20 knots of breeze piping in from the north created full-on battle conditions for the 20-nation fleet on day three of the Darwin Escapes 2019 J/70 World Championship. For the third consecutive day, the Open and Corinthian leaders have changed, with teams from nine nations occupying the top 10 places. There were thrills and spills as the wind speed reached close to the top end of the wind speed for the Class, but with flat warm water it was a day to remember for the J/70 fleet. In the Open Class, Paul Ward’s (GBR) Eat,Sleep,J,Repeat scored a 1-4-15 to take the overall lead. Pichu Torcida (ESP), racing Noticia, has climbed to second after scoring a 5-17-6. Joel Ronning (USA), racing Catapult, dropped to third after scoring 14-14-10. Tuesday’s leader Alberto Rossi (ITA), racing Enfant Terrible, started the day well posting 9-8, but a 28 in the last race after broaching dropped Enfant Terrible to fourth. In the Corinthian Class, King & Wilson’s Soak Racing (IRL) is the new leader after posting 2-34-9. Doug Struth (GBR), racing DSP, dropped to second place. Denis Cherevatenko (RUS), racing Joyfull, retained third, but is under pressure from a top performance by Charles Thompson (GBR) racing Brutus. There were race wins Wednesday for Eat, Sleep, J, Repeat, Henry Brauer’s (USA) Rascal, and Carlo Alberini’s (ITA) Calvi Network.
Paul Ward (GBR), Eat, Sleep, J, Repeat, said, “The conditions were exactly like we expected for Tor Bay – shifty, difficult to sail, and hard to find the right way to go. We managed okay and had an absolute blast out there. Leading the Championship is terrifying. There are some really good sailors, and we have a long way to go.”
Ian Wilson (GBR), Soak Racing, President J/70 International Class, said, “It is really difficult to track the boats in the Corinthian fleet because we are all out on one race course, and we are racing against the pros. We can give them a really good run for their money, but we do keep an eye out for our mates from Hamble, DSP. If we are in front of them, we know we are doing well. It was brilliant, blowing 20 knots, wind all over the place, a great day out with boats hooning all over the place – just great fun.”
Carlo Alberini (ITA), Calvi Network, said, “We are very happy to be in Torquay, but (Wednesday) we had a black cloud with the first race when we were just one second over the line before the start, and we were disqualified. We won the last race in the sunshine, so we were so happy. Those conditions were good for us; we specialize in strong wind.”
Follow the Darwin Escapes 2019 J/70 World Championship, hosted by the Royal Torbay Yacht Club, with up-to-the- minute coverage as the drama unfolds at https://www.facebook.com/j70uk/
Darwin Escapes 2019 J/70 Worlds Website: www.j70worlds2019.com
Results: https://yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=6149
J/70 teams from all over the world are competing at the Darwin Escapes 2019 J/70 World Championship: Argentina, Australia, Bulgaria, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Cyprus, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United States of America.