(Buenos Aires, Argentina)- The 2011 J/24 Worlds in Buenos Aires,
Argentina started this week with 58 crews from 9 countries. What is
self-evident is the South American teams have learned a thing or two
about racing J/24s over the years. In the early years of the class, the
Americans pretty well dominated most of the World Championships. In
recent years, top Europeans and top South American teams have leapt into
the top of the leader-board and have managed to give the Americans
excellent competition in any venue, regardless of wind and weather
conditions. 
On
the first day of sailing, the host club's PRO from YC Argentino did a
magnificent job getting off two good races considering the difficulty of
the changing weather conditions. The first race was to start at 2 pm,
but there was only a 4 kt wind, so it had to be delayed. Finally, it
started at 3:30 pm, with wind from the East of 6 kt. The winds continued
to shift in direction and speed, challenging the skippers (and the
anxiety-ridden tacticians) to stay on top of the rapidly shifting
scenarios. It was clear it was to the "locals" liking. Coincidentally,
the winners of both races were Argentinean teams, MENDIETA sailed by
Francisco Van Avermaete and LUCA VIVE skippered by Alejo Rigoni.
Nevertheless, sitting at the top of the leader-board was Tim Healey, the
current J/24 World Champion. The second day of sailing proved to be tough again on the skippers trying to master the nasty chop, the current (because they're on the River Plate/ Rio de la Plata) and the even nastier oscillating/ persistent shifts from the East. Mastering the conditions of the first race of the day (race #3) was yet another South American team, GUERRERO skippered by Luis Olcese from Peru. The fourth race was won by Tim Healy's Newport, Rhode Island team sailing 11TH HOUR RACING. Tim and the gang lead the entire race wire-to-wire by fellow American Mike Ingham skippering RELOADED. Third was A PRUEBA DE BALAS skippered by Juan Grimaldi from Argentina.
At
this stage, Tim's 11TH HOUR RACING holds a commanding lead of 20 points
over a group of five boats all vying for the balance of the podium with
a very consistent record of 3-5-4-1 for 13 pts total. Francisco's
Argentinean team on MENDIETA has a 1-10-12-10 tally for 33 pts, good
enough for second. Luis' Peruvian team on GUERRERO is third two points
back with a scoreline of 6-13-1-15 for 35 pts. Fourth in a tie is
Matias Seguel's Chilean team racing VOLVO with a 16-12-3-7 tally for 38
pts and Miguel Saubidet's Argentinean team on FEFE sailing to a
12-3-7-16 also for 38 pts. Just out of contention and staying in touch
with the leaders are J/24 Champions Mike Ingham on RELOADED in 8th and
Will Welles on PUMA in 11th. Mauricio Santa Cruz from Brazil, another
J/24 World Champion, is having his fair share of troubles on the first
day, taking a Scoring Penalty in the first race and getting an SCP/DSQ
in the second race, perhaps digging a hole that may be too deep to crack
the top three-- nevertheless, if there was a magician on the race
course, Mauricio has been known to make meteoric come-backs! Watch this
space! For more J/24 Worlds sailing information
