NEW EVENT See the action up close as the mighty J Class Yachts race in Falmouth Bay

 "A spectacular yachting event is coming to the UK"

J Class Regatta - 140ft classic yacht racing up close

The J Class association has planned a series of spectacular regattas in England during the 2012 Olympic year. This will be the first time is history that more than four of these imposing yachts will race together in a fleet.

The first regatta will be held in Falmouth, so our pilot cutter Eve of St Mawes is ideally placed to take you outon the water to see the re-birth of the mighty J Class racing fleet.

History of the J Class Fleet

Whilst their reputation is legendary and almost every sailing club in the land has an old sepia photo of at least one J Class yacht from the 1930's creaming along with huge crews and acres of creamy canvas, there were actually only 10 yachts constructed in that decade.  Six in the USA and four in the UK. There were other designs proposed that were not built.  Only three originals survived the Second World War - Shamrock V, Endeavour and Velsheda.  They rested and rotted in mud berths until their rebuild and rebirth as 21st century racing superyachts.

With the formation of the J Association in 2000 and the development of new replica projects, there is now a possibilty of upto nine yachts racing together.

Possible Fleet

" no other class requires a crew of 30 plus experienced sailors, handling more than 10 000 square feet of sail, driving a 200 ton hull at 16 knots around the course."

Just to get four 140ft J class yachts in one place in the world to race would be amazing.  The dream of the organisers is for more, and if they manage all nine possible vessels then the world might just all be focussing on Falmouth for those magical few days.

Here is the list of possibles.

Shamrock V - Sir Thomas Lipton's last yacht to compete in the Amercas cup, built in 1930.

Velsheda - built by W Stephenson to compete against Endeavour, built in 1933.

Endeavour - T.O.M. Sopwith's first America's Cup defender, built 1934

Ranger - Replica of H. Vanderbilt's 1936 America's Cup defender, built 2002

Hanuman - R

eplica of T.O.M. Sopwith's second challenger Endeavour II, built 2009

Lionheart - an original build of a 1936 Ranger design, built 2010

Rainbow - Replica of the 1934 Rainbow built to defend the America's Cup - launch 2011

Atlantis - An original build of a 1936 Frank Paine design 2011 - launch 2011

Yankee - Replica of the 1934 Yankee built to defend the America's Cup - launch due 2012

Svea - An original build of a 1937 Swedish design by Tore Holm - launch 2011

Plenty of Close Sailing Action for Us Too

Join us on local pilot cutter Eve of St Mawes for 3 days, and enjoy both the physical sailing and a close up view of the spectaclar racing. Block and tackle sailing on Eve is much the same strenuous style as a classic yacht, but on a much smaller scale. In Falmouth Harbour and Bay it is relatively easy to sail Eve  int

o good postions to take photos of racing events - something we have done many times, but as guest crew you will have to abandon your cameras from time to time to manuouvre Eve or trim sails.

 The world's marine photographers and good local amateurs will be out on the water with their big zoom lenses, so we want Eve to look spectacular too, even if she is not racing. 

At the end of the day we can sneak off to one of our favourite anchorages and enjoy a few glasses of wine and fresh cooked food as the sun sets.

2012 Race Programme for the J's

As the fleet has a lay day in the middle with no racing, it offers us the chance to create two action packed voyages on Eve to see the best part of the sailing action.  Eve's maximum speed under sail is around 8.5 knots so we will focusing on seeing them at strategic or photogenic locations. Depending on courses set these might be between St Mawes and Pendennis Castle for starts or finishes, or at a turning mark along the coast rather then attempting to keep up with them all day, so it is not as exhausting as it sounds !!!

Tues 26th June Race 1 - starts 10am - 25 mile race.

Wed 27 June Race 2 - starts 10am - 30 mile race

Thur 28 June - no racing

Fri 29 June - Race 3 starts 10am - 25 mile race

Sat 30th June - race 4 starts 10am - 30 mile race

If these two voyages are fully booked, dont forget to look at the Pendennis Cup Voyage which follows this event.

Local Pilot Cutter Welcomes the Fleet

We always like to fly the flag a bit in our home port when other beautiful classic boats or tall ships visit.

We paint our pilot cutter Eve of St Mawes dazzling blue to match the Cornish seascape. Artists have been drawn to the sea, rugged coastline and the famous light quality in the far west for centuries. Eves turquoise blue decks and hull seems to help get everybody in the holiday mood too. On the edge of the Atlantic Ocean we have our share of wild grey days, but they just seem to make the achingly beautiful blue sky / deep blue sea days extra special.

 Founders of Classic Sailing Adam and Debbie based the company in St Mawes because we felt Cornwall and the Scillies was the best cruising ground in the world. We now promote sailing holidays in many far flung destinations but a flat water blast along the South Cornwall coast in a crystal clear north westerly takes some beating.

Healthy Exercise & Environmentally Friendly

Traditional Sailing boats like Eve are powered by the wind, but to harness it requires quite a bit of satisfying physical effort and teamwork. There are no winches on board except the antique brass handled windlass, so you soon get to know your fellow guests as you haul on blocks and tackles. Sometimes we glide effortlessly through the water with 14 tons of oak and larch propelled by the wind or tide. If we get a lively force 5 after several tacking manoeuvres with all 3 jibs up,  trying to keep out the way of 460 tons of classic yacht like Adix bearing down us in a brisk summer gale you might begin to wish you had been to the gym more often. Its unlikely you’ll go home thinner (e.g. creme brulee, clotted cream, Lamb with camenbert, rosemary, flageolet bean and red wine) but we can guarentee you will leave looking a lot healthier and either sun tanned, or windswept and interesting. There is plenty of conversation, but even on a 38ft deck you can find a corner for quiet contemplation. For some strange reason, everyone seems to sleep very well on board cocooned safely amongst Eve’s timber curves.

World Class Racing in a Marine Nature Reserve

Falmouth is nothing like Cowes. This event is during Falmouth Classics Week so there will be plenty of boats out on the water, but we can still find places to get away from it all. The seals will still be back in their sea caves off St Anthony lighthouse at their peak breeding time, or out on Black Rock - watching the rich men's yachts with total indifference.

The remoteness of the Cornish coast this far west bring their own special reward to those who travel with us: Starry nights with no street lights; ocean sunsets, isolated lighthouses and tiny fishing harbours; cliffs sculptured by pounding winter gales; almost tropical white sands with sparkling mica sticking to your toes; woodlands stunted by the wind but with trees adorned with lichen (a sure sign of unpolluted air) and lush ferns and springs along the many coastal footpaths.

The Gulf Stream provides unexpected sightings of turtles, sunfish and more regular visits by dolphins (common, bottlenose and risso’s dolphin), porpoises, whales and giant basking sharks. Gales often bring in wheeling gannets, tiny storm petrels, guillemots, razorbills and even puffins.

The Fal and Helford Estuaries are designated as Special Areas of Marine Interest. Breeding seals hide in sea caves and deep zawns. The drowned river valleys (called rias) have dense oak woodlands with branches sweeping down to deep green waters. At low tide the mudflats are home to egrets, curlews, oystercatchers and leggy herons—all the birds that go screech. At night you hear owls hooting in the moonlight, and a few guests have seen elusive otters in the early morning mists.