Allstate Sugar Bowl 2023 Viper 640 World Championship - Overall
by Allstate Sugar Bowl Viper 640 Worlds 1 Apr 2023 19:35 BST
Allstate Sugar Bowl 2023 Viper World Championships © Allstate Sugar Bowl Viper 640 Worlds
The Allstate Sugar Bowl Viper 640 World Championship experienced the extremes of Lake Pontchartrain this week, when it started Monday with no wind and no racing, then finished Friday with too much wind that canceled races after the first one.
But Jackson Benvenutti of Southern Yacht Club sailed to high finishes through all the conditions, scoring only 23 points the whole week to edge out second place Brad Boston of Windsor, Canada, who finished with 27 points.
Benvenutti with his crew Christopher Alexander and Andrew Eagan never lost first place throughout the regatta, although they were tied with Boston after the second day of racing. Overall, Benvenutti took five firsts out of the ten races sailed.
Boston took fourth in Friday's race, sailing with crew Lee Shuckerow and Eric Vigrass.
"It was a very breezy day, pretty flat water, though. We just kind of stuck with it," said Benvenutti. "This has been a really big team effort for about a year. We did a bunch of events leading up to this. We kept getting better and better, making sure we were going forward and moving the needle all the time," he added.
"We just put this boat together and we're quite happy that everything's going really well," said Boston. "Jackson and Andrew and Chris just sailed great. Big congratulations to them. Everybody wants to win, but we're happy," added Boston.
Friday started with marginal conditions, when the winds shifted to the south before an advancing cold front. The first race started in about 17 knots of breeze that built to at least 20 with gusts to 30 or more by the finish. The Race Committee at that point decided that discretion was the better part of valor and sent the boats ashore to wait for more benign conditions. Shortly after, however, the forecast called for even more wind, and the Race Committee canceled the regatta for safety reasons.
Geoffrey Fargo of Santa Barbara Yacht Club took third in the regatta with a second in Friday's race. His team included Jon Bell and William McBride. Fargo totaled 38 points, edging out Mark Zagol of Pawcatuck, CT, who finished third Friday and took fourth in the regatta with 41 points. Zagol was crewed by Drew Buttner and Timothy Desmond.
Jimmy Praley from Annapolis, MD, finished fifth with 51 points after climbing as high as third at the end of Thursday's racing. Parley sailed with Mike Coe and Austin Powers, after taking a disappointing 15th in the heavy air Friday.
Zagol won the Corinthian Award for the top amateur.
Top female award went to Cam Farrah from Ft. Walton, FL. Her crew included Andrew Brennan and her dad, Cliff Farrah.
The Allstate Sugar Bowl Viper World Championship drew 34 entries from Canada, Jamaica, India and 14 U.S. states from California to Maine to compete for the top prize in one of the most competitive sailboat classes in the world.
The Viper 640 is a two-to-four-person, high-performance sport boat about 21 feet long.
The 640 is strict one-design with no changes permitted to the boat as supplied by the class approved builder. The only option is sails, supplied by class approved sailmakers and strictly controlled through class rules.
"Sailing has been a proud piece of the Sugar Bowl tradition from the beginning, getting its start even before the first Sugar Bowl Football Classic," said Committee President Richard Briede. "We're so pleased and excited to expand on that tradition by sponsoring this year's Viper World Championships on Lake Pontchartrain."
Overall Results:
Pos | Sail No | Boat Name | Owner/Skipper | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | Pts |
1 | USA 296 | Psycho Tiller | Jackson Benvenutti | BWYC / SYC / StFYC | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 23 |
2 | CAN 326 | JACKPOT | Lee Shuckerow | Crescent Sail Yacht Club | 4 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 27 |
3 | USA 247 | Boomslang | Geoffrey Fargo | Santa Barbara Yacht Club | 5 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 38 |
4 | USA 158 | NESS | Mark Zagol | NESS | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 41 |
5 | USA 298 | Robot Flamingo | Jimmy Praley | SSA & AYC | UFD | 1 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 15 | 51 |
6 | USA 255 | Merica | Karl and Paul Kleinschrodt | Buccaneer YC | 11 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 20 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 59 |
7 | USA 232 | Crazyhorse Mongoose | Zak Fanberg | BWYC/SYC | 12 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 18 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 62 |
8 | USA 312 | Southern Challenge | Ricky Welch | SYC/BWYC/PontYC/ | 2 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 9 | 24 | 66 |
9 | USA 287 | Loco | Ed Feo | Alamitos Bay | 6 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 9 | 24 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 66 |
10 | USA 237 | Team Z | Marek Zaleski | Noroton YC | 8 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 8 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 11 | 89 |
11 | USA 269 | Great Scott! | Peter Beardsley | Shelter Island YC | 10 | 19 | 22 | 12 | 8 | 14 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 16 | 106 |
12 | USA 314 | Spitfire | Nick Lovell | Southern Yacht Club | 16 | 14 | 11 | 7 | 15 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 12 | 10 | 109 |
13 | USA 246 | Strategery XI | Cam Farrah | Fort Walton YC | 7 | 21 | 17 | 5 | 12 | 20 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 9 | 112 |
14 | USA 285 | Juicy | Mike Levert | Pensacola Yacht Club | 9 | 13 | 20 | 17 | 2 | 13 | 16 | 13 | 19 | 13 | 115 |
15 | USA 294 | Meow! | Cole Constantineau | CBI/Boston YC | 15 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 16 | 18 | 8 | 118 |
16 | USA 277 | Caterpillar | Peter Ill | Hampton Yacht Club | 17 | 16 | 14 | 20 | 26 | 10 | 14 | 22 | 17 | 7 | 137 |
17 | IND 188 | Rolling Thunder | Vir Menon | Royal Madras Yacht Club | 24 | 15 | 13 | 16 | 16 | UFD | 12 | 17 | 23 | 23 | 159 |
18 | CAN 328 | Oshunmare | Steve Chapman | Nepean Sailing Club | 18 | 18 | 15 | 28 | 24 | 18 | 15 | 19 | 13 | 19 | 159 |
19 | USA 254 | Mr Humble | Zane Yoder | Mobile YC | UFD | 25 | 16 | 15 | 27 | 11 | 20 | 15 | 15 | DNC | 178 |
20 | USA 253 | Sparky | Michael Puleo | Sarasota Sailing Squadron | 13 | 30 | 24 | 23 | 5 | 19 | 25 | 26 | 21 | 26 | 182 |
21 | USA 297 | Evil Hiss | Mary Ewenson | EYC/AYC | UFD | 17 | 18 | 19 | 22 | 21 | 21 | 10 | UFD | 22 | 184 |
22 | CAN 194 | Widespread Panic | Arden Carleton | SBFSC | 27 | 22 | 21 | 22 | 14 | 26 | 30 | 20 | 26 | 17 | 195 |
23 | JAM 127 | All Fruits Ripe | Marina Maffessanti | Bayview Yacht Club | 20 | 11 | 28 | 29 | 17 | 17 | 17 | DNC | 24 | UFD | 197 |
24 | USA 260 | Suspect | Mike Lebov | Milford Yacht Club | 23 | 29 | 27 | 18 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 22 | 18 | 198 |
25 | USA 129 | KAA | Carson Downing | Saylorville Yacht Club | 25 | 23 | 19 | 24 | 19 | 23 | 22 | 23 | 25 | 20 | 198 |
26 | USA 301 | USA 301 | Gabriel Ferramola | Alamitos Bay YC | 21 | 27 | 25 | 21 | UFD | 24 | 11 | UFD | 16 | 25 | 204 |
27 | USA 180 | Big Energy | Doug Jensen | Shawnee yacht club | 29 | 24 | 29 | 25 | 23 | UFD | 26 | 25 | 20 | 21 | 222 |
28 | USA 15 | Touch of Grey | Adam White | Mobile | 14 | 26 | 23 | 27 | 25 | UFD | 27 | 21 | 28 | DNC | 225 |
29 | USA 39 | Patched Up | Marcelo Pereira | Marblehead Yacht Club | 28 | 20 | 26 | 30 | 30 | 27 | DNS | 28 | 29 | 14 | 232 |
30 | USA 154 | Ringle | Richard Samuels | Fort Walton Yacht Club | 19 | DNC | DNC | 26 | 29 | 25 | 31 | 27 | 31 | DNC | 256 |
31 | USA 220 | Eight Second Ride | Steven Taylor | Hampton YC | 26 | 28 | 30 | 31 | 28 | 30 | 29 | 30 | 27 | DNF | 259 |
32 | GYA 101 | Boat | jeffrey Willis | NOYC | 22 | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 28 | 28 | 29 | 30 | DNF | 273 |
33 | USA 122 | Flight Risk | Heather Patterson | SSA
GBCA | 30 | 31 | 31 | 32 | DNC | 29 | 32 | DNC | DNC | DNC | 287 |