Good to go, Patakin and Brutus II stalk Yonder after a day of light wind

Regularity continues to rule the Sandberg Estates J/70 Worlds. The event organized by the Real Club Náutico de Palma (RCNP) and the J/70 class International Association completed today, Wednesday, only one race that keeps US “Yonder” in the lead and places Spanish “Patakin” on the lookout for the podium.

Yesterday, Tuesday, after finishing the first day of competition, the race committee decided to bring forward the start of today's races by half an hour. They set the first starting signal for 11h00 with the expectation that the wind would diminish as the hours went by. The decision was correct, and with conditions between eight and twelve knots from the northeast, the third round of the racing program began on time.

The wind held out long enough to complete a single and complicated race in which the fleet had to do its best to take advantage of every gust and try to make as few mistakes as possible. USA Douglas Rastrello's “Good to go” from Newport Harbor YC was the best, achieving a first place that allows him to move up to fourth place with a 2-29-1 record in his scoring board.

In Rastrello's words, “We're feeling pretty good, but in this regatta you can get a first, a second, or a 29th and that's the essence of sailing in big fleets, that when you think you've got it mastered you get a 20th. So who knows, we're 30% of the way through the regatta and there's still a long way to go, it's going to be interesting.”

Behind, a great performance of Luis Albert's “Patakin”, which did not fail and crossed the finish line in second position. A brilliant result with which the boat of the Real Club Náutico de Palma climbs seven positions and is sixth in the provisional overall, waiting to be able to discard a 34th scored yesterday to enter the fight for the podium.

Meanwhile, the third place of today´s race, went to another of the North American teams, Dick Kalow's “Superior 1” of Wayzata YC.

“Today has been a complicated day with a wind from the shore that was dying little by little,” said the Mallorcan Joan Cardona, crew member of ‘Patakin’, on his arrival at the pontoons of the RCNP. “After a good start we have been able to sail well and get a solid result that brings us up to sixth place, so we are looking forward to continue fighting this week, which is still a long way to go.”

With these results, the overall ranking continues to be led by Douglas Newhouse and Jeremy Wilmot's “Yonder”, which continues to be the most consistent of the fleet. With one first and two seventh place results, the New York YC crew has a thirteen point lead over the second placed crew, which is now Charles Thompson's British “Brutus II” of the Royal Southern YC after a fourth place finish. They are fifteen points ahead of Brazilian Ralph Vasconcellos' “Mindset” of IC Rio de Janeiro, which is in third place.

If conditions allow it, the race committee may try to complete three races tomorrow to make up for the one that could not be sailed today, and expectations are high for the possible entry into play of the discard. From the fifth race onwards, each team will be able to discard its worst result and everything suggests that this will mean a change in the general classification.

Races will resume tomorrow from 10h30 onwards.

The Sandberg Estates J/70 Worlds 2024 is organized by the Real Club Náutico de Palma and the International Association of the J/70 class, with the sponsorship of Sandberg Estates and the institutional collaboration of the City Council of Palma, the Spanish Navy, the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands, the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation and the Balearic Sailing Federation.