J/70 Midwinter Championship at Davis Island Yacht Club - Overall

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.

In the Corinthian Division, Francisco Van Avermaete's Juicy (with Geronimo Galvan, Francisco Bellochio and Trinidad Silva) from Argentina topped the 28-boat group, ahead of American Bob Willis' Rip Rullah and Swedish Filip Engelbert's Charter. USA1516, with Dave Kerr, Lee Sackett, Geoff Becker and Tom Sessions, bested the seven-boat One-Pro group. Rounding out that top three were Mark Gorman's Pazzi and Peter Barrett's Reset.

2022 J/70 Midwinter Championship final day - photo © Christopher Howell

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."

Juicy's Francisco Bellochio spoke about the conditions, stating they were "kind of tricky, shifty, right, left...pretty fun! On Saturday, we did top 10 in the first race. Second one, we got stuck at the starting line with a few boats, but in the third one, we pulled another top 10."

Overall Results: (top five)

1. Black Mamba, Fernando Perez Ontiveros - 3 -2 -12 -7 -1 -4 -9 -[64]; 38pts
2. Savasana, Brian Keane - 10 -4 -[11] -10 -3 -6 -3 -6; 42pts
3. Rowdy, Richard Witzel - [23] -3 -14 -1 -10 -11 -5 -2; 46pts
4. Very Odd, David Jannetti - 4 -7 -1 -3 -4 -12 -21 -[33]; 52pts
5. Stampede, Bruno Pasquinelli - 5 -1 -8 -13 -14 -[16] -10 -4; 55pts

Sixty-three teams representing the United States, Argentina, Chile, Great Britain, Germany, Mexico and Sweden competed February 4-6. Photos and video are available on the USA J/70 Class Facebook page, and complete results may be found at yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=14757.

The winner of the Davis Island Winter Series, spanning three weekends from December through this Championship, is Brian Keane's Savasana.

2022 J/70 Midwinter Championship final day - photo © Christopher Howell