Somewhere south of Sydney, in a Peter Jackson style plot with ‘goings on down there’, there is a place called ‘The Shire’ – they even made a TV series about it.
A quiet little place of incredible beauty, classically laid out with a long inlet full of boats, a small but friendly club right on the water and ‘tie up space fer yer boat’. It’s protected by a large sand bar but with access to the open ocean. Known more for its Etchells fleet and regattas and larger yachts, there are ……….. ‘Goings On’
It seems there is a growing revolution with an increase in the number of J24s there, apparently the number is now 13 (NSW’s largest J fleet), with 3 new boats in the last month. Now it seems that it is more ‘club members sailing Js rather than Js sailing at the club’, as they keep to themselves alot but maybe that’s because they have a secret they want to keep hidden.
Cronulla is a great place to sail, semi sheltered from raging Southerlies, it enjoys warm weather, good winds, great beaches and plenty of cold club beer and it offers ocean sailing that most of us never get. There’s talk afoot of a Bi Annual winter regatta on Queens Birthday weekend, in fact there has already been one (T’was a little windy)
Hey Australia, J24s are being found and sailed, its a great little boat that is youth and female friendly (current Cronulla J champions are ‘the Girls” sailing Cooee II, although that could change this year) and they are being sailed in some fantastic places in Australia. Cronulla is just one of those places. Check it out next time you are in Sydney, or check out a mid winter regatta ………. sounds like a great idea !