Spring is sweeping across South America, and that means the active J/24 fleet in Argentina are sailing all of their spring championships down along the Rio Plata in Buenos Aires and up in the Andes Mountains in Cordoba. In September, the Buenos Aires fleet held their Grand Prix Internacional de Vela L.A. Cerrato at YC Olivos. The fleet enjoyed a gentle breeze Saturday with two races in winds gusting up to 18 knots and then three races on Sunday in more moderate breezes. The Uruguayan crew led by Pedro Garra from YC Punta del Este sailed EXTASIS to a well-deserved win, winning three of the five races for a total of 5 points. Taking second was Sergio Pendola racing CACIQUE just five points behind the Uruguayans. Third was Sebastian Halpern’s team on MORRUCHO with 11 points. For the mid-October Buenos Aires Week, the fleet sailed on successive Sundays. The first Sunday on the Rio Plata saw a strong southeast wind with steep, short chop that is typical of the river. The PRO managed to run three more races for the series. Then, on the following Sunday, the fleet again enjoyed southeast winds in the 10-12 knots range that permitted the PRO to complete the entire 12 race series. The fight for the lead was extremely close and was defined by the results of the last race. It was a thrilling finale to the Buenos Aires Week championship. Pedro Garra’s EXTASIS team from YC Punta del Este in Uruguay started off the series in third place after the first weekend of sailing. However, in the second weekend, their last six races saw no races scored less than third. As a result, Garra’s EXTASIS won their second major regatta in Argentina with a points total of 24 points for 10 races counted. Sergio Pendola’s CACIQUE took second overall with 26 points. Nicolas Cubria’s WORKNET team won the last race to leap onto the podium in third position with 29 points. Over the October 10-12 weekend, the Club Nautico Cordoba completed the two-weekend event called the Cordoba Spring Championship. The local fleet sails on one of the world’s most beautiful lakes, Lago San Roque, in western Argentina. On Saturday, the fleet had a warm day with northeast winds of 4-12 knots. The CNC clubhouse in Villas Carlos Paz was brimming with activity as the fleet of 18 boats prepared for the final weekend of racing the Spring Championship. In the end, SAMA was declared the overall champion with a record of 3-10-4-2-2 for 11 points net. Second was Jorge Garcia Velazco’s SIROCCO with a scoreline of 13-2-3-4-3 for 12 points net. Third was PICANTE, winning a tie-breaker over CARRER. Fifth was INDIGO, a past winner of the event. Over Halloween weekend, Club Universidad de Buenos Aires (CUBA) held their Tournament Amadeo Alurralde. With a beautiful sunny day and a fresh breeze from the southeast blowing 12-16 knots, the “barco de comite” and its PRO managed to complete enough races to make it a regatta. Winning with straight bullets was Guillermo Belinotto’s CARRERA crew from CUBA with 3 points total. Taking second was Sergio Pendola’s CACIQUE with a 3-2-2 for 7 points. Only one point back in third position on the podium was Alejandro Rossi’s SHARK with a 2-3-3 for 8 points total. Rounding out the top five was Javier Donzelli’s MENDIETA in fourth with 12 points, and Diego Cervi’s SEX SYMBOL in fifth with 15 points. For more Argentina J/24 sailing information, visit http://j24arg.blogspot.com/.
International Class Association
