(Lake George, New York)- The Lake George Club cordially hosted the 2020 Northeast J/22 Championship last weekend as part of their annual Lake George Open Regatta. The regatta on picturesque Lake George, the “Queen of American Lakes,” in the southern Adirondack Mountains of New York State, features great hospitality, a beautiful setting, and lots of competitive racing, and usually favorable winds in the early fall.
Answering the siren call of the sea were a happy and enthusiastic eight-boat fleet; eager to get out on what became nice sailing conditions, flat water, and fall foliage in full bloom! The racing was insanely close for the top of the leaderboard, as well as it was for the bronze step on the podium.
In what became a closely-fought two-boat duel, Richard Hallagan's CHIBOUGANAU and Alfie Merchant's FAMILY FEUD exchanged winning races all weekend long. After six races completed, Hallagan's four bullets and two 2nd was enough to win the regatta by a mere 2 pts. Second was the FAMILY FEUD'ers, also counting all 1sts and 2nds, not as many as the winner!
The bronze was settled on a tie-breaker at 22 pts each. Russ Merchants "III" counted 3-8-2-4-5 while Rik Alexanderson's BRASS RING posted a 6-5-4-4-3, losing the countback to take fourth. The next two places to round out the top five were also determined on a tiebreaker. Joe Favero's KNOT ON CALL and Doug Brandow's JOIA were knotted together on 24 pts each, with Favero getting the nod on the tiebreaker. For more Lake George J/22 Open Regatta information