Quantum J/70 Winter Series Regattas preview
by J/Boats 9 Dec 2017 00:51 PST
December 09 - 10, 2017
Quantum J/70 Winter Series Round 1 © Christopher Howell
The 2017/ 2018 edition of the fourth Quantum J/70 Winter Series continues to be a popular choice for J/70 sailors from across America, Canada, and even the Caribbean! The "sailingest yacht club in the south", the Davis Island YC, is again proud to host the enormous contingent of J/sailors descending upon them for racing the weekend of December 9th to 10th. The maximum number of entries permitted has been reached, with fifty-six entries ready to do battle on Tampa Bay, with fifteen Corinthian crews.
There is no question the "snow birds" heading south must be excited about Tampa Bay's forecast- sunny, warm, low 60s F, northerly at 10-15 kts on Saturday and more sun with lighter northerly winds of 7-12 kts on Sunday!
The Corinthians division continues to have excellent competition. Returning are two past champions- Robb Britts' Hot Mess from the host DIYC and Andrew & Melissa Fisher's Button Fly from American YC in Rye, NY. Some of the top crews challenging this formidable duo include Sarah Renz's Berteau Group from Chicago, IL (2nd in Corinthians at J/70 North Americans); Mallory & Andrew Loe's DIME from Seattle YC in Seattle, WA; Bob Willis' RIP Rullah from Chicago, IL; and Al Poindexter's USA 241 from Lakewood YC in Seabrook, TX.
With the 2018 edition of the J/70 World Championship taking place in Marblehead, MA, there is no question there are a number of teams that will be using this year's winter J/70 circuit to dial in their boat-handling, boatspeed, and tactics with their teams. The Open division will have a number of top crews that should be near the top of the leaderboard for the series. Amongst those crews should be Darby Smith's Africa from DIYC in Tampa, FL; Doug Strebel's Black River Racing from Lakewood YC in Seabrook, TX; past J/70 World Champion Joel Ronning sailing Catapult from Wayzata YC in Excelsior, MN; John Heaton's Empeiria from Chicago YC; class newcomer Kevin Downey on MR. Pitiful from Seattle YC; Oivind Lorentzen's NINE from Greenwich, CT; Bennet Greenwald's Perseverance from San Diego, CA; Peter Cunningham's Powerplay from the Cayman Islands; John Brim's Rimette from Fishers Island YC in New York; Brian Keane's Savasana from Beverly, MA; Will Welles' SCAMP from Newport, RI; and Bruno Pasquinelli's Stampede from Fort Worth, TX.
SAIL22 J/70 "Porch Series" with North U
SAIL22 and North U are combining forces to get you up to speed and at the front of the fleet. The "Porch Series" will occur on each Friday of the J/70 Winter Series, starting Friday, December 8th.
To kick off the fun regatta weekend, a dock talk by Chuck Allen and Ed Furry will begin at 12:00 PM to discuss boat setup and tuning, followed by on-the-water coaching with North U at 1:00 PM. Practice races will run by J/World from 2:00 until 4:00 PM, with a debrief immediately after sailing with North U and J/World.
To make it more interesting and exciting, Ed Furry from SAIL22 will emcee play-by-play action from the Porch at Davis Island YC, a drone will be shooting live footage online so sailors can join in the fun from home. In addition, the racing will feature the new MarkSETBot, the GPS moving mark that can be set from a mobile phone app to keep the races going!
For more about Quantum J/70 Winter Series sailing information click here.