(Hamble, Southampton)- On a wing and a prayer, the J/111 arrived in
Felixstowe on the NW side of England as deck cargo on a snowy, icy day.
Next step, go sailing in 3 days? Shades of the infamous launching of
the famous J/44 J-HAWK a decade or so ago. The 111 ARABELLA landed with
some degree of both anxiety and anticipation. It didn't take long to
determine the 111 was one hot boat. On its first time out on the Solent
she didn't disappoint.
On a shifty 10-15 knot breeze on the Solent, ARABELLA quickly made its
presence felt. ARABELLA (1.091 TCF), sailed by Niall Dowling and John
Cunningham, won by 5 minutes corrected time in IRC 0 class over a Ker
11.3 (1.159 TCF), Arcona 430 and a Comet 41s on a shortened course!
Here's the report from Paul Heys- "J/111 #6 arrived here in Hamble,
after dark on Thursday night, following a 7 hr road trip from the
Liverpool shipping port, England was covered with 6" of snow.
First light Friday saw a small army at work on the boat in a snow
covered boatyard: Desty Marine installed the keel and rudder, HME fitted
the BG sailing instruments, Stuart Miller and Jerry Eplett dressed and
stepped the mast. The hoist and crane guys at Hamble Point Marina gave
us great service. The boat and rig went together beautifully, many
thanks to the boatbuilders at CCF and the team at Hall Spars."
By 3 pm that afternoon having had the Yanmar engine PDI inspected, we
were motoring up the river calibrating the instruments, with proud owner
Niall Dowling at the helm. We met up with James Knight and Jeremy
Robinson from North and bent on the main and checked the jib for fit,
just as daylight ended.
Saturday saw us out sailing for 4 hrs in 2 sessions of light winds and
very cold rain, all went well. Sunday 8 am, off the dock for our maiden
race, the final one of the Garmin Hamble winter Series.
Niall was on the helm and had brought 2 of his crew, the rest of the
crew was from J/Uk and the sailmaking and commissioning team. Conditions
were flat water, with a 6-8 knot Northerly breeze. Sailing around pre
start we found that the wind was shifting through 40- 50 degrees.
The PRO set a 3 lap windward leeward. Off the start line the tide
dictated an immediate tack onto port, we were one of the first to go. We
could see that the J/111 was powering up earlier than the heavier
Arcona 43, First 44.7 and Comet 41. The high aspect rig seems very
efficient. Scratch boat in the fleet is the Ker 11.3 Paragon that rates
60 IRC points more than the J/111. Paragon was the only other boat that
seemed powered up in the 8 knot gusts. Paragon led us to the top mark,
by a minute or so, this delta quickly reduced as the J/111 sailed faster
downwind. Thereafter, the Ker and J stepped away from the rest of the
fleet, with the Ker’s lead extending and contracting dependent upon who
had the best pressure.
With a mist rolling over the course and a softening of the breeze, the
race was shortened at the 3rd windward mark. The J was 1 minute 20
behind the Ker and a long distance ahead of the third boat. After IRC
handicaps had been applied, ARABELLA had won her maiden race by 5
minutes. In short, a bit of luck, plus it never hurts to have all the
bits and pieces come together."
