2025 J/70 North American Championship at Davis Island Yacht Club - Day 1
by Julie & Christopher Howell 4 Dec 2025 00:36 UTC
December 1-6, 2025
2025 J/70 North American Championship © Hannah Lee Noll
The 2025 J/70 North American Championship kicked off as 42 boats filled beautiful Tampa Bay for the first day of racing, hosted by Davis Island Yacht Club. The competitive fleet includes 14 Corinthian teams, 5 Mixed-Plus teams and 4 One-Pro teams, again showcasing the diversity of the Class.
After a brief one-hour onshore postponement, sailors were rewarded with sunny skies, warming temperatures and building breeze. Winds began around 8 knots and rose steadily to 14 knots, allowing the Race Committee to deliver a three-race opening day.
The overall standings after day one see Haroldo Solberg's OceanPact (BRA) with Geison Mendes, Mario Tinoco and Gabriel Silva at 15 points. They have the early advantage over two US teams: Dalton Bergan's WarCanoe (22 points) and Bruce Golison's Midlife Crisis (26 points). Racing continues through Saturday. Solberg summarized, "The level here in the United States is very high. We'll need a little luck and a lot of hard work to stay near the top."
Brazil struck early, with Solberg's OceanPact taking the opening bullet of the Championship. They were followed by Bergan's WarCanoe and Per Roman's GARM. For race two, the breeze settled into a steadier rhythm, allowing Golison's Midlife Crisis to dominate for the win. Ralph Rosa's Mindset claimed second, and Joel Ronning's Catapult completed the top three. Corinthian teams shined in race three. Patrick Shanahan's Bronco captured the win, followed by James Gary's Ayacucho—both fully Corinthian crews. OceanPact returned to the top group with a strong third, including an opportunity to port-tack the fleet.
Leading the Corinthian Division is Ayacucho (USA) with James Gary, Edward Gary, Brendan Read and Travis Carlisle. A standout final race placed the all-amateur team atop this leaderboard.
The Mixed-Plus Division is dominated currently by American Catapult. Led by Joel Ronning with Jeremy Wilmot, Beccy Anderson, Stephanie Roble and Giulia Conti, their consistency has put them in command.
In the One-Pro Division, RIFF (USA), with Boris Luchterhand, Ron Rosenberg, Emmett Beadnall and Ryan Carson, had a strong opening day.
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