Caribbean style conditions on the first day of the J/70 UK National Championship had the J/70 fleet grinning form ear to ear, after three highly competitive races in the beautiful surrounding of Torbay, nicknamed Torbados by the J/70 fleet. Calascione & Ripard’s Calypso was the top performing boat racing for the J/70 UK National Championship. Second in the British pecking order was Doug Struth’s DSP, and third was Wilson & King’s Soak Racing. 10-12 knots of breeze from the east created light conditions with subtle shifts during the course of the day. A good start is always a winner in the J/70 fleet, especially so in light airs and with the calibre of teams racing at the J/70 UK National Championship. “We have been working on our starts for quite a while,” commented Calypso’s helm, Seb Ripard. “The left was favoured with lifts and acceleration coming from the land. Although the left was was down tide, the better pressure on that side outweighed that negative. Downwind, we always have our tactician looking back at the fleet to see any changes to the situation, but the big focus for us is to maximize our VMG and get to the bottom mark as fast as we can. All in all, it was a good day for us, but we were a bit disappointed not to win the second race, having led at the top mark.” Doug Struth, DSP, commented, “We started well, choosing a slot about three in from the pin, which was slightly conservative but avoided the big fight between some well-sailed boats at that end. Once you get a good start, it is essential that you can hold your lane, and that is all about boat speed, which seemed to be on the money. We did get pretty deep in the fleet in the second race, but Geoff Carveth did a great job on the helm to get us back into the top part of the fleet.” Top of the Open standings is Joel Ronning’s Catapult (USA). Michael Goldfarb’s Warcanoe (USA) took a bullet in the last race to end the day second on countback from Calypso (MLT). Marcos Soares’ Highlanders (BRA) won Race 2 but finished the day in fourth position. Alberto Rossi’s Enfant Terrible (ITA) won the first race of the Championship but having been called over at the start of Race 2, Enfant Terrible scored a 28. Enfant Terrible came back to place third in the final race. Making the top ten in the open category after three races: Luis Albert’s Patakin (ESP), Geoffrey Pierini’s Surge (USA), Claudia Rossi’s Petite Terrible (ITA) and Renato Faria’s To Nessa (BRA). Full results are at https://yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=6148.