(New Orleans, LA)- The 2017 J/30 North American Championship was hosted
by New Orleans Yacht Club and J/30 Gulf Coast District fleet from
October 19th through 22nd. It was a great experience for all
competitors and the eight boats that made it to the starting line were
given the red-carpet “southern” treatment by their gracious hosts at
NOYC. Lake Pontchartrain always provides challenging race conditions and for those that couldn’t figure it out, they could rely on evening visits to the historic New Orleans’ French Quarter and the infamous Bourbon Street to drown their sorrows and, hopefully, live to tell their tales another day.
Sponsored by The Sugar Bowl Committee, the event certainly had their cheerleaders and supporters from not just the club, but from their local Chamber of Commerce. After three days of sailing on the lake, Team ZEPHYR won the 2017 J/30 North American Championship; it was their 7th National Championship since winning the first, circa 2001 in Chicago! The crew included Scott Tonguis, Dan Mather, Whitney Kent, Dani McNeil, RJ Trejo and Jessica Oswalt. This team of “ringers” zoomed to six straight 1sts in seven races for a total of 12 pts.
However, behind the Zephyrites, it was quite another story altogether. It took all seven races to figure out the rest of the podium and the top five, that’s how close it was amongst the next three boats. By finishing with a flourish in the last two races with a 2-1 tally, Ken Buhler’s hot crew on JALAPENO closed the deal to grab the silver with 20 pts total. Just three points back, fighting hard the entire way, was Russ Atkinson’s WILDCAT from North Cape YC with 23 pts total. Rounding out the top five were Dan Mather’s CRUSADER team from Oswego YC in New York in 4th and Carl Sherter’s FAT CITY gangster from Cedar Point YC in Connecticut in 5th place. For more Sugar Bowl J/30 North American Championship sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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