J/70 North American Championship Takes Center Stage this Weekend at the 2027 J/70 Worlds Venue
by Hannah Lee Noll 29 Oct 01:51 GMT
October 29 - November 1, 2026
2025 J/70 North Americans © Hannah Lee Noll
54 teams. 7 countries. 15 U.S. states. One continental championship, and the first look of what's to come in 2027.
The J/70 North American Championship kicks off Thursday on the Chesapeake Bay, with four days of racing hosted by Annapolis Yacht Club, the same venue that will welcome the J/70 World Championship next year.
And this entry list is stacked.
World Champions Are Here
Brazil's Haroldo Solberg and OceanPact arrive with quite a résumé and plenty to defend. Winners of the 2025 North American Championship overall, the 2026 Midwinter Championship in Miami, and most recently the 2026 World Championship in Cascais, Portugal.
Solberg is back with his world championship-winning crew of Carlos Robles, Mario Tinoco and Gabriel Silva. In Cascais, they topped a 100-boat fleet representing 26 nations.
They're not the only world champions on the starting line.
Back-to-back Corinthian World Champion Hedgehog returns, with Alec Cutler and his formidable Naval Academy "brothers" Keith Davids, Brad Rodi, and Charles Pucciariello. Their world champion teammate Ryan Cox is also here, this time at the helm of his own J/70.
Multiple J/70 World Champions Willem van Waay and Victor Diaz de Leon are competing aboard Sagara and GARM, respectively. The roster also includes World Champions Bill Hardesty, Mario Trindade, Will Felder, Marc Gauthier, and Patrick Wilson, plus two-time Mixed-Plus World Champion Gerardo Prego Menor and One-Pro winner Robert Greenhalgh.
International Competition
The 54-boat fleet represents the United States, Brazil, Canada, Sweden, Great Britain, Bermuda, and Spain. The high-performing Brazilian contingent is here in full force.
John Heaton's Empeiria comes to Annapolis after winning the 2026 European Championship overall in Barcelona and taking bronze at the Worlds in Cascais.
Bruce Golison's Midlife Crisis finished fourth at the recent Worlds, while Bruno Bethlem's Aretê took bronze at the 2025 Worlds in Argentina and finished eighth in Cascais. Spain's Luis Albert and Patakin, Sweden's Elvis, Brazil's Mindset and Britain's Jelvis with J/70 International Class President Martin Dent add even more depth to the international field.
Also on the entry list: Olympic gold medalist Max Salminen aboard Rowdy, Paris 2024 bronze medalist Ian Barrows aboard Midlife Crisis, and America's Cup veteran Terry Hutchinson racing with his wife Jennifer.
The Corinthian Contenders
Nearly 20 teams are identified as Corinthian entries, and some of the Class's strongest non-pro programs are here.
Alec Cutler's Hedgehog has won three consecutive J/70 Corinthian Midwinter titles and two back-to-back Corinthian World Championship titles.
Ryan Cox's DJ arrives fresh from winning the Corinthian Division at the 2026 U.S. National Championship in Santa Barbara, where the team finished third overall.
James Gary's Ayacucho is another program to watch, with runner-up finishes in the Corinthian divisions at the 2025 Corinthian Worlds in Marblehead and North Americans in Tampa.
And the fleet's variety extends beyond the Corinthian division, with Mixed-Plus crews, collegiate sailors, family teams and established professional programs all sharing the same racecourse.
Annapolis Shows Up
20 teams are representing Annapolis. Local J/70 Fleet Captain Paul Green is racing Progress. The home fleet also includes Jennifer and Terry Hutchinson's Ellie, Jim and James Golden's Sagara, and the Annapolis Yacht Club Junior Sailing program aboard Fuzz.
Sandy Askew, longtime Melges 24 sailor, joins the J/70 fleet and will race in her hometown alongside her daughter Olivia on Tangerine.
The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy's Kings Point team is making the trip down from New York.
For the local sailors, it's an opportunity to race against some of the world's best in their own backyard. For the visiting teams, it's a chance to learn the Chesapeake Bay before returning next year on the same dates for the World Championship.
Annapolis Yacht Club hosted its first J/70 North Americans in 2013, welcoming 90 boats when the class was just starting. This will be the third North American Championship here at Annapolis Yacht Club. Now, more than a decade later, the international calendar is bigger, the competition is deeper, and the J/70 community continues to grow.
Ten races are scheduled October 29 through November 1, with a highly organized race management team and Vakaros RaceSense technology.
Thank you to Co-Regatta Chairs Allan Terhune and Whitney Kent, Annapolis Yacht Club, the J/70 Class, sponsors including North Sails, and the many volunteers bringing the championship together.
From Olympic medalists and world champions to weekend-warrior teams, junior sailors, and families racing together, the starting line reflects what makes the J/70 Class special.
Welcome to Annapolis. This is the first peek at the landscape of the 2027 J/70 World Championship.