HOT Pan Am Games Team!(Lago San Roque, Cordoba, Argentina)- While the sailors in the northern hemisphere are contending with the dog days of summer, our sailing friends in South America are in the middle of winter. Nevertheless, the hardy crews of J/24s up in the Andean Mountains near the famous ski resort of Cordoba were sailing their boats in Lago San Roque’s J/24 Winter Championship. So far, three events have been held on the spectacular mountain lake.
With a temperature of 4°C (39 F) at 10am in the morning with a crystal clear sky, the crews began to arrive at the Club Nautico de Cordoba. In total, a fleet 16 boats participated in the regatta. As usual, the two crews from Mendoza were always enthusiastic; especially the brave female crew aboard the INDIGO!
As
the teams headed out to the race course on the first day, the wind
began blowing from the northern part of the lake from 20 knots steady
with gusts up to 25 kts. The wind stayed that way most of the day,
puffy, shifty from the NNE as the wind blew down the mountain sides onto
the lake! Positions changed radically both upwind and downwind
depending on where you were when the stronger gusts hit the fleet.The CNC PRO managed to run three races, with each race taking about 45 minutes. The racing was very close amongst the fleet, with finishes often having three boats crossing the line together! It is great to see the tightness of the fleet, once again showing the enthusiasm and constant improvement of the crews.
The provisional results as they stand after three regattas shows that sitting in 1st place is ON LINE sailed by Adrian Gustavo Saul with a 4-1-1 scoreline for 6 pts. Holding onto 2nd place for the series is SEA WOLF skippered by Paul Martin with a 6-2-2 series for 10 pts. Behind them in 3rd overall is MORRUCHO sailed by Sebastian Halpern of Mendoza. The next regatta to complete the Winter Championship takes place on the weekend of August 1st.
Argentina J/24 PAN AM Team Winners- Matias Pereira!While the fleet was celebrating their good fortune with weather in the cool Andean mountain lakes of Cordoba, they were also cheering on their good friends Matias Pereira and crew that were sailing the J/24 Pan Am Games- they were ultimately declared the Gold Medalists! Here’s a breakdown from their blog following developments in Toronto, Ontario, Canada:
Sunday 12: the home team began racing for points. First race won by our crew, began with just 7 knots of wind. Second race postponed until Sunday morning 13!
Monday 13: A lot of calm. 2 and 3 race won by CAN. ARG relegated to second place in the overall standings. But, computing to race 3 with a discard already applied we’re still losing.
Tuesday 14: Finally, despite the postponement to await improved weather conditions, they will be able to sail the races 4 and 5. In both, the winner is our ARG crew. So, with a discard applied, we’re tied with CAN in a hard and tough match race with them.
Wednesday 15: They completed more than 50% of the races scheduled and after the excellent results achieved by our crew yesterday and today Wednesday, ARG is now in first place overall and with a clear advantage over second place CAN. Today, they could only sail two races. Tomorrow and Thursday are planned three races if the weather permits.
Thursday 16:
Today we were able to meet the three scheduled races. Of the three
races sailed, two were won by ARG and one by Chile. So, ARG can beat
CAN by stretching the advantage of our crew. Friday 17: In the morning two races (11 and 12) and on Sunday the 19th they run the Medal Race! Shhh ... do not make noise and cross your fingers!! In the first race of today, they finished: 1st CHI, 2nd CAN and 3rd ARG. In the second race: 1st PER, 2nd ARG, 3rd CHI. With these results, ARG increased its distance from the CAN team in second in the overall results!! Bravíssimo boys !!
Sunday 19: They won! In the Medal Race it was BRA, followed by PER, then ARG, CAN and CHI in that order! Team ARG increased the difference in the standings to 12 points over CAN!! Incredible!! Finally, ARG “GOLD” for the J/24 ELVIS, silver and finally bronze for CAN and CHI, respectively. CONGRATULATIONS Matias Pereira, Juan Pereyra, Federico Guillermo Bellinotto Ambrus!! A resounding victory that confirms the high level of J/24 sailing in Argentina. For more Argentina J/24 sailing information
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