An almost record Fastnet Fleet of 337 yachts greeted the RORC start in 25 knots gusting conditions on a lumpy Solent with a South Westerly against the tide creating a helter-skelter commencement and lots of collisions. Unfortunately one of the race favourites for IRC Overall, Dawn Trader the JPK 11.80 of Ed Bell was one of those casualties before the start.
First in IRC Overall for the 2021 Fastnet was the JPK 11.80 Sunrise also winning the Division 2 trophy an amazing result for an under 40 footer considering line Honors was dominated by the big boats.
The 49th Fastnet continued the JPK tradition with the JPK Sunrise excelling in the early heavy seas of the Solent and then sidestepping their way through the patchy and variable conditions after rounding the Fastnet Rock on the return leg to the French Coast and Cherbourg.
As usual, there was a strong representation of the successful and popular JPK’s across the Fastnet fleet. Over the past 10 years, the JPK’s have been the most successful brand winning IRC Overall and recording Divisional wins on numerous occasions.
Tom Kneen the owner of the winning JPK 11.80 said “ we put ourselves in the right place at the right time, had the right people and the right boat. We made our move between the Scillies and the Lizard keeping ahead of the high pressure in 25knts and flying along with boat speeds in the high teens. It was an amazing ride and we quickly forgot the bash across the Solent.”
Kneen said “ I am really happy to foster off-shore talent and the crew of 8 consisted of 6 RORC youth racing graduates.”
The exceptional performance of Alex Loison and Guillaume Pirouelle sailing 2H on the JPK “Leon” was first in the 2H division and remarkably took the double with a first in Division 3 IRC.
Alex said “Rounding Fastnet Rock we were 1 hour 12 mins in the lead however the back end of the race proved to be so competitive and we lost the lead on a number of occasions to the Sunfast 3300 and the JPK 10.80 Aileau. Our tactical move on closing the French coast gave us the edge and we regained the lead to hold on to the finish”
IRC Overall 1st – JPK 1180 – Sunrise
Division 2 – 1ST JPK 11.80 – Sunrise
Division 3 – 1st JPK 10.30 – Leon
2H Division – 1ST JPK 10.30 – Leon
The results show that the JPk’s are versatile and competitive in all conditions ideal for Australian off-shore sailing.
A major plus for Australian yachting is that the globally successful French brand JPK are now ‘Made in Australia’ under exclusive license.
We are the Queensland agent for new JPK boats.
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