For the third consecutive year, Will Welles holds the title of J/24 North American Champion. With crew Jeff Linton, Chris Morgan, Monica Morgan and Erik Rexford, team Bogus bested 28 other J/24s at the Championship hosted by Houston Yacht Club in Texas. Mike Ingham’s Nautalytics entered Sunday with a shot at the victory, however they lodged a 12, 3 on the day, compared to Welles’ 7, 2, leaving Ingham and crew in the silver position with 31 points. Welles finished with 22 points. Despite a bullet in the tenth and final contest, Travis Odenbach’s Honeybadger settled for third, just one point behind Ingham. Over the three-day regatta, all races were completed on schedule each day in solid breeze. Welles relished the conditions, especially on Saturday when they had four firsts, saying,” We really had the boat dialed in to the conditions, getting off the line with good speed at the upper end of the genoa in short chop.” Welles summarized that going into Sunday with a three-point advantage on Ingham, he wanted Bogus to focus on its own destiny. “If an opportunity presented itself to win, we would go for it, but we just made sure to hang around the competition while we did our own thing.” Sunday’s race winners were James Freedman’s Miss Conduct (in winds at 6-8 knots), and Odenbach (as the breeze increased to 10-14).
The top five:
- Will Welles, Bogus, [30/OCS], 4, 2 , 3, 1, 1, 1, 1, 7, 2 = 22
- Mike Ingham, Nautalytics, [30/OCS], 2, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 6, 12, 3 = 31
- Travis Odenbach, Honeybadger, 4, 3, 3, 2, [11/20%], 3, 4, 3, 9, 1 = 32
- Nobuyuki Imai, Siesta, 8, 1, 5, 4, [11], 6, 3, 2, 6, 4 = 39
- Carter White, Sea Bags Sailing Team, 5/10%, 5, 9, 5, 6, 4, [10], 4, 10, 5 = 53
Photos are available on the J/24 Class Facebook page, and complete results may be found at https://www.regattatech.com/websites/action/showEventHome?clubCode=HoustonYC&eventCode=J24NA17.