Rob Ruhlman's Spaceman Spiff nabs J/111 Midwinter Championship
by Julie & Chris Howell 28 Jan 2019 06:11 PST
24-27 January 2019
After eight races, only two points separated the four boats competing for the J/111 Midwinter Championship, a part of J/Fest hosted by St. Petersburg Yacht Club in Florida.
By way of a bullet in Saturday's last (and ultimately final) battle, Rob Ruhlman's Spaceman Spiff eked out the title with crew Dustin Graef, Jeff Haase, Marty Kullman, Doug Moose, Abigail Ruhlman, Ryan Ruhlman and Jim Sminchak. Four races were completed on Friday and again on Saturday in breezy conditions, although rain and unstable weather prevented any contests on Sunday.
Ending with 15 net points, Spaceman Spiff flipped positions throughout the Championship with Ian Hill's Sitella (who placed second with 16 points), the Andrew Ward/Sedgwick Ward team on Bravo (also with 16 points for third place) and Jeffrey Davis' Shamrock with 17 points.
Overall Results:
1. Spaceman Spiff, Rob Ruhlman, 3, 2, 2, 1, [4], 2, 4, 1; 15pts
2. Sitella, Ian Hill, [4], 1, 4, 3, 1, 1, 2, 4; 16pts
3. Bravo, Andrew Ward/Sedgwick Ward, 2, 3, 1, [4], 2, 3, 3, 2; 16pts
4. Shamrock, Jeffrey Davis, 1, 4, 3, 2, 3, [5], 1, 3; 17pts