(Wakayama, Japan)- Forty-four J/24 teams attending this year’s J/24
World Championship in Wakayama, Japan. With a tropical storm heading
toward the area, it was the calm before the storm on day one of the J/24
World Championship. The J/24 teams representing Germany, Great
Britain, Japan, Korea, Peru, Singapore, and the USA kicked off the
Championship in winds of 4-6 knots over two races.Daniel Frost’s JJOne of Germany mastered the conditions with a 1,2 to grab the early advantage in the five-day event. Demichi Kousuke’s Ichimokusan of Japan held a slim lead on second place, just one ahead of Peru’s Javier Arribas on Hawky. The day’s race winners were Frost in race one and Naoto Kitazume’s Maril in race two.
For day two- Tuesday- the slow-moving tropical storm dampened the day’s proceedings. The entire fleet was kept ashore with the AP flag flying all day as heavy rains and stormy winds blanketed the area.
Day three- Wednesday- dawned with great promise. Following yesterday’s tropical storm, winds calmed to 5-8 knots over today’s three races. Keiji Kondo’s Fox of Japan won the opening race, trailed by Demichi Kousuke’s Ichimokusan (JPN) and American Will Welles on Cougar. JJOne earned their second bullet of the regatta in the day’s middle battle, trailed by Fox and Mark Laura’s Baba Louie (USA). Einosuke Morita’s Wailea (JPN) won the final duel, with JJOne and Kato Fumiya’s Lull of Japan rounding out the top trio.
With five races on the books, the German team on JJOne had strengthened their lead over the highly competitive fleet. Daniel Frost’s crew had tallied just 6 net points, able to drop an 11 in race three and keep a skinny tally of 1,2,1,2. Kondo’s Fox moved up to second overall after a solid 1,2,4 for 15 net points. Kousuke’s Ichimokusa was in third with 22 pts.
Day Four- Thursday
Frost’s JJOne placed seventh on Thursday’s only race, but held a firm advantage heading into the final day. Two Japanese teams held second and third: Keiji Kondo’s Fox and Demichi Kousuke’s Ichimokusan, both with 25 points.
The day started with a postponement onshore for three hours, waiting for the wind to fill in. When it did at 6 knots, Tomomi Hatekeyama’s Gekko Diana won the lone race, trailed by Vladimir Borsthar’s Singapore and Kousuke’s Ichimokusan.
Day Five- Friday Finale
Frost’s German team of Timo Chorrosch, Felix Leupold, Jeronimo Landauer and Daniel Schwarze on JJOne placed 26th in race 7, putting the pressure on themselves going into the final race 8. With their previous 12-point advantage reduced to six, the team did not want to give up the lead they held since the very first race of the Championship. After multiple general recalls, the last meeting started under black flag with just minutes to spare before the time limit, in 8 knots of breeze. JJOne needed to cover the nearest competition, and they did, finishing 10th in the final contest to lock in the Championship. Two Japanese teams took Silver and Bronze: Demichi Kousuke’s Ichimokusan with 47 points and Keiji Kondo’s Fox with 48 points.
“Today was a tricky day. We went in with a 12-point lead, and the first race went really bad for us,” recapped Frost, who has been sailing with the JJOne team for five years. “The last race was very tricky as well. We found ourselves in front of our competitors, and we just sailed safe. We are incredibly happy. It’s a very special day!”
The started the day in fresh breeze but it fizzled near the end of race 7. Kato Fumiya’s Lull won both races, followed by Naoto Kitazume’s Maril and Stephan Mais’s Running Men in Friday’s first battle, and by Vladimir Borsthar’s Singapore and Will Welles Cougar in the last race of the event.
Behind the top three boats were Vladimir Borstnar from Singapore, Singapore in 4th place and Urara Fujii from Japan in 5th position. For more J/24 World Championship sailing information
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