Santa Barbara Yacht Club’s Pat Toole Finds Smooth Sailing with J24
http://www.noozhawk.com/noozhawk/article/071710_santa_barbara_yacht_clubs_pat_toole_j24/
By Erin Graffy, Noozhawk Contributor
Three Big Dogs races to North American title, qualifies for world championship
In a stunning victory, Pat Toole from the Santa Barbara Yacht Club has won one of the most prestigious sailing events in North America.
For more than 30 years, the J24 North American Championship has been the pinnacle racing event for the J24, (a one-design sailboat class), which is considered to be the world’s most popular racing keelboat.
Toole’s crew — which included Chris Stankevitz, Dale Turley, George Witter and Les Wolff — competed against teams of racers from around the world, including Argentina, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Japan and Mexico. The panel of international judges was from the United States, Canada, Japan and Venezuela.
“Pat’s win is an enormous credit to the Santa Barbara community and to the yacht club,” said Commodore Roger Chrisman. “This is a very prestigious regatta that includes close-quarters and competitive racing with regional, national and international level sailors. There are many professionals who come to fight it out for the title of 2010 North American champion.”
Sailing out of the Santa Barbara Yacht Club on Three Big Dogs, Toole was in solid second place after the second day of competition. The championship consisted of 10 races over three days in the challenging waters of Puget Sound. On the third day, Toole and his crew pulled ahead of the substantial lead of the front contender to claim victory.
“It was a great day of sailing — our best ever,” said Toole, a longtime local sailor and president of the Santa Barbara Youth Sailing Foundation.
Toole, along with the next two top finishers in the Puget Sound regatta, also earned spots to race in the world championships in Buenos Aires next year.
The Santa Barbara Yacht Club, 130 Harbor Way, is the second oldest yacht club on the Pacific Coast, and home of the Star Lipton Cup. Formed in 1872, the Santa Barbara Yacht Club is one of the community’s earliest established organizations.
Click here for more information on the Santa Barbara Yacht Club.
— Erin Graffy is a local freelance writer and author of Santa Barbara: The Annotated Guide to Santa Barbara Protocol.
http://www.noozhawk.com/noozhawk/article/071710_santa_barbara_yacht_clubs_pat_toole_j24/