Allstate Sugar Bowl 2023 Viper 640 World Championship

Allstate Sugar Bowl 2023 Viper 640 World Championship - Day 4

by Icarus Sports 31 Mar 14:21 PDT March 26 - 31, 2023

Allstate Sugar Bowl 2023 Viper 640 World Championship © Allstate Sugar Bowl Viper 640 Worlds

On a Chamber of Commerce sailing day on Lake Pontchartrain, Brad Boston of Windsor, Canada maintained a tie at the top with Jackson Benvenutti of New Orleans in the Allstate Sugar Bowl Viper 640 World Championship after four more races on Thursday.

The skies cleared overnight, and the winds stayed fresh out of the east all day building to about 14 knots. That gave the Race Committee the opportunity to complete four races, the maximum allowed by the regatta rules.

Allstate Sugar Bowl 2023 Viper 640 World Championship - photo © Allstate Sugar Bowl Viper 640 World Championship

Boston posted finishes of 4-5-1-3 to total 22 points, the same as Benvenutti, who finished 1-1-8-1 for the day. Boston has skippered the boat during the regatta, even though Lee Shuckerow was listed as skipper in the official documents. Boston sailed for Canada in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics.

Boston's crew includes Lee Shuckerow and Eric Vigrass. Benvenutti's team includes Christopher Alexander and Andrew Eagan, the latter of whom sailed with Benvenutti on the 2019 Viper Worlds winner, then skippered by Marcus Eagan.

Jimmy Praley from Annapolis, MD, was able to exclude his score from the first race when he was disqualified at the start. Sailing with Mike Coe and Austin Powers, Praley posted a record of 2-3-7-2 Thursday, placing him third with 36 points, one ahead of Mark Zagol of Pawcatuck, CT, who went into the day in third place and is now just one point behind in fourth.

Zagol of Pawcatuck, CT, is sailing with Drew Buttner and Timothy Desmond.

Allstate Sugar Bowl 2023 Viper 640 World Championship - photo © Allstate Sugar Bowl Viper 640 World Championship

The regatta rules allow competitors to exclude their worst score if six or more races are sailed, and after Thursday, the regatta is back on track for a total of 12 races if conditions hold steady on Friday.

The Allstate Sugar Bowl Viper World Championship has drawn 34 entries from Canada, Jamaica, India and 14 U.S. states from California to Maine to compete for the top prize in one of the most competitive sailboat classes in the world.

The Viper 640 is a two-to-four-person, high-performance sport boat about 21 feet long.

The 640 is strict one-design with no changes permitted to the boat as supplied by the class approved builder. The only option is sails, supplied by class approved sailmakers and strictly controlled through class rules.

"Sailing has been a proud piece of the Sugar Bowl tradition from the beginning, getting its start even before the first Sugar Bowl Football Classic," said Committee President Richard Briede. "We're so pleased and excited to expand on that tradition by sponsoring this year's Viper World Championships on Lake Pontchartrain."

Results after Day 4:

Pos	Boat name	Sail No	Skipper	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	Pts
1	Psycho Tiller	USA296	Jackson Benvenutti	1	2	2	6	[9]	1	1	8	1	22
2	JACKPOT	CAN326	Lee Shuckerow	4	3	1	[11]	1	4	5	1	3	22
3	Robot Flamingo	USA298	Jimmy Praley	[UFD]	1	8	10	3	2	3	7	2	36
4	NESS	USA158	Mark Zagol	3	5	5	3	[7]	3	6	5	7	37
5	Boomslang	USA247	Geoffrey Fargo	5	9	4	9	4	[UFD]	2	3	6	42
6	Crazyhorse Mongoose	USA232	Zak Fanberg	12	6	7	2	[18]	6	7	4	5	49
7	Merica	USA255	Karl and Paul Kleinschrodt	11	10	3	13	[20]	5	4	2	4	52
8	Southern Challenge	USA312	Ricky Welch	2	7	9	1	6	11	8	[12]	9	53
9	Loco	USA287	Ed Feo	6	8	6	4	11	8	[24]	6	11	60
10	Team Z	USA237	Marek Zaleski	8	4	10	[14]	10	7	13	11	14	77
11	Great Scott!	USA269	Peter Beardsley	10	19	[22]	12	8	13	10	9	8	89
12	Spitfire	USA 314	Nick Lovell	16	14	11	7	15	14	9	[18]	12	98
13	Juicy	USA285	Mike Levert	9	13	[20]	17	2	12	16	13	19	101
14	Strategery XI	USA246	Cam Farrah	7	[21]	17	5	12	19	18	14	10	102
15	Meow!	USA294	Cole Constantineau	15	12	12	8	13	15	[19]	16	18	109
16	Caterpillar	USA277	Peter Ill	17	16	14	20	[26]	9	14	22	17	129
17	Rolling Thunder	IND188	Vir Menon	24	15	13	16	16	[UFD]	12	17	23	136
18	Oshunmare	CAN328	Steve Chapman	18	18	15	[28]	24	17	15	19	13	139
19	Mr Humble	USA254	Zane Yoder	[UFD]	25	16	15	27	10	20	15	15	143
20	Sparky	USA253	Michael Puleo	13	[30]	24	23	5	18	25	26	21	155
21	Evil Hiss	USA297	Mary Ewenson	[UFD]	17	18	19	22	20	21	10	UFD	161
22	All Fruits Ripe	JAM127	Marina Maffessanti	20	11	28	29	17	16	17	[DNC]	24	162
23	Widespread Panic	CAN194	Arden Carleton	27	22	21	22	14	25	[30]	20	26	177
24	KAA	USA129	Carson Downing	[25]	23	19	24	19	22	22	23	25	177
25	USA 301	USA301	Gabriel Ferramola	21	27	25	21	[UFD]	23	11	UFD	16	178
26	Suspect	USA260	Mike Lebov	23	[29]	27	18	21	21	23	24	22	179
27	Patched Up	USA39	Marcelo Pereira	28	20	26	[30]	30	26	28	29	?	187
28	Touch of Grey	USA15	Adam White	14	26	23	27	25	[UFD]	27	21	28	191
29	Big Energy	USA180	Doug Jensen	29	24	29	25	23	[UFD]	26	25	20	201
30	Ringle	USA154	Richard Samuels	19	[DNC]	DNC	26	29	24	31	27	31	221
31	Eight Second Ride	USA220	Steven Taylor	26	28	30	[31]	28	29	29	30	27	227
32	Boat	GYA101	Jeffrey Willis	22	[DNC]	DNC	DNC	DNC	27	28	29	30	238
33	Flight Risk	USA122	Heather Patterson	30	31	31	32	[DNC]	28	32	DNC	DNC	252