Franco's 3 Ball JT smokes J/70 Davis Island Winter Series II
by J/Boats 19 Jan 2020 03:59 AEDT
10-12 January 2020
2019/2020 DIYC J 70 Winter Series 1 © Christopher Howell
Fresh off their winter holidays, fifty-three J/70 teams savored spectacular conditions on Tampa Bay for the middle part of the 2019-2020 J/70 Winter Series at Davis Island Yacht Club in Tampa, Florida.
With record high temperatures in Tampa, winds were ripping on Saturday, starting at a sustained 16 knots with gusts in the 20s. Four races were completed, as the wind slowly backed off. Sunday saw about eight knots, dying throughout the day, when two more races took place.
Reveling in the spectacular sailing conditions was Jack Franco's 3 Ball JT. His all-star cast of Bill Hardesty, Alec Anderson and Rob Lindley, ruled the six races, posting five bullets and an eighth for just five net points.
Brian Keane's Savasana placed second on the weekend with 26 points, but leads the overall ranking (with the final of the Series to come). Darby Smith's Africa took a second in Sunday's final contest, moving her into third for the weekend with 28 points.
Rounding out the top five was a tiebreaker at 31 pts each, winning the countback was the duo of Mark Foster and Travis Odenbach on Honeybadger while the duo of Josh Goldman and Allen Terhune took the fifth.
Bob Willis' RIP Rullah Team of Matt Clark, Michael Whitford and Patrick Hitchins, topped the 23-boat Corinthian division. They were followed by Peter Firey's Phoenix in second and Tod Sackett's FM in third.
Each Friday of the Series, SAIL22 leads the "Porch Series', which includes a North Sails debrief. Mike Marshall was this week's coach. Practice races were run, followed by a debrief and prizes. The Series concludes February 7-9.
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