(Cleveland, OH)- The Edgewater Yacht Club will be hosting the 2019 edition of the J/70 North American Championship for the world’s largest and most popular sportboat class from September 24th to 29th. The racing will be taking place on the challenging waters of Lake Erie, famous for its severe chop and rapidly changing winds along their city waterfront. In the background is the famous Rock & Roll Museum that is located, literally, on the waterfront.
Forty-four teams are participating from the USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. As one might expect, there are many strong teams participating as they begin to look forward to the 2020 J/70 World Championship in Long Beach, California. Some of those crews from the USA include Dan Goldberg’s BAZINGA, Joel Ronning’s CATAPULT, Travis Odenbach’s HONEYBADGER, Tim Finkle’s JUNIOR, Bruce Golison’s MIDLIFE CRISIS, Gary Warner’s MOAB, Oivind Lorentzen’s NINE, John Brim’s RIMETTE, Pam Rose’s ROSEBUD (with Taylor Canfield as main/ tactician), Brian Keane’s SAVASANA, and John & Molly Baxter’s TEAM VINEYARD VINES. The top non-USA teams include the Mexicans (Fernando Gutierrez’s WOODSTOCK & the Perez family’s ZAQUERO), the Brazilians (Harold Solberg’s VIKING and Pedro Camargo’s MANCHA NEGRA), the Chileans (Victor Lobos’ MEMPHIS and the Ducasse family’s DUCASSE Sailing Team), and the Canadians (Scott Weakley’s REX from Toronto). For more J/70 North American sailing information