J/Newsletter- November 5th, 2026

As November begins, the J/Boats calendar stretches from championship finales in North and South America to major one-design events in Australia, winter racing in Monaco, and a first look at an ambitious 2028 J/70 championship schedule.

In Annapolis, the Golden family delivered one of the season’s best stories, winning the 2026 J/70 North American Championship aboard SAGARA. Alec Cutler’s HEDGEHOG captured the Corinthian title, Sandy Askew’s TANGERINE won both Mixed-Plus and One-Pro honors, and Jennifer Hutchinson’s ELLIE earned Top Woman Helm— giving Annapolis Yacht Club members a remarkable sweep as the club prepares to host the 2027 J/70 World Championship.

At nearly the same time in Chile, Ecuador’s MORENITA won the J/70 South American Championship in Algarrobo, completing a rare week in which continental championships were contested simultaneously in North and South America.

Attention now turns to Melbourne, Australia, where the 2026 EPIGEN J/24 World Championship will bring thirty-eight teams from ten nations to Port Phillip Bay. Japan’s GEKKO arrives with momentum after winning the Pre-Worlds on a tiebreaker over Ireland’s HEADCASE. Meanwhile, two compelling local stories add extra character: the youth-driven EPIGEN NEXT GEN program and Warren Campbell’s GATSBY, rebuilt after spending a week underwater!

Elsewhere, the 111th Sir Thomas Lipton Cup took place, racing matched J/105s in San Diego, while the J/100 SWIFT and J/34C ZEUS swept trophies at North Carolina’s Stede Bonnet Regatta.

The season is also transitioning into winter. Monaco’s J/70 Winter Sportsboat Series is preparing to welcome Europe’s top teams back to Monte Carlo, while San Diego Yacht Club launches another edition of its famously fun Hot Rum Series.

Looking farther ahead, the J/70 International Class has announced a spectacular 2028 championship calendar, with Mixed-Plus Worlds in Chicago, Europeans in Istanbul, Worlds in Porto Cervo, and Corinthian Worlds in Punta del Este. From family championship victories and youth programs to winter racing and bucket-list destinations, the J/Boats season is ending one chapter while already opening several exciting new ones. Sailing photo credit: Kurt Arrigo/ ROLEX.

Golden Father/Son Duo Win 2026 J/70 North American Championship

Cutler Claims Corinthian Title. Annapolis Yacht Club Members Sweep.
(Annapolis, MD)- The Annapolis Yacht Club hosted the J/70 North American Championship over the four-day Halloween weekend. Fifty-four boats from seven countries (USA, Brazil, Spain, Sweden, Great Britain, Bermuda, and Canada) completed eight races during the first three days. The final day was canceled after the massive high-pressure system to the north that had produced three idyllic days of racing on the Chesapeake Bay finally ran out of gas. 

Annapolis native James Golden won aboard SAGARA, sailing alongside his father, Jim Golden, Willem van Waay and Steve Hunt. Alec Cutler’s HEDGEHOG claimed the Corinthian title, Sandy Askew’s TANGERINE won the Mixed-Plus and One-Pro divisions, and Jennifer Hutchinson on ELLIE earned Top Woman Helm honors. All four are Annapolis Yacht Club members, giving the host club plenty to celebrate as it prepares to welcome the J/70 World Championship Oct. 23-30, 2027. Here is how it all went down over the long Halloween weekend. READ MORE HERE.

Ecuador’s MORENITA Wins J/70 South American Championship in Chile

(Algarrobo, Chile)- The Cofradía Náutica del Pacífico in Algarrobo held the J/70 South American Championship this past weekend from October 27–31. Fourteen teams from four nations (Chile, Ecuador, Peru, and Argentina) had an awesome three days of racing across the rolling Pacific swells just off the entrance of the Cofradía Náutica del Pacífico’s gorgeous waterfront facilities.

Ecuador’s Jonathan Martinetti won the championship aboard MORENITA with 30 points. Martinetti finished first because of his amazing consistency; that allowed him to surpass the Chilean hometown heroes. READ MORE HERE.

Japan’s GEKKO Wins 2026 J/24 Pre-Worlds in Melbourne

(Melbourne, Australia)- Kohei Ichikawa’s GEKKO team (Gaku Kawamura, Hiroshi Kojima, Remi Matsuoka, Hiraoki Matsuyama, and Takafumi Miyamoto) won the 2026 CTO J/24 Pre-Worlds Regatta after a four-race series that delivered two dramatically different days on Port Phillip Bay.

GEKKO finished level with Ireland’s HEADCASE on 13 points, taking the title on the tiebreaker countback after closing the regatta with three consecutive victories in Races 2, 3, and 4. HEADCASE, skippered by Cillian Dickson (with crew of Ryan Glynn, Louis Malloy, Sam O’Byrne, and Marcus Ryan), finished second and led the Corinthian entries. READ MORE HERE.

Fraser Claims 111th Lipton Cup Sailing J/105s in San Diego

(San Diego, CA) – After three days of competitive racing on San Diego Bay, Lance Fraser’s NYYC team claimed the 111th Challenge for the Sir Thomas Lipton Cup. Hosted by San Diego Yacht Club, the invitational regatta brought together twelve sailing clubs from across the United States and Canada to race on a matched-fleet of J/105 one-design sailboats generously provided by their owners. With shifting breezes ranging from 5 to 22 knots throughout the weekend, changing weather including sunny skies and rain, and a tightly contested leaderboard, the championship remained very much up for grabs heading into the final day. READ MORE HERE. 

J/100 SWIFT and J/34C ZEUS Sweep Stede Bonnet Regatta Classes
(Southport, NC)- J/Teams won both classes at the prestigious Stede Bonnet Regatta hosted by the Provision Company of Southport, North Carolina, on Halloween.  The annual regatta commemorates the “gentleman pirate” Stede Bonnet* who sailed and pirated on the waters around Cape Fear off sotheastern end of North Carolina more than 300 years ago. READ MORE HERE. 

Top International Teams Head to Melbourne for 2026 J/24 World Championship
(Melbourne, Australia)- This coming week it will be a beehive of activity at Sandringham Yacht Club along Melbourne’s eastern shoreline, the host for the 2026 EPIGEN J/24 World Championship. The week-long event is taking place on Port Phillip Bay for thirty-eight teams from ten nations (AUS, USA, GER, IRL, GBR, FRA, JPN, GRE, ARG, and NZL). The fleet includes two youth teams from Australia and New Zealand. READ MORE HERE.

Monaco J/70 Winter Sportsboat Series Opens with Top European Teams
(Monte Carlo, Monaco)- Since 2013, the best J/70 crews have enthusiastically migrated to Monaco every winter to line up at the start of the Monaco J/70 Winter Sportsboat Series, a series of monthly regattas organized by the Yacht Club de Monaco. Now a winter calendar tradition, these meetings aim to let sailors from across Europe keep racing at the highest level in preparation for upcoming events.

The history of J/Boats one-design sailing at YC Monaco dates back to the early 1980s when the J/24 class was first established as one of the largest fleets in Europe for decades. HRH Prince Albert II was an enthusiastic supporter and sailor in the fleet, having raced J/24s for years. Prince Albert’s passion and enthusiasm for sailing continue unabated today; he was the patron of the 2022 J/70 World Championship at YC Monaco. Furthermore, Prince Albert has supported his favorite regatta every year for 43 years- the Primo Cup- Trophee UBS is coming up this spring in March 2027.

J/70s make up the largest, continuous one-design fleet in Primo Cup history. Notably, the Primo Cup launched in 1984 with J/24s and was a shared passion for the ocean and sailing between Prince Albert and his father, Prince Rainier III. READ MORE HERE.

San Diego Yacht Club Hot Rum Series Opens with 24 J/Teams
(San Diego, CA)- Starting on November 7th, the San Diego Yacht Club will host the first of three Hot Rum Series, a set of fun and family-friendly races with tradition dating back over 60 years. The Hot Rum races are open to all types of sailors, from expert to novice, racing on boats capable of completing the approximately 12-mile course in less than 4 hours.

The regatta is very popular with Southern California J/Boats sailors. The course starts and finishes in the beautiful San Diego Bay near Shelter Island, sails out the channel beyond Point Loma, around a series of offshore ocean buoys, then returns to the finish inside the harbor. Each race uses a pursuit start, with the slowest-rated boat starting at noon, followed by the rest of the fleet at pre-assigned intervals.

A regatta full of tradition, participants, friends, and family can enjoy some of Mount Gay Rum’s Hot Rum drinks and San Diego YC Hot Rum parties after each race, which were the foundation of the Hot Rum Series started by Herb Sinhoffer so many years ago. READ MORE HERE.

J/70 Class Announces 2028 World and European Championship Venues
(Newport, RI)- The J/70 International Class World Council has confirmed the following 2028 championships for the world’s largest active offshore one-design keelboat class. The 2028 events are all taking place in some of the world’s most exotic and exciting locations for sailing, many of which qualify for your “bucket list” of not-to-be-missed regattas:
 
– J/70 Mixed-Plus World Championship- May 23-27, 2028- Chicago, IL- Chicago Yacht Club

– J/70 European Championship- July 22-30, 2028- Istanbul, Türkiye- Turkish Offshore Sailing Club

– J/70 World Championship- September 2028- Porto Cervo, Sardinia, Italy- Yacht Club Costa Smeralda

– J/70 Corinthian World Championship- November 19-25 – Punta del Este, Uruguay- Yacht Club Punta del Este

Martin Dent, President of the IJ70CA, said: “The Championship pipeline for J/70 sailors is stacked – 2028 will be yet another huge year. No other Class offers so much; not only the three World Championships (Open, Corinthian, or Mixed) but three Continental Championships (European, North and South American), and each of these in bucket list venues with sailing conditions for great racing.”  READ MORE HERE.

EPIGEN NEXT GEN Brings Victorian Youth Team to 2026 J/24 Worlds
(Melbourne, Australia)- A J/24 once sitting unused and far from race-ready will compete at the Epigen J/24 World Championship 2026 with a Victorian youth team on board after an extensive volunteer-led rebuild and a successful qualification campaign.

The boat was renamed EPIGEN NEXT GEN to reflect its new purpose: introducing young sailors to the J/24 class and giving them a competitive pathway. Volunteers and experienced J/24 sailors spent long days on transport, repairs, rigging, and preparation, including repeated trips between Melbourne and Sydney to return the boat to racing condition.

Warren Slater, Simon Grain, Andy Forbes, Adam Keyes Tilley, and Ramzey El Hila were among the sailors and volunteers who helped bring the project together, with support from many others across the J/24 community.. READ MORE HERE. 

Sunken J/24 GATSBY Rebuilt in Time for 2026 World Championship
(Melbourne, Australia)- After a capsize in gusts of more than 35 knots and a week underwater, Warren Campbell’s rebuilt J/24 GATSBY will reach the World Championship after only a handful of training days together. It’s a crazy story how it all went down for Warren and his team.

When Campbell bought J/24 AUS 4466 in November 2025, the purpose was clear: build a serious campaign for the Epigen J/24 World Championship 2026 in Melbourne and see it through to the final race. He qualified for the championship in January 2026 and began building the campaign around GATSBY.

The idea had been gathering momentum for about a year. Campbell wanted to sail another Worlds with Grant Willmott, the sailor who introduced him to the J/24 class in his early twenties. Brendan Lee came aboard as skipper, bringing two Australian J/24 titles. Rowan Allen and Tao Hsu completed the five-person GATSBY team. READ MORE HERE.

J/Gear HOLIDAY Special- 20% off!

Enjoy browsing all the items on the J/Gear Store: https://jgear.vsport.biz/

Everything is 20% off for the holidays, except for the scale half-models of the boats. 

Please order early for the Holidays to ensure delivery in time, and use the discount code below for a 20% discount. 

J/Gear discount code: JB2026HS

This offer is valid from November 1st to December 10th, 2026.

Best Wishes for the Holidays!