The J/105 DARK STAR Eclipses Her Class(Cowpet Bay, St Thomas, US Virgin Islands)- According to renowned international yachting journalist, Bob Fisher of Lymington, England, “if racing sailors could choose. . . it would be for consistent wind of 20-22 knots, sunshine and courses that are not of the repeated windward/leeward variety and occasional natural hazards.
Those attending the TAG Heuer St. Thomas International Regatta had exactly that on Friday. The natural hazards struck hard with some – beach catamarans upside down are difficult to right and shortage of water close to the shoreline is there for everyone to see and some took no notice and paid the price, but in general there were smiles on the faces of the sailors as they headed for the Bar at the yacht club.”
The first day of racing takes the fleet out of Cowpet Bay, around the heads to the east, then head south down, mostly downwind on port tack to the port of Charlotte Amalie. After a midday break, the fleet then raced back to Cowpet Bay mostly upwind on starboard tack.
In
CSA 2, the J/111 SPIKE skippered by Sam Talbot found the conditions
much to their liking, popping the big kite to surf and plane away to an
easy class win in the opening race. However, on the way back it was the
two J/122s, Rupert & Jan Thouron’s DUNDER and Mitch Padnos’ EL
OCASO, that led the fleet over the line 1st and 2nd but dropping back to
4th and 3rd on handicap.The leader of CSA 3 after the first day was Jonathan Lipuscek’s J/105 DARK STAR with a 2-1. They beat their classmate Bryan Coon’s J/105 SOLTICE who took second.
For day two on Saturday is was more of the same, perhaps better. According to “the Fish”, “so, the powers that control the meteorological conditions at regattas decided, rightfully, that they had achieved near perfection on the opening day, and maybe because they decided the behavior at the subsequent party was exemplary, to tweak it and in so doing, made it close to perfect. They had reduced the top end of the wind range to 20 knots maximum and eliminated the broaching and capsizing for many boats in the fleet.”
With more of a balance of reaching, upwind and downwind work, the J/122s in CSA 2 reigned supreme with DUNDER thundering off to a 1-2 for the day followed by EL OCASO gathering a 2.3-3 to finish 1-2 on the day. The J/111 SPIKE got spiked, somehow, dropping way off the pace to a 7-9.
Unfortunate
for some in CSA 3 class, it was clear they were getting “eclipsed” by
the J/105 DARK STAR boys that managed to pull off two bullets for a huge
class lead both for the day and the regatta. Their fellow classmates
on the J/105 SOLSTICE also had an excellent day posting a 3-3.The stage was thus set for the final day of racing with simply “more of the same” spectacular, gorgeous sailing conditions. While the J/122 DUNDER had a shot at the lead in CSA 2 class, a 6-3 closing tally quickly eliminated those grandiose dreams. Instead, they settled for a well-earned 2nd overall. Their friends on the J/122 EL OCASO, Mitch Padnos and gang from Lake Michigan grabbed 3rd position. Meanwhile, Talbot’s J/111 SPIKE barely hung on to 5th position, narrowly avoiding a 4-way tiebreaker for fifth!
If they had not learned by now they were getting “schooled” on how to race J/105s in the Caribbean, then it is highly likely they are never going to know any better— - that was the way of the world according to the J/105 DARK STAR in CSA 3 class. Lipuscek’s team simply ran the table, collecting four 1sts and two 2nds enroute to a dominant class win with just 8 pts. Fellow J/105 SOLSTICE, skippered by Bryan Coon
narrowly lost out a good chance to get onto the podium, finishing in 4th just one point back.Meanwhile, in the world of IC24 racing, the Puerto Rican’s ruled the roost, with Marco Teixidor on CACHONDO winning with five 1sts and four 2nds in his scoreline of 12 races— a total of only 32 pts they counted. Second went to Ramon Gonzalez’s SEMBRADOR with 54 pts and third went to the first US Virgin Islands team, Tyler Rice on BILL T.
For many of these J/Teams, they will be gathering together again for the following week to sail in the BVI Sailing Festival sailed out of Nanny Kay Marina in Roadtown, Tortola in the British Virgin Island. Sailing photo credits- Christine Thompson For more St Thomas Regatta sailing information
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