Australians doing well at J24 Worlds Day 1

by Dana Paxton on 2 Sep 2000 mfs regatta j/24 world championship - day 1

Brad Read and his crew of Jay Miles (Newport, R.I.), Gordon Borges (New Bedford,
Mass.), Randy Borges (Bristol, R.I.), and Paul Grenauer (Buffalo, N.Y.) sailed to a victory in the opening race of the MFS Regatta J/24 World Championship, topping a 73-boat
fleet that includes world champions, America's Cup sailors, and many talented one-design skippers.

The regatta, presented by US Watercraft and Cambridge Technology Partners, opened with a
crisp 18-knot northerly breeze on the Atlantic Ocean. The Race Committee, led by Principal
Race Officer Peter Reggio (Essex, Conn.), set a twice-around windward/leeward course, with
an upwind finish just off Newport, R.I. The remainder of the week's schedule is to race two
windward/leeward races per day through Friday, September 29, with the prizegiving immediately
following racing.

"We started about 10 seconds late in pretty bad air, but we reached through the guy who won
the pin end," said Read. "The line was five degrees or so favored to the pin. No one could really
lay the line, so we thought, 'Be conservative. Don't try and win it.' As Jay put it, it didn't matter
how much we had to reach, we were in the top 15 or 20 off the line."

At the first windward mark Read and his crew on Blind Squirrel climbed into the top five boats,
and as the wind continued to shift Read kept his concentration on sailing fast. "Jay did a great
job of keeping my head in the boat and not swivelnecking," he said. That speed paid off as
Blind Squirrel rounded the second windward mark in the lead and never looked back, finishing
the race by almost a minute ahead of second-place Convicts Revenge, skippered by Stephen
Girdis (Sydney, Australia).

The last time that Brad Read (Middletown, R.I.) won a J/24 world championship was 14 years
ago when he was just 21 years old and freshly crowned the College Sailor of the Year at nearby
Boston College. A lot has happened in Read's life since then, including taking over the
leadership of Sail Newport, the regatta's host site.

But one thing remains constant; the man loves J/24 racing and has seen his dream of hosting
the first J/24 world championship of the millennium come true. "I can't tell you how proud I am
to be able to host this regatta," said Read. "The regatta is going well and the fact that we won
the first race is secondary to that."

In fact this regatta has drawn many gifted and titled J/24 sailors, including Girdis and Carlos
Campolo (Buenos Aires, Argentina), sailing Duke. Girdis and his all-Oz crew have sailed
together for four years and are the reigning Australian National J/24 Champions.

Hosted by Ida Lewis Yacht Club, Sail Newport and Fleet 50 of the International J/24 Class
Association, the regatta has drawn over 300 sailors from the U.S. and Canada, Australia, Chile,
Ireland, Bermuda, Great Britain, Sweden, Peru, Argentina, Italy, Japan and The Netherlands.

During racing each day the fleet will be tracked on the website (www.sailnewport.org/worlds)
with software specifically designed for the event. Viewers will be able to watch each boat from
the start of the race around each of the windward and leeward marks, and then to the finish line.
Boats will be tracked with an assigned unique color code. In addition to the graphical
information, on-the-water reporters will update the site with live commentary. All information
posted will be unofficial, although official results will be posted to the website.

Full Results:

Position/Bow No./Skipper/Boat Name/Sail No./Race 1/Points/Total Points
1 27 BRAD READ BLIND SQUIRREL USA 4349 1 1
2 59 STEPHEN GIRDIS CONVICTS REVENGE AUS 161 2 2
3 18 CARLOS CAMPOLO DUKE ARG 5095 3 3
4 66 STUART CHALLONER SPOILSPORT USA 1132 4 4
5 42 WILL CRUMP GDR USA 5183 5 5
6 50 AL HOBART FAWN LIEBOWITZ USA 2901 6 6
7 3 YOSHIO KITAYAMA SANTA GRAY JPN 4855 7 7
8 61 BRITT HUGHES SHOGUN USA 556 8 8
9 30 JUAN I GRIMALDI ARG 4677 9 9
10 29 ANDREW PIMENTAL USA 5144 10 10
11 31 ROBERTO HAGAN HAYWIRE AUS 139 11 11
12 34 PETER BREAM TARHEEL USA 2502 12 12
13 43 CHRIS ZALESKI TWINS USA 5259 13 13
14 46 SCOTT MILNES SUGAR PLUM USA 1557 14 14
15 7 MELISSA PURDY SM.FLYING PATIO FURN USA 533 15 15
16 71 THOMAS SITZMANN PATRIOT USA 2123 16 16
17 64 BILL WORSHAM FLOOD TIP USA 2537 17 17
18 57 VASCO VASCOTTO BAGUA ITA 459 18 18
19 44 JOSH KERST INSTANT KARMA USA 4909 19 19
20 5 GEOFF MOORE PIPE DREAM USA 5256 20 20
21 67 BILL FORTENBERRY USA 189 21 21
22 51 JEFF JOHNSTONE TEAM USA 5257 USA 5257 22 22
23 25 KEVIN BROWN MEN BEHAVING BADLY CAN 3599 23 23
24 56 GREG EIFFERT BRAIN CRAMP USA 2918 24 24
25 22 FRANK KEESLING DUMPSTER USA 2185 25 25
26 14 FRANS VAN DER WEL TEAM JAN STEEN NED 39 26 26
27 38 DOUG CLARK RED DOG USA 108 27 27
28 9 YUTAKA TAKAGI SANTA BLACK JPN 5271 28 28
29 60 RUDY WOLFS SIMPLY ORANGE USA 5078 29 29
30 11 CHRIS SNOW USA 5208 30 30
31 24 JON MESSENGER RIDING KRISTY CAN 2577 31 31
32 54 ROBERTO MARTINEZ CHARLOTTE CREOLE ITA 444 32 32
33 12 MARK HILLMAN DR.SEUSS USA 5263 33 33
34 47 SEAN KIRKJIAN TO BE ADVISED AUS 145 34 34
35 6 TONY EDWARDS HOKUM GBR 4260 35 35
36 58 MICHEL LITTEE HIJACK CAN 4019 36 36
37 74 JUAN REID CHI 5145 37 37
38 37 JODY SWANSON SWAN DIVE USA 4396 38 38
39 21 PAT CONNERNEY TAXI DANCER USA 2736 39 39
40 63 KIETH WHITTEMORE TUNDRA ROSE USA 3843 40 40
41 13 ROBB BASSETT SAIL NAKED CAN 2768 41 41
42 55 DAVID FERGUSON HIGH HEELS USA 4435 42 42
43 70 KARL KNAUSS SEMPER PARATUS USA 4112 43 43
44 10 YUKIO FUJITA POP GUN JPN 5010 44 44
45 53 JUAN MAURI SAIL PERU PER 693 45 45
46 1 ANTHONY PARKER BANGOR PACKET USA 3942 46 46
47 48 DON WILLIAMS MIN. HEADROOM CAN 3849 47 47
48 69 JAMES BEATTY KNICKER DROPPER CAN 2623 48 48
49 4 BOB HARDEN MR. HAPPY USA 1997 49 49
50 36 SEAN FIDLER IRONIC USA 3890 50 50
51 40 RACHELLI ANDREA LA SUPERBA ITA 416 51 51
52 49 TIM HEALY USA 4248 52 52
53 68 BRUCE ANSON PLA LOMA AUS 203 53 53
54 65 EVELYN/DINSDALE ABYC TOE TAGS CAN 4282 54 54
55 35 MORTEN FOGH CAN 5254 55 55
56 16 SHELAGH TASKER JUNK YARD DOG BER 13 56 56
57 8 STEVE WELLS RAMSCALIAN USA 3789 57 57
58 19 ALESSANDRO TRUCCHI TANY E TASKY ITA 268 58 58
59 52 MAKOTO TAKEUCHI SPEEDY BLUE JPN 2680 59 59
60 73 PEDRO SUAREZ PUR 4299 60 60
61 17 AGUSTIN BIANCHI NOCTURNO ARG 4943 61 61
62 20 SATORU KUBOTA ESTRELLA JPN 4079 62 62
63 62 RAUL DEL CASTILLO LA BANCA CHI 5225 63 63
64 15 DARYL CONYERS JAM TOO GBR 4206 64 64
65 2 JONATHAN CORLESS FAT BOYS BER 12 65 65
66 41 DESMOND FORTUNE HARD ON PORT IRL 4794 66 66
67 28 TITO GONZALEZ 35* SUR CHI 5223 67 67
68 45 FAUSS HULL SKELETON CREW USA 1330 68 68
69 32 LILF MALMBORG JLLMMP SWE 4801 69 69
70 39 STEVE WOOD TASMANIAN DEVIL USA 3969 70 70
71 26 NADINE FRANCZYK FAST LANE USA 2737 71 71
72 72 DAVID PEARCE CRACK OF NOON GBR 4248 72 72
73 33 DAVID KLATT ZONI USA 1892 OCS/74 74