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 YC
5th- Sara Billey/ Paul Viola’s J/105 PEER GYNT- Corinthian YC Seattle
6th- Jay Renehan’s J/111 HOOLIGAN- Seattle YC
9th- Tolga Cezik’s J/111 LODOS- Corinthian YC Seattle
10th- David Schutte’s J/109 SPY HOP- Corinthian YC Seattle
11th- Gerry Gilbert’s J/80 VELOCE- Port Orchard YC
12th- Lenny Rezabek’s J/105 INSUBORDINATION- Corinthian YC Seattle
19th- Mike Cain/ Mark Prentice’s J/105 PANIC- Corinthian YC Seattle
21st- Dave Miller’s J/99 ONE LIFE- Corinthian YC Seattle

For more 48 North Top 25 Race Boats 2024 information
https://48north.com/racing/48-norths-top-25-race-boats-of-2024/