Friday, September 26, 2014

J/105 North Americans Preview

J/105 sailboats- sailing off start (Toronto, Ontario)- The J/105 North American Championship will be hosted this coming week by the Royal Canadian Yacht Club in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 27 teams are competing from Bermuda, Canada and the United States. Racing begins Thursday, September 25 and continues through Sunday, September 28.

The fleet boasts an impressive array of home-grown Canadian talent including James Rathbun and crew on HEY JUDE, the 2013 J/105 North American Champion, and Terry McLaughlin skipper of MANDATE, the current J/105 Midwinter Champion and a past runner-up in the J/105 NAs as tactician for Rathbun!  Other leading Canadian teams include Peter Hall’s JAMAICA ME CRAZY, Greg Mezo’s FORRO, Mike Mountford’s LIVE EDGE and THE USUAL SUSPECTS syndicate.

On the American side, there is a “hybrid USA/Canadian” team participating, that is Rick Goebel’s SANITY from San Diego, CA.  Goebel is a native Canadian and so is his famous tactician- Greg Tawastjerna who is now living in Monterey, CA.

Perhaps the top American team may be Bruce Stone’s ARBITRAGE from San Francisco, CA.  Stone’s team recently won the Rolex Big Boat Series in San Francisco against the “best of the West” and was also the 2009 J/105 North American champ. Two top Great Lakes teams are participating, including Mac Race J/105 Division winner PTERODACTYL, skippered by Mark Symonds from Lake Angelus, MI and Jim Murphy’s WINDSHADOW from Bloomfield, MI. Finally, a “dark horse” contender that is always a perennial top five finisher in major events is TWO FEATHERS from Dallas, TX, skippered by Mark & Jolene Masur.  For more J/105 North Americans sailing information