Thirty-two teams have gathered for the J/70 North American Championship at Club de Vela La Peña in Valle de Bravo Mexico. After four races on a spectacular first day, three American teams top the leaderboard, commanded by Thomas Bowen’s Reach Around with 10 points after posting a 4,1,2,3. Oivind Lorentzen’s Nine holds second place with 20 points, followed by Chris Snow’s Mexigenics with 23. Ignacio Perez’s Zaguero has the advantage in the Corinthian division. With sunny skies, warm temperatures and breeze around 8 knots, Ricardo Brockmann’s Vincitore opened the Championship with a victory, ahead of Yon Belausteguigoitia’s Bullet and Sebastian Halpern’s 707. Winds increased to about 11 knots in the next contest, when Bowen took the bullet, and Brockmann and Perez completed the top trio. Ander Belausteguigoitia’s Bandoola earned the race three victory as the breeze amped up again to 13 knots. Bowen and Snow followed. Lorentzen ended the day on a positive note, while Snow and Bowen flopped second and third. Racing continues through Saturday. Photos are available on the J/70 Class Facebook page, and complete results may be found at https://yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=4535.