(Buenos Aires, Argentina)- Spring is sweeping across South America and
that means the active J/24 fleet in Argentina are sailing all of their
spring championships down along the Rio Plata in Buenos Aires and up in
the Andes Mountains in Cordoba.In September, the Buenos Aires fleet held their Grand Prix Internacional de Vela L.A. Cerrato at YC Olivos. The fleet enjoyed a gentle breeze Saturday with two races in winds gusting up to 18 kt and then three races on Sunday in more moderate breezes.
The Uruguayan crew led by Pedro Garra from YC Punta del Este sailed EXTASIS to a well-deserved win, winning three of the five races for a total of 5 pts. Taking second was Sergio Pendola racing CACIQUE just five points behind the Uruguayans. Third was Sebastian Halpern’s team on MORRUCHO with 11 pts.
For
the mid-October Buenos Aires Week, the fleet sailed on successive
Sundays. The first Sunday on the Rio Plata saw a strong southeast wind
with steep, short chop that is typical of the river. The PRO managed to
run three more races for the series. Then, on the following Sunday,
the fleet again enjoyed southeast winds in the 10-12 kts range that
permitted the PRO to complete the entire 12 race series! The fight for the lead was extremely close and was defined by the results of the last race! It was a thrilling finale to the Buenos Aires Week championship. Pedro Garra’s EXTASIS team from YC Punta del Este in Uruguay started off the series in third place after the first weekend of sailing. However, in the second weekend, their last six races saw no races scored less than 3rd! As a result, Garra’s EXTASIS won their second major regatta in Argentina with a points total of 24 pts for ten races counted- an amazing 2.4 average score! Again playing bridesmaid to the Uruguayans was Sergio Pendola’s CACIQUE, placing second in the last race to take 2nd overall with 26 pts. After having a slow start themselves on the first weekend of sailing, Nicolas Cubria’s WORKNET team won the last race to leap onto the podium in 3rd position with 29 pts.
Over
the October 10th to 12th weekend, the Club Nautico Cordoba completed
the two-weekend event called the Cordoba Spring Championship. The local
fleet sails on one of the world’s most beautiful lakes, Lago San Roque,
nestled into the foothills of the spectacular Andes Mountain range in
western Argentina. On Saturday, the fleet had a warm day with northeast
winds of 4-12 kts. The CNC clubhouse in Villas Carlos Paz was brimming
with activity as the fleet of eighteen boats prepared for the final
weekend of racing the Spring Championship. In the end, SAMA was
declared the overall champion with a record of 3-10-4-2-2 for 11 pts
net. Second was Jorge Garcia Velazco’s SIROCCO with a scoreline of
13-2-3-4-3 for 12 pts net. Third was PICANTE, winning a tie-breaker
over CARRER. Fifth was INDIGO, a past winner of the event.Over the Halloween weekend, Club Universidad de Buenos Aires (CUBA), held their Tournament Amadeo Alurralde. With a beautiful sunny day and a fresh breeze from the southeast blowing 12-16 kts, the “barco de comite” and its PRO managed to complete enough races to make it a regatta. In fact, it made for a raucous Halloween celebration later at the CUBA clubhouse! Winning with straight bullets was Guillermo Belinotto’s CARRERA crew from CUBA with 3 pts total. Taking second again (must be getting old, eh?) was Sergio Pendola’s CACIQUE with a 3-2-2 for 7 pts. Only one point back in third position on the podium was Alejandro Rossi’s SHARK with a 2-3-3 for 8 pts total. Rounding out the top five was Javier Donzelli’s MENDIETA in 4th with 12 pts and Diego Cervi’s SEX SYMBOL in 5th with 15 pts. J/24 Regattas CUBA sailing photos on Facebook For more Argentina J/24 sailing information
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