Charlie Thompson and his team on Brutus IIIhave been crowned J/70 World Champions, at an event hosted by St Petersburg YC in Florida, USA from 27 October to 5 November. A total of 83 teams representing 15 nations were treated to Champagne conditions of 10-20kts on Tampa Bay, albeit with shifty winds testing competitors throughout.
The British team (Charlie Thompson, owner/bowman, Tom Mallindine, helmsman together with pro sailors Ben Saxton, main/tactician; Chris Grube, jib/spinnaker; and Elisabeth Whitener (USA), pit) won the 10-race series with a 25-point lead over Bruce Golison’s Midlife Crisis(USA).
Having teamed-up at the start of 2023 for a two-year campaign, the Brutus crew were hopeful of a top result, after wins at J/70 UK Grand Slam events, including the J/Cup, and a third place finish at the Bacardi Midwinter Championship. But, with the USA fleet in particular posing strong competition, they anticipated a tough task.
Tom Mallindine recounts: “A 53rd in the opening race was a disappointing start but it highlighted the importance of boat-on-boat positioning, as well as boat speed. The fleet was so close that it was easy to fall down the rankings with even a small mistake. We quickly realised we needed to make best use of our individual skillsets; in particular, Ben is hugely knowledgeable on sail set with his North Sails background, Chris is familiar with the nuances of jib settings and spinnaker trim through his Olympic campaign, and Charlie and Beth are able to work well together under pressure, which enabled me to focus on steering the boat through the waves.
“Tampa Bay is an estuary, quite shallow with a short chop that’s not dissimilar to the Solent, so we soon felt quite at home and realised we had plenty of boat speed compared to our rivals. After that, it was about putting the bo
