Twenty-six teams participated in Algarrobo, Chile for the 2020 J/70 Chilean National Championship, hosted by Cofradía Náutica del Pacífico. Many also participated in the training program provided by the Doyle Sails team, including J/70 World Champion Jud Smith. Sailors were treated to a fairly typical cross-section of wind and wave conditions off Algarrobo. Friday’s racing was light and shifty winds for most of the day. Then, on Saturday and Sunday, the fleet enjoyed 10-18 knots of breeze, increasing on Sunday to 15-20 knots.
Day 1: In the lighter breezes on the first day, the right side of the course upwind paid off best. However, late in the day, the seabreeze effect started to pull the breeze left with a little more pressure. The strongest performance of the day was the Herman brothers on NEW WAVE; they had great starts, solid tactics and very good speed to post a 3-3-2 to sit atop the podium at the conclusion of racing. Not far behind was Matias Seguel’s crew on TEAM VOLVO with a 7-1-5, and in third was Vernon Robert’s MORENITA team, posting a 2-2-10 for the day.
Day 2: On Saturday, the wind built a little more, and some of the stronger teams took advantage of the wind and wave angles, particularly downwind. The Ducasse family onboard TSUNAMI posted the best record for the day with a 6-9-1. Meanwhile, the regatta leaders on NEW WAVE posted a 3-11-4 to hold on to their lead. Meanwhile, Seguel’s Team VOLVO also held on to their second spot with a 4-12-2.
Day 3: The stronger wind conditions on the final day certainly played into the hands of the more experienced teams. Dominating the final day and closing out the regatta with a strong performance was the Herman brothers on NEW WAVE, posting a 2-1-4 for a 22 points net (after one discard); that gave them a 13-point winning margin. This was the second J/70 Chilean Nationals the Herman brothers have won, taking the first event in 2015 at Lago Panguipulli onboard CAROLINA. Taking the silver was Seguel’s VOLVO team, closing the regatta with a 3-5-8 for 35 points net. Then, rounding out the podium was the Ducasse family on TSUNAMI. Robert’s MORENITA crew won the last race by a big margin and secured fourth place. Rounding out the top five was Alejandro Perez’s team on PELIGRO. Winning the Corinthian Division was young Alfredo Urzua on LA NEGRA, second went to Cristóbal Pérez’s IL MOSTRO, and third was José A Jimenez and family on DARK SIDE.