The Ultimate 20 Class celebrated its 30th North American Championships November 7-9 in the fall settings of Lake Norman, NC. Lake Norman Yacht Club has hosted the largest turnout in recent years with 25 boats registered this time and teams from California, Utah, South Carolina, Connecticut, Ohio and even Canada. The aforementioned team from Canada happened to be led by 5 time winner of the event, Brad Boston. His team of professional sailors including Curtis Florence and Zach Mason showed right off the bat that they would be contenders by weaving their way through a 40 degree shift in the first minute after the start in under 4 knots of wind to win race 1. Delaying racing until the breeze filled in later in the day, two more races were held in 5-10 knots of breeze allowing the team of Jeff Linton, Tim Porter and Steve Shaw to win both races. Unfortunately the forecast earlier in the week rang true for Saturday and no racing was attempted. Instead of ushering people out of the picturesque setting at Lake Norman, Steve Shaw from Shapes of Speed moderated a briefing/seminar while going over photos of the day before on the big screen at the clubhouse. The fleet was greeted Sunday morning with a forecast of 10-20 knots of wind and nearly 70 degree temperatures. While it took a while to materialize, the competitors were able to sail 4 more races in chamber of commerce type conditions and in the end the team onboard #21 Mighty Mouse with Jeff Linton, Tim Porter and Steve Shaw won 3 more races thereby cementing the second consecutive title for the team and the fourth in a row for the duo of Tim Porter and Steve Shaw.
