J24 Tips for speed by North Sails J 24 class experts
North Sails has been at the forefront of sail design for the J/24 class since the class first started in 1977. Throughout these years North Sails have designed and developed J24 sails which have won countless national and world titles with sailors choosing to use North sails.
North Sails have gone through a restructuring exercise recently. They are wanting to put more focus on One Design racing and will provide more tips on a regular basis – of course they would also like to sell you some sails as well !
Below are some key points from their class experts on how to maximise your J 24’s performance!
The J24 ranking page is now online. To find it look under ‘About J24’ on the top nav bar.
Lisa Simonov, the better half of ‘Make My Jay’ at Sandy and head programmer at Smart Marketing has done a fantastic job of turning an algorithm provided by Sean Wallis into a full on ranking system, complete with all the data entry and database systems required behind the scenes.
Currently the system is ranking on the state regattas and the Nationals last season, in the near future we will add the previous season as well. The ranking is designed to be based over the previous two sailing seasons and rewards regattas sailed and finish placing with different regattas having different weighting.
We plan to put even more bells and whistles into it in the future, but for now ……. how do you rank in the national list ?
The summer sailing season is almost upon us and along with all the other things you are doing to your boat to get it ready – don’t forget one very important thing – you must have a current measurement certificate !
The onus for this is on the boat owner – no other person or body. This means that if you don’t have a current IJCA certificate organised through our National Measurer Peter Stevens in the last couple of years, then you are not a legal J24 and will not be able to race. The pic above is the top of the correct certificate, if yours doesn’t look like this you have the wrong one.
If you don’t have your correctors in, your V-berth or your shelves are not fitted or you have made any other changes and not remeasured then you will not comply.
Now is the time to act, either contact your state measurer or Peter direct if you have any questions or doubts about your compliance.
The class is getting more competitive and we need to make sure all boats are racing on an even basis.
We have had formal direction from the IJCA and I have had a number of members contact me informally concerned about this matter. The National committee will be right onto this via our national measurement register this year and I gauge the mood from various members is also a “get tough” attitude. A non compliant boat is a protest just the same as a port and starboard, so don’t forget this important item in your boat preparation.
Alyn Stevenson has written an excellent piece here for us that you should all read as well concerning this matter.
J24 Measurement compliance and playing fair
As a past president of the class and someone who is not on any committees but is passionate about the class I thought it prudent to write an article on compliance of boats and measurement certificates.
Firstly members should be aware that measurers are there to protect the Class rules and ensure compliance, and in turn take their directive from the J24 International Technical Committee.
Owners are responsible for their boat measurement!
The J24 Measurement certificate is the same as an IRC certificate without it you can’t race!
If you change anything on your boat it must be done in consultation with a class measurer.
Your Measurement certificate is the most important document in your racing kit – value and respect it.
It has come to my attention that over the last 18 months there are incidences of boats removing correctors and this certainly is clear breach of RRS never mind J24 class rules.
The stalwarts of the class that have won most Nationals over time with boats that are optimized to the n’th degree but they will measure and comply.
They know the value of optimizing a boat but also don’t want to lose a Regatta because the boat doesn’t measure. They know the difference between optimization and an invalid boat that doesn’t measure. (They respect the rules)
The Australian Fleet
Boats that have missing correctors, made alterations etc. and have not had a new measurement certificate need to contact their State measurer and fix this immediately. (There can be no exceptions to these infringements of the rules)
The second categories of boats are older boats that have some basic missing items that invalidate them. The peers in class need to assist these owners to get their boats up to standard so they comply.
Having said that – Owners need to accept their responsibility and comply with directives from class measurers.
Two main areas are missing V berths and missing shelves. All of these can be replaced cheaply with lightweight replacements that comply with the class rules. A lot of us that have been in the class for a while can assist with information on how to achieve this.
At the end of the day it is ATTITUDE and RESPECT of J24 Class rule that counts, and anyone wanting to have their J24 comply will receive enormous assistance from within the class. That is the strength of the class, helping new owners come in and progress through the fleet.
COME ON – let’s play FAIR and accept our own obligation of an owner and competitor.
The FNQ J24 Championships were conducted by the Cairns Yacht Club over 3 days, 22-24 July 2011, on short inside harbour courses.
Morning races were light 5-10kt conditions with afternoon races sailed in 10-15kt breeze. A total of 8 boats competed; 6 owned by NQ Sailing, 1 from Port Douglas Yacht Club and 1 privately owned. Kaizen 2 won the finals carrying a 2min. in 100min handicap as a dry sailed boat, over the rest of the fleet in clean wet sailed condition.
Easter is often a time when there is little sailing on the bay. So if you feel like making the trip down to Paynesville for some excellent lake sailing then here is your opportunity. Sounds like a great idea and could be lots of fun.
The Gippsland Lakes Yacht Club would like to invite J24 sailors to participate in the inaugural GIPPSLAND LAKES RACE WEEK.
The 23 boat strong fleet of Canadian J/24 sailors were treated incredibly well by their host for the Canadian J/24 Nationals, Port Credit YC. PCYC has to be one of the most gracious, fun-loving clubs on Lake Ontario, renowned for their “can do” attitude, excellent RC/PRO management of races and a club membership totally focused on having fun sailing. Note, this is the same crew that host the largest offshore race of the summer Lake Ontario season- the Lake Ontario 300 that starts this coming weekend.
The 23 teams woke up Friday morning to light air, blistering sun and warm temperatures. Nevertheless, the PRO managed to complete one race and then by 2:00 pm the wind shut off completely. The RC hoisted AP over H and the fleet went back to shore for shade, a dip in PCYC’s pool and re-hydration at the bar. By 4:00 pm a line of wind was spotted coming over the lake from the south west, so the fleet headed out and were able to squeak one more race out of the day. That’s awesome RC work, if you go to sail a Nationals, then be ready to go anytime! At the completion of Day one, it looked like Rossi Milev sailing CLEAR AIR/ ORANGE BLOSSOM was a leader to be reckoned with, scoring a 2-1 to lead over Peter Wickwire’s team on SUNNYVALE with a 1-3. Just off the pace was Tom Barbeau’s NAVTECH.CA with a 4-2.
On Saturday, the forecast called for very light air and the fleet wasn’t too optimistic, however, the wind filled in and by 11:00 there was a solid 9 knots of breeze coming from the east. The Race committee started the race right on time to make the best of the wind while it lasted. On the next 2 races, a persistent veer in the wind caused the race committee to put up ‘charlie’ plus green flags at the top end to indicate the leeward gates where shifted course-side-left. By the third race the wind had dropped substantially, but the waves & slop did not. The Race committee shortened the course and brought the windward mark to 0.9 nm. It was a hard slog up and down the course, and by the time the last boat had finished the fleet was exhausted. Still leading after this long day on the water was Rossi Milev with a 1-2-2 followed by Peter Wickwire’s SUNNYVALE with a 3-1-11 and Scott Weakley’s REX team working on the comeback trail with a 13-3-1. By 4:30 Saturday, the fleet was back on dock folding sails and finding shade. The wind had completely died so calling it quits when we did was the right call. The fleet was definitely dehydrated and looking forward to the party Saturday night where PCYC put on a great BBQ spread with salads and deserts, and plenty of beer taps flowing.
Sunday morning dawned with a good breeze and the fleet took off to get in two races before the time expiration for the start of the last race. After scoring a 5-5 and holding his principal competitor back, Rossi Milev’s team on CLEAR AIR/ ORANGE BLOSSOM from the local J/24 fleet at Port Credit YC were declared 2011 J/24 Canadian National Champions, winning with just 13 points after a toss race. Second was Peter Wickwire’s SUNNYVALE crew from Royal Canadian YC with 21 points. Third was another local boat, Scott Weakley’s REX team from PCYC with 28 points, winning a tie-breaker over Tom Barbeau’s NAVTECH.CA team from Yacht Club Quebec also with 28 points for fourth place. Fifth was the first woman team skipper, Katie Colman-Nicoll sailing QUICK NICK for the host PCYC. All in all, a good showing for the local PCYC boats taking three of the top five. [Excerpt from Jboats newsletter]
The Weymouth Olympic Sailing Center hosted their annual Weymouth Regatta that included the J/24 UK National Championship. The organizers were blessed with beautiful weather, gorgeous breezes both days of racing for all. The J/24s showed up en-masse ready to do battle to determine the 2011 UK champion– several veterans showed up that included past J/24 UK Champions, like Stuart Jardine from Royal Lymington YC.
After the first days racing in the steady breezes punctuated by long wind streaks, it was self-evident that one team simply had everything dialed in to go fast, stay out of trouble and show their transom to the rest of the fleet. By day’s end, Bob Turner’s SERCO from Castle Cove SC simply smoked the competition, starting off with three bullets and a second to lead by a large margin. Nipping at their heels and still within striking distance was Mark Penfold from the RYA sailed RELOADED.
The second day of sailing again dawned with good weather and a nice breeze from the southerly quadrants. Again, Turner’s SERCO team stepped on the gas pedal, dialed in a 1-2 for the first two races, then simply coasted home in the last two races with a 7-6 to win with 14 points. Brilliant sailing is an adjective that comes to mind to describe their remarkable, somewhat sparkling performance! Maintaining their second position was Mark Penfold’s team on RELOADED, finishing with 20 points. A perennial class leader, Stuart Jardine from RLYC sailed his latest generation J/24 STOUCHE to a strong third, narrowly missing out second by one point! Fourth was Darren Stansbury from Saltash SC with 30 points and fifth was Roger Morris on JOLLY ROGER from Parkstone SC Sailing photo credits- UK Fotoboat.com [Excerpt from Jboats newsletter]
J24 Australia welcomes Angus Middleton as the proud new owner of Amazing Grace in Adelaide and he is looking for some keen crew – see the SA pages for details.
