The very first J Class Championship took place between the 21st-26th of August in sunny Newport, Rhode Island and produced seven races of expert sailing from renowned J-class veterans SVEA, TOPAZ, HANUMAN, VELSHEDA, RANGER AND LIONHEART.
Racing underway at the J Class World Championship, Newport, Rhode Island. Photo credit Onne van der Wal
Although HANUMAN took first place in three of the seven races, it was LIONHEART’s consistent performance, remaining in the top three of all seven races, that earned her the world title by three points.
LIONHEART also took the Terry Kohler Trophy for becoming the 2017 J-class season champions, combining the results of the St Barth’s Bucket and the America’s Cup J Class Regatta as well as the J Class World Championship.
“I think the strongest thing we have is the crew,” LIONHEART’s Nigel Ingram commented. “I don’t think we have changed a single crew position in the last year and a half. The boat is fast, the sail programme is good. We look after all the small details, we work very hard on making sure the bottom of the boat is good, it is vital in these big boats, we work hard at optimising the displacement and righting moment for the different conditions we sail in.”
HANUMAN were the winners of the St Barths Bucket in March and third place on the podium went to RANGER after narrowly beating TOPAZ, both of whom were also a presence at the J Class regatta earlier this year.
Race Results:
1 LIONHEART – 17
2 HANUMAN – 20
3 RANGER – 24
4 TOPAZ – 27
5 SVEA – 29
6 VELSHEDA – 30
Some of the above sailing yachts are available for charter: Contact CharterWorld for more information and location availability and take your next holiday on an historic, high-performance racing yacht.
