2024 J/22 Midwinter Championship

Published on March 24th, 2024

It took a tiebreaker to determine the winner of the 2024 J/22 Midwinter Championship hosted by Southern Yacht Club on March 22-24 in New Orleans, LA. With back-to-back bullets in the final two races, Glenn Darden’s Baby Doll team of Willem Van Waay, Jackson Benvenutti and Min Min Kelly took the title by countback over Jeff Hayden, the youngest helmsperson in the event.

For nine races across three days, the 27-boat fleet had light and lumpy conditions on Friday to windy and wavey on Saturday, finishing with the highest breeze on Sunday, although with flatter seas.

“It was typical Lake Pontchartrain,” summarized Benvenutti. “It was really tricky, and we were struggling at the beginning. Our heads were spinning sometimes.” Van Waay added, “In the lighter air, we had some tough times. We also had a rough start in the last race, and ducked a few boats. Even at the top, we could never relax.”

Race details: https://www.regattanetwork.com/event/27160