Third Annual J/24 Corinthian US National Championship at Southwestern Yacht Club

Third Annual J/24 Corinthian US National Championship concludes © USA J/24 Class Association

The final day of racing for the 2025 J/24 Corinthian US National Championship started at the scheduled noon time September 7 with winds blowing 12-14 at 255 degrees and a distance to the weather mark of 1.2 miles for a 4.7 miles course.

Race 8 had a clean start with the field splitting six to the left and six to the right. When boats eventually crossed, the right had the advantage approaching the first mark. But then shifted for the second leg windward with the left gaining. The last downwind leg had the fleet well bunched together with Susan Taylor's Take Five crossing first, Mark Thaidigsman's Challenger just 11 seconds behind, with Jasper Van Vliet's Evil Octopus placing third 6 seconds later.

Race 9 was the same course, same breeze and same wind direction. But different results. Evil Octopus won again, and Harry Dursch on Wharf Rat was second with Take Five in third.

After racing, the fleet began the hour plus motor/sail back to the Southwestern Yacht Club where they were met with pulled pork barbecue sliders and Salty Crew beer on tap - right on the docks as boats pulled in. Out of town sailors prepped their boats for hoisting and unstepping masts for their treks back home to Ventura, Richmond and Los Angeles, CA, while others would be catching flights later to Arizona, Idaho, Washington and Colorado.

The bar was open with a specialty drink and Salty Crew on tap with some impressive hors d'oeuvres to nibble on. Regatta co-chairs Jerry Lewis and Charles Campbell welcomed the competitors to the awards presentation and introduced the attending SWYC bridge and board members. Commodore Mark Pearcy thanked all competitors for coming to visit and thanked the many volunteers who helped make this regatta so successful and fun. Charles then thanked Event Coordinator Tammy Salvo for all the many things she coordinated. Jerry asked that each skipper come up and share where they were from, how long they have been racing J/24s - and what started as a joke request from the crowd - how new or old their sails were. Sailors came from all over the western US, some have only sailed on J/24s for a few months and some have campaigned the same boat for over 25 years. Sails ages ranged from "first regatta" (some large cardboard boxes were seen on our clubhouse lawn) to "a year old set but only used for top regattas" to "my genoa is 2017, main 2018 and spinnaker is newer, only 5 years old." You might guess that the crisper sails had the better results - and you'd be correct!

Awards were presented starting with the Juniors trophy won by the SWYC Juniors boat Tight Lines helmed by Jefferson Lazurus (14 years old). The Mixed Fleet trophy (2 woman on crew or 1 as skipper) had three boats contending. Susan Taylor on Take Five did the best of the three. Next the overall finishing places were announced leading up to fourth place - Dan Chepley's Abracadabra. Third place was Take Five with two bullets. Wharf Rat finished second overall with consistent top placing.

First - and 2025 J/24 Corinthian National Champion - with 7 bullets was Evil Octopus, repeating their winning performance in 2023. They were presented with the J/24 Corinthian National Championship perpetual trophy that they'll keep for a year, then pass along to the next Corinthian US National Championship in Long Island, NY.

Winners were presented with beautifully decorated stainless steel bowl trophies mounted on acacia wooden bases that the skippers keep. Each member of the winning boats also received a stuffed Panda bear - representing one of San Diego's most famous icons: the pandas at the world famous San Diego Zoo.

Overall results can be found here.