(San Diego, CA)- It was more fun and games for the enormous fleet of
140+ boats that have been racing the infamous San Diego Yacht Club Hot
Rum Series. The second race that took place on Saturday, November 19th
proved to be an excruciatingly slow light air affair. It was a case of
“haves” and “have not’s” just about everywhere on the racecourse in the
various divisions. The PHRF “pursuit style” race meant that the small
boats (with highest PHRF handicaps) took off in light airs going out the
Pt Loma channel to the first mark offshore. The larger boats that
started later, however, were not much better off; they, too, took off in
light airs but had just enough extra to play with to dominate the top
of the leaderboard. Having started off so slowly, the small boats took a
beating in the early light air going. As a consequence of the weather conditions, the top J/Teams in the overall standings were the bigger J’s. Leading the J/crews home was Mark Surber’s J/125 DERIVATIVE in 11th overall, followed by Viggo Torbensen’s J/125 TIMESHAVER in 14th overall, just 45 seconds behind DERIVATIVE and only 8 seconds behind Dennis Conner’s MENACE XXIV. Third J/team home was John Laun’s J/120 CAPE about 45 seconds back.
The
current standings in each fleet now see the two J/125s sitting next to
each other in the top ten in Class I. DERIVATIVE’s 8-9 for 17 pts sits
in 9th place while TIMESHAVER’s 9-11 for 20 pts is in 10th.In Class 2, four J’s are in the top ten. John Laun’s CAPER has a 14-3 for 17 pts to hang onto 5th place. They are leading on a tie-breaker over Rudolph Hasl’s HASL FREE that has a 9-8 also sitting at 17 pts. Next is Chuck Nichols’ J/120 CC RIDER with a 10-11 for 21 pts in 9th place. Finally, Tim Harmon’s J/124 CIRRUS has a 12-10 for 22 pts to hang in at 10th position.
The
“J/105” division, Class 3, continues to have four J/105s in the top
ten. Lead boat is Rick Goebel’s SANITY with a 1-5 for 6 pts to hold 2nd
overall. Dennis Case’s WINGS has an 11-3 for 14 pts, good enough for
5th place. Tim Fuller’s STEADFAST has a 7-10 for 17 pts and is in 7th
position. Then, “Dag” Fish’s VIGGEN is 10th place with a 4-16 for 20
pts.The “J/70” division, Class 4, also sees near class domination by three J/70s in the top five placings. Top banana is Fabian Gomez-Ibarra’s VAGAZO with two bullets for just 2 pts. Dave Vieregg’s SOGGY DOLLAR has a 5-3 for 8 pts in third position. And, Steve Wyman’s NUNUHUNU has a 4-6 for 10 pts to hang in for 5th place.
In Class 5, the overall top five has a pretty remarkable scenario developing going into the third and final race next weekend. While David Cattle’s J/27 BLACK ADDER is sitting in 8th place with a 7-6 for 13 pts, they are just three points out of third place overall! Anything can happen in this class, so it will all be on the line next week for the top ten boats overall! Crazy stuff, that’s for sure! For more San Diego YC Hot Rum sailing information
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