J/70 PRIME NUMBER Sweeps Elite Keel Class(Belvedere, CA)- The beautiful San Francisco Yacht Club, situated on Belvedere Cove facing the famous Raccoon Straits inside of Angel Island, hosted their annual Elite Keelboat Regatta and the J/24 Western Regional Championship from May 16 to 17. The J/70 class had eight boats racing on the Berkeley Circle along with the fleet of twelve J/24s.
As a Worlds Qualifier regatta, the J/24s were the headliner class for the weekend. Sailing like a rabid dog going after the last bone on Earth (e.g. like the MadMax movie), Pat Toole’s Santa Barbara YC team on 3 BIG DOGS (past J/24 North American Champions) proved they still had all the skills necessary to be top dog for the weekend, posting four bullets and a 5th to win with 9 pts.
Not surprisingly, another J/24 class leader, the ultra-suave team on TREMENDOUS SLOUCH from Corinthian YC in Seattle, WA, were whipped into a frenzy of energy and uber tactics-calling by their chief cook, bottle washer and skipper- Scott Milne; they posted four deuces and a trey to easily grab second overall for the event.
Rounding out the podium was Paul van Ravenswaay’s FERAL ROOSTER with just 23 pts. Behind them in fourth was another CYC Seattle boat, Carl Sheath’s SUSPENCE with 25 pts. Fifth place was decided by a tie-breaker with James Baurley’s CRITTER taking it over Darren Cumming’s DOWNTOWN UPROAR.
The all SF Bay J/70 class was pretty well dominated by Peter Cameron’s PRIME NUMBER; their 2-3-1-1-1 scored them just 8 pts. Starting quickly but fading into the fog and haze was Geoff McDonald’s 1FA with a 1-1-3-2-2 for 9 pts. Then, the consistent Chris Kostanecki on JENNIFER posted all 2nds & 3rds to grab third place with 13 pts.
Just behind the top three, it was a complete free-for-all with nothing getting settled for the next five boats until the last race or two. Winning this heart-stopping, anxiety-ridden roller coaster was Tom Thayer’s RAMPAGE, taking fourth place by a whisker with 25 pts. Only one point back in fifth place was John Brigden’s COOL STORY BRO. For more Elite Keel/ J/24 Western Regionals sailing information
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