The Audi J/70 World Championship moved up a gear, as the fleets were split into Gold and Silver Fleets. The Friday early morning westerly Mistral wind unexpectedly piped up to over 20 knots before the start of racing, but by the end of the day, a southerly wind caused the second race to be abandoned, and racing was shortly called to a halt. Four races have now been held, constituting a series, with one day to go. Peter Duncan’s Relative Obscurity (USA) holds a 10- point lead for the Audi J/70 World Championship. However, with a discard unlikely to kick in, the winner is far from decided.
GOLD FLEET: Relative Obscurity (USA), Peter Duncan leads after four races. Fermax (ESP), Gustavo Martinez Doreste is second, and Petite Terrible #Audi (ITA), Claudia Rossi is third.
Gold Corinthian Class after Race 3: White Hawk (ITA) Gianfranco Noè, Adrenaline (MEX) Ignacio Perez, Marnatura (ESP) Luis Bugallo.
SILVER FLEET: Norwegian Steam (NOR) Eivind Astrup leads, Corinthian Class leader is Noberasco Das (ITA) Alessandro Zampori.
The top three for Friday’s Gold Fleet race were all American. Peter Cunningham’s Power Play won in shifty conditions. Despite not getting a great start, Cunningham’s team, with Argentinian Lucas Calabrese calling tactics, came back to cross the finish line in first position. Peter Duncan’s Relative Obscurity was second, scoring their fourth podium in the regatta. Brian Keane’s Savasana made it a 1-2-3 for the Stars and Stripes. In the Silver fleet, Michael Grau’s team from Hamburg, Germany racing Paint It Black won Friday’s race. “We still had the Mistral wind today, but it was lighter,” commented Relative Obscurity’s Jud Smith. “We thought the right would pay, and it did. We rounded the top mark in second. In all my years, I have never been in a keelboat fleet this big. However, now we are in a fleet of about 80, and that is similar to last year’s Worlds. I guess the popularity is down to the fact that the J/70 is a great boat, and it suits people of different sizes, gender, and ages, and it’s great to see a lot of young people at the regatta.” The Audi J/70 World Championship will come to a conclusion September 16. Keep up with daily news, photos, videos, official documents and provisional results from the regatta website at http://www.yccs.it/en/regate-2017/info/audi_j70_world_championship-250.html and via social media using #j70worlds #yccs50 #myj70worlds.