J70 Midwinter Championship at Tampa, Florida - Overall
by Christopher Howell 28 Feb 2016 19:55 GMT
26-28 February 2016
Glenn Darden & Reese Hillard's Hoss rules
It may have been just their second major J/70 regatta, but Glenn Darden and Reese Hillard on Hoss controlled the competition at the J/70 Midwinter Championship to earn the title. Darden, a J/80 World Champion, was at the helm with co-owner Hillard, Jonathan McKee and Karl Anderson. "I have a fabulous team," praised Darden, who has been sailing with Hillard for over 20 years. "We added Jonathan who is a Gold medalist, and I'd never sailed with him before the last couple regattas. He's helped us get up to speed." Hoss was able to throw-out a 13 from the final race, keeping a line of 3,6,2,2,1,2,2 for 18 points. The second place team, Will Welles' Sea Bags Sailing Team, was 17 points back. Allan Terhune's Dazzler completed the top three with 41 points. The top Corinthian team was William Ballard's Snaproll.
Darden credited PRO Todd Fedyazyn and the Race Committee, saying "They did a wonderful job. It was tricky, very puffy and shifty, even in the bigger breeze. We got a variety of conditions." Sunday saw the lightest winds of the three-day event at about 6 knots. The day's race winners were John Brim and Geoff Becker.
Overall Results: (top five)
1st Glenn Darden/Reese Hillard, Hoss, 3,6,2,2,1,2,2,[13] = 18pts
2nd Will Welles, Sea Bags Sailing Team, [13],2,1,3,2,10,13,4 = 35pts
3rd Allan Terhune, Jr., Dazzler, 1,3,7,1,[23],3,7,7,15 = 41pts
4th Geoff Becker, USA 25, 2,1,9, [29],4,14,24,1 = 55pts
5th John Brim, Rimette, 17,12,3,8,7,[25],1,10 = 58pts
Forty-six teams competed in the eight races from Saint Petersburg Yacht Club in Florida. Photos are available on the J/70 Class Facebook page, and complete results may be found at www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eid=1535.