Golden wins 2026 J/70 North Americans

Fifty-four teams competed in the 2026 J/70 North American Championship on October 29-November 1 in Annapolis, MD. Topping the 8-race series was James Golden’s Sagara alongside his father Jim Golden, Willem van Waay, and Steve Hunt. Alec Cutler’s Hedgehog claimed the Corinthian title, racing with Keith Davids, Brad Rodi, and Charles “Pooch” Pucciariello – all four U.S. Naval Academy graduates.

The championship brought teams from seven countries and 15 U.S. states to the Chesapeake Bay where conditions ranged from light southerlies to a shifty northwest breeze, with changing current, flat water, and steep Chesapeake chop tested the international fleet. The event provided a preview for the 2027 J/70 World Championship to be held at the same venue on October 23-30.

At 24, James Golden has spent half his life racing J/70s. His father bought one of the earliest boats in 2012, introducing James to a class in which he would win two Youth National Championships and a U.S. National Championship as crew. Now he’s a North American Champion at the helm, racing alongside his father.

Golden grew up racing on the Chesapeake Bay before moving to San Diego last year, where he teamed up with world champion sailors Willem van Waay and Steve Hunt. His father completed the new Sagara crew.

“We’re a new team and couldn’t be happier to come away with first place and the North American title,” Golden said. “We had just the right package with the right team.”

The victory came against an exceptionally competitive fleet, including reigning World Champion Haroldo Solberg’s OceanPact of Brazil, fresh from winning the 2026 Worlds in Cascais, Portugal.

“We got a lot better each day with our boat handling,” said Golden. “We made a lot of small changes to get a little bit of boat speed. I think that really helped us on the third day of the regatta.”

Finishing ninth overall, Cutler continues to build one of the most impressive programs in the J/70 Class. Two consecutive Corinthian World Championships in 2025 and 2026. Three straight Corinthian Midwinter titles. Now the North American Championship.

And Hedgehog is doing it with a group of Navy buddies. Cutler and Rodi served as surface warfare officers, while Pucciariello was an F-14 naval aviator. Davids retired as a Navy rear admiral after a 34-year career that included commanding Naval Special Warfare Command which oversees the Navy SEALs and serving as director of the White House Military Office.

Ironically, it was the sport of sailing that brought Davids into the Navy. “I knew nothing about the Navy,” he recalled of being recruited for the Academy’s sailing team.

His military career kept him away from competitive sailing for years at a time. Now retired, he’s back. As Hedgehog’s tactician, he’s already helping the team win world and continental Corinthian titles.

“We already have high trust because we’re friends. We speak the same language,” Davids said.

For Cutler, this championship was an opportunity to improve the team’s communication.

“We really focused on our communications and letting Keith get us around the course,” he said. “I think we all did a better job than we have in the past at giving him the information he needs. It was a really good process regatta for us, and the result wasn’t bad either.”

Hedgehog team

Details: https://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu/50576

Final Results (Top 10 of 54; 8 races, 1 discard)
1. James Golden, Jim Golden, Willem Van Waay, Steve Hunt, USA, 4-4-[26]-2-12-3-7-1; 33
2. Haroldo Solberg, Gabriel Silva, Mario Tinoco, Carlos Robles, Brazil, [22]-1-7-11-1-4-9-2; 35
3. Per Roman, Faye Chatterton, Victor Diaz de Leon, Reed Baldridge, Sweden, 3-[20]-4-4-11-14-5-4; 45
4. Arthur Edwards, Drew Mitchell, Jeff Hayden, Zeke Horowitz, USA, [28]-11-10-1-4-16-1-18; 61
5. Al Minella, Marc Gauthier, John Wallace, Greiner Hobbs, USA, 12-5-[28]-8-2-9-15-10; 61
6. Paul Green, Stuart McNay, Luke Muller, Nicolas Muller, USA, 1-12-1-[25]-23-15-13-9; 74
7. John Heaton, Goncalo Ribeiro, Paulo Manso, Mark Spearman, USA, 8-17-14-14-15-[24]-2-5; 75
8. Ralph Vasconcellos Rosa, Felipe Rondina, Julio Carvalho, Guilherme Hamelmann, Brazil, 18-10-[24]-22-8-10-4-3; 75
9. Alec Cutler, Charles Pucciariello, Brad Rodi, Keith Davids, USA, 20-14-8-6-14-[30]-6-7; 75
10. Brian Keane, Ronald Weed, Charlie Mckee, Conner Harding, Brian Keane, USA, 7-2-15-[28]-19-1-[28]-6; 78