J24 World Day 3

by Dana Paxton on 29 Sep 2000 Fleet Hierarchy Emerges at MFS Regatta® J/24 World Championship - Day 3

Five races complete in series; Read and Vascotto tied in lead
NEWPORT, R.I., USA (September 27, 2000) - With the completion of races 4 and
5 today, the MFS Regatta J/24 World Championship is officially a series and
competitors can now drop their worst score.

Factoring in a thowout race, the scoreboard is tied between Brad Read (Middletown, R.I.) and 1999 J/24 World Champion Vasco Vascotto (Trieste, ITA), each with 16 points. Tricky wind
shifts contributed to a handful of general recalls, a couple of black flags,
short tempers at the marks and a multitude of incidents that have once again
filled the International Jury's docket for the evening.

Preliminary scores, with protests pending, have been posted and once each matter is solved
official scores will be posted to www.sailnewport.org/worlds.

Nine races are scheduled for the week, with Friday, September 29 as the last day of sailing.
Supported by US Watercraft and Cambridge Technology Partners, the regatta is
hosted by Ida Lewis Yacht Club, Sail Newport and Fleet 50 of the
International J/24 Class Association.

After patiently waiting for close to two hours for the wind to fill in from
the northwest, Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio (Essex, Conn.) started the
fleet under sunny skies and in 15 knots. Not once, but twice the fleet was
recalled for too many over-early boats at the start.

With two general recalls, it was black flag time, or automatic disqualification for starting
early. Two boats were determined OCS (on course side): Tony Parker's Bangor
Packet (Annapolis, Md.) and Tito Gonzalez's 35 Sur (Santiago, Chile).

Read and his crew on Blind Squirrel played a conservative start and went for
the boat end of the starting line. "We shucked and jibed up there," he said
smiling. "My guys were hootin' and hollerin' when we came off the line. We
ended up winning the boat."

Conservative sailing and picking the right shift paid off for Read as they finished second behind Chris Snow (San Diego, Calif.). Rounding out the top 10 in race 4 were Jody Swanson (Buffalo, N.Y.), Roberto Martinez (Torino, ITA), Keith Whittemore (Seattle, Wash.),
Andrew Pimental (Newport, R.I.), Vascotto, Stuart Challoner (Island Heights,
N.J.), David Ferguson (Deephaven, Mich.), and Andrea Rachelli (Saubadia, ITA).

By the start of race two, the wind had increased to approximately 18 knots.
Again, the start went to a black flag. All boats were determined clear at
the start by the Race Committee. A solid start for Vascotto and his crew on
Bagua gave him a comfortable jump to the first weather mark, where he rounded
in the top 10, increased the lead with each subsequent mark and finished
fifth. This moved him into second place overall. "Our speed was fantastic,"
said Vascotto. "We played the shifts really well and everything was perfect."

1999 North American Champion Geoff Moore (Newport, R.I.) was second, Snow
third, and Gonzalez fourth. Rounding out the top 10 (sixth through tenth)
were 1995 J/24 World Champion Bill Fortenberry (Jamestown, R.I.), Pimental,
1999 J/24 Midwinter Champion Tim Healy (Newport, R.I.) and Juan Grimaldi (Mar
del Plata, ARG).

The International Tennis Hall of Fame, headquartered in Newport, R.I,
sponsored today's daily top three trophies. Tuesday's daily trophy
presentation was sponsored by Marina Grille, on Goat Island in Newport.

For complete results, photos, a list of competitors, and more go to
www.sailnewport.org/worlds.

Cumulative Scores, with protests pending, after five races (including a
throwout race):

1. Brad Read (Middletown, R.I.) 16 points
2. Vasco Vascotto (Trieste, ITA) 16 points
3. Keith Whittemore (Seattle, Wash.) 29 points
4. Andrew Pimental (Newport, R.I.) 39 points
5. Chris Snow (San Diego, Calif.) 40 points
6. Geoff Moore (Newport, R.I.) 40 points
7. Chris Zaleski (Norwalk, Conn.) 41 points
8. Jeff Johnstone (Portsmouth, R.I.) 52 points
9. Carlos Campolo (Buenos Aires, ARG) 57 points
10. Roberto Martinez (Torino, ITA) 58 points