(Puerto Vallarta, Mexico)- On May 5th to 7th, the 5th Mexico J/70 National Championship was held in Puerto Vallarta, the fabulous coastal resort town on the western (Pacific) side of the country. It is now the fourth site the Mexican Nationals have been held; the others were Valle de Bravo twice, Acapulco, Cancun and now Vallarta. A total of twenty teams attended and were graciously hosted by the Vallarta Yacht Club.
Puerto Vallarta in May is a perfect choice as you are 99% sure you will get the thermal sea breeze, permitting the first start of the day at 13:00 hrs with 10-12 knots, building up to 18-20 knots everyday! The J/70 teams that participated in the event were looking forward to the “postcard” sailing weather, teams came from Mexico City, Guadalajara, Cancun and Puerto Vallarta including a youth team sponsored by the BBB Sailing Program.
With
three days of racing and 11 races scheduled, the VYC PRO and Committee
were punctual and efficient, waiting patiently for the seabreeze to
start at midday and, like clockwork, they could set the starting line
and the marks, much to the delight of the happy fleet! The first day of racing ended with Ignacio Perez Moret ZAQUERO in 1st place, tied on points with VINCITORE sailed by the Brockmann brothers and former World Champion Julian Fernandez in 3rd place sailing the familiar FLOJITO Y COOPERANDO.
On the second day, consistency was the key and VINCITORE posted a 2-1-2-1 to move into the lead after eight races. After a 10th place in the lighter air first race of the day, ZAQUERO recovered with three great races (a 2-1-2), but now basically used their drop race. A solid day for Yon Belausteguigoitia´s team LA BALA (a 3-3-6-3) put them in 4th place; this team had a tremendous amount of talent onboard with countless World Championship and Olympic regattas on their CV’s and not to mention an easy 217 years of age between the 4 of them!! Eduardo Porter’s GOLDO’s was also having consistent results (a 4-4-4-5) and was now in 5th place.
On the final day, three races were scheduled. VINCITORE had to be careful with ZAQUERO and FLOJITO Y COOPERANDO (who needed a perfect day to have a chance for the win). The first race saw VINCITORE in 4th with ZAQUERO 3rd, FLOJITO 2nd and LA BALA in 1st place. VINCITORE went on to win the next two races as the sea breeze increased into the high teens.
Definitely
enjoying the event and conditions to win the National Championship was
the crew of VINCITORE- Ricky Brockmann was skipper, Erik Brockmann
(Ricky’s brother) was calling tactics, Jeronimo Mariscal was trimmer,
and Diego Velasco was bowman. Second place went to Ignacio Perez Moret
and team on ZAQUERO; they also won the Corinthians Division! Julian
Fernandez ended in 3rd place with FLOJITO Y COOPERANDO. Rounding out
the top five were LA BALA in 4th and Porter’s GOLDO’S in 5th place.According to Rod (“Caracas”) Favela, who was sailing in the regatta, “family and friends had a great time sailing in the gorgeous weather of the Pacific coast off Mexico, Bahia de Banderas is a beautiful place to sail!! Great winds!
The most common, and probably most important phenomenon, I noticed was how many crews were families: Mom, Dad and the kids, and they were fast, talented crews that will get to the top without much difficulty. No wonder why the class is growing so quickly in Mexico, as it allows a great family and social platform to be very competitive and fun!
I cannot say enough about the Mexican hospitality- great food, good laughs and very good quality racing, all happening under the umbrella of a top-of-the line Race Committee from Vallarta YC who ran perfect courses for all 11 races of the week! I want to go back already!!” For more Mexico J/70 Nationals sailing information. Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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