Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Locals Dominate J/22 Caymans Invitational

J/22s sailing the Great North Sound in Cayman Islands (Cayman Islands)- The Cayman Islands Sailing Club hosted yet another fun-loving, highly competitive event on the Great North Sound in the Cayman Islands for their 2012 International Invitational.  Teams from all over the world attended including ten representatives from Germany (Peter Karrie), South Africa (Len John Van der Wel), Bahamas (Craig Symonette and Dave Valentina), USA (Marc Fisher and Bill Wiggins), United Kingdom (Olie Dix), Jamaica (Peter Harper) and Norway (Are Huser).

J/22s sailing around mark at Cayman Islands invitationalThe sailing conditions were simply epic- postcard perfect weather as advertised with 10-20 knot trade winds blowing all day long all the time with sunny robin's-egg blue skies, puffy white clouds scudding across the horizon and aquamarine blue waters dotted by white breaking waves when the wind was up.  Perfect sailing conditions that challenged the sailors to get off the starting line in clear air, maintain position, get around the marks cleanly with good boat-handling and stay in the battle.  With racing taking place over three days, each day starting at 12 noon, the regatta was exceptionally well managed under the guidance of race officers Peta Adams and Andrew Moon along with visiting international judges Gilmour Manuel and Harry Keith.

J/22 sailors enjoying the international camaraderie of sailing in the islandsIn the end, top local sailor Mike Farrington sailing JUST LEAVING from Cayman Islands Sailing Club triumphed and was crowned the 2012 Invite Champion with finishes of five 1sts, two 2nds and two 3rds, tossing a 3rd to win with just 12 points!  Not too far off the pace was top local woman sailor, Jane Moon, sailing CIAO! to two 1sts, six 2nds and a 4th (tossing the 4th) to finish with a remarkable 14 pts, not enough to overcome Mike's fast, smart crew.  Lying third was Marc Fischer from the USA sailing the great yacht WRECKLESS to a strong 4-1-6-3-3-7-4-3 for 31 points.  Rounding out the top five were another local boat, Simon Farrington on SUNSHINE finishing 4th with 41 pts and Craig Symonette sailing CALIMA 5 from Nassau, Bahamas just getting nipped out for 4th with his record of 8-4-3-27-8-6-4 for 42 pts.  For sailing photo credits  For more Cayman Islands Sailing Club Invitational sailing results