(Tampa, FL)- The 2017/ 2018 edition of the fourth Quantum J/70 Winter
Series continues to be a popular choice for J/70 sailors from across
America, Canada, and even the Caribbean! The “sailingest yacht club in
the south”, the Davis Island YC, is again proud to host the enormous
contingent of J/sailors descending upon them for racing the weekend of
December 9th to 10th. The maximum number of entries permitted has been
reached, with fifty-six entries ready to do battle on Tampa Bay, with
fifteen Corinthian crews.There is no question the “snow birds” heading south must be excited about Tampa Bay’s forecast- sunny, warm, low 60s F, northerly at 10-15 kts on Saturday and more sun with lighter northerly winds of 7-12 kts on Sunday!
The Corinthians division continues to have excellent competition. Returning are two past champions- Robb Britts’ HOT MESS from the host DIYC and Andrew & Melissa Fisher’s BUTTON FLY from American YC in Rye, NY. Some of the top crews challenging this formidable duo include Sarah Renz’s BERTEAU GROUP from Chicago, IL (2nd in Corinthians at J/70 North Americans); Mallory & Andrew Loe’s DIME from Seattle YC in Seattle, WA; Bob Willis’ RIP RULLAH from Chicago, IL; and Al Poindexter’s USA 241 from Lakewood YC in Seabrook, TX.
With
the 2018 edition of the J/70 World Championship taking place in
Marblehead, MA, there is no question there are a number of teams that
will be using this year’s winter J/70 circuit to dial in their
boat-handling, boatspeed, and tactics with their teams. The Open
division will have a number of top crews that should be near the top of
the leaderboard for the series. Amongst those crews should be Darby
Smith’s AFRICA from DIYC in Tampa, FL; Doug Strebel’s BLACK RIVER RACING
from Lakewood YC in Seabrook, TX; past J/70 World Champion Joel Ronning
sailing CATAPULT from Wayzata YC in Excelsior, MN; John Heaton’s
EMPEIRIA from Chicago YC; class newcomer Kevin Downey on MR. PITIFUL
from Seattle YC; Oivind Lorentzen’s NINE from Greenwich, CT; Bennet
Greenwald’s PERSEVERANCE from San Diego, CA; Peter Cunningham’s
POWERPLAY from the Cayman Islands; John Brim’s RIMETTE from Fishers
Island YC in New York; Brian Keane’s SAVASANA from Beverly, MA; Will
Welles’ SCAMP from Newport, RI; and Bruno Pasquinelli’s STAMPEDE from
Fort Worth, TX.SAIL22 J/70 “Porch Series” with North U
SAIL22 and North U are combining forces to get you up to speed and at the front of the fleet. The “Porch Series” will occur on each Friday of the J/70 Winter Series, starting Friday, December 8th.
To kick off the fun regatta weekend, a dock talk by Chuck Allen and Ed Furry will begin at 12:00 PM to discuss boat setup and tuning, followed by on-the-water coaching with North U at 1:00 PM. Practice races will run by J/WORLD from 2:00 until 4:00 PM, with a debrief immediately after sailing with North U and J/World.
To make it more interesting and exciting, Ed Furry from SAIL22 will emcee play-by-play action from the Porch at Davis Island YC, a drone will be shooting live footage online so sailors can join in the fun from home. In addition, the racing will feature the new MarkSETBot, the GPS moving mark that can be set from a mobile phone app to keep the races going! For more Quantum J/70 Winter Series sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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