(Algarrobo, Chile)- Sixteen J/70s took part in the Chilean fleet
qualifier regatta for the 2017 J/70 South American Championship in
Algarrobo- October 27th to November 1st, 2017. It was incredibly close
racing throughout the regatta, but there was no question the team to
beat was a former top J/24 skipper- Matias Seguel! After posting a
2-1-2-1-2-3 for total of 11 pts, they were winners of the regatta by a
significant margin.The wind conditions were 12-15 kts on the first day. Seguel and his VOLVO crew (they finished 11th in the San Francisco J/70 Worlds) had three clear starts and good speed to have a good track on the course to post a 2-1-2 on the first day and never looked back, easily winning the regatta.
Per
Von Appen and crew, a team that also participated in the San Francisco
J/70 Worlds and won the J/70 Chilean National Championship in
Panguipulli last February, worked hard to recover from a couple of bad
starts and finished 2nd overall. Third was Carlos Vergara’s SENSEI.
Rounding out the top five were Pablo Amunategui’s BLACK JACK in 4th and
Felipe Robles’ LEXUS in 5th place.Courses were long, cold and choppy so the crews had to manage the waves, especially on port tack, getting to the weather mark. The wind was sometimes shifting right and sometimes shifting left at the very end of the weather mark in the left corner, mostly close to the shore.
For many teams, sailing with the asymmetric spinnaker, there were important differences in pressure, so the teams needed to manage between soaking or planing mode, and especially dealing with the wave angle in both tacks.
The next date for the J/70 South American qualifiers in Chile is June 3rd and 4th. From that event, the first 14 boats will be selected as the local representatives at the South American Championship. For more Chile J/70 South American qualifier sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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