Keith Whittemore’s Furio needed only seven of the eight races to secure the title of 2021 Good Samaritan Hospital J/24 North American Champion. With crew Shelby Milne, Mark Rodgers, Brian Thomas and Willem van Waay, Seattle-based skipper Whittemore racked up four bullets and kept all top-four finishes for 13 net points. Mike Marshall’s American Garage also scored only top-four finishes and was able to take a DNS in the last race, earning second place at 17 net points. Travis Odenbach’s Honeybadger rounded out the top three with 26 net points. Congratulations to Mark Hillman’s Sisu for winning the Corinthian division (fourth overall). Sayville Yacht Club in Blue Point, New York hosted 32 teams from June 18-20. Whittemore won the last major J/24 Championship pre-pandemic at the October 2019 J/24 World Championship in Miami, Florida. “Long awaited fun to come to Sayville,” he said. “Everybody said this is one of the greatest places to sail in the United States. It’s an unbelievable venue, and the sailing is extraordinary. Perfect races…when do you ever get that in three days?”
Top Five overall:
- Furio, Keith Whittemore, 1 -1 -4 -2 -1 -1 -3 -[33] ; 13
- American Garage, Mike Marshall, 4 -3 -3 -1 -3 -2 -1 -[33] ; 17
- Honeybadger, Travis Odenbach, 2 -5 -1 -3 -9 -4 -2 -[11] ; 26
- SISU, Mark Hillman, 5 -6 -2 -6 -7 -5 -[33] -3 ; 34
- YouRegatta, Carter White, 7 -4 -6 -4 -2 -[9] -7 -5 ; 35
Complete results may be found at https://yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eid=13168, and photos are available on the International J/24 Class Facebook page.