Royal Southern YC May Regatta Preview

ByStuart Johnstone
Cyclist racing past cheering crowd during a cycling event.

J/70 UK Southern Championship
(Hamble, England)- This coming weekend, the Royal Southern Yacht Club will be hosting its eponymous springtime mega-event- the May Regatta. Traditionally, the regatta has marked the beginning of the summer season of sailing on the Solent and the RSYC host team rolls out the proverbial red carpet on their huge, expansive decks, serve up tons of great food and, of course, copious amounts of assorted beer and drinks for the hungry and thirsty sailors. The regatta has become a “de facto J/Fest” and has huge appeal for J/sailors that love sailing on the capricious Solent and survive to recount all kinds of “tall tales and sea stories” (both good and bad!).

IRC 1 Division
The eleven-boat fleet is overwhelmed by a veritable armada of J/Crews. Six J/111s will be dueling for class supremacy and one-design honors. Those teams include Paul Griffiths’s JAGERBOMB, Louise Makin’s JOURNEYMAKER II, Tony Mack’s McFLY, and Cornel Riklin’s JITTERBUG. Joining them are two J/112E’s- Lesley Hunt’s WHITE MAJIC and Jim Chalmers’s HAPPY DAIZE. This will be a very difficult class to win!

IRC 2 Division
In this fleet, ten of twelves boats are J’s that range from the J/99 to the J/109s. The two J/99s are Kevin Taylor’s JUMP 2 IT and Brian Denny’s JALAPENO 3. The six J/109s include Stephen Davis’s JEROBOAM, Samantha Love’s FRANK 4, Chris Burleigh’s JYBE TALKIN, and David Richards’s JUMPING JELLYFISH. The two J/105s include Tom Hayhoe’s MOSTLY HARMLESS and Gillian Ross’s GENE JENIE.

IRC 3 Division
This seven-boat fleet includes two J/92s- Becky Walford’s BRENDA’S J and David Greenhalgh’s family’s J’RONIMO.

J/70 Class
With nineteen boats participating and many class leaders in the mix, the weekend should prove to be a healthy dose of world-class racing at the top of the leaderboard. Some of those teams include Patrick Liardet’s COSMIC, Martin Dent’s JELVID, Alastair Hall’s CALYPSO, Graham Clapp’s JEEPSTER, and Doug Struth’s DSP.

For more Royal Southern YC May Regatta sailing information
https://scm.royal-southern.co.uk/event/summer-series-2025-may-regatta