Whittemore's TUNDRA ROSE Wins!
(Berkeley, CA- Sept. 19-20)- The 2009 J/24 Western Regional Championship was held on the waters of San Francisco Bay this last weekend. It was hosted by the Berkeley Yacht Club ,who delivered great racing and exceptional hospitality! As we know, the Bay Area is considered one of the most popular sailing venues in the country and once again proved that that premise is true.
BYC held a practice race on the evening of Friday, which allowed the out-of-town teams to get oriented to the local conditions prior to the Western Regionals kicking-off.
The Western Regional Championship was planned as the "feeder" event for the J/24 US National Championships being held this weekend at San Francisco Yacht Club. The Western Regionals were comprised of seven relatively short course races which were sailed by seventeen teams from as far away as Annapolis, MD, Seattle, Washington and Dana Point. The racing took place on the “Berkeley Circle” and the PRO was Jeff Zarwell of RegattaPro. Conditions on Saturday went from eight to sixteen knots and on Sunday the wind range was even greater. The fleet raced in five knots in the first race and ended up racing in twenty-two knots in the seventh race of the series.
Keith Whittemore sailing his TUNDRA ROSE from Seattle bested Mark Hillman aboard his J/24 WIP from Annapolis, MD. The racing was very close and competitive as TUNDRA ROSE, SMALL FLYING PATIO FURNITURE and TREMENDOUS SLOUCH all nailed bullets (first places)! TUNDRA ROSE themselves knocked off four bullets, Tremendous Slouch two and Small Flying Patio Furniture took the last one. Look for these three teams to again have a good showing this coming weekend for the J/24 US Nationals.
