After 6 races, Peter Bream and Team Tarheel from Jacksonville, Florida win the J/24 Midwinter Championship. Conditions ranged from 5 to 12 knots with tight mark roundings and aggressive starts.
After 3 races on day-one, Bream held a commanding lead in the 27 boat fleet with scores of 1, 4 and 1 in challenging light conditions. Second was Rossi Milev from Toronto, Canada, who was competing to earn a berth to the Pan Am Games. On shore the competition continued with the official Davis Island Yacht Club “Beer Olympics.” Teams competed in games of ‘beer pong’ and ‘flip cup’ while enjoying pizza and, of course, beer.
After an on-shore postponement the wind filled nicely for 3 races on day-two. Bream continued his domination of the fleet posting scores of 2, 2 and 1 to solidify his hold on the top position. John Mollicone (with current J/24 World Champion, Tim Healy, on board) also had strong finishes to move up to second place overall. After the racing, the locals again pulled out all the stops with a Mt. Gay Rum sponsored party and southern shrimp boil.
Unfortunately, the wind failed to cooperate for the remainder of the regatta. A passing cold front left a high pressure system over the bay and never allowed the sea breeze to fill. No races were completed on day three despite the Race Committee ushering the fleet on the water and searching for wind. But back on shore the sailors were kept happy with a pig roast and a bluegrass band for entertainment. And regatta sponsor, Layline, contributed many great items for the raffle, a fundraiser for an ailing J/24 sailor.
On the final day, the fleet again went on the water in search of wind, but the weather still would not cooperate. After waiting for most of the afternoon, the Race Committee finally called the event on day-four for lack of wind with five of the scheduled races no sailed.
Final results are here: https://www.regattatech.com/scoring/action/showResultsRoster?clubCode=DIYC&eventCode=MidWinters11&divisionName=J/24