2011 SA State Championship

J24 South Australia in conjunction with the Cruising Yacht Club of SA invite J24 sailors to join us in the Great Southern Regatta incorporating the 2011 J24 SA State Championship on the weekend of 2 & 3 April.

Racing will be conducted off North Haven sailing windward/leeward courses with three races scheduled each day. We’re looking forward to some fantastic racing over the two days so get organised and join us!

See the SA Events section on this site for the Notice of Race & Entry Form.

Come and try a J24

Want to find out what you are missing out on?

Interested in sailing on a J24?

If you are in Adelaide the SA Association & the Port Adelaide Sailing Club fleet invite you to come & try a J24!

Come & try a J24!

2010 Port Line Cup (SA)

SAILING AT ITS BEST
Only inches from the shore

The Port Adelaide Sailing Club has been hosting this premier sailing event since 1958.

The Port Line Cup to be contested on Sunday 8th August  presents a unique challenge for S.A.’s keelboat’s that have to compete in close quarters in the river. The race tests the skills of the crew with lots of tacking and changing of sails.

This creates exciting competition, a few bumps the odd boat going aground but fantastic viewing for the spectators.

In excess of 50 yachts are expected to race coming from clubs all over the Adelaide area including the Cruising Yacht Club and Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron. There will be boats form 20 to 50ft sailing for the Cup but also in 5 different divisions.

Up to ten J24’s are expected to compete in the event as the Port Line Cup race will be the final race of the Ice Breaker series to be held over the two days of the weekend.

This year the start and finish will be at Snowdon’s Beach allowing a large viewing area for spectators. Good viewing spots will be at Snowdons beach and Keitch road south of the Sub Corp.

The Port Adelaide Sailing club fleet will be bolstered with some new boats to the club, having attracted a group of Fast sports boats including Touch & Go- G Price and some newer 30 to 40 footers including Blue Max – Peter Montgomery.

The big surprise is they have a new fleet of J24’s including 3 times Australian Champion Sean Wallis , 4 times State Champion Alyn Stevenson and Peter Stevens complete with a new boat.

The Port Adelaide club is enjoying a major membership growth with and extensive Sunday programme planned for the summer plus junior keel boat training on Sundays.

Port Princess has been hired by the club to take out spectators and will be at the club wharf prior to the start. Spectators for a modest fee can watch the entire race on the water.

Where it’s happening – The Port

Second J24 Fleet in SA

The J24 class in South Australia is looking forward to further growth over the coming season with the formation of a second fleet in SA, based at the Port Adelaide Sailing Club.

J24 SA President Sean Wallis said “Along with our well established fleet at the Cruising Yacht Club of SA it is fantastic to see the class establish the second fleet at the Port and this will certainly benefit us in achieving our goal of increasing the number of J24’s sailed in this state.”

Wallis, who is also the current Australian Champion will be basing himself at the PASC and went on to say “The Port Adelaide Sailing Club has been as enthusiastic as we have as far as the establishment of the fleet. They are an excellent club with world class facilities and offer very competitive membership and hard stand fees.”

The sailing program for the PASC is in the final stages of preparation and will include dedicated fleet racing for the J24’s both in the Port River and in the Gulf. The sailing program has been designed to compliment that offered by the Cruising Yacht Club of SA providing sailing at either club on most Saturdays or Sundays throughout the season.

“This is our second fleet in South Australia and is the first step of our plans to establish additional fleets in this state. Ideally we would like to have a third fleet in the Adelaide metro area in the next 12-24 months but right now our focus is ensuring that we see further growth with our existing two fleets” said Wallis.

The next event on the J24 SA calendar is the Port Line Cup, hosted by the Port Adelaide Sailing Club on the 7th & 8th August. A good sized fleet of J24’s is expected to compete in the event which has short course racing scheduled on the Saturday and the Port Line Cup on the Sunday.

For further information contact J24 SA President – Sean Wallis 0417 180 928 or email sean.wallis@iinet.net.au

2010 Australian Championship – The final day!

The commencement of the final day’s racing in the 2010 J24 Australian Championship saw NSW sailor Doug McGain sailing Code Violation one point ahead of Sean Wallis and his team from WA sailing Wetty Gripper, and with two races scheduled it was to be a battle to the end to decide this years Australian Champion.

The forecast was for light winds and what little breeze there was faded as the fleet headed to the starting area resulting in a postponement in racing before a 10 knot Northerly filled in and race 9 commenced.

With Wallis needing to beat McGain in both races to win the title neither crew let the other have any breathing space which saw both head off from the start and stay no more than a boat length apart up the first windward leg with McGain ahead of Wallis at the first mark.

The downwind leg saw them split with Wallis down the right side of the course and McGain to the left. The right paid and saw Wallis round the leeward mark a boat length ahead but the battle continued and by the time the boats reached the windward mark the second time Wallis was third behind Alyn Stevenson (SA) and Sean Kirkjian (NSW) with McGain less than a boat length behind in fourth position.

In the mean time the battle for third position overall was being played out between Hugo Ottway & David Suda both from Victoria.

On the downwind leg to the finish Wallis once again headed to the right side of the course with McGain & Kirkjian to the left.

At the finish line it was Alyn Stevenson first, winning his first Australian championship heat followed by Wallis, Kirkjian and McGain respectively.

Going into the final race the tables had turned, Wallis now lead the championship with a one point lead from McGain while Ottaway had beaten Suda in race 9 to secure a two point buffer in third place.

The final race saw McGain start at the boat end with Wallis about five boat lengths further down the line in the company of Suda.

McGain tacked immediately after the start and headed to the right side of the course while Wallis and Suda sailed to the middle of the course before also heading to the right.

Slightly better pressure saw Wallis and Suda come from the left and lead the fleet to the windward mark.

The positions remained unchanged at the front of the fleet with Wallis finishing ahead of Suda with McGain third.

With Ottaway back in the fleet David Suda claimed third overall, Doug McGain second and Sean Wallis retaining his title with back to back championship wins.

The handicap championship was won by Adam Evans and his youth team from Victoria sailing Two Dogs while the first female skipper was Kirsty Harris and her all female team from Victoria sailing Hyperactive.

With a field boasting numerous state champions and four past Australian champions the competition was extremely fierce with any number of sailors in a position to win the championship.

The Sandringham Yacht Club has recently built a new state of the art club house and the facilities are excellent. Along with a professional approach to race management by the race committee the club is one of the world’s best venues for yacht racing.

J24 Australia wish to thank the members and management of the SYC for their support in hosting this event.

Next on the J24 calendar is the 2010 Asia Pacific Championship to be sailed in Adelaide in June 2010 and with the inaugural championship held in 2009, this years event is expected to be bigger and better and is to welcome sailors from Singapore, Korea, Japan, Australia and other countries in the Asia Pacific region.

Overall Results:

  1. Sean Wallis, Wetty Gripper (SA/WA) – 1,2,1,2,3,2,8,4,2,1: 18pts
  2. Doug McGain, Code Violation (NSW) – 10,4,3,1,1,1,2,2,4,2: 21pts
  3. David Suda, Pacemaker (VIC) – 2,3,5,4,4,4,1,6,9,2: 31pts
  4. Hugo Ottaway, Vice Versa (VIC) – 4,1,2,7,2,7,3,3,8,13: 37pts
  5. Sean Kirkjian, Starpac (NSW) – 6,6,4,11,5,3,7,1,3,8: 43pts
  6. Alyn Stevenson, Fun2 (SA) – 3,5,14,12,7,6,4,5,1,4: 47pts

And I couldn’t let this one past, congrats to Kirj for his 3rd on h/cap – trophy should look nice on your lounge room wall!!!