Sunday, March 9, 2014

OJOTA Leading Sailor’s Cup

J/24s sailing Lago San Roque in Cordoba, Argentina (Cordoba, Argentina)- The second half of the sailing season down in South America has commenced and, like their J/70 friends in Chile, the J/24 class in Argentina have also started the Sailor’s Cup Regatta on Lago San Roque.  It’s a spectacular time of year to be sailing in the Andes Mountains and the setting could not be more idyllic than the one for Club Nautico Cordoba along the lake.

For this year’s regatta, a two weekend affair, it’s noteworthy that thirteen boats are participating from across Argentina, including crews from Buenos Aires, Mar del Plata, Mendoza and Salta!  The regatta is also considered part of the overall points series for the “Campeonato Centro del Republica” (the Central Championship for the middle of Argentina)— and at least 25 teams are participating in the overall series, a much higher participation rate than achieved in 2013.

J/24s sailing on Lago San Roque in Cordoba, ArgentinaFor last weekend, the first round of the championship, the winner was the Mendoza fleet J/24 team on OJOTA, led by skipper Sebastián Halpern.  Second was Team INDIGO led by Despontin Ezekiel, last year’s winner.  The regatta has become a classic on the J/24 Argentine regatta circuit, the third time at the Club Nautico de Córdoba!  It is an event notable for it’s warm, wonderful atmosphere sailing on the lake,  a moment of relaxation for all crews where they enjoyed something to eat and drink delicious malbec red wines from the Mendoza district!

With moderate winds and moderate windshifts (for Lago San Roque!), it was good, solid tactics that were the key elements to keeping the top spots.  The final results were OJOTA in 1st, INDIGO 2nd, ON-LINE 3rd, KANZA 4th and MATANGA 5th.

This marks the start of the annual ranking that’s part of the Campeonato Centro Del Republica”.  For the next event we expect up to two dozens boats along with a crew from the USA. The J/24 Fleet Córdoba thanks the sponsors that support and enable the realization of this championship again in 2014 .  For more J/24 Argentina sailing information.