MENDIETA Wins Tie-Breaker In Thrilling Come-from-behind Sailing Victory!(Villa Carlos Paz, Argentina)- A near-record turn-out of twenty-six J/24s assembled on Lago San Roque for the annual “Central Republic Championship”. Club Nauticos Cordoba played host for the event and ensured all teams from every fleet in Argentina, including one team from New Jersey, USA, enjoyed themselves despite the less than stellar weather conditions. While the sailing on this gorgeous Andean lake can be stunningly beautiful, this year’s event was affected by a massive Low that came sweeping across the southern tip of South America, thanks for nothing from yet another Antarctic Roaring 40s depression! While the weather may have dampened the racing, the spirits were running high!
The
racing was quite a see-saw battle for the top of the fleet. Literally,
every boat had at least one or more double-digit finishes in their
scoreline to have to consider as part of their overall tactics and
strategy. As an illustration of fleet depth, there was a different
winner for every race! And, the top two boats could only manage top
five finishes in four of the seven total races! Tough sledding for all
and some wild “chutes & ladders” scorelines were posted by many of
the teams.Despite the drizzle, clouds and lightish winds, the RC PRO managed to fire-off three races on the first day. The leaders after the close of racing Saturday were Team BWANA, followed by RINA and INDIGO.
Sunday’s
racing was less promising. The fleet managed to squeeze in two races,
but at 1430 hrs, the weather conditions forced the suspension of the
third race due to the minimal winds and persistent rain. The two races
that were sailed had southerly breeze of 4-6 kts gusting to 8 kts at
times. While a typical direction for Lago San Roque, the winds were
remarkably shifty, swinging quite dramatically at least 15-20 degrees on
every leg. After five races had been sailed the Mar del Plata crew on
MENDIETA (with Francisco Van Adermaete on the helm) held onto a slim
lead. In second was local sailor Ezequiel Despontin (Córdoba Yacht
Club) sailing INDIGO. In third place was OJOTA with Sebastian Halpern
Mendoza skippering. Perhaps most surprising was to see Argentinean J/24
champion Nicholas Cubría (from Yacht Club Olivos) sailing RINA to fourth
place. 
The
final day of racing dawned with rain and very little wind and a
“mini-borneo” breeze coming down from the mountains. Ultimately, the
mountains warmed up enough to create the standard “adabatic breezes”and
the southerly filled in enough to get off two races. The regatta lead
came down to a duel between MENDIETA and INDIGO. By getting a 1st in
the sixth race, INDIGO was sitting atop the podium, while MENDIETA
scored a 3rd to slip into second overall. However, like the proverbial
“phoenix arising from the ashes”, the MENDIETA crew rose to the occasion
and won the last race, sufficient to beat INDIGO on a tie-breaker!
Third for the regatta as JALMANSO, fourth was BWANA and fifth was
Cubria’s RINA. Club Nautico Cordoba hosted an incredibly popular awards ceremony. In fact, the awards were “delicious”, to say the least, and were consumed nearly immediately! All J/24 teams received a box of Cordoban Malbec wine (6 bottles in each box)! There were also prizes for the “Best Dressed” and a special prize for Ezekiel Despontin’s INDIGO team— two boxes of Mendoza wines with their name on the labels!
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