J/88 Midwinter Championship at St. Petersburg Yacht Club, Florida
by Julie & Chris Howell 28 Jan 04:05 PST
24-27 January 2019
Six J/88s escaped the Polar Vortex to compete in the J/88 Midwinter Championship, a part of J/Fest hosted by St. Petersburg Yacht Club in Florida.
Mike Bruno's Wings from Armonk, NY tallied nine net points in eight races after counting only firsts and seconds (dropping a fifth in race four). With team Mike Booker, Stu Johnstone, Chris Morgan, Tim Randall and Stephen Yip, Wings secured five bullets and relished the breezy conditions on Friday and Saturday, when four races per day were completed.
Rain and unstable weather prevented any contests on Sunday. Iris Vogel's Deviation took second place with 19 points, including two first-place finishes on day one. William Purdy's Whirlwind also notched 19 points, but had to settle for the bronze position.
Overall Results:
1. Wings, Mike Bruno, 1 -2 -1 -[5] -1 -1 -1 -2; 9pts
2. Deviation, Iris Vogel, [5] -1 -4 -1 -4 -4 -2 -3; 19pts
3. Whirlwind, William Purdy, 4 -4 -2 -3 -3 -2 -[5] -1; 19pts
4. Gaucho, Dave Tufts, 2 -5 -3 -2 -5 -[6] -3 -5; 25pts
5. Exile, Andy Graff, 3 -3 -[6] -6 -2 -5 -4 -4; 27pts
6. Dutch, John & Jordan Leahey, [6] -6 -5 -4 -6 -3 -6 -6; 36pts