Citibank J/24 Worlds at Noroton Yacht Club - Day 4

Jeffrey Johnstone Captures the lead in the 2004 Citibank J/24 World Championships

Jeffrey Johnstone, Portsmouth, RI (USA) has snatched the lead from Jens Hookanson, Middletown, RI (USA) on day four of the 2004 Citibank J/24 World Championships. Long Island Sound must have needed a rest after the high winds and huge swells of yesterday, for today the Sound was flat as a pancake with little to no wind. Race Committee started race seven in a light southerly, but it was eventually abandoned.

After waiting several hours, and sitting through a rain squall, race seven got off for a second time. The right side of the course looked like the place to be until a big shift sent everyone scrambling to the left. Hookanson made the decision to go right which proved disastrous, as he lost a lot of time trying to get back to the better wind. Hampered by such light winds, he couldn’t catch up and gave the regatta lead to Jeffrey Johnstone. Another story was developing at the top of the fleet, as the lead in this race changed several times then settled on Scott Weakly (CAN), who looked like a potential winner. That is until David Bonney, Annapolis, MD (USA) came from behind to take line honors. Bonney has owned a J/24 for only three years, and with this win moved up to 47th place from 62nd. Once over the line, Bonney received a “kiss of victory” from his new wife. The Bonneys, when they heard they had qualified for the Worlds, cut short their honeymoon to the Greek Islands to race in this year’s regatta. Asked how they managed to win a race against all these sailing greats, Bonney said, “We got a decent start and then worked our way left for some good pressure. At the first mark we were fifth, at the second we move up to fourth, then to third at the next mark. Rounding the leeward mark for the second time, Scott Weakly tacked to the right, and we continued left.” Their tactician, Will Crump said, “we kept revising our game plan and worked hard at shifting gears and going fast for the whole race.” And Townley, who was obviously so proud of her new husband added, “It was amazing. On the last leg as we neared the finish, boats were yelling to us, ‘go, guys, go.’ To have such support at this level of competition is truly amazing.” What a tribute to these J/24 sailors – the best in the world – to take the time to wish a competitor well. And the well wishes didn’t stop there, but continued throughout the night as the fleet enjoyed a terrific pasta dinner put on by the Noroton YC.

On Friday, two races are planned, and at day’s end, a new World Champion will be crowned. Will Johnstone hold on to his lead, or will an upstart come from behind to surprise everyone? And those “rock stars”, who have a way of climbing to the top of the leader board, will be working their magic with the wind to try to unseat Johnstone and his team on Ragtime. Should be a very interesting day.

Preliminary standings after seven races:

1. Jeffrey Johnstone, USA 49 pts
2. Jens Hookanson, USA 56 pts
3. Satoshi Kume, Japan 63 pts
4. Brad Read, USA 67 pts
5. Andy Horton, USA 74 pts
6. Skelley/Crockett, USA 75 pts
7. Alejo Rigoni, Argentina 83 pts
8. Zaleski/Zaleski, USA 84 pts
9. Yutaka Yoshida, Japan 104 pts
10. Rossi Milev, CAN 115 pts
British Placings:
45. Bob Turner/Al Clarke, GBR 221 pts
60. Nick Phillips, GBR 295 pts

For more information, go to www.j24worlds.com, for a daily race video, go to www.t2p.tv