Lightning Southern Circuit is back

One year after the Lightning Southern Circuit was canceled due to the pandemic, the circus has returned to St Petersburg Yacht Club for the 2021 Winter Championship in St Petersburg, FL. At the mid-point of the March 21-24 schedule, David Starck and his team of Tom Starck and Jenna Probst lead by two points over Tito Gonzalez/ Diego Natho/ Alberto Gonzalez Jr.

Twenty-five boats traveled from Illinois, Connecticut, Colorado, and many states in between along with South American teams from Colombia, Chile, and Ecuador for the week long circuit consisting of two regattas. After the 10-race Winter Championship, the circus moves north to the Deep South Regatta on March 26-27 at the Savannah Yacht Club in Savannah, GA.

Day one of the Winter Championship brought shifty conditions from the North, North West with a good breeze of 10-15 mph. Tito Gonzalez from Chile, the defending Southern Circuit Champion, won the day after three races .

Day two was much like day one, but with slightly less wind for three more races. After Gonzalez got tagged with a BFD on the opening race, Starck posted a 4-3-2 to take the overall lead.

The FSU Sailing Alumni Team of Jeff Hayden and his crew of Mateo Rodriguez and Hannah Sellers won Race 4 and are sitting in third, one point ahead of Steve Constants from Saint Johns, FL sailing with brothers Mike and Dave.

The wind is expected to be very light in the morning for day three. PRO Todd Fedyszyn moved the start time to 2pm when a seabreeze is expected.

Event details – Results – Facebook