By invitation of Key Yachting, the 2020 Landsail Tyres J-Cup celebrated the 21st birthday of the annual regatta exclusively for J Boats. Whilst the regatta was somewhat different this year, the spirit of the J Boats family was as strong as ever. Hosted for the first time by the Royal Ocean Racing Club, the regatta was a huge success. 50 J Boats with over 200 crew enjoying great racing, plus safe and secure social functions at the RORC Clubhouse in Cowes.
 
The regatta featured two National Championships. Tony & Sally Mack’s McFly retained the J/111 National Championship and was also awarded the J-Cup. Simon Perry’s Jiraffe won the 2020 J/109 UK National Championship. In the J/70 Class, Paul Ward’s Eat Sleep J Repeat was the winner for the second year in a row. IRC One was won by Christopher Daniels’ J/122 Juno. In IRC Two, Nick Munday’s J/97 Induljence was the victor.

Return of the Mack
 
At the final prize giving ceremony, Tony & Sally Mack and team McFly got the biggest cheer of the party. This was McFly’s fourth championship win but the first time to win the J-Cup. The final day’s racing was far from easy; Chris Jones & Louise Makin’s Journeymaker II, won the last two races. Finishing in third place, Paul Griffith’s Jagerbomb, beat McFly in the penultimate race. At the final prize giving, Key Yachting’s Hannah Le Prevost commented. “It was fantastic to see the J/111s racing again and well done to McFly for a terrific performance. Tony and Sally Mack have been coming to the regatta for many years always with a fantastic spirit. Marie-Claude Heys (MD, Key Yachting) and I, have no hesitation in awarding the J-Cup to McFly.”

“One mistake and you pay for it in the J/111 Class,” commented Tony Mack. “Credit to all of the competitors, the racing was fantastic!” Sally Mack added: “The J-Cup is like a family get together; we really enjoy the friendship. It is a special occasion and really lovely to win the J-Cup.”

Jiraffe sticks its neck out
 
Simon Perry’s Jiraffe won the J/109 UK National Championship for the first time. Racing on board Jiraffe were four members of the Perry family, and the rest of the crew are godfathers to the children and family friends. The 2019 national champion, John Smart’s Jukebox, was runner-up this year. David Richard’s Jumping Jellyfish came within a whisker of winning the championship with victory in the last race but finished third for the regatta.

“Jukebox had a big lead going into the final day’s racing, so we decided to go out and enjoy ourselves by sailing well and see what would happen,” commented Simon Perry. “We won the first race of the day, caught up Jukebox on the scoreboard, and we realised we could do it. We were 30cm ahead of Jukebox at the finish of the last race. It was literally that close.”

“Praise You” Eat Sleep J Repeat
 
Paul Ward’s J/70 Eat, Sleep, J Repeat is the reigning J/70 World Champion and the top crew of Scott, Cumbley and Trindade have come a long, long way together. However, they had to be at the top of their game to win the class. New to the J/70 is Nick Phillips’ Team Chaotic, and the young team from Parkstone YC put in a stellar performance in a RTYC charter boat to take runner-up in the 21-boat fleet. Charles Thompson’s Brutus managed two bullets in the series and was a close third.

“To have 21 teams out racing was just superb,” smiled Paul Ward. “I have to say that the race management and shoreside organisation by the RORC was first class, and that is so important. Well done especially to Chaotic and Brutus who gave us a run for our money in every race. Eat Sleep J Repeat are looking forward to some great racing at the J/70 UK Nationals next weekend.”

Juno Queen of the Gods
 
Christopher Daniel’s J/122 Juno won the ten-strong big boat class in IRC One. Going into the final day of racing, Juno was just half a point ahead of Chaz Ivill’s J/112 Davanti Tyres. Juno finished the regatta in style winning the last two races to clinch the class. Davanti Tyres was second with Mike & Sarah Wallis’ J/122 Jahmali in third. Competition in IRC One was first class; Davanti Tyres, Jahmali and Tigris and J-Dream are all past winners of the J-Cup. This was Juno’s first J-Cup regatta and their impressive performance also earned Juno the North Sails Trophy for Best Newcomer. 

"Juno normally has quite a full programme of racing, but this year with all the cancelled regattas, we finally made it to the J-Cup. We are glad that we did and we will definitely be back," commented Christopher Daniel. "Three days is a perfect length for the regatta and it was great to get boat-on-boat with other asymmetric designs. The race management and shoreside was extremely well organised with great communications, we thoroughly enjoyed the event."

Prized Induljence
 
Nick Munday’s J/97 Induljence scored a string of five bullets and two second places to win IRC Two, Nick was sailing with a crew including son Adam Munday, from regatta sponsor Ocean Rope. David Greenhalgh’s J/92 J’ronimo was second, David is a veteran of the J-Cup as depicted by his J-Cup 2000 t-shirt, which still fits! Making their debut regatta in a J Boat was Lawrence Barnett’s J/97 Jackaroo, and a great performance lifted the team to third in class.

“It was just fantastic to get out racing, it is something we really enjoy, and a lot of credit should go to Key Yachting for getting the regatta on,” commented Induljence’s Adam Munday. “The competition was good especially with J’ronimo, and it took us a little time to get going, as we do not race as much these days. As regatta sponsor Ocean Rope, many of the J Boats are customers, and personally we were absolutely blown away by the generosity of all the sponsors. In particular B&G donating a superb chart plotter. All of the prizes were well thought out; items that sailors really want.” commented Induljence’s Adam Munday.

Whilst the racing champions receive great applause from their competitors, the Landsail Tyres J-Cup, also acknowledges great spirit and friendship. The Nipper Trophy is awarded to someone who acted in the spirit of the event. This year’s winner was Ian Poynton racing J/70 Powder Monkey. Faced with reducing his crew to accommodate Covid-19 restrictions for the regatta, Ian chose to charter another boat as a solution, which was named Powder Monkey Jobseekers, and crewed by university graduates, looking for employment in these difficult times. Well done to Ian Poynton!

The 22nd edition of the regatta will be organised by the Royal Southern Yacht Club by invitation of Key Yachting, 24-26 June 2021. There is a prize for the first entry!