(Ft Worth, TX)- The third annual J/70 Corinthian U.S. National
Championship, was hosted by Fort Worth Boat Club in Texas from April
27-29, with sailing on Lake Ray Hubbard for fifteen Category I (World
Sailing) amateur teams. Racing was scheduled for Friday to Sunday.
After two light air races late in the day Friday, the group got shut out
with no wind on Saturday. PRO Bruce Golison moved up the start time
Sunday, and managed to run four races to cap off the event with six
total races.In the end, local sailor Glenn Darden and his crew on HOSS (Jake Scott, Brian Tyrrell and Tony Waldon), won the 2018 J/70 Corinthian U.S.A. National Championship, hosted by Fort Worth Boat Club in Texas
The regatta started out on Friday with winds of 5-8 knots under sunny blue skies. David Hiebert’s USA 546 grabbed the day one advantage, by way of a 4-1 in Friday’s two races. Dave Dennison’s PIRANHA was hot on his heels with 6 points, after posting a 2-4. Forbes Durdin’s MOJITO held third place with 9 points.
Eagle Mountain Lake provided a gorgeous setting as Glenn Darden’s HOSS began the Championship with a victory in the first race, trailed by Dennison and Durdin. Hiebert took the day’s second contest, while Elizabeth Barker’s YOUR MOM’S A HOOLIGAN and the Mark Allen/ Mike Welch team on HELIUM Racing completed the top three.
Saturday
morning was gorgeous, with the sun rising over a misty lake. However,
conditions were less than satisfactory for racing. In fact, the pool,
the bar, and the famous Trey Sheehan/ Curtis HOOLIGAN RACING spontaneous
combustion monster blender party was more like the order of the day
when the “AP” over “A” flags were hoisted. Sadly, the lake was a
complete and perfect “glass out” with no forecasts for any “gradient”
breezes to generate any hope for racing later in the day- this is a
unique problem with Texas and Midwest lakes that do not have a Lake
Garda-like “wind factory” to produce natural thermal “sea breezes”.However, Sunday was another story altogether. After Sunday’s four races, the Darden HOSS crew proved they actually know the lake (somewhat). And, yet another local, namely Bruno Pasquinelli’s STAMPEDE, followed Darden overall with 15 points. Taking third was Forbes Durdin’s MOJITO with 17 points. Dave Dennison on PIRANHA and David Hiebert on USA 546 rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth, respectively.
The event served as an incredible learning experience with sailmakers Tim Healy, Jud Smith and Bill Draheim on-site to conduct on-water clinics and briefings for the Corinthian sailors. With debriefs on Thursday and a nearly three-hour session on Saturday morning, these professionals shared immense amounts of knowledge and tuning tips. Next year’s Corinthian US National Championship will be in Harbor Springs, MI, and the sailmakers have already committed to an even higher-level training and education for the participants. For more U.S.A. J/70 Corinthian National Championship sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.
|