The J/Boats family bid a fond farewell to Paul Heys who ‘sailed away’ in February this year. Before the start of racing, the 60-boat fleet gathered in the vicinity of the proposed location for the Paul Heys Memorial Buoy for a special tribute. Whilst observing a minute’s silence, Paul Heys’ ashes were released in a seashell by his wife Marie-Claude, assisted by Paul’s daughters, Gemma and Natalie. Over £25,000 has already been raised, covering the cost and maintenance of the Paul Heys Memorial Buoy for 10 years. The target of £34,000, will ensure that the buoy will be raced around by Paul Hey’s grandchildren and those of the J/Boat familys. To make a donation: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/paulheys. Martin Dent said, “It was fantastic when we came in and congregated. I looked at the other boats, and teams were standing in rows on deck to attention. It was very moving. We got to our feet as well in honour of an absolute legend. I am glad that we are fund raising to put a mark in to celebrate Paul. I hope the mark will be a place of much carnage….if ever we are doing a mark rounding there, we will leave the drop late, rodeo drop, and possibly fling it in with borderline rights in honour of the greatest rogue. Paul Heys has made more impact on sailing than any other single person, and is responsible for so many Solent sailors, including my family and team Jelvis. I miss him.” The Landsail Tyres J-Cup is an annual event in which all J/Boats are invited to attend, to race in one-design classes or under IRC. The 2019 edition was hosted by the Royal Southern Yacht Club with racing in the Solent. Sixty teams racing 10 different examples of the J/Boats range were in action with skippers from Great Britain, France, the Netherlands and the United States. All nine races were completed over three days of thrilling racing for over 300 sailors. Conditions ranged from moderate to fresh and frightening. Mother Nature saved her best until last with 25 knots of breeze in clear blue skies for the last race of a fantastic regatta. Competitors enjoyed the use of modern facilities at the Royal Southern Yacht Club, including the spacious Upper Bar with elevated views over the Hamble River. In the dining room, North Sails delivered a video debrief, a master class on heavy airs trimming and boat handling from: Dave Lenz, Ruairidh Scott, Jeremy Smart and Charlie Cumbley. This year’s regatta also featured the J/70 UK Class Training Event. In the 16-strong J/70 fleet, Paul Ward’s Eat, Sleep, J, Repeat scored seven bullets out of nine races to win the class from Charles Thompson’s Brutus. Clive Bush’s Darcey was pushed hard by Graham Clapp’s Jeepster for the podium, with Jeepster winning the last two contests. However, Darcey was third by a single point after nine races. Ward’s Eat, Sleep, J, Repeat was awarded the J-Cup for their impressive performance, the first time a J/70 team has won the prestigious trophy. A very surprised Ward was quick to thank his team and Paul Heys at the prize-giving, saying, “I am shocked, this is totally unexpected! A big thank you to Paul Heys. All of us here wish he was still around, and like many many of us, he has helped me enormously with my sailing. A big thank you to the Eat, Sleep, J, Repeat team: Charlie (Cumbley), Ruairidh (Scott) and Mario (Trindade).”
Results Landsail Tyres J-Cup:
https://yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=6117
Results J/70 UK Class Training Event:
https://yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=9454