Brazil's El Enemigo crowned J/70 South American Champion!
by J/Boats 18 Dec 2023 20:17 NZDT
J/70 South American Championship © KVF Fotografia
This year's J/70 South American Championship was hosted by Yacht Club Argentino in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The thirty-three boat fleet from five countries (Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Brazil, and Great Britain) enjoyed a very diverse and challenging four days of racing. Sailing conditions on the infamous Rio de La Plata's brown river waters ranged from sunny, sybaritic, breezy planing conditions to ugly, gray, rainy, and drizzly. In the end, the YC Argentina Race Committee and PRO team managed to run a total of eight races in the very competitive fleet.
It's not surprising that most teams were "game on" and putting together their best sails, best-prepared boats, and best teamwork, as the YC Argentino will be hosting the 2025 J/70 World Championship in the very same waters!
After the eight races, it was the first time a Brazilian team had won a major championship in the J/70 class worldwide. On this occasion, it was Sam Albrecht's team of Gustavo Thiessen, Renato Plass, and Rodolfo Streibel on EL ENEMIGO that won a hotly contested top spot on the leaderboard. The EL ENEMIGO team posted a 7-12-5-2-9-4-1-9 roller coaster record for 37 pts net. That theme seemed to be the norm for the entire top of the leaderboard... good races, bad races, but trying to stay somewhat consistent.
Rounding out the podium was local Argentinean rockstars Guillermo Paraa and crew of Mariano Parada, Jorge Engelhard, and Juan Pablo Engelhard on NILDO to take the silver medal. Their record was BFD-2-2-8-5-1-15-6 for 39 pts net, just two points behind the winners. Then, earning the bronze medal was yet another Brazilian crew, Ralph Vasconcellos Rosa's MINDSET with a team of Guilherme Hamelmann, Julio Falcao, and Canarian (Spaniard J/80 World Champion) Rayco Tabares. Starting the regatta fast out of the blocks and winning by a "country mile" was the MINDSET team with a 5-1-1 for the first three races. No one else was even close. However, "the wheels fell off their shopping trolley" collecting podium finishes. The "tale of the tape" for their next five races came straight out of a "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" horror movie. While seemingly untouchable on the first day, the closing five races were a mind-blowing 13-12-7-7-22 for a 46-point net total.
The balance of the top five included Juan Diego Figueroa's HOMERO from Argentina with his crew of Gabriel Marino, Ignacio Giamona, and Juan Pereyra with 50 pts net in fourth place. And in fifth place, was the British team on the famous JELVIS, led by Martin Dent and crew of young Martin Dent, Jack Wetherell, and Henry Wetherell... truly a family affair!
Corinthians Division
Winning the Corinthians Division was Francisco Van Avermaete's SI QUERIDA and his Argentinean crew of Carlos Lacchini, Gerónimo Galván, and Rafael De Martis. The silver medal went to Pedro Garra's PLAN B team from Yacht Club Punta del Este in Uruguay- Ignacio Regusci, Enrique Schickendantz, and Ivan Guicheff. Then, completing the podium on the bronze medal step was José Arrondo's BBTO Team from Argentina - Guillermo Arrondo, Ezequiel Mendonca, and Ayrton Godoy.
For more J/70 South American Championship sailing information www.facebook.com/j70argentina.