J LANCE 12 CROWNED IRC EUROPEAN CHAMPION

In The Heat Of Battle, The J/112E Sport-Cruiser Wins Title In Cowes

The IRC European Championship was a mixed bag experience for all competitors. The regatta consisted of a combination of short and long inshore races, windward/leeward courses and one Round the Isle of Wight race. The conditions started off with lighter winds, where the local boats used to their advantage. With the strong solent tides, this local knowledge was essential, especially for the shorter inshore races around the Solent. Mid-week, the Round the Isle of Wight race kicked off with winds of around 30+knots clocked at St. Catherine’s lighthouse. The majority of the class one boats finished this race in no time, using the downwind leg and their asymmetric designs to speed around the course and turn the corner before the foul tide turned against them. Round the Island is well-known for being a small boat race, as competitors can tuck in and out of the tide to make gains. Boats like Shaitan and Redshift in class three were challenging the 40-footers in class two with short runs, gybing into the shore to avoid the punching and unforgiving current.

Each fleet was a mix of local racing boats with a few that travelled to compete in one of England’s most popular race courses. It was great to be challenged by different boats coming in from across Europe. In the end, the boats that were most consistent throughout the week and the teams who met the challenges of the mixed courses were the ones who came out on top. In Class One Tokoloshe II finished first overall, followed by Ino XXX. In Class Two, Elke came out on top with La Réponse close behind in second. Class Three was dominated by Didier le Moal’s J Lance 12.

The J/112E is fit for purpose and faired extremely well against other competitors in their division like the JPK 10.80, First 40.7, Sunfast 36, J/109, and X-37. Delivering utmost speed and versatility, her upwind game and downwind speed made her a tough boat to beat. Congratulations to J Lance 12 for your amazing performance, showing true speed while keeping things simple in the highly competitive conditions presented in Cowes.

“It is our third season on this type of boat, so we know exactly how it works,” continued le Moal. “We had a very, very good navigator – to be fast is one thing, but to be fast on the right side is perfect. We are not so good reaching, but upwind the boat is so fast, it helps you recover.” – Didier le Moal

J Lance 12 was equipped with North Sails 3Di 780M RAW and 3Di 760S RAW main and headsails. Congratulations to our clients for your excellent results last week, and a special congrats to J Lance 12 on your new European Championship title!