2019 J/24 North American Championship at Club Nautico Valle de Bravo

2019 J/24 North American Championship at Club Nautico Valle de Bravo - Overall

by Julie & Christopher Howell 6 Apr 2019 10:33 AEDT 30 March - 5 April 2019

Will Welles' Bruschetta withstood a charging Tony Parker's Bangor Packet to return the J/24 North American Championship to Newport, RI. Welles, two-time J/24 World Champion and now four-time J/24 North American Champion, came into Friday's final two races with a slight two-point advantage over Parker.

2019 J/24 North American Championship - Final day - photo © Christopher Howell

With boat owner Aroldo de Rienzo aboard as well as Rich Bowen, John McCabe and PJ Schaffer, Bruschetta took the victory in Race 9, with Parker still hot on their heels in second. The pair dueled in the final contest, with Welles placing ninth and Parker 10th, giving Welles and team the Championship with 24 points to Parker's 28. In third place overall, and top Mexican finisher, was Kenneth Porter's S with 32 points. Friday's race winners were Welles and Porter. Twenty-seven J/24s completed 10 races at Club Nautico Valle de Bravo in Mexico from April 2-5.

2019 J/24 North American Championship - Final day - photo © Christopher Howell

Welles had never sailed in Valle de Bravo before this week, when he also competed in the Mexican National Championship (placing first overall). Although this marked the first time paired with local boat owner de Rienzo, the remaining crew are good friends from Newport, RI who sometimes race together in Fleet 50. Welles summarized the conditions in Valle de Bravo, saying, "It's funky out there. The puffs don't move quickly, so you have to get to them." As for strategy in the final two races, Welles said, "We focused on getting good starts so we could go the way we thought we should, and just keep Bangor Packet behind us."

2019 J/24 North American Championship - Final day - photo © Christopher Howell

Overall Results:

Pos	Bow No	Sail No	Yacht Name	Owner / Skipper	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	Pts
1	1	USA 5407	Bruschetta	Will Welles	1	1	3	1	5	1	UFD	3	1	8	24
2	83	USA 58	Bangor Packet	Tony Parker	5	12	2	3	1	3	2	1	2	9	28
3	3	MEX 1585	S	Kenneth Porter	3	5	7	2	9	2	4	5	3	1	32
4	42	USA 2365	Baba Louie	Mark Laura	2	3	5	10	2	9	1	7	9	2	40
5	22	MEX 2128	Trinquete	Javier Velásquez	7	2	1	12	8	5	UFD	16	4	6	61
6	29	USA 126	Giggles	Natalie Harden	9	14	9	16	7	4	3	25	6	5	73
7	78	MEX 286	De colores	Ramón Benítez	8	20	8	6	3	11	17	2	7	13	75
8	7	MEX 4905	Talento	Luis Alvarez	6	21	17	4	11	6	UFD	6	5	3	79
9	76	MEX 4802	Buenaventura	Erick Castillo Jimenez M	16	13	4	11	4	10	UFD	4	11	18	91
10	21	MEX 4864	Mar‑02	Tito Benitez	13	10	11	5	12	17	9	12	18	7	96
11	41	FRA 1810	Hendaye 64	Victor Maldonado	20	9	13	17	19	8	5	17	8	10	106
12	60	MEX 1922	Capitan Ala Triste	Manuel Romero Lopez	4	19	10	9	25	14	12	15	13	11	107
13	39	USA 2918	Sea Bags Women's Sailing Team	Erica Beck Spencer	14	11	19	8	16	19	11	19	20	4	121
14	85	MEX 4102	Marina	Teresa Schroeder	10	17	25	15	14	15	7	8	19	16	121
15	23	MEX 4163	Jambo	ROBERT HIMMELBAUER	17	8	14	21	6	21	6	18	17	17	124
16	8	MEX 5265	Caspian	Jorge Castillo	15	16	18	13	21	13	UFD	9	10	12	127
17	86	USA 2436	Habanero	Denny Vaughan	11	7	12	14	10	22	UFD	14	24	21	135
18	2	MEX 5140	Matador	Pablo Carvajal Specia	19	SCP	15	7	23	12	UFD	10	12	14	140
19	84	MEX 4527	Jot Tub 2	Jose Luis Rodriguez Pedraza	24	4	21	18	15	16	8	24	16	20	142
20	31	MEX 2988 (spin 5123)	Digger	Humberto Prtiz Pastor	12	15	22	22	24	7	UFD	11	14	15	142
21	17	USA 2176	Evil Octopus	Jasper Van Vliet	23	22	6	20	17	23	15	13	15	22	153
22	32	MEX 5017	X 4	Christian Carranza Rodriguez	18	DPI	24	19	13	18	10	20	25	23	153
23	59	USA 1036	Flight	Randall Rasicot	22	24	20	24	22	20	13	21	21	19	182
24	54	MEX 2829	Pegais	Hugo Martinez Rebollar	26	18	16	DSQ	18	27	14	23	DNC	DNC	198
25	27	MEX 3788	Asterix	Antonio Jacques	21	26	23	23	20	25	16	27	22	24	200
26	69	MEX 5139	Chaneque	Juan Antonio Uroz Mateu	25	25	26	25	26	24	18	22	23	25	213
27	82	MEX 4152	K‑tacho 24	Esteban de Icaza	27	27	27	26	27	26	19	26	26	26	230