Following the most recent national exec hookup we have set the following timetable on the review of the national constitution.
State Associations and individual submissions to be submitted in writing for evaluation by Jan 30.
Draft presentation to be available for final review by the Vic States on April 16th
The concept behind this review is that the current document is now quite old and needs to be reviewed in the light of the changing needs of the States and National Association. This means that if you wish to have input into the review, you need to submit your thoughts in writing (email is fine) to Simon Grain by end Jan 2011
The nationals have been confirmed today by Terry Wise. This means the National Assn AGM will also be held during the championships. The meeting will be held at MHYC at 9am Tuesday, 11th Jan 2011. Nominations for office should be received in writing prior to this meeting.
Geelong will be huge this year with most of the fleet expected to go and interest from interstate strong.
This year the program is full on with the big passage race to Geelong and then 3 days of windward leewards. You get to party an incredible 4 nights (if you can) with wall to wall yachties, friends, locals, drinks and bands at the club, or escape to one of Geelong’s restaurants to chill out on good food and another drink! Somewhere the J guys and girls will have a special dinner and drinks (more!) There’ll be fireworks and planes doing aerobatics – and always a racetrack the next day. Yet more parties on boats, more racing and if you make it to the end – a relaxing sail back to Sandy and if it’s a SW breeze, you get to surf home!
To enter you need to go to the website http://www.victoriaweek.com.au/index1.asp and then ‘Racing’ and ‘Enter Online’, click on the ‘J24 Class’ button and follow your nose.
Enter before 6/1/11 to avoid paying a late fee and your entry must be in by the 14th January at latest.
If you are from interstate and want a boat or a crew spot or have questions then call Simon on 0413 870 046
The Audi Victoria Geelong Week is almost upon us again – seems silly to think that but it is just 60 odd days away and you need to be thinking about entry and accommodation for this event.
I have negotiated with RGYC to get a J24 Series down there within the Audi Performance Series category as part of the official racing rather than us just entering a performance handicap class and have achieved that (and overcome a few hurdles they put in our way) this means we will have our own set of results and trophies depending on the level of entries.
The format is to be :
Saturday 22 Jan – Passage Race to Geelong
Sunday 23rd, Monday 24th, Tuesday 25th – W/L races each day
Wednesday 26th – Cruising sail back to Sandy
You will notice that this is slightly different to the Audi Series as it has a passage race on the Tuesday, where we will be doing the W/L – but you enter the Audi Performance Series
To do this you will need to take only the Monday and Tuesday off work as the Wednesday is the Australia day holiday.
To get this series happening we need to have a minimum of 7 boats (1 trophy for first given), I have stuck my neck out and said I think we will get between 10 and 15 boats (2 to 3 trophies), (Vic boats plus a couple of SA boats on their way back and maybe a couple of Sydney boats ?)
So here is the really important part, we need to have an idea how many boats will want to go to Geelong be part of this series. Traditionally it is an awesome race weekend to do, just ask anyone who has done one.
Ideally I would like to give RGYC advance knowledge of the competitor numbers – this will help with things like berthing arrangements.
So please send me an email if you are planning to go with your boat – or if you want to fly in and do the rock star crew bit.
From the Editor…
Yes folks…there’s an issue missing! During October the staff absconded and went on holiday… all of them. From what I can make out there was drink, sun burnt bums, casual carnal interactions, gambling and absolutely no sailing. I would tell you some of the stories but as the tee-shirt of one smart Alec I met recently proudly announced… “What goes on tour, goes on facebook”… so you can look up the high jinks for yourselves. The good news is that everyone is now back at their desks and the little fingers of our staffers re just a blur as they hammer out articles for your information and entertainment.
So click the link below to read the latest awesome newsletter from Dougie down at Crackerjack Journos.
That was last year at Geelong at the annual Geelong Audi Victoria Week regatta over the Australia Day weekend. And what a glamour regatta it was.
We had Terry Wise down from Sydney, Karl Chappell from Adelaide, both of whom are keen to come back. Call them and ask them what a good time they had !
Hmmmm …………… Quite a lot of girls on my boat too !
Actually there is lots of everything. Lots of boats – around 600, lots of yachties – around 3000, lots of cool refreshing drink (didn’t count), lots of bands playing lots of music (more than I could listen too) and well ….. lots of girls – and the sailing ones too !
I guess I should point out to the sailing girls – there are lots of guys too, but you knew that already. In fact if you can’t get a sail and a cool drink in Geelong then you are definitely not trying. Its one giant party and it’s been going for 166 years.
Last year there were around 25,000 people visited the annual Geelong Week Regatta and Festival (yes it is that big), it turns Geelong inside out. The weather was great and of course will be again.
The Melbourne J24 fleet is planning to make a big showing this season at Geelong and negotiations are underway to have our own division and prizes.
The week is ideally placed after our Nationals at the end of January and usually involves a race down the bay to Geelong and then a couple of days of round the buoys racing in mixed fleets at Geelong followed by a relaxing sail home to Sandy. Let me say it is a big event and you will feel like you have been through the wringer by the end of it but you won’t want to miss the next one once you have discovered what a blast it is. This is like no other regatta in the Southern Hemisphere.
For boats returning to Adelaide after the Nationals or (coming from Sydney) – bring your boats back through Melbourne and we will store them for you and then launch them at Sandy before the racing. If you want to borrow or charter a boat from our fleet – get in early as there may not be many available, my guess is most will be going to the party. Or maybe you just want to fly in and be a rockstar – do it, but get a crew spot early.
So the racing will be hot and if you’re coming from interstate, you will be racing against the likes of Dave Suda and Hugo Ottaway, or relative newcomers like Ron Thomson and Adam Evans, skippers that are dying to knock the best off their pedestals. Of course you will have to race with the rest of the fleet too, now around 13 boats.
So this is a party not to be missed and you need to plan ahead. If you want to talk to us in Melbourne about sailing to Geelong then give us a call.
Call State President Luke Mathews on 0403 233 589 or the other bloke Simon Grain on 0413 870 046.
This is the second of the two articles I found in old Australian Sailing magazines written by Bob Ross. This one from April 82.
“In winning the J24 worlds, Mark Bethwaite and his Soling crew Ian MacDiarmid and Glen Read brought a fresh approach to tuning and equipment detailing that cut across much of the conventional wisdom in the class. ………. (look under boat talk or Click here for more)
Hugo is back and talking about the Worlds – very interesting! And there is stuff I know he can’t put in here that he has told me. No doubt more will come out as the crews come back. Read Hugo’s very informative report on the 2010 Worlds in Sweden. Click here to read and keep checking back on this page as we will be putting more stories online as we get them.
We haven’t had much from anyone actually, but Kirby, our very own treasurer has been touring in Europe and cruised by the worlds – here’s what she told me, you’ll laugh your socks off – Click here for the Worlds Report
This new page on our site will feature Class Supporters and Advertisers, we will be adding more to this page so have a look here if you need something or help with things for your J. To learn more about each sponsor or go to their website, use the link in the navigation bar above.
Currently we have a number of companies sponsoring our Legends Regatta and these companies will be featured here.
Advertisers can either pay a small fee or make an offer that helps the class to get a page on our website. If you want to be listed here please contact Simon Grain. grain@smarketing.com.au
