Two of Australia’s best known sailors drowned in the 2009 Sydney to Flinders Islet race on Saturday morning.
Ocean racing veteran Andrew Short owned and skippered the 80 foot (24.5) metre yacht, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the former ShockWave 5, which ran aground on outlying rocks off Flinders Islet off Port Kembla just before 3:00am on Saturday.
Sally Gordon, was one of the most experienced women ocean racers on the Australian scene having sailed in 15 Sydney to Hobart races. She was the CYCA Ocean Racing Crew person of the year back in 2000.
Along with 16 other crew, the two sailors were taking part in an overnight race between Sydney and Flinders Islet. (Sail-World)
Many past and current J24 sailors have known both Andrew and Sally, sailing with and against them. Andrew won the 85 and 86 J24 Nationals and would have been a keen competitior in the Legends Regatta planned to be held in Sydney next year.
Terry Wise, our NSW President, has known both very well for many years and says, “Sally and Andrew are a part of our CYCA sailing family, both regular, very experienced happy faces, will be sadly missed.”
I am sure you all join me in offering our personal and J24 class condolences to their families in this tragic loss.
Ben Lamb, the current NSW J24 Champion, recently spent two weeks at Airlie Beach and Hamilton Island as tactician onboard the Farr 55 Living Doll. The Doll was winner of both the Meridian Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week and the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week IRC Grand Prix Division 1.
In an article in Sail World Michael Hiatt the owner stated “The afterguard did a great job getting us in the right place at the right time”
Another onboard a winning yacht was Dale Sharp a former NSW J24 President who was in the crew of Alegria an Archambault 40 which won the Hamilton Island IRC Grand Prix Division 2 and was overall winner of the Audi Australian IRC Championship.
Also joining the exodus North was Arthur Crothers and Bibiana Fedorova who sailed on Local Hero at Airlie Beach.
Other NSW J24 sailors who headed North for the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week were Steve Girdis and Ray Pearson on Steve’s yacht Free Spirit in IRC Division 1. Chris and Rachel Lee sailed on Toy Box, John Crawford on You’re Hired and Simon Williams on Ruth Magic.
Hello all, there is a need for a change in what we do in relation to measurement and measurement certificates and also sail numbers to comply with the International J24 class rules.
This is really important information for all boat owners, it concerns the registration, compliance and ulitmately the value of your boat.
The J24 “Comunity” is gaining momentum and our new site traffic stats are already impressive. We are now offering the opportunity to advertise your business to the J24 community. If you own a J the rates are unbeatable, if you crew or are a commercial operation wanting to advertise your business, then you will find our rates very attractive.
The J24 Community offers a wide range of skills that can benefit other owners and crew. We suggest you make a habit of supporting our advertisers, they are J sailors like you and will offer you the special service you expect from a small community.
In the very near future we will be commencing a promotional campaign on Sail-World.com – the world’s largest sailing news site. This will drive a huge amount of traffic to our site. So if you want to promote your business to our market then now is the time to talk to us about your ad.
Here is a short chronicle of the J24 history in the US, very interesting reading and like the Australian Honour Roll it includes some of the world’s most famous names. Click here to go to the History page.
It’s the opening night of the J/24 Silver Anniversary Regatta in Newport, R.I. One after another, J/24 “legends” take the stage and offer up a story or two. “He loves to tell this one,” someone in the crowd whispers to a friend. On stage is 1984 world champion Dave Curtis, telling the crowd of 600 or so about the time he, Bob and Stu Johnston, and Major Hall spent Block Island Race Week racing and sleeping on the 24-footer, just so the boat’s designer Rod Johnstone could say it comfortably accommodated four live aboards.
Rolph Turnquist, 55, of Hamel, Minn., and John Gjerde, 54, of Delavan, Wis., the longest-running co-owners of a J/24 and founders of Fleet No. 1 (Minnesota’s Lake Minnetonka), follow up with one about the day they went to pick up their first boat from builder Tillotson-Pearson. As they inspected their new ride, hull No. 7, they noticed the stanchions were too small. Says Turnquist: “Everett [Pearson] says, ‘No problem. I’ll be right back.’ He goes and raids the naval shipyard and eventually comes back with a car full of stop and yield signs, saws off the posts and gives us our stanchions. They’re still on the boat today.”
Your sailing calendar doesn’t get any clearer than the tassie page. Have a look at that organisation at work, looks like the rest of us need to do the same. We do plan to have the site calendar back up soon.
The Hobart fleet of one of the worlds must popular racing one design keel-boats is set to be increased thanks to an innovative move by local class enthusiasts.
Members of the Tasmanian J24 Association have taken the first step in an ambitious plan to enlarge the state fleet by buying boats interstate, doing them up son selling them on.
It is a strategy that has paid off already this month with the arrival of a J24 from Lake Macquarie, in NSW.
It was towed to Tasmania by J24 Association president Kaye Roberts and Stewart Geeves, both champion sailors in the class. It was overhauled by association members and is now ready for sale as an entry level boat for racing.
“The aim is to build up the number of actively sailing J24s in Hobart to at least 20,” said association publicity officer Nathan Males.
He said the J24 was the ideal one design boat for the Derwent with its strict design rules meaning there as a whole range of boats available of different ages and at varying prices.
“An older boat ran be bought for about $12,000 and with little effort can be made competitive against newer boats,’ he said.
It meant the class was accessible to younger sailors or those racing for the first time – while still remaining attractive to more experienced sailors.
“The J24 has the potential to be developed as a pathway into competitive racing on the Derwent end elsewhere in Tasmania – but fleet numbers need to be built up,” he said.
At present there were about 10 actively racing, sailing mainly in Derwent Sailing Squadron and Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania winter and summer pennant races.
But the aim was to develop class racing. Males said it was also
intended to provide an active training program with at least one training regatta a year with access to national and international J24 coaches.
The fast and stable J24 was designed and built in the US by Rod Johnstone in 1975. He wanted a fast multi-purpose boat that could compete under a variety of local racing rules but still be comfortable enough to be used for family weekend or cruising, ‘that first boat was called Ragtime and it provided the mould for the new class.
The natural extension of the success of the J24 was a one design, international fleet with rules governing and limiting the modifications that could be made to a standard production hull and rig to ensure that all racing J24s were essentially the same.
It means that crew are pitted against crew with the emphasis on skill and teamwork rather than technology and money.
The class’s Internet site says “more than 50,000 people sail J24s in more than 105 active fleets in 40 nations and the strict one design rules provide some of the closest racing found anywhere in the world.
“Many of the most successful sailboat racing sailors in the world have cut their teeth in J24s – and any J24 regardless of age can be made competitive.”
Males said the first boat to arrive in Hobart order the “buying-up plan” had been bought with class association funds and help from members.
It was now for sale and further information was available in both the J24 association and the boat, by ringing Nathan Males on 0424 305 184.
Members of the public can see local J24s being rigged up and racing out of the DSS and RYCT on Sunday pennant days in the winter and Saturdays during the summer.
