LE TIGRE Wins J/80 North American Championship

J/80 sailing North Americans off Newport, RI

(Newport, RI)- From September 23rd to 25th, Sail Newport hosted thirty-one teams from five nations- the USA, Canada, Spain, Ireland, and Belgium. Virtually every single boat registered for the regatta is also sailing the J/80 Worlds.

J/80s in Newport, RI

As a “pre-worlds” event, the teams certainly found the regatta a great “practice race” to determine boathandling, boat tuning, and strategic optimization throughout the long weekend.

J/80 sailing off Newport, RI

In the end, a past J/80 World Champion and J/80 North American Champion, Glenn Darden from Fort Worth, Texas, led his talented team on LE TIGRE (below) to the 2022 J/80 North American Championship win. It was clear after the first day of racing when LE TIGRE started with a 1-1-3 scoreline, they were not to be denied and ran off with the championship win with just 9 pts net. Darden’s crew consisted of a few all-star crew like Willem van Waay, Victor Diaz de Leon, and Rod “Caracas” Favela (two Venezuelans on the team). 

J/80 North American Le Tigre team

Taking second was Per Roman Pepequin’s GP BULLHOUND from Sweden, closing the last two races with an emphatic 2-1. Third place went to Dan Wittig’s TURBO SLOTH with 22 pts net.

J/80s sailing off Newport, RI

Rounding out the top five was Irishman Pat O’Neill’s LEAD MINE in fourth place and Ryan Walsh’s PEARLY BAKER in fifth place.  Sailing photo credits- Anna Suslova.  For more J/80 North American Championship sailing information