(Punta del Este, Uruguay)- The 2017 J/24 South American Championship was
hosted by the extraordinary club members at the Yacht Club Punta del Este on
the gorgeous “Latin American Riviera” known simply as “Punta”.
Surrounded by spectacular high-rises, even more spectacular beaches, and
an amazing harbor/bay to race around, the eighteen teams from three
countries- Argentina (11), Peru (2) and Uruguay (5)- experienced near
champagne conditions for the entire regatta.After ten races, there was no question the class act of the regatta was the Argentinean crew on CARRERA, led by skipper Matias Pereira and crew of A Guerra, J Bellinotto, E Losano and G Bellinito. Winning 4 of 10 races ultimately led to a winning total of 24 pts.
The
first day of sailing the regatta was epic. Three races in 18-23 kts of
breeze, big waves and lots of sun! The locals from Uruguay were tough
in these conditions. Local hotshot Pedro Garra and his PANTERA crew (M
Garcia, I Guichef, M Leite, A Carlucio) were first with just 4 pts,
having posted a 2-1-1 on day one. They were followed by Matias Pereira
on CARRERA with 6 pts and Harry Giura on LUCA (with crew of D Guani, G
Arocena, I Arocena, M Pineyro) with a 3-5-4 for 12 pts. Fourth was the
top Peruvian boat, Javier Arribas’ MONARCA (with crew of J Gavino, A
Lafosse, M Markovinovic, D Mendoza) with 17 pts.
The
second day of racing on Friday brought beautiful, electrifying racing.
The breeze subsided to 12-15 kts with much less swell, with all teams
returning to using their 150% genoas. After a one-hour postponement,
the racing started in a southerly breeze that slowly shifted left to the
southeast. Three more races were run, with the course clearly favoring
going to the coastline off to the left and catching the breeze lines
filling in off the beach. It was a great day of sailing for Sergio
Pendola’s crew on CACIQUE (C Dagusti, J Lupo, M Santangelo, L Luzzi),
posting a blistering pace of 2-4-1 to surge up into the top of the
leaderboard and win “Boat of the Day”. Overall, Garra’s PANTERA was
still winning with Pereira’s CARRERA following closely behind.
On
Saturday, the third day of racing dawned with a 16 kts wind out of the
north that little by little started to weaken and get increasingly
shift. Fortunately, the YCPE PRO Bernie Knuppel managed to knock out
another three races, much to the delight of the fleet. With the ability
to apply a discard after six races, the leadership board has changed
significantly. Now, CARRERA was leading followed by Garra’s PANTERA.For the finale on Sunday, it was a nearly anti-climactic scenario. By winning the final race, CARRERA walked off with the Championship. Taking second was Garra’s PANTERA followed by Pendola’s CACIQUE in third. Rounding out the top five, it was Rodrigo Benedetto’s HAIK- THOMPSON REUTERS team that took 4th place with Marcelo Alzola’s BLUECROSS & BLUESHIELD team placed 5th.
The 2016 South American Champion, Matias Pereira, adds to his laurels that of Pan American Champion and Argentinean Champion 2016!! This result gives Pereira an automatic place to participate in the 2017 J/24 World Championship in Canada. For more J/24 South American Championship sailing information
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