball is definitely rolling, and we have top guys who want to race J/70s which is great. Racing against top professionals and young aspiring Olympic sailors is thrilling. The top sailors are coming into the Class because the boat is fantastic. I love sailing the boat, and the racing is so close. Yesterday, from our perspective, you make one small mistake and ten boats go past you. People like that, you have to be on your toes. Sailors like to race in fleets where how they perform makes the difference. My responsibility as Class Captain is to build fleet racing, which includes a UK National Championship, a Scottish Championship and we have even talked about organizing an Inland Championship.” For the third and final day, the fleet was treated to a fresh northeasterly breeze and four solid races. Ian Atkin’s BOATS.COM reveled in the conditions and closed out with a 2-1 to win the regatta with 14 points net. Will Goldsmith’s GILL RACE TEAM sailed the most consistently of all teams on the last day, posting a 3-5-6-2 scoreline to close the event with 23 points net and securing the silver. Taking the bronze was Class newcomer Russell Peters on NUMBER 6 sitting on 28 points net. Rounding out the top five were Esse’s BABY J in fourth and Dobson’s SAILBOATS.CO.UK in fifth. Winning the Top Under 25 Trophy was Will’s GILL RACE TEAM. It was exciting for the UK J/70 Class in that six different teams won races in the eight-race series. Those teams were BOATS.COM, Esse’s BABY J, Russell’s NUMBER 6, Will’s GILL RACE TEAM, Steve Northmore’s WATERJET PRECISION CUTTING and Patrick Liardet’s COSMIC. For more J/70 UK National Championship sailing information, visit http://www.royal-southern.co.uk/.