J/27 North American Championship - Fridley Crowned

by J/Boats on 25 Aug 2013 The classic J/27s had a fantastic turnout of sixteen boats to sail their 2013 J/27 North American Championship, hosted by the Oakville Yacht Squadron from August 9th to 13th.

First introduced in the mid-1980s, the J/27 enjoyed unprecedented success racing as a MORC (Midget Ocean Racing Championship) handicap rated boat. Later, in some pockets of the USA and Canada, some one-design fleet racing took place. However, in the past dozen years, new fleets have sprung up with J/27s racing more actively and with boats priced in the $15,000 to $30,000 range fully equipped and ready to sail, it's not surprising that many J aficionados have snapped them up and enjoy one of the more spirited J's to sail in the line-up-- plus it's a great PHRF handicap 'beer-can' racing boat for those who enjoy the more casual side of racing in their summers.

After sailing in nearly fantastic conditions on Lake Ontario for four days, the Oakville Yacht Squadron's PRO's managed to knock-off nine races, so the teams could count seven and toss two! That made for some interesting scenarios in the overall scheme of things for the final standings, if not the strategies associated with how you sail with two toss races.

J/27 sailing upwind with women crewCounting three firsts and two seconds in his scoreline, Erik Fridley's team managed to be crowned the 2013 J/27 North American Champion with just 14 pts net in seven races counted (having tossed an 11-6). The story behind him in the overall standings was a bit more complex. Benefitting enormously from the double toss was Doug Folsetter's team, also having counted three firsts and two seconds, but with two DSQ's on tap, it was nice to heave them out the window and have 17 pts net to grab second place overall. Also benefitting tremendously from a similar scenario was Andre Beese's team. With a first, three seconds and third in their tally, they could also toss a DSQ and 14th to snag third overall with just 22 pts net.

Getting the short end of the stick for consistent, heads-up sailing all regatta long was Mike Seitz's team. Sailing a very steady regatta their toss races of a 15-9 enabled them to grab fourth overall with a 27 pts net score (of note their gross score would've put them in at least third if not second if based on total points). Fifth was Dan Arntzen's team with 35 pts net.

As an illustration of the closeness of the racing, as well as how much of a roller-coaster ride all the teams were riding, the top nine teams in a fleet of sixteen all posted at least one or more scores in the top three over the course of the nine races! For more J/27 North Americans sailing information