(Newport, RI)- The 35th anniversary of the J/24 Worlds sailed in
Newport, Rhode Island was both epic and challenging for the 70 teams
that participated in this year’s event. Experiencing conditions not
unlike the first J/24 Worlds also sailed in Newport back in 1979, the
J/24 crews were pushed to the limit in conditions that ranged from
“fresh to frightening” on the first day offshore (with 6-9 ft waves and
10-22 kts of breeze from the West) to flat, shifty, and windy from the
Northeast inside Narragansett Bay on Thursday. Starting out fast and
furious, Will Welles’ team sailed COUGAR into the top three day one and
after day two never relinquished their lead, taking their first J/24
Worlds crown and holding off several past J/24 World Champions in the
process!For Newport resident Welles and crew, it was a tough grind for the whole regatta. Nevertheless, the COUGAR-gang thrived in the 12-20 kts and massive swells running counter to the breeze on the first day, posting a 1-6 to keep their record clean and just two points from the lead. Virtually all “wannabe’s” to the throne suffered SCP (scoring penalties) or extraordinary “snakes and ladders” scorelines. Keeping it clean were Mark Hillman’s SOKOKUMARU (USA) and Vernon Robert’s GRINGA DC (Chile) both tied at five points for the lead, with Hillman having the first-place advantage thanks to a bullet.
After a morning postponement ashore, the fleet got off two more races on Day two. The teams sailed offshore in slightly more stable sea conditions with winds ranging from 10 to 14 knots out of the southwest. COUGAR moved into the lead with a 9-1 while Mauricio Santa Cruz’s BRUSCHETTA (BRA) moved into second place with a 10-2; and in third place just two points behind was Robert’s GRINGA DC (the result of an SCP/23-17 tally). Uruguay’s Pedro Garra on EXTASIS climbed into fourth place, and TEAM TARHEEL with Greg Griffin at the helm won the day with a 4-3 and moved up to fifth overall.
For
the third day of racing, the fleet was again sent offshore to
experience yet again the large swell with 2-4 ft chop on top with winds
starting at 10-12 kts and building to 14-18 kts out of the SSE. After a
struggle to set the line square to the shifting wind, the fleet got off
two more races. COUGAR held the lead with a 4-4 for a total score of
16 points and BRUSCHETTA also held onto second place with a 1-7. At
this point, Griffin’s TEAM TARHEEL moved into third place with an 11-8.
John Mollicone’s TEAM HELLY HANSEN (with J/70 World Champion Tim Healy
as tactician onboard) had a strong day with a 2-9 and moved into fourth
place.With marginal conditions and diminishing visibility offshore, the Race Committee PRO chose to sail the fourth day of racing inside on Narragansett Bay, north of the Newport Bridge for races 7 and 8. Overcast skies, cool temperatures and rain greeted the teams as they sailed to the start. Wind speeds starting at 8 to 10 and built slightly out of the Northeast. It was clear there were very different strategies and thought processes between the teams for the first beat of the first race. Big packs of boats favored the sides of the course while only few boats played the middle. In the end, the right side of the course was generally favored all day. COUGAR didn’t get that memo for the first start, posting their throw-out race, a 46th for the first race. Nevertheless, licking their wounds and learning quickly, they started right and stayed right for the second race and held onto their led with a 6th place. BRUSCHETTA’s Santa Cruz sailed a strong set of races, posting a 9-4 to hang onto second overall. However, you could just about here the two leading teams “quaking in their boots” as the big mover on the day happened to be multiple World Champions, the dangerous duo of Mollicone/ Healy on TEAM HELLY HANSEN slid into third with a 1-10, just 14 points off the lead!
The
stage was now set for a dramatic finish for the fifth and final day of
the J/24 Worlds. Could the COUGAR team avoid yet another colossally bad
race? Was Santa Cruz’s team on BRUSCHETTA simply living with ice in
their blood, coolly sailing with all top 12 finishes (the only boat not
to have a toss race of 20 pts or worse in their scoreline!); poised to
add his 5th J/24 Worlds title to his resume and tying the famous Ken
Read (now President of North Sails)!? Or, were the HELLY HANSEN team
simply going to hammer home yet another win after posting by far the
best record of the fleet in the last four races?For the last day, the PRO sent the fleet offshore again. Friday’s weather was sunny with wind speed from 10 to 12 kts out of the northeast, a picture perfect day for the finale. With just a few points between COUGAR and BRUSCHETTA, there was no room for error in the final two races; COUGAR in particular could not accumulate another toss race since BRUSCHETTA had all “counters”. In the end, Welles and crew of Nick Turney, Richard Bowen, Daniel Rabin and Luke Lawrence, sealed the deal with a 2-5 to not only win the day, but the World Championship title as well. Santa Cruz’s BRUSCHETTA settled for second place after posting a 10-8. The “hail mary” attempt to climb into the lead for TEAM HELLY HANSEN just fell short, posting a 1-33 (their toss race) to claim a hard-earned third overall. Taking fourth was Griffin’s TEAM TARHEEL and sitting on fifth was Travis Odenbach’s HONEY BADGER. Of note, Tony Parker’s BANGOR PACKET took 10th overall, continuing his most excellent showing at World Championships for the past four decades!
Welles
tipped his hat to his COUGAR teammates, crediting their crew work in
addition to a little luck throughout 10 races over five days. “The whole
mental aspect is huge,” Welles said. “There’s a reason why everyone on
the team gets a trophy at the end of this.” Cougar had a solid week, but
notched a 46 in Race 7. “We had a tough day Thursday, and it felt like
the dream might be over.” Welles praised Danny for picking the team up
after that score. “He said let’s not let it snowball. Go out there and
keep fighting.” This led to a rebound in the next contest. “When one of
us was lagging behind, we just threw a hand and pulled him up.”Next on the schedule is the J/24 Worlds 2015 to be sailed from August 28 to September 4th, hosted at Boltenhagen, Germany. For some amazing J/24 Worlds sailing photos, visit Paul Todd’s OUTSIDE IMAGES.com For more J/24 World Championship sailing information.
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