J/24 World Championship at Boltenhagen, Germany - Day 2
by Lina Nagel 1 Sep 2015 21:58 BST
31 August - 4 September 2015
Ian Southworth leads, Mike Ingham in hot pursuit
Conditions were challenging on day 2 of the J/24 World Championships in Boltenhagen, Germany: Winds of up to 20 knots with huge 20 to 30 degree shifts caused some big changes on the leader board. Ian Southworth (GBR 5219) and his seasoned crew sailed two excellent races and took the lead, followed by Mike Ingham (USA 5443) and Pietro Diamanti (ITA 212)
On day two of the J/24 worlds, Boltenhagen on the Baltic coast once again proved to be a very tricky sailing area. "We are racing in a closed bay which makes things very difficult", said Chris McLaughlin, crew member on the leading boat "Il Riccio"; "as the race course is close inshore, the tree lines make challenging 20 to 30 degrees shifts. The skill is to judge exactly when you need to tack."
In the first race of the day, the fleet faced easterly winds up to 20 knots which is the critical limit between too much wind for the genoa and too little wind for the jib. With a first place and a second place, Ian Southworth and his crew delivered a very constant performance. Southworth, who has been racing with the same crew the last 10 years, has a team of very skilled sailors including tactician David Howlett, who is also head coach of the German Olympic team.
Southworth already has an impressive lead of 22 points over second-placed Mike Ingham who has the same number of points as third-placed Pietro Diamanti.
"Tomorrow will be even tougher," said Chris McLaughlin; "In the J/24 class, there is nothing worse than getting excited about a good position. We have to stay cool and keep performing constantly. You just need one disqualification, and one of the other guys will get you." Asked for his strongest competition, McLaughlin mentioned Mike Ingham (USA), Pietro Diamanti (ITA) and Travis Odenbach (USA), but also the Greek Iasonas Spanomalis who was sailing very fast on the course.
From a German point of view, Stefan Karsunke from Hamburg did an excellent job today. With a third and a sixth place, he and his crew are in fifth position overall. Stefan Karsunke is also a very experienced helmsman who has been racing J/24 for more than 15 years. Frank Schönfeldt, one of host nation's top sailors, had some bad luck today when his rudder broke before the first start, and is currently in 27th position.
On Wednesday, the wind is expected to pick up even more, so racing will stay exciting. All races can be followed on the live tracker of the event partner TracTrac.
Race Tracking to follow the races live can be found at www.tractrac.com/index.php?page=eventpage&id=592
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