J/24 World Championships at Rhode Island, USA Overall

Brad Read Wins MFS Regatta® J/24 World Championship – Day 5, Final

NEWPORT, R.I., USA – Brad Read (Middletown, R.I.) and his crew Jay Miles (Newport, R.I.), Gordon Borges (New Bedford, Mass.), Randy Borges (Bristol, R.I.), and Paul Grenauer (Buffalo, N.Y.) won the MFS Regatta J/24 World Championship in Newport, R.I. against a fleet of 73 international teams from 14 countries. Eight windward/leeward races were sailed on Rhode Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean from Monday, September 26 through Friday, September 29. Presented by US Watercraft and Cambridge Technology Partners, the regatta was hosted and organized by Ida Lewis Yacht Club, Sail Newport and Fleet 50 of the International J/24 Class Association.

The eighth and final race of the series started in 14 knots of wind from the North and flat seas. Almost perfect conditions led to an almost perfect race for Read and his Blind Squirrel team. After a conservative start, they rounded the first weather mark in the top 25 boats and had their work cut out for them over the next three legs. Compounding the tricky wind shifts that Principal Race Officer Peter Reggio (Essex, Conn.) characterized as ‘squirrelly,’ was the rapidly dropping wind speed. Down to 6 knots and falling and the fleet had one upwind leg left to sail. Only a mile and a half of sailing stood in the way of Read earning the coveted silver prize. By employing the mantra that has served them so well this week – Be Consistent -- they finished seventh. Not bad for a team with four bullets, and good enough to earn him a title that Read has chased since sailing his first world championship in 1986 with older brother and five-time world champion Ken Read. "It's neat to be part of the history of the class," said Read. "I‘ve crewed a lot in the class with Kenny and won the North Americans a few times with him."

Summarizing the week of racing Read said. "Monday was a good day. Tuesday’s 11 and 21 should have been a 5th in both. We came away from that day and Randy, who isn’t a pep talk kind of guy sat us down and said, ‘We survived this day. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. We sucked, but we are going to win this regatta because we had an 11th in this regatta and this is a race we’re gonna keep. We’re going to be able to win this regatta."

International J/24 Class Association Executive Director Wayne Clough (San Francisco, Calif.) summed up the significance of holding the 20th world championship in Newport. "It is the home of JBoats and the spiritual birth place of the Class," he said. "Newport has one of the biggest and best fleets in the world. Imagine being out on a Thursday night and lining up with Brad Read, Geoff Moore (’99 North American Champion, Newport, R.I.), Jeff Johnstone, Tim Healy (’99 Midwinter Champion), Jens Hookanson and a host of others. Newport is considered by many to be the Mecca of sailing. The sailing tradition and history runs very deep."

More Information:

• J/24 World Championship Website with full results
• International J/24 Class Website
• UK J/24 Class Website