J/Fest West & J/24 Westerns 2026 Preview – Top West Coast Teams Head to Ventura

(Ventura, CA)- The Ventura Yacht Club will be hosting the 2026 edition of the J/Fest West and the J/24 Westerns off Ventura, CA, this coming weekend. A strong fleet of 15 J/70S and 7 J/24S will be participating. For the J/70s, it serves as a good warm-up for the upcoming J/70 USA Nationals in July.

J/70 Class
This fifteen-boat fleet includes all the top teams from California; the big dogs from the Seattle fleet on Puget Sound are missing. Some of the teams that should feature on the leaderboard are Scott Deardorff’s CAKE, Tom Garrete & Chris Raab’s SLOOP JOHN B, Karl Herbst’s PIXEL, Jeff Janov’s USA 538, Curt Johnson’s AVET 2.01, Pat Toole’s 3 BIG DOGS, and Tom Tunberg’s NAMASTE.

J/24 Class
There is good West Coast USA representation in the fleet of seven teams. Some of those top contenders may be Suzie Taylor’s TAKE FIVE, Jasper Van Vliet’s San Francisco team on EVIL OCTOPUS, Clar Sheath’s crew from Seattle on GHOST OF THE TUNDRA ROSE, and Darren Cumming’s DOWNTOWN UPROAR.

For more J/Fest West and J/24 Westerns sailing information
https://theclubspot.com/regatta/hDLosTKBym