Four more races were completed Thursday at the J/111 North American Championship, hosted by Youngstown Yacht Club, bringing the Championship total to seven races after two days of competition. Lake Ontario delivered a consistent 8-knot breeze throughout the day with a gentle one-foot sea state. The breeze began around 250°, made a significant swing right for Race 5, then settled back to 280° for the final two races.
With Friday and Saturday’s forecasts looking increasingly challenging, Principal Race Officer Chip Till and the YYC Race Committee took advantage of the favorable conditions and completed an additional fourth race. “We’re keeping a close eye on Friday and Saturday’s weather, and with the possibility of losing Saturday entirely, I took a straw poll of the fleet and made the call to take advantage of what Lake Ontario was giving us today. We squeezed in that fourth race under absolutely spectacular conditions—true champagne, Chamber of Commerce sailing. When you have breeze like this, a great racecourse and a fleet that wants to keep racing, you don’t leave a good race on the table. It really doesn’t get much better than what we had out there today,” summarized Till.
Race Results
Race 4
Shamrock — Jeffrey Davis
Bravo — Sedgwick Ward
Chip’s Ahoy — Chip Merlin
Race 5
Bravo — Sedgwick Ward
Moneypenny — Douglas Clarke (Corinthian)
Shamrock — Jeffrey Davis
Race 6
Black Seal — Kevin & Seth Young
Bravo — Sedgwick Ward
Shamrock — Jeffrey Davis
Race 7
Bravo — Sedgwick Ward
Skeleton Key — Peter Wagner
Spaceman Spiff — Rob Ruhlman
Overall Standings After Seven Races
Bravo — Sedgwick Ward — 11 points
Shamrock — Jeffrey Davis — 19 points
Black Seal — Kevin & Seth Young — 23 points
Chip’s Ahoy — Chip Merlin — 23 points
Skeleton Key — Peter Wagner — 28 points
The day belonged to Sedgwick Ward and Bravo. With finishes of 2-1-2-1, Bravo put together an exceptionally consistent four-race scoreline and moved into the overall Championship lead. Ward was equally enthusiastic about both the conditions and getting four quality races on the scoreboard, saying, “It was a fantastic day. Before racing started, we talked about doing four races, and four races was perfect today. I’m glad we got as many races in as we did. The conditions were phenomenal—it was just perfect. It was a fantastic day.”
In the Corinthian standings, Moneypenny, sailed by Douglas Clarke, continues to lead the all-amateur division. Top three:
Moneypenny — Douglas Clarke
Leading Edge — Tom Sutton
Quickdraw — Martin Zonnenberg
With seven races now on the scoreboard, attention turns to Mother Nature for the remaining two days of the Championship. Weather-permitting, it is the intention of the Race Committee to run two races on Friday and one on Saturday.
The J/111 North American Championship is hosted by Youngstown Yacht Club, with racing managed by PRO Chip Till and the Youngstown Yacht Club Race Committee. A sincere thank-you goes to the Race Committee, volunteers and shoreside teams whose work makes Championship racing possible. This Championship is proudly supported by Youngstown Community Boating, Quantum Sails, Savoir Travel, and Dyneema.
Event website / results: https://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu/50514
Photos by Tim Wilkes: https://www.timwilkes.com/searchlinksJ111NA26.html
