History made in Barcelona

The genesis of the J Class was the New York Yacht Club’s rating measurement, the ‘Universal Rule’ that would define yacht classes by letters of the alphabet. The letter ‘J’ represented single-masted yachts with a ‘rating’ of between 65 and 76 feet. That was not the length of the boats but a product of the limiting factors of the rule’s equation.

Any of the determining factors such as length, displacement, or sail area could be changed, but such changes required proportionate changes in other factors to compensate. This allowed the boats to be raced on a level basis and limits were set on measurements for waterline length, draft, freeboard and certain other factors.

The three original surviving J Class yachts, Velsheda, Shamrock and Endeavour, have been refitted for worldwide cruising and racing. Their displacements have increased, and the yachts no longer rate as a J under the Universal Rule definition, with the exception of Shamrock V, which was the smallest of the J Class yachts. In total nine J Class yachts are active today with six replicas having been built since 2003: Ranger, Rainbow, Hanuman, Lionheart, Topaz and Svea.

In Barcelona this summer, Velsheda, Rainbow and Svea made a welcome addition to the spectacle of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup.

Racing ran from Monday 7 October to Friday 11 October, with two windward-leeward races scheduled each day. The assembled fleet reflected a full design history of the J Class with the 1933 launched, lovingly maintained and campaigned Velsheda, to the potent Rainbow and Svea – recent builds to original designs.

The J Class Barcelona Regatta:

Svea started the final day with a lead of just one point ahead of Velsheda, but their closest rivals were immediately squeezed out at the committee boat by Rainbow and so nullifying any final battle. And then at the start of the second race both Rainbow and Velsheda were over the start line early and had to recross, leaving Svea to earn their biggest victory of the week, after having already won the J Class Barcelona title with a race to spare.

Victory is a great reward for Svea’s two Swedish co-owners and their crew which includes sailors of 11 different nationalities, that has together trained up and promoted young female sailors and brought together a bunch of young small boat sailors, anchored by older, experienced big boat and J Class sailors which is led by tactician Bouwe Bekking, who previously guided Lionheart to the 2017 J Class World Championship.

Their rigour and drive has raised the game in the fleet, lifting the standard for all J Class crews for which this pinnacle regatta has been a long-term target.

Velsheda, the 1933-launched only original boat in the fleet, take second overall after sharing the regatta lead at the end of both of the first two days of racing, not least after ‘Big Wednesday’ which saw winds off Barcelona peaking at nearly 30 knots, accompanied by big waves producing some of the most exciting and demanding racing of recent years for the class.

“It is fantastic to win,” commented Svea’s navigator Steve Hayles, “This has been a three-year project that our two owners put together a while ago, and this is the culmination of that. It has been a nerve-wracking week with all sorts of conditions and so great to come out ahead of great competition.

“But these are such amazing boats. I think everyone who has been involved has been blown away and everyone who has been watching has been saying lovely things about the boats.

“Today being light was not our conditions and so we were a little nervous as we prefer the medium to upper airs stuff. We had a bit of a sit-down last night and a talk this morning. The first race was the key for us and then the other two were over the line in the second race, then it was not so important to us to win that one, but it is nice to finish strong like we did.”

Final standings after seven races, no discards

1 Svea J/S1: 1,2,1,2,2,1,1 10pts
2 Velsheda K7: 2,1,2,1,3,3,3 15pts
3 Rainbow J-KZ: 13,4(DNC), 3,3,1,2,2, 18pts

About the J Class yachts in Barcelona:

RAINBOW, JKZ1

The original Rainbow was designed by Starling Burgess for the 1934 America’s Cup which she won 4-0 against Endeavour. It will be the first major class event for the new owner of Rainbow which had not raced since 2014. The lighter, more nimble William Starling Burgess design replica, launched in 2012, is said to be well-suited to the anticipated light to moderate conditions expected off Barcelona.

Original lines: Starling Burgess / Modified design: Dykstra Naval Architects

SVEA, JS1

Swedish flagged Svea, which is derived from an original design by Swede Tore Holm in the hope of a Swedish America’s Cup challenge, debuted at the J Class America’s Cup regatta in Bermuda in 2017.

In the hands of Swedish owners who are passionate and experienced racers, Svea has been the most successful J Class yacht in the last couple of years.

Design: Tore Holm

VELSHEDA, JK7

Launched in 1933 for British retail magnate W.L. Stephenson, Chairman of the Woolworth chain of shops in Britain, Velsheda JK7 was designed by Charles E. Nicholson and built in Gosport, England at Camper and Nicholson.

Velsheda never raced in the America’s Cup, yet between 1933 and 1936 she was hugely successful in her native English waters, racing against Britannia as well as America’s Cup challengers Endeavour and Shamrock.

Design: Charles E Nicholson

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