Chris Furey has again taken some great pics of the J24 States in Melbourne on the weekend. So here they are as thumbnails – approx 235 pics ! I have been through them and there are sensational shots of most boats.
Chris has been very kind and generous with his photography and as agreed to help us support the Luke Mathews fund. We have agreed to a small fee of $25 for up to 10 shots – if you want more then another $25, this will go to Luke’s Fund. So anyone can buy shots for this small donation to help Luke.
Here is what you need to do to get your selection.
Choose your selection and make a list of these picture numbers
Go to the ‘Pay Victorian Assoc Online’ page also on this site (under VIC on the top navigation bar) and fill in your name, your email and your list of numbers into the ‘Description’ field. Fill in the amount in the ‘Amount’ field.
Click the ‘Checkout’ button and use your credit card to pay the amount due.
I will then email you your high res files once Kirby has passed your selection on to me
This donation is purely planned to help Luke as much as possible, so I do suggest that your crew buy some shots as well rather than sharing files you buy, so be honest and help Luke and Karen get through this terrible time.
If I get inundated with requests this may take me some time to email all but the result for Luke’s Support Fund could be wonderful. Some pics are a little fuzzy where the reflected sunlight has played with the focus and this may not be apparent in the thumbnail.
Without taking anything away from the excellent Nationals in Adelaide earlier in the year, the Vic States have been warming up to be the real contest of the year. And so it was.
The Black Prince of Sandringham took it from the “Young” Sydney Fox with the Canny Scott third.
What that means is Dave Suda (VIC) 1st, Steve Girdis (NSW) 2nd and Doug Watson (SA) 3rd.
Performance handicap was won by Dave MacKay from Cronulla, our own Stephanie Strong took out second in the Sidetracked youth boat and Steve Girdis was third. Hugo Ottaway, the real Mr J24 and deep thinking scribe takes on the finer details.
“This year’s 2015 Victorian J24 Championship may be remembered by the “could have been champions” as a regatta of lost opportunity. Despite only achieving 4 races due to a 40+ knot squally Sunday, the championship reached a milestone in Australian J24 sailing. Of note is the following: starting at the top, 27 entries including every J24 at Sandringham Yacht Club, 6 entries from NSW and 4 from S.A. Oldest skipper 70+ youngest 23. Two youth boats, four female skippers, two all female crews. A Jury and Race management of National and International standing and possibly up to 50% female participation.”
There many hard luck stories in any fleet, probably about 26 of them in this regatta! But look who we are up against. Hugo continues …
“To ease the pain of the masses, the calibre of the leading bunch reads like a who’s who of sailing. Our winner, David Suda sailing Pacemaker from Victoria has won two J/24 and one International cadet National titles. Second, Steve Girdis (NSW), three J/24 National titles and 5th in the Osaka worlds. Third, Doug Watson (SA) 2nd in the J24 Nationals and 4th in the Sigma 33 Europeans. Fourth Hugo Ottaway (VIC) one J24 and one International Cadet National title, then fifth God himself, David McKay (NSW) one 16 foot skiff and two Moth WORLD TITLES, one J24 , Etchell 22 and 18 foot Skiff National title and 1969 Yachtsman of the year award. Sixth, Simon Grain (VIC) four New Zealand Tornado Catamaran National titles.”
“I am sure as I go down the list there are many others amongst us who also boast similar achievements, however we very rarely acknowledge the pedigree of fellow sailors, to win either a state or national J24 title is tough, hard to come by and first rate.”
So what are the hard luck stories, well the first would be the whole regatta with the sailing on Sunday closed down. That meant we had a series, but no drop and there were many who needed it – badly. Myself for one, going left nicely all day and then going right in the last race – wrong! John Neville, our hard working Vice Pres who has been sailing like a demon all summer, last seen burying his head in a beer in despair after scoring the unlikely bottom double. Next time John! Half the fleet overlaying the top mark in the first race! Holes in the wind in the second race that left the top boats wallowing in nothing within spitting distance of the finish line while boats behind them sailed by – spitting chips maybe! And from Hugo, “finally the best gag of all, watching the class president start at full speed one minute early on a black flag, with no one else around….. great stuff.”
I could go on, but one of our newest owners does, Mike Bond shares his experiences:
“The J24 Vic States had been on the agenda for 6 weeks and we were all very keen to participate after having bought Code Violation. We had only been out once or twice as a team so things were going to be interesting come the first race. In true beginner style we missed the first race completely due to poor clock work. I took the blame for that one as I was the only one wearing watch. The second race was our best of the series and I do believe we were coming 7th around the top mark however we ended up 14th with some poor kite work and some bad tacks. The third race wasn’t great either, we had a good start but just couldn’t maintain boat speed. The last race we came dead last which in the end was quite amusing. We took the wrong side of the course (behind Simon) and got blitzed. All in all, it was great fun and we were a bit disappointed we couldn’t sail on the Sunday due to poor weather conditions but after the 2nd beer we were fine. Special thanks to Simon Grain and the crew on Jet for all their help as well as Hugo Ottaway and David Suda.” That’s the kind of fun the newest guys are having.
The conditions were great sailing for the first two races with a westerly around 12 knots, boats powered up on genoas and the race track full of boats. After the second race the wind died, the sun came out and lunch was served with sails down while we drifted in the tide waiting for wind. The last two races were held in a sputtering and dying westerly as we watched a black roll cloud gather it’s skirts on the southern horizon. The fleet finished and just made it back to the marina as a 40+knot front blew through minutes later!
Back in the bar, we were very lucky to be able to watch our if only’s on the Yachtbot site – no consolation to some, but very interesting for most. YachtBot and CYCSA had been stupendously generous to us both in terms of their time and resources (CYCSA loaning us the trackers for nix and YachtBot set us up as a Pro level registration for free also) If you want to see more or the racing replay, go to www.yacht-bot.com and choose a race, or link directly to the races at www.yacht-bot.com/races/6958 to 6961. Our thanks go out to all our sponsors, Monjon Security in particular for your continued support again this year, Sailor Sunscreen and Iguana Design. To all our volunteers both on the class committee and SYC, a big thank you for your efforts.
Also a huge thank you to all the interstate competitors who made the effort to come to the regatta, your contribution to our fleet makes the difference to the flavour of the competition.
Hugo wraps up a few more stats to finish “Other points to note, three different brands of sails in the top five, both youth boats supplied with new and almost new sails courtesy of their owners, about 25 new sails measured in for the regatta. 135 competitors from 4 states. What I think makes this a great class is the generosity of the members, $1300.00 raised during the regatta to help Luke Mathews (Trimmer off Pacemaker) and his family who is recovering from a very bad road accident.”
The class BBQ and free beers, as always pulls everyone together after the racing and enjoyably the stage show that is the prize giving, with a forthright intro speech by the irrepressible Doug MacGregor (VicPres) and the brilliant John Neville doing the raffle draw had everyone in stitches and rounded off a great, if short regatta for both the locals and the visitors – you should have been there if you weren’t !
We don’t say goodbye to our interstate friends for too long, the next regatta is the Macquart Marine Short Course Regatta at Cronulla in NSW on Queens Birthday long weekend, 6-8 June this year. This was brilliant last year (see pics on the CSC site). The NSW States normally held in early November (dates TBA) and then the 2015-16 season biggie, the Nationals at Sandringham on the 4-8 January 2016, where we planning a regatta to attract a fleet of over 30 boats – this one you do not want to miss !
The Black Prince and his winning crew. Damien, Dave, Sam, Rachael, Herschel.
More stories and pics to come, but the short answer is the Black Prince of Sandringham has taken it from the “Young” Sydney Fox with the Canny Scott third.
What that means in plain language is Dave Suda 1st, Steve Girdis (NSW) 2nd and Doug Watson (SA) 3rd.
Performance handicap was won by Dave MacKay from Cronulla, our own Stephanie Strong took out second in the Sidetracked youth boat and Steve Girdis was third.
Dave McKay’s Stockcar crew
All the racing was held on Saturday only with 4 races sailed in medium to very light winds.
The highlights on Sunday were Luke Mathews making it to the lunch table at the club for his first major outing after his terrible accident, sadly he didn’t see any racing as the weather closed down the regatta with high winds – so no racing and third, the stage show that is the prizegiving with intro speech by the irrepressable Doug MacGregor (VicPres) and the brilliant John Neville doing the raffle draw – well you had to be there !
And 27 boats and around 135 people were there !
All gone sailing – 27 boats !
Here is one of the best pics of the regatta – not a J left on the hardstand anywhere
Our girls are doing it with style and fun, the J24 is a very female friendly class and the boat can be sailed enjoyably and raced competitively by young and older women, something not many other keelboat classes can offer. Hugo Ottaway, ‘Mr J24’ and long time class sailor takes up the story.
Women have been sailing J24s since they arrived in Victoria in 1982. Our first international representative was Barney Hartnett who competing in both 1986 Newport Rhode Island and 1988 Sydney J24 World Championships. Since then women have represented the Victorian association across the board, Gai Clough, Commodore of Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron and J owner won two Australian Championships, she and Nikki Clarringbold represented Australia in the 1996 worlds in Argentina, Nikki also sailed in the 2006 worlds in Sweden along with the all female crew of Kirsty Harris. Kerry Dickerson and Diane Grimshaw crewed in the 1995 worlds in Sardinia and there will be others who I can’t recall.
Built on this rich heritage of successful female participation, is a new wave of women who have embraced the J24 as the weapon of choice. Today we see a group of females who not only equal the men in numbers, but also in talent. Without doubt, owner Robyn Coombs, skipper Kirsty Harris and crew are best all female crew today, having won races in the Australian and Victorian Championships. In 2012 and 2014 two J24 teams from Victoria represented Australia at the Dennis Conner International Yacht Club Challenge in New York, in 2014 Alicia Ray and skipper…… were on one and Cherry Birch, who sailed in both regattas the other.
The 2015 J24 Australian Champion “Pacemaker” crew includes Rachel Suda, also included in the teams that came 3rd and 4th were Lisa Simonov and Candice Lee.
Recently Paullina Mattila won the 2015 RMYS Linda Goldsmith memorial trophy with Kirsty Harris 2nd.
Our girls have progressively been making an impact, locally, nationally and internationally and it’s only going to get bigger. The J24 is an ideal boat for Victorian conditions, here we have strong winds and an open bay that provides challenging conditions, the equal to any around the world. Due to their unique design the boat works perfectly with either all or part female crews. The class weight restriction of 400 kilos means the boats can sail with either 5 or 6 crew, this makes women crews competitive. Very few classes offer true International one design sailing, with strong competitive fleets in as many as 60 countries, that women can compete equally with the men.
In Adelaide, class stalwart Robin Townsend has long campaigned and skippered ‘Good Company’ with a mostly female crew and now with her newer J ‘Witches Thimble’ she continues to compete. In Cronulla, Sheryl Brighton and ‘the girls’ competes – and wins – club sailing in their 19 boat J fleet in ‘Cooee Two’. On the harbour in Sydney and around the country Jeanette Syme is a fierce competitor with her mixed crew. In Melbourne we have had several young all female crews on our youth boats to great success. The names of many other female crews and skippers escape me but are too numerous to mention.
The name Kirsty Harris continually pops up throughout recent J folklore and this article and she and owner Robyn Coombs deserve special mention. In Robyn’s own words;
“The Melbourne based ‘Hyperactive’ all girl crew joined forces in 2006 when Sarah Thompson and I borrowed a J24 and competed in and won our first regatta, The Australian Women’s Keelboat Regatta. I decided this boat had to be ours! So that’s where it all began! We have been predominantly an all female crew. Competing in many AWKR regattas at RMYS, WISC series at SYC, J24 Worlds in Sweden, many J24 Nationals and State Titles along with our one design racing on a regular basis out of SYC and recently competed in The Marley Point overnight race.
Kirsty Harris and myself are two of the original crew members. We had a stint of approx 2 years where we had one of the male variety sailing with us, luckily for us he was more than happy to don our crew colours of hot pink (which represents Breast cancer awareness) along with a colour coordinated mini skirt for special occasions! As you can see it’s all about fun otherwise we wouldn’t be there. Saying that, we are very committed and competitive to say the least. We are also very lucky to have a lot of support around the traps from members and especially our past sponsors ” Red Bluff Homes and Clearly Frameless” and present sponsor “Crystal”.
Sarah left our crew recently due to baby commitments and Mary has stepped in as the new partner. Our next big adventure will be in Mexico in 2016!
So bring it on! Robyn Coombs Team Hyperactive – Kirsty Harris, Mary McCauley, Joelle Roderick, Amanda Alyward and Robyn Coombs.”
In Victoria, Sandringham Yacht Club is the home of J24. The club has embraced the class and over the past 3 weeks we have had two new owners join us swelling the ranks to 21. New owner, Eddie Ragauskas has been joined by his wife and daughters making up the team.
This growth, is not without effort. Bruce Alexander, who owns a local J24 has created a user friendly internet site “Melbourne Sailing Meet up” which boasts over 1000 members, 2/3rds of which are women. Says Bruce “this site allows potential crews to access sailing at the click of a button, without the intimidation of the yacht club walls. The Victorian J24 class has grown and benefited enormously from this group”. Hugo notes, “on my boat I now have two women and one male, who all came from Bruce Alexander’s Meet Up site, thanks Bruce for that !!”
Bruce has provided several charts that have shown a rapid increase in interest in sailing J24 yachts and women have made up the majority of that interest. I urge all J owners to look closely at the benefit and enjoyment of having either part or all female teams. Here is an indication of the popularity of Melbourne Sailing Meet Up and the interest in sailing J24s. Remember 2/3rds of these are women !
Interest should be directed to, J24 Victoria, attention President Doug McGregor or Melbourne Sailing Meet Up attention Bruce Alexander.
Edited by Simon Grain with contributions from Hugo Ottaway, Robyn Coombs and Bruce Alexander.
15/4 UPDATE – WE NOW HAVE A LIKELY 27 ENTRIES FOR THE VIC STATES.
This is now the biggest regatta since the Legends Regatta in Gosford a few years ago. The class is alive and well with 10 INTERSTATE ENTRIES. 4 from SA, 3 from the Harbour and 3 from Cronulla.
The Monjon Victorian States are shaping up to be a 25 boat regatta this year. Dates are Saturday 18 – Sunday 19th April this year.
The fleet at Sandy is hot, 20 boats all wanting a piece of the action this year, new sails and new owners, old owners dusting off the tillers, everyones getting fired up.
Dave Suda is running just ahead of the pack, but not always, the ‘Black Prince of Sandringham’ isn’t getting it all his own way with the next 3 or 4 boats chomping on his rudder. Last year’s National Champ Steve Girdis from Sydney and Doug Watson from SA are coming to Melbourne and are planning to pull the plug out of the ‘Pacemaker’. Dave Mackay and Steve O’Rourke from Cronulla, Robin and Jim Townsend, Andrew Townsend from SA and Jeanette Syme from the harbour are also coming. Word is the Thommo Cup is going to move homes or get a new set of rules !
Sadly all the spare Victorian boats are already chartered at this stage (keep asking incase one becomes available), so if you want to be part of the regatta you best bring your own boat.
Traditionally the regatta is a hot competition regatta in Melbourne’s soft Autumn wind conditions (no guarantee of course). Complimented by the usual great party evening on the Saturday, this is a regatta not to be missed.
This will be the biggest J regatta in 2015. So if you want to be part of it and can’t get your boat here then why not fly in and sail with a local, you’ll have a great time – guaranteed !
Call Vic Pres Doug MacGregor for more information on 0400 584 067
Go here for more up to date info on the SYC siteUpdate
If you are coming to Sandringham for the first time you can check the regatta information on the Vic page of this site – there is one low bridge you don’t want to get too !
The premier lady skippers race on Port Phillip Bay Melbourne Victoria is the Jennifer Goldsmith Memorial trophy – this year won by a J24 !
In memory of Jennifer, a keen sailor, all the entry fees were donated to Melanoma research.
The 2015 race in its 24th year, attracts Melbourne’s best female sailors from all the major keel boat clubs in the bay.
This year the race began in very light, sunny 34 degree (93.3 degrees fahrenheit) conditions, which quickly changed with the arrival of a southerly breeze reaching 12 knots, on what was a beautiful day for sailing.
Amongst a fleet of 30, the boat size ranged from 44 footers to the smallest, two J24s.
Despite their disadvantage in size, the J’s had crew members who had competed at the highest level with both boats representing Australia in the J worlds in Sweden in 2011 and Bruschetta VI also in the Dennis Conner International Yacht Club Challenge New York 2014. Hyperactive, skippered by Kirsty Harris with her all female crew and Bruschetta VI skippered by Pauliina Matilla with her male crew, excelled in the light conditions, picking the shifts and changes in the freshening breeze, this resulted in both being in the top 10 boats over the finish line. Hyperactive who had a AMS rating, won the AMS division, However the overall award was won by Bruschetta VI with Hyperactive second.
Pauliina Matilla, was awarded the Jennifer Goldsmith Memorial perpetual trophy and a beautiful Tiffany & Co necklace. Pauliina who lives and sails in Finland is currently working in Australia, explained during her acceptance that in Finland its -15 degrees with a maximum of 4 hours of light per day, a far cry from the sun drenched shores of Port Phillip Bay.
The J24’s excelled against the competition, taking the major and divisional trophies, the class has a strong local fleet of 20 active boats with the current and past Australian Champions amongst it. J24 has experienced a regrowth in Australia and with results like these it will only encourage more to take up J sailing. The full story can be read on “Sail World.Com/ Port Phillip women’s championship series- love a southerly”.
The 25th Australian Women’s Keelboat Regatta at Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron in Melbourne is coming up in June and the Silver Anniversary is going to be bigger and better than ever! With teams coming from across Australia and interest being shown from international teams, the fleet is already shaping up to be a competitive one.
The Hyper Girls (centre in the pic above) have taken this one out more than once before, proving that the J24 is very competitive in this fleet, so if you are local at Sandy why not get your boats up the bay. Looks like there may also be a crew from Manhattan coming. Which means if you are from Sydney or Adelaide, you really are coming from just around the corner. Boats may be available to use from the Sandy fleet.
If you are a female sailor and would like to get involved, or if you are a boat owner who would like to donate your boat to a team please contact RMYS Sailing Coordinator Allicia Rae – awkr@rmys.com.au
Want to go sailing with girls before then – try the Port Phillip Women’s Championship Series
The YV Port Phillip Women’s Championship Series (PPWCS) 2015 marks the third series which combines the existing ‘signature’ women’s events from the five keelboat clubs at the top of the bay into one event and will be contested on the waters of Port Phillip from February to May 2015. Check out the Championship details here http://www.womenandgirlsinsailing.com.au
Don’t want to do the whole championship – why not sail the opening race and enjoy the party !
The Jennifer Goldsmith Trophy is also race 1 of the Port Phillip Women’s Championship Series
This is the traditional ‘Lady Skippers’ Race’ and has been a feature on the sailing calendar at Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron for many years.
Traditionally the race is open to any yacht as long as it is ‘skippered’ by a woman. She can have a crew of all males, a mixed crew or a crew of all females but the boat must be helmed throughout the whole of the race by a female.
This is the first race in the Port Phillip Women’s Championship Series and as always there are going to be some gorgeous prizes thanks to the Goldsmith Family.
Details of the lunch post racing will be available soon.
Will you be in the US in September this year, maybe you would like to enter or maybe just stop by and have a look. The 2015 Pape Chevrolet North American Championships will include 3.5 days of great racing, multiple nights of live entertainment at Portland Yacht Club, many complimentary beverages and meals including Saturday night’s famous traditional Maine lobster bake with lobster, corn, potato, steamers, and more…
J24 Fleet 43 and the organizing committee of the annual J/24 Downeast Regatta, which has been held for over 20 years on Casco Bay, Maine, is excited to invite you to the 2015 Pape Chevrolet J/24 North American Championships. The event is being hosted by Portland Yacht Club, Handy Boat Service and J24 Fleet 43. The dates of the event are; racing – Thursday September 10th through Sunday September 13th. Limited to 50 boats !!!!
‘When you have got it flaunt it’ and that’s just what ‘The Black Prince of Sandringham’ in Pacemaker did in the last race today. With the series win in the bag after two wins this morning they were spectators at the last start, watching the fleet sail off while they cruised home to early celebratory drinks. Well done Dave, congratulations to you and your crew, Herschel, Rachael, Sam and Luke.
This morning the real race was for second, third and fourth with Doug Watson (El Fideldo), Brendan Lee (By the Lee) and Simon Grain (Code Violation) all in with a chance on second and third. Simon Grain scared the other two enough with two seconds behind Dave’s two firsts in the first two races that they both pounced on the poor blighter from Sandy and after a dump on Simon First leg, Code was out the back. A certain discard for sure and made certain by an unfortunate bottom mark rounding when Lisa on the foredeck got hit by the kite pole and covered the deck and her white top with an alarming shade of red. Retired hurt – but you have to look after the ladies faces ! Doug Watson put in a stellar performance to take out the race and the second overall from Brendan with Simon in fourth. A long jump back to Kirsty Harris in Hyperactive and Ron Thompson in Kicking. Rob Hogan coming in 7th making the famous Cookie Monster get up and fly with a best place 2nd in the regatta, “good to see that old sun umbrella kite go Rob” and Dave Mackay from Cronulla, our newest ‘circuit devotee’ in Stockcar coming home 8th.
Unfortunately after an enormous effort in training and preparation program prior to the nationals our Victorian President Doug MacGregor got a hit from the boom and has now gained a few stitches but lost a couple of teeth, tough luck and a bad end to a good campaign, but Doug will be back with that Scottish vigor and determination we all see in him. Our thoughts are with you Doug. Maybe a trip to Thailand coming up – I hear the teeth are good and cheap there.
The Performance Handicap winner is Janette Syme with a well deserved win over new comer Steve O’Rourke and his crew of grandkids (well done Steve, your competitive spirit and attendance at the regatta is much appreciated by the class and we look forward to see you again in the circuit. Janette arrived in the heat before the regatta and rubbed the black antifoul off the bottom of Foolish Behaviour prior to the start – our own little coal miner ! Go Janette – we love you sailing the J’s with us. Next big gig is the Vic States – 18th April. (SA States possibly the last weekend in Feb, but yet to be confirmed). Rob Hogan in Cookie Monster took out 3rd from Helen Wilmer in Good Company in fourth.
This year’s Thommo Cup was taken out by big brother, a bit monotonous, but Ron is just a bit competitive over little sister, must be some other way to do the Thommo Cup.
The class showed a great deal of appreciation for the efforts of SA President Jim Townsend and wife Robin and his team in putting the regatta and the class back together in SA – we can’t say enough thanks for all your effort. Thank you to all the CYCSA members and volunteers in helping to put the Nationals together and making it a well run and smooth operation.
Are you reading this and thinking we had a story there too – send it to me and it goes online. My take on it all isn’t the only viewpoint so send them in for all to read.
Well Steve – there goes the title, gone without a fight. The Vic States will be bigger than ever this year and we look forward to seeing you back on the startline.
More overcast grey skies today, suiting the Black Prince of Sandringham perfectly with 3 bullets added to his score. With the first drop coming into effect today, his score of 11 is half that of Brendan Lee (SYC) on 23 points. Doug Watson, Adelaide’s leading skipper is third with Simon Grain (SYC) now forth after an ordinary day. Sandringham boats fill 6 of the first 7 places, so the competitive fleet at SYC shows it’s worth.
The most novel picture was Jeanette Syme sailing around before the start in the rain under an umbrella at the back of the boat.
Today’s first race started in very light conditions with a swing to the left and an increase of breeze to around 18 knots, catching some of the fleet unawares, but giving a fast and exciting kite ride back to the finish. Finishing order was Dave Suda, Doug Watson, Ron Thompson.
Race two and we had a shifty SE breeze of around 15knots. Once again banging the beach proved to be the way to go and even some of the locals didn’t take their own advice on going left. Dougie Watson telling me that for 4 years he has sailed here and knows the left rule like the back of his hand. Why did I go right twice ? he asked me. Finishing order was Dave Suda, Brendan Lee, Simon Grain.
Race three and the wind had lightened off so much that it was almost a drifter off the start with many people calling it a lottery. didn’t bother the Black Prince though as he scooted off to a 3rd win of the day in a shortened race. The planned race 4 was not held due to the lack of wind and interest. Finishing order was Dave Suda, Rob Hogan (Cookie Monster), Dave McKay (Stockcar).
Performance Handicap is being lead by Jeanette Syme in Foolish Behavour from Rob Hogan in Cookie Monster and Helen Wilmer in Good Company.
