(Lima, Peru)- Since July 2012, the J/111 CHALLWA (means “fisherman” in
the native Peruvian language), has being sailing and racing in Peru’s
and Ecuador’s offshore racing circuits under the ORC handicap rule.
Their latest event, the Copa del Pacifico Regatta, belongs to a series
of races between Peru and Ecuador that is held annually. This
particular event is sailed in Paracas Bay 150 miles south of Lima- the
capital of Peru.German Fuchs, sailing aboard CHALLWA, reports the following about their experiences in this year’s Copa del Pacifico: “We had a series of eight windward-leeward races and two offshore- one of 32nm and the other 28nm. The fleet was quite competitive with teams from Peru, Chile and Ecuador. We sailed in ORC Class A against a new Soto 48R, Sydney 46, Swan 45R, two Grand Soleil 42R’s and a Soto 42R. Most of our races were sailed in 15-20 kts TWS, except one W/L was sailed in 6kts TWS. Our best results on the J111 were in light winds and running or reaching in 16-22 kts TWS.
For
this regatta we opted to set a bigger spinnaker of 157sqm instead of
the J/111 one-design class size of 130sqm. This change for ORC handicap
racing gave us very good results in light winds and we were able to get
the boat into “planing-mode” (like the J/70) in just 16 kts TWS for
best VMG downwind! In fact, we reached average 15kts boat speed with
just 22kts TWS running downwind- this monster kite cost us only 1 sec/mi
in GPH, that is nothing compared with the benefits gained!From the racing perspective, we had great success against some of the top offshore teams in South America. We managed to win both long distance races in ORC Class A and two W/L in light winds in Class A2. We also managed to finish 4th in Class A and 2nd in Class A2 for the Regatta Series. It sure helped to have Wally Cross and Kerry Klinger from Quantum Sails onboard to race with us, especially after their experiences in winning the J/111 North American Championship in Chicago! By the way, we’re planning to race the 2014 Chicago-Mackinac Race in a J/111 as a preparation for the Galapagos 2014 Race that will be held in October 2014 here in Peru! Looking forward to see other J/111 sailors soon in America! Best, Germán”
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