Good Vibes Wins Mexican J/24 Nationals

The J/24 class in Mexico continues to enjoy vibrant, healthy racing in their three hotspots of activity, namely Valle de Bravo, Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta. This year’s Mexican J/24 Nationals were hosted by the Club Nautico Valle de Bravo. Thirty boats showed up to compete for the honor of being crowned the 2013 Mexican National Champion. Valle de Bravo is a spectacular lake located about an hour’s drive west of Mexico City, high up in the mountains. Surrounded by large peaks and long valleys, the mountain winds can be very tricky, especially when it blows hard. This year, the fleet was treated to nearly every imaginable weather condition—light winds, rain, sunny days and enormous microbursts wreaking havoc on the fleet. Saturday’s sailing saw little wind, blowing just 4-8 knots with occasional gusts to 10 with rain clouds interspersed with the breeze. Sunday’s was more difficult for the RC, managing to get in only one race after spending hours on the lake waiting for breeze. Finally on Monday, the fleet had a great race going, but got blown out by massive gust of breeze lasting well over 10 minutes, forcing cancellation of the races. In the end, the RC managed to only squeeze in three of the planned eight races. While the racing is always fun and competitive, perhaps the biggest attraction to the regatta is “Mexican Night” on Saturday. Awesome Mexican home-cooked food, a massive fireworks display on the lake, aquatic games, a mechanical bull to challenge your crew with, lots of dancing and a spectacular “Grito de Independencia” keeps the crews extremely entertained all night long. With all the festivities and sailing behind them, it was the Good Vibes team that were crowned champions, led by skipper Xavier Murrieta and crewed by Julián Fernández, Bernardo Minkow, Hugo McCarthy and Alejandro Murrieta. Taking the silver on the podium was Mar II sailed by Miguel Arroyo and his crew Alan Benitez, Tito Benitez, Manuel Benitez and Javier Benitez. Third was a past Mexican champion Kenneth Porter sailing with a family crew of Kenneth Porter Jr., Gerrit Gentry, Gerrit Gentry Jr. and Daniel Baños on the mighty yacht “S.” For more information, visit http://j24mex.com/index.html.