The eagerly awaited J Class Falmouth Regatta kicked off yesterday, on June 23, 2015. The first J Class yacht to cross the finish line on Day 1 was the majestic LIONHEART yacht, with a small lead over luxury charter yacht RANGER, winning by 1 minute and 24 seconds on corrected time.

J Class superyacht Lionheart © Andrew Wright

Cutler, tactician aboard LIONHEART superyacht, paid tribute to the yacht’s team and the team at Falmouth’s Pendennis Shipyard, where the vessel was refitted through the winter. Cutler commented on the dock: “The boat is going really fast. The Owner was really locked in today and did a great job. And the boat is just out of Pendennis where it has been for six months.”

Luxury charter yacht Ranger © Andrew Wright

Second placed superyacht RANGER’s skipper-helm Erle Williams said: “It was a good race. It was a bit light for Ranger and Lionheart is a lighter boat. We had a good start and were going well, but Lionheart just had the legs on us on the first beat. We need 10-11-12kts. It was just on the light side. We were not bad but Lionheart just had the legs on both of us. We were close with Velsheda, they came into us a few times. We have a lot of crew changes – 14 since the last regatta – and we have some guys doing the Volvo and so on – but we had three really good training days and the crew sailed really well today. Lionheart is very hard to beat in these conditions.”

Velsheda, Lionheart and Ranger Yachts © Andrew Wright

Racing today, on Wednesday, June 24, 2015 is expected to be a three hour coastal course for the Kings Hundred Guinea Cup.

Result Race 1 (Corrected Times)

1 Lionheart 1hr 21m 19s

2 Ranger 1hr 22m 43s

3 Velsheda 1hr 24m 33s