2015 J/24 World Champs: Southworth leads with Ingham in pursuit

Boltenhagen, Germany (September 1, 2015) – Conditions were challenging on day 2 of the 2015 J/24 World Championships in Boltenhagen, Germany. Winds of up to 20 knots with huge 20 to 30 degree shifts caused some big changes on the leader board. Ian Southworth (GBR 5219) and his seasoned crew sailed two excellent races and took the lead, followed by Mike Ingham (USA 5443) and Pietro Diamanti (ITA 212)

On day two of the J/24 worlds, Boltenhagen on the Baltic coast once again proved to be a very tricky sailing area. “We are racing in a closed bay which makes things very difficult”, said Chris McLaughlin, crew member on the leading boat “Il Riccio”; “as the race course is close inshore, the tree lines make challenging 20 to 30 degrees shifts. The skill is to judge exactly when you need to tack.”

In the first race of the day, the fleet faced easterly winds up to 20 knots which is the critical limit between too much wind for the genoa and too little wind for the jib. With a first place and a second place, Ian Southworth and his crew delivered a very constant performance. Southworth, who has been racing with the same crew the last 10 years, has a team of very skilled sailors including tactician David Howlett, who is also head coach of the German Olympic team.

Southworth already has an impressive lead of 22 points over second-placed Mike Ingham who has the same number of points as third-placed Pietro Diamanti.

“Tomorrow will be even tougher,” said Chris McLaughlin; “In the J/24 class, there is nothing worse than getting excited about a good position. We have to stay cool and keep performing constantly. You just need one disqualification, and one of the other guys will get you.” Asked for his strongest competition, McLaughlin mentioned Mike Ingham (USA), Pietro Diamanti (ITA) and Travis Odenbach (USA), but also the Greek Iasonas Spanomalis who was sailing very fast on the course.

The ranking after four races:
Ian Southworth (GBR) – 15 pt
Mike Ingham (USA) – 37 pt
Pietro Diamanti (ITA) – 37 pt
Travis Odenbach (USA) – 38 pt
Stefan Karsunke (GER) – 42 pt
Iasonas Spanomanolis (GRE) – 47 pt
Peer Kock (GER) – 51 pt
Javier Arribas Harten (PER) – 55 pt
Ignazio Bonanno (ITA) – 56 pt
Rodrigo Benedetto (ARG) – 56 pt
Complete ranking after four races: Download

Expected conditions for day 3 are strong winds with 25 to 30 knots, two to three races.

Event Website – Results – Live Race Tracking – Facebook
Report by Event Media
Photos courtesy of Pepe Hartmann/J/24 worlds