Freedman Crowned Southwest Champion

Thank you to Tonja Holmes-Moon for this report: The J/24 Texas Circuit, which holds seven regattas hosted by Fleets and yacht clubs across Texas, is well underway after having completed Circuit stop No. 1, the Surfin’ Safari, in Corpus Christi hosted by Corpus Christi Yacht Club, and Circuit stop No. 2, the Cowtown Stampede hosted by Fort Worth Boat Club. The Cowtown Stampede also served as District 14 and 18’s Southwest Championship regatta, which is a World Qualifier. On April 21-22, 13 J/24s converged at the Fort Worth Boat Club to compete in the Southwest Championship to test their skill and knowledge for a chance to compete in the 2019 World Championship to be held in Miami, FL. Saturday, April 21st began with looming rain clouds and storms coming our way. Seeing that the bulk of the storm was moving to the north of Eagle Mountain Lake, the Race Committee decided to head out to the racecourse and proceed with racing. A short on-the-water postponement to reset marks was brief, and soon racing was underway. At the start of the race 1, winds were hovering around 14 knots out of the southeast, but wind gusts of 24 knots were consistently creating a challenge to competitors. Racing got even more interesting when the rain set in for almost the remainder of the races on Saturday, and the winds reduced considerably to between 5 and 10 knots. Three races we completed on Saturday. In Race 1, the first bullet of the day went to Christopher Holmes and Team BadMoon, followed by Natalie Harden and Team GIGGLES, Graham Marshall and Team ClaireBouyant, and James Freedman and Team Miss Conduct. In Race 2, James Freedman and Team Miss Conduct worked their way to the top, keeping their distance from other boats for the rest of the day by taking a first, followed by Natalie Harden, Christopher Holmes, and Mark Smith and Team After Midnight. In Race 3, the winds began declining fast as the top boats bobbed at or near the finish line in what seemed like the longest finish ever while a wind line began forming at the back of the fleet, closing in the distance between the finishing boats and the rest of the fleet. But, finally, James Freedman crossed the finish line in first, followed by Graham Marshall, Mark Smith and Stuart Juengst and Team Vang Go. Having no more wind to work with and it being later in the day, racing was concluded after Race 3. On Sunday, April 22nd, while the clouds were somewhat overcast, there was no rain expected for the day, much to the happiness of the competitors. Winds, however, were very consistent at 15 knots with gusts reaching 20-25 knots throughout the rest of the races. Two races were completed on Sunday. With the consistently strong and gusty winds, all of the boats raced with their jib and some were met with gusts that caused broaches downwind. At the end of the day though, five races were completed to determine who would receive the berth to the 2019 World Championship. In Race 4, catching his third bullet in the regatta was James Freedman, followed by Natalie Harden, Mark Smith and Stuart Juengst. In Race 5, James Freedman was five points ahead of the second place boat and had pretty much secured his position if he finished in the top five, but it was Natalie Harden who got the bullet in the final race, followed by James Freedman, Kevin Mott and Team Boo-Yah! and Stuart Juengst. A big congratulations goes to James Freedman and the Team Miss Conduct crew consisting of Chris Corley, Theo Hasse, Tyler Bullard and Angel Schellenberger for winning the Southwest Championship and securing their spot at the 2019 World Championship in Miami.