Snake bit at Viper 640 Winter Series

Light air plagued the second stop of the Viper 640 Sarasota Winter Series held January 20-21 in Sarasota, FL. The wind never materialized on day one while providing just enough on day two for two races in light and tricky conditions.

In Race 1, Ken Kleinschrodt and family from Buccaneer YC in Mobile, Alabama, led nearly wire-to-wire, while Jay Rhame and Peter Beardsley found enough passing lanes in the thin puffs to go from 20th at the first mark to 2nd at the finish. Pat Gibson ended up on the right side of a 5-boat melee at the finish to place third in a scrum that would prove crucial to determining the podium spots.

Race 2 was unkind to the Race 1 leaders, with ‘Merica and Great Scott! both failing to finish within the 15-minute time limit, which was accelerated after Brian Harrison found a puff on the far right down the final run to pass several boats for the race win, with Jonathan Nye’s team placing second.

Gibson was close enough to the leaders to take the title by a point over Harrison once the breeze failed to fill for a third race, with Zeke Horowitz placing third overall. The top five boats were separated by only three points in the abbreviated series.

Event details – #2 Results – Series results – Facebook

Viper 640 Winter Circuit 2017-18:
December 16-17
January 20-21
February 10-11