Armano Xaris Wins SL-Vuitton Final Top-Spot

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After two and a half months and nearly two hundred match races sponsored by many yacht clubs and  marine-themed estates across the grid, today it came down to four championship contenders and a final five-hour match sequence.

Armano, Hawk, Lynn, and Takabou were all well-known household names to the large spectator crowd attending today’s event. The superstar sailors who met on the Fedallah raceline for the final shoot-out had repeatedly flashed incredible sailing skills and demonstrated their undeniable dedication in prior qualifying rounds… and in so many other sailing competitions.

These four are all Kazenojin, in my book.

Thankfully, today’s weather was reasonably cooperative, and all the contenders knew the courses, the potential “tough spots,” and any unique rules issue very well. It turned out to be as good a day of racing as anyone could reasonably hope for on the sometimes-treacherous waters of SL.

When the rounds of semifinals matches completed, only two of the four skippers remained standing: Armano Xaris and Takabou Destiny.

Don Berthios, the GGYC Commodore and SLVT Regatta Chair, recently made a decision to change the format for the final match event to a “Best Three of Five” race series. Many experienced Regatta planners (including myself) groaned at this decision, since it made what we knew would be a long event… even longer.

However, I now agree Don was right! the final competition between Armano and Takabou ended up tied at 2 wins each; their sailing skills were so evenly matched it should never have been decided by just three final races, since lag and grid issues may have invalidated that short result-set.

As it turned out, the five race format provided a fair test of the skills and ability of two truly incredible racers. In the end it came down to just one final race, and just eighteen seconds…

Armano took the top spot, but wow! Everyone in SLSailing came  away a winner.

I’ll have a lot more to tell you later!

SL-Vuitton Champions:

• 1. Armano Xaris
• 2. Takabou Destiny
• 3. LDeWell Hawker
• 4. Lynn Parkin