Duncan holds lead at J/70 Worlds

Porto Cervo, Italy (September 15, 2017) – The Audi J/70 World Championship moved up a gear as today was the beginning of the Championship Series with the teams now split into Gold and Silver Fleets.

The early morning westerly Mistral wind, unexpectedly piped up to over 20 knots before the start of racing, but after one race was completed, a southerly wind caused the second race to be abandoned, and racing was shortly called to a halt.

The top three for today’s Gold Fleet race were all American: Peter Cunningham’s Power Play won in shifty conditions. Despite not getting a great start, Cunningham’s team, with Argentinian Lucas Calabrese calling tactics, rallied for the win. Peter Duncan’s Relative Obscurity was second, scoring their fourth podium in the regatta and Brian Keane’s Savasana made it a 1-2-3 for the Stars and Stripes.

“We still had the Mistral wind today, but it was lighter,” commented Relative Obscurity’s Jud Smith. “We thought the right would pay and it did, we rounded the top mark in second.”

Four races have now been held, constituting a series with one day to go. Peter Duncan’s Relative Obscurity (USA), with scores of 3-1-1-2, holds a ten point lead, but with a discard unlikely to kick in, the winner is far from decided.

Note: When 6 or more races are completed in Championship Series, a boat’s series score will be the total of her race scores (Qualifying and Championship) excluding her worst score.

The Audi J/70 World Championship will come to a conclusion tomorrow, September 16, the intended first warning signal at 1000 CEST.

Racing for 161 teams will be held September 12 to 16.

Event details – Results – Photos

Source: Louay Habib