Bruschetta leads after eight races at J24 Worlds

by Di Pearson on 19 Jan 2006 Perfect conditions with big gusty south-easterly winds on Port Phillip as Bruschetta, skippered by Mauricio Santa Cruz, retains the lead after winning race eight at the J24 Worlds. Wataru Sakamoto’s Siesta (JPN) are in second and Briton's Ian Southworth retains third place, despite being disqualified from Race 7 overnight following a protest by the Brazilians.

The Bruschetta crew, skippered by Mauricio Santa Cruz, handled the gusty and lumpy seas to finish seventh in Race 7 and win Race 8 to lead the 12-race series from Wataru Sakamoto’s Siesta (JPN). There was no napping for the Siesta crew, who moved into second place following the much fancied Italian Black Jack crew’s (Luigi Ravioli) OCS in Race 7. The Italians have dropped down to fourth place overall.

Yesterday’s third placed Inmarsat (Ian Southworth, GBR) still retains that place, despite being disqualified from Race 7 overnight following a protest by the Brazilians.

Sean Wallis (Fly Emirates), the 2006 J24 National Championship has slipped a place following 12-16 scores today and Sydney sailor Doug McGain (Code Violation) has sneaked up into fifth overall following a handy win yesterday and a 6-8 score today.

Winner of Race 7 was Ben Lamb’s crew on Kaotic (AUS). 'I got a good start quarter way from the boat end – we hit the line with speed. Our tactician Ben Morrison did a good job of sending us the right way – which was the left side. After that we just kept it simple – we went for speed, but played it safe,' was Lamb’s assessment of their win.'

In Race 8, Olympic Laser medallist Michael Blackburn (J-Spot, AUS) put a cat amongst the pigeons to finish second. As the Black Jack crew match raced the Brazilians for first place to the finish, Blackburn sailed between the two to snatch second place – his years of Laser racing skill showing today.

Out on the course, set off Sandringham Yacht Club, Race Director Kevin Wilson described conditions as 'beautiful, really good' - and the images taken today justify his statement.

Winds reached 17-23 knots and there were plenty of waves to surf out on the windward/leeward course, where many broached and wiped out, including the Brazilians. 'Yes, there was a lot of action out there today,' said Wilson, continuing, 'quite a few broaches coming up to the second mark and a couple of wipe-outs under spinnaker as they went through the gybe, then a couple hit the top mark and a further two hit the finish mark, costing them all quite a few places.'

Protests and breakages too. Sean Wallis is protesting Stephen Girdis’ Convicts Revenge (AUS) amongst others and the Polish Canadian crew aboard Single Malt (Tadeusz Bartlewski), after being holed near their stern yesterday, broke their rudder today, whilst the Kiwi crew of Kicking Bottom (Simon Grain), have done everything but that – their mainsail tearing during Race 7, they did not finish Race 8 and now lay at the bottom of the table.

The 12 race series continues from the host venue, Sandringham YC tomorrow, when officials plan holding two further heats starting from 12.00pm.

Sail Melbourne is made possible by the support of event sponsors: Sport & Recreation Victoria, Collex, Parks Victoria; associate sponsors Bayside City Council and Menere's BMW Brighton and support sponsors Ronstan International, Schenker Australia, City of Kingston and the City of Port Philip.











Overall results after 8 races, 1 discard:

1 BRA37 BRUSCHETTA Mauricio Santa Cruz 33 gross 28 nett
2 JPN5179 SIESTA Wataru Sakamoto 38 35
3 GBR4270 INMARSAT Ian Southworth 47 38
4 ITA233 BLACK JACK Luigi Ravioli 64 41
5 AUS186 CODE VIOLATION Doug McGain 32 51
6 AUS190 FLY EMIRATES Sean Wallis 54 58
7 JPN5289 CEREZO Yasutaka Funazawa 28 61
8 USA1208 BRAIN CRAMP Mike Ingham 45 65
9 USA1892 THE PIE David Klatt 34 73
10 AUS145 DEATH STAR Sean Kirkjian 43 82
11 AUS171 PACEMAKER David Suda 20 85
12 JPN4085 SLED Kazuyuki Hyodo 65 88
13 AUS161 CONVICTS REVENGE Stephen Girdis 25 91
14 AUS172 INNAMINCKA John Crawford 57 91
15 GBR4268 CRAZY GOALS.CO.UK Jon Powell 27 92
16 AUS167 J-SPOT Michael Blackburn 59 96
17 AUS160 KAOTIC Ben Lamb 56 102
18 JPN5260 GEKKO Satashi Kume 46 104
19 AUS198 SECURITY BLANKET Hugo Ottaway 22 116
20 AUS195 CRACKERJACK Grant Willmott 26 121
21 AUS206 STARPAC Neville Wittey 63 122
22 AUS201 HYPERACTIVE Philip Coombs 23 123
23 AUS128 JPEG Warren Sare 53 136
24 CAN4865 REX Scott Weakley 55 142
25 JPN4907 DABOHAZE Kazuki Kumagai 37 163
26 USA2223 FIVE TO SIX Suzi Taylor 49 165
27 AUS66 NO EYE DEER Trevor Conyers 35 167
28 AUS193 WILDFIRE Kayne Binks 72 174
29 JPN4855 STELLA Sueaki Murayama 74 179
30 AUS108 FUN Alyn Stevenson 44 187
31 AUS184 ACE David West 69 194
32 JPN5019 ENTERPRISE Makoto Yamada 24 197
33 CAN4013 SINGLE MALT Tadeusz Bartlewksi 42 202
34 BER3158 PACATACK Peter Ramsdale 67 206
35 AUS205 MR BRIDGER Alister Morison 29 221
36 BER3254 FOOLISH BEHAVIOR Mike Lewis 62 222
37 AUS170 WHISPER Neil Begley 39 233
38 GBR127 GOOD COMPANY Peter Woolf 36 246
39 JPN5016 SURFMAID Etsuro Kitauchi 66 256
40 NZL6 KICKING BOTTOM Simon Grain 73 267