J Class racing in Falmouth

Ex-SolentBoy said:
Not doing much racing at the moment. 20 knot winds and fog.
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I'd still rather be there than here ! HINT - a few years ago I was in the Chain Locker pub and my much more garroulous girlfriend chatted up the Working Boat people to get me a crew slot I'll never forget; if fancying the sail of a lifetime and near Falmouth I'd be making a bee line, whatever I ended up on...
 
They've been racing all day. Start was at 1 (not 11 or 12 as rumoured) and they've completed a 42 mile race by 4.30. 10 to 15 knots with some holes towards the Helford River mouth, but no fog.

The best viewing is from the water as they are making no effort to give the crowds on Pendennis Point a show.

Three of them are moored on the pontoons below the Maritime Museum. The other is along side her tender at the dockyard. Very easy to get onto the pontoons for a closer look as there are dozens of crew going to and fro through the gate.
 
Fog, what fog?That will teach me to not rely on friends reports.

All in harbour now. I quite fancy Velsheda's "tender". The big one on the left, Bystander.

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Went out and watched this afternoon. Quite a sight but difficult to make out the course, which appeared to be vast.
 
Good shots Captn

one complaint from me is that the course did not include an inner mark near pendennis point so that spectators could watch at close quarters, I'm not sure why!
 
Their size was impressive as was the way they were handled. The organisation was not - we were within 50 ft of the lead boat as she came past but it was purely by a mixture of luck and quick manouevering. We never found the turning mark which was described on ch69 as a channel marker but was on neither chart nor plotter . Odd since the course was described as a laid course anyway.

Lets see if service to spectators is better today.

There were just 4 boats racing though I seem to remember the YW article mentioning 8 boats in the fleet.
 
robertj said:
Good shots Captn

one complaint from me is that the course did not include an inner mark near pendennis point so that spectators could watch at close quarters, I'm not sure why!
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Maybe they are saving that for Pendennis Week next week....

to add check out yachtingworld.com for coverage of both events.
 
Foggy!

Well, today it really was foggy for race 2. They were much closer to the shore this time. The fog was touching the top of the masts for most of it, but came in so thick towards the end that you could hardly see them on a reach close in to Pendennis Point - just a glimpse as huge shapes went passed just offshore. The race was finished early on the next leg. If you do come down to watch it, bring your portable vhf if you've got one. The race safety chap on channel 69 gives a lot of useful commentary on racing tactics and whats going on, information about the boats, crew and skippers etc. It adds a lot to the interest.
 
With the clearer weather today the racing was spectacular. I watched the race from the car park at Pendennis point (along with half the population of cornwall)! As soon as I pulled into the car park I could see 4 massive sets of grey sails dominating Falmouth Bay and dwarfing all the boats around them (including the cargo ships moored in the bay). It wasn't until I looked through the bins I could see the massive fleet of spectator craft swarming around the J's. The race was already underway and Valsheda had built up a commanding lead which she maintained through the remaining 2 downwind legs the upwind leg and the final dash to the finishing line. As the four boats bore towards us with their massive spinnakers gleaming white in the sunshine that broke through to brighten what had been a grey and breezy day, they were a magnificent sight. Then as they, dropped the kites and rounded the leeward mark with military precision, they headed directly towards the point and the finish line a few metres off shore. The sight of these massive highly tuned craft, healing in the stiff breeze, bow waves foaming majestically, was awe inspiring. It was a great afternoon spectacle and worth the hour stuck in a traffic jam waiting to get off the point because some inconsiderate bozo had parked his car so the bus couldn't pass and consequently neither could anyone else!
I'll try to post some pics tomorrow from my laptop.
 
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