When bad weather hampered the final stages of preparation for the J/80 Worlds at Newport, Rhode Island last week, the pessimists wondered if it was stretching things too far, in an Autumn of unsettled weather, to have racing scheduled right up to the prize-giving on Saturday evening, with
seemingly no option for an extra day if things went pear-shaped.
But as we now know, everything went very right indeed, so much so that Pat O'Neill of Howth YC and his team in third overall found themselves getting an extra cheer as the lead act in a lively show with the prizes going out in the 3,2,1 order, Swden taking silver and US on gold on the sort of evening that should conclude every major championship.
See vid of the prizegiving below
