The 2023 J/111 North American Championship was part of the Verve Cup Offshore Regatta at Chicago Yacht Club in Chicago, IL from August 10-13. Peter Wagner’s Skeleton Key racked up four bullets in the first four races and never looked back to retain the title with 14 net points. The team was comprised of John Collins (bow), Nicholas Gibbens (headsail trimmer), John Hayes (mast), David Lyons (spinnaker trimmer), John Pernick (main trimmer), Cory Schillaci (bow) and Seadon Wijsen (tactician). Wagner is based out of Portola Valley, CA and has been a road warrior over the years, also recently including the 2021 J/111 World Championship. The battle became positions second through fourth. Andrew Ward & Sedgwick Ward’s Bravo collected the silver with 19 points, and Bill & Jackie Baxter’s Fireball the bronze at 21 points. Jeffrey Davis’ Shamrock missed the podium by one point. Winds ranged from a lack of breeze Thursday to sporty on Friday through a beautiful 8-10 knots on Sunday.
Top Three of Seven:
- Skeleton Key, Peter Wagner – 1 -1 -1 -1 -[4] -2 -1 -4 -3 ; 14
- Bravo, Andrew Ward / Sedgwick Ward – [5] -2 -3 -5 -2 -1 -3 -1 -2 ; 19
- Fireball, Bill & Jackie Baxter – 2 -5 -2 -3 -1 -4 -[6] -3 -1 ; 21
Photos/video are available on the J/111 Class Facebook page, and complete results may be found at https://yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eid=15803.