JELVIS Wins UK J/70 Grand Slam Series Opener
(Hamble, England)- It was truly a glorious start to the UK J/70 sailing season on the Solent, which delivered two standout days of racing in steady southeasterlies. Twenty-five teams lined up for the first J/70 Grand Slam event, hosted by the Royal Thames Yacht Club, with tight racing and a constantly shifting leader board. Here’s how it all went down over the two days.
Day One
JEEPSTER picked up where they left off at the end of last season. The team, comprising of Max Clapp, Horatio Sykes, Miles Jones and Mathieu Cadei, won the day, with consistency paying off, despite two bullets from JIRAFFE.
Simon Perry’s JIRAFFE made an early statement, owning the pin in races one and two. They had control of the fleet and extended up the left-hand side, where there was a small tidal gain throughout the weekend. With a left-favored course and some pin bias, it was high density chaos at the pin. JEEPSTER profited by starting a few boats up from the pin, rolling teams who got caught up in the fight, but still benefiting from the bias.
Always in the mix, they rounded off the day with a win in the final race, combining strong starts, pace and slick handling around the track.
Day Two
A stronger breeze brought a mix of planing, wing-on-wing, and displacement modes downwind, with teams often able to find gains on the fast-moving waves.
GENIUS, the island-based team helmed by Fred Salter, took the first bullet of the day, with JEEPSTER continuing their strong form, close behind in second.
JELVIS climbed up the leaderboard, winning the penultimate race. With everything still to play for, JELVIS passed DSP on the final leg of the last race to secure the overall win, just one point ahead of JEEPSTER.
“Thanks to Tim and the Royal Thames team for delivering a great weekend’s racing and for successfully debuting Race Sense, which the UK J/70 Class has adopted. The racing was epic- Henry, Ruby, Rick and I had to fight for every meter and we crossed most of the finish lines overlapped,” commented Martin Dent- skipper of JELVIS.
JEEPSTER finished second overall and was the top Corinthian team, with Ali Hall’s CALYPSO just behind after also being in the mix throughout the regatta.
“Great to see so many new faces and teams out there this weekend. The class has started the year in the healthiest position I can remember in recent years,” commented JEEPSTER’s skipper- Max Clapp.
JIRAFFE finished fourth. It was also a strong regatta for new team LADY KHUMBU, helmed by Jacintha Love-Hamilton; they finished fifth overall.
Racing was efficient and expertly run by the Royal Thames Yacht Club. Zero general recalls and quick turnarounds between races marked a successful debut of the Vakaros RaceSense system. The UK J/70 Class would like to thank its supporters Rooster and Ocean Rope.
Next up, Grand Slam 2 takes place in two weeks’ time, May 9-10, 2026, hosted again by the Royal Thames Yacht Club.
Full results:
https://sailevent.net/viewdoc.ashx?m=n&v=515
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