Lionheart was the convincing winner of the J-Class World Championships, beating her nearest rival Hanuman by three points in the overall standings.
The Class is extremely competitive with very close racing and a variety of yachts in the fleet achieving firsts, but in this regatta Lionheart sailed with the most consistency. Lionheart was the first J-Class yacht developed by Hoek Design from an original lines plan. She originates from one of the 1937 Ranger designs, one that was never built.
Hoek Design's Ruurt Meulemans has been racing on board Lionheart this year and Andre Hoek for three years prior to that. The boat has constantly been updated and improved and sailed by virtually the same crew for the last five years, resulting in flawless manoeuvres and impressive boat speed.
Lionheart is regarded by many as one of the best sailed and fastest J-Class yacht currently on the circuit which is a great tribute to her owner/driver who has been up against a very competitive fleet with professional skippers on other J's including Peter Holmberg, Ken Read, Earl WIlliams and others of America's Cup fame.
Lionheart was the first J developed by our office after an extensive research project in which the performance of 15 different J's was analised before her design was finalised. The result of that work has paid off handsomely on the racecourse. The two other J's designed by the Hoek office in the fleet of six, are Topaz J8 and the latest J-Class to enter the fray, Svea, JS1.
Topaz is racing her first full season and showed great potential winning two races in the World Championship. Svea, the longest J on the circuit, was taking part in only her second full regatta and also showed great boat speed. We expect both yachts to excel next season.
In a remarkable performance, Lionheart won the triple this year, both the Superyacht Cup and America's Cup races for the J's in Bermuda, the Worlds and the J Class Association Cup for the best performing J-Class yacht of the year.
