Friday, April 13, 2012

J/105 Chile Nationals Update

J/105 one-design sailboat- sailing offshore of Chilean coast (Algarrobo, Chile)- The Chilean J/105 fleet is growing by leaps and bounds.  Having formed just under two years ago, the Chilean J/105 "family" are growing fast enough that they may have two dozen J/105s by the end of 2012!  As part of this fabulous growth, the fleet was able to gather a strong fleet of FIFTEEN J/105s for their first J/105 Chile Nationals on the weekend of March 17-18th in Algarrobo Bay.  However, the Incan and other local weather Gods were not cooperating! During Saturday wind conditions allowed the fleet to sail 2 of the 3 races programmed for the day. On Sunday the wind conditions were very light making it impossible to sail and to achieve the 3 races to validate the championship!!

Great sailing on lakes and bays in Chile with Andes Mountains as backdropAs a result, the new date for the J/105 Chilean National Championships have been re-scheduled for 6-7th of October.  20 boats are expected for the occasion!  For any of you J/105 sailors (San Francisco, San Diego, Chicago, Annapolis, New England, United Kingdom), please let us know if you'd like to join us for some fabulous Chilean hospitality, great sailing, great wine, home-cooked food!  Please contact us-- you will not be disappointed- Caroline Ecclefield- Chile ph# +562 9807079 or email- marketing@windmade.cl.  For those of you geographically-challenged, here's where they're sailing (http://g.co/maps/88kmq).

Santiago, Chile- Andes Mountains east and Pacific coast on west!  By the way, the sailing offshore along the Chilean coastline is awesome- some of the most spectacular sailing in the world.  At the southern end is Cape Horn (a renowned "turning point" for many offshore sailors and racers) and at the norther end is Peru-- only 2,800 nm to the north-- that's one long country north and south. Chile stretches over 4,630 kilometers (2,880 mi) north to south, but only 430 kilometers (265 mi) at its widest point east to west-- Chile is the longest north-south and narrowest east-west country in the world.  Many cool places to sail, too.  You can read more about Chile's sailing areas here- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chile.  Beware that Bob J may be one of the first person's ever to actually "sail" a boat on the famous Lake Titicaca at well over 2 miles high above sea-level (an enormous lake in the Andes Mountains of 50nm x 118nm at 12,507 feet!!), a little lake for "newbie" sailors in Peru just north of the J/105 Chile fleet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Titicaca).