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(Porto Alegre, Brazil)- What could be more of a surprise than to have a “local”
win the Brazilian J/24s Nationals and to have a “foreigner” becoming a
“spoiler” to the party?? Well, that’s exactly what happened in this
year’s edition of the J/24 Brazilian National Championships.
With a great crew the Creole VDS team, led by Samuel Albrecht, was the winner
of the 2013 Brazilian Championship off Porto Alegre. In second place were the
Uruguayan’s PANTHER team, skippered by Diego Garcia from Punta Del Este.
Third was BRUSCHETTA sailed by J/24 World Champion Mauricio Santa Cruz from
Brazil.
"It was a
sensational championship, things were happening that were favorable to
us. We tried to sail without pressure, without getting anxious and doing
little risk. It was fun,” said Renato Plass. It’s also interesting to
note this team will represent Brazil in the sailing competition in the South
American Games in March 2014 in Chile.
The Uruguayan team that sailed very well in strong winds, left satisfied by the
result obtained in Porto Alegre. "The regatta was very good, with great
races, and it is always good to compete here," said the captain Diego
Garcia . Sailing photo credits For more J/24 Brazilian Championships sailing information
(Howth, Ireland)- The 2013 BMW J/24 World Championship is underway on the
capricious waters off Howth, Ireland. While not known for light airs
ever, that's what the fleet of forty competitors from ten countries are
currently experiencing. The regatta was officially opened by the Mayor of
Fingal Cllr. Kieran Dennison at a ceremony on Saturday evening attended by 200
sailors who were led by a piper on to the club forecourt in front of the
podium. Organising Committee Chairman Derek Bothwell introduced the speakers
- John Ives (Managing Director, BMW Ireland), Berchmans Gannon (on behalf of
ISA President Niamh McCutcheon) and the Mayor of Howth, before welcoming
individually each skipper by name.
A practice race on the
waters' between Lambay Island and Ireland's Eye in light
northerly/north-westerly winds saw half the fleet fail to complete the course,
as is customary, while former Irish Champion JP McCaldin from Lough Erne took
line honours ahead of Japanese entry Koji Matsumoto and Ignacio Bonanno of Italy.
After the first days of racing, many of the favourites for the World title,
including defending champion Mauricio Santa Cruz (Brazil), are amongst the top
of the leaderboard. American crews led the way in both races on the first
day.
After a two-hour delay for wind, the fleet finally got away for the first race
in a light but testing easterly breeze. First blood went to Tony Parker and his
BANGOR PACKET crew from Annapolis who experienced the Howth waters a week
earlier at the Irish National Championship. Fellow American Keith
Whittemore from Seattle, who also sailed in the Irish event, followed him home
in second place while Mauricio Santa Cruz from Brazil finished third, ahead of
leading UK entry Ian Southworth.
American crews again led the way in the second race, with line honours going to
former North American Champion Travis Odenbach from Rochester, with Whittemore
second again and Santa Cruz taking another third spot. Newport’s Tim Healy took
fifth to make it three US boats in the top five.
After the first day, Whittemore led the overall rankings by two points from the
Brazilians, with Britain’s Ian Southworth (with a 4th and 7th) in third
position. Leading Irish boat is ‘Stouche’ (Darrer/Murphy) from the host club,
whose 10th and 8th place finishes have put them 7th overall.
Sadly, the second day of racing had to be uncharacteristically abandoned.
Lack of wind and strong tides played havoc on the sailors and the regatta's PRO
David Lovegrove. A 6-knot north-westerly breeze allowed the third race of
the series to be started eventually but once the boats rounded the windward
mark, the wind dropped away and a north-flowing flood tide meant the entire
fleet was left motionless, with no chance of a finish. After a delay of
almost three hours, continued windless conditions forced abandonment for the
day.
Day Three dawned with a good breeze and heightened expectations by
the sailors to go for two or more races. After an awesome start to the
day, PRO Lovegrove managed to squeeze in three solid races, resulting in
significant, though not unexpected, wild swings in the overall standings as the
fleet could not count a net score with a drop race. Consistency pays and
those practitioners of the art of exacting one-design tactics, starting and
boat-speed are slowly being rewarded over the course of the regatta. Not
surprisingly, the roller coaster ride now sees the top five all within seven
points after five races, including the toss race! At this stage, the two
most recent J/24 World Champions sit atop the standings-- leading is Mauricio
Santa Cruz's Brazilian team on BRUSCHETTA with 11 pts net followed by Tim
Healey's Newport, RI team on HELLY HANSEN in second two points back with 13 pts
net. Third is British skipper Ian Southworth on IL RICCIO sailing fast
and smart despite a third race Black Flag to score 15 pts net with a 3-1 in the
last two races. Fourth is Travis Odenbach's HONEY BADGER from Rochester,
NY with 17 pts net and in fifth was first day regatta leader Keith Whittemore
and crew from Corinthian YC Seattle with 18 pts net! Close? Indeed,
a tactician's nightmare. More fun & games in the coming days.
Of note is the excellent performance from the leading Italian team, Ignacio
Bonnano's LA SUPERBA team in sixth and the two German teams, ROTOMAN and JJ-ONE
in 8th and 9th. Plus, septuagenerian Tony Parker is, again, showing up
the "Energizer Bunny", showing the four decades of J/24 sailing means
you only got more experience to show "the kids"-- starting with a 1st
in the first race and hanging tough in the top 10 at 10th overall. Just
two more days to go! Watch the J/24 Worlds sailing video introduction
Sailing photos by David Branigan - Oceansport Gallery
For more J/24 World Championship sailing information.
(Howth, Ireland)- The venue for the BMW J/24 World Championship 2013, sailing
from August 24th to 30th, is Ireland’s largest sailing club, Howth Yacht
Club. Located northeast of Dublin, the club promises very straightforward
tides and no wind obstacles or commercial shipping traffic, the sailing waters
north of Howth are arguably the best in Ireland!
Howth recently hosted the BMW J/24 European Championship and competitors were
given a mix of windy, moderate and light conditions around courses set by PRO
David Lovegrove. David is again the Howth YC PRO for the Worlds and had the
pleasure of managing the Irish Nationals over the preceding weekend as a
fine-tuning session for his race management team.
Howth’s strong relationship with BMW continues. Visitors to the Europeans were
treated to an impressive display of beautiful new BMW cars and a dramatic
evening lighting scheme. In 2012, BMW sponsored the Irish IRC Championship in
Howth, launching a new car at the event. Who knows what will be on show this
year?
To enjoy the social festivities, great sailing and awesome BMW
automobiles are forty-one J/24 teams from ten countries around the world--
truly an impressive showing for a 36 year old International One-design offshore
keelboat class. There will be many top teams present with one crew, in
particular, looking to match Ken Read's (now President of North Sails)
remarkable record of five J/24 World Championship titles. That person is
the current J/24 World Champion Mauricio Santa Cruz from Brazil, sailing his
famous BRUSCHETTA! Santa Cruz, a four-time winner of the title, was so
keen to defend his title that he was the first overseas entry in the
competition. He also won the J/24 Worlds in 2006, 2007 and 2009.
The top British team is the 2011 J/24 European Champion Ian Southworth (a
three-time winner of the event) from Royal Corinthian YC in Cowes and the
recent J/24 Irish National Championship in the Open Division. He will be
piloting IL RICCIO GBR 5219, the same steed he rode around the track for the
Irish Nationals.
The leading Irish contenders will be the current National Champion JP McCaldin
from Lough Erne sailing JAIME ENCORE and Irish Class President Flor O’Driscoll
of Howth YC skippering HARD ON PORT!
Leading the US challenge will be this year’s J/24 North American Champion Mike
Ingham and runner-up Travis Odenbach, both from Rochester, NY. Included
in the mix will be past J/24 World Champion Tim Healy from Newport, RI sailing
HELLY HANSEN; 2013 Italian Open Champion Keith Whittemore sailing FURIO from
Seattle, WA; and past North American Champion Tony Parker sailing the
redoubtable, ultra cool BANGOR PACKET from Georgetown, DC.
Luis Olcese from Peru will be sailing SCARAMOUSH and the Japanese
entry Koji Matsumoto sailing TEMPUS G represent highly competitive challenges
as both are recognized as notable performers in J/24 circles and have finished
well at previous championships. Top contenders from Monaco include two
members from YC Monaco- Dennis Frederiksen on PAGET and Ian Illsley on
JAWS. Germany has four entries including JJ-ONE from the
Joersfelder Segel Club, ROTOMAN from the Blankenser Segel Club and Rosemarie
Eckhoff sailing the all-women's team on TINTO. Finally, France is
fielding two teams include JINETTE skippered by Charles Gury and JAGUAR helmed
by the Garcia/ Vaulcon team-- both are from YC Crouesty Arzon.
The sailing should be extremely competitive as many of the top teams are fast,
sail smart and conservatively. In fact, Santa Cruz may face a far tougher
challenge in this year's event than he did in the 90+ boat Rochester J/24
Worlds last year-- it's harder to get away from the other smart crews in
smaller fleets, so small errors translate into significant changes in fleet
standings! Stay tuned, should be an interesting event to
watch! For more J/24 World Championship sailing information
(Howth, Ireland)- This year's J/24 Worlds promises to be a special event,
one remembered for decades to come. It's the first 24 Worlds hosted by
the Irish J/24 class and you can bet the Irish sailors will do their best to
roll-out the red carpet for all participants and ensure everyone (almost
without fail) will have an absolutely fantastic time!
With the event sailing from August 22-30, 2013, we recently got a nice update
from Derek Bothwell - Event Chairman. Says Derek, "With just a
little over five months to go until the start of the BMW J/24 World
Championships I am very happy to say that everything is going well on the
planning side. Entries are stacking up and I am very pleased to see that we
have interest from many J2/4 sailors representing North & South America,
Europe & Asia.
I am delighted that the current World Champion, Mauricio Santa Cruz, from
Brazil, will arrive in Howth to defend his title. This really puts it up to the
Europeans who have only a pond to cross in comparison to arrive in large
numbers.
We will also have Allison Young heading up a ladies team from the UK. Allison
who competed in the Laser Radial in the Weymouth Olympics has a very busy year
ahead as she continues to train for the next event in Rio. It is a challenge
for our lady sailors which should not be overlooked.
Charter boats are being snapped up and there is a lot of activity on the
accommodation front, so if you are thinking of entering, do not get left out!
The Irish J/24 National Championships will be run on the 16th and 17th of
August in the same waters with the same Race management team, so why not come
early and get a taste of the venue and tides." For more BMW J/24 Worlds sailing information
