Viper 640 North Americans - Sea breeze and cooler temperatures day 2

by Rachel Ellis on 11 Oct 2013 At the 2013 Viper North Americans in Houston, with a better forecast than yesterday, Viperers kicked it into gear for Day Two. The forecast called for a building sea breeze and cooler temperatures, and sure enough, by the end of the day Vipers were planing downwind at 14 knots in 18 knots of wind.

Day two of the Viper 640 NAs started off less than promising with about six knots of pressure. Malcolm Gefter pulled a horizon job in Race one, favoring the left. Jay Golison finished in second with Brad Boston and Jason Carroll finishing in third and fourth, respectively.

With the breeze building steadily, the second race was changed to three times around, although some teams did not get that memo – on the second run, the top five boats each sailed through the finish line with no horn before turning up to sail backward to the leeward gate, causing a large reset in the scores. Luke Lawrence was able to sneak in and snatch first place since the top four boats had unknowingly crossed the finish line too early. David Chapman, Peter Beardsley and Gefter finished in the top four.

Boats were wise to put a few turns on prior to the start of the third race as the breeze began to freshen with competitors seeing 12-13 knots throughout the race. Carroll crossed the line first, 20 boat lengths in front, with Kevin Taugher, Chapman, and Gefter rounding out the top four.

The final race of the day saw the wind max out at 15-18 knots with 18 knots sustaining and two to three feet of stiff chop by the end of the day. Beardsley with co-skipper Jay Rhame, was the only boat sailing four up, and was able to crush upwind and the planing conditions allowed them to hang on downwind, with Boston, Taugher and Carroll finishing close behind.

The top of the standings are extremely tight. Carroll moved into first, inching out Gefter on a tiebreaker (two bullets to one) Jay Golison, Ched Proctor and Steve Flam sailed well, but the Day one leaders dropped to third overall, two points out of the lead. Lawrence is holding on to his steady fourth place position.

There was an informal gathering after racing at HYC with kegs sponsored by KO Sailing.

Top Ten Results
1. Argo, Jason Carroll, 4, 1, 3, 4, [11], 1, 4 = 17T
2. Celeritas, Malcolm Gefter, 2, 2, 5, 1, 3, 4, [14] = 17 T
3. It's All Good, Jay Golison, 1, 3, 2, 2, 6, 5, [9] = 19 pts
4. Arethusa, Luke Lawrence, 5, 4, 1, 5, 1, [10], 8 = 24 pts
5. Hot Mess, Kevin Taugher, 3, 5, 8, [38/OCS], 7, 2, 3 = 28 pts
6. Jackpot, Brad Boston, 7, 13, 7, 3, 10, 8, 2 = 37 pts
7. Panda Capacitor, Jay Rhame/Peter Beardsley, 16, 7, 4, [17], 4, 11, 1 = 43 pts
8. Thirty-One, David Chapman, 19, 6, 6, 15, 2, 3, 12 = 44 pts
9. A Single Shade Of Grey, Jonathan Nye, 8, 10, 9, 14, 5, 6, [17] = 52 pts
10. Circle of Trust, Farley Fontenot, 15, 12, [17], 12, 8, 9, 7 = 63 Event website