M32 World Championship at Newport, Rhode Island - Day 3
by M32 World 30 Sep 2023 22:04 PDT
September 25 - October 1, 2023
The M32 fleet has a new landscape. On the eve of the M32 World Championship finale, Jake Julien and Jen Wilson are in pole position with only four races left.
"I was nervous going into today. Definitely nervous now," said 17-year-old Jake Julien. "We weren't safe before, and we're still not safe." Julien has a seven point lead, and the leaderboard is anything but locked up. Julien and Wilson switched leads multiple times today in the overall standings. No matter what happens tomorrow, what's clear is there's a new norm here in the M32 fleet.
"We're here to win," said Wilson. "We're here to show that girls can sail." Wilson sails with her niece Ava Wilson, a senior at University of Rhode Island.
It's a family affair with the dads tied for third: Don Wilson's Convexity and Bobby Julien's Dingbat each have 78 points. Don is Ava's father (Jen's brother), and Bobby is Jake and Miles Julien's father. Only 15 points behind the leader, both Bobby and Don will be rumbling with a vengeance tomorrow.
15-year-old Miles and his YoungBlood team won the day today. "I think they had a nice view of our transom today," jeered Miles at his older brother Jake. "There might be some brotherhood competition between them," said YoungBlood tactician Carlos Robles.
"Four more races to go and the points are pretty tight, so it's still anyone's game," said Jen.
Race One: Don Wilson's Convexity won the first race of the day in a dominating fashion; they didn't give anyone else a chance.
Race Two: Larry Phillips's Midtown Racing earned the win. Dan Cheresh's Extreme" gave them a run for their money at the halfway point, but Phillips throttled through and came away with the win
Race Three: Like a déjà vu from last year's World Championship, Extreme" and Convexity started the race neck-and-neck. But this time, Midtown gassed both of them then shut the door.
Race Four: Bill Ruh and his Pursuit team had a fierce fourth race. They defended against the hard-charging brothers and took home yet another set of M32 Race Winner shot glasses.
Race Five: Another runaway for Convexity.
Notice anything? Missing in all of the race wins are today's top three characters: Rated X, Convergence, and YoungBlood. What a testament to the level of competition in the M32 fleet. "It's really top notch. All the best sailors in the world are here," said Jen.
"It's never easy," said Robles. "The pack is really strong, there's no bad boats out there."
The champagne will spray tomorrow. Who will be holding the bottle? Let's find out.
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