The Pretty Little Hate Machines went out this Friday-Sunday for the J/24 Nationals hosted by Fleet 17 and the San Francisco Yacht Club. With nine races in three days in varied conditions (but mostly windy) the twenty boats had a mixed-up score in the end. San Diego’s Chris Snow and crew on Bogus were the leaders throughout and with only 15 points total beat second place WIP of Annapolis, MD, by a whopping 21 points. Pat Toole's 3 Big Dogs, from Santa Barbara, rounded out the podium finishes in third.

The small fleet of racers had a great time despite long days and a long run to and from the SFYC docks and the Berkeley Circle race course. Mellisa Litwicki, crew on Downtown Uproar of San Francisco, put it this way, "We had a tremendous time. The local fleet put a lot of effort into making sure the Regionals and Nationals went smoothly and were fun for all involved, and SFYC and Regatta Pro were super to work with as always. Do I sound too positive? It's because I think we all saw a lot of great sailing and had a lot of fun."

For more, see http://j24nationals2009.com and www.sfyc.org. Next year’s J/24 Nationals will be hosted by the Corinthian Yacht Club. No not ours, the one in Marblehead, MA.