The one word to sum up the 2021 12 Metre North American Championship is “variety.” Over three days, the eight-boat fleet saw everything from postponement due to a squall to an early start to capitalize on a scant 5-8 knots before being becalmed. “If you would have said last Tuesday that we would get all six races in with the conditions forecasted, I would have said ‘no way,’” said Brad Read, helmsman on the victorious New Zealand (KZ-3) “That the Race Committee delayed when they needed to delay and started early when they needed to start early…it was brilliant.”
Read and his team were first in all but one of the races, and credit their success to team compatibility, as many of the crew have been sailing together for the better part of a decade. Winning in the Traditional/Vintage fleet was Columbia (US-16)—the 1958 America’s Cup winner and 2019 World Champion—with Anthony Chiurco at the helm.
The event also included a fourth day of separately scored racing in the Harry H. Anderson Memorial Pursuit Race, a tribute to the life of devoted developer of the class and co-founder of the International 12 Metre Association, Harry. H. Anderson, Jr. New Zealand also took the gold in this event.
For more on the 12 Metres, go to 12myc.org
