The 2024 Ultimate 20 North American Championships were held at picturesque Huntington Lake in California.
With the ever popular High Sierra regatta held the two days prior to the Championship, it was the perfect time to get familiar with the nuances of the lake. Blessed with ideal sailing conditions of warm temperatures, fresh water and 8-12 knots of breeze on flat water proved to be just what #29 Steve Shaw, Tim Porter and Jeff Linton needed to win both regattas.
The High Sierra was hotly contested with Ken Nelson and crew aboard Steve’s old boat #20 exchanging 1st and 2nd place finishes only to end in a tie breaker.
The stage was set for the North Americans in the following days and the rivalry continued atop the fleet. Lessons learned from the weekend regatta were held over to the Championship and the team from Shapes Of Speed #29 proved virtually unbeatable winning 5 of the 7 races they competed in. Ken Nelson #20 won the remaining races and was second for the regatta followed by Travis Gregory #222 and Donna Womble #22 only separated by the one point that came in a virtual tie at the finish line of a race. (see attached)
Congrats to all who sailed and hopefully some West coast boats can make the trip across country next year for what should be the largest attended North American Championship in class history at Lake Norman, NC.