A Wild Ride dominates J/35 North American Championship

J/35 North American Championship 2022 © Annapolis Yacht Club

This past weekend, the North Star Sail Club in Detroit, MI hosted the J/35 North American Championship for a fleet of a dozen teams from across the Great Lakes. The fleet enjoyed three fabulous days of sailing in breezes that ranged from 12 to 27 kts!

Going into the regatta was the six-time national champion Bill Wildner on his MR BILL'S WILD RIDE and the winner of the Detroit Helly Hansen Regatta- Mike Welch's FALCON. At the end of the regatta, it was Wildner's MR BILL's WILD RIDE that was declared the 2024 J/35 North American Champion!

Starting with a singularly unimpressive first-day tally of 4-2-7 to end up somewhere off the leaderboard was the MR BILL's team! Wildner's "wild ride" crew seemingly drank "Popeye the Sailor Man's" can of whupass spinach for breakfast the next morning to redeem themselves! After an embarrassing first day of sailing, the "wild ride" crew posted a 1-2-2-1-2-2 tally to win by a whopping ten points for 23 pts net!

Similarly, Mike Welch's FALCON team started with a less-than-stellar tally of 5-3-9 on the first day looking like a team of clowns. However, no one expected them to be down in the dumps for long for this talented team. No wonder, their closing tally was nearly as impressive as the "wild riders"! The FALCON crew closed with a 2-3-1-5-8-3-2 for 32 pts net to take the silver medal!

Starting with a 3-6-2 on the first day was Dean Fitzpatrick and Gary Snider's HONOR ROLL. Sitting in second on the leaderboard after day one, things looked good. They sailed consistently for the next two days with a 5-4-3-2-5-6-5 for 35 pts to take the bronze medal.

The top woman skipper was Sheri Dufresne's FIREFLY. Talking about being on FIRE, her team started with a 2-1-1 on the first day in their bid for J/35 World Domination! However, the "wheels fell off the shopping trolley" in her bid to win the J/35 NAs. Subsequently, her team's 4-6-4-6-6-7-6 scorecard was insufficient to get her onto the podium and drop her to fourth place.

J/35 40th Anniversary

2024 marks the 40th anniversary of Rod Johnstone's J/35 design. The subsequent success with over 320 hulls built on this remarkable boat has left a lasting legacy in the sailing community. The design continues to be competitive and influential on race courses around the world. Multiple fleets continue to compete on the Great Lakes, the Chesapeake Bay, southern California, the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, Hawaii, Australia, and beyond.

For more J/35 North Americans sailing information.