2014 J/70 World Championship - Contrasting conditions on Day 4

by Jan Harley on 13 Sep 2014

Jamestown’s Tim Healy (02) on Day Four Paul Todd/Outside Images http://www.outsideimages.com

Narragansett Bay was the setting for the penultimate day of racing at the 2014 J/70 World Championship presented by Helly Hansen as the New York Yacht Club Race Committee worked to get the competitors racing before the northerly breeze died. In roughly 10 knots of breeze, two races – one each for the gold and silver fleets – were run before the breeze ultimately ran out.

It was a complete change of pace for the competitors who had faced big breeze and rough seas for the first three days of the series; picking the correct side of the course and factoring in the ebb tide was the key to doing well.

For series leader Tim Healy of Jamestown, R.I., the lone race would become his drop as he picked up a 13th-place finish. Despite crossing the finish behind his closest rival for the championship crown – Minneapolis’ Joel Ronning, who placed 10th on Catapult – Healy and the crew on Helly Hansen retain the lead position heading into the final day of the championship tomorrow. Healy’s lead over Ronning (14 points vs 28) is not insurmountable for Ronning, in light of an earlier start for the final day and the Race Committee’s plan to get in three races.

2013 Bacardi® Miami Sailing Week class champion Brian Keane of Weston, Mass., at the helm of Savasana, was the winner of the lone gold fleet race today, which helped to slightly close his points gap on the leaders. With 41 points, Keane has also improved his margin over Martin Kullman of St. Petersburg, Fla, on New Wave, who has 55 points and is fourth overall.

After moving from 24th into fifth overall in the standings yesterday, 2013 J/70 North American Champion Heather Gregg-Earl of Boston, Mass., on Muse, kept the momentum going with a second-place finish in today’s race. Muse retains the fifth spot on 60 points, and also continues as the top Corinthian (no professional sailors on board) team in the series.

Muse, the Corinthian team with Heather Gregg-Earl at the helm. © Paul Todd/Outside Images http://www.outsideimages.com

'We’re pretty happy about our position considering the talent in the fleet,' said Gregg-Earl. 'We are super excited about where we are in the standings so far; it’s a really deep talent pool and to be in the top-15 in the regatta was our goal and we’re achieving that.'

Gregg-Earl is sailing with Joe Bardenheier (Boston), Stu Johnstone (Newport, R.I.) and Stu Saffer (New York, N.Y.). All four are not only alumni of Tufts University (Medford, Mass.), but also members of New York Yacht Club and it was through NYYC’s Team Racing program that the four came together. 'We are all friends and felt strongly about sailing Corinthian,' said Gregg-Earl, explaining that they have been able to keep a Corinthian team and still do well.

For the final day of the championship, the strategy on Muse will be to sail conservatively. 'Just keep ourselves in the game. Not be too risky; not take flyers,' said Gregg-Earl. 'Lots of people have had some deep races and we want to get ourselves in the top-five or ten tomorrow.'

Simon Ling’s Team RAFBF from Great Britain on Spitfire © Paul Todd/Outside Images http://www.outsideimages.com

In the silver fleet, Mexico’s Marco Teixidor, on Cachondo, moved up from third to first overall with 104 points after finishing fifth in today’s lone race for that fleet. Following Cachondo is a three-way tie on points – 106 – between Mark Ploch of the Bronx, N.Y, on Sugar Daddy, Newport’s Blake and Lud Kimbrough on Nostalgia, and Geoffrey Pierini of Rumson, N.J. on Surge.

Racing concludes tomorrow, Saturday, September 13. The September 8-13 competition is being hosted by New York Yacht Club at Harbour Court, with regatta headquarters at Sail Newport, Rhode Island’s Public Sailing Center.

For additional information on the inaugural J/70 World Championship presented by Helly Hansen, please visit website.

2014 J 70 World Championship presented by Helly Hansen Preliminary Cumulative Results:

		Sail Number	Yacht Name	Owner/Skipper	R 1	R 2	R 3	R 4	R 5	R 6	R 7	R 8	R 9	R 10	R 11	R 12	R 13	R 14	T	Total
		Sail Number	Yacht Name	Owner/Skipper	R 1	R 2	R 3	R 4	R 5	R 6	R 7	R 8	R 9	R 10	R 11	R 12	R 13	R 14	O	Total
World Championship Gold Racing
One Design Division
	GOLD Fleet
	1	USA 2	Helly Hansen	Tim Healy		2		2		2	1			3	2	1	1	13	[13]	14
	2	USA 187	Catapult	Joel Ronning		1		1		1	4			8	1	2	14	10	[14]	28
	3	USA 96	Savasana	Brian Keane	1			3	3		2		11		16	9	11	1	[16]	41
	4	USA 246	New Wave	Martin Kullman	6			24	6		3		2		3	7	28	4	[28]	55
	5	USA 95	MUSE	Heather/Joe Gregg Earl/Bardenheier	23		13			9		11	13		5	4	3	2	[23]	60
	6	USA 55	Joust	Tim Molony	16		2			6		2	37		7	6	20	11	[37]	70
	7	USA 179	Africa	Jud Smith	14		10			14		20	1		10	19	4	3	[20]	75
	8	USA 86	Stampede//Pour Judgement Racing	Patrick Wilson		7		12		13	5			14	15	3	6	19	[19]	75
	9	USA 353	Heartbreaker	Robert Hughes	7			20	5		14		3		4	16	18	9	[20]	76
	10	USA 45	Wild Child	Henry Filter	17/SCP		1			7/ SCP		6		4	19	27	9	14	[27]	77
	11	BRA 403	Bruschetta	Mauricio Santa Cruz		5	6		4			3		1	25	31	24	17	[31]	85
	12	GBR 123	Team RAFBF Spitfire	Simon Ling	2			10	11		7		7		20	28	39	6	[39]	91
	13	NED 69	Bliksem	Pieter Taselaar		8		14		33	15			2	9	18	2	26	[33]	94
	14	USA 326	Aquaholiks	Martin Johnsson	28		12			11		13	9		17	10	5	21	[28]	98
	15	USA 217	Joint Custody	Jenn & Ray Wulff		6	5		12			10		17	12	36	33	5	[36]	100
	16	USA 85	Dazzler	Allan Terhune, Jr		28	35		2			12		7	6	11	10	29	[35]	105
	17	USA 94	Lifted	Jim Cunningham	10			4	1		11		15		22	33/SCP	12	43	[43]	108
	18	USA 209	Trouble	Peter McChesney	5		29			18		9	4		33	22	16	8	[33]	111
	19	USA 69	USA 69	Joseph Colling / Lee Sackett		3		21		4	20			12	8	32	13	34	[34]	113
	20	USA 171	Running Wild	Peter Vessella	13		3			23		24	20		13	13	30	12	[30]	121
	21	GBR 557	Boats.com	Ian Atkins	4		23			3		5	24		32	40	23	16	[40]	130
	22	USA 390	20/20	John Arendshorst	12		7			5		1	30		43	15	36	25	[43]	131
	23	USA 34	Perseverance	Bennet Greenwald	24			9	13		22		38		14	14	15	24	[38]	135
	24	MEX 690	Vincitore	Erik Brockmann	18			16	7		17		6		36	21	38	15	[38]	136
	25	USA 48	Rascal	Will Welles	3		14			19		33	40		24	5	8	31	[40]	137
	26	USA 26	Jungleland	Chris and Carolyn Groobey	17		11			10		17	12		18	38	27	33	[38]	145
	27	USA 49	Relative Obscurity	Peter Duncan		25		8		17	8			11	38	33	7	37	[38]	146
	28	USA 157	Spring	Dave Franzel		15		7		12	12			9	29	42	34	30	[42]	148
	29	USA 340	Rimette	John Brim	22			15	8		25		22		27	8	41	22	[41]	149
	30	USA 51	Black River Racing	Doug Strebel		9	42/ZFP		26			15		6	23	12	44/OCS	18	[44]	151
	31	USA 159	Torqeedo	Chris Carroll		16	24		16			16		16	37	43	21	7	[43]	153
	32	USA 482	X	Dan Cheresh		4		17		27	6			28	35	17	35	20	[35]	154
	33	USA 40	B Squared	Bryan Cameron & Brian Elliott		12		5		20	24			22	28	25	26	23	[28]	157
	34	USA 397	Hot Mess	Rob Britts		13		11		24	13			15	34	30	19	42	[42]	159
	35	CHI 680	Flecha	Felipe Robles		26	8		14			25		10	26	34	17	36	[36]	160
	36	USA 375	Lickity Split	Stanley Edwards	8			18	27		10		26		21	26	29	38	[38]	165
	37	USA 167	Kraken	Gary Tisdale / Adam Burns		20	31		9			22		5	30	39	22	28	[39]	167
	38	SWE 601	Rocad Racing	Mikael Lindqvist	26		4			7		4	28		39	29	32	40	[40]	169
	39	USA 11	Menace	Kerry Klingler	11		44/ZFP			36		14	10		11	20	37	35	[44]	174
	40	USA 389	Hooligan: Flat Stanley Racing	Trey Sheehan		11		34		8	9			36	41	23	31	39	[41]	191
	41	CHI 687	Windmade	Juan Reid		17		6		16	30			30	31	37	25	41	[41]	192
	42	USA 174	Magic Bus	Gregg Mylett		24	17		18			8		31	40	35	40	32	[40]	205
	43	MEX 526	Lampuga	Roberto Escalante		14	35/ZFP		10			29		18	42	41	42	27	[42]	216

World Championship Silver Racing
One Design Division
	SILVER Fleet
	1	PUR 391	Cachondo	Marco Teixidor		22	19		24			26		13	8	13	5		[26]	104
	2	USA 61	Sugar Daddy	Mark Ploch	9		44/DSQ			40		18	8		28/ZFP	1	2		[44]	106
	3	USA 99	Nostalgia	Blake & Lud Kimbrough	20		18			41		7	35		16	9	1		[41]	106
	4	USA 153	Surge	Geoffrey Pierini	15		34/ZFP			25		19	31		2	11	3		[34]	106
	5	USA 59	Jaya	Craig Tallman		32		28		15	18			20	5	2	22		[32]	110
	6	USA 151	Reach Around	Thomas Bowen		27	20		20			31		24	1	10	10		[31]	112
	7	USA 351	Cake	Scott Deardorff		21	9		23			28		37	4	3	25		[37]	113
	8	USA 073	Occams Razor	Walt and Tricia Pletcher		33		26		21	43			27	3	5	8		[43]	123
	9	USA 15	Junior	Tim Finkle		18		13		31	23			19	11	23	21		[31]	128
	10	USA 222	Junkanoo	Suzy Leech	30			29	22		16		21		15	21	11		[30]	135
	11	USA 64	Exit Strategy II	Jack Martin	29			25	29		36		17		7	8	26		[36]	141
	12	GBR 433	Darwin Property Investment Management	Charlie Esse	25			23	40		27		41		10	6	14		[41]	145
	13	USA 199	Mojito	Catharine Evans		23	16		34			35		25	23	15	12		[35]	148
	14	USA 245	USA 245	Tyler Doyle		19		22		35	35			23	13	19	17		[35]	148
	15	BRA 493	To Nessa	Renato Faria		10	22		28			30		35	18	12	32		[35]	152
	16	USA 589	Full Monty	Latane Montague	27			27	19		26.3/RDG		32		25	22	6		[32]	152
	17	USA 305	Soggy Dollar	Dave Vieregg	32			33	32		26		18		14	16	19		[33]	157
	18	CAN 360	REX	Scott Weakley		31	44/ZFP		15			34		26	6	17	30		[44]	159
	19	USA 243	VitaminJ	Ted Johnson	33		21			22		32	23		12	24	35		[35]	167
	20	CAN 550	CAN 550	Stu McCrea		30	30		21			21		32	44/ZFP	7	29		[44]	170
	21	NOR 645	Norwegian Steam	Eivind Astrup	46/DNF		24/ZFP			28		23	44		9	4	42		[46]	174
	22	USA 218	Tsunami	Thomas Iseler		46/DSQ	43/ZFP		17			27		21	36	18	13		[46]	175
	23	BER 308	Elusive	Chuck Millican	39			30	30		28		27		34	29	4		[39]	182
	24	RUS 6008	RUS 6008	Andrey Samoylov	31		36			29		39	14		22	33	20		[39]	185
	25	USA 181	GB	Chris Lewis	19		37			26		38	34		31	14	27		[38]	188
	26	USA 68	Noname	Ron Thompson		29		32		30	19			39	33	44/DNF	7		[44]	189
	27	USA 169	Empeiria	John Heaton	21		28			34		40	33		26	44/ZFP	9		[44]	191
	28	USA 497	Chinook	Frank McNamara	38			38	38		31		19		26/ZFP	30	16		[38]	198
	29	USA 25	Papawheelie	Will Keyworth		40		19		32	33			41	29	34	15		[41]	202
	30	GER 252	Rosaroter Pinguin	Juergen Waldheim	34			31	37		39		25		20	44/ZFP	18		[44]	204
	31	USA 611	Artemis	George Eberstadt		37	32		36			37		29	24	31	24		[37]	213
	32	MEX 686	DemoN	Diego Berho	46/DNF			44/DNC	45/DNC		21		29		28	25	33		[46]	225
	33	USA 219	GetMyBoat	Collin Kirby	37			36	39		34		16		41/ZFP	36/ZFP	31		[41]	229
	34	CAN 93	Dynamo	Anthony Gaffney	46/DNF			44/DNF	45/DNF		29		36		21	20	34		[46]	229
	35	BRA 677	Sudoeste	Jose Vita		35	27		33			36		38	35	26	43		[43]	230
	36	USA 373	Lucky To Be Racing	Charlie Henry	41			35	35		40		5		41	37/ZFP	38		[41]	231
	37	USA 152	Sundog	Kathy Parks	36			41	25		37		42		38	32	23		[42]	232
	38	USA 220	Phoenix	Peter Firey		34		37		37	32			33	44/ZFP	28	39		[44]	240
	39	USA 309	Cloudsourced	Stuart Williams		39		40		42	38			34	30	27	41		[42]	249
	40	USA 91	Carlos	Mike Sudofsky	35		44/ZFP			39		41	43		27	31/ZFP	36		[44]	252
	41	USA 366	Asteria	Holly Fabyan		38	44/ZFP		31			44/RAF		40	43	36	28		[44]	260
	42	AUS 7	Vamos	Tim Ryan		36		39		38	42			46/DNC	42	37	37		[46]	271
	43	USA 238	Zuni Bear	Rich Bergmann	46/DSQ		44/DSQ			45/DSQ		42	39		37	35	40		[46]	282