(Berkeley, California) – It took all nine races to determine the victor
at the J/24 US National Championship, hosted by Berkeley Yacht Club on
May 22-24. Chris Snow’s BOGUS and David Klatt’s JADED came into the
final day with just one point separating them, and in the end, it was
still one single point that secured victory for Snow and his crew, which
included current J/24 World Champion Will Welles (tactics), Chris
Nesbitt (trim), Garth Reynolds (mast) and Doug Weitz (bow, a J/24 World
Champion crew in 1995).Snow’s BOGUS team gained the early advantage on day 1 on the highly competitive fleet of twenty-five boats; they posted a 1,2,3 on Friday. Just two notches behind them was Klatt’s JADED of Ventura, CA with 8 points. Tokuma Takesue’s GEKKO from Japan stood in third with 12 points.
Snow took control of the opening bout, when winds were between 10-12 knots on San Francisco Bay. Mark Laura’s BABA LOUIE trailed in second, and Klatt in third. In the next race, it was Takesue’s GEKKO in the top spot, as Snow dropped to second and Scott Milne’s Tremendous Slouch completed the top trio. Klatt claimed the victory in Friday’s final contest, followed by Carl Sheath’s Suspence (who subsequently incurred a 20% scoring penalty) and Snow. The breeze increased to 14-16 knots by the start of race 3.
Three more races were completed on the second day with only one point now dividing the top two in the standings: BOGUS and JADED. Snow dropped a six in Saturday’s middle race to keep scores of 1,2,3,3,1 for 10 points. Klatt had to drop his last tally (a fifth), leaving a line of 3,4,1,2,1 for 11 points. Laura’s BABA LOUIE moved up to third in the standings.
Light
winds between 4-6 knots greeted the teams on Saturday morning when Pat
Toole’s 3 BIG DOGS of Santa Barbara, CA won the opening contest. Klatt
and Snow then settled in the familiar top three. Klatt inched out
Laura’s Baba Louie to claim the top spot in the next race in breeze
between 6-8 knots (Toole got the bronze position). The wind stepped up
to 10-12 in Saturday’s final battle, and it was Snow who secured the
victory, trailed by Scott Milne’s TREMENDOUS SLOUCH and Laura.BOGUS started off Sunday with a 2,1, leaving them with a five-point advantage. Klatt did all he could in the final bout and took line honors, but Snow placed fifth which was exactly enough to win with 18 net points, to Klatt’s 19. Takesue’s GEKKO of Japan, with Mike Ingham as a crew member, took third with 32 points.
Pat Toole’s 3 BIG DOGS was finally getting their “mojo” going and opened the day with a victory, ahead of Snow and Michael Whitfield’s TMC RACING, while winds hovered around 10 knots on the Bay. Snow snagged the bullet in the next contest, as Klatt and Takesue rounded out the top three. Closing out the regatta in 12-14 knots of wind, Klatt claimed the final race win, trailed by Scott Milne’s TREMENDOUS SLOUCH and Takesue.
Behind the top two boats overall, taking a well-deserved third place was Takesue’s GEKKO with 32 pts net. Fourth was Toole’s 3 BIG DOGS with 36 pts net and fifth was Laura’s Seattle crew on BABA LOUIE with 43 pts net.
One of the more notable performances in the regatta was woman skipper Natalie Penner on GIGGLES. Hailing from Austin YC in Texas, this was her first major regatta on the notorious Berkeley Circle on San Francisco Bay. While her team still had their “training wheels” on in the first few races, she closed with a 4-6 in the last two races to jump into 8th spot overall— not bad for here crew to snare a top ten finish! For more J/24 US Nationals sailing information
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