The Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series San Diego kept on rolling…in the ocean swells off Point Loma with the big hardware and the speed sailing on South Bay delivering maximum races on the day.
Only three races into the Etchells series at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta San Diego, Don Jesberg’s Viva leads with a three-race top-three run with a 3-point cushion Chris Busch’s team on Elizabeth, and from there on, it’s all tight at the top after a classic San Diego race day that started off light but settled right in once marine layer broke and the sea breeze arrived in full late afternoon glory.
On the ocean courses, where the low swells were running and the breeze was shifting, the regatta’s other big-boat classes got underway as well, including the J/105s, Beneteau 40.7s and 36.7s, and the ORC handicap fleet. True to form, Chick Pyle’s Kea, a 10-time winner of the regatta, put up three wins in the 36.7s while Warren Gross’s Silhouette did the same in the 40.7s. Chuck Driscoll’s Juiced and George Scheel finished their day with the J/105s tied with 9-points apiece, and Rudolph Hasl’s J/145 Palaemon was unbeatable under ORC.
For the South Bay Course fleets, the second day of racing found James Orkins and Michael Risoer continuing their winning streak in the Formula 18 catamaran division, as did Paul Scoffin and Pavel Ruzicka in the Flying Dutchman fleet. JP Barnes and Terrence Gleeson padded their lead with two seconds and a win in the last race of the day for the International 14s who are contesting their West Coast Championship.
Eduardo Saenz and his teammates on the J/70 Nimbus piled on the points in its fleet and now sit comfortably atop the leaderboard with fewer races to sail tomorrow, the final day of the regatta. Deke Klatt’s J/24 Jaded sits atop its fleet after one day of racing, as does James Baurley’s Viper 640 #hmb and Mark Allen’s Junta in the Ultimate 20s.
The North Sails Rally Race fleet sailed a roughly 13-mile distance race dodging plenty of boat traffic, wind shifts and navy vessels, and at the end of the day, Craig and Lisa Leweck’s classy Alerion Express 28 cruised to a Rally win, as did Mark Berdan’s Farrier Trimaran UnEven Keel, in the multihull division.
