Ken Read of Portsmouth, R.I., clinched the J/24 World Championship in Annapolis yesterday with a sixth-place finish in the fifth race of the regatta.
"Our objective today was to finish at least one place ahead of Jim Brady and stay in the top 10," Read said yesterday after his crew had ceremoniously thrown him into Annapolis Harbor. "We did and we win. It's over."
Read and his crew will not sail today in the sixth race of the series, he said.
"It is kind of the tradition in the class to let the troops battle it out for the next place," Read said after clinching his fourth J/24 world championship. "We don't want to be an influence in that. Plus, we plan on being extremely hung over."
Read's sixth-place finish yesterday matched his worst performance of the week. In the other three races, he finished first twice and second.
Brady, of Annapolis, finished seventh yesterday and was passed by Read within one boat length of the finish line.
"At the first leeward mark [Brady] was 200 yards ahead, way ahead," Read said. "We just slowly ground him down, got a big left shift on the second beat that got us close, and on the last
beat we caught up 12 boat lengths and got a right-hand shift to pass. Somebody upstairs was looking out for us today."
Even with a throw-out race, Brady stood a half-point behind Read after yesterday's race.
Chris Larson of Annapolis, who late Wednesday night was restored to his eighth-place finish in Race 3, came in second yesterday to Steve Ulian of Cambridge, Mass., and he and Brady seem to have the best shot at second in the fleet.
DTC "We had a tough couple of days getting started," said Larson, who finished 12th and 34th in the first two races of the regatta. "But the last two days we have pulled it together."
With the throw-out, Larson is 6.75 points behind Brady and has finished 8-1-2 in the past three races.
"It is not out of the question," Larson said of his chances of catching Brady today. "Especially if we get a day like today.
"The first leg basically sorted things out because you had to go far right because the current was going the opposite way. Probably three quarters of the fleet got caught on the wrong side."
Said Brady: "Tomorrow [today] will be a race for the bridesmaids."