2024 J/24 Worlds, ORC Worlds, Louis Vuitton Cup Finals, Puig Women's America's Cup
by David Schmidt 9 Oct 04:00 NZDT
October 8, 2024
Travis Odenbach and his Honeybadger crew mere boatlengths away from winning the 2024 Beecher's Handmade Cheese J/24 World Championship © David Schmidt
Few things are more inspiring than seeing someone accomplish something that they had to fight long and hard to achieve, and that required a massive amount of commitment. I was lucky enough to witness such an event on Saturday afternoon when Travis Odenbach and his Honeybadger crew crossed the finishing line in first place in the final race of the 2024 Beecher's Handmade Cheese J/24 World Championship (September 28 to October 5), which recently wrapped up on the waters off of Seattle's Shilshole Bay Marina. This bullet was one of three that Odenbach and crew earned during five hard-fought days of racing on Puget Sound, and it cinched their efforts to win the title.
For Odenbach, this World Championship win was the culmination of a decade's worth of solid campaigning that included multiple bridesmaid (and third place) finishes at various J/24 Worlds, plus a U.S. North American championship title.
Cooler still, Honeybadger crossed the finishing line entire minutes ahead of their next competitor in the 56-boat fleet.
The whoops and victory cries carried nicely across the water, and our spectator crew aboard Keith Whittemore's comfortably appointed Hinckley powerboat (it even had an espresso machine, which I greatly appreciated) couldn't help but join in their smiles and celebrations. Not only was this a great win to witness, but Whittemore - who is a two-time J/24 world champion skipper - personally sold Odenbach his winning J/24 following a North American championship regatta with the comment, "you'll win the J/24 Worlds in Seattle on this boat".
Whittemore wasn't wrong, and the jubilation aboard Honeybadger was proof positive that the time, resources, and commitment needed to accomplish great things are worth it once the final finish guns fall silent.
For Seattle, a city I called home for more than a decade, the 2024 Beecher's Handmade Cheese J/24 World Championship was also a huge success, and all competitors with whom I spoke talked about the challenging mix of conditions that they experienced over five full days and nine races. Even Saturday's postponement and single race worked out, as a 10-knot northerly provided a great final challenge for this talent-riven fleet.
(Fun fact: this was only the third world championship title that has been determined in Seattle since Dennis Conner and James Reynolds won the Star Worlds here in 1971.)
The J/24's design might not be new, but the competition, and the enthusiasm of all sailors, was top-notch.
Odenbach and his Honeybadger crew were joined on the winner's podium by Mike Ingham and his USA 5443 team, and Kohei Ichikawa's Gekko Diana (JPN 5450) squad.
Jumping coasts, the 2024 ORC World Championship (September 27 to October 5) just concluded on the waters off of Newport, Rhode Island, and included some of the world's best big boats and big-boat sailors.
Victor Wild's Fox 2.0, a Botin 52, claimed top honors in the ORC 0 class, while Austin and Gwen Fragomen's Interlodge, a Botin 44, took the win in Class A. Marc Sutkowski's Windwhisper44, a Grand Soleil 44 P, was the boat to beat in Class B, while Jim Swartz's Vesper, a Maxi 72, won the Maxi Class.
"We congratulate all the winners and podium finishers at this World Championship," said ORC Chairman Bruno Finzi in an official event communication. "The New York Yacht Club race managers working with our team did a fantastic job this week of providing fair and competitive racecourses."
Meanwhile, racing has been fierce on the waters off of Barcelona, Spain, where the Louis Vuitton Cup Final wrapped up on Friday following a 13-race battle royale between Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and INEOS Britannia.
This contest saw leaderboard parity for the first four days of racing, with each team splitting the day's ticket. Then, finally, on October 2, the Brits claimed two wins, putting them at 6-4 in this best-of-seven series.
The Brits delivered the final blow to the Italians on Friday (October 4), marking the first time since 1964 that a British-flagged boat has earned entry into an America's Cup Match.
"It's a huge moment for the team and we knew we were always going to be in for a massive battle against Luna Rossa - so hats off to them, they have been incredible competitors," said Sir Ben Ainslie, INEOS Britannia's skipper and team principal, in an official event report.
Racing in the 37th America's Cup between the Defenders, Emirates Team New Zealand, and the Challenger of Record (and now the Challenger), INEOS Britannia, is slated to begin on Saturday, October 12.
In the meantime, racing is in full swing at the Qualification Series for the Puig Women's America's Cup, which is being contested off of Barcelona aboard AC40 foiling monohulls.
As of this writing (Monday morning, October 7), the Italian-flagged Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Women's Team (33 points) was leading Group A, followed by the British-flagged Athena Pathway-Women (29 points), and the Kiwi-flagged Emirates Team New Zealand Women's Team (18 points).
In Group B, the Dutch-flagged Jajo Team Dutchsail (27 points) was leading the hunt, followed by the Spanish-flagged Sail Team BCN Women (24 points), and the Aussie-flagged Andoo Team Australia Women's Team (23 points).
North American interests are being represented by the NYYC American Magic Women's Team, who are currently in sixth place (out of six teams) in Group A.
The top three teams from Group A and B will progress to the four Semi-Final Series fleet races (October 11), which will determine the two teams that will square off in the Final Race (October 13) for the Puig Women's America's Cup.
Finally, don't miss the latest news from the Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, the 2024 Classic Yacht Challenge Series, and the KiteFoil World Series, all on Sail-World.
May the four winds blow you safely home,
David Schmidt
Sail-World.com North American Editor