Oak Harbor’s Dave Steckman and his boat Juan Solo finished second to Seattle’s Mark Bradner aboard Return in the San Juan 24 North American Championships Saturday and Sunday, June 29 and 30.

The Oak Harbor Yacht Club hosted the event for the ninth consecutive year, with the regatta taking place on the waters of Penn Cove.

The fleet of 12 boats competed in 12 races in the two-day event, with the poorest finish for each boat dropped from its overall total.

Bradner sailed Return to first in half the races and finished second in three others, finishing with a net total of 21.

Steckman won the first and last races and finished second five times on the way to tallying 27 points.

Three other local skippers competed.

Allan Wilson and Toto took seventh (77 points), Steve Hucke and Obi Juan finished ninth (88) and Bill Brown and SWIFT (121) was 11th.

Wilson took fifth in four races for his best finish; Hucke collected a fourth and Brown a ninth.

The San Juan 24, first built by the Clark Boat Company in Kent in 1972, was popular in the 1970s and ‘80s.

The North American Championship was held in the Great Lakes area and all along the West Coast before it came to Oak Harbor. The finals moved to Whidbey Island because of the large concentration of San Juan 24s in the Puget Sound area.

Results

1, Return, Mark Bradner, Seattle, 21 points; 2, Juan Solo, Dave Steckman, Oak Harbor, 27; 3, Grauer Geist, Kenneth Johnson, Seattle, 29; 4, Fancy, Jeff Kendall, Seattle, 46; 5, Bruce, Mike Kleps, Bellingham, 52; 6, Manhattan Transfer, Mike Irish, Seattle; 69; 7, Toto, Allan Wilson, Oak Harbor, 77; 8, Sweet Jesus, Sean Busby, Seattle, 79; 9, Obi Juan, Steve Hucke, Oak Harbor, 88; 10, Snappy Tom, Gil Lund, Seattle, 88; 11, SWIFT, Bill Brown, Oak Harbor, 121; 12, Miss Mayhem, Melissa Davis, Seattle, 125.

The crew shows off their awards. (Photo by Kathy Steckman)