2022 LIGHTNING SOUTHERN CIRCUIT RECAP
2022 LIGHTNING SOUTHERN CIRCUIT
Team Patstrong Takes Midwinters Title, Solidifies Their Southern Circuit Win
The final leg of the 2022 Lightning Class Southern Circuit wrapped up March 25th with the Lightning Midwinters being held in Miami Florida. 25 teams sailed on beautiful Biscayne Bay with the racing and regatta events being hosted by the Coconut Grove Sailing Club. Conditions were challenging over the 2 day event with big chop and wind speeds of 12-22 knots. This combination created ample opportunity for crews and boats to be thoroughly tested leading to a few breakdowns and capsizes. However, by the end of each day, all the boats were fixed and crews (while perhaps sore and tired) were smiling and excited to have been able to be back racing in Miami.
The Midwinters began with 3 races being held in Thursday’s big breeze and waves with 1/3 of the fleet suffering some sort of mishap that caused them to miss at least one race. Friday’s forecast looked only marginally better, but as the day wore on the breeze moderated dramatically giving many of the tired crews a small break with more manageable 12-15 mph shifty breeze, allowing the race committee to complete 3 more races to give the teams a drop race.
Getting the drop race was critical for regatta and circuit champions David Starck, Tom Starck and Jenna Probst as they were one of the teams that suffered a breakdown on Day 1 and carried a DNC into Friday’s racing but with a final scoreline of 4,1,(DNC),2,1,2, “Team Patstrong” asserted their dominance on the circuit and bested the Chilean team of past World Champion Tito Gonzalez, with his son and daughter Alberto and Trinidad by 5 points to win the 2002 Midwinter Championship. Rounding out the top 3 was our own Ched Proctor with Madeline Gill and Jeff Eiber only 5 points behind team Gonzalez.
Last but not least, Sabrina Starck, David and Jody’s daughter (and long time Lightning sailor) won the Youth Award at the 2022 Winter Championships. “It is a super one-design class for youth sailors who want to experience a high level of competition, international venues, and a family atmosphere,” mentioned dad and Southern Circuit winner, David Starck.
The Midwinters wrapped up the 2 regatta Southern Circuit for the class and it was exciting to see the successes our clients had using North Sails, with every race on the circuit won by a North Sails team. We are proud that so many Lightning sailors trust North Sails to help them succeed on the race course with 9 of the top 10 teams, and 20 out of the top 23 teams racing with North inventories. Our team is looking forward to a great 2022 season and the World Championships May 2022.
Reach out to any of our North Sails Lightning team and see how we can help make you and your team championship winning fast!
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Interested in joining the class, or getting to know more about the Lightning? Check out the Class Website here.
