Strebel stretches lead at J/70 North Americans

San Diego (September 26, 2015) – Doug Strebel and the Zounds crew have successfully completed their third consecutive day atop the 2015 Green Flash J/70 North American Championship scoreboard. With a total of 40 points, Strebel will head into the final day of racing with a fifteen-point lead over Jud Smith’s Africa and a 30-point lead over Tim Healy’s Helly Hansen.

If these three names sound familiar, it’s because they are. Over three days of racing, wind changes and tough competition, Strebel, Smith and Healy have not only consistently stayed in the top three spots, they’ve also stayed in the same order.

Winds were light for the third day of the regatta, prompting Race Committee to call it an early day after completing two races. Extreme kelp conditions also plagued the course.

Race 7 began with light winds that averaged between 5 to 7kts at a direction of 275. Bruno Pasquineli (Stampede) led at the first upwind mark, but a slow patch on the downwind leg put him several places back into the fleet. Smith (Africa) gained two positions in the last legs to steal the bullet, while Shannon Bush (Hooligan) conceded one spot after the gate rounding to end the race in third.

Renato Faria (To Nessa) and Will Welles (Sea Bags Sailing Team) rounded out the top five teams for Race 7. Doug Strebel’s 17th place finish was his worst of the regatta and first finish outside of hte top ten. those 17 points combined with Smith’s bullet gave Africa a temporary stint as the overall regatta leader.

Unfortunately for Smith, a bad start and upwind leg in Race 8 trapped him in the middle of the fleet, and the Africa crew watched as Strebel skillfully maneuvered Zounds through light winds as the race leader. Strebel’s early lead paid off at the finish line, where he took 2nd and Smith took 28th.

Gannon Troutman, who at 12 years old is by far the youngest skipper at the regatta, led the Pied Piper crew to their first bullet of the regatta. If that isn’t impressive enough, he has also competed this entire regatta with a cast and sling due to an arm injury incurred prior to the event.

John Brigden (Cool Story, Bro) held his position of fourth place overall, while Brad Rodi (Bl!ss) moved past both Savasana (Brian Keane) and Ocho Cinco (Allan Terhune) to claim fifth place overall.

Racing will be held September 24-27. A maximum of four races will be held on any day, and up to a maximum of 12 races (with no discards) for the series.

Day Three Standings (Top 10 of 50; 8 races)
1. Doug Strebel, Lakewood YC, 2-1-4-6-4-4-17-2- ; 40
2. Jud Smith, Eastern YC, 3-5-9-2-5-2-1-28- ; 55
3. Tim Healy, Sail Newport, 1-13-6-4-13-10-13-10- ; 70
4. John Brigden/Chris Snow,, SFYC/SDYC, 8-26-2-5-3-12-20-5- ; 81T
5. Brad Rodi, SDYC, 5-18-18-7-8-14-2-9- ; 81T
6. Brian Keane, Beverly YC, 9-2-14-23-7-7-14-8- ; 84
7. Allan Terhune, Annapolis YC, 10-7-12-24-1-6-19-12- ; 91T
8. Shannon W Bush, TCYC,NYYC, 17-9-8-12-10-29-3-3- ; 91T
9. Joel Ronning, Wayzata YC, 12-3-16-22-11-18-9-14- ; 105
10. Jack Franco, LIYC, 7-23-3-13-25-1-10-24- ; 106

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Report by SDYC.