Cougar claims championship

J/24 Worlds come to a close in Newport, RI

With just a few points between Will Welles' Cougar (USA) and Mauricio Santa Cruz's Bruschetta (BRA), there was no room for error in the final two races of the 2014 J/24 World Championship hosted by Sail Newport.

Welles had used his throw-out on Thursday, so the only way to assure a win was to stay ahead. And that’s what he did. Sailing with Nick Turney, Richard Bowen, Daniel Rabin and Luke Lawrence, Welles sealed the deal with a 2, 5 to win the day and the World Championship with 38 points.

Mauricio Santa Cruz’s Bruschetta (BRA) settled for second place with a total of 55 and points, while John Mollicone’s Team Helly Hanson (USA) finished in the show position with 70 points.

Welles tipped his hat to his team, crediting their crew work in addition to a little luck throughout 10 races over five days: “The whole mental aspect is huge. There’s a reason why everyone on the team gets a trophy at the end of this.”

Cougar had a solid week, but notched a 46 in Race 7. “We had a tough day Thursday, and it felt like the dream might be over.” Welles praised Danny for picking the team up after that score. “He said let’s not let it snowball. Go out there and keep fighting.” This led to a rebound in the next contest. “When one of us was lagging behind, we just threw a hand and pulled him up.”

Friday’s weather was sunny with wind speed from 10 to 12 knots out of the northeast. In the first race of the day,

Welles finished second to Mollicone, while Greg Griffin’s Team Tarheel (USA) placed third. Matias Seguel’s Semi Pro (CHI) closed the regatta with a victory in race ten. Luis Olcese’s Scaramoush (PER) and Shigetoshi Shirahama’s White Squall (JPN) rounded out the top three.

Results:

1. USA, Will Welles, Cougar: 1, 6, 9, 1, 4, 4, 46, 6, 2, 5 [46] 38.0
2. BRA Mauricio Santa Cruz, Bruschetta: 12, 4, 10, 2, 1, 7, 9, 4, 10, 8 [12] 55.0
3. USA John Mollicone, Helly Hansen: 2, 24/SCP, 12, 10/RDG, 2, 9, 1, 10, 1, 33 [33] 71.0
4. USA Greg Griffin, Team Tarheel: 23/SCP, 7, 5, 3, 12, 8, 17, 8, 3, 70/DNF [70] 86.0
5. USA Travis Odenbach, Honey Badger: 23, 8, 2, 16, 3, 1, 2, 27, 31, 14 [31] 96.0
6. ARG Alejo Rigoni Gonzalez, Luca vive: 10, 25, 26/SCP, 4, 8, 2, 5, 11, 24, 12 [26] 101.0
7. CAN Rossi Milev, Clear Air: 8, 34, 14, 7, 17, 14, 14, 3, 4, 26 [34] 108.0
8. USA Mark Hillman, Sokokumaru: 4, 1, 22/SCP, 24/RDG, 70/DSQ, 6, 31, 5, 6,10[70] 109
9. USA Mike Ingham, Nautalytics: 27, 29, 3, 8, 11, 3, 37, 17, 21, 4 [37] 123.0
10. USA Anthony Parker, Bangor Packet: 29, 14, 6, 5, 70/DSQ, 19, 28, 15, 9, 13 [70] 138.0