Douglas Newhouse and Jeremy Wilmot’s crew are proclaimed world class champions having led from Day 1

· The prizegiving ceremony, at 18:30h, is a special finishing touch for the competition, which awards the new world champions, and the first placed teams in the Corinthian, One Pro, Women’s, Youth and Mixed divisions and to the first placed boat skippered by a woman.

The Sandberg Estates J/70 Worlds has a winner. After five intense days of competition on the Bay of Palma, the American team, Douglas Newhouse and Jeremy Wilmot’s “Yonder” were proclaimed world champions of the class on the last day of racing at the event organized by the Real Club Náutico de Palma (RCNP) and the International Association for the J/70 class.

A north-easterly wind averaging ten knots allowed the Race Committee to give a punctual start, at 11:30h for the last race of the competition. The race was won by British team Charles Thompson and Tom Mallindine’s “Brutus II” and followed in second place by Spaniard Luis Albert’s “Patakin,” with third going to the Brazilian team, Renato Faria’s “To Nessa.”

Leading since day 1 of the world championships, Douglas Newhouse and Jeremy Wilmot’s “Yonder” from the New York YC, finished in eleventh place, sufficient to give the team their event win, and to be proclaimed the brilliant new world J/70 champions. Moreover, the team finished with a ten-point lead over the second placed team, having accumulated two partial podium positions over the eight races competed, and discarding a 23rd place finish.

Regularity and the ability to race without committing any major errors proved crucial for success at the Sandberg Estates J/70 Worlds.

“After a great deal of hard work, planning, training, regattas and teamwork, we have achieved our goal of winning the world championships, which is quite frankly incredible. We had the regatta of our lives, and the team fought extremely hard,” commented Newhouse on arrival at the docks in RCNP.

The second podium position was finally claimed by the Brazilian team, Ralph Vasconcellos’ “Mindset” from the IC Río de Janeiro, and third went to the title defenders, British team “Brutus II” from the Royal Southern YC, who were able to pull back from their fifth place yesterday, thanks to their win in the last race of the world championships.

As well as the intercontinental title, the event organized by the Real Club Náutico de Palma and the International Association for the J/70 class, also recognizes the first placed boats in the Corinthian (non-professional crews), One Pro (only one professional sailor on board), the Youth, Women’s, Mixed divisions, and the first finishing team with a woman at the helm.

In the Corinthian division, a win for Pedro Garra’s “Plan B” from YC Punta del Este, Uruguay. They were followed by Alec Cutler’s “Hedgehog” from Royal Bermuda YC (Bermuda) and the Italian team Sofía Giondi’s “Wanderlust” from YC Rimini, second and third place respectively.

In the One Pro division, the first placed team was Tim Ryan’s “Vamos” from the Cruising YC Australia, who also obtained a brilliant fifth place in the general classification. Second place was for Mexican team, Ignacio Pérez’s “Zaguero” from the Vallarta YC and third for Nuno Espirito Santo’s “Baba II” from the CN Cascais (Portugal).

In the mixed division, victory went to the local team, Maria Boyer’s “Balearia”, and the winners of the youth division were the Dutch team Sven Van Der Plasse’s “Moore DRV” from WV Wolphaartsdijk.

First place for the Women team’s division went to American team, Ava Wilson’s “Team Convergence” from the Chicago YC, and the first team to finish with a woman at the Helm was fellow American Laura Grondin’s “Dark Energy” from the New York YC/GKPYC. Grondin’s team were also fifteenth place overall.

Prize-giving ceremony, the finishing touch
The prize-giving ceremony, programmed for 18:30h on Saturday gives a special finishing touch to the event in Palma. Awards will be presented to all the winners at the end of the competition, which has seen almost one hundred participating teams from 25 nationalities, and over 400 competitors.

The act will be attended by Rafael Gil, president of the RCNP, Marcelo Blatzer, president of the J/70 class in Spain, Michael Schwalbach, CEO of Sandberg Estates, Javier Sanz, president of the Baleares Port Authority, David Salom, director general for sports in the Ajuntament de Palma, Javier Núñez de Prado, director of the Baleares Naval Sector and Catalina Darder, president of the Baleares Sailing Federation.

The Sandberg Estates J/70 Worlds 2024 is organized by the Real Club Náutico de Palma and the International K/70 Association, and is sponsored by Sandberg Estates, with the institutional collaboration of Palma Town Hall, the Spanish Navy, the Baleares Port Authority, the Spanish Royal Sailing Federation and the Baleares Sailing Federation.

TOP 5
1. [USA] Yonder, Douglas Newhouse/Jeremy Wilmot, 55 points
2. [BRA] Mindset, Ralph Vasconcellos, 66 points
3. [GBR] Brutus II, Charles Thompson/Tom Mallindine, 68 points
4. [USA] Rowdy, Richard Witzel, 83 points
5. [AUS] Vamos, Tim Ryan, 96 points

CORINTHIAN
1. [URU] Plan B, Pedro Garra, 195 points
2. [BER] Hedgehog, Alec Cutler, 195 points
3. [ITA] Wanderlust, Sofia Giondi, 198 points

ONE PRO
1. [AUS] Vamos, Tim Ryan, 96 points
2. [MEX] Zaguero, Ignacio Pérez, 183 points
3. [POR] Baba II, Nuno Espirito Santo, 192 points

MIXED
1. [ESP] Balearia, María Bover, 379 points
2. [NED] UCAJB4U, John Engelsman, 498 points
3. [USA] Team Convergence, Ava Wilson, 614 points

ALL FEMALE
1. [USA] Team Convergence, Ava Wilson, 614 points

FEMALE HELM
1. [USA] Dark Energy, Laura Grondin, 162 points

YOUTH
1. [NED] Moore DRV, de Sven Van Der Plasse, 574 points