J/24 UBS World Championship at Nuevo Vallarta

J/24 UBS World Championship at Nuevo Vallarta - Overall

by Kathy Taylor 10 Mar 2007 09:08 GMT

The British Inmarsat team finish sixth at the J/24 UBS Worlds in Mexico © Jay Ailworth / www.strangebird.us

Brazil’s Mauricio SantaCruz and his team on Bruschetta are the 2007 J/24 World Champions. Bruschetta led the boat parade through Nuevo Vallarta Harbour to cheers and horns on the final day of what everyone is calling “The Best Worlds Ever”.

Sitting in top spot all week, SantaCruz went into the final day needing only to hold off the three USA boats that have been chasing him since Day One. Mike Ingham’s Brain Cramp (12-7) finished in second place with Mark Hillman (28-4) driving WIP in third. Chris Snow on Bogus, who was in the top four most of the week, dropped to 8th place after 36-8 finishes today

SantaCruz retired after the first race ,the Championship in hand after his 18th place finish.

Japan’s Cerezo (14-16-11-5-10-4-12-(18)-5-12) driven by Yasutaka Funazawa had consistent finishes and beat out Siesta helmed by 2006 second place finisher at the Melbourne Worlds, Wataru Sakamoto, who had both a BFD and a second place finish today.

This last day saw some of the best racing of the week with10 knot winds and mostly flat seas. USA’s Tundra Rose had its best finishes of the week with two bullets. Mexico’s Kenneth Porter sailing S, who has been in the top 15 all week, maintained his third place through all legs, with Argentina’s Chimera driven by the team of Alejo/Gonzales working their way up through the fleet to challenge Tundra Rose at the finish.

In Race Two, Siesta led around all the marks, followed closely by Tundra Rose and Argentina’s Tag Heuer driven by Grimaldi/Contessi. In a tight finish, USA’s Tundra Rose edged out Japan’s Siesta to finish the Championship in 39th place.

Tonight’s Awards Presentations are the final official event of the 2007 J/24 UBS World Championship Vallarta.

Close racing takes J24 Worlds to a nerve wracking finish (from Chris McLaughlin)

The UBS sponsored, J 24 World Championship closed in particularly testing conditions for competitors at Banderas Bay, Puerta Vallarta, Mexico.

As 2006 World Champion, Mauricio Santa Cruz of Brazil retained his title with a race to spare, seven competitors battled for the runner-up spot.

Chris Snow of USA held the spot overnight having sailed a careful series. Third placed Mark Hillman of USA hoped to move up whilst Britain’s Ian Southworth led Mike Ingham of USA for fourth place. Also poised to pounce were the Japanese crews of Sakamoto and Funazawa.

The race officer moved the start of race 9 forward by one hour, but the wind had decided not to join in. This resulted in an attempt to start in 5 mph wind with current pushing the fleet up into the committee boat. The resultant raft saw damage, a general recall and a black flag start.

Wataru Sakamoto led the charge and was black flagged, while 54th placed Keith Whitemore of USA, sailing Tundra Rose, wriggled clear to take his first win of the day. Argentine sailor Alejo, was second with Ken Porter of Mexico, sailing Comex, third. Porter had a great week in the light, local conditions to finish 14th overall.

Series hopefuls headed for their calculators as Chris Snow picked up a 36th place. European Champion, Ian Southworth, sailing Inmarsat, finished 17th, after being blocked by the starting raft, and slipped to 5th overall.

Competitors scoured the course for wind but none was to come.

As on many previous occasions during the week, the Race Officer struggled with the local tidal effects. His three boat line system had not worked well. The middle boat, from which he sought to control the race, was often ahead or behind the line. Competitors were further stressed by race spectators, who moved ever closer to the weather mark to cheer friends, before endearingly powering their Sunseekers down around the fleet to the Leeward Mark. Light winds and motorboat chop are not a happy mix.

Race 10 started with a general recall and a further black flag. It was a rerun of the morning. 5 mph winds, chop, spectator wash and a raft of boats and collisions as boats sought to start starboard end and tack right. Local, Ken Porter led the charge and got black flagged as did eleven other boats. 12 were black flagged.

Tundra Rose took the lead from Wataru Sakamoto in Siesta and Luis Grimaldi of Argentina. Mark Hillman recovering from a morning 26th finished 4th, the local Mexican crew of Murieta and Beho, sailing GQ Mexico, took 5th.

As the dust cleared, Mike Ingham, joint 4th in the morning, had moved up to a well deserved 2nd overall, ahead of Mark Hillman, who was sailing with a crew that included 2005 World Champion, Anthony Koutoun as tactician. Yasutaka Funazawa of Japan, sailing Cerezo, scored a 5th and a 12th to grab 4th overall and on arrival at the dock, Wataru Sakamoto discovered he had passed Ian Southworth by a single point to take 5th place. The Argentine crew of Alejo and Gonzalez then found that they had pushed previously second-placed Chris Snow into 8th, while Rossi Milev of Canada came within two points of also beating the leading USA crew. Taking 10th place was Luis Grimaldi of Argentina, who did just enough with a last race 3rd to beat Ryan Cox, USA to a place trophy.

This was a highly competitive series, sailed in predominantly light airs. Seventy boats were extensively measured by internationally qualified judges over three days and the Race Committee worked hard to provide great racing. Once again the J24 Fleet showed itself both competitive and good humoured, even on days when there were over thirty protests to be heard.

Elite corporate sponsorship from UBS Bank, the Regional Puerta Vallarit Regional Government, Globalstar, Lincoln Cars, Scappino Clothing and American Express made the 29th J24 World Championship “The Best Ever” and set a high bar for the Italian Fleet, hosts of the 30th World Championship at Porto Rotundo, Sardinia in 2008.

Ian Southworth comments “What a championship, very hard racing and on the last day so many could still get second place. My congratulations to Mauricio Santa Cruz and his team, who did so well and my thanks to our sponsors, Inmarsat plc, to Henri Lloyd for the clothing that kept us cool and to technical helpers, Harken GB. We look forward to Sardinia".

Ian Southworth’s crew were: Andy McLelland, Cockpit; Max Skelley, Tactics; Chris McLaughlin, Mast and Chris Crockett, Bow. They used Ullman Sails On a Charleston Spar and an Italia J Boat hull.

Other British placings were: Bob Turner in Serco Defence, 28th and Gareth Chalmers in 33rd. Both were sailing charter boats.

Overall Results:

Pos	Helm	Nat	Boat Name	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	Pts
1	Mauricio Santacruz	BRA	Bruschetta	3	3	8	1	7	6	13	4	18	(71\DNS)	63
2	Mike Ingham	USA	Brain Cramp	7	2	-16	11	8	2	16	16	12	7	81
3	Mark Hillman	USA	Bethesda	18	1	25	4	2	3	9	19	-28	4	85
4	Yasutaka Funazawa	JPN	Cerezo	14	16	11	5	10	4	12	-18	5	12	89
5	Wataru Sakamoto	JPN	Siesta	21	20	1	7	6	12	18	7	(71\BFD)	2	94
6	Southworth / McLaughlin	GBR	Inmarsat/Hedgehog	(50\ZFP)	12	15	9	1	16	7	1	17	17	95
7	Alejo / Gonzalez	ARG	Chimera	12	18	(71\DSQ)	33\SCP	3	10	4	5	2	14	101
8	Chris Snow	USA	Bogus	8	4	5	2	-36	5	14	9	36	18	101
9	Rossi Milev	CAN	ING Direct	10	19	19\SCP	3	5	18	-22	6	13	10	103
10	Grimaldi / Contessi	ARG	Tag Heuer	16	5	3	12	25	(71\DSQ)	2	20	19\RDG	3	105
11	Ryan Cox	USA		4	6	4	18	23	23	6	(37\SCP)	16	8	108
12	David Klatt	USA	Jaded	1	13	6	27	16	19	-48	2	19	15	118
13	Yon Belauteguigoitia	MEX	Metiche	17	26	7	20	19	(71\DSQ)	8	8	31	9	145
14	Kenneth Porter	MEX	S	5	9	18	25	12	28	26	22	3	(71\BFD)	148
15	Will Welles	USA	Cougar	19	10	10	15	15	17	35	21	9	(71\BFD)	151
16	Tomomi Hatakeyama	JPN	Gekko	16\ZFP	(32\SCP)	17	30	17	11	10	31	20	16	168
17	Per von Appen	CHI	Reloaded	33	15	2	17	9	7	29	39	-41	24	175
18	Mr Tsuji	JPN	Ripple/Profe	(71\BFD)	24	19	42	18	37	5	14	14	11	184
19	Murrieta / Berho	MEX	GQ	23	31	12	21	13	(71\DNF)	32	23	26	5	186
20	Bob Harden	USA	Mister Happy	9	7	38	33	38	-50	21	3	22	19	190
21	Santiago Silveira	URU	Vientos	47	14	(71\DSQ)	22	29	21	15	10	32	13	203
22	Dag von Appen	CHI	Sebago	26	31\SCP	21	8	21	(71\OCS)	11\SCP	24	15	71\BFD	228
23	Javier Arribas Leigh	PER	Pisco Sour	39	38	20	31	14	29	11	12	35	(71\BFD)	229
24	Masashi Hirota	JPN	Parranda	-58	29	26	13	26	31	20	36	27	27	235
25	Montes/ Zan	ARG	Jobbit 24	25	-54	32	34	22	36	50	15	25	6	245
26	Roger Harden	USA	Get'er Done	41\ZFP	8	13	28	4	40	43\SCP	-57	39	33	249
27	John Polglase	CAN	Fragata	(71\BFD)	11	50\SCP	16	41	1	39	37	30	30	255
28	Turner / Clarke	GBR	Serco Defense	6	28	27	32	35	-52	52	30	11	34	255
29	Julian Fernandez	MEX	Good Vibes	15	35	(71\DSQ)	38	44	26	3	35	49	23	268
30	Robert Vulling	MEX	Cero Baro	48\ZFP	34	39	43	-55	35	23	28	6	28	284
31	Diego Garcia Terra	URU	H2GO	37	25	14	16\SCP	39	(71\DNF)	43	50	34	32	290
32	Claudio Cozzi	MEX	Arlequin	34\ZFP	23	55	44	52	9	17	32	-60	26	292
33	Chalmers / Robinson	GBR	Alebrije	41	42\SCP	28	35	42	27	-54	46	8	39	308
34	Michael Whitfield	USA	TMC Racing	48	46	22	14	24	34	45	29	-63	48	310
35	Robin Avery	CAN	Temptation	22	42	24	24	40	49	37	51	-56	21	310
36	Javier Velazquez	MEX	Trinquete	(71\BFD)	17	48	10	56	24	28	71\DSQ	7	51	312
37	Sargenti/ Di Faria	ITA	El del Mono Azul	52\ZFP	(71\DSQ)	34	19	34	41	71\DSQ	17	4	43	315
38	Gustavo Coll	URU	Super Machos	25\ZFP	39	(71\DSQ)	40	27	13	41	40	45	46	316
39	Keith Whittemore	USA	Tundra Rose	41\*1	(71\*2)	71\DNF	71\DNS	11	71\OCS	40	11	1	1	318
40	Shuhei Saito	JPN	A Que Si	45\ZFP	40	43	56	33	33	-60	26	21	22	319
41	Manuel Villareal	MEX	Amura	59\ZFP	51	30	41	30	35\SCP	(71\OCS)	13	44	31	334
42	Alec Hughes	PER	Sea Lion	57	51\SCP	35	36	20	48	19	25	51	(71\BFD)	342
43	Jason Decker	USA	Rush (4X4)	49\ZFP	33	41	50	-58	8	42	44	40	44	351
44	Luis Alvarez	MEX	Ta'lento	32	47	52	39	-65	45	62	38	10	35	360
45	Joaquin Bargallo	MEX	Tenaz	38\ZFP	48	45	(71\OCS)	49	46	25	33	37	41	362
46	Hector Guzman	MEX	Tres Velas	(71\BFD)	53\SCP	42	47	31	22	57	43	24	47	366
47	Per Hakan Persson	SWE	Front Runnner/Nao	29	44	33\RDG	26	48	39	51	55	-58	50	375
48	ED Leslie	USA	Carisma	52	56	51	29	32	51	36	-59	46	25	378
49	Gian Maria Pantella	ITA	Capolago	42\ZFP	49	37	53	-57	47	38	48	38	36	388
50	Dennis Gentry	MEX	Terror	(71\BFD)	27	33	44	37	56	46	58	53	37	391
51	Mergenthaler/ de la Madrid	MEX	Jut Tub 2	(71\*3)	50	31	45	45	58	30	42	71\DSQ	20	392
52	Peter Colliard	MEX	Kawabunga	(71\BFD)	45	29	71\OCS	51	14	31	45	47	71\BFD	404
53	Mauricio Miranda	MEX	Digger	58\ZFP	37	23	37	53\SCP	38	58	57\SCP	43	(71\BFD)	404
54	Ricardo Brockman	MEX	Ayahootz	42	55	49	55	50	20	44	-56	55	38	408
55	Pablo Cervantes	MEX	Besanga	(71\BFD)	36	47	62	46	32	71\OCS	41	62	29	426
56	Francisco Guzman	MEX	Zorro	(71\*4)	30	46	69\SCP	28	55	56	61	33	71\BFD	449
57	Sarah Buckley	USA	Chile Manzano	49	58	60	52	-66	42	34	60	42	56	453
58	Javier Cabildo	MEX	Lata	54\ZFP	(71\DSQ)	36	71\*5	63\SCP	43	24	63	67	45	466
59	Brandon Lambert	CAN	Whiplash	(71\ZFP)	59	59	49	47	57	63	34	50	49	467
60	Luis Morales	MEX	Orion	(71\BFD)	53	71\OCS	63	60	15	49	53	61	54	479
61	Tim Bilham	AUS	Asterix	70\*6	(71\DSQ)	54\SCP	46	54	54	55	52	29	71\BFD	485
62	Pablo Gutierrez	MEX	Buddy	(67\ZFP)	63	50	48	63	53	53	65	59	42	496
63	Klaus Wiegandt	MEX	Zephyr	44\ZFP	57	64	(71\DNF)	62	30	59	71\DSQ	66	53	506
64	Jorge Castillo	MEX	Caspian	54	62	62	57	61	59	(71\SCP)	67	48	40	510
65	Aroldo Di Rienzo	ITA	Jeton	69\ZFP	65	58	(71\SCP)	67	60	27	49	54	71\BFD	520
66	Bridgit Lane	USA	Juglar	43	60	(71\SCP)	58	70	62	65	54	68	55	535
67	Franco Ambrosi	MEX	Cri-Cri	51	(71\*7)	61	71\DNS	69	61	61	62	52	52	540
68	Peter Wiegandt	MEX	W	60	(71\SCP)	54	54	64	44	66	64	65	71\BFD	542
69	Karla Moreno	MEX	Pipopes One	(71\*8)	52	56	60	59	63	67	68	64	58	547
70	Rikki Hornett	BER	Tasmanian Devil	(71\BFD)	64	57	61	68	71\*9	47	66	57	57	548