Valle De Bravo, Mexico (August 16, 2017) – The first day of the International Women’s Keelboat Championship kicked off with opening ceremony which included the official start of the event declared by the Mayor of Valle De Bravo, Mauricio Osorio Domínguez. Event Chair, Roberto Escalante had to say of the ceremony, “[There were] over 50 smiling faces gathered together across borders and language barriers to share their passion for the wind, a dream that finally came true.”

The opening ceremony included an address by US Sailing’s organizing authority Betsy Alison and five-time winner of the storied championship, a welcome by chairman Escalante and proud address by the Mayor. The Mexican flag and the championship flag was raised over the crowd gather on the lawn.

Like clockwork, the breeze filled into the valley and down the mountains shortly after one p.m. Ali Blumenthal of Team BAAM! had to say of the conditions, “The breeze, once it filled in, clicked on. The races started off pretty breezy, we had full controls and full-on hiking, and then as the races progressed it got lighter. When the rain finally came in, it made for shifty and funky conditions.”

The steady conditions allowed the race committee to complete seven races in the rotation. Later in the day, thunder storms, typical to the rainy season in this area, caused light breeze and finally postponed racing for the day. The variety of conditions allowed competitors to showcase all facets of their abilities before heading in to the dock.

The PRO commended the sailors for fair and clean sailing with no altercations or collisions on the water and their cooperation in getting a number of races completed on the first day.

Despite a full day of racing, competitors enjoyed dinner and dancing at the club into the evening. For US Sailing’s first event outside of the United States, the Club de Vela La Peña A.C. has been an excellent host, providing competitors with a fantastic venue for racing and great cultural experiences.

Blumenthal re-iterates that the event is a true international contest, “The J/70 is a really fun boat because it’s got equal parts physical and mental game. There is a very high level of competition on the course.” The breeze is beginning to fill in Mexico this morning and competitors look forward to another day of competitive sailing on the water and comradery at the club.

After the first day, San Diego Yacht club leads the fleet, followed by Chiquitas pero Picosas. Team Eliane Fierro, Team’Mer and Team Seattle in a three-way tie for third place.

Follow along with the action on Instagram @sailingworldmag and @womenskeelboat or at #womenskeelboat on twitter and Instagram

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When it’s a little brisk or a little damp, J/70 tactician Ashley Love has a solution for warming up cold fingers and toes — the rush of leading the fleet. “We got around the first mark of the day, in the first race, in the lead,” says Love. “The weather today was freezing, but looking back at everyone really gets your blood pumping. Your heart is racing, the adrenalin is flowing and all of the sudden you’re warm.”

Love sails aboard Tsunami, currently second place overall and first place in the Corinthian division. They credit their success to their focus on sailing in clear air and finding a good lane, not worrying about the other 41 boats on the course. “The starting line was chaos,” says Love. “It was a total mess with so many boats, and everyone was trying to get over the line at the same time so it was crazy.”

The J/70 class has 25 Corinthian boats, sailing on the same line as those with professionals aboard. “That’s the beauty of this sport,” says Love. “We can sail against the Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan of sailing, any time you want to. As we know, racing against people better than you is how you improve.”

Love admits to sometimes observing the professionally-sailed boats in her fleet to help her make tactical decisions, but prefers to focus on her own race to keep her head in the game. “Most of the time, everyone is just a hull and a sail in the water,” says Love. “They’re is just a boat, and we don’t get intimidated by who is on them.”

Tsunami sits just one point behind Geoff Becker’s Papa Wheeli, and one point ahead of John Brim’s Rimette. Peter McChesney’s Trouble has the second-best Corinthian performance, sitting in 7th overall in the class.

In the first two races, Becker had bullets, but started on the wrong end in the third race and ended up 15th overall. “We were at the very bottom of the fleet at the start and caught up to 15,” says Becker. “Honestly, at the start we would have paid for 15, so finishing there was fortunate on our side. When you sail in big fleets, being behind a few boats isn’t as big of a deal. If you can be more patient, losing a handful of boats here and there isn’t a problem. You can give away small gains for bigger gains.”

While Becker’s boat is not Corinthian, he enjoys sailing against the combined fleet. “Any team can do well in any given race,” says Becker. “There are enough good sailors in these boats now, a lot of people can do well. A few years ago, the less experienced drivers weren’t good, but now the boats are doing better as the drivers improve. There are some really great amateur drivers and sailors in this fleet. I like that the J/70s keep everyone together sailing against each other.”

Two miles further out of Chesapeake Bay from the J/70s, 12 C&C 30 One Designs are doing battle in their first regatta since their class rules were finalized. The most successful of these was two-time ORC World Champion Tommaso Chieffi from Italy, tactician for local sailor Ennio Staffini, aboard Anema & Core.

The NOOD is Staffini’s second regatta on the new C&C, which bears the same name as his TP52. Staffini says he always drives his boats; the class didn’t solidify their owner-driver rule until after Key West Race Week this year, so the NOOD is the first regatta under those rules.

“The class has some growing to do, as any other young class, but we’re growing fast and have an impressive number of boats already out there,” says Staffini. “This core group at the NOOD has been moving around together, and if they stick together they’ll all see improvements. The qualification of the rules will help everyone improve.”

Another local team – Bob Moran and his crew on Bobsled – are runner’s up to Anema & Core, with Newport-based Angus Davis and his team on Nyabinghi in third.

Two days of racing remain on Chesapeake Bay. Follow along at sailingworld.com/nood-regattas/annapolis and on social media at #HHNOOD

Editor’s Note: A scoring error on Friday has been corrected. Ennio Staffini’s Anema & Core was scored OCR in the first race, altering their overall score to 5th in the class. The scores below have been adjusted to reflect this change.

Results

J/22 (One Design – 25 Boats)
1. Hot Toddy, J 22, Jeffrey Todd , Annapolis, MD, USA, 1 -4 ; 5 2. no name, J 22, Terry Flynn , League City, TX, USA, 5 -1 ; 6 3. USA 677, J 22, Brad Julian , Annapolis, MD, USA, 7 -3 ; 10

J/24 (One Design – 6 Boats)
1. Buxton, J 24, Peter Rich , Annapolis, MD, USA, 3 -1 ; 4 2. Rush Hour, J 24, Pat FitzGerald , Baltimore, MD, USA, 1 -3 ; 4

Alberg 30 (One Design – 7 Boats)
1. Laughing Gull, Alberg 30, Jonathan Adams , Severna Park, MD, USA, 2 -1 ; 3 2. LinGin, Alberg 30, Tim Williams , Arnold, MD, USA, 1 -4 ; 5 3. Latika, Alberg 30, William Woodford , Havre de Grace, MD, USA, 3 -3 ; 6

Cal 25 (One Design – 6 Boats)
1. White Cap, Cal 25, Timothy Bloomfield , Sherwood Forest, MD, USA, 1 -1 ; 2 2. ZEPHYR, Cal 25, David Hoyt , Glen Burnie, MD, USA, 4 -2 ; 6 3. Chicken Little, Cal 25, Charlie Husar , Annapolis, MD, USA, 2 -4 ; 6

J/70 (One Design – 43 Boats)
1. Papa Wheelie, J 70, Geoff Becker , Arnold, MD, USA, 1 -1 -15 ; 17 2. Tsunami, J 70, Todd Olds / Thomas Iseler / Preben Ostberg , Annapolis, MD, USA, 2 -12 -4 ; 18 3. Rimette, J 70, John Brim , Palm Beach, FL, USA, 13 -3 -3 ; 19

J/80 (One Design – 22 Boats)
1. White Lightnin’, J 80, Vince Kalish , Annapolis, MD, USA, 5 -1 ; 6 2. USA 1162, J 80, John White , Severna Park, MD, USA, 1.5 -5 ; 6.5 3. VAYU, J 80, David Andril , Arlington, VA, USA, 1.5 -8 ; 9.5

J/30 (One Design – 10 Boats)
1. Bump…, J 30, Pam Morris , Galesville, MD, USA, 2 -4 -4 ; 10 2. Pogo, J 30, Charles Lutz , Annapolis, MD, USA, 9 -1 -3 ; 13 3. Infectious Smile, J 30, Tristan & Sheila Keen , Annapolis, MD, USA, 1 -11 -2 ; 14

J/35 (One Design – 5 Boats)
1. Aunt Jean, J 35, James Sagerholm / Jerry Christofel , Annapolis, MD, USA, 1 -1 -1 ; 3 2. T-Bone, J 35, Bruce Artman , Tracys Landing, MD, USA, 2 -2 -2 ; 6 3. Medicine Man, J 35, Chuck Kohlerman , Aston, PA, USA, 3 -4 -4 ; 11

Etchells (One Design – 8 Boats)
1. Ca$h Money, Etchells, Matt Lalumiere , Chester, MD, USA, 4 -1 -3 -2 ; 10 2. Caramba, Etchells, Jose Fuentes , Washington, DC, USA, 3 -3 -5 -1 ; 12 3. Make Mine A Double, Etchells, Jeff Borland , Annapolis, MD, USA, 2 -4 -4 -3 ; 13

J/105 (One Design – 19 Boats)
1. inigo, J 105, Jim Konigsberg , Fairfax, VA, USA, 2 -2 -2 ; 6 2. Distant Passion, J 105, James Macdonald , Smiths, BER, 8 -3 -3 ; 14 3. Tenacious, J 105, Carl and Scott Gitchell , Annapolis, MD, USA, 6 -4 -5 ; 15

J/111 (One Design – 7 Boats)
1. Perseverance, J 111, Bennet Greenwald , San Diego, CA, USA, 1 -1 -2 ; 4 2. Velocity, J 111, Martin Roesch , Ellicott City, MD, USA, 3 -2 -1 ; 6 3. Wicked 2.0, J 111, Douglas Curtiss , South Dartmouth, MA, USA, 2 -4 -3 ; 9

C&C 30 (One Design – 12 Boats)
1. BobSled, C&C 30 One Design, Bob Moran , Annapolis, MD, USA, 2 -2 -7 ; 11 2. Nyabinghi, C&C 30 One Design, Angus Davis , Bristol, RI, USA, 5 -1 -6 ; 12 3. Extreme2, C&C 30 One Design, Dan Cheresh , Saugatuck, MI, USA, 1 -8 -5 ; 14

PHRF 50-75 (3 days – 5 Boats)
1. Red, Farr 280, Peter Sulick , Naples, FL, USA, 4 -1 -1 ; 6 2. Rush, J 109, Bill Sweetser , Annapolis, MD, USA, 2 -2 -2 ; 6 3. Nordlys, J 109, Bob Schwartz , Port Washington, NY, USA, 1 -4 -4 ; 9

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