Domination at J/80 World Championship

The 2026 J/80 World Championship attracted 34 teams from across North America, Germany, and Gibraltar on July 21-25 in Kingston, ON Canada. The 13-race series tested sailors with everything from heavy breeze and waves to light, tactical conditions.

No team proved more dominant than James Buley’s Le Tigre of San Diego, CA. Sailing with Jackson Benvenutti, Bill Hardesty, and Skip Dieball, they never finished out of the top two to claim the title by 28 points without sailing the final race.

The win capped an extraordinary run for Buley and Le Tigre, who also captured the 2026 J/80 North American Championship in Kingston the previous week, after winning the 2025 North American Championship last fall.

Finishing eighth overall, Graham Philpot’s Black Dog (USA) with crew Tom Wells, Ben Crosby and Emmet Todd won the 25-boat Corinthian Division.

Results: https://www.cork.org/past-results/results2026/Results/J80-Worlds/Results.html