(Lago San Roque, Cordoba, Argentina)-- High in the Argentinean side of
the Andes along its western borders their lies a simply spectacular lake
set into the foothills of the Andes Mountain range. In winter (the
northern hemisphere summer) many Olympic ski teams from around the world
head south to the famous town of Bariloche and places nearby to
continue their year-round downhill ski-training programs. While
Argentinean sailors can often be found on the slopes themselves, they
look forward to their spring-time sailing on simply spectacular lakes at
the base of the Andes Mountains in quaint mountain village towns like
Cordoba's Lago San Roque (http://goo.gl/maps/nnJGy) or San Carlos de
Bariloche's Lago Nahuel Huapi (http://goo.gl/maps/vxM58). It's a bit
like the South American version of Italy's famous Lago di Garda in
Italy's northern region bordering the southern reaches of the Austrian/
Swiss/ Italian Alps. Recently, the J/24 fleet in Cordoba held their Spring Cup and had a solid turnout of sixteen boats to experience the rather chilly waters, amazing winds and spectacular vistas of Lago San Roque-- at least that's what the local Chamber of Commerce usually predicts for this time of year.
On
the first weekend of racing the fleet was confronted with not too much
wind. In fact, it was uncharacteristically light for this time of year
when the fronts are still raging around the South Pole and often the
northern fingers hit the Andes and produce some monstrous winds.
Nevertheless, the RC managed to run three races with much effort,
despite the wind at times blowing in from the Northeast, dying and then
returning back again from the East. The first race went to the ONLINE Team sailed by Adrian Bongioanni at the helm with his brother Saul on the sheets. Second went to CALEUCHE sailed by MatÃas Arrambide, Gringo Betendorf and Pedrito Lozada. Third went to Team CAMBURY skippered by Alvaro Abate.
In the second race, SAMA skippered by Frank Pesci, Mariana Buteler in the bow, Ezekiel Despontin in sheets and Carlos took the lead from the start to cross the line first! They were followed closely by J-MAC sailed by Spoceti Gabriel, his son Paul, Adrian Berelejis on the sheets and Marcelo Romero at the helm.
The third and final race of the regatta went to ONLINE in first, with SAMA in second. At the end, ONLINE's 1-3-1 for 5 pts total meant the Bongioanni brothers were crowned Spring Cup Champions in Cordoba! Second was Team SAMA with a 5-1-2 for 8 pts for Frank Pesci and crew. Rounding out the podium ws J-MAC's team led by Spoceti Gabriel with a 7-2-6 for 15 pts. The balance of the top five was CALEUCHE winning a tie-breaker with a 2-5-10 for 17 pts over CLICK with a 6-3-8 for 17 pts. If you're ever in Buenos Aires, be sure to take a trip out West to Cordoba and volunteer to crew on a J/24 in this spectacular setting!
J/24
sailboats are also racing on Lago "Nahuel Huapi" in the foothills of
the Andes Mountains, quite a bit further south of Cordoba and next to
the famous Andes ski areas WSW of San Carlos de Bariloche. Take a look at this YouTube video of a regatta from Cumelen Bay on the NE shore of the lake to Piedras Blancas near San Carlos de Bariloche.For a backgrounder on the 7 Lakes District around Bariloche take a peek at this GEO TV video. For more J/24 Spring Cup Argentina sailing results
