J/80 World Championship 2014 - Massachusetts team sails to victory

by Nancy Noyes, Correspondent - Capital Gazette on 6 Oct 2014 J/80 World Championship 2014 - After three more races in shifty northwesterly winds and a strong ebb current, Massachusetts sailor Brian Keane and his Savasana team emerged the winners of the 2014 J/80 World Championship, sailed out of Eastport Yacht Club from Monday through Saturday.

After a relatively rough day on Friday, Keane had seen his previously commanding lead in the 32-boat fleet shrink drastically. The fleet left the dock yesterday morning with a mere eight point spread across the top four boats, but the Savasana team, including former Olympians Stu McNay and Canadian silver medalist Mike Wolfs along with veteran Chesapeake Bay sailor Ron Weed, pulled out finishes of three-one-four on Saturday to take the top spot in the series convincingly. Savasana finished the 16-race, one-throughout series with a margin of 16 points over the next closest in the standings, recent North Americans winner Terry Flynn and his Quantum Racing team out of Texas.

Before Saturday's racing, Keane said, 'I have great confidence in our team, that we can go out and do it. We can't be worrying about other people; we have to take care of our business.'

Take care of business they did. Although Savasana only won one race in the series – yesterday's second contest – and some speed bumps along the way with three finishes in the teens, the team racked up a lot of second-place finishes and kept the rest of the races at sixth or better to demonstrate consistent proficiency across a wide range of wind and water conditions in a highly competitive fleet to earn the championship.

'It was all about getting off the line and catching the first shift,' Keane said, describing another day of tricky, shifting breeze and challenging wave and current conditions.

Finishing the series in third, a point behind Flynn's Quantum Racing, was Connecticut sailor Kerry Klingler and his Lifted crew, with J/World Annapolis owner Jahn Tihansky and the Le Tigre team in fourth overall as top local boat. Sailing with Tihansky, who also is head coach of the Naval Academy's Varsity Offshore Sailing Team, were Max Skelley, Karl Anderson, and Willem van Way. The Annapolis-based R80 team of Will and Marie Crump, Thomas Klok, and Chris Larson finished in fifth.

Although the leader board might look as if Keane and the Savasana team had dominated the event and run away with the title, that was not the case. Each of the races in the six-day series was hard-fought against a highly competitive group fellow racers as well as against challenging weather conditions ranging from connect-the-dots light and spotty air early in the series to yesterday's gusty, shifting wind and lumpy seas. The competition was very close and leads changed often in nearly every race.

J/80 World Championship (32 Boats)
1. Savasana, Brian Keane, Weston, MA, USA, 3 -5 -2 -6 -6 -2 -2 -17 -2 -3 -13 -[18] -5 -3 -1 -4 ; 74
2. Quantum Racing, Terry Flynn, League City, TX, USA, 4 -6 -5 -1 -4 -13 -7 -5 -[14] -7 -2 -10 -3 -8 -13 -2 ; 90
3. Lifted, Kerry Klingler, Norwalk, CT, USA, 17 -4 -9 -14 -[21] -1 -8 -2 -1 -9 -1 -7 -1 -7 -3 -7 ; 91
4. LeTigre, Jahn Tihansky, Fort Worth, TX, USA, 10 -1 -3 -13 -5 -3 -[14] -7 -6 -2 -6 -12 -2 -5 -8 -11 ; 94
5. R80, Will and Marie Crump - Thomas Klok, Annapolis, MD, USA, 2 -20 -1 -9 -10 -4 -10 -1 -4 -[26] -3 -9 -10 -9 -5 -1 ; 98
6. White Lightnin', Sophie Faguet, Le Havre, Seine Maritime, FRA, 1 -3 -10 -21 -3 -17 -4 -12 -[25] -5 -7 -1 -4 -1 -19 -9 ; 117
7. Rumor, John Storck, Jr - John Storck III, Huntington, NY, USA, 5 -9 -7 -4 -1 -[15] -11 -10 -9 -6 -10 -2 -13 -14 -4 -14 ; 119
8. Parsons Project, Paul Parsons, Houston, TX, USA, [33] -2 -8 -3 -20 -5 -5 -4 -7 -10 -5 -5 -15 -2 -24 -18 ; 133
9. Mojito, Forbes Durdin, Houston, TX, USA, 14 -12 -14 -2 -9 -9 -9 -11 -5 -4 -15 -13 -8 -[18] -18 -13 ; 156
10. VAYU, David Andril, Arlington, VA, USA, 19 -16 -6 -10 -22 -8 -13 -8 -22 -1 -[30] -4 -12 -10 -6 -10 ; 167

2014 J 80 World Championship Preliminary Cumulative Results

	Bow		Sail Number	Yacht Name	Yacht Design	Owner/Skipper	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Race 5	Race 6	Race 7	Race 8	Race 9	Race 10	Race 11	Race 12	Race 13	Race 14	Race 15	Race 16	T O	Total
World Championship Racing
	One Design Division
		J 80
		1.	13		USA 1123	Savasana	J 80	Brian Keane	3	5	2	6	6	2	2	17	2	3	13	18	5	3	1	4	[18]	74.0
		2.	14		USA 655	Quantum Racing	J 80	Terry Flynn	4	6	5	1	4	13	7	5	14	7	2	10	3	8	13	2	[14]	90.0
		3.	35		USA 528	Lifted	J 80	Kerry Klingler	17	4	9	14	21	1	8	2	1	9	1	7	1	7	3	7	[21]	91.0
		4.	42		USA 1152	LeTigre	J 80	Jahn Tihansky	10	1	3	13	5	3	14	7	6	2	6	12	2	5	8	11	[14]	94.0
		5.	25		USA 1486	R80	J 80	Will & Marie Crump / Thomas Klok	2	20	1	9	10	4	10	1	4	26	3	9	10	9	5	1	[26]	98.0
		6.	41		FRA 453	White Lightnin'	J 80	Sophie Faguet	1	3	10	21	3	17	4	12	25	5	7	1	4	1	19	9	[25]	117.0
		7.	21		USA 19	Rumor	J 80	John Storck, Jr / John Storck III	5	9	7	4	1	15	11	10	9	6	10	2	13	14	4	14	[15]	119.0
		8.	12		USA 590	Parsons Project	J 80	Paul Parsons	33/OCS	2	8	3	20	5	5	4	7	10	5	5	15	2	24	18	[33]	133.0
		9.	37		USA 678	Mojito	J 80	Forbes Durdin	14	12	14	2	9	9	9	11	5	4	15	13	8	18	18	13	[18]	156.0
		10.	32		USA 739	VAYU	J 80	David Andril	19	16	6	10	22	8	13	8	22	1	30	4	12	10	6	10	[30]	167.0
		11.	24		USA 1162	USA 1162	J 80	John White	6	21	18	18	11	23	1	18	8	13	18	8	7	16	9	3	[23]	175.0
		12.	34		USA 60	Meltimi	J 80	Mike Hobson	13	14	16	8	2	6	3	26	12	16	4	16	18	20	27	5	[27]	179.0
		13.	23		USA 1150	Cool J	J 80	Alexander Kraus	11	22	15	7	24	12	19	9	3	11	11	23	6	24	10	20	[24]	203.0
		14.	36		USA 1153	More Gostosa	J 80	Kevin Hayes	12	11	20	5	26	16	17	6	27	32	21	22	14	6	14	8	[32]	225.0
		15.	19		USA 286	Mango	J 80	Ken Mangano	7	17	28	11	7	11	20	19	10	27	8	11	27	25	12	16	[28]	228.0
		16.	28		USA 11	Eleven	J 80	Bert Carp	8	27	13	24	8	14	6	25	18	8	28	15	17	11	21	22	[28]	237.0
		17.	10		USA 59	Church Key	J 80	Chris & Liz Chadwick	21	8	12	32	14	24	32	14	30	22	27	6	11	19	2	6	[32]	248.0
		18.	29		USA 284	Avet	J 80	Curt Johnson	15	24	27	29	23	18	12	24	16	20	9	25	23	4	7	15	[29]	262.0
		19.	20		USA 1318	Arrow	J 80	Nizar Abuzeni	20	25	22	17	25	10	15	26/SCP	31	18	12	14	22	12	11	17	[31]	266.0
		20.	18		USA 1151	FKA	J 80	Les Beckwith	22	7	26	12	28	7	28	15	19	19	16	17	19	15	20	33/DNF	[33]	270.0
		21.	11		GBR 251	Blind Squirrel	J 80	Bill Blank	24	19	4	23	29	21	27	16	20	28	17	3	20	17	17	19	[29]	275.0
		22.	39		USA 1313	Courageous	J 80	Gary Panariello	18	15	21	20	19	22	21	23	24	23	22	30	9	13	15	12	[30]	277.0
		23.	26		USA 259	Outlaws	J 80	Derick Lynch	23	29	17	16	17	19	18	22	11	14	26	21	21	28	16	23	[29]	292.0
		24.	33		USA 265	Gromit	J 80	Nicole Weaver	28	10	11	22	18	20	16	3	29	30	23	24	25	22	28	24	[30]	303.0
		25.	17		USA 1173	Blondie	J 80	Tod Patton	16	18	19	31	12	25	23	13	13	24	20	27	26	21	25	33/DNS	[33]	313.0
		26.	38		USA 554	Haka	J 80	Ryan McCrillis	29	13	24	30	16	28	26	29	17	12	19	20	16	26	22	21	[30]	318.0
		27.	16		USA 1314	Stacked	J 80	Ramzi Bannura	9	23	25	19	27	27	24	28	21	17	25	28	31	32	26	25	[32]	355.0
		28.	30		USA 1163	Rascal	J 80	Lucy Thomson	25	26	32	27	15	26	25	27	23	25	24	26	24	23	23	28	[32]	367.0
		29.	27		USA 1325	Dolce	J 80	Bob Yin	33/OCS	28	29	26	13	31	30	21	15	15	14	31	28	29	30	32/SCP	[33]	372.0
		30.	31		USA 1330	Vitesse	J 80	John Taylor	27	30	23	15	32	32	22	32	26	29	31	29	29	27	32	33/DNS	[33]	416.0
		31.	22		USA 1483	Wild Horses	J 80	Dave Manheimer	26	31	30	25	31	30	29	31	32	31	29	19	30	30	29	33/DNS	[33]	433.0
		32.	15		USA 402	Hijo Del Bandido	J 80	Christopher Palabrica	30	32	31	28	30	29	31	30	28	21	32	32	32	31	31	27	[32]	443.0

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Protest Filing Report as of 05/Oct/2014 @ 12:49 PM

No. Race # Protesting   Protested Reason Hearing Status Jury Decision 1. Stacked (USA 1314) vs Redress - Race Committee Concerns about scale Closed withdrawn 2. 1 Haka (USA 554) vs Lifted (USA 528) Rules 14, 11 Closed withdrawn 3. 8 Outlaws (USA 259) vs Arrow (USA 1318) Rule 18.3 Closed withdrawn 4. 9 Courageous (USA 1313) vs FKA (USA 1151) Rule 11 Closed withdrawn 5. White Lightnin' (FRA 453) vs Quantum Racing (USA 655) Rule 10 05:50PM Closed protest dismissed 6. 10 R80 (USA 1486) vs Redress - Race Committee Rule 62.1a 07:00PM Closed redress not granted 7. 16 Stacked (USA 1314) vs Dolce (USA 1325) Rules 10 and 14 05:20PM Closed 20% scoring penalty accepted

 

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