J80 AFTON CUP 2018 at RMYC

A&W Magazine

March 2018

The Royal Madras Yacht Club estd 1911 is located inside the Chennai Harbour and has been producing international and national medallists making India proud. The Club is the first one in South India to be recognized as an Accredited Training Centre of the apex sailing body – Yachting Association of India. The Club has many classes of sailing boats and has been regularly hosting sailing regattas. The Royal Madras Yacht Club is the only club in India having a fleet of 4 J80s and hosted the first J80 Regatta on 10th and 11th Feb 2018.

Afton is a well-known brand in the health and fitness equipment industry. Today’s generation is very health conscious and sailing is an eco-friendly and exciting sport promoting fitness. Afton has rightly sponsored the first J80 sailing regatta sending a strong message that fitness and sailing have a common goal in promoting good health and endurance.

Sailors practised the whole of the preceding week under Chinna Reddy (International Gold Medallist and YAI Instructor). Ayesha Lobo (International gold medallist and RYA Senior Instructor and YAI Senior Instructor) came couple of days before the event and supervised the tuning of the boats, and decided on the course and the race formats.

4 teams signed up for the regatta and each team comprised of 8 sailors. Any given race, each team had 4 to 5 sailors on the waters. Boats were allotted by draw. The plan was to sail 4 races from noon onwards. The course was a triangle, followed by a loop. The finish line was after the leeward mark so that the boats finished on a beat.

10th Feb 2018 – DAY 1

The weather was blue skies with blue waters and winds just under 10 knots. Lsails Team won the first 2 races pretty easily with some superb helming by Aahan and Maulin with Ayesha on the Jennaker. There was some fierce competition between Aviators Team and Afton Team for the second place. The competition heated up for the next 2 races and at different points in time a different boat was in the lead. The 3rd race was a gun for Lsails Team and the 4th race was won by Afton Team. At the end of 4 races, Lobo Sailing Team was firmly in the lead followed by Afton Team and the Aviators Team.

11th Feb 2018 – DAY 2

The course remained same and 4 races were held with one discard out of a total of eight races. The weather was sunny skies with medium waves and winds around 10 knots with gusts of 15 knots intermittently. Theteams had developed enough experience and the boats were bunched at the start line as also at the windward mark and the leeward mark. There was a lot of action at the windward mark with teams screaming for water, starboard etc

The kites were hoisted quickly and there was no snagging of the kites. It was a majestic sight with the jennakers hoisted on all the 4 J80s. With 4 boats gybing it was a wonderful scene as they jostled for water at the leeward mark, dropped the kites,
rounded the mark and immediately hardened up on to a beat. Each team had a gun. A protest was made by the Lsail Team on Afton Team for double fouls at the start line and the same was heard by the jury here the Afton Team paid a heavy price. This changed the penalty points and finally the results were-

1st Place- Lsail Team

2nd Place- Aviators Team

3rd Place- Afton Team

The J80 Regatta Night and prize distribution was held at the Navy Beach. With a live band
playing, the gentle waves falling in harmony and the stars lighting the skies, it was a
truly a sailors nite with unlimited dark rum on the house and a sumptuous dinner spread. The music and dancing continued past midnight until the last drops of rum were polished off. A Great Regatta Night for the1st RMYC J80 AFTON CUP 2018.