IMPORTANT DATE CHANGE – SA STATES ARE NOW ON 1ST AND 2ND OF APRIL
The SA States are now being held on the 1st and 2nd of April at the CYCSA (great little spot and now complete with all new renovations to the wining and dining area) to be followed by the Vic States on 22nd – 23rd April (The Balmy Regatta).
If you are planning to go to SA you need to give Jim Townsend a call asap to make any arrangements for accom, yacht club parking and any other questions you might have as that is only a month away !
For the adventurous from NSW you may already see a possible 2 regatta circut here. Take your boat to Adelaide and Sandy before you head back to the sunny north. We can help you !
Drive down to Adelaide with your boat, fly back to Sydney, do your work and then fly back to Melbourne, in the meantime we will organise for one of our guys to drive your car and boat across to Melbourne for you. Can’t be fairer than that !
Ok, if you can’t do that and still want to come, then you need to talk to Jim Townsend in Adelaide to see what boat you can organise there, and you need to talk to John Neville in Melbourne to see if you can do the same here. But get in quick !
The Souvenir booklet produced for the Nationals has been very well recieved by all and a number of people have asked for more copies. An easier and cheaper method of people making more copies is to download the file attached of the booklet and print it out yourself or take it to a digital printer and make a few copies.
Sean Kirkjian’s Pacific Sailing School team admirably aided by the inimitable ‘AJ’ Tony Reynolds and the school graduates in ‘Sailpac’ have taken out the 2017 nationals with a solid and consistent result over Shane Guanaria, helming class stalwart Arthur Crother’s ‘Kaotic’ by 4 points. Brendan Lee sailing ‘By the Lee’ from Melbourne was third by another 7 points.
A recent record fleet of 25 boats competed in the nationals hosted by the Cronulla Sailing Club, located in Port Hacking on the southern edge of Sydney. Many competitors were visiting Cronulla for the first time and have come away with great memories and glowing opinions of the regatta. Cronulla Sailing Club ironed out all the bugs identified in the NSW States held in early November and ran a faultless regatta. From the brilliant sailing waters on the ocean side to the picturesque Gunamatta Bay where the club is located (5 min walk to the surf beach on the other side of the small Cronulla peninsula) and the friendly, helpful and happy club volunteers serving us dinner every night off the BBQ, I didn’t hear one grumble about the running and management of the regatta. I an confident in saying there are many looking forward to another in the future – even those from the harbour loved it !
Close racing in the 2017 Nationals at Cronulla
Out on the racetrack the competition was fierce, with black flags and consequent DSQs happening after each general recall, PRO Dave McLachlan ran a near faultless series, a couple of major wind changes right on the starting signal being the only difficulty encountered. The usual gladiators took out the top end of the results with the exception of Brendan Lee who is a rising star from the Sandringham fleet in Melbourne. Brendan has been putting in a major effort in both club and regatta racing and his 3rd place reflects this. Stephen Girdis sailing ‘Convicts’ took out 4th with Dave West’s ‘Ace’ being sailed by SA blow in crew Doug ‘El Fideldo’ Watson due to Dave’s wife’s medical emergency. Another great performance at the last minute by Doug.
‘Mr J24’ Hugo Ottaway sailing Bruschetta IV and NSW Class president John Crawford, took the next two from Steve O’Rourke, Simon Grain and Janette Syme rounding out the top ten.
Racing was generally light to medium in SE to NE breezes with most boats never pulling out jibs for the whole regatta. A 18 – 20 knot NE breeze tested some of the boats on the last day but not really causing any real trouble. Generally going left paid but not always and sometimes it was possible to find a wind bend on the right hand corner that gave you a few places. Racing was tight around the corners and the otherwise well behaved fleet experience a little shouting !
Janette Syme sailing ‘Wildfire’ took out the Thomo cup from brother Ron in ‘Kicking’ – a popular and deserving win.
Handicap results went much the same way as the OD results although with a reversal in order at the top. Winning with 51 points was Brendan Lee from Sean Kikjian on 52 and Stephen Girdis on 53, so a close finish there. Fourth was Shane Guanaria on 66 from Simon Grain on 67.
Seven boats made the trip up from Melbourne and two (Robyn and Jim Townsend plus son Andrew) from South Australia (a substantial trip by any measure) – ten Cronulla boats and the rest from the harbour. All in all a good spread from around the country.
The Cronulla Club and its’ volunteers did a fantastic job in making us feel very welcome and efficiently ran the on-shore and on-water parts of the regatta. The success of the regatta is in no small way a result of work done over a long period of time by the enthusiastic Mick Reynolds (sadly being away during the regatta) and others in helping to build the Cronulla fleet. Running up to and during the regatta, Fiona Campbell, Bronwyn Elford, Rhonda Wodzinski and the team of volunteers serving up the BBQ dinner everyday, looking after launching and retrieving on the hardstand, the teams out on the water all did a fantastic job and on behalf of all the competitors and associations involved, we thank you for your magnificent efforts. A big thank you to Quantum and our other sponsors ; Spot a yacht, Afloat Magazine, Wet Tech, Aussea, Sailor Sunscreen, CBON, Explore Sailing.
Cronulla – you have many new converts to your magic location !
More pics are available on the Cronulla Facebook page
Onward and upward – you might like to plan for the annual Cronulla SC Queens Birthday Short Course regatta in June this year. The SA States are late March and the Vic States are mid April. The NSW States are around the first weekend in November (likely to be back in the harbour) and of course the next Nationals are to be at the CYCSA in Adelaide in early Jan 2018 – see the regatta calendar page in the near future for more details and dates.
Day 3 and we are sitting around waiting for the wind to come and the rain to stop. The first two days racing has seen multiple race winners, but leading the OD series is multiple nationals winner Sean Kirkjian from Stephen Girdis and Shane Guanaria. Full results are available at www.cronullasc.com
Ron Thomson, Hugo Ottaway, Simon Grain, Warren Campbell, Arthur Crothers, Dale Sharp, John Crawford, Ken Roebuck, Stephen Wright, Brendan Lee, Doug Watson, Jared Macquart, Rhonda Wodzinski, Tony Landers, Fiona Campbell, Janbar Simr, Leigh McLeod, Joe Pearson, Bruce Alexander, Robert Richardson, Dave McKay
APOLOGIES
Janet Dean, Mick Reynolds
WELCOME
Welcome address from Ron Thomson (RT). Establishing structure of meeting, timescales and agenda topics
PRESIDIENT’S REPORT
It is a pleasure to be at Cronulla Sailing Club with a fleet of 25 boats for the 2017 National Championships. This year has seen the departure of our current National Champions David Suda and Hershel Landes selling their boat “Pacemaker” to Warren Campbell from Sandringham. I want to thank both David and Hershel for their outstanding contribution to the class at both National and State level and they will be missed at Sandringham.
We have seen large fleets in both the Victorian and NSW Championships and an increase in the numbers contesting the South Australian titles, all of which helps to improve the profile of J24s in Australia. It is encouraging to see new blood buying J24s in all age groups from Generation Y to Baby Boomers. I acknowledge the success of the Youth Boats in Sandringham and the enthusiasm of the Cronulla fleet in attracting new members. If you take a look around the fleet and participants you see a large number of females involved and many young sailors enjoying sailing a competitive but friendly one design class. It is interesting to note the many successes J24 sailors have enjoyed in various women’s keelboat regatta.
This year the National body has made two new expenditure items being:
The promotional video that achieved over 22K hits on U-tube. If you have not had a chance to review this video, please do so searching on the J24 Australian website. Any ideas or suggestions on how we can best use this video would be helpful.
Souvenir Brochure of each boat entered into the National Championships something suggesting at last year’s AGM. This brochure has been well received and I wish to thank the efforts of Simon Grain (SG) for producing the brochure in a very short period over the Xmas/New year period. A copy has been made available for each boat however additional copies can be requested at a cost of $12 per person.
Overall, the National Body has approx. $3K in the bank account taking into account all current expenditure items. It should be noted the international fees have increased due to the falling $A something we need to keep an eye on during 2017.
The 2018 National Championships will be held at the Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia and later Jim Townsend will update us on its status. This will again be a four-day regatta, the same as this year ‘s event that has proved to be very successful.
In closing on a personal note, I wish to thank SG and Hugo Ottaway (HO) for their great assistance this year, which allowed me to gently ease into this role.
TREASURER’S REPORT
The current bank balance is $2961. There has been the following expenditures:
Video $900
Brochure $411
International fees – to Dec 2016 $5,720
LIFE MEMBERSHIPS
SG proposed the following members to be made Life Members of the J24 Association for their contribution to the class over many years:
Arthur Crothers
Hugo Ottaway
John Crawford
These nominations were agreed unanimously by a vote of members.
PROPOSED NEW COMMITTEE
The following people were nominated, seconded and agreed by majority vote to form the new National Committee:
President Ron Thomson
Committee Member Stephen Wright
Committee Member Janet Dean
Measurer Hugo Ottaway
Media Simon Grain
Records Peter Stevens
2018 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Jim Townsend updated the meeting on the status of the 2018 event to be held at Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia. The dates have yet to be finalised but will be around the same week in January. Once finalised the dates will be published on the J24 Australia website. HO advised the notice of race for next year’s event should be published early allowing for competitors to plan for accommodation and travelling times.
A discussion took place on the National regatta being a 10 or 12 race event. SG advised the last few years the titles have been held over 10 races. The view of members was taken at the meeting by a show of hands and the majority voted to continue as a 10 race event.
PROPOSAL TO CONSIDER MOVING FROM STATE ASSOCIATIONS TO FLEET ASSOCIATIONS
A proposal has been put forward, by Mick Reynolds, to the National Committee to consider moving from State Associations to Fleet Associations. A copy of the proposal document is attached to these minutes. Fiona Campbell spoke to the meeting on the benefits of this proposal.
The National Committee has recommended establishing a working party consisting of selected representatives from each fleet with an independent chair to consider the proposal and to report to the National committee in suitable time frame (potentially 6 months). This recommendation was accepted unanimously by a show of hands at the meeting.
GENERAL BUSINESS
The requirement of all crew requiring YA memberships was raised by Brendan Lee who spoke briefly to the meeting on the benefits and costs of this requirement. The Committee believes this may be an Australian Sailing (previously Yachting Australia) requirement. The matter will be reviewed and the Committee will report back, via the J24 website, with its findings and conclusions.
The meeting closed with Ron Thomson thanking all members for their participation and wishing them luck in the regatta. The minutes of this meeting will be available on the J24 Australia website towards the end of January.
At last year’s National AGM we made a decision to produce an A5 sized Souvenir Booklet containing information on the regatta, the Host club and course area and a comprehensive competitor list. This will be a great souvenir of the first J24 regatta to be held at Cronulla in – oh a billion years !
This means for you – our entrants, that we aim to have a page per boat for each entry. Each boat page is planned to look a bit like this:
Of course we can’t do it without your help – and no help – no booklet, so please, if you have entered the Nationals or plan to, please send me your details as follows so I can include you and your boat in the booklet.
Here’s what we need:
Boat name and number, plus club initials.
A pic of your boat – you must own the rights to use the pic you choose (no links to other sites please).
A short history of your boat and it’s and your achievements (as a skipper or crew if in another boat) over recent years.
Your crew list.
Please have a look at the sample above for an example. You might think this is a bit late notice but then we have only half the expected entries in to date, so we can’t produce without knowing who is to go into the book.
Remember it takes time to produce so we need both your entry in and your details by the 28th Decemer 2016 – otherwise you won’t be included.
Send your pic and info to me at grain@smarketing.com.au
John Crawford’s Innamincka flying down the run, Convicts Revenge and the surf behind
‘The Shire’ as it is known to the sedentary Australian TV watching population and the people who live there is an area around 30km south of the Sydney CBD centred on Cronulla that has been known in the past for a bit of rough and tumble.
It’s a slightly secret place that the rest of the greater Sydney population rarely go to and that’s the way the locals like it. But things are changing – in a big way. After a few years of Mid Winter regattas and a bit of water testing by a few outsiders, the J24 circus is coming to town in a big way with an expected 30+ boat fleet (the largest in 20 plus years) for the 2017 Nationals in January.
An indication of that was the Quantum Sails 2016 NSW State Championships just held over the weekend of the 5-6 November, with plenty of rough and tumble on the water and characters like ‘Hoody’, ‘Bucko’ and ‘Magoo’ neck deep in the proceedings it’s no surprise the regatta was a roaring success.
You can easily miss the yacht club entrance, but you couldn’t miss the 500 plus regular Friday evening revellers on the terrace (apparently it is a great place to meet a new lady friend for the evening) and for the gladiators and crews getting their boats ready for the weekend’s racing in the hot afternoon sun, it did seem like a strange mix of hot sweaty yachties side by side with the tarted up Cronulla youth (and those exploring their on-going mid life crisis’s).
Saturday morning and the balcony belongs to the yachties again but the wind is howling down Gunnamatta Bay straight into the assembled protagonists. A postponement is called and the Wise is thinking about a sit down lunch with cold refreshing wine – Terry is running his two sailing school yachts from his RIB – I decline on the basis of the dropping forecast and the need to be clear headed if we get on the water.
Some of the fleet downwind with Cronulla in the background
That’s just what happens and our biggest fleet in years of 22 boats hit the water for the sail out to the start line off the main Cronulla surf beach on the opposite side of the small peninsular that is the southern end of Cronulla. The wind did actually drop for a bit but the three afternoon races were sailed in 15 to 30+ knot SW winds and a huge 3-4m SE swell that grew rapidly in the last race making for some exciting racing with many wipeouts. With huge surf breaking on the main beach on one side of the course and a tsunami like set of waves breaking on the reef on the other side it was, shall we say exciting, for those not normally used to these ocean conditions.
It isn’t strange anymore how the good guys seem to get all the good luck and the names on top of the afternoon’s honour roll proved that experience, cunning and a fair bit of bravery carried the day. Arthur Crothers showing off a new set of Doyle’s and with Shane Guanaria at the helm of Kaotic took the first race by clear couple of minutes from Dave West in Ace and Steve Girdis in Convicts Revenge only 3 sec apart, John Crawford in Innamincka a further 4 sec back in forth, so the usual bunch plus a few that fought it out in most of the following races and formed the top pack of the regatta.
Race two saw a general recall and a black flag, another tough fight with Convicts taking the honours from Innamincka and our own ‘Jet’ (sailed by me and my brave crew) the first of what the ‘cockroaches’ (NSW people) call the ‘Mexicans’ from Melbourne – down south of the border, Kaotic came home forth.
Race three and the wind was getting stronger from the SW and the swell getting bigger from the SE, we are sailing in an arena of wind whipped water surrounded by a ring of huge breaking white surf and quite a few of the gladiators are now beaten and returning home. Those who stayed flogged their way upwind and screamed downwind, some successfully and others not so. Many not using their kites. Steve Girdis showed his skill to take a narrow win from Kaotic, Innamincka and Jet.
After three races we were all happy to be going home over mountainous swells and flattening gusts on the top of them as we enjoyed our ice cold beers – didn’t everyone?
Magoo has another look at his bottom, as do we all
The regatta’s iconic pic came out of the afternoon sailing with (Magoo) Dave McKay’s ‘Stockcar’ lying on it’s side in the middle of the fleet, keel 3 feet clear of the water. This little episode of course goes onto his well known list of achievements like winning the world moth championships back before most of the fleet were born – (something he is still trading on). Seriously though he is a good sailor, a past champ and Australian Sailor of the Year – but what were you thinking Magoo – masts should point up !
In Cronulla Sailing Club you know the beers are cold and the BBQ hot, it’s the club tradition and it’s a perfect place to be on the terrace after sailing watching the sun go down over Gunnamatta Bay. You’re all yachties – you know what I mean !
Sunday and the forecast is for light – medium SE to E breeze making for glam sailing out into the Tasman Sea off the main surf beach. Three races again in sunshine, swell and perfect racing. If you missed this you need to get thinking about your entry in the nationals, this is stunning stuff.
Convicts is on fire and takes out race four from Innamincka, Kaotic and Stephen Wright in ‘Renaissance’, the first of the local boats to get into the top 4 placings. ‘Renaissance’ is the old ‘Excite Your Senses’ from Sandringham and proves like Ron Thomson in ‘Kicking’ that an older Jarkan sailed well can be very competitive.
Race two and the left out to sea pays big time, ‘Jet’ banged the corner and lead around the course to finish first from Convicts, Sean Kirkjian in ‘Sailpac’ (not having a good regatta) and Kaotic. Local skipper Barry Ryan in ‘Pinot’ who is one of the top local boats pushed the top pack all the way round.
Race three and surprise, surprise Sean Kirkjian in Sailpac (School crew) is at the front from Steve (Wiley Young Dog) Girdis in ‘Convicts’, Kaotic and Magoo in ‘Stockcar’ – finally showing some form !
The fleet had some interesting stats, there was the Thomo Cup (unofficial of course, between brother Ron (Kicking – 7th) and sister Jeanette (Wildfire – 12th). Father Dave McKay (Stockcar – 8th) from daughter Julie (MacKay Marine – 11th). Alejo Morales came the furthest from South America sailing Bandit for the Pacific Sailing School, Marc van Dinther sailing with his Ausea sailing school crew.
The assembled and tired but now lubricating mass of humanity we call J sailors, is finally addressed by the Rear Commodore of the club, otherwise known as ‘Bucko’, and standing on a chair with a voice to slay the noisy Macquart at 30 paces and an irreverence that makes even the most informal in the crowd blanch, starts dishing out the silverware with appropriate stories.
While I still don’t understand the results, Jet is awarded 3rd on handicap, Magoo 2nd and Ron Thomson 1st.
Steve Girdis in Convicts Revenge on 7 points is the 2016 NSW State Champ, Shane Guanaria in Kaotic 2nd and NSW Class President John Crawford in Innamincka 3rd. The first visitor was us in Jet in 4th place – well you have to have a Mexican in the mix don’t you.
Full results are in a separate post below.
‘Hoody’ is Clinton Hood sailing Vertigo, one of the Shire’s gentlemen, and organised much of the sponsors products. Local sailor Barry Ryan became a happy chappie after winning the draw for a reverse cycle aircon unit – well done Hoody and your wonderful sponsors. Thanks to all of our sponsors, Quantum, Sailor Sunscreen, Wet-tech, Aussea Sailing School, Afloat Magazine, Spot-A-Yacht Photography, Cronulla Marina and Pure Aerials.
Fiona Campbell, one of the driving dynamos in the Cronulla class and club and sailing with Hoody on Vertigo, won the well deserved NSW Woman on Water trophy. On behalf of the National Association we wish to thank Cronulla SC and all the volunteers and sponsors that made the regatta a huge success.
A special mention must be made of Mick Reynolds who as a long time driving force of the class at Cronulla has seen it grow from a handful of club handicap boats to a twenty boat class fleet that is now the centre of NSW J24 racing. Congrats to you Mick and to all the people you have inspired (and probably annoyed) along the way to build this fleet with you.
Roll on the Nationals at Cronulla – January 4th to 7th 2017 !
Our first Sprint Series day is Sunday the 9th of October, this is now just two weeks away !
Daylight Saving starts on Sunday 2nd Oct right after Opening Day this weekend and the first twilight race is on the 6th – thats next week !
The Annual General Meeting of the Vic Association will be held after racing on Sunday 9th October in the member’s library at Sandringham YC.
The association encourages all skippers to attend with your crews even if you are not racing on the first day of the season. Matters will be discussed that concern you!
As your annual class subscription is also due on the 1st October, it would be a good idea to go online to the Victorian page of this website where you can most easily pay the annual fee of $50 per person online. Don’t forget to identify yourself when you do !
For more information on any prior matters relating to the AGM you should contact the President Doug MacGregor on 0400 584 067.
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The club recently held a keelboat information evening where a number of changes coming up were discussed, some of these are very important and the information covered can be accessed here :
syc.com.au/keelboat-information-evening-documents
One of the matters covered is the annual MOB declaration, please note that this is due by the end of October and boats not lodging this form will not score points in club racing.
Entry for our summer series and for twilight racing is now open and you will find a very welcome reduction in entry fees. The Sprint Series is now $80 and the Twilight Series is $100 – your club is looking after you, a parting gift from Kate Mitchell our recently crowned ‘Past Commodore”.
If you have any queries on this please call Doug on 0400 584 067 or Simon on 0413 870046
Arguably the toughest regatta of the year (due to the weather), the 2016 Monjon Securities J24 Winter series has been the closest we have had in years. The top 4 boats each scored multiple race wins over the 15 races. The depth of the talent in the fleet echoed in the final score with only one point between each of the top three boats. The result was only confirmed with the OCS of a back marker on the last day which impacted on the discards. Of note were the performances of John Neville and his Vice Versa team on 20 points, leading until the final day only to come third despite three thirds on the day. Brendan Lee winning the most races, 5 including two on the final day coming second 19 on points and Simon Grain winner on 18. Consistancy wins the day and Simon’s worst race in the series was a third, with a crew who have sailed together throughout the season, they competed in all the races despite the bitter Melbourne winter. Two new comers to the fleet impressed, Stephen Byrne with two seconds on the last day fourth overall and Jack Fullerton sailing his beautifully prepared Two Dogs. This regatta serves as a start to the season, which could see as many a five Victorian boats in contention for the 2017 Australian Championship in Cronulla NSW.
When I read the text message that announced that David Suda and Herschel Landes were selling their J24 , I was not surprised. Current Australian and Victorian Champions, 2016 twilight series winner, David crowned 2015 Victorian Keelboat sailor of the year, they were exiting their extensive association with J24 on a high.
Whist David steered Pacemaker to 3 National titles and multiple state titles, it was Herschel who put the teams together. Both Herschel and I bought our first J’s in 1986, in 1988 we sailed against each other in the World Championships in Sydney where his crew included two World Laser champions, American Ed Baird and Australian Stuart Wallace, Ed steering, later went on to win a J world championship and sail in the America’s Cup. The following years Herschel’s team included Campbell Rose and Addie Bucek, both Olympic representatives, Addie a World Champion.
It was his insight that put these teams at the front of the pack. Herschel also had an eye for the future of the class. He was the principle person who introduced a culture of youth sailing to the class, he along with Damian Lee both worked tirelessly to attract a new breed of junior sailor. Herschel was instrumental in moving the class from Royal Brighton Yacht Club to its current home, Sandringham Yacht Club, a move which not only saved the class, but gave it a new focus, currently boasting the most competitive fleet in Australia.
Herschel sought out the best sailors, both Damian Lee and Australian Cadet Champion Luke Mathews had a stint at steering his boats, but it was the combination of David Suda also a Cadet Australian Champion, steering and Luke trimming that gave them the edge. Apart from multiple titles, they represented Australia in two J24 World Championships, Sardinia and Melbourne 2006.
I spoke with Herschel and reminisced some of the high’s and lows of his 30 years of J24 sailing, many of which I witnessed.
On the low side was wiping out in 30 knots in the 88 Worlds whilst trying to avoid a boat sinking collision with Nick Chapman and Ian Torode, Sailing in front of the Manly Ferry an act that almost cost them, the boat, a fine and the exit of the entire crew, and later that day a T-Bone collision on port tack, only stopping the boat sinking by stuffing the brand new Genoa into the hole. I also experienced disaster as a guest helmsman, Herschel and I sailed in Metung in 30 knots, with the spinnaker up, only to tear the rudder off the back of the boat, resulting in us tipping over and shredding his brand new mainsail …oops.
There are many on the high side, with Luke Mathews steering Herschel told me of the fastest kite run he ever did an estimated 17 knots totally out of control on Lake Macquarrie , their first National Title in Adelaide, backed up with a second in Melbourne against the newly crowned 2016 World Etchell Champion Ben Lamb. How ever I believe they sailed their best this year, despite the absence of Luke Mathews following a horrific accident, the team of David Suda, Damian Lee, Rachel Suda, Heschel Landes and Sam Clayton won both the 2016 J24 National title and arguably the harder 2016 Victorian title.
I have sailed against Herschel and his teams for over 30 years, longer than anyone else I have competed against, we have been fierce and some times bitter rivals on the water, no matter what the event, it has always been sailing against each other to the maximum. I will truly miss that. To Herschel, David and the Pacemaker crew, all the best in whatever direction sailing takes you……….
