The largest number of J/109s gathered this week to race in the Solent, setting not only a new record at Skandia Cowes Week (fleet of 38), but a world record also.

For their final day of Class racing, the J/109 fleet started from the Royal Yacht Squadron line, and did not disappoint spectators on the Green as the top three boats finished within 14 seconds of each other.

Zelda (Ben Richards/Michael Ewart-Smith) had the best start and tacked off heading for the mainland shore, closely followed by Mojito (Gary & Sasha Fry), Stalker (Steven Tapper) and Beth (Christopher Sharples/Richard Acland) for the beat to Aquaspec.

Hugging the mainland shore gave the advantage to those whose depth gauges were properly calibrated. A spinnaker hoist and run across to Elephant saw J-Dream (David & Kirsty Apthorp) move up steadily through the fleet. They rounded in 5th place.

A beat back across the Solent saw Red Arrow (RAFSA supported by the RAF Benevolent Fund) strengthen their second place behind Zelda, and the run back saw Shiva (Matt Boyle) sail low and judge the mark rounding perfectly. However, it wasn’t enough for them to catch the leaders.

A final beat back to Peters & May allowed J-Dream to catch Red Arrow. Two evenly matched spinnaker hoists saw these two boats trade places for the entire run to Gurnard and down The Green. The first three boats to cross the line were split by just 14 seconds.

The J/109 UK Class race today for the Royal Southern Yacht Club Challenge Trophy.

Overall Results with one discard:

1 ZELDA 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 3.0 7.0 1.0 8.00
2 SHIVA 4.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 1.0 5.0 4.0 15.00
3 JOHNNY BLUE II 5.0 4.5 7.0 3.0 8.0 1.0 10.0 28.50
4 JAHMALI 22.0 6.0 5.0 8.0 2.0 4.0 5.0 30.00
5 JUKE BOX 10.0 7.0 4.0 4.0 5.0 3.0 15.0 33.00
6 OFFBEAT 2.0 4.5 9.0 7.0 9.0 17.0 8.0 39.50
7 BETH 3.0 11.0 6.0 11.0 4.0 11.0 6.0 41.00
8 RED ARROW 17.0 3.0 40.0 5.0 19.0 2.0 3.0 49.00
9 J-DREAM 21.0 8.0 8.0 6.0 6.0 40.0 2.0 51.00
10 JAMBO! 19.0 9.0 3.0 10.0 14.0 6.0 19.0 61.00