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(Puerto Vallarta, Mexico)- Warm waters, winds from 12 to 25 knots, plenty of
sunshine and the already famous parties await you at arguably one of the best
sailing venues worldwide. The J/24 North American Championship will take place
on the waters of Bahia de Banderas (Vallarta) from March 16th to 21st, 2014.
This is definitely a regatta not to be missed, so mark your calendars and make
plans to attend this event which will be part of the Copa Mexico in its
third edition. Those of you who have attended the past two editions or the 2007
Worlds there can attest to the excellent sailing conditions at Bahia de
Banderas (Vallarta). The bay is one of the largest in North America and
is easily accessible by many of the large airlines with direct flights from
most major hubs in the USA and Canada, as well as, Latin America and Europe—
making it convenient to get to & from wherever you are visiting Puerto
Vallarta.
The host club will again be the Marina Riviera Nayarit located at the Cruz de
Huanacaxtle on the north side of the bay— they’re ready to receive all of the
participants with their accustomed excellent hospitality. The town itself, not
long ago a sleepy fishing village, has seen tremendous growth recently due to
the marina. Now with many great restaurants catering to every palate from
international cuisine to real authentic Mexican food from both the region and
the country. There is also a chandlery and spare parts store with a huge
selection within walking distance! Close by is the town of Puerto Vallarta
offering a taste of a real Mexican town with its cobblestone streets and
buildings hundred of years old, art galleries and exquisite food for all
tastes, plus night life that is unparalleled!
All this alone would be reason enough to visit beautiful Banderas Bay, but if
you add the superb sailing and weather conditions, plus friendly people and
great parties, it’s a hard combination to beat. Last time, the Brazilians
“won” the dance contest, the party AND the regatta! Can you top that!?
There are already 53 teams registered with many of the world’s top sailors in attendance.
Mauricio Santa Cruz from Brazil and five other teams are coming from Brazil.
Mike Ingham, Tony Parker, Chris Snow and many of the USA’s best sailors are
also coming. And, there are teams from Monaco, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Japan,
Peru, Canada and many others also participating, totaling over ten
countries. The regatta organizers are expecting a fleet of around 60 to
70 boats!
For more J/24 North Americans sailing information, please contact Leopoldo
Farias, President of the J/24 Class Mexico, at email- leopoldo_farias@hotmail.com For more J/24 NA’s sailing information
YCBG Sailing Team Launches Training
for 2014 North Americans
(Bergamo, Italy)- The year 2014 promises to be an epic one for J/24
championship racing in Mexico. Sailing in the spectacular waters of Bahia
de Banderas off Puerto Vallarta, the Mexican J/24 class will be hosting the
famous “La Copa Mexico” (a week-long extravaganza of over-the-top parties and
some sailing and sun-tanning mixed in for good measure) as well as the North
Americans- held March 15th to 22nd. The YCBG (YC Bergamo) Italian team
give us an update on their planning and progress to date, as described by YCBG
President John Fields.
"Our crew will be formed by the helmsman Fabrizio Eusebio, Mr. Fasoli,
Parimbelli Marzio, Puntel Daniela and me (John). If you want, you can follow us on our website.
In 2012, La Copa Mexico was hosted by the Mexican J/24 Class with
support from the Mexican Navy. Fifty-five teams from ten countries
participated along with notable J/24 champions like Mauricio Santacruz from
Brazil; Tim Healy, Mike Ingham and Chris Snow from the USA; Ken Porter, Javier
Velasquez Robinson, Jorge Castillo Martinez, and Peter Wiegandt from Mexico;
Vernon Robert from Chile; Jan-Marc Ulrich from Germany; Jan Isley from Monaco;
and Victor Maldonado Anso from France. Sailing in that same regatta was
our YCBG Sailing Team (formed by the helmsman Marzio Parimbelli, Paul Luisetti,
Fabrizio Eusebio, Fausto Gandolfi and myself- John Fields). After very
careful preparation, attention to detail and training we were determined to
improve on our 35th place in the 2010 event. In fact, we ended up sailing
much better, taking a splendid 13th overall, first all amateur crew!
It was a great honor for the YCBG Sailing Team to have represented the Italian
J/24 sailors and our fleet. The event began with a surprise at the time
of taking over our assigned boat- “Que Si”. But, since the boat assigned (by
drawing from a hat) to Mauricio Santa Cruz was his former BRUSCHETTA (now
called DIGGER), we were given the option to use QUE SI or DIGGER.
Naturally, we chose DIGGER since we knew it was a great boat!
The next day, after the skipper briefing, we had a practice race in 18-20 kts
and we were very competitive, sailing in the top ten and not finishing the race
since we were superstitious like many other sailors— bad luck to finish a
practice race!
On Monday, after the
official ceremony with the Governor of the State of Nayarit, we were off to the
race and hoping to get as many as ten races in by Friday. Some of the
races were very demanding, with many recalls, black flags. Some races had
little wind and others had 20-25 kts of very gusty and shifty breezes. It
was very challenging with many combinations of waves, current and shifting
winds, which led to many good and bad results. We had a penalty in the
second race (40 pts DFZ) but we didn’t lose heart and subsequently after five
races were in the top fifteen! Ultimately, we managed to finish 13th,
thanks to much help from many friends like Chris Snow, Peter Saurer, Luis
Vazquez Mota and Jorge Castillo Martinez.
For the 2014 Copa Mexico we hope the forecast is for excellent weather
conditions (wind and warm weather) and great hospitality thanks to the Marina
Riviera Nayarit located at Cruz de Huanacaxtle on the north side Bahia de
Banderas. As the regatta ‘chamber of commerce” message states- “Those who
have had the opportunity to take part in the previous editions of Copa Mexico
or the 2007 J/24 Worlds are well aware of the beauty of the place, excellent
wind conditions and the excellent climate and the presence of the best J/24
sailors in the world. La Copa Mexico has become one of the most important
sailing events in the world and we guarantee the 2014 edition will be a
memorable one." We hope so and will be working hard again to
represent our Italian J/24 colleagues as best we can!” For more Italian J/24 sailing information and news on YCBG Team
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