(Ilhabela, Brazil)- Some J/24 teams are looking forward to yet another
spectacular week sailing in one of the world's more beautiful and exotic
islands off the coast of Brazil. The Rolex Ilhabela Sailing Week is
considered the largest in Latin America and the numbers prove it. There
are 150 boats between the major classes of ocean and more than 1,400
sailors from three countries - Brazil, Chile and Argentina - and nine
states - Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Parana, Sao Paulo, Rio de
Janeiro, Espirito Santo, Brasilia, Minas Gerais and Bahia.
Hosted
by YC Ilhabela, the teams start the event off with their biggest
challenge, a race of 55nm on a spectacular route back and forth to the
island of Alcatrazes. The race for Eldorado Alcatrazes will be played
with winds ranging from 8 to 25 knots towards the south and
predominantly temperature below 20 degrees C, i.e. the boats competing
in the largest ocean sailing competition in Latin America will have
rough seas and medium to strong wind. "The boats will go upwind to
Alcatrazes. This makes sailing more difficult. The race is always a
different adventure, since most conditions are not repeated year to
year. Every sailor who runs the race gains from that experience," said
meteorologist John Hackerott.Certain to be factors in the ORC 700 Class will be two well-sailed J/24s with top Brazilian teams leading the charge. The J/24 CALA will be sailed by Gabriel Coussilas and J/24 PROZAK will be skippered by Marcio Finamore. For more Rolex Ilhabela sailing information
