Fantastic Finish at Key West Race Week!! With epic, “fresh to frightening” conditions, the 15-25 kt winds and enormous choppy seas challenged the competitors on Friday; forcing the top contenders to raise their game in order to claim overall victory. Race committee personnel reported wind gusts of nearly 30 knots during the second race on Friday and that made for some spectacular racing. The J/70s were the largest class of the regatta with 54 boats and featured a slew of top professionals. It was a week-long dog fight that saw constant changes at the top end of the standings. Skipper Carlo Alberini and his Italian team on CALVI NETWORK emerged as overall winner thanks to single-digit finishes in nine of 11 races. Branko Brcin served as tactician while Sergio Blosi and Karlo Hmeljak handled the trimming aboard CALVI NETWORK, which closed the regatta with a second after posting a steady string of fourths and fifths. That remarkable consistency in such a competitive class earned CALVI NETWORK the ultimate prize at Quantum Key West Race Week - Boat of the Week. The talent level in this class is very high. We came to Key West because we are very excited about the J/70 fleet and want to race against the best boats, said Alberini, who won the European Championship last year. To win here is the best feeling. This might be the most important win of my career because we beat the world champion on the water. CALVI NETWORK totaled 49 points, eight better than the Mexican entry FLOJITO Y COOPERANDO that is skippered by Julian Fernandez Neckelmann. Italian pro Vasco Vascotto called tactics on FLOJITO, which closed the regatta strong with a first and second on Friday. Tim Healy, the reigning J/70 World Champion and two-time winner here in Key West, finished third on HELLY HANSEN after pushing the line and being ruled on-course side (OCS) in the last race. The balance of the top five included Jud Smith’s AFRICA in 4th place (an early regatta leader) and Dan & Gannon Troutman’s PIED PIPER in fifth. Gannon Troutman, the 12-year-old skipper of PIED PIPER, was the talk of the regatta after finishing fifth in the talent-laden J/70 class- winning a race while also posting a second and third. San Francisco skipper Jim Cunningham’s LIFTED captured the Corinthian Division of J/70 class, which had 20 boats; he also finished 7th overall.. Behind him it was a tough battle for the 2nd and 3rd. Going into the last set of three races, Brian Elliot’s B-SQUARED held a 3 point lead over Heather Gregg’s MUSE. However, in the epic, windy day it seemed Heather got her groove on and beat them in every race. Tied on points, Heather’s MUSE team took 2nd over Brian’s B-SQUARED. Rounding out the top five were Geoff Pierini’s SURGE in fourth and Craig Tallman’s JAYA from Santa Barbara, California in fifth. Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes/ Timwilkes; Sharon Green/ Ultimate Sailing; Steve Lapkin/ H2oShots; Ingrid Abery; Allen Clark/ Photoboat
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 18:52:24 +0000
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