Friday was the penultimate day at the Sandberg Estates J/70 World Championship. With all eyes moving to the final two races, the fleet began to line up in view of their final push. North American team Yonder is holding on to their lead at the event organized by the Real Club Náutico de Palma and the International J/70 Class Association.
A prediction of southerly winds with an intensity building from 10 knots meant that the Race Committee once again gathered the fleet at the scheduled time of 11:30h. The teams left the dock punctually, and after a postponement on the racecourse waiting for the wind to stabilize, competition kicked off on the Bay of Palma for the challengers of the title.
American team Richard Witzel’s Rowdy, who Thursday achieved podium position in third place, were able to take command and claim the race six victory, giving them a momentary advantage in the standings. This relegated Douglas Newhouse and Jeremy Wilmot’s Yonder to second after adding a 10th-place finish. Second and third places in the race went to fellow American Bryce Kalow’s Kid’s Table and a Brazilian team, Renato Faria’s To Nessa respectively.
In the day’s second contest, the challengers for the podium increased their efforts to place themselves as high as possible. Triumph in this case went to the title defenders British team Charles Thompson and Tom Mallindine’s Brutus II, ahead of Yonder in second and Kid’s Table.
With these results, the penultimate day of the Worlds finishes again with the overall classification being led by the crew of Yonder. The boat from New York YC, is, without a doubt, the favorite team to claim victory as World Champions on Saturday, having increased their advantage to 15 points over the second place team, Brazilian Ralph Rosa’s Mindset from IC Río de Janeiro. And they are 19 points ahead of fellow Americans Kid’s Table from Wayzata YC, who are currently occupying the bronze, and were the best Friday with a second and third place under their belt.
“We are competing well. It is proving to be very intense and competitive, and quite frankly, we are fortunate to be where we are right now,” explained Newhouse. “Palma is incredible, and the club even more so, really open to everyone. We have had a fabulous welcome here.”
For complete event details, visit https://www.rcnp.es/j70worlds/.