(Dallas, Texas)- The 2015 Cowtown Stampede & J/24 Southwest
Championship started out with excitement even before the racing began.
Normally hosted at the Fort Worth Boat Club, due to low water at Eagle
Mountain Lake, the venue was moved to Dallas Corinthian Yacht Club on
Lake Lewisville. The weekend though had a little bit of something for
everyone – light air, medium air and gustier breeze up to 21 mph,
delicious food and a few extracurricular activities. Staying flexible
seemed to be a good strategy!After a postponement due to no wind, the wind filled in enough to get a start going. In the first (and only) race on Saturday, Mark Smith must have listened to his jet plane rockstar Joshua Bone as After Midnight took off and one tacked the weather leg for a commanding lead they never relinquished. It was probably the longest two-leg race in history as the wind died to very light air, with John Parker and Team Chupacabra steadily moving up to finish third behind Kelly Holmes-Moon and Team BadMoon. The rest of the day was abandoned and the shore festivities began. The fleet was blessed with a great dinner served up by Tonja Holmes-Moon.
On Sunday, much better winds awaited the fleet. In Race 2, James Freedman and the boys aboard Miss Conduct rode the left side to round the first mark in the lead with David Broadway and Team Superman, Natalie Penner and Team GIGGLES, and Kelly Holmes-Moon and Team BadMoon in close pursuit. On the last weather leg, Team Superman found the big right shift and surged for the victory.
The trend for the rest of the day were large and persistent right shifts and the RC, from the Fort Worth Boat Club, had its hands full adjusting the course and even abandoned one race because of a large shift. In Race 3, Natalie Penner and Team GIGGLES took first place, while James Freedman and Team Miss Conduct, Tonja Holmes-Moon and Team Siren and Kelly Holmes-Moon and Team BadMoon followed in second to fourth place finishes. On Race 4, Natale and Team GIGGLES continued with their strong sailing and took another bullet with Kelly Holmes-Moon and Team BadMoon, Mark Smith and Team After Midnight, and James Freedman and Team Miss Conduct followed in second to fourth place finishes.
Some of the fleet had a challenge dealing with the large shifts at the starts, but when the dust all settled, Natalie Penner and Team GIGGLES, consisting of Bobby Harden, Chris Rousseau, Rachel Loziuk and Reed Cleckler, played the wind well to score two bullets in Race 3 and Race 4 for the overall victory of both the Cowtown Stampede and the District 14 Southwest Championship. But, that wasn’t the last of GIGGLES accomplishments.
Seems a few fleet elements conspired to assist Natalie Penner into a full dunking in the DCYC pool to help cap off the celebration of winning the Southwest Championship! Natalie, ever been to Japan? Congratulations to Natalie Penner and Team GIGGLES for their chance to represent Texas at the 2016 J/24 World Championship!! For more J/24 Southwest sailing information
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