Chiloe Island Regatta in Chile

The 2014 Chiloe Regatta was the second year of participation for the J/105 fleet in Chile. With 14 boats attending, the J/105s are by far the biggest and most successful one design in Chile. And there where many boats sailing with family crew. The competition between Scimitar and Recluta was tough from the beginning. Recluta was the top J/105 in the previous edition, so they were hoping to continue the tradition and started off on a good track. During the week these guys from Valparaiso had many good races, so they managed to stretch into a little lead for the final day. But, in Chiloe, any position is uncertain until the very end and the very shifty 18 to 20 kt breezes on the last day broke down the tradition. Recluta had a bad result in the first of two windward leeward races, losing the lead to Scimitar. After the first race, the conditions in Puerto Montt Bay were very tricky with 50 degree wind shifts, lots of rain and current. So, when the RC at 16:15 communicated to the fleet that there would not be more races, the championship was complete. Scimitar’s young crew, that had been under the deck staying somewhat dry and warm from the heavy rain, were about to explode! They jumped on deck and started taking off their clothes and were getting ready to jump into the 14 degree Celsius water in the rain. But, before they managed to leap, both fathers Toti and Maceta and Carola (Maceta’s wife) managed to control the kids exuberance and kept them aboard. Their crew of nine managed to get back to the yacht club and have a dry celebration. The Chiloe Island Regatta is the most famous and competitive regatta in Chile. It runs every two years around Chiloe Island, 650 miles south from Santiago and after the first version in 1990, 23 editions have been organized since. The regatta is mainly long distance races of 12 to 30 miles plus some windward leeward courses during a seven day program with one day off in the middle.