It may have been just their second major J/70 regatta, but Glenn Darden and Reese Hillard on Hoss controlled the competition at the J/70 Midwinter Championship to earn the title. Darden, a J/80 World Champion, was at the helm with co-owner Hillard, Jonathan McKee and Karl Anderson. “I have a fabulous team,” praised Darden, who has been sailing with Hillard for over 20 years. “We added Jonathan who is a Gold medalist, and I’d never sailed with him before the last couple regattas. He’s helped us get up to speed.” Hoss was able to throw-out a 13 from the final race, keeping a line of 3,6,2,2,1,2,2 for 18 points. The second place team, Will Welles’ Sea Bags Sailing Team, was 17 points back. Allan Terhune’s Dazzler completed the top three with 41 points. The top Corinthian team was William Ballard’s Snaproll. Darden credited PRO Todd Fedyazyn and the Race Committee, saying “They did a wonderful job. It was tricky, very puffy and shifty, even in the bigger breeze. We got a variety of conditions.” Sunday saw the lightest winds of the three-day event at about 6 knots. The day’s race winners were John Brim and Geoff Becker.
The top five:
Glenn Darden/Reese Hillard, Hoss, 3,6,2,2,1,2,2,[13] = 18
Will Welles, Sea Bags Sailing Team, [13],2,1,3,2,10,13,4 = 35
Allan Terhune, Jr., Dazzler, 1,3,7,1,[23],3,7,7,15 = 41
Geoff Becker, USA 25, 2,1,9, [29],4,14,24,1 = 55
John Brim, Rimette, 17,12,3,8,7,[25],1,10 = 58
Forty-six teams competed in the eight races from Saint Petersburg Yacht Club in Florida. Photos are available on the J/70 Class Facebook page, and complete results may be found here.