J/105 North American Championship

Published on October 8th, 2023

After stumbling with a 15th in the first race, Randy Hecht’s Niuhi went on to win the 2023 J/105 North American Championship on October 5-8 in Rye, NY. Following up on their dominate victory in San Francisco home waters last year, the team including Maggie Bacon, Spencer Cole, Ethan Doyle, Russ Silvestri, and Juliana Testa clawed back this year in the 8-race, 31-boat series.

With all scores counting, Niuhi added nothing worse than a fourth (including four bullets) after the first race to build a 15 point margin over Bill Zartler’s Deja Voodoo in second while new J/105 owner Ray Wulff’s Patriot compiled a solid series to finish seven point back in third.

A three-point difference separated places one and two (Zartler and Hecht) heading into the final day as 18 knots and choppy seas tested all competitors. However, Hecht’s Niuhi put on the pressure by winning the first race, while Zartler’s Deja Voodoo placed 11th. Zartler recovered to take the next match, three places ahead of Hecht. In the end, Hecht’s Niuhi sealed the deal by taking the final race (Zartler 12th) and returning the NAC perpetual trophy to San Francisco.

Final results (Top 5 of 31; 8 races)
1. Niuhi, Randy Hecht – 15 -1 -1 -2 -2 -1 -4 -1 ; 27
2. Deja Voodoo, Bill Zartler – 1 -3 -2 -6 -6 -11 -1 -12 ; 42
3. PATRIOT, Ray Wulff – 2 -7 -3 -9 -10 -13 -2 -3 ; 49
4. Warbride, Ben duPont – 11 -16 -4 -7 -1 -3 -10 -2 ; 54
5. Warlock, Damian Emery – 4 -5 -5 -17 -3 -14 -5 -9 ; 62