Sandberg Estates J/70 Worlds, Yonder continues leading

Palma de Mallorca – A penultimate and exciting day at the Sandberg Estates J/70 Worlds. With all eyes on the final classification, the fleet has begun to line up in view of their final assault, whilst North American team “Yonder” is holding onto their leadership, at the event organized by the Real Club Náutico de Palma and the International Association for the J/70 class.

A prediction of southerly winds with an intensity building from ten knots, meant that the Race Committee once again gathered the fleet on Friday at the initial time of 11:30h. The teams left the dock punctually and after a first postponement on the racecourse, waiting for the wind to stabilize, the penultimate day of competition kicked off on the Bay of Palma for the challengers for the title.

American team Richard Witzel’s “Rowdy,” who yesterday achieved a podium position in third place, were able to take command and claim a partial victory, giving them a momentary win for the first race of the day, relegating Douglas Newhouse and Jeremy Wilmot’s “Yonder” to second place after adding a tenth-place finish. 

Second and third places in the race went to fellow Americans, Bryce Kalow’s “Kid´s table” and Brazilian team, Renato Faria’s “To Nessa” respectively.

In the second race, the challengers for the podium, aware of running out of time for the final of the Sandberg Estates J/70 Worlds, increased their efforts to place themselves as high as possible on the table. Triumph in this case went to the title defenders British team Charles Thompson and Tom Mallindine’s “Brutus II,” ahead of “Yonder”, in second, and “Kid´s table”, who clocked up a second.

With these results, the penultimate day of the worlds finishes again with the general classification being led by the crew of “Yonder”. The boat from New York YC, is, without a doubt the favourite team to claim victory as world champions on Saturday, having increased their advantage by 15 points over the second place classified team, Brazilians Ralph Vasconcellos’ “Mindset” from IC Río de Janeiro, and nineteen ahead of fellow Americans  “Kid´s table” from Wayzata YC, who are currently occupying the bronze provisionally, and were the best today with a second and third place under the belt.

“We are competing well. It is proving to be very intense and competitive, and quite frankly, we are fortunate to be where we are right now,” explained Douglas Newhouse, skipper of the leading team. “Palma is incredible and the club even more so, really open to everyone. We have had a fabulous welcome here,” he added

On Saturday, the 96 teams from 25 nationalities will face the last and definitive day of the world championships, with everything to be decided and weather conditions predicting rain for practically the entire day

The Sandberg Estates J/70 Worlds 2024 is organized by the Real Club Náutico de Palma and the International J/70 Association, and is sponsored by Sandberg Estates, with the institutional collaboration of Palma Town Hall, the Spanish Navy, the Baleares Port Authority, the Spanish Royal Sailing Federation and the Baleares Sailing Federation. 

RESULTS DAY 4
1. [USA] Yonder, Douglas Newhouse/Jeremy Wilmot, 44 points
2. [BRA] Mindset, Ralph Vasconcellos, 59 points
3. [USA] Kid´s table, Bryce Kalow, 63 points
4. [USA] Rowdy, Richard Witzel, 66 points
5. [GBR] Brutus II, Charles Thompson/Tom Mallindine, 67 points

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