No Worries, Just The J/35 North American Championship
(Gibson Island, MD)- What is there not to like about the remarkable J/35? At the time of its inception, it became one of the most popular offshore/racing/one-designs in the 80s. Today, it's still hard to find any boat anywhere near its performance in a wide variety of conditions. Old school? Perhaps. Large genoas. Big chutes. Still very manageable under just main and jib. Hard to beat, period. Witness recent successes in the Bermuda Doublehanded division-- a full on match race between two well sailed J/35s over 635 miles in one of the world's toughest ocean races. Flash to the past? Yes, it's happened before! J/35s finish 1-2 to Bermuda, won the Chicago-Mac Double, won the Stamforf-Vineyard Double, too. Not too mention a few hundred other races around the world like OSTAR's, Round Britain's, Round Island's, Cowes, notwithstanding.What makes the boat so attractive today is that it's fun, affordable, easy to sail and given an equal chance to go rockin' around the buoys, you simply cannot beat it (although it's J/36 brethren may have an argument against us here). In that spirit, the J/35 Class continues to have a great time.
Recently, the J/35 North American Championship was held at Gibson Island Yacht Club in the Chesapeake Bay. Twelve boats participated to have a great time bashing and crashing around the buoys and enjoy what many know to be a fun boat to sail. After the smoke cleared, a famous J/35 called AUNT JEAN (what hasn't it won?) simply pulled it off again to win by just two points over an equally famous J/35 called MR BILL'S WILD RIDE! Jim Sagerholm's crew on AUNT JEAN had a great time, sailing to a 2-1-3-1-2-2 record. Bill Wildner's team on MR BILL took awhile to get rolling, but once they did, rattled off a 3-3-1-2-3-1 score to nearly take the big silver from Jimmie-boy. Third was Peter Scheidt's gang racing MAGGIE (no relation to Ken Read's multiple J/24 World Champion boat).
Thanks to PRO Terry May and crew from Gibson Island for hosting a fantastic event, running some great races and making sure the crews all had a great time...few went home without having left it all not only on the race course, but also at the party Saturday night! So, who has more fun? J/30s or J/35s? The debate may never end. You can be certain the J/24 gang still claim to be "kings of the hill" (hard to argue when you have to fight 1000s of them worldwide, though the J/22s and J/80s aren't far behind)! For more J/35 North Americans sailing information.
Recently, the J/35 North American Championship was held at Gibson Island Yacht Club in the Chesapeake Bay. Twelve boats participated to have a great time bashing and crashing around the buoys and enjoy what many know to be a fun boat to sail. After the smoke cleared, a famous J/35 called AUNT JEAN (what hasn't it won?) simply pulled it off again to win by just two points over an equally famous J/35 called MR BILL'S WILD RIDE! Jim Sagerholm's crew on AUNT JEAN had a great time, sailing to a 2-1-3-1-2-2 record. Bill Wildner's team on MR BILL took awhile to get rolling, but once they did, rattled off a 3-3-1-2-3-1 score to nearly take the big silver from Jimmie-boy. Third was Peter Scheidt's gang racing MAGGIE (no relation to Ken Read's multiple J/24 World Champion boat).