J/111 North Americans 2025 Update
(Key West, FL)- The 2025 edition of the Southernmost Regatta features the 2025 J/111 North American Championship that is sailing on the gorgeous aquamarine waters off Key West. Sponsored by SAILING Inc. from Cleveland, OH, the regatta is being hosted at the Galleon Hotel Tiki Bar, where the sailors enjoy a fun, quaint, easy-going regatta in the rustic atmosphere of Key West.
A strong ten-boat contingent of J/111s has been vying for 2025 North American Championship honors. So far, it has been a game of “chutes & ladders” for the top five on the leaderboard.
Day 1- Monday
It was a classic Key West day of sailing on the sky-blue waters of the Florida Keys. Dawning with a gorgeous sunny day and 13 to 20 kt northerly winds, the fleet was eager to get rocking and rolling. For anyone who has sailed in those conditions, the northerly winds blowing offshore always provide very shifty, streaky winds.
Surprising everyone with their speed and solid tactics, Jeff Davis’s crew from Cleveland, OH on SHAMROCK roared out of the starting gates with a trio of bullets in the first three races to handily lead the extremely competitive fleet by a wide margin.
Trailing behind them in second place was Andrew & Sedgewick Ward’s BRAVO with Bill Hardesty on tactics from Shelter Island YC on eastern Long Island, NY. BRAVO had a 3-3-2 for 8 pts. Then, sitting in third was Steve Young’s DIABLO from Bayview YC in Detroit, MI with a 2-7-3 for 12 pts.
Day 2- Tuesday
WOW! Shocking outcomes and performances on the second day of competition. Unquestionably, Mother Nature was probably 90% responsible for such screw-ball finishes by the fleet as it was a dying northerly that was due to swing into the ESE late afternoon. That wildly variable wind produced a seismic shift at the top of the leaderboard, like the classic board game- “chutes & ladders”.
Loving the Long Island Sound type of conditions, it was Bill Baxter’s FIREBALL from Riverside YC (with multiple World Champion sailor Steve Benjamin on mainsheet and tactics) that crushed the day. By winning both races, FIREBALL rocketed up the standings from 6th on day one to first place by one point! Suffering the flipside of that scenario was SHAMROCK, sending themselves down the proverbial “mine shaft” and posting an 8-10 tally to drop to 4th place!
Day 3- Wednesday
The third day was canceled by 0900 hrs due to a forecast of 20 to 35 kts winds from the north due to a passing cold front. Flying “AP over A”, the fleet was told to take a “lay day” and explore all Key West and Duval Street had to offer on a cool, grey, overcast, very windy day! In short, many sailors, not surprisingly, gravitated to a popular sailor’s dive bar during the early evening- the infamous “Green Parrot Bar”- an institution since 1890… a “watering hole” known for featuring a huge, oblong-shaped bar, a jukebox, and frequent live music at the intersection of Whitehead and Southard Streets.
Day 4- Thursday
The forecast for Thursday’s racing was for 10 to 15 kts NNW with very shifty winds and overcast skies. That made for fast racing in flat waters to leeward of Key West and the Northwest Channel. Re-igniting their afterburners after a decidedly mediocre day on Tuesday was Davis’s SHAMROCK crew from Cleveland, OH. With three races run, they posted a 3-3-2 tally to race to the top of the leaderboard again to take over first place with a 3-point lead. Now counting their drop races, this also enabled past 3x J/111 NA Champion- Peter Wagner’s SKELETON KEY from San Francisco, CA- to also leap onto the podium in the provisional silver medal position. Wagner’s crew posted an impressive 1-4-1 for the day for 22 pts net. Slipping back in the provisional standings to third place was Baxter’s FIREBALL team from Long Island Sound, posting a teeth-gnashing 7-2-7 for 26 pts net.
Friday will be the final day of racing with at least two races scheduled.
For more J/111 North Americans
https://www.sailwave.com/results/NYC/j111.htm
Southernmost Regatta sailing information
https://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu/16411