Simon Grain

Photo Credit Nathan Goss

Racing again !

The VIC J24 Committee are pleased to announce the Vic States this year are to be held at Sandringham Yacht Club on March 27/28.

The Vic States has a tradition of great hospitality and social get together combined with very competitive sailing. We are expecting a large turn out from the Vic fleet with youth sailors joining our fleet in up to four boats. We also extend a warm welcome to interstate competitors, and suggest you contact us to help  prepare  for your needs.

Starting with informal drinks at the Ken King Centre on Friday evening, racing on Saturday followed by a BBQ  and beers at the KKC, racing on Sunday followed by a presentation BBQ at the KKC.

ENTRY available soon on the SYC website

NOR-J24-States-2021-Rev-0

Sailing instructions SI J24 Vic States 2021 Rev 0

Preliminary SCHEDULE OF EVENTS: (TBC)

• J24 registration and crew weigh-in will take place on Friday 27 March between 1600 hrs and 1900 hrs and Saturday 28 March between 0700 hrs and 0830 hrs.

 Proposed Race Schedule (TBC)

Race No.	Date	Warning Signal
1	Saturday 27 March	No earlier than 0955 hrs
2	Saturday 27 March	At the completion of race 1
3	Saturday 27 March	At the completion of race 2
4	Saturday 27 March	At the completion of race 3
5	Sunday 28 March	No earlier than 0955 hrs
6	Sunday 28 March	At the completion of race 5
7	Sunday 28 March	At the completion of race 6
8	Sunday 28 March	At the completion of race 7

No warning signal shall be made after 1430 hrs on Sunday 28 March 2020.

There will be no re-sails after Sunday 28 March 2020.

TRAILER AND CAR PARKING

• Road trailers used to transport interstate boats to and from the regatta may be stored at the Sandringham Yacht Club for the duration of the event.
• Each interstate boat will be provided with parking for one vehicle in the SYC member’s car park during the event. An access “key” will be required, subject to the payment of a refundable bond.
• Car parking for Victorian members (boat owners and crew) will be subject to the normal rule of access at SYC. Car parking is available in Council car parks in Jetty Road or in nearby streets for those without SYC car park access.

All welcome, call Vic President Warren Campbell for more information on 0418 530 670

The J24 National Committee has taken the painful decision to reverse our earlier decision to run the 2021 Nationals on 7-10 January 2021.

The 2021 Nationals will not be held at this time and at this point there are too many variables to plan a replacement regatta and timing.

We all want to sail but due to the current flare up in SA, and the potential for this still to happen in other states with border closures and quarantine, it is not possible to guarantee a safe, trouble free running of the regatta. We have had discussions with Australian Sailing, some of the interstate competitors who have have contacted us and expressed an interest to compete, the Vic Association and SYC. This decision has been a unanimous one from all National committee members.

Simon

The October long weekend at Gosford Sailing Club.

The J24 Gosford Regatta on the October Long weekend in NSW was enjoyed by 11 boats who attended. The breeze was a North Easterly sea breeze with blue skies and sunshine and no sign of the rain that we have endured in the past.

A new normal perhaps?  All boats sailed with 4 crew to meet current spacing recommendations with going to jib at around 10 knots of breeze.

Breeze perfect, venue and club perfect and waited on by a great club team including Tom Slingsby’s dad, we had so much fun, all fantastic – the best event ever.

We welcomed our new J owner Cameron Cooke, who purchased his J24 Artesis in September 2020 for $100, Cameron called the team for advice and could he borrow some sails.  The boat looked a treat with the wooden spinnaker pole and he was up there in his finishes – Welcome to the J24 class and we all look forward to seeing you at RPAYC for the NSW states.

Day 1 – 4 races – with the usual hot sailors taking up the front positions. Jeanette Syme taking out 4^th overall and winning the Thompson trophy (no excuse that the national president failed to attend the regatta – something about locked up in a southern state).  John Crawford was very slippery with his new Genoa.

Day 2 – Sean Kirkjian sailing Sailpac showed the fleet his stern – arrived with his new crew having 2 spinnaker training sessions, now on day 2 the crew were fine-tuned with Race 1 first and Race 2 unfortunately OCS.  Race 6 saw John Crawford taking Blackjack skipper John Gardener off the track to keep his overall 2^nd pace safe.

The scratch winner of the regatta was Ace, skippered by David West who was on equal points with Innaminka, skippered by John Crawford. The final result was decided on a count back. Third was Sailpac skippered by Sean Kirkjian with his team from Pacific Sailing School. 4^th Kaotic – Garth Riley, 5^th Okavango Delta – Janette Syme, 6^th Blackjack – Alvaro Mejia, 7^th Bandit – Terry Wise, 8^th Starpac – John Gardner, 9^th Pacatack – Wendy Tuck, 10^th Waterbourne Again – Matt Miles, 11^th Artesia – Cameron Cooke.

The handicap winner was Blackjack skippered by Alvaro Mejia from Pacific Sailing School, second on handicap was Okavango Delta skippered by Janette Syme in her new boat. Third was Kaotic skippered by Garth Riley in his first J24 Regatta.

Congratulations to winner Dave West, sailing consistently fast with many top places.

For more pictures go to :  j24-regatta-photos

It was great to see Terry Wise and his sailing school students at this regatta with 5 boats and very enthusiastic crews who thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

The five crews from PSS joined the start line with Damien on Starpac (owner of a TP52) John Gardner Blackjack, (28 Gosford regattas) Sean Kirkjian on Sailpac, Terry Wise on Bandit (Bandit 1982 winner Worlds) and new J24 Skipper Wendy Tuck – (legend and lovely young lady and winner of Clipper round the world race)

Big thanks to John Crawford who was at the NSW Association head for over 10 years and welcome to new president Chris Lee.  To the Race Regatta team headed again by Peter Walsh, we thank you for arranging the perfect conditions and perfect race starts.

The whole weekend had beautiful sailing conditions and it was an excellent way to start our season.

We look forward to seeing everyone at the NSW State Titles at Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club at Newport on the 31st October – 1st November Weekend.

Story by Terry Wise and Chris Lee.
Edit: Simon

 

There is also a regular Gosford Weekend Championship at the beginning of November, that attracts a dozen or so boats that sail up from Sydney. This is organised by Terry Wise of Pacific Sailing School. For more information contact Terry on (02) 9326 2399

Or call NSW President, Dave West   0413 051 266

 

At the recent J24 National Committee meeting it was decided the first six placegetters and the all-girl team from the 2020 Australian Championships held on Sydney Harbour, would be able to enter the 2021 J24 Worlds in Poole.  This is in accordance with the IJCA announcement.   Subject to International Travel restrictions being lifted, these qualifiers must advise the National Committee of their intention to participate in Poole by end of November 2020.  Should any of these qualifiers decide not to participate, then the  six qualifiers from the 2021 Australian Championships may enter instead.  Preference will be given in the order of the placegetters.  Any of the six 2021 qualifiers (plus an all-girl crew and Youth Boat) who do not wish to go to Poole may instead will be considered for the 2022 World Championships to be held in Argentina in March 2022.  This allows them 14 months to prepare for these Championships.

If you have any questions regarding the above, please refer these to your National Committee member.

Regards Ron Thomson

Following a meeting of the International J24 World Council last night (20 April) the 2020 World Championships to be held in Poole, UK has been postponed to late Sept 2021. This will be dependent on the lifting of the current travel restrictions by that time.

In addition, the following World Championships have also been moved:

Argentina            March 2022
Texas, USA          2023
Greece                 2024

Further information will follow in due course.

The current issue of the International J/24 Pulse newsletter is now available via PDF at

Always a tough competitive regatta, the Vic States also has a tradition of great hospitality and social get together.

The Vic States this year are to be held at Sandringham Yacht Club on March 28/29.

Starting with a welcome BBQ at the Ken King Centre on Friday evening, racing on Saturday followed by dinner in the Harbour View restaurant (Totally booked out for the J24 competitors), racing on Sunday followed by a presentation BBQ at the Ken King Centre.

ENTRY and NOR available on the SYC website here

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

• J24 registration and crew weigh-in will take place in the SYC Auditorium on Friday 27 March between 1600 hrs and 1900 hrs and Saturday 28 March between 0700 hrs and 0830 hrs.

 Proposed Race Schedule

Race No.	Date	Warning Signal
1	Saturday 28 March	No earlier than 0955 hrs
2	Saturday 28 March	At the completion of race 1
3	Saturday 28 March	At the completion of race 2
4	Saturday 28 March	At the completion of race 3
5	Sunday 29 March	No earlier than 0955 hrs
6	Sunday 29 March	At the completion of race 5
7	Sunday 29 March	At the completion of race 6
8	Sunday 29 March	At the completion of race 7

No warning signal shall be made after 1430 hrs on Sunday 29 March 2020.

There will be no re-sails after Sunday 29 March 2020.

TRAILER AND CAR PARKING

• Road trailers used to transport interstate boats to and from the regatta may be stored at the Sandringham Yacht Club for the duration of the event.
• Each interstate boat will be provided with parking for one vehicle in the SYC member’s car park during the event. An access “key” will be required, subject to the payment of a refundable bond.
• Car parking for Victorian members (boat owners and crew) will be subject to the normal rule of access at SYC. Car parking is available in Council car parks in Jetty Road or in nearby streets for those without SYC car park access.

All welcome, call Vic President Warren Campbell for more information on 0418 530 670

2020 J24 NATIONAL COMMITTEE

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

AGENDA

TIME:                    8:00am Saturday  4^th January 2020

VENUE:                Middle Harbour Yacht Club

Attendees
Welcome
President’s report
Treasurers Report

Proposed New Committee for 2020

• President Ron Thomson
• Vice President Hugo Ottaway
• Publicity Simon Grain
• SSF Representative Steve Wright
• Syd Harbour Representative Arthur Crothers

General Business

• Keel Bolts
• Mike Ingram possible visit
• New boats from Argentina
• Measurement standards
• IJCA fees are going up

Insufficient attendance at AGM for a quorum.

National meeting in March 2020 agreed to continue with existing committee and publish reports on website for comments

.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Here we are at Middle Harbour Yacht Club, the home of sailing on the North Shore of Sydney Harbour.  We have heard many stories about the smoke haze over Sydney but it is pleasing to see this has now cleared.  Appreciate the timing of this year’s Nationals is tight to New Year but it is during the vacation period for most businesses allowing participants not to cut into their annual leave entitlements.  Next year the timing will be significantly better extending to the following weekend after New Year which allows the Hobart sailors the opportunity to attend.

In summery the highlights of 2019 have been:

• We have a first time National Champion, Brendon Lee from SYC, who will be out to defend his title this year. Congratulation Brendon and hopefully your new boat is as good as your previous one.
• Brendon backed up the Nationals title to win the Victorian Championships showing it was no fluke in Adelaide beating a very strong fleet in Melbourne
• Some fellow fluked the Cronulla short course regatta beating a fleet of 10 boats in balmy conditions off Cronulla Beach.
• Sean Kirkjan showed his skills by winning again in Gosford and giving yours truly a sailing lesson
• Well the NSW Championships ended in protest and counter protest with Steve Wright winning the title for the first time. Congratulation Steve.

It is pleasing to note Australia was again represented in the J24 Worlds in Miami with three boats.  The Australian definitely made an IMPACT in a literal sense but were all well beaten in brutal conditions.

I attended the J24 World Council whilst in Miami, only because it was an air conditioned room.  A couple of key points were discussed which I wish to bring to your attention.

• The issue of lifting straps and keel bolts is causing concern due to the mishap with Jack’s boat. The class is 45 years old and some of the boats are showing their age.  It is important to bring your attention to reviewing your keel boats to ensure they have not been compromised by water damage.  Also lifting straps should be replaced every few years.  There is an article on the J24 website showing how you should check your keel bolts and I urge everyone to conduct a review this year.
• In Miami, I met with Mike Ingram, an outstanding J24 sailor having been in the case many years. I am keen on upskilling the J24 fleet and thought the best approach would be to have someone like Mike come and visit us and provide two days training, one in Sydney and the other in Melbourne.  Mike, who works for North Sails, is involved in training the USA Paralympic team and for many other classes.  I am told Mike is a better teacher than a skipper which is hard to imagine considering his results.  What do people think?  I am thinking the National Body will pick up his airfares and the State Association will pay his teaching costs, which he says will be substantially discounted.
• The 2020 Worlds will be held in Poole UK and those wishing to find out details can speak to Lorna Graham, who is on the organising Committee. In 2021, the World will be held in Argentina and I wish to discuss a potential opportunity to acquire new boats for Australia.  There is a J24 boat builder in Argentina and there is an opportunity for a couple of new boats being built for this event.  These boats would be leased out for the Championships, probably to the Americans.  There is a possibility for these boats to be made available to Australia less the leasing fee.  Not sure as to the costs as yet but would people be interested if we can keep the cost below $40K?  I am told the Argentina boats are just as fast as the Italians.
• It is recognised that overall the J24 class measurements are old and probably need to be renewed. The International body wants to upgrade all measurement certificates and I am keen for Australia to be at the forefront of this project.  I have spoken to Hugo Ottaway and we will be reviewing our records with a view to bring them up to date.
• The International fees will be going up next year and with the current exchange rate we may have to charge a little more for the first time in 10 years. I will let you know about the details when they become available.

We are looking to hold next year’s Nationals in Melbourne at Sandringham Yacht Club.  Keep an eye out on the website for details.

I wish to thank the current committee for their help and assistance during the year