FLOJITO 3JT Wins Finale
(Tampa, FL)- Fifty-nine J/70 teams qualified to win the 2017-2018 Quantum J/70 Winter Series at Davis Island Yacht Club in Tampa, Florida by competing in at least two of the three weekends with the same boat and skipper. The popular Quantum J/70 Winter Series spans three weekends of racing between early December and February, allowing participants to store their boats onsite for a reasonable fee. Additionally, on each Friday of the Series, SAIL22 and North U combined forces for the so-called “Porch Series” to offer practice races and coaching immediately off the beach in front of the club.
Following the first two breezy, cold regattas, conditions this past Saturday and Sunday were characterized by sunshine, record high temperatures and light winds on Tampa Bay. In fact, conditions were such that only one race was held on Saturday morning before it turned into a “glass out”. The racing was then postponed ashore, with crews sitting on the beach or on the huge porch on the second floor, awaiting for breeze. Sadly, it never happened, leading to an “AP over A” cancellation of racing for the day. Wisely, the DIYC PRO moved the start time an hour earlier on Sunday to take advantage of the wind forecasts; a good move since the sailors enjoyed three solid races for the day.
After four races were completed, Jack Franco’s considerably talented crew on FLOJITO 3JT won the final segment of the Series with a blistering scoreline of 7-1-1-5 for 14 pts. This was Franco’s first major regatta win with Bill Hardesty (main/tactics) and Al Terhune (jib/spin) on the crew (note to self- both guys are World Champions). Taking second for the regatta was San Diego’s Bennet Greenwald, steering PERSEVERANCE to their best performance in recent months, posting a steady 3-3-9-4 for 19 pts. Just one point back in third place with another steady tally of 5-6-6-3 for 20 pts was Brian Keane’s SAVASANA.
As a result of the finishes in the finale, Keane’s SAVASANA earned the overall Quantum J/70 Winter Series victory by virtue of a tie-breaker at 4 pts each with Greenwald’s PERSEVERANCE. The countback saw SAVASANA’s best 2-of-3 counters of 1-3 beat PERSEVERANCE’s 2-2. Similarly, there was a 3-way tie-break at 9 pts each for the final spot on the podium between Bruno Pasquinelli’s STAMPEDE, Peter Cunningham’s POWERPLAY RACING, and Jack Franco’s FLOJITO #JT. STAMPEDE took that count-back with a 3-6 over POWERPLAY’s 4-5 and Franco’s 8-1.
For the Corinthians Division, it was clear the refugees from the frozen tundras of Chicago could not wait to head south and set a blistering pace in the hot waters of Tampa Bay (well, hotter than Lake Michigan, for sure!). Handily winning the final event was Sarah Renz’s team on BERTEAU GROUP, posting a 10-22-10-8 to close out with 50 pts, and, as a result, winning the coveted Quantum J/70 Winter Series Corinthians Division. Second in the division was Bob Willis’ RIP RULLAH with 62 pts and rounding out the podium in third was Nancy Glover’s WINTERWIND with Mark Foster on the helm. Ironically, the finish positions in the final regatta also reflected the overall winter series results. For more Quantum J/70 Winter Series sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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