J/111 North American Championship - Wind Czar victorious

by Liz Smith on 30 Jul 2014 The J/111 North American Championship was hosted this weekend, July 24-27 at the Little Traverse Yacht Club in Harbor Springs, MI. Thirteen J/111 boats attended the event in beautiful Northern Michigan ready to race during the LTYC annual Ugotta Regatta, including local boat Wind Czar who won the inaugural NAs in Chicago in 2013.

Blue skis, clear water and perfect breeze kicked off the regatta on Thursday as the sailors competed in three races. At the end of day one, Wind Czar (Rich Lehmann) lead the fleet, followed by NoSurprise (Dave Irish) in second and Kashmir (Karl Brummer, Steve Henderson, Mike Mayer) in third. Day two had a slow start, but as the afternoon breeze filled in, the race committee was able to run three more races. Kashmir moved up from third after day two, finishing the day with 20 points as NoSurprise took third with 21 points.

Saturday, the J/111 sailors participated in the Tour of the Bay race, after the wind filled in around 2pm, heavy breeze and large waves sent the sailors on a fun ride. Wind Czar held a strong finish and NoSurprise headed back up to second. The last day of racing was threatened with some storms in the vicinity but race committee was able to get two races off as the storms stayed off the course. At the end of the Championship, Wind Czar, NoSuprise and Kashmir took the first, second, and third, Click here for results