KEY PLAYER Takes Act 3 on Tiebreak with PINTA
(Tampa, FL)- Forty-eight J/70 teams qualified to win the 2019-20 J/70 Winter Series, requiring them to compete with the same boat and skipper in two of the three events held in Tampa, Florida. For the third consecutive year, Brian Keane’s SAVASANA is Series Champion. Keane’s crew included Nic Baird, Christian Koules, and Conner Harding. The Corinthian Division Series was won by Peter Firey’s PHOENIX with team of Timothy Mangus, Michael McNamara, Ray Wulff, and Eric Mentzell.
Fifty teams competed in the final event on February 8-9 which saw perfect sailing conditions all weekend, with winds of 8 to 15 knots, clear blue skies, and temperatures in the 70s. After seven races, it was clear there was going to be a battle for the top of the podium. In the streaky, shifty offshore breezes in the upper part of Tampa Bay, it was a 100% Corinthian team on Eddie Keller's KEY PLAYER fighting off a very professional German team led by Mike Illbruck on PINTA. By winning the last race, Illbruck's super-star crew on PINTA (John Kostecki, Patrick Wilson, and Chris Stocke) put themselves into a tie at 41 points each with Keller's team on KEY PLAYER (Wade Waddell, Chris Keller, and Peter Lynn). KEY PLAYER took the win on countback. Rounding out the podium was Josh Goldman's team on BUILDING A (Al Terhune, Cate Terhune, and Francisco Lobato). The balance of the top five included the overall series winner- Keane's SAVASANA- in fourth place and the Italian team of ENJOY 1.0 taking fifth place (Carlo Tomelleri, Pietro De Luca, Daniele De Luca, and Alberto Taddei).
Remarkably, the winner of the "Open Division" was also the winner of the Corinthians Division- Keller's KEY PLAYER. Second went to the Argentinean team on JUICY- Francisco Van Avermaete, Geronimo Galvan, Carlos Lacchini, and Rafael De Martis. Third was Tod Sackett's FM with crew of Jeff Haase, Ted Pinkerton, and John Rampe.
For the J/70 Davis Island Winter Series (best 2 of 3 regattas), Keane's SAVASANA won, followed by Goldman's BUILDING A in second and Will Welles' BRIBONA in third. The rest of the top five included Darby Smith's AFRICA in fourth and John Koten's PLANET CLAIRE in fifth position.
The Corinthians Division series winner was Firey's PHOENIX, followed by Bob Willis' RIP RULLAH in second and Tod Sackett's FM in third place. For more J/70 Davis Island Winter Series sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.
|
