Jody Starck wins Lightning North Americans

Published on October 11th, 2015

Jody Starck, Ian Jones and Jody Lutz topped a 46-boat fleet to win the 2015 Lightning North American Championship, held October 9-11 in New Orleans, LA. Hosted by Southern Yacht Club, the event attracted teams from as far as California, Connecticut, Chile, and Australia.

Races 1 and 2 were sailed on Friday, Oct 9th. The Starck Team posted a 3-1 to take the initial lead. Matt Fisher from Columbus, OH sailing with his son Stu and sister-in-law Jo Ann was right behind them with a 2-3. Tito Gonzalez sailing with his daughter Trini and son Alberto had a 4-5.

Saturday brought three great races in 12-17 knot breeze with classic Cajun slop provided by Lake Pontchartrain. Team Gonzalez posted 1-10-1 to tie Team Starck who posted a 6-9-2 with 21 points. Team Fisher posted a 4-5-10 to move to third.

A weak front moved through overnight to bring winds of 12-15 knots and large waves to beginning of Sunday’s first race. Geoff Becker from Annapolis, MD sailing with his son Josh and John Loe won the race with Allan Terhune, Katie Terhune and Lesley Cook finishing right behind them in second. Team Starck finished 5th but got scored a 3rd because Team Gonzalez (3rd) and Team L. MacDonald (4th) were penalized with the U Flag start. The breeze continued to diminish, and though a 7th race was started, it was abandoned after two legs due to light and variable winds.