Leaders tied at Viper 640 North Americans

Shoreacres, Texas (October 10, 2013) The Viper 640 North American Championship rolled through four races on the second day of the competition. Jay Golison, leader after day one, now has slipped to third, but just two points behind leaders Jason Carroll and Malcolm Gefter, who are tied at the top. Racing for the 29 teams concludes on Saturday, October 12. Current results.

Report by Rachel Ellis, Viper Class Admin…

With a better forecast than yesterday, Viperers kicked it into gear for Day Two of the 2013 Viper North Americans in Houston. The forecast called for a building sea breeze and cooler temperatures, and sure enough, by the end of the day Vipers were planing downwind at 14 knots in 18 knots of wind.

Day two of the Viper 640 NAs started off less than promising with about 6 knots of pressure. Malcolm Gefter pulled a horizon job in Race 1, favoring the left. Jay Golison finished in 2nd with Brad Boston and Jason Carroll finishing in 3rd and 4th, respectively.

With the breeze building steadily, the second race was changed to 3 times around, although some teams did not get that memo – on the second run, the top 5 boats each sailed through the finish line with no horn before turning up to sail backward to the leeward gate, causing a large reset in the scores. Luke Lawrence was able to sneak in and snatch first place since the top 4 boats had unknowingly crossed the finish line too early. David Chapman, Peter Beardsley and Gefter finished in the top four.

Boats were wise to put a few turns on prior to the start of the third race as the breeze began to freshen with competitors seeing 12-13 knots throughout the race. Carroll crossed the line first, 20 boat lengths in front, with Kevin Taugher, Chapman, and Gefter rounding out the top four.

The final race of the day saw the wind max out at 15-18 knots with 18 knots sustaining and 2-3 feet of stiff chop by the end of the day. Beardsley with co-skipper Jay Rhame, was the only boat sailing four up, and was able to crush upwind and the planing conditions allowed them to hang on downwind, with Boston, Taugher and Carroll finishing close behind.

The top of the standings are extremely tight. Carroll moved into first, inching out Gefter on a tiebreaker (two bullets to one) Jay Golison, Ched Proctor and Steve Flam sailed well, but the Day 1 leaders dropped to third overall, two points out of the lead. Lawrence is holding on to his steady fourth place position.

Top 10 of 29
1. Argo, Jason Carroll, 4, 1, 3, 4, [11], 1, 4 = 17T
2. Celeritas, Malcolm Gefter, 2, 2, 5, 1, 3, 4, [14] = 17 T
3. It’s All Good, Jay Golison, 1, 3, 2, 2, 6, 5, [9] = 19 pts
4. Arethusa, Luke Lawrence, 5, 4, 1, 5, 1, [10], 8 = 24 pts
5. Hot Mess, Kevin Taugher, 3, 5, 8, [38/OCS], 7, 2, 3 = 28 pts
6. Jackpot, Brad Boston, 7, 13, 7, 3, 10, 8, 2 = 37 pts
7. Panda Capacitor, Jay Rhame/Peter Beardsley, 16, 7, 4, [17], 4, 11, 1 = 43 pts
8. Thirty-One, David Chapman, 19, 6, 6, 15, 2, 3, 12 = 44 pts
9. A Single Shade Of Grey, Jonathan Nye, 8, 10, 9, 14, 5, 6, [17] = 52 pts
10. Circle of Trust, Farley Fontenot, 15, 12, [17], 12, 8, 9, 7 = 63 pts

Full results posted at http://www.regattanetwork.com/event/6488#_newsroom+results