Saturday, October 3, 2015

J/22 North American Championship Preview

J/22s sailing downwind (Houston, TX)- The Houston YC and its extraordinary team of volunteers are ready to host the J/22s for their North American Championship, being held from September 30th to October 4th on Galveston Bay.

Nearly forty boats are forecast to be on the starting line on Friday.  Leading teams in the J/22 class seem to have a fondness for southern hospitality, as evidenced by the geographical cross-section of teams that have made the trek to Texas.  The Annapolis crews are well represented, with J/22 Class President Sandy Adzick sailing TILT and Brad Julian and Todd Hiller joining forces on USA 677.  The lone representative from the bastion of J/22 champions in upstate New York will be Travis Odenbach on SEA BAGS SAILING TEAM from Rochester YC.  Past J/22 Class President, Galen Freeman will be upholding the reputation of “good’ole boy” sailing from the Appalachian Mountain lakes in Tennessee.  From way up north, one team has made the migration south from Duluth, Minnesota, Susan Matti and David Turnham sailing STELLAR JAY from Duluth YC.  The lone New England representative will be Mike Marshall’s BAD NEWS crew from Jamestown, RI.

The balance of the teams are mostly from Dallas- Ft Worth, Austin, and Houston areas.  Past World Champion, Terry Flynn, is sailing TEJAS with friend Mark Foster from League City, TX.  Local home boy and rock star Taylor Lutz, a college sailing champion, will be sailing BLACK RIVER RACING with some Texas buddies.  Marvin Beckmann sailing THE MARTIAN will always be an enormous factor to contend with on any race course.  Finally, watch out for the duo of Marek Valasek and Jamie Gilman aboard EL OCHO from Lakewood YC, those guys actually know how to sail super fast in very tight one-design racing classes!   For more J/22 North Americans sailing information