(Deneysville, South Africa)- The South African J/22 fleet continue to
have good times and the near record turnout of thirty-one J/22s for
their annual South African Nationals is a strong indicator of the
fun-loving time their having with their boats. Host club Deneysville
Aquatic Club put on a good show and managed to start twelves races for
one of the more memorable championships in recent years.
While
starting off a bit slow, Andrea Giovannini's team on PHANTOM lived up
to their name and snuck out of the weeds in the shallows to smoke the
fleet over the next ten races. Overcoming a 9-9 in the first two races
Andrea and crew counted four 1sts and two 2nds in their scoreline to win
with just 33 pts overall, ten pts clear of their next competitor.
Behind them it was a good-ole-fashioned rugby sevens match for rest of
the top five with teams running up and down the finish ladder like a
roller-coaster. Surviving the scuffle and snagging second overall was
Craig Millar's team on JALAPENO, getting "hot" when they had to in the
last race to overcome some bungled races earlier in the series (like an
8-7-14) to get the silver. Third was Ewald Sternagel's funky
balsa-finished clear hull called HAKAHANA, really losing out the
opportunity to win the regatta after starting so strongly with a 2-1-2-6
to be leading after four races. Ewald's crew must've blown a gasket
towards the end as their accumulated DSQ-6-8-6 in the last four races
dropped them out of contention and into third place on the podium.
Rounding out the top five were Richard Weiderhodlt's CELL C in fourth
and Rob Wilcox's VOODOO in fifth. For
more J/22 South African Nationals sailing information
