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Christopher Hobbs wins the J/80 North American Championship

by Julie & Christopher Howell 8 Oct 06:34 PDT 1-6 October 2024
J/80 North American Championship 2024 © Christopher Howell

It's been eight years since the J/80 North American Championship came to Toronto, and again the National Yacht Club did not disappoint. Thirty teams competed in perfect warm Fall conditions on Lake Ontario October 1-6.

Tight racing and dynamic shifty winds ensured no one could relax, and every game-plan was subject to continuous rewrite.

Race Committee got right down to business, and after three races on day one, Lifted (Chris Hobbs, Samantha Webster, Kris Werner, Tyler Woodworth) topped the leaderboard, while Cristian Bieder (Chimichurri), returning NAs champion Conor Hayes (More Gostosa) and Graham Philpott (Black Dog) were ready to pounce.

The day two forecast was for light or dying breeze, which indeed it did part way through the second race. Eight boats completed the race as a thermal flipped the breeze 180 degrees, stranding the rest of the fleet and causing all to score TLE. Lifted survived and delivered three bullets to consolidate her pole position.

Sunday brought a bigger SW breeze and choppy conditions, with Lifted fending off the competition to convincingly win the regatta overall. Second place was Graham Philpott (Black Dog), with third place to fellow Winnipesaukee stalwart Conor Hayes (More Gostosa). Corinthian (fully amateur) honors went to Philpott and team Black Dog, with Hayes in second and Thomas Kopp (Kopp-Out) and team from Grosse Point, MI in third.

Huge credit to all racers for making this a true North American Championship and a banner event. Boats travelled from Lake Winnipesaukee, Massachusetts, Annapolis and Newport and most especially Seattle (Julian Croxall with Reckless). Amazing commitment by teams to the Class - congratulations to all racers!

Fleet 20 is the fastest-growing J/80 fleet, now with 33 boats across five individual fleets: Toronto, Oakville, Port Dover, Ottawa/Nepean, Kingston and Rochester. Canada also will host the 2026 J/80 World Championship in the Olympic sailing venue of Kingston, Ontario.

Overall Results:

PosBow NoSail NoBoat NameOwner / SkipperR1R2R3R4R5R6R7R8R9Pts
128  CAN 528LiftedChristopher Hobbs36311148221
229  USA 829Black Dog (Corinthian)Graham Philpot4106331512534
353  1153More Gostosa (Corinthian)Conor Hayes23144DNF5143348
471  USA 590Kopp‑Out (aka ) (Corinthian)Thomas and Jennifer Kopp91621143131649
591  USA 591TubbyJesse Thompson1284DNS7684150
698  CAN 298Chimichurri (Corinthian)Cristian Bieder104110DNF4512753
796  USA 296RecklessJulian Croxall515582191751875
881  CAN 181Innocent BystanderDavid Doyle Mark McLeanOCS131356123151683
912  CAN 12Fiammetta for Sale (Corinthian)Stephen Bardon81222DNF87202189
1033  CAN 33Puffin’ (Corinthian)Darin Sameshima12197DNF2218101089
111  USA 1001Blind Faith (Corinthian)Brian Gibbs167269DNF11107490
1226  CAN 126Rogues Roost (Corinthian)John Haverstock1111712DNF1891322103
1360  CAN 360Free Radical (Corinthian)Martin Rutter1551125521UFD1720119
1410  CAN 1326Sheets & GigglesJohn ValleeOCS1496DNF1024188120
1522  USA 1322Stacked Deck (Corinthian)Ramzi Bannura1324817DNF20151115123
163  USA 3Party Tree (Corinthian)Party Tree Racing6182016DNF7191919124
1792  592Yacht‑Sea (Corinthian)Aiden Belfrage Max Clark791013DNF916RETDNC126
1854  CAN 54Flyer (Corinthian)Edward Bilopavlovic192312OCSDNF222614129
1978  USA 249CheeksAllan Powell172215OCSDNF141299129
2067  CAN 1067Cheeky Monkey (Corinthian)Doug Gibson24251619DNF13111613137
212  CAN 2Relentless (Corinthian)Andy Elkin14202123DNF2522412141
2252  USA 1152Le Tigre (Corinthian)Peter d'Anjou18212322DNF17202111153
2343  CAN 343enigma (Corinthian)Owen Schneider23122714824212725154
2480  USA 803Blaze (Corinthian)Bengt & Marie Johansson25172818DNF16623DNF164
2523  CAN 1323Segueh (Corinthian)Elisabeth Neasmith20282915DNF23262517183
2630  CAN 130Echo Beach (Corinthian)Dominic Goodwill21272526DNF27251423188
2714  CAN 545Kokoro (Corinthian)Thomas Tyson27191821DNF26232926189
2841  CAN 441Alchemist (Corinthian)Jason Goncalves & Matt Vetter26261724DNF28282827204
2961  CAN 1161Flyer (Corinthian)Gary Stephenson22302427DNF29292224207
3062  CAN 262Happy J (Corinthian)Janet GeisbergerOCS293020DNF30272628221

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