Thursday, April 28, 2011

J/24 South American Champs XXVIII

J/24 South Americans- Montevideo, Uruguay
Rigoni's LUCA Wins Tough Battle
(Puerto del Buceo, Montevideo, Uruguay- Apr 17-23)- The J/24 class had their South American Championship hosted by Yacht Club Uruguayo this past weekend.  With spirited competition from teams in the Buenos Aires and Uruguayan fleets, it was sure to be a tough competition.  After starting out strong Alejoni Rigoni on LUCA from Buenos Aires just managed to hold onto his lead going into the last three races, overcoming the late challenge from Diego Garcia skippering ALFA BETA from the local YC Uruguay club.

The YCU PRO managed to get off nine races over the three days.  The fleet was treated to nice conditions and some challenging races.  Rigoni's LUCA sailed a very consistent series, posting mostly top three finishes, but never winning a race!  Rignoi's 2-2-2-3-2-2-7-6-3 for a total of 16 points (two toss races included) was just one point clear of Garcia's 4-4-3-2-dsq-3-2-1-2 for 17 total points.  Lying third was Mateas Pereira sailing CARRERA from Buenos Aires, winning the most races (4) in the entire fleet. But Pereira's finishes were too inconsistent to overcome the regatta leaders, garnering a 1-5-1-1-1-5-6-5-5 for 19 points.    More J/24 South Americans sailing information