J/Teams Win Big at IRC European Championship in Poole
(Poole, England)- The 2026 IRC European Championship was hosted together with the International Paint Poole Regatta from 22nd to 25th May. The event was organized by the Combined Yacht Clubs of Poole: Royal Motor Yacht Club, Parkstone Yacht Club, Poole Yacht Club, and the Royal Ocean Racing Club.
Sixteen J/Boats, ranging from J/88, J/99, J/105, J/109, J/112E, J/120, to J/122, competed with the fifty-two teams divided into four divisions from IRC 0 to IRC 3.
Sailors enjoyed three out of four scheduled days of light gradient wind to medium sea breeze under champagne sunny conditions. The sailing conditions were quite unusual for British weather, not to mention sailing in a spectacular environment framed by the Purbeck Hills and the Jurassic Coast. Seven races were completed over three days of sailing. Here’s how it went down across the various divisions in J/Teams.
IRC 1 Division
In this fourteen-boat fleet, there were five very well-sailed J/112Es. The Dutch team of Rutger Krijger & Caroline van Beelan’s J/112E JACK RABBIT was winning the regatta through the penultimate 7th race. However, on their last race, they posted one of their worst races of the regatta- a sixth- so had to count that while tossing a 7th discard. As a result, they missed winning the regatta by just 4 pts, taking the silver medal with 18.5 pts net.
Sailing a solid series and always in contention for the podium was David Franks’s veteran team on his J/112E LEON. After a slow start, they gathered some steam, the LEON team got their act together, and won race six, counting two 3rds in their final tally for 25.5 pts net to finish fourth.
Following LEON were two more J/112Es. Taking fifth place was Mike & Richard Evans’s THE BIG PICTURE, and sixth place went to the Irish Knight Build Ltd Team racing HAPPY DAIZE. Yet another J/112E MOJITO, sailed by Peter Dunlop and Victoria Cox, finished in eighth place. Just five points back from them was Paul Jonckheere’s J/122E NJORD.
IRC 2 Division
This large seventeen-boat fleet, with nine J/Teams competing (J/88, J/99s, J/105, J/109s, & J/120) was treated to a good-old-fashioned butt-whipping by a “classic J/109”! LOL. Olly and Same Love’s FRANK 4 started off with a not-so-stellar 5-4 score. Then, they proceeded to smoke the fleet with three 1sts and two 2nds to win with 11 pts net, 12 points clear of the next boat!
The silver medal went to Alain Waha’s J/99 FURTHER WEST, finishing with 23 pts net. After them, J/Teams occupied most of the top ten spots. Fourth place was Peter McConnell and Aaron Goodman-Simpson’s J/109 KARABOUDJAN with 30 pts net, fifth place was Frenchman Phillipe Girardin’s well-traveled J/120 HEY JUDE with 35 pts net, sixth place was John Smart’s JUKEBOX with 35 pts net (losing the tie-breaker on countback to HEY JUDE), seventh place was Rosie Berry’s J/88 JENIE with 37 pts net, and eighth place was Kevin Taylor’s J/99 JUMP 2 IT with 38 pts net.
Daily social evening activities were run by one of the clubs each day. That allowed competitors to see and feel each club’s tradition and experience the hospitality of the people and volunteers in Poole.
For more IRC European Championship information and results
https://pooleregatta.co.uk//results_2026/Euros_2026.htm
For more Poole Regatta sailing information
https://pooleregatta.co.uk/