Carlos Aguilar Match Race - Barkow and Holmberg lead on day two

by Carlos Aguilar Match Race on 5 Dec 2010 Carlos Aguilar Match Race - It wasn’t inter-island ferry wake, seaplanes landing or a pirate ship full of visitors that proved challenging for sailors competing in Charlotte Amalie harbor on day two of the Carlos Aguilar Match Race, (CAMR), presented by Ulysse Nardin/Trident Jewels & Time, it was the wind.

Or, lack of it. Yet, the USA’s Sally Barkow certainly figured it out and remains undefeated in the Women’s Division, while St. Thomas’ Peter Holmberg is leading the Open Division with only one loss.

'It was more light than shifty,' says Holmberg. 'The pressure changed all the time and we often had to keep an eye more on where the next puff was coming from than our competitor.'

Holmberg, Open Division defending champ, easily beat fellow Virgin Islander and favorite, Taylor Canfield, in their first match-up of the regatta. 'Taylor is definitely sailing better than last year. But, we won the start when he was over early and it gave us a huge advantage.'

Interestingly, Holmberg’s crew includes the two innovators of the IC-24, Virgin Islands’ sailor, Chris Rosenberg and fellow-islander and boat-builder, Morgan Avery. The idea for the IC-24 began in 2000 when Rosenberg, Avery and other St. Thomas Yacht Club sailors pondered how to jump-start racing following the decimation of the Club’s sailing fleet after successive hurricanes. Their goal was a design that was economical, fast, dependable and comfortable. Enter the IC-24.

Avery says, 'The idea was to create a more comfortable cockpit.'

To do this, Avery took a used J/24 hull and fitted it with a new Melges 24-style deck mold that was wider, had no traveler, and was ideally sailed with four crew members with a combined weight of 750 pounds. There is an inside track for a genoa, but no bow pulpit and the transom is closed. The stanchions are lower and covered.

Comfortable it is, says Avery. 'You wind up with fewer bruises at the end of the day than in a J/24.'

In spite of the challenging conditions, some skippers really excelled. For example, in the Women’s Division, Brazil’s Julianna Senfft moved from sixth to fourth place by winning three matches. In the Open Division, Portugal’s Alvaro Marinho/Seth Sailing Team, moved into third place by winning four matches.

Each division completed one round-robin and three flights of the second round-robin today. Tomorrow, Saturday, the race committee hopes to finish round-robin racing and start the Semi Finals.

A Youth Regatta will take place on Saturday between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. (GMT – 4 hrs).

Finals will be sailed on Sunday.

Up for grabs is an Ulysse Nardin Lady Diver and Ulysse Nardin Maxi Marine Diver precision timepiece for the top Women’s and Open skippers, respectively. In addition, the Open winner receives an invitation to the prestigious Stena Match Cup Sweden, in Marstrand, July 4-10, 2011. The CAMR is an Official World Tour Qualifier (WTQ) for the 2011 World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) (www.worldmatchracingtour.com).

Spectators are invited to watch the racing under tented bleacher seating where there will be live narration provided by America’s Cup-sailor-turned commentator, Geordie Shaver. Arm chair viewers around the world can watch via a live webcast on www.carlosmatchrace.com. Racing starts at 9 a.m. (GMT – 4 hrs) daily.

One of the stalwart spectators has been Julia Requel Aguilar, sister of regatta namesake Carlos Aguilar.

'I know if he was here he would be so happy,' says Aguilar, who tells that her brother started sailing with she, her sister and their father on the lakes of their native country of El Salvador as a young boy and continued in his passion for the sport after moving to the Virgin Islands to work as an architect. Carlos Aguilar died in 2007.

The St. Thomas Yacht Club (STYC) and the Virgin Islands Sailing Association (VISA) are the organizing authority for the Grade 2 CAMR. The U.S. Virgin Islands is no stranger to hosting world-class match racing events, having hosted six major regattas of this type in the last twelve years.

DAY TWO RESULTS
(Number of Wins-Losses)

WOMENS DIVISION
Sally Barkow, USA, 10-0
Lucy MacGregor, GBR, 9-1
Genny Tulloch, USA, 7-3
Julianna Senfft, BRA, 4-6
Klaartje Zuiderbaan, NED, 4-6
Renata Decnop, BRA, 4-6
Sandy Hayes, USA, 1-9
Kelly O’Brien-Uszenski, USVI, 1-9

OPEN DIVISION
Peter Holmberg, USVI, 9-1
Taylor Canfield, USVI, 9-1
Alvaro Marinho/Seth Sailing Team, POR, 7-3
Dave Perry, USA, 6-4
Colin Rathbun, BVI, 4-6
Laurie Jury, NZL, 2-8
Chris Van Tol, USA, 2-8
Stratis Andreadis, GRE, 1-9

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