J/24 North American Championship - Mike Ingham victorious as champion

by Chris Howell on 22 Mar 2014 Mike Ingham of the USA continued his masterful performance at the J/24 North American Championship in Mexico and secured the title for his Digger team. Sailing with Tim Healy, Enrique Pirez-Cirera, Marianne Schoke and Max Holzer, Ingham totaled just 14 points in nine races. After dropping an eight as his lowest score, Digger was left with near perfect tallies of one, two, three, one, four, one, one, one.

In 10-12 knot breeze on Friday, Ingham notched both bullets, leaving him well ahead of the rest of the fleet. The second through fourth positions were separated by only two points: American Tony Parker’s Bangor Packet finished second with 31 points, Ian Ilsley’s Jobbit of Monaco in third with 32, and Mauricio Santa Cruz’s Bruschetta of Brazil in fourth with 33.

Ingham is no stranger to sailing in the Riviera Nayarit, having raced now three Copa Mexico’s as well at the 2007 J/24 World Championship. 'When this regatta was announced, I didn’t have to look at my calendar. No matter what else was on it, I wouldn’t miss this,' Ingham said. He noted that although he has personally sailed with each of his teammates, the entire crew had never raced together before this event. He praised the conditions, saying, 'I’ve probably sailed 60 days in Mexico, and we’ve never missed a day of racing, and I’ve never worn a spray top. I love the 1:00 p.m. starts, with the thermal every day.'

Thirty-seven teams from Brazil, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Monaco, Peru, Sweden and the United States competed. This event is a 2015 Pan American Games country qualifier.

Complete regatta information may be found at website.