Mike Marshall wins J/24 US Nationals

It took seven races to sort out the chutes and ladders at the 2023 J/24 US National Championship, held May 19-21 in Diamond Point, New York. The final day offered just one race to confirm the title, with Mike Marshall’s American Garage getting the better of Travis Odenbach’s Honeybadger to earn his third consecutive US National title.

Winds were quite varied in the final race, including a hefty shift that propelled Marshall’s team of Geoff Becker, Kelly FitzGerald, Rich Bowen, and Jeff Hayden to get second place to Odenbah’s 12th to net a four point winning margin. Tony Parker’s Bangor Packet finished tied with Honeybadger but lost on countback.

More than half of the 42-boat fleet competed in the Corinthian Division, topped by Mike Stasko’s Redline, with Finn Hadlock’s Boreas and Denny Vaughan’s Easy Street rounding out the top three. Redline’s crew included Austin Zauner, Gavin Smith, Tom King, and Aaron Holland.

“It came down to teamwork, all working together and never giving up,” said Marshall. “All the way through the regatta, there we places where we could have done this, that and the third thing a little better. As we progressed, we did them a little bit better, so it just comes down to a full team effort.”

Final Results (Top 5 of 42; 7 races, 1 discard)
1. American Garage, Mike Marshall, 1-4-3-2-[5]-4-2- ; 16
2. Honeybadger, Travis Odenbach, 2-1-[13]-1-2-2-12- ; 20T
3. Bangor Packet, Tony Parker, 3-6-1-5-4-1-[9]- ; 20T
4. You Regatta, Carter & Molly White, 6-5-2-3-[21]-3-7- ; 26
5. Redline, Mike Stasko, 4-2-9-10-[23]-5-3- ; 33 (Corinthian)

Details: https://www.regattanetwork.com/event/19642