At the Chicago NOOD on June 8-10, local owner John Heaton celebrated a “first” over the weekend with his inaugural win in the J/70 fleet. For his crew on Empeiria, the keys to the weekend were consistency, boatspeed and communication. “It was mainly about working really hard on speed all the time,” Heaton said. “That’s a testament to the team I have onboard. They work the boat really well. In the J/70s, it’s important to get free of other boats, put the bow down and go fast. That really helped us, especially Sunday. We were confident in our boatspeed, got free of other boats and kept it rolling.” For complete results, visit https://yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=4474.
J/70 (top three – 13 Boats)
- Empeiria, John Heaton – 1 -2 -3 -2 -1 -3; 12
- Rip Rullah, Andrew Criezis – 3 -3 -1 -1 -6 -4; 18
- Pale Horse, Jake Christy – 4 -9 -2 -8 -5 -2; 30