J/70 Fastest Growing One-Design Class in South America

Just after North Sails swept the podium at the J/70 Chilean Nationals at the end of 2019, we sat down with Torkel Borgstrom to talk about class growth across the continent. He says the J/70 is growing in a very similar way to how the J/24 grew, thirty-plus years ago. With boats built in Buenos Aires, “It is becoming one of the most important and competitive classes in South America. And most of the sailors here use North Sails, including the top ones, because they perceive that it’s an advantage in terms of performance.” The first South American country to build a fleet was Chile, about seven years ago. “Right now there are probably 30-35 boats, and the numbers are stable.”

Uruguay has another 30-boat fleet, he continues. “And Brazil was one of the first countries that started with a J/70, but due to some restrictions on importation, they only have around ten boats. But every time they participate internationally, they do well.” Add in another 35 boats from Argentina, and it’s easy to see why Torkel says the J/70 “has become one of the strongest and most interesting one design classes. The regattas are very, very competitive, and normally there are a lot of boats participating.”

In Brazil, a lot of professional sailors have moved into the J/70 because the competition is so good. In the rest of South America, Torkel explains, the approach is more like in the US; most sailors are either amateur or people work in the industry, but don’t specialize in J/70s.

The J/70 South Americans in Punta del Este had great conditions but only 32 boats participated, which surprised Torkel—though he wasn’t surprised to see a  Argentinian tie for first. “Most of the sailors are new, and so when you put together a good crew like the one Guillermo Parada has, they normally will win most of the events.” As for the disappointing turnout, he blames it on the current political instability, particularly in Chile but also in Argentina. “Every time we have elections here, things get a little bit unstable. So I believe this is the reason why we haven’t seen more boats.”

Based on what he’s seen so far, Torkel is excited about the future of the class. “In January, we have the Rolex Atlantic Circuit regatta, which is one of the most important ones here. I expect to see more boats sailing in that event.” Longer term, “the good sailors ended up sailing in the J/24s, and the same thing is going to happen with the J/70s. So you will see more people from South America, Argentina especially, going into the international events and starting to do much better every year. We foresee that in the next five to eight years, we’ll continue growing slowly, and continue improving in terms of competitiveness.”  Sailing Photo Credits- Matias Capizzano Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Rossi Crowned J/70 South American Champion!

(Punta del Este, Uruguay)- The 2019 J/70 South American Championship was hosted by Yacht Club Punta del Este and was sailed off the beautiful seaside city of Punta del Este, Uruguay. Blessed with big waves, big breeze most days, and a picturesque coastline, the fleet of thirty-two entries from Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Brazil, Argentina and Italy enjoyed fierce competition over the course of eleven races. The battle for the podium spots went down to the wire in the final race and, not surprisingly, two of the protagonists included the dynamic, talented Rossi family from Italy- both past European J/70 Champions. The top three spots on the podium saw a spread of only one point after the scores were tallied, ten races counting with one discard.


In the end, it was "girl power" that ascended to the top of the standings, with Ms. Claudia Rossi's Italian team on PETITE TERRIBLE surviving the last race to be crowned the "open" J/70 South American Champion on a tie-breaker at 48 pts each.  Losing that tie-breaker was Argentinian Guillermo Parada on ARG 1270. Just one point back in the bronze medal position was Claudia's father- Alberto Rossi- making the podium a family affair with his Italian team on ENFANTE TERRIBLE.


As a result, it was Argentina's Parada that was declared the J/70 South American Champion as the top team from the continent. The second South American team was Renato Cunha's Brazilian crew on NEGRONI with 60 pts, and the third South American team was Francesco Avermaete’s SI QUERIDA.


The winner of the Corinthians Division also happened to be Avermaete’s Argentinian crew on SI QUERIDA, with Guillermo Amondo's Argentinian crew on BEBETO taking the silver, and Diego Garcia's Uruguayan crew on CHAPULIN garnering the bronze medal.  For more J/70 South American Championship sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Augie Diaz- from Optis to J/24s to Stars- sailing profile

(Miami, Florida)- James Boyd from SailingIntelligence.com wrote an interesting piece on Augie Diaz, titled “Master of the Classics”.  It is an insightful, entertaining story and perspective on how Augie evolved into one of the world’s better sailors, truly a story reminiscent of Robert Frost’s famous poem- “The Road Not Taken”.

For starters, Augie is a Cuban émigré as a child, when his father- Gonzalo “Old Man” Diaz- brought his family to Miami to escape the wrath of the communist dictator- Fidel Castro.

In his early racing days, Augie first met the Johnstone family sailing 470s in the 1973 to 1977 time frame.  At that time in college, Augie had teamed up with a buddy of his from Tulane University- Doug Bull- and sailed the USA 470 National circuit for awhile, achieving good success against the likes of David Ullman (a 4x 470 World Champion) and the two Johnstone brothers (Stu and Drake) sailing USA 600. In addition, Augie had met Bob & Mary Johnstone as well as Rod & Lucia Johnstone sailing 470s and, later, in J/24s.

By 1977, the J/24 had been created by Bob and Rod Johnstone and the first J/24 Midwinters took place in Key West, FL in 1978. Seeing that it was going to be a “hot” class and a lot of fun, Augie jumped in to race his own J/24 against famous names such as Dave Ullman, Ken Read, Mark Ploch, David Curtis, Jud Smith, the crazy Brazilian- Vince Brun, and others (all familiar to most J/Boats sailors for having won multiple J/24, Etchells 22, 470, and Star World Championships). The pinnacle of Augie’s J/24 success was winning the J/24 Midwinters in 1983 on Biscayne Bay, his home waters and hosted by his home club- Coral Reef YC.

Since that time in J/24s, Augie stopped sailing and focused on his family business in the medical supplies business in Florida.  After helping grow the business, the Diaz family sold their healthcare business and, as a result, Augie dove back into sailing his beloved Snipes and Stars.  Here is that story from James Boyd below:

Few boats reward both brains and brawn in such equal measure as the Star. It was partly this that enabled a 64-year-old ‘amateur’ to claim this year’s Star European Championship in Flensburg, Germany.

Admittedly Cuba-born American Agustín ‘Augie’ Díaz was sailing with one of the class’ top crew – in addition to his four Star World Championship titles, Brazilian Bruno Prada scored Star silver and bronze respectively at the Beijing and London Olympics with his long-term helm Robert Scheidt.

But with more than 35 years’ experience and wisdom gained from competing against the world’s best in the class, Díaz is today one of the top helms as he proved when he and Prada became Star World Champions in 2016. The European Championship trophy is the latest silverware for this successful partnership’s trophy cabinet.

Díaz comes from a sailing dynasty. His grandfather sailed and in 1959, his father Gonzalo and uncle Saul claimed silvers for Cuba in the Snipe both at the Pan American Games and at the Snipe Worlds, on the latter occasion to none other than Paul Elvstrøm.

After his parents immigrated to Florida, an eight-year-old Augie took up sailing in the Optimist. While studying mechanical engineering at Tulane University in New Orleans, in 1974 he led Tulane Green Wave sailing team to win the coveted Leonard M. Fowle Trophy for the top scoring overall collegiate team. That same year he was voted College Sailor of the Year.

Despite his success in the Star in recent years, for most of his life Augie has been known, like his father, for racing Snipes. In this 1931 vintage doublehanded dinghy, his record is exceptional. He twice won the class’ biennial World Championship (in 2003 and 2005), something that only a handful of sailors have achieved, among them Torben Grael and Santiago Lange.

He also won Snipe World Masters Championships in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2012, along with countless US and North American titles. Fifty-two years on, he emulated his father winning silver at the 2011 Pan American Games.

So, what is it about boats from the first half of the 20th century that he prefers? “Some of the classes that are popular are more about boat handling and speed, which are also important,” explains Díaz. “But, I prefer tactical sailing where you have to do both – be good tactically, good athletically, and have good boat handling.”

Although he was never selected to go to the Olympic Games, he tried in 1976 and 1980 in the Flying Dutchman and in 1984 made as far as the trials in the Star, but was up against Bill Buchan and Stevie Erickson who went on to claim the gold at Los Angeles.

After that Díaz admits, “My time was passed. I had a fast-growing business and family. In fact I didn’t sail from 1986 to 1999.” This he describes as his “period of slavery…work and Little League coaching!”

His first Star World Championship was in 1983 in Los Angeles but he competed in them again two years later in Nassau, on the very same waters albeit some 30 years on that the Star Sailor’s League Finals are held annually.

The partnership with Bruno Prada began in 2006-7, whenever there was an event that Robert Scheidt couldn’t make – usually the ones in Miami over the winter. “I was very fortunate that I was the same weight as Robert, so Bruno didn’t have to lose any weight,” recalls Díaz. “And for Bruno it was a safe: If we did well it was because of him. If we did badly it was because of me!”

Díaz says that his partner is much more than just a crew. “He is one of the guys in the class who has extensive helming experience in the Finn and in the Snipe when he was younger. He is really a skipper on the boat. Fortunately, our tactical approaches are very similar, so there’s no great discussion.

“There are several classes that are ‘driven by the crew’ – there’s also the 505 and you even see it in the 49er. It is easy to feel the boat when you have the helm, much harder when it is just through your backside! The elite guys like Bruno can do that.”

Personally for Díaz it also coincided with his pulling out of the medical supplies business he’d built up. Retiring into some “real estate and other investment stuff” he had more time on his hands for sailing, until he agreed to sell the MJM line of 35-53 ft long motor yachts designed by Bob Johnstone of J/Boats fame, which has proved more successful (and time-consuming) than he had hoped…

Thanks to his Europeans result, Díaz is currently ninth in the Star Sailors League ranking which guarantees his invitation for the Star Sailors League Finals 2018, the annual event that determines who is the best sailor among the ‘stars’ of the sailing world and allocation of the US$200,000 prize pot. For a sixth year, the Finals will be held in the azure waters of Nassau in the Bahamas, from December 3rd to 8th.

Having been based in Miami most of his life, he knows Nassau well and has been sailing there for decades: “It is one of the world’s premier venues. They say that when ‘God decides to go sailing’ he goes there – the combination of the breeze, which is usually quite strong, plus the waves and water color and the warm climate. And the Nassau Yacht Club is very friendly. You couldn’t find better people.”

Díaz is aware that at 64 his profile doesn’t entirely fit in with that of the Star Sailors League, which aims to recognize the world’s best sailors, but more typically professionals, especially those on the ascent in their careers, but he remains a big fan.

“The reason the Star continues to grow is because the Star Sailors League started right after we were taken out of the Olympics. The way it is run, where all the elite sailors in the world can get together in one platform and have an incredible regatta – for me you can forget about the America’s Cup, the Volvo Ocean Race and all those races, at the Star Sailors League Finals you are sailing against the best.”

He is especially in awe of the next generation such as Paul Goodison and even younger talent like Sime Fantela and Ben Saxton. “It was awesome that Paul could come in and be able to do what he did (winning the 2017 SSL Finals). That was huge for the Star Sailors League. It shows that people from the outside can come and be competitive in the Finals.”

But will they once again get the better of the old timers this December? We wait to find out... Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/70 Europeans Preview

(Vigo, Spain)- Seventy-eight teams from 15 countries will contest the 2018 J/70 Class European Championship, organized by the Real Club Náutico de Vigo.

13 races are scheduled over five days, racing in the stunning Ria de Vigo on the Atlantic coast of Northwest Spain. The Real Club Náutico de Vigo is providing a warm welcome to competitors with social occasions throughout the regatta.

USA, USA, USA!
Reigning J/70 World Champion, Peter Duncan's RELATIVE OBSCURITY team (Willem van Waay, Victor Diaz de Leon, and Max Hutcheson) will be representing the USA. “I decided to race in Europe this season because the competition is great. The European teams sail the J/70s very well,” commented Peter.  “Last year in England and Italy, the hospitality was fantastic, everybody was very helpful, and the events were very well put together. I have never sailed in Vigo, but I have heard some great things about the conditions and the venue, so is a great opportunity. The intensity and level of racing in Europe is definitely on the up, and there are 78 boats signed up for Vigo, which is terrific. I hope they race us on one line, that would be really interesting.”

Viva Espana!
The host nation Spain has the largest entry by country with 22 teams entered. Gonzalo Araujo's LaGuardia & Moreira was crowned Spanish National Champion in the run up to the main event, and will be representing the host club for the J/70 European Championships. Jose María Torcida's NOTICIA was runner up for the 2017 J/70 European Championships, and is a two-time winner of the J/80 Worlds. J/70 Spanish Class President, Willy Alonso will be racing ENERSYS in his home waters, the highly experienced sailor from Vigo will be hard to beat.

Made in Brazil
Faria Renato's TO NESSA has made the long journey from the Rio de Janeiro Yacht Club in Brazil. At the 2018 Bacardi Cup, in a hot fleet of 47 J'70s, TONESSA came 8th carrying a DSQ from Day One. Horacio Carabelli will be sailing with all family members on URUBU. Horacio has won the Snipe Worlds twice, competed at the Olympic Games, and been part of numerous teams for the America's Cup and Volvo Ocean Race.

British Armada Invasion
Twelve teams from Great Britain form the largest group from overseas. Olympic sailors and World Champions will be racing with owner-drivers including Graham Clapp's JEEPSTER, with reigning Nacra 17 World Champion Ben Saxton, and Olympic 49er sailor Sophie Ainsworth. Simon Ling's TEAM SPITFIRE, 2015 Corinthian J/70 World Champions, will also be in the thick of the action.

Viva d’Italia
Eleven teams are entered from Italy. Claudia Rossi's PETITE TERRIBLE will be gunning for a hat-trick of European titles, having won the event for the last two years. Claudia's father, Alberto Rossi, will be racing ENFANT TERRIBLE. Alberto is a past Farr 40 World Champion and three times ORC World Champion. Reigning J/70 Corinthian Class World Champion, Gianfranco Noe's WHITE HAWK will be racing. Vincenzo Onorato will be racing for the Yacht Club de Monaco under the name of his well know America's Cup Syndicate MASCALZONE LATINO.

From Russia With Love
Valeria Kovalenko will be competing, hoping to take the prize for the top women helm. Melges 24 World Champion, Fabio Gridelli will be amongst her crew on ARTTUBE RUS-1. Another notable Russian entry is 2013 J/80 World Champion, Alexey Semenov and Hugo Rocha racing NEW TERRITORIES.

From Turkey, Ahmet Eker's team EKER KAYMAK, includes 2012 Melges 24 World Champion, Enrico Fonda. Fredrik Hedlund's Swiss team racing AGERA3 includes Christoph Berger, past Swiss National Finn Champion and 5.5 Metre World Champion.

Vigo is an ancient fishing city on Spain’s northwest Atlantic coast in Galicia. The mouth of the nearby Vigo Estuary is sheltered by the Cíes Islands, which form part of the Atlantic Islands National Park. The Cíes are known for their bird life and crescent-shaped Rodas Beach. The Ria de Vigo forms a superb natural location for the J/70 European Championships, and the city of Vigo has a renowned old quarter, home to plazas with towering ancient houses, which have been homes to fishermen for hundreds of years.
A J/70 European Championship preview can be viewed here on Facebook  Follow and share the J/70 Europeans here on Facebook  For more J/70 European Championship sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

CARRERA Crowned J/24 South American Champion

(Villa Carlos Paz, Cordoba, Argentina)- For the first time, the J/24 South American Championship was held high in the Andes Mountains, in the spectacular setting of Lago San Roque.  The views are simply awesome, clear blue waters, with majestic 14,000 ft snow-capped mountain peaks ringing the horizon around the western part of lake.  Twenty-one teams from Argentina, Chile and Uruguay made the long trek up into the mountains to savor the delicious wines of the famous Cordoban region- the world-renowned “malbec” reds- and the lovely, quaint waterfront of Villa Carloz Paz on the southwestern corner of the lake.

After the 10th and final race of the regatta, Matias Pereira’s team on CARRERA from YC Olivos (Buenos Aires) were crowned the winners after winning 7 of the 10 races!  There is no question they are one of Argentina’s top crews, with Pereira having won the J/24 South Americans five times before, won five Argentine J/24 National Championships, and were the Gold Medallist at the Pan-American Games sailed on J/24s in Toronto, ONT, Canada!

The first day of racing produced a roller-coaster ride for most of the fleet, in particular, the top five teams. After three races in the shifty, puffy winds that Lago San Roque is famous for, the leading crew was a local Cordoban team- Julian Dadone’s GRIDO-SCIROCCO.  Their 3-5-1 record for 9 pts was just one point ahead of another local boat- Ezequiel Despontin’s INDIGO that had a 5-2-3 for 10 pts.  Then, sitting in the third spot was Sebastian Halpern’s MORRUCHO with a 6-3-4 tally for 13 pts.  Winners for each race were Sergio Pendola’s CACIQUE, Matias Pereira’s CARRERA and Dadone’s GRIDO-SCIROCCO.

After three more races, it was quite clear that one team had finally found their “mojo” and blitzed the fleet for three straight bullets- Pereira’s CARRERA.  Now counting net totals after tossing your lowest score, Pereira could now dump his 3rd race Black Flag (19 pts) and take the lead with just 11 pts.  Despontin’s INDIGO was solidly in second place with all 2nds and 3rds and sitting in third place was Pendola’s CACIQUE.

Waking up on the third day, the teams were greeted by a strong wind of 15-20 kts and with big shifts and big streaks, the top teams sailed away from the fleet.  The CARRERA team from Buenos Aires loved the big breeze, posting three more bullets to take a commanding lead.  However, not to be outdone too badly, getting all deuces was Despontin’s INDIGO to take a firm grasp of second place.  The big change was the final spot on the podium, where Halpern’s MORRUCHO sailed a consistent 5-3-6 to leap back into contention.

The tenth and final race on the fourth day did nothing to change those standings from the previous day, with Pereira’s crew taking the Championship.  Winning the last race was Pendola’s CACIQUE pulling themselves back into 4th place for the regatta.  Rounding out the top five was Dadone’s GRIDO-SCIROCCO.

Congratulations to all competitors and organizers for a brilliant event!  It was a great celebration of yachting of the highest magnitude (and altitude) in Argentina!  Special mention must be made for their participation and enthusiasm at the regatta- to Patricio Rodriguez’s Team VIKING from the Bio Bio flee in Chile and, especially, to the passionate women’s team on PEPPER from YC Uruguay led by skipper Carolina Rodriguez.  For more South American J/24 Championship sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

EURUS Wins Brazilian J/24 Championship

(Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)- The 2017 edition of the Brazilian J/24 Championship took place over two weekends off Rio de Janeiro, hosted by YC Rio de Janeiro.  The racing took place on the infamous bay, with the huge seaside city in the background, famed for its Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, the 38 meter tall “Christ the Redeemer” statue atop Mount Corcovado and Sugarloaf Mountain, the granite peak (more like a huge rock) with cable cars to its summit.

The regatta had a great turnout, with eleven teams competing for national honors.  The teams were treated to a range of conditions, but mostly sea breezes from the east/southeast that were a result of nice clear, warm days, with hardly a cloud in the sky.  There was one day that was a bit light, cloudy, and mostly overcast all day long.

In the end, it was a very close battle for the top three boats, with the results going all the way down to the wire on the last day.  After starting out with an OCS, Ronaldo Senfft’s crew on EURUS (Andrea & Leticia Nicolino, Adhara Ginaid, and Carlos Eduardo Brandao) sailed fast and conservatively, sailing the most consistent series in the top three to win the regatta counting only top four finishes for a total of 18 pts net.

Also starting with an OCS and winning four races was Fernando Tover Gioia’s team on MALABAR (Mauricio Santa Cruz, Rafael Pariz, Joao Pedro Soute de Oliviera, and Sergio Almeida), could not overcome a mid-series streak of bottom half finishes to settle for the silver with 22 pts net.

Rounding out the podium was Murilo Borges’ BRUSCHETTA with crew of Tatiana Almeida, Jorge Bueno, Matheus Goncalves, and Mario Tinoco.  They sailed well and consistently; posting all top five finishes in their final tally, but only enough to secure the bronze with 24 pts net.   Sailing photo credits- Fred Hoffman    For more Brazilian J/24 Class sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

BLACK SAILS Crowned J/70 South American Champion

(Algarrobo, Chile)- The second annual J/70 South American Championship took place off Algarrobo, Chile and was hosted by Cofradía Náutica del Pacífico from the 27th to 31st of October. Almost 100 sailors participated on twenty boats, including teams from Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay.

There were lots of expectations that had been mounting for months prior to the regatta. Chile had a 20+ active J/70 fleet members among the first 33 boats imported from USA in the last 5 years into South America.  The Chilean class did their best to make a fair championship, with Chief Measurer Dave McNabb and a local team measuring all boats.  Flavio Naveira and Nelson Ilha lead the Jury team.  And, Theodoro (Kiko) Kundig lead the RC team.

The previous month, some teams started to search for light 5th crew among the Optimist class in Algarrobo.  This time of the year is somewhat famous for the strong winds in Algarrobo, so the average weight among the boats was 340 to 350kgs.  Before the start of the first official race, BLACK SAILS team was set with 5-crew and 370kgs total weight.  But, after a bad practice race with light winds and looking at the weather report for the week, they decided to put one crew back on the shore!  And, they were right.  Everyday, but Sunday, the winds averaged 10-12kts and two races were sailed with less than 10kts. There were four days of racing with a total of nine races.

On the first day three races were sailed, the first started at 2:30pm.  The fleet was greeted by southwest winds from 230 to 240 deg at 8-12 kts and choppy seas.  Top teams were Per von Appen’s BLACK SAILS with a 1-1-3 tally and TSUNAMI with the Ducasse family on board with an 8-3-1 scoreline (skipper was Andres Ducasse). The Ducasse family had four brothers and their father as the team; a tough crew that would certainly battle until the very end of the regatta! Then, sitting in third with scores of 3-6-5 was URUBORO sailed by Maria “Pipa” Cisternas, her family, and Benjamin Grez calling tactics- they were a very tough team to beat.

On the second day, two races took place with the 1st start at 12:00. Light southwesterly winds from 240 to 260 deg prevailed and the heavier crews struggled. BLACK SAILS continued to stretch their lead with a 9-1.  And, the Ducasse family on URUBORO did a great job to manage the light winds and the tough fleet to hang on to second overall in the provisional standings with a 3-8.

On the third day of racing, the more experienced crews maintained their consistency and kept rising to the top of the leaderboard.  With stronger southwest breezes of 12-15 kts, the boats had to manage transitions from planing mode to soak mode in the large Pacific swells and the wind streaks.  In general, sailing off Algarrobo is very favored on the left.  But, this time some boats gained a lot looking for some pressure with the kite downwind on the right side of the course.  Carlos Vergara on board SENSEI/ TECNOFAST posted a 3-2-2 for the day’s best record.  And, Matias Seguel on board VOLVO had the next best tally for the day with a 5-1-1. Unfortunately, SENSEI/ TECNOFAST and team were OCS on the first race of the day (race #6) and could not stay in the top places.

What became the final day of racing started a little later than 1200 hrs.  Only one race was held with very light winds from the west.  Ducasse’s TSUNAMI did a great job to win the only race of the day, ultimately taking 2nd overall for the Championship.  Closing with a 3rd place in race 9 was von Appen’s BLACK SAILS, effectively shutting the door on all other competitors to win the regatta with just 20 pts net. By taking a 5th place in the final race, Alejandro Perez’s PELIGRO took the final bronze position on the podium. Seguel’s VOLVO could not overcome their mid-regatta “brain fade” of 11-11-9 to take fourth place (note- they had by far the best last four races of the fleet- a 5-1-1-4!).  Then, an early fleet leader, Cisternas’ URUBORO faded fast with a 9-10-7 in the last three races to drop to fifth place overall.

Winning the Corinthians Division was Benjamin Fuenzalida with father and brothers. Benjamin is an ex-Optimist sailor with a brilliant future in the J/70 class.

Best boat from abroad was Brazil’s Marcos Soares, sailing HIGHLANDER to a 7th place overall.  Then, Brazil’s Renato Farías sailing TONESSA was 9th and Diego García’s CHAPULIN from Uruguay took 12th place.

The next South American Championship will take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina in November 2018. Brazil will host in 2019. Sailing photo credits- Ben Sans.   Local sailng news story here on Algarrobo Digital   For more J/70 South American Championship sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

TSUNAMI Wins Chilean J/70 Regatta Qualifier

(Algarrobo, Chile)- On September 23rd and 24th weekend, the last qualifying regatta for the 2017 J/70 South American Championship took place at Cofradía Náutica del Pacífico.  Eighteen Chilean teams participated in the racing, the fleet was treated to light to medium winds all weekend from the southwest.

In the relatively cold weather, the crews had to choose to go right and get slightly more breeze, or go left into the bay and get a more geographical wind shift that would help at the windward mark.

After just four windward-leeward races were sailed, the winners were the team on TSUNAMI, consisting of the Ducasse family- four brothers (Andrés, Ignacio, Coco, Rodrigo) and their father Andrés Ducasse. Andrés Jr and Cocó (Francisco) represented Chile in the last Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the 470 class.

Taking second was WINDMADE, sailed by Juan Reid, his wife Francisca, Alvaro, Sebastián and Mati.

Third place went to Pablo Amunátegui and Rodrigo Guzman onboard BLACK JACK with Tomás Guzman Jr, Pipe and Pablo Herman. Both brothers are coming from the 49er and Lightning class.

In addition to the top three boats, the J/70 class in Chile will other sailors participating in the J/70 South Americans, like Per Von Appen (former J/24 sailor), Matías Seguel (former J/24 and Laser sailor), Alejandro Pérez (former Optimist and Lightning sailor), Rodrigo Zuazola (former J/24 and Lightning sailor), Felipe Robles (former Lightning sailor), and Vernon Robert (ex-J24 sailor).

All of these crews will be participating from the 26th to 30th of October for the second J/70 South American Championship.  The twenty local boats that have qualified will welcome five teams from Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay- for a total of twenty-five teams.  Thirteen races are programmed for the J/70 South American in Algarrobo. Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Uruguay’s Garra Victorious @ J/24 South Americans

(Porto Alegre, Brazil)- Brazil's neighbors were the best in the South American J24 Class Championship which ended on Sunday in Porto Alegre, hosted by Veleiros Do Sul YC.  The continental title went to the Uruguayan EXTASIS Sailing Team, skippered by Pedro Garra from YC Punta del Este.  Second overall went to the Argentine Nicolas Cubria sailing WORKNET and third went to Brazil’s C’EST LA VIE Sailing Team, skippered by Henrique Dias from the host club- Veleiros do Sul YC.

The regatta had seven races for the dozen teams competing for the South American title. The outcome of the regatta came down to the last leg of the last race!  It was a fight to the finish between EXTASIS and WORKNET. But, it was the Uruguayan EXTASIS crew of Pedro Garra, Juan Real de Azúa, Ivan Guicheff, Alejandro Carluccio and Matias Garcia that won the finale.

"That was our first South American J/24 title, after having competed in three consecutive editions. The championship was spectacular with good racing and a lot of wind. Our adversaries, like Nicolas Cubria from Argentina, sailed very well and we knew it would be a tough race," said Pedro Garra, who in October also won the Buenos Aires Sailing Week and also races in the J/70 class.  Garra said the Brazilian C’EST LA VIE crew sailed well, “they were in the running with us for most of the regatta.”

The skipper of C’EST LA VIE, Henrique Dias, said, “unfortunately, we had a rough time in the last race, but overall it was a fun regatta! We finished third, which is a good position for us.” Dias’ team included Vilnei Goldmeier, Alexis Knebel, and Frederick Sidou (Marilia Bassoa and Michele Oliveira swapped each day).   Sailing photo credits- Ricardo Pedebos/ Veleiros do Sul  For more J/24 South Americans sailing information

Great Britain’s Southworth Wins J/24 Worlds

(Boltenhagen, Germany)- All week J/24 sailors were faced with challenging conditions off Boltenhagen, Germany sailing the J/24 World Championship on the Baltic coast.  The fifty-five boats from 14 countries (Argentina, Barbados, Brazil, France, Great Britain, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Peru, Sweden, USA) saw just two teams lead the fleet after the first day of racing.  After day one, it was Japan’s Fumiya Kato winning, but thereafter, it was Ian Southworth’s IL RICCIO that kept their cool on the final day and sailed home with an amazing start-to-finish win in the final race of the J/24 World Championship to take the title!

As on Thursday, racing was started with a Black Flag after Principal Race Officer Klaus Lahme did a general recall. Southworth, who had already suffered a Black flag disqualification on the previous day, opted for a conservative start, as he couldn’t afford to his closest opponent, America Mike Ingham, get away or – or even worse – let himself get pushed over the line.

Chris McLaughlin, who sails on board of Ian Southworth´s IL RICIO, said: “Our worst fear was to have a Black flag start again, but we were relieved to get a good start and to find ourselves first at the windward mark through some very difficult shifts arriving.”

Southworth and his crew have been sailing IL RICIO for five years now. “It has been the longest quick campaign of our lives,” said Chris McLaughlin. “We used to race J/24 in the 80s and in the early 90s quite successfully, so in 2005 we thought we could just step on the boat and win the J/24 World Championship in Weymouth.” NOT! The crew finished eighth – “that was very hard” – and since then has constantly been working on speed, performance and sailing skills. “We have virtually rebuilt IL RICCIO from the keel to the mast top,” said Chris McLaughlin. At some World Championships like in Howth, Ireland, and in Cannigione, Italy, the crew was very close to the trophy, but narrowly lost in the end.

“The thing we have learnt is that if you are not enjoying yourselves, you will never succeed,” said McLaughlin. “We have a team that is very close to each other, who has fun along the way, no matter if we win or lose. There were times in the middle of this week when I became very nervous and tense, and the rest of them laughed my out of it and made me have a glass of wine, and I felt a lot better the next day.”

The IL RICCIO team consists of helmsman Ian Southworth, upwind/downwind trimmer Andrew McLelland, bow woman Julia Scott, pit man Chris McLaughlin and tactician David “Sid” Howlett, who is the head coach of the German Olympic team.

“I have known David since I was 18 years and it has been fantastic to sail with a friend who is also such an incredible coach,” said McLaughlin. “David is a very special person, and also very demanding. We have not been drinking this week, we have not been partying, and we have eaten a lot of cake and tea in the afternoon because David has high standards. I think if the German Olympic team has the same experience as we have had, I think they should be winning some medals in Rio.”

Andrew McLelland has been a J/24 European Champion in the past. “He is a competent helmsman and brilliant trimmer,” said Chris McLaughlin.

According to the crew, the most important part of the team is bow woman Julia Scott. Julia is a former 470 and Yngling Olympian. “Despite of being a brilliant sailor, Julia makes sure that everyone is nice to each other. She is the boss! And she is incredibly tough. When we sailed the Worlds in Weymouth in 2010, Julia had just given birth to her first kid one week before. I think there haven´t been many J/24 who have measured in a breast pump at an international competition!”

Mike Ingham from Rochester, USA, who was sailing with the 2014 J/24 World Champion, Will Welles, as a tactician, couldn’t cover Ian Southworth in the last race and finished in eighth position. With 26 points of difference, he and his crew became vice champions of the J/24 worlds. Travis Odenbach’s HONEY BADGER in third place also comes from Rochester, New York.

Competition was tight for the title of the best female crew. In the end, Stefanie Köpcke and her team VEGA RAGAZZA won, closely followed by Ragna Thönnessen and team JUELSSAND, with just one point separating the teams. VEGA RAGAZZA have sailed a very good series this year, crowned by the title of the German Champion 2015.

Javier Arribas Harten from Peru won the trophy for the best Crew under 25.

Best German boat is Team TINTO from Hamburg, helmed by Till Pomarius.  TINTO, a mixed crew with an average age of less than 25, took the honours from older and more experienced crews such as team ROTOMAN or SULLBERG. “Our next goal are the J/24 Worlds 2016 in Japan,” said Genoa Trimmer Bele Schuett.   TracTrac Race Tracking to replay the races     J/24 Worlds Facebook page
For more J/24 World Championship sailing information

J/70 Sails Rolex Ilhabela Race Week in Brazil

(Ilhabela, Brazil)- Can a J/70 really crush an Offshore Race With THE START!  It was the talk of the town (or the island, more accurately).  The diminutive little 23 ft J/70 took off the starting line on port tack, crossing 99% of the fleet (which included 40 to 65 footers, many famous Soto 40s, etc) and proceeded to sail the 50nm Alcatrezes Island Offshore Race!  To give you some perspective, that’s about the same distance as the famous JP Morgan Round Island Race (Isle of Wight) sailed in the United Kingdom— which has also seen the J/70 TEAM RAF SPITFIRE win it overall.  The owners of J/70 BRA 493- TONESSA- are Renato Cunha and Adriano Bastos.  Here is their entertaining story:

“I’d like to share with you our experience on board BRA-493 (TONESSA), during Ilhabela Sailing Week off São Paulo, Brazil. It’s the largest South America ocean racing event for ORC and IRC classes and we decided to outfit our J/70 to race with the big boats in ORC class.

The first and longest race of the regatta is the subject of this report. It was a 50nm race in open waters rounding the inhospitable Alcatrezes Island during the dark night.

The start took place in the confined waters of São Sebastião Channel in a heavy breeze. After a superb, class act start, the wind increased dramatically and the puffs begin to soar up to 35 kts.

A lot of boats had serious problems at this time.  However, all our crew were fitted with life jackets and safety harnesses, we had prepared ourselves for the rough conditions.

As soon as we left the channel, the swell went up to 3-4 meters (10 to 15 feet) and the strong SW winds (25-35 kts) caused an adverse current up to 2 knots!  It was around of 8 hours of sailing upwind connected to the safety line to get to Alcatrezes.

After rounding the Alcatrezes Island in the dark of night, we hoisted the kite and now the game begins!! The downwind was like flying blind down a roller coaster, spray flying everywhere like it was shot out of a firehose!  We were hitting 20+ kts at times going down the steep ocean swells.  About 2h 40m later, we crossed the finish line!  That was a fast ride!  No damage.  Amazing race.  We were tired, but extremely excited about our performance.

The elapsed time race record was broken by a canting-keel Soto 65! And, the little J/70 created a sensation, finishing 8th overall on corrected time after 50% of the fleet was devastated by the tough conditions.  We were by far the smallest boat of the fleet to compete and complete the race.  In fact, we beat many Olympic sailors, including Gold Medalists like Lars Grael’s team on his Soto 40!

It was an amazing experience! Many thanks for creating such a fun and safe boat! See you in San Diego!!  Best, Renato and Adriano”

Pan Am Games J/24 Update

(Toronto, ONT, Canada)- For the first time ever at the Pan Am Games, sailing enthusiasts can watch internationally acclaimed Olympic caliber sailors compete for medals along a downtown city’s waterfront, making for some of the most exciting lakeside action of the summer— and all for free!

The Royal Canadian Yacht Club is the host venue for the sailors and sailing operations at the Games while the sailing competitions take place on an ever-moving field of play on Lake Ontario. Spectators may watch at their favorite lakefront vantage points throughout the week.

On July 18 and 19, after six days of intense competition, the highly anticipated sailing finals will take place in the inner harbour and will be visible from one of downtown Toronto’s most popular urban beaches — Sugar Beach. Set against Toronto’s skyline, spectators will watch as 148 of the world’s best sailors vie for medals in windsurfers, dinghies, catamarans and keelboats. Sugar Beach’s waterfront location will also host the Medal Ceremonies for sailing on both days.

From July 12 to 17, starting at 11:30 a.m., sailing preliminaries are taking place in Toronto Harbour and Lake Ontario on several different race courses. For these six days, there will be no designated spectator seating areas, and spectators are encouraged to find their own position to watch the sport from their favorite place on the waterfront or Toronto Island.

The Pan American Games are the world’s third largest international multi-sport Games, only surpassed in size and scope by the Olympic Summer Games and the Asian Games. First held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1951, this is the third time that Canada has been the host. The 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto on July 12-19 includes 10 sailing events on Lake Ontario.

Racing update:
After light winds only permitted one race in all events on July 13th, slightly better conditions allowed for either two or three races to be completed on the following day. With six countries competing in the J/24 class, anything goes at this stage as the racing is so close.  In fact, after another light air day for day three of the competition, the Argentineans are in the lead with their crew of Matias Pereira, Guillermo Bellinotto, Federico Ambrus and Juan Pereyra.  In second is the Canadian Olympian and World Champion, Terry McLaughlin, with his crew of Sandy Andrews, David Ogden and David Jarvis.  Currently lying third is the Mexican team of Ken Porter, Gerrit Gentry, Daniel Banos and Pam Noriega.

With the double-counting races in the finale, this entire group could get upset since you cannot count out the Chilean team led by Matias Seguel, nor the Peruvians skippered by Luis Olcese, nor the Brazilians with helm of John Spear.  For more J/24 Pan Am Games sailing information

J/70s Eclipse BACARDI Miami Sailing Week!

(Miami, Florida)- Forty-eight J/70 teams happily made their migration from the wicked-cold weather in the North down to Coconut Grove to compete in the sixth BACARDI Miami Sailing Week (BMSW) presented by EFG Bank in Miami, Florida.  And, holy smokes were they happy they did! New England, yet again, was hammered by yet another snow storm dropping up to a solid foot of snow in most places!  Even better yet, the fleet was blessed with classic Biscayne Bay sailing conditions, with winds ranging from 4-6 kts and blistering warm on Friday, to gorgeous breezes on Thursday and Saturday in the 8 to 15 kts range.

For the enormous J/70 fleet, the event began on Thursday, March 5 and finished on Saturday, March 7. On the water, Coral Reef Yacht Club coordinated activities in collaboration with the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club and with the help of the U.S. Sailing Center and Shake-A-Leg Miami.  And perhaps even better than that amazing slate of hosts, the J/70 fleet was treated to their own race course with “most excellent” race course management all weekend long!

This year’s record number of J/70s came from seven nations, including the USA, Italy, Bermuda, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, and Norway.  Many of the top teams from the J/70 Midwinters in Key West and the Quantum J/70 Winter Series were in attendance.  After the dust cleared from the fog of war, it was a startling revelation for many teams to see the entire top three consisting of foreign teams!  Like his Brazilian friends that eclipsed the Star Class, it was Mauricio Santa Cruz’s team on BRUSCHETTA (Sergio Almeira, Maxim Werrgert, & Daniel Glomb) that were crowned the BACARDI Miami Sailing Week J/70 champions!  Their come from behind win was well-deserved and it all came down to the last two races on the final day.

The J/70s completed eight races over the three-day BMSW event.  The first day of racing started off in amazing weather conditions, with the fleet treated to three races in ESE 10 to 15 kts winds.  Fast out of the box was the deeply talented FLOJITO Y COOPERANDO team from Mexico, with Julian Fernandez Neckelmann driving with a world-class crew of Bill Hardesty (Etchells 22 World Champion and US Sailing Rolex Yachtsman of the Year), Willem Van Way and Erik Brockman.  FLOJITO’s 1-3-1 put them comfortably in the lead over J/70 Midwinter Champion CALVI NETWORK from Italy driven by Carlo Alberini and crew of Branko Brcin, Karlo Hmeijak and Sergio Bossi that posted a 2-2-4.  Absent since the J/70 Worlds in Newport, Brian Keane’s SAVASANA dove back into the fray with his team of Tom Barrows, Joe Mavvis, Mike Danish and Stan Edwards to post a 5-7-2 score to hang onto third for the day.  What was most remarkable about the balance of the top ten was that literally every boat had a least one deep double-digit score— a trend that would rear its ugly head for every boat in the top ten by the end of the regatta!

The second day dawned with no wind and 80 degree, very humid heat.  The J/70 fleet PRO wisely postponed several times in order to wait for the inevitable seabreeze to fill in by noon-time.  The fleet sailed out by noon in a freshening breeze and despite challenging wind conditions, the PRO managed to knock-out three races on Friday, giving the fleet a total of six races.  Jumping into the lead for the first time were the Italians on CALVI NETWORK with 14 points, followed by the Brazilians on BRUSCHETTA with 19 points and then the Mexicans on FLOJITO Y COOPERANDO with 20 points.

“Today, 6 knots of shifty wind and high temperatures made racing very difficult,” said Carlo Alberini. “Today’s was a tactician day and ours made the difference. Competition between Mauricio Santa Cruz, Julian Fernandez and us is always very close and it seems to be a continuation of our Key West battles. In reality, the top ten boats are all very competitive. For tomorrow I hope we have stronger winds!”

The last day of racing saw a little change in the weather with overcast skies and scattered showers. The wind also switched directions and was coming out of the NE between 10 and 15 knots. All courses had 10:55 a.m. warning signals with no races starting after 2:00 pm.  It was going to be a battle for the final day for the entire top ten.  While there was a three-way race for the overall championship, there was also a duel for 4th and 5th between Will Welles’ RASCAL and Tom Bowen’s REACH AROUND and a free-for-all between the next six boats for the top ten places that included Kerry Klingler’s NEW WAVE, Keane’s SAVASANA, Stan Edwards’ LICKETY SPLIT, Heather Gregg’s MUSE, Joel Ronning’s CATAPULT and Dave Franzel’s SPRING.  No one in this grouping of boats was immune from having yet another bad race!

The first race on the last day turned into a bit of a Russian roulette parlor game!  Literally, 45 seconds before the start the wind just about evaporated to nothing, with an enormous chop left over from what was a steady 8-13 kt breeze out of the North.  As the fleet scratched and clawed their way off the congested starting line at the frenetic pace of 0.75 kts (thereabouts), various packs of boats decided to shoot both corners while yet others tried to play it conservative up one side of the middle or the other.  What was certain was the Gods must be crazy or Neptune was upset.  In either case, the entire fleet “flip-flopped”, with many top boats taking high double-digit scores and most of the bottom of the fleet experiencing single-digit scores for the first time!  As insane as that race was, only the two leaders escaped the veracity of the Gods in this one, with BRUSCHETTA taking a 6th to FLOJITO’s 4th.  CALVI NETWORKS’ 17th dropped them out of the running for the overall win.

The grand finale was perhaps by far the most epic race of the regatta; the combination of good breeze and very close competition made for a memorable regatta.  With a nice long starting line, the fleet took off into a 12-17 kts NNE breeze with sparkling sun dancing across the wave-tops.  It was a fitting end to an excellent regatta.  It was “planing mode” downwind for the entire race, making for some huge cheshire-cat grins on everyone’s faces at the end.  By taking 2nd in the finale, BRUSCHETTA earned a well-deserved come-from-behind victory.  FLOJITO’s 5th place garnered them a 2nd overall while CALVI took 1st in the race; not enough to overcome their colleagues, settling instead for 3rd overall.  The balance of the top five was Welle’s RASCAL in 4th overall and fifth went to Bowen’s REACH AROUND.

In the Corinthian’s Division, Heather Gregg’s MUSE repeated her performance at the J/70 Worlds in Newport, winning the class by an enormous margin of 37 points; finishing tied for 8th overall in the Open Division; and was top women’s skipper again.  Second was Jim Cunningham’s LIFTED, repeating yet another top performance after winning Corinthians in the J/70 Midwinters in Key West.  Third was Catharine Evans’ MOJITO, sailing one of her best overall regattas to date, taking 20th overall and was 2nd women’s skipper.  Of note, third women’s skipper was Amy Neill’s NITEMARE and she also took 4th overall in Corinthians.  In fact, Amy’s 11-11 performance on the last day was better than 80% of the top 15 boats!

After the races, Mauricio Santa Cruz, the skipper of the winning Brazilian BRUSCHETTA team, commented, “The racing was very good with all kinds of winds.  Four boats could have won today, but my crew did an excellent job in difficult conditions with prevailing winds coming from the north. We are very happy to have won in Miami and I guess Brazilians do love this City!”

Julian Fernandez Neckelmann from Mexico, skipper of FLOJITO Y COOPERANDO, added, “We will be back, we feel good about the result and about the week spent here. It was good all around; good race committee, competition and organization!!”   Sailing Photos by Cory Silken and John Payne

Bacardi Miami Sailing Week YouTube video
Day 4- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2nwGLJAGaE
Day 5- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7qNuMkvroU
Day 6- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkGzFjU5388
Music Highlights- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py1EZVpEfvE

For more BACARDI Miami Sailing Week information