Photo by Dan Phelps / SpinSheetA surprisingly autumnal northerly breeze blew into town to welcome the J/30 North American Championship Regatta, hosted at Annapolis YC (AYC), September 16-18. The breeze brought along with it an unusual milky mud water color and potentially dangerous assortment of debris—trees, telephone poles, barrels, and more—following tropical storms, flooding, and the subsequent opening of the Conowingo Dam gates. One of the teenagers from Wisconsin who sailed with Team Rafiki said, “It’s not like this sailing at home.” From those of us who live on the Chesapeake, we can honestly say, the water is not like that here, either. Or it wasn’t until the floods. Competitors traveled from as far as New York, Chicago, IL, and New Orleans, LA, with the winning boat, White Boat skippered by David McConaughy, making the trip from Hampton, VA. Sailors worked their way around the debris issue and focused on the serious task at hand: winning the title. Team Rafiki, skippered by 18-year-old Wisconsin native Whitney Kent and crewed by her sister Alison and two sailing buddies Kate and Elizabeth Hayes—ranging in age from 14 to 17—as well as J/30 class president Dave Erwin (New Orleans, LA), were the buzz of the regatta after winning race one of seven. The crew sailed on Bear Away, generously lent and happily crewed by Annapolitan Bonnie Schloss, with Louisianan Scott Tonguis and Chicagoan Dennis Bartley rounding out the team. Although Team Rafiki had two races they didn’t want to talk about, they did score a first, second and third and finished overall in fifth; this was the goal when they hatched the plan to give the sailing-crazy Wisconsin teenagers a chance to compete at the national level. McConaughy and his Hampton-based crew posted three bullets and beat former National Champion Stephen Buzbee of Raritan YC in New Jersey by four points. Following their victory at Annapolis Race Week, Bob Rutsch and Mike Costello and their Annapolis-based team were next in line in third place. AYC hosted a lovely team dinner with paella on Saturday night and hosted a Sunday night dinner and awards ceremony early enough for competitors to fly or truck their boats home. Find complete results at race.annapolisyc.com. Find regatta photos for purchase at spinsheet.com.