(New Orleans, LA)- Rob Johnston of Heath, TX won the Allstate Sugar Bowl
J/22 World Championship by six points over Jim Barnash of Rochester, NY
with a fifth-place finish on the last race of the regatta. Racing hull
#203, team DIESELSNACK sailed a consistent regatta with all top 20
tallies, dropping a 19 in race 3. Sixty-four boats competed in the event
in New Orleans, LA, and 12 races were completed.Barnash went into the last day of the four-day regatta in the lead but finished 26th to Johnston’s third in the first race. He came back strong, however, with a win in the second race while Johnston finished 12th bringing the championship into play on the last race. Johnston’s fifth place in the last race of the regatta was enough to earn him the winner’s trophy.
Allan Terhune from Arnold, MD rounded out the top three with 103 points overall, including two firsts in the last two races Friday. Saturday’s race winners were Zak Fanberg, Barnash and J. Dwight LeBlanc, III.
On the first day, competitors were postponed on shore due to a lack of wind, and the first gun was rescheduled for 11:55 a.m. CT out of Southern Yacht Club. During the day’s races, breeze started at 5-8 knots but decreased throughout the afternoon, with sunny skies and temperatures around 80 degrees.
Local
Benz Faget scored two bullets and a sixth-place tally to lead the
fleet. With crew Randall Richmond and Thomas Sweeney, Fats stood with a
solid lead of 8 points. Jim Barnash, helming his Rochester, NY team,
had 14 points in second place; Fred Hunger from Cleveland, OH was in
third with 23 points. Faget opened the regatta with a victory in Race
1, trailed by a fellow New Orleans boat skippered by Zak Fanberg in
second and Barnash in third. Race 2 saw another local winner in Richard
“Boo” Heausler, followed by Hunger and then Southern Yacht Club
commodore J. Dwight LeBlanc, III. In the day’s final, race, Faget took
the victory again, with Brant Koepke (Texas) in second and Nick Turney
(Ohio) in third.On the second day of racing, competitors enjoyed a gorgeous day of racing on Lake Pontchartrain with breeze at 10-15 knots, brilliant sunshine and temperatures staying around 80 degrees. It seemed the "playbook" again favored New Orleans native Benz Faget, who held on to his first-place position. With consistent finishes in the top 12 (dropping the 12), Team Fats tallied just 26 points over the first seven races of the regatta. With crew Randall Richmond and Thomas Sweeney, Faget was four points ahead of Texan Terry Flynn who registered consistent scores of 3, 5, 5, 1 (with a drop from day 1 of 18 points). Max Scott opened day two with a victory in Race 4, pursued by Chris Doyle in second and Flynn in third. Race 5 was won by Travis Odenbach, with Faget and Chad Wilson in the next two slots. Rob Johnston took the top position in Race 6, trailed by Chris Doyle and Dave Kerr, who just returned to the race course after a repair needed from an incident in the day’s first race. In Thursday’s fourth and final contest, Flynn nailed first place, and Zak Fanberg and Mike Farrington followed.
The J/22 Class extends appreciation to PRO Hank Stuart and his Race Committee, the staff of Southern Yacht Club and all sponsors including the title sponsor Allstate Sugar Bowl. For more J/22 Worlds sailing information
