Breezy Opening to J/24 North American Championship
October 31, 2022
The 2022 J/24 North American Championship launched Friday at Severn Sailing Association in Annapolis, Maryland. On the heels of a cold front, winds started in the mid-teens and slowly backed off throughout the three races. Evan Petley-Jones’ Lifted proved the most consistent with scores of 6,3,1 for 10 points. Travis Odenbach’s Honeybadger notched a second and third but, with an 11 in between, landed in second place with 16 points. Local Tony Parker’s Bangor Packet is two points further back in third. Al Constants’ Blitz leads the Corinthian Division. Constants’ all-amateur Blitz kicked off the Championship with a bullet, forward of Odenbach’s Honeybadger and Kohei Ichikawa’s Gekko Diana of Japan. George Braddon’s Bogus crossed the finish line first in the middle contest, while Mark Hillman’s Sisu and Petley-Jones’ Lifted rounded out the top trio. Petley-Jones secured the day’s top spot overall by way of winning the final battle, holding off Mike Marshall’s American Garage and Odenbach. Racing continues through Sunday for the 38 teams. Complete results may be found at https://yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=15237, and photos are available on the International J/24 Class Facebook page.
