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16:26 Sunday 7 Aug 2016 Winners' quotes of the day – SB20, J/80, J/70

Downwind excitement in the J/70 fleet – photo Paul Wyeth/AAMCW

SB20 – Jerry Hill, winner of race 3 (1^st race of the day) sportsboatworld.com

“We had an exciting day on the Solent today. The first race was a classic squadron line start, downwind, with a 2kt tidal stream, which makes it easy to be pushed over if you don’t get it right.

“It was premium to get away from the shore and head out on port gybe as soon as possible. Thankfully we managed to execute that particular manoeuvre well, although I think it was more by luck than judgment. We took the lead on the exciting, breezy leg and managed to retain the position to the finish.

“The wind continued to build all day and in the second race, we did something that has never happened to me in the 15 years I have been sailing this class – we had a really poor kite drop and managed to get it totally wrapped round the keel and had to cut it free. Thankfully, we got everything back on board, undamaged.”

J/80 – Chris Robinson, trimmer, Betty

“We had a fantastic day and won by two minutes. It was our sort of conditions and the team worked well all day and it really paid off. We had a good start although we were a bit concerned about speed when some were sailing higher and faster off the line, but once we’d checked the course we found we were on a good line, sneaked into the lead, and never looked back.

“We had a really exciting three-sail reach and put some of the techniques we’d learnt from the recent worlds and Europeans, so we are a happy team.

“One of the best things about today was the course, so hats off to the course-setters. It was perfect for the J/80 fleet because it gave us exciting reaches and allowed knowledge of Solent conditions to come into play.”

J/70 – Simon Ling, skipper Team RAFBF Spitfire

“We are having a great regatta and really pleased with another win today, and are proud to be flying the flag for the Royal Air Forces principal charity, the RAF Benevolent Fund.

Today’s race was great because it was a downwind start and that is always fantastic for a J/70. The J/70, designed to go fast, was really on top form today.

“We only really got the lead from the Germans [Just in Time] on the last leg. This is the last event we do before the worlds in San Francisco and we having been working hard on boat speed and today and I think today was all about boat speed and making the least mistakes.

“It was quite windy today so the margin between semi-catastrophic failure and success is quite small on a J/70. It was a great course, quite challenging with about nine legs, lots of upwinds and downwinds, shy reaching – a classic Cowes Week course in 20kt plus wind. Fantastic.”