JERSEY’S sailing contingent have done it, bouncing back from last year’s defeat to win the IQ-EQ Inter-Insular Jersey to Guernsey race and bring home the prestigious Sir James Knott trophy.
“It was a very good weekend,” said Jason Manning, club manager of St Helier Yacht Club. “The club is delighted to bring the Sir James Knott trophy back to Jersey.”
Conditions made for a tricky start, with fairly light winds of 8-11 km/h culminating in some challenges. The course began at St Aubin’s Bay, close to Elizabeth Castle, before sailors made their way westwards, past Noirmont Point, then up by Corbiere and beyond to Guernsey.
According to Manning, Jersey’s south coast segment of the race proved one of the more difficult stages, saying that competition got “a little bit flukey”, as conditions went against them.
The race was a close-fought battle throughout, and, as it was a handicap contest, competitors had to wait for the winner to be announced, amounting to a nail-biting ending.
Even though a Sarnian vessel, by the name of “Fandangle”, was first to cross the line, owned by Guernsey Yacht Club’s commodore Martin Priest, the illustrious trophy was decided by each island’s top three sailors, allowing for Jersey to reclaim the prize.
The Caesareans dominated the top five, with all being Jersey boats apart from Fandangle. Jersey’s top three in the overall rankings were David Jones’ “Jax”, Manning’s “Super Q” and Alex Ohlsson’s Jai Ho, with their corrected times being 3 hours, 59 minutes and 2 seconds, 4 hours, 3 minutes and 26 seconds and 4 hours, 6 minutes and 54 seconds respectively.
Although the big prize one was decided, that wasn’t the only award up for grabs, with various sub categories.
Guernsey showed their supremacy in the Ancient Mariners group, as Martin Priest’s “Fandangle” and Matt Holland’s “Majic” were a powerful one-two, and Jersey’s own “Jewel”, owned by J Chinn, rounded off the podium slots.
Only five of the seven ships managed to finish in the Bilge Keel class, with Sarnian C Sharp’s “Boondoggle” securing another top spot effort for the Island. Jersey’s N O’Hare, sailing the “Honky Tonk”, clocked in a time of just over ten minutes behind to nail down second place, and Guernseyman A Burkhardt came third, with a sizeable deficit in time to the runner up.
Sharp wasn’t finished in his winning efforts, toppling the Double Handed group as well, while Caesarean R Smith’s “Sombrero” struck back to champion the Family Crewed yachts.
The Female Helm award was scooped up by Jersey’s Smith, while Priest’s Fandangle ruled the roost to claim the J Boat division, Guernsey’s R Martel’s “Kaya 2” took home the Sunfast honours and fellow teammate D Castro’s “Dark Horse” won the Long Keel, as the group’s lone competitor.
Island Games-bound Justin Horton’s “Sunbeam” reigned supreme in the Multihull category, with fellow Jerseymen Manning and Smith also topping their respective groups in the Quarter Tonner and White Sail yachts, making it for a real dogfight in the sub-categories.
Team Fahrenheit dominated to win the Young Helm race, leading by just shy of twenty minutes. Sarnian pair Sharp and Priest claimed the Non-IRC and IRC awards respectively, with the IRC being the International Rating Certificate, which is the utilised system of handicapping racing sailboats and yachts.
“Guernsey Yacht Club were fantastic hosts, and it was a great race,” Manning continued.
“We’re happy we won the historic trophy and to have brought it home, where it should be, and we’ll be eager to retain it next year.”
He also thanked the sponsors, IQ-EQ, for their generous support.
To stay up to date on all local sailing events, from yachts to dinghies, visit the following sites: Royal Channel Islands Yacht Club – rciyc.je, St Helier Yacht Club – shyc.je, St Catherine’s Sailing Club – scsc.org.je.
Upcoming events include:
17 August – Around Jersey Race
31 August – Under 30s Race
Crews are also in the middle of the Hettich Summmer Series, a prestigious trophy which is hotly contested.