J/22 World Championship - Allan Terhune dominates

by Christopher E. Howell on 6 Oct 2013 Allan Terhune won the first race of the J/22 World Championship and never looked back. Now he and his Dazzler crew of Katie Terhune, Kristine Wake and Marcus Eagan are the 2013 J/22 World Champions. After dropping a 19 in race nine, Terhune kept scores of 1,2,3,9,2,2,1,4,4 for 28 net points in 10 races.
Brad Julian’s ThreeDories.com, with Matthew Schubert and Colin Robertson, made an impressive attempt to take over Dazzler with four bullets, but wound up six points shy and in the silver position with 34 points. Mark Foster with Brian Babbitt and Matt Romberg on Tejas collected third place with 54 points. The J/22 World Championship was sponsored by Fidelity Investments and hosted by Sail Newport.

'I had an awesome team. It was a total team effort,' credited Terhune. 'Marcus was great on trimming and keeping the boat pointed in the right direction. Katie and Kristine were awesome at boat handling, keeping the mood light and getting everything done.' He also praised the host location, saying, 'There’s nowhere better than Newport. We had great sea breezes, we had some Northerlies, we had shifty races, we had a little bit of everything, and that’s what makes it so fun. It was spectacular!'

Only one race was completed on Saturday due to light winds. Julian’s ThreeDories.com continued a hot streak from Friday by tallying a third-straight bullet in race 10. Foster trailed in second, and Martin Kulman’s New Wave in third. 'I’m really excited for Brad and his team,' commended Terhune on his fellow Annapolis-based team. 'They sailed a great event and didn’t make it easy on us at the end. They sailed well and fought to the end.'

The 2014 J/22 World Championship will take place in South Africa next spring. So will Terhune be there to defend his title? 'That’s the big question, and we actually chatted about it on the way in today. We hope to figure it out. We’d love to go!'

The top 10 are:
1) Allan Terhune, Dazzler, Arnold, MD (28 points)
2) Brad Julian, ThreeDories.com, Annapolis, MD (34)
3) Mark Foster, Tejas, Ingleside, TX (54)
4) Chris Doyle, The Jug 4 1, Kenmore, NY (58)
5) Benz Faget, Fats, Metairie, LA (85)
6) Jeffrey Love, Stampede, Toronto, Ontario (91)
7) Fred Hunger, Box of Rain, Rocky River, OH (92)
8) Michael Marshall, Bad News Too, Jamestown, RI (105)
9) Will Welles, Cougar, Portsmouth, RI (108)
10) Lars Hansen, OldsKool, Golden Valley, MN (112)

Seventy-one teams from Canada, the Cayman Islands, South Africa and the USA competed in the five-day event, marking the 30th anniversary of the J/22.