Tied at Top of J/22 Midwinters

Fort Walton Beach, FL (March 19, 2016) – It couldn’t be much tighter at the top of the heap at the J/22 Midwinter Championship after four races were completed Saturday at Fort Walton Yacht Club in Fort Walton Beach, FL.

Chris Doyle’s The Jug 4 1 and Terry Flynn’s Tejas are tied on points at 11 heading into the closing day of racing on Sunday. Jeff Todd’s Hot Toddy rests just one point behind in the 26-boat fleet. Doyle is dropping an 8, leaving scores of 3,5,1,2, and Flynn has tossed a 6 for a net tally of 5,1,2,3. Todd is counting a 1,3,2,6 (throwing out a 6).

Even the fourth and fifth place boats are tied—Mike Marshall’s Bad News and Chris Wientjes—with 15 points each. At least two races with breeze are forecasted for Sunday with an 11:00 a.m. CDT start.

Saturday began with light breeze around 4-6 knots, as Wientjes snared victory from Chris Wilson’s Lil’ Puffy, and Todd took third. It was another photo finish in the next battle as winds picked up to 8-12. Flynn edged Todd by a nose, ahead of third-place Kurt Taken-Holtze’s Turn Down for What. Chris Doyle handily collected the next win as winds lightened a bit to 6-8 knots, when Flynn and Marshall settled for the silver and bronze spots. In the final contest, Taken-Holtze was DSQ after protest, leaving Marshall, Chris Doyle and Flynn in the money.

Racing concludes Sunday, March 20.

Event website – Scoreboard – Facebook – Photos

Source: J/22 Class Association