San Juan International Regatta

The winter sailing season in the Caribbean is beginning to wind-up into a higher gear. Starting with the San Juan International Regatta, the racing takes place in San Juan Bay where temperatures reach a comfortable high in the low 80s and winds customarily blow 10-15 knots in February. The event was hosted by Club Nautico de San Juan from February 1-3 and welcomed over 140 sailors in 102 boats racing in 10 classes. Postcard-perfect sailing conditions prevailed, just as advertised. Generally perfect with mostly sunny skies and winds blowing under 10 knots the first day and gusting to nearly 20 knots on the final day of competition. The mark of a truly great regatta is the opportunity for lots of racing. True to reputation, the SJIR Race Committee ran as many as 13 to 16 races over three days for the dinghy classes and seven races for the newly-added CSA spinnaker class. In the nine-boat CSA class, Julio Reguero of Puerto Rico from the host club CNSJ sailed his J/105 Umakua fast and consistent. They scored an impressive 4.5-1-1-DNS-1-1-1 for 9.5 pts net to win by a landslide. Also finishing in the top five and taking fourth in class was the J/105 Dark Star sailed by another local Jonathan Lipuscek, managing a 7-2-2-5-7-3-2 scoreline for 21 net pts.