J/105 Tops 48 North’s Top 25 PNW Race Boats of 2024

(Seattle, WA)- 2024 was a year for the record books in the offshore Pacific Northwest sailing community! It seems like fewer races were called off for a lack of wind than any in recent memory, and a couple of races gave everyone an unforgettable extra helping of breeze (and the chandleries, sailmakers, and riggers a bit of extra springtime work).
Throughout the year, there was ample participation and even more enthusiasm in all kinds of races by all kinds of racers in all kinds of boats. Compiling this list is a fun and impressive exercise (on the back end, it includes every boat that sailed in any of our qualifying races). By our count, 504 different boats participated in the events that we include in our Top 25, and that’s surely only a fraction of the total number of race boats across the Pacific Northwest. How cool is that? As always, consistently great performances helped bring these 25 awesome crews to the top of our list.
How do we select these boats? The qualifying races for our Top 25 offer a good representation of keelboat racing in the Pacific Northwest, and include a mix of distance and around-the-buoy races, single-race events, and multi-race regattas. Our scoring system is on a percentage basis, depending on the size of the class: 0% (did not finish) to 100% (first in class), where the event score = (Finishers – Place) / (Finishers – 1). Overall scores are an average of a boat’s best five finishes. There is no minimum number of races required to qualify. Multi-race events (like the Southern Sound Series) are scored as single events. Ties go to the boat with the larger average fleet size.
This year’s #1 boat, the J/105 MOOSE UNKNOWN, is skippered by John Aitchison and represents the Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle and Sloop Tavern Yacht Club. This savvy crew usually sails in a highly competitive one-design class. It’s never easy to take a win, let alone many of them. But after three straight years in our top five, MOOSE UNKNOWN made it to the top! They took more wins than we can count in our scoring system, a truly remarkable accomplishment! Bravo to the MOOSE crew!! Congratulations!
A tip of our caps to every one of 48° North’s PNW Top 25 racing sailboats! It is a privilege to present this list, and we offer our admiration and appreciation for those in the racing community who live it, love it, and sail so well. After first place, there were many proud and enthusiastic J/Boat owners in the Top 25 (by far the dominant brand with 10 boats total)!
3rd- Ryan Porter’s J/80 JOLLY GREEN- Sloop Tavern YC5th- Sara Billey/ Paul Viola’s J/105 PEER GYNT- Corinthian YC Seattle6th- Jay Renehan’s J/111 HOOLIGAN- Seattle YC9th- Tolga Cezik’s J/111 LODOS- Corinthian YC Seattle10th- David Schutte’s J/109 SPY HOP- Corinthian YC Seattle11th- Gerry Gilbert’s J/80 VELOCE- Port Orchard YC12th- Lenny Rezabek’s J/105 INSUBORDINATION- Corinthian YC Seattle19th- Mike Cain/ Mark Prentice’s J/105 PANIC- Corinthian YC Seattle21st- Dave Miller’s J/99 ONE LIFE- Corinthian YC Seattle
For more 48 North Top 25 Race Boats 2024 informationhttps://48north.com/racing/48-norths-top-25-race-boats-of-2024/

Three Tree Point Race Preview

(Seattle, WA)- The Pacific Northwest is feverishly preparing for the first of the dozens of events they enjoy every sailing season from March to October. They’re a hardy bunch up there on Puget Sound and the Straits of Juan de Fuca, nothing seems to faze the sailors, whether it’s “shirts & shades” weather (not too often) to heavy foul weather gear and sou’wester broad-brimmed hats mashed down over your face (the usual fashionable “look”)!
The three-event Center Sound Series is hosted by the Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle. Those races include:- Three Tree Point Race- March 1, 2025 (Saturday)- Possession Point Race- March 8, 2025 (Saturday)- Blakely Rock Race- March 22, 2025 (Saturday)
This year, a fairly significant fleet is ready to “rock and roll” in the awesomely gorgeous, sometimes brutal, Three Tree Point Race! There is both a large PHRF division and a growing ORC division.
ORC DivisionIn this eighteen-boat fleet are some of the usual suspects of top offshore J/Teams in the PNW. Hoping to be factors at the top of the leaderboard are teams like Jay Renehan & Chris Lanziger’s J/111 HOOLIGAN, Richard Knierim/ Stephanie Arnold/ Gary Stuntz’s J/112E MYSTERY, Dave Miller’s J/99 ONE LIFE, John Murkowski’s J/122E JOY RIDE, and David Schutte’s J/109 SPY HOP.
PHRF DivisionThe twenty-one-boat PHRF fleet has a one-design fleet of nine J/105s, a show of force by this venerable offshore one-design keelboat! Some of their top crews include John & Jack Aitchison’s famous MOOSE UNKNOWN, Allen Hughes & Shauna Walgren’s CREATIVE, Erik Kristen’s MORE JUBILEE, and Chris Phoenix’s JADED.
Other competitors in the PHRF Division include Dan Falk’s J/27 LXIII, Chris Johnson’s J/120 WITH GRACE, and Don Leighton’s J/35 TAHLEQUAH.
For PNW 48 North race reports:https://48north.com/category/racing/
For more Corinthian YC Center Sound Series sailing informationhttps://cycseattle.org/regatta/u2mLr48Vew