J/70 North American Championship Preview 2025

(Tampa, FL)- The Davis Island Yacht Club in Tampa, Florida, will be hosting forty-four teams from across North & South America for the 2025 J/70 North American Championship. Sailing in the northern reaches of Tampa Bay, the fleet will be challenged by the mix of flat waters and shifty offshore breezes, or southerlies and short, choppy waters. A strong cast of teams is participating from the USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Sweden, and Bermuda.

Perhaps the most notable team is Joel Ronning’s CATAPULT team, a past J/70 World Champion. Joel has a new combination of talent aboard, including another J/70 World Champion in the form of Jeremy Wilmot as his tactician, along with a famous Olympics 29er competitor- Steph Roble- from Lake Beulah, WI.

Others in the American contingent that have proved worthy of top-five performances may be John Heaton’s EMPEIRIA and Rich Witzel’s ROWDY, both from Chicago, IL. Others may be Bruce Golison’s MIDLIFE CRISIS from San Diego, CA, and Brian Keane’s SAVASANA from Beverly, MA.

The two Brazilian teams that recently sailed the J/70 World Championship in Buenos Aires, Argentina, will certainly have well-tuned teams. They include Ralph Vasconcellos Rosa’s MINDSET and Haroldo Solberg’s OCEANPACT. The two Canadian teams include Federico Donzino’s LIFTED and Kelly Hansen’s 7th HEAVEN, both from the greater Toronto, Ontario region. The trio of Mexicans includes Alejandro Perez’s ALGARETE, Eduardo Cano’s CHILCANO, and Sergey Kuznetsov’s PIROGOVO. A “guest” appearance from the lone European team is Per Roman’s GARM from Stockholm, Sweden, and the KSSS (Royal Swedish YC).

For J/70 North American Championship results
https://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu/50327

For more J/70 North American Championship host club information
https://diyc.org/