J/70 Class Perspective- Managing Pro's

(San Diego, CA)- The J/70 class has grown quickly and, worldwide, has established a reputation as being one of the most competitive offshore keelboat classes in the world.  When Olympic Medallists, World Champions from dozens of prominent classes get eaten for lunch on a regular basis, you know it is rough and tumble going for many of those sailors turned into  top professionals. After getting killed on the race course once or twice, some of those pro’s have never returned.  While others appreciate the competition as an opportunity to learn and become a better sailor.

Recently, Craig Leweck from Scuttlebutt Newsletter, wrote an interesting perspective on how the class has been managing this enormous influx of professional talent.

Nobody could have anticipated the explosive growth of the J/70 Class. What was deemed a dumbed-down sprit boat was in fact what the market wanted, which was a boat with decent performance that could be mastered by a wide swath of the boat buying public.

Having the solid J/Boats brand gave it the legs for growth at the local, national, and international levels. But this growth also created opportunity for skilled pro sailors to increase boat performance and regatta budget. Even multi-talented Jud Smith was writing his crew checks in route to winning the 2018 J/70 World Championship.

The influence of pay-to-play sailors has led the Class to test some initiatives, the first of which was the inaugural Corinthian US Nationals in 2016. This no-nonsense event required all competitors, including the owner/driver, to provide proof of a valid World Sailing Group 1 (i.e, amateur standing) classification at the time of registration.

Interestingly, the top performers at this event are generally the same skippers that compete with pro crew, but for the Corinthian Nationals they get back to the roots of recreational sailing. After titles held in Maryland, Massachusetts, and Texas, the 2019 edition will be August 8-11 in Harbor Springs, MI.

The latest move by the J/70 Class is a change in 2019 requiring all sailors in any J/70 event who do not hold a Group 1 Classification to be members of the Class Association.

The rules on Class Membership are now as follows:

1. Any driver of the boat (regardless of Classification) must be a Class Member;
2. Any crewmember not classified as a Group 1 (i.e., a Group 3 or someone not holding any Classification) must be a Class Member.

These changes were made to bring more consistency and accountability to the Class by making sure that the professionals sailing in the Class are as committed to the Class Association and have the same level of responsibility as boat owners and drivers.

In addition, the January 2019 Rules specify that all members of the crew must be listed as part of the registration, entry list, and results for all J/70 events, whenever the skipper or owner is identified. No longer can owners seek an advantage by hiding who they have hired, with the change offering an overall benefit of increased recognition for all crew.

I give the J/70 Class a lot of credit for advancing these initiatives. One design classes succeed based on the common interests and involvement of its members, with these positive bonds helping to create growth and maintain equipment value. For any class feeling the impact of professionalism, it will depend on the contributions of all members to remain attractive. Here's a link to the Scuttlebutt article. Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/Fest San Francisco Preview

(San Francisco, CA)- The annual J/Fest San Francisco is hosting one-design fleets of J/70s, J/105s, and J/111s, hosted by St Francis Yacht Club and hosted on San Francisco Bay. Given the recent trends for weather patterns, the fleet is hoping for more traditional Bay area weather patterns, with some fog in the morning, but sunny out to the east over the valley to produce the classic westerly sea breezes for the weekend of sailing.

The largest one-design fleet by far is the J/105 class, with twenty-five boats participating off the San Francisco waterfront.  A crowded starting line it will be for many of the top “locals” that have won various major events over time. Those J/crews include Adam Spiegel’s JAM SESSION, Jeff Littfin’s MOJO, Nicole Breault’s ARBITRAGE, Phil Laby’s GODOT, Rolf Kaiser’s DONKY JACK, Ryan Simmons’ BLACKHAWK, and Tim Russell’s NE*NE.

The J/111s will have tight racing by some of the top dogs in the Bay area, such as past J/111 World Champion Peter Wagner on SKELETON KEY, Dick Swanson’s BAD DOG, and Nesrin Basoz’s SWIFT NESS.

Leaders of the eight-boat J/70 class may include Chris Kostanecki’s JENNIFER, Chris Snow & John Bridgen’s COOL STORY BRO, Pete Cameron’s KANGAROO JOCKEY, the trio on 1FA (Scott Sellers, Harrison Turner, Geoff McDonald), and Tracy & Christine Usher’s CHRISTINE ROBIN RACING. For more J/Fest San Francisco sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/24 North American Champs Update

(Valle de Bravo, Mexico)- The 2019 J/24 North American Championship is being hosted by Club Nautico Valle de Bravo on their gorgeous lake in Valle de Bravo, Mexico.  The twenty-seven boat fleet consists of USA, French and Mexican teams from across the top fleets in the respective countries.

Day One- Flawless Weather
The sailors reveled in flawless conditions in the first day of racing. Winds started at 10-12 knots and increased to 12-16, with occasional higher gusts.

Under cloudless skies on the picturesque lake in the mountains of Mexico, current J/24 World Champion Will Welles skippered BRUSCHETTA won the first race. Trailing him in race one was American Mark Laura on BABA LOUIE and Mexican Kenneth Porter’s “S”. Welles again won the next race, followed by Mexican Javier Velasquez on TRINQUETE with Laura’s BABA LOUIE in third. Velasquez earned the final victory of the day, as American Tony Parker on BANGOR PACKET and Welles comprised the top three.

At the conclusion of the day’s racing, at the top of the leaderboard sat Welles’ BRUSCHETTA with scores of 1-1-3 for 5 pts. The balance of the podium was locked in a tie at 10 points: Velasquez’s TRINQUETE had a 7-2-1 while Laura’s BABA LOUIE posted a 2-3-5.

Day Two- More Gorgeous Sailing
It was yet another gorgeous day in Valle de Bravo! And, it was yet another day atop the leaderboard for Welles’
BRUSCHETTA. With boat owner Aroldo de Rienzo aboard as well as Rich Bowen, John McCabe and PJ Schaffer, Bruschetta lodged scores of 1-5-1 on Wednesday. Now able to discard the fifth in race five, Welles has a net score of 7 points in six races (winning four of them to date) of the planned 10-race series.

Parker’s BANGOR PACKET benefited from a solid day to jump into second place overall, after recording a 3-1-3 for 14 net points. Porter’s “S” moved into third place with 19 points.

Following a brief postponement while the breeze came in, racing got underway in winds of 8-10 knots, which increased to 10-14 kts with puffs in the high teens. Welles earned his third bullet of the Championship in Wednesday’s initial contest, trailed by Porter and Parker. Then it was Parker’s turn for line honors, his best finish of the series, while Laura and Ramon Benitez’s DE COLORES followed. Leading the fleet back to the docks after the third race of the day were Welles, Porter and Parker. For more J/24 North American Championship sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

CAMBURY Crowned J/24 Campeon del Oeste

(Potrerillos, Mendoza, Argentina)- The Campeonato del Oeste was recently sailed on the gorgeous Andean mountain lake off Potrerillos- a region famous for its Malbec red wines!  The dozen-boat fleet was treated to a wide variety of conditions over the three-day championship.

After eleven races, it was clear the regatta had become a three-horse race between CAMBURY, RINA, and MORRUCHO.  The final standings were not determined until the last race, with the team of CAMBURY (Marcelo Freytes, Ricky Homps, Torkel Borgstrom and Ezequiel Despontin) winning by just one point.

Racing was so close amongst the trio of boats that second place was determined by a tie-breaker.  Winning that count-back was Buenos Aires sailor Nicolas Cubria’s RINA over Sebastian Halpern”s MORRUCHO.  Rounding out the top five were US in fourth and SEAWOLF in fifth.

Nico Cubria commented on the sailing:
“On Saturday, we sailed for the Martin Pelado Costa Cup, a tribute to past J/24 sailor Sr. Martín. The best boat of the day was MORRUCHO skippered by Sebastian Halpern. In the afternoon, there was an emotional presentation of prizes that counted on the presence of the wife and children of Martin who, together with Torkel Borgstrom, dedicated warm words and anecdotes remembering Martin. On Sunday, the wind breeze stayed strong in the 12 to 20 kts range, enabling the PRO to run four more races. The fleet has been very close and we hope for a good outcome tomorrow! But, it will be difficult against our friendly competitors, CAMBURY and MORRUCHO. Needless to say, there is great camaraderie amongst the sailors and we look forward to our dinner at the Otaviano Vineyard enjoying some good wines!”
Follow the Argentine J/24 Class on Facebook here   For more Argentine J/24 Class sailing information. Add to Flipboard Magazine.

HELLY HANSEN Warsash Spring Series Starts Up!

(Warsash, England)- The Warsash Sailing Club on the Hamble River in the United Kingdom started its HELLY HANSEN Warsash Spring Series this past weekend. The WSC PRO paid tribute to Paul Heys of J/U.K., in particular since he was largely responsible for the large fleet of J/Teams that were on the starting line this past weekend. In addition to the two IRC handicap classes, there were three one-design classes of J/70s, J/88s, and J/1092.

Starting with the Black fleet, leading the IRC 2 Class is Simon Perry’s J/111 JIRAFFE with a 1-2 for 3 pts total.  Sitting in 5th with a 6-5 is Chris Burleigh’s J/109 JYBE TALKIN with 11 pts. Holding on to third in IRC 3 Class with a 2-4 is David Greenhalgh’s J/92 J’RONIMO with 6 pts.

In the one-design world, the fleet of J/70s enjoyed six quick races, putting the crews through their paces.  Currently leading is Paul Ward’s EAT SLEEP J REPEAT with a 1-1-1-3-2-2 for 7 pts net. Just one point back is Graham Clapp’s JEEPSTER in second and laying in third is Martin Dent’s JELVIS.

After two races in the J/88 class, Gavin Howe’s TIGRIS is leading with two bullets.  Then, Richard Cooper’s JONGLEUR posted a 3-2 which puts them in second for 5 pts and David & Kirsty Apthorp’s J-DREAM has a 4-3 tally to hold third position.

Similarly, the J/109 class also saw a double bullet performance, with Simon Perry’s JIRAFFE sitting atop the class.  Second is Chris Burleigh’s JYBE TALKIN and third is Rob Cotterill’s MOJO RISIN.

Finally, in the newly-created J/Sprit Division, it is Howe’s J/88 TIGRIS leading, followed by the Apthorp’s J/88 J-DREAM in second and Richard Cooper’s J/88 JONGLEUR in third.  Follow the Warsash Spring Series on Facebook here   Sailing photo credits- Close Hauled Photography/   For more HELLY HANSEN Warsash Spring Series sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Newport Harbor to Cabo San Lucas Drift-A-Thon

(Newport Beach, CA)- The 20th running of the 800.0nm Newport Beach to Cabo San Lucas International Yacht Race started with some degree of promise that the weather forecasts would not come to fruition. The first three fleets of boats started off in decent winds from the WNW that slowly clocked as the fleet sailed south down the Mexican shoreline.

However, the forecasts did, indeed, hold true and the race became somewhat of an anti-climactic event for the late starters.  The winds were so light that nearly all of the Saturday starters (the Maxi’s and Super Maxi’s) dropped out! And, over a third of the rest of the fleet did the same, “turning and burning” under their “iron gennies” to head back to home.

It was still the usual downwind race, with winds fluctuating from the northeast to northwest, as the fleet ever so slowly crawled down the Mexican coastline, gybing on lifts and desperately looking for pressure anywhere!

For the three J/Teams that managed to finish the race, there was no question there were many anxious moments as one after another held either the lead in their division or were hanging on to a podium finish (as forecast by the YBTracker.com fleet tracking algorithms).

Those three boats were Scott Grealish’s brand new J/121 BLUE FLASH, Viggo Torbensen’s J/125 TIMESHAVER from Dana Point YC, and Seth Hall’s J/124 MARISOL from Newport Beach, CA.

In the battle of the 40+ footers, it was Torbensen’s J/125 TIMESHAVER that yet again out-gunned their classmates, working every inch of advantage, every degree of downwind AWA, every perfect sail combination, to finish the race in 4 days 18 hours 18 minutes to correct out to 2nd in class, missing the ORR 3 Division win by just 4 hours.

Hanging onto the class lead for the better part of two days was Grealish’s brand new, fresh out of the box (2 hours!) J/121 BLUEFLASH. Interspersed with their moments of brilliance were hours of frustration chasing wind streaks for advantage over their erstwhile competitors. As part of their “training mission”, their hope was to learn as fast as possible how to guide their new 40-foot missile faster down the track, experimenting with every sail combination possible. As the smallest boat in the class, they suffered from the same malaise that the Super Maxi’s and Maxi’s got caught in, little to no wind the further they got down the coast as the frontal system receded away from them. That phenomenon not only forced the biggest baddest boats out of the race, with their speedo’s reading “triple naughts” at times, but that also enabled the top boats in ORR 3 Division to continue to extend their lead. In the end, BLUEFLASH was content with a 5th in class, and gathering an enormous amount of data to help them on their 50th Transpac Race preparations later in the summer.

In ORR 5 Division, Hall’s J/124 MARISOL took 5 days 9 hours 55 minutes to complete the 800.0nm track to correct out to 4th in class.   Watch YB Tracking of the race here.   For more Newport Beach to Cabo San Lucas Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/99 USA Debut @ Pacific Sailboat Show

(Richmond, CA)- Don't miss the 2019 Pacific Sailboat Show from April 4th to 7th, 2019 at the Craneway Pavilion and Marina Bay Yacht Harbor in Richmond, CA! Get your tickets here- https://pacificboatshow.com/

Making her USA boat show debut will be the new J/99, a 9.9 meter (32.6’) crew-friendly, offshore-capable speedster.

The J/99 is the newest addition to the J/Sport range, combining headroom and comfortable interior accommodation with the tiller-driven responsiveness of a sport boat.

Now more than ever, sailors are attracted to adventure-filled, signature events (Fastnet, Middle Sea, Chicago-Mac, etc.) where straight-line speed, sail handling, strategy and weather routing are all equally put to the test. The J/99 is designed to excel in these events (both fully crewed and short-handed) while delivering the exhilarating, family-friendly experience the J Sport range is known for.

Please be sure to contact Norm Davant at SAIL California for more information- ph# (510) 685-7453 or email- norman@sailcal.com.   Learn more about the J/99 Shorthanded Speedster here Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Season Preview - J/70 UK and Ireland Class

Bigger than Ben Hur!
(Southampton, United Kingdom)- The 2019 season is expected to be bigger than Ben Hur for the J/70 UK and Ireland Class, with ten regattas in the Grand Slam Series, and the first ever J/70 World Championships to be held in the UK. There are over 50 teams racing in British waters, and over 100 international teams are expected for the 2019 Darwin Escapes J/70 Worlds, hosted by the Royal Torbay Yacht Club. Racing for the Grand Slam Series starts 13 April and concludes 27 October.

Scoring for the J/70 Class Grand Slam Series is calculated by the best five events, with the J/70 UK Nationals as compulsory. Two fabulous trophies, for Open and Corinthian teams, will be presented at the end of the season, and the top teams for the series will be allocated places for the 2020 J/70 World Championships. The Grand Slam Series events are all based around weekends with a schedule of racing over no more than 2-3 days, except the UK Nationals, which runs for four days.

“Many of the UK teams have been training over the winter, and the buzz in the UK class is stronger than it has ever been,” commented Paul Ward, owner/driver of Eat, Sleep, J, Repeat, and UK Class Secretary. “Time on the water is a big factor to a top performance and going on 2018 results the class will experience extremely competitive racing, last year only three points separated first and fifth. There are now over 1500 J/70s worldwide and the cream of the crop will be in the UK this year, both at the worlds and also the nationals, which is an open event. The UK Class is set for an awesome season!”

The 2019 Grand Slam Series kicks off next month with two weekends of racing at the Warsash Spring Championships (13-14 April & 27-28 April). Cowes is the center of attention for May and June; the RORC Vice Admirals Cup (10-12 May) is followed by the Southern Championships (01-02 June), hosted by the Royal Thames YC. The UK Training Event (18-22 July) will run alongside the J-Cup hosted by the Royal Southern YC. A full race series will be complimented by practice starts plus coaching and video analysis from the expert term at North Sails. Lendy Cowes Week is the venue for the J/70 mini-series (10-13 August), before the J/70 fleet head to the Royal Torbay YC in Torquay for the J/70 UK National Championships (23-26 August), a compulsory event for the Grand Slam Series. Two weekends of racing at the Hamble One Design Championships (05-06 October & 19-20 October), hosted by the Hamble River SC, will be followed by the final event of the 2019 Grand Slam Series, the Solent Championships (26-27 October), hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes.

The highlight of the season is the 2019 Darwin Escapes J/70 World Championships (30 August-06 September). This will be the first J/70 World Championships to be held in the UK. Professional and Corinthian teams are expected from all over the world. The J/70 UK and Ireland Class welcomes new members and chartering opportunities are available from boat owners and yacht clubs.   Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth/ PWPictures.com   For more J/70 United Kingdom sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Russian J/70 Sailing League 2019 Stormy Kick-Off!

(Sochi, Russia)- Hosted by Sochi Grand Marina by Burevestnik Group, the fifth season of the Russian J/70 Sailing League kicked-off this past weekend in Sochi, Russia, with sailing taking place on the eastern reaches of the Black Sea.

In five acts over the 2019 season, with one big final in Kaliningrad in early August, the Russian teams competed to qualify for the SAILING Champions League 2020. In the end, each team sailed six races with AXMAT Team winning, followed by the famous ArtTUBE RUS1 Sailing Team led by Valeriya Kovalenko, and RUS7 in third position.  Here is how it all went down in the battle off Sochi.

Day 1- Beautiful spring day
Who were the protagonists for the first event of the season?  Many of the best yachtsmen in Russia joined some of the twenty-three teams participating from across the country.

Those teams included Burevestnik Sailing Team (former Leviathan) (co-driver Maxim Titarenko), ArtTUBE RUS1 (Valeria Kovalenko), Calipso (Maxim Taranov), the Academy of Sailing of the Yacht Club of St. Petersburg (Anna Basalkina), “Pirogovo” (Yuri Morozov), RUS7 “Sail Lord — ASIA” (Vyacheslav Yermolenko), “Sail Lord – EUROPE (Andrey Ryzhov), NAVIGATOR Trem (Alexandra Peterson), Rocknrolla Sailing Team (Andrey Novikov), X-Fit (Vladimir Silkin), RUS7 (Sergey Shevtsov), “Region-23” (Evgeny Nikiforov), CSKA (Mikhail Poslamovsky), Black Sea (Andrei Malygin), Resurskomplekt (Oleg Tikhonov), “Komatek” (Vyache Lav Frolov), USC (Edward Skornyakov), East-West (Andrey Zuev), ZID art Sailing team (Zoran Paunovich), Parusnik74.ru (Edward Podshivalov), Winner Sailing Team (Alexander Mikhailov), Matryoshka (Natalia Kravets) and Akhmat (Alexander Bozhko).

For the first day of competition, the fleet was treated to unusual spring weather for Sochi, warm, stable winds, sunny, and great sailing!  Twelve races were held on the first day. The results were very, very close. NAVIGATOR Trem (2-1-7-2), East-West (2-2-7-1), RUS7 (1-3-5-2), Calipso (1-4-1-3) and Akhmat (3-1-2-1) were essentially all nearly tied on points- just three points separating the top crews. ArtTUBE RUS1 and BLACK SEA had a smooth day. The ZID art Sailing team would have taken off much higher than their position in the middle of the table, if were not for their BFD in two races (yes, they were fast and recovered fast!).

Day 2- The storm obscures the sky ...
On Saturday, the racing day was cut short by a storm front.  Nevertheless, it was a very intense day of sailing. Only four races were sailed in total, without completing a full round.

The first three races were relatively calm. But, the fourth race looked like a mini-Volvo Ocean Race! Cold, white mist, winds gusting to 35 knots, waves sweeping boats sideways. So much for sunny, spring-like Sochi ...

In such extreme conditions, the skill of the crew and coordination around the course was critical to success. Mistakes were very costly.

Winning the fourth and most epic race was Akhmat Racing Team.  Sailing boldly, faster, and more confident than ever were Alexander Bozhko, Roman Konstantinov, Oleg Kuzmin, Alexander Andrianov and Boris Kucherenko. Just behind them, Zoran Paunovich, Evgeny Neugodnikov, Sergey Volchkov and Daniil Banayan from ZID art Sailing Team planed wildly to the finish line to take second place. And in seconds, finishing third in a cloud of spray was Maxim Titarenko, Vadim Yakhinson, Maxim and Mikhail Sheremetyev from Burevestnik Sailing Team.

Day 3- Sunny Finale
After a stormy Saturday afternoon, Sochi presented the teams with wonderful sunny weather and the opportunity to conduct another fourteen very intense races.

Winning the final day by a landslide was ArtTUBE RUS1 (Valeria Kovalenko), with three 1sts in five races. The surprise of the day was the two victories by Region-23, skippered by Yevgeny Nikiforov.

Nevertheless, it was the first premiere National Sailing League regatta for the Chechen Republic team AKHMAT skippered by Alex Bozhkov.  In the finale, they managed to snatch their victory from some of the pre-eminent Russian J/70 sailing teams. As a result, they won on a tie-breaker on 2.9 pts average over Kovalenko’s ArtTUBE RUS1.  Third place went to RUS7 skipper Sergey Shevtsov.  Sailing photo credits- Andrej Sheremetyev  For more Russian J/70 National Sailing League News Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Another Epic St Thomas International Regatta

(Cowpet Bay, St Thomas, US Virgin Islands)- For three days, the 50-plus boat fleet enjoyed near postcard-perfect sailing conditions in the Caribbean off the east end of St. Thomas.  Not surprisingly, the St. Thomas YC’s idyllic location on the beach of Cowpet Bay served as the base of operations for everyone, with plenty of shoreside après ‘sailing festivities. J/Crews garnered their fair share of silverware in the performance CSA racing fleets.  Here is how it all took place.

Day 1- Picture Perfect
The conditions could not have been better for the first day of the 46th St. Thomas International Regatta (STIR). Warm trade winds blew an average of 12 to 15 knots with occasional gusts to 20 knots, seas were relatively calm at 2 to 4 feet, and the bright sun made for a balmy 80’s Fahrenheit. What really stood out as a signature feature of STIR was the race committees carefully planned round-the-island-, rocks- and cays-style courses that offered highly competitive racing in an extraordinarily scenic setting. Definitely the best of both worlds.

“The courses were awesome,” says St. John’s Mike Feierabend, who with his all St. John crew helmed his J/24 BRAVISSIMO to first after two races in the CSA Spinnaker 2 class. “We really love going around the islands. The wind angles on the courses set by the race committee were especially nice.”

The four-boat CSA Spinnaker 2’s races were each nearly 10-nautical miles and wove around Dog Rock, Little St. James and Packet Rock off St. Thomas’ east end.

Meanwhile, the eight boats in CSA Spinnaker 1 raced in the same vicinity, but these larger vessels were able to stretch their legs to a greater extent on a duo of longer courses that extended to Buck and Capella island’s off St. Thomas southern Caribbean Sea shore.

“We sailed well today,” said Antigua’s Pamala Baldwin, who raced aboard her J/122 LIQUID. Crewed by several aspiring professional race boat crew, LIQUID was second in class, yet tied at 5 points with class leader. “We had a one-hour debrief yesterday after the Round the Rocks race and worked out the tweaks. Four of our sailors are new to the boat and we really came together as a team today.”

Round-the-island courses are something that USA-based PRO (Principal Race Officer) Dave Brennan has been setting for the past several years at STIR.  “Sailing here is special and even more so when racing around the islands rather than marker buoys. These types of courses make it more fun for the average sailor, who wants to sail with friends, especially those who don’t have a lot of expertise with windward-leeward courses. We really work hard to set different types of courses each day. It’s more fun this way and truly something special,” says Brennan.

Day 2- More Perfect Weather?
Some of the 50-plus boats racing on the second day stretched their class leads. Others overtook fellow class competitors to jump into the lead. Either way, blue skies, warm seas and winds blowing steadily at 12 to 15 knots over the round-the-island and round-the-buoy courses proved fun for everyone in this St. Thomas Yacht Club-hosted event.

In the CSA Spinnaker Racing 2 class, it was a case of overtaking rather than lead stretching for the St. Croix-based team aboard the J/100 BAD GIR. With Mackenzie Bryan at the helm, BAD GIRL had a tough time on the regatta’s first race on Friday and needed to retire. The young Crucians, almost all 20-somethings that grew up sailing together in dinghies, came back strong with nothing less than all first place finishes. As a result, BAD GIRL pushed St. John’s Mike Felerabend’s J/24 BRAVISSIMO to second. Both boats were tied at 8-points each.

Day 3- Windy, squally, sunny finale
Clouds and a couple of squalls sent windy curve balls across the courses set for the fleet. The big story of the final day of racing was all about the wind.

“We had light air and heavier air, a little big of everything,” said one sailor. “Today, when the squall blew through in the second race of the day, winds hit over 30 knots. We broached and briefly had a man overboard situation. But, there was no damage, no one was hurt and the team recovered quickly. Overall, it was a really amazing regatta.”

Tied on points for the lead in CSA Spinnaker Racing 1 Class was Antigua’s Pamala Baldwin’s J/122 LIQUID. However, she lost the count back in the tie-breaker based on number of firsts, settling for the silver.

In the CSA Spinnaker Racing 2 class, St. Croix’s Mackenzie Bryan drove the J/100 BAD GIRIL to a first place finish. “That squall today was as windy as I’d seen it the entire regatta. So much so that we decided not to hoist the spinnaker on the first run and we were still flying,” says Bryan, who served as a junior crew several years ago when Bad Girl also won her class. “Our strategy was to have good boat handling, minimize mistakes and stay out of the current. The effect of the current was huge.”  St. John’s Mike Felerabend’s J/24 BRAVISSIMO ended second, just four points back. Thanks for contribution- Carol Bareuther.  Sailing photo credits- Ingrid Abery/ Dean Barnes  For more St Thomas International Regatta sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.