The Ocean Race Postponed a Year, and More Updates
J/105 North Americans Postponed until 2021
The J/105 Class Association, Annapolis Yacht Club and J/105 Fleet #3 have determined, because of the varying levels of infection and disruption across the world, that this year’s J/105 North American Championship scheduled for October 29-November 1 will instead be raced October 28-31, 2021.
“We were hopeful when we sent out the Notice of Race that COVID-19 would be a distant memory by the time the event took place at the end of October, but unfortunately, that may not be the case,” said Cedric Lewis, owner of Mirage and event co-chair. “The Organizing Committee recommended postponing the event until we can hold a true Championship and offer sponsors the visibility that is expected when supporting an event.”
Previously scheduled J/105 North American Championships will shift back one year as follows: San Francisco YC (Belvedere) in 2022, American YC (Rye, NY) in 2023, and Edgewater YC (Cleveland, OH) in 2024.
Ocean Race Postponed a Year
Organizers of 14th edition of The Ocean Race (ex-Volvo, ex-Whitbread) have confirmed that they will push back the start of the next edition by one year. The plan now is to start in October 2022 from Alicante, Spain, and finish in Genova, Italy, in summer 2023 during the 50th anniversary year of the around-the-world race first run in 1973. The Ocean Race is fully crewed and features multiple stopovers in ports around the globe.
The next edition will offer classes for two types of boats: IMOCA 60 and the one-design VO65. Ten teams, including the American 11th Hour Racing team, have registered in the IMOCA class, and eight, including Team Mexico, signed up in the VO65 class.
The next three editions of The Ocean Race will take place in 2022-23, in 2026-27 and in 2030-31.
Meet the Olympic US Sailing Team
The sailors nominated to Team USA for the 2021 Olympics will go live with Briana Provancha. (Provancha sailed with Annie Haeger in the 470 class in Rio 2016.) The Olympians discuss their preparations for Tokyo. Tune in on Thursday, July 23, at 1 p.m. PDT on US Sailing’s Starboard Portal to watch. Go to www.ussailing.org/starboard-portal.
