Fernando Perez Ontiveros’ Black Mamba topped 62 other boats to claim the title of 2022 J/70 Midwinter Champion.
The team from Mexico, including Gonçalo Almeida, Bernardo Freitas and River Paquin, retired from the eighth and final race on Sunday as they had the title locked up at Davis Island Yacht Club in Tampa, FL.
They finished with 38 net points, four better than Brian Keane’s Savasana. Richard Witzel’s Rowdy placed third with 46 net points.
Black Mamba’s River Paquin summarized, “We had really good starts, going off the line very fast, setting up for that first beat trying to get to the top mark in first. We put in a lot of practice and sailed in all sorts of conditions before this event. We knew how to change gears quickly. Downwinds, we felt a little sticky, but we kept our position.”
See Fernando from “Black Mamba” – 1st place winner, speaking about what led to their success through the J/70 Midwinter Championship here//
Top Three Overall:
1. Black Mamba, Fernando Perez Ontiveros – 3 -2 -12 -7 -1 -4 -9 -[64] ; 38 – DOYLE POWERED
2. Savasana, Brian Keane – 10 -4 -[11] -10 -3 -6 -3 -6 ; 42 – DOYLE POWERED *partial inventory
3. Rowdy, Richard Witzel – [23] -3 -14 -1 -10 -11 -5 -2 ; 46 – DOYLE POWERED
Sixty-three teams representing the United States, Argentina, Chile, Great Britain, Germany, Mexico and Sweden competed February 4-6. Complete results may be found here //
The winner of the Davis Island Winter Series, spanning three weekends from December through this Championship, is Brian Keane’s Savasana.