J/80s ready for Buzzards Bay Bash

Over 20 teams are set up for the 2018 J/80 North American Championship on September 7-9 in Marion, MA.

They will be soldiering forth to the wild and woolly waters of Buzzards Bay, a place infamous for massively choppy waters and epic “blowing dogs off chains” breezes well into the 18-25 knot southwesterlies that are the prevailing condition on most sunny days at this time of year.

As host for the event, the Beverly YC and their local J/80 Buzzards Bay fleet will be hosting boats from as far as California and Washington. The three major fleets are well-represented, Buzzards Bay (MA), Lake Winnipesaukee (NH), and Annapolis (MD). The courageous visitors from afar include Bryan Rhodes’ CRAZY IVAN from Corinthian YC in Seattle, WA and Gary Panariello’s COURAGEOUS from Sausalito YC in Sausalito, CA.

The homeboys from Beverly YC are hoping to take home the crown for proud display on the fireplace mantelpiece. Those crews include Chip Johns’ CAVITICA, Dan Cooney’s AMERICAN PRAYER, Jack Gierhart’s AEGIR.

The always-strong Chesapeake Bay J/80 fleet are fielding solid contenders, too, such as John White’s USA 1162, Alex Kraus’ COOL J, Bert Carp’s ELEVEN, and Dan Shanahan’s LAWYERS GUNS & MONEY.

The Lake Winnipesaukee contingent includes Casey Nickerson’s ARGO III, Jason Blais’ BLONDIE, Les Beckwith’s FKA, and Kevin Hayes/ Jeff Kirchoff’s MORE GOSTOSA.

The “lone sharks” hoping to steal the championship include Ken Colburn’s GHOST (a previous winner and also NYYC Invitational Cup winner) from Boothbay Harbor YC and Peter D’Anjou’s LE TIGRE from PWYC.

Event details – Entry list – Facebook

Source: J/Boat News