Photos

FNQ J24 Championships 2011

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.

                                                                                                       

Legends Regatta Photos

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The Legends Regatta was born out of an idea from Peter Stevens early last year and it was decided to run it in NSW due to the larger amount of boats and Legends residing there and last weekend saw the culmination of a massive amount of work to make this event happen.

The Gosford weekend was a huge success for the class and I want to thank the members of the NSW Association that put in such a huge effort to make this all happen. The result is a real credit to the vision and hard work of Terry Wise, Arthur Crothers and Paula Shires-Clarke who were the main drivers of this event, I know personally that Paula has lived and breathed this event for the last 6 months, working tirelessly to make it all a success. Many others were involved and I wish to thank them for their effort also especially Tim Briggs for his support in offering sponsorship and help with the legends venue. Thanks must go to all the sponsors small and large that offered their help with the regatta, with around $50,000 worth of sponsorship this surely rank as the most amazing event of recent times within the class and indeed within yachting in Australia.  Thanks to Gosford Sailing Club for running the regatta and to Graeme Watt and his wife Margo who came from Melbourne to bring their considerable experience as international fleet race officers to run the racing. And finally a huge thank you to all the competitors and Legends who came and made this the most exciting J24 event in recent Australian sailing history.

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2009 Vic States Photos

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One of Melbourne’s premier yachting photographers, Steb Fisher was on hand during the regatta to cover the racing. There are many more pictures available than we have shown here.

Steb’s pictures are now online. To see these go to www.steb.com.au and click on the “Sailing General” link or email Steb at photo@steb.com.au

Pictures are available for sale.

The Thrill of International Class Racing

The J24 Tasmanian State Titles will be run in Hobart on Saturday February 28th and Sunday 1st March 2009.These will be conducted by the Royal Yacht Club Tasmania. Racing will consist of up to 7 windward/ leeward races commencing each day at 0955am each day.

Hot competition is expected between up to 9 boats racing on the Derwent River over the weekend.dscf7215

Peter Gautschi on “Cio Cio San” will be bringing his boat from Cygnet, where he has been successful in summer racing.

John Lewis in “Drumbeat” will travel from his home of Geilston Bay to challenge the “Southerners”.

New owner Nathan Males in his “Storm Petrel” have shown much improvement over the summer season and are keen to take on the top boats. Gavin Adamson will swap his bigger boat “Fine Cotton”, to race “Poopseas” as the owner is overseas and unable to return in time to compete.

Craig Squires in “Divine Madness” has imported some interstate crew and purchased new sails for the Titles and is keen to do well.

Peter Bingham and his crew in “Streetcar” have been very consistent in their performances so far this summer and could be a strong contender for the title.

“Gridlock”, last year’s winner, will this year be under the control of Rohan Clark, rather than his Grandfather Des Clark. This crew is on a high after winning the lead up Sprint series run by DSS. They will be hard to beat.

Kaye Roberts, the only female skipper in the fleet, on Kaos, will be hoping to break the run of “always the bridesmaid” having come second in the State titles for the last few years. The crew have sailed to success in the RYCT Summer Pennant Series and have purchased some new sails to replace the rather tried ones they have had for the last four years.

dscf7231Hobart has seen a rekindled interest in strict one design class racing by the International J24 keelboat class. This 24 foot keelboat has just celebrated its 31st anniversary as a class and numbers some 15,000 boats around the world and over 200 in Australia.

The strict one design class racing and affordability has lead to this revival of a formerly strong class in Hobart. Racing a J24 places strong emphasis on crew work, strategy and tactics. The boat is also an excellent day sailer and suitable for short overnight racing or long weekend regattas. The fleet in Hobart is sailed buy a wide ranging age-group. Some of the boats are owned by syndicates to make the boat even more affordable. The boats are usually raced with a maximum crew weight of 400 kg, for example four burly blokes or six petite ladies. The J24s are normally stored out of the water in cradles which ensures that even the older boats stay dry and remain competitive.

Class racing is conducted in Hobart by the Derwent Sailing Squadron and RYCT. The J24s also participate in racing held by other clubs on most days of the week proving the boats versatile nature.

J24 Tasmania can help anyone interested in purchasing a J24 for racing.

Anyone tired of arbitrary handicaps in yacht racing, looking for a cost effective strict one design racer and interested in participating in the class as either crew or even as an owner should contact j24tas@gmail.com or the class President: Kaye Roberts on 62435136.

Skandia Geelong Week 2009

Small collection of photos from Pacemaker… note: Fifty footers behind us after the start!