(Tampa, Florida)- The second annual J/70 Quantum Winter Series hosted by
Davis Island YC saw an enormous turnout of forty-seven teams eager to
enjoy sailing in the warm, southern climate of Florida. While the
weather looked promising, with sunny skies all weekend, it was the
breeze that proved difficult for both competitors and race management. A
waning cold front produced decent NNW breezes on Saturday’s racing,
permitting DIYC PRO Judy Hanlon to squeeze in four races before the
breeze diminished. However, Sunday dawned bright and sunny and no
amount of praying by all was enough to summon the seabreeze by early
afternoon.
The
sailing on Saturday produced remarkable results for just about everyone
in the top ten, perhaps the first time in recent memory that literally
every single boat had a double-digit score to drop in just four races!
As it turns out, the top three boats were nowhere near the top five
after two races! Nevertheless, in the end, it was “home boy” Marty
Kullman and his able-bodied crew aboard NEW WAVE that took the regatta
win with a 15-2-2-1 for 20 pts total.Starting in a similar manner, current J/22 World Champion Allan Terhune sailed his J/70 DAZZLER to second overall with an equally crazy “snakes & ladders” scoreline of 14-3-1-3 for 21 pts.
Perhaps remembering that amazing first day of glory at Key West two years ago, Cole Allsopp and friends on MOXIE dialed it all in and sailed a solid series to take 3rd overall with a record of 5-12-3-2 for 22 pts. Close it was for the top three! Notably, all the top three overall took the top three spots in the last race— guess it took this talented group a few tries before they all finally got it right!
Rounding
out the top five were the 2013 Key West Midwinters Corinthians winner,
Dave Franzel on SPRING, taking fourth place. They were followed by Will
Welles on RASCAL. Notably, class newcomer Jack Franco from Houston,
Texas sailed USA-3 to a 3-4-5 to be leading the regatta after three
races! However, whatever the genie was telling them to do suddenly
called it quits and dove back into the magic bottle- their last race
26th dropped them to 8th overall- ouch!As he has done in the past, Rob Britts sailed HOT MESS to the overall Corinthians Team win with 31 pts. They were followed by Andrew & Melissa Fisher’s BUTTON FLY in second and in third was Noel Clinard’s LOONATICTU.
A
n
excellent “training” feature for the regatta was the introduction of
“live” broadcast of any teams using the RaceQs.com “tracking app”
(Android and Apple iOS). There was a lot of lively conversation in the
subsequent coaching analysis post-racing at the Davis Island YC bar!
Check out the app here at RaceQs.com (http://www.raceqs.com). The “live” broadcast 3D replays are available here.
In particular, do the comparison of NEW WAVE vs DAZZLER vs SPRING on a
race-by-race basis; it provides some fascinating insights on how each
“player” approached the upwind and downwind legs!The three-part J/70 Quantum Winter Series continues just after New Year’s 2015 with Act #2 on January 10th to 11th, just prior to the J/70 Midwinters in Key West, Florida. Then, the final Act #3 takes place from February 7th to 8th. For more J/70 Quantum Winter Series sailing information
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