J/24 URAYO Wins Class, J/80 & J/105s Second
(Palmas del Mar, Puerto Rico)- Sailors from throughout Puerto Rico and the northern Caribbean converged at the Palmas del Mar Yacht Club & Marina for the Puerto Rico Heineken International Regatta. “This is exhilarating,” said regatta director Angel Ayala. “We exceeded our expectations in terms of number of boats.” Skippers and their crews hailing from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, the U.S. Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, St. Maarten and more, were sailing in six classes: Racing, Racer-Cruiser, Performance Cruiser, Jib & Main and one-design classes for J/24s and IC/24s.
The Puerto Rico Heineken International Regatta is the second leg of the Cape Air Caribbean Ocean Racing Circuit (CORC), which started in February with the St. Croix Yacht Club Hospice Regatta, continues with the International Rolex Regatta in St. Thomas and concludes with the BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival out of Nanny Cay Marina on Tortola.
Sunny
skies, minimally choppy seas and a steady breeze blowing 14 to 16 knots
out of the east made for perfect conditions on the first day of
racing. Forty-five boats in nine classes sailed offshore between Puerto
Rico’s southeastern mainland and the island of Vieques, racing on a mix
of windward-leeward courses and courses with reaches for the cruising
classes.A last minute amendment by the International Judges officiating over this regatta created some extra fun and excitement for sailors. “We had several classes, but many of the classes were small, so the judges made the decision to combine some of the classes for the starts,” says regatta director, Angel Ayala. This meant that boats in Spinnaker A, Spinnaker B and Racer-Cruiser, 14 in all, started each race together. In addition, the J/24s and IC/24s, a total of 10 boats, launched off the line together. The other classes, Performance Cruiser, Jib & Main, Hobie Cats and Chalanas, each had their own individual starts as usual.
“We
really enjoyed this,” says St. Thomas’ Paul Davis, who skippered his
J/27, MAG 7, in Spinnaker B. “Having more boats on the line at the same
time was a lot of fun.” To give an idea of just how exhilarating this
was, one of the yachts that started with MAG 7 was over twice its size,
an old Farr 65 from the Whitbread/Volvo Race.Mother Nature dialed up the breeze to 20-plus-knots on the second day of racing, putting both sailors and their boats to the ultimate test. “Sailing today was much tougher than yesterday,” says a Puerto Rican crew member. “We started in about 15 knots of breeze, but by the afternoon it was blowing 22 knots with 4- to 5-foot seas. This made for challenging racing. At one point we broached and had the spreaders in the water.” Forty-five boats in nine classes sailed offshore between Puerto Rico’s southeastern mainland and the island of Vieques, racing on a mix of windward-leeward courses and courses with reaches for the cruising classes.
After
the third day of racing, the leaders strengthened their positions
across the fleet. For Spinnaker B, Kiki Gonzalez sailed his J/80
OTRAKOSA from Puerto Rico into second place and just behind him was Paul
Davis's MAG 7, J/27 from St. Thomas. In the Racer-Cruiser class, the
J/105 UMAKUA sailed by Julio Reguero from Puerto Rico was second
followed by another J/105, Carlos Camacho's ABRACADABRA from Puerto
Rico. Performance Cruiser saw Tony Sanpere seeking yet another win in
class. But Tony and crew fell just short, settling for second place
with his gorgeous J/36 CAYENITTA GRANDE from St. Croix. Winner of the
Jib & Main Class was the classic race-horse, Jerome O'Neill's J/39
CRYSTAL from Puerto Rico. Amongst the J/24s, it was URAYO sailed by
Gilberto Rivera of Puerto Rico winning, followed by BANANA BOAT's
Leopoldo Loria from Puerto Rico in second and KQ-LO's Jose Fullana of
Puerto Rico in third. Sailing photo credits- Bob Griese/ Outside Images. For more Puerto Rico Heineken Regatta Sailing information.