By way of a second-place finish in Sunday’s final, and only, race, Robby Brown’s Angel of Harlem clinched his first J/24 US National Championship. The Florida-based helmsman came into Sunday nine points behind Tony Parker’s Bangor Packet, but Brown’s second, paired with Parker’s 12, gave him the Championship by a single point over Parker in the five-race series. Breeze on Casco Bay looked promising at the start of the day, but lightened throughout. The Race Committee waited two hours in hopes of starting a sixth race, but the wind gods did not cooperate at the event hosted by Portland Yacht Club in Falmouth, ME. Aidan Glackin’s Mental Floss took the bronze spot on the podium with 42 points in the 48-boat fleet. Joining Brown on the Angel of Harlem crew were Mark Liebel, Ron Hyatt, Aurther Blodgett and Brian Simkins. Liebel shared that the team prefers light air, which the Championship saw plenty of. Regarding Sunday’s race, Liebel summarized, “We had a very good start at the boat and tacked right away into the current. We played the current, instead of the shifts, both upwind and downwind. We sailed our race, and the end result worked out!”
Top five:
- Robby Brown, Angel of Harlem, 12, 5, 1 ,2 ,2; 22
- Tony Parker, Bangor Packet, 3, 2, 3, 3, 12; 23
- Aidan Glackin, Mental Floss, 10, 3, 16, 9, 4; 42
- Natalie Harden, Giggles, 1, 30, 6, 4, 13; 54
- Evan Petley-Jones, Lifted, 16, 13, 28, 1, 3; 61
Complete results may be found at http://www.j24nationals2018.com/, and photos are available on the J/24 Class Facebook page.