The Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series got off to a classic South Bay day with the racing sailor’s trifecta: wind, sun and close racing start to finish.
For the J/70s, Vipers and Ultimate 20s on the southernmost circle, racing kicked off time on and the anticipated battle was underway in the J/70s with Eduardo Saenz’s squad on Nimbus knocking off the first two races to put 4 point between Dave Ullman and Jack Franco’s USA 3. Jeff Janov and his kids on Minor Threat, are a threat, only 5 point deeper in the standings.
In the 6-boat Viper fleet, James Baurley’s team stepped right in with 3 race wins, as did Terence Gleeson and JP Barnes in the International 14s, sailing their West Coast Championship. Gleeson and Barns sailed away with the morning’s race and then did the same in the afternoon’s 20-mile distance race. Mark Allen’s Junta went 2-1-1 to step into the lead of the Ultimate 20s.
For the six Flying Dutchman teams, the view for most of the day was the transom of Paul Scoffin and Pavel Ruzicka’s transom–straight bullets on the day.
Racing resumes tomorrow with the North Sails Rally Race, a low-key pursuit race around the bay, and the addition of the offshore circle with the Etchells, Beneteau 40.7s and 36.7s, J/105s and a competitive ORC handicap fleet.
