It may have been mostly cloudy for the opening day of the 2014 J/70 World Championship presented by Helly Hansen, but one standout bright spot was the performance of Joel Ronning of Minneapolis, Minn on Catapult. Ronning holds the lead in the qualifying series with three points over local sailor Tim Healy (Jamestown, R.I.) on Helly Hansen who posted a consistent 2-2-2 for six points. Qualifying is scheduled to complete on Wednesday, after which the the top half of the fleet will advance to compete for the inaugural World title on Thursday through Saturday.
“The biggest challenge will be figuring out how to sail the boats in the open water of Rhode Island Sound. The current is difficult to figure out (I am not sure anyone has it figured out) and predicting the wind shifts is also difficult. In early September we usually have good wind but it can come from just about any direction. Air temperatures can be anywhere from the high 50s to the low 80s." Predicts Tim Healy, skipper of Helly Hansen and president of North Sails One Design