Two days of hard competitive racing saw Dave Suda sailing ‘Pacemaker’ regain the Vic States crown – just.

Not his closest winning margin (that goes to a previous tussle with yours truly, winning on a countback in the last race), but by one point from Stephen Girdis sailing Convicts Revenge from Sydney. The most important point to take out of all this for the rest of the fleet was the lack of individual dominance that has been seen in the class over the last few years. Dave won with a score of 25 points, rather than the single digit scores we have seen sometimes recently. Put that down to the shifty conditions or to the growing depth in talent of the top half of the fleet. You choose, but congratulations go to Dave and his crew.

Previous winners Ben Lamb and Arthur Crothers didn’t defend, Ben is in the wilds of NT or FNQ (gone a roving for work … nobody knows) Sean Kirkjian was another missing face from interstate amongst many missing out on a great regatta this year. But with 19 local boats (including two interstate crews) and another two boats from interstate, the 21 boat fleet fought it out over 4 races on Saturday and 3 on Sunday.

Third was taken out by Adam Evans in SDM and it seemed this was a popular placing as the next 4 boats all came very close to coming third, with only 6 points separating 3rd from 7th and with a number of stories of ‘if onlys’ and ‘might have beens’.

Doug Watson from SA will be thinking if only he hadn’t gone deep to the left going downhill on Sunday when the wind came from the right he would have been third. Ron Thomson giving an awesome display of ability in the old green boat will be thinking how close he came to winning a new kite in the middle of the field when his OCS was reinstated back to a first, but if he hadn’t had the uncharacteristic 11th on Saturday he would have been 3rd. The girls on Hyperactive with their new ‘import’ calling the shots would be thinking that a couple of double digit placings on Sunday morning took them out of 3rd and then there is Jet going hard left to engage the forecast change when running 3rd found the breeze went the other way, losing those 6 points made all the difference.

Brendan Lee sailing ‘By the Lee’ finishing a bit further back could have been 3rd too – if only he hadn’t had the DSQ after communing with Doug MacGregor at the top mark. Doug didn’t sail after that either. If only !

Hard luck stories abound in racing, Hugo lost a rudder on the first day, the only one he had so that was catastrophic to his cause, Warren Campbell lost his kite pole around his foredeckies ear, meaning a new pole and hospital surgery for his bowman after an ambulance ride. Sam Haines and his crew all came down with gastro on Saturday night so MMJ did no work at all on Sunday – did they eat together ?

But really – was it that bad, well apart from the aching bones and sore muscles, the fleet went about it’s business in a pretty orderly way. A southeasterly on Saturday around the genoa /jib mark with many changing back and forth and a little lighter then windier from the north east on Sunday, but shifty, very shifty. It’s not often you see Dave Suda mixing it with some of the back markers and some of the back markers were pretty surprised to find themselves next to Dave !

And the Sunday was nearly Dave’s undoing, after ones and twos on Saturday and being required to wear the new ‘Club Pro T-shirt at Mike Lewenhagens great BBQ night (thanks again Mike) in the evening as he wielded the BBQ tongs and downed the sherbets, Dave put in a very ordinary day by his standards on the Sunday. With a 7,8,4 he only just scraped home ahead of Convicts Revenge. Can’t have the title going to NSW two years in a row !

As usual we had a cast of worker bees and volunteers doing the planning and organising to get us all on the water, thanks again to Sarah, Doug, Kirby and Jill, mainstays of the Vic Association, plus the committee and hangers on. Thanks once again to MonJon Security for their most appreciated and continuing support. Special mention to Sam Haines from UK sails for putting up a new kite to be won by the boat coming 11th out of 21 boats, This is to show his support for the middle of the pack, the unsung heroes of the bulk of our fleet, out there every day learning and moving up the pecking order. Of course it was won by Robin and Jim Townsend, two of the nicest people in the class …. from SA. Well Sam the plan was good and much appreciated. Sam has chartered ‘Make my Jay’ this season and is now buying the boat, pity he hasn’t got to sail it much and only got one day out of the states. Much more to come from Sam I think !

Close racing – you bet, check out the finish times of the last race, boats tied, boats finishing 1 second apart, next to nothing separates this fleet !

So the racing was tough, the course legs around a mile, longer than we do in club racing, but the learning curve for many is steep and rewarding. Many skippers telling me of their experiences and enjoyment, a tough but a good regatta by any standard. The highest placed new owner, Mark Foster sailing ‘Gridlock’ at 9th a very good effort, no major ups or downs, just a good consistent performance. Andy Hunting, one of our youth boat skippers at 10th with a best placed 3rd, Michael Lewenhagen a long time class stalwart, now in Vertigo has jumped up the placings to 13 and at times was right up near the pointy end. Best placed newcomer though was Bruce Alexander in ‘Melbourne Sailing’, the old ‘Dolly’ which he recently picked up for a song (and maybe some dance).

Bruce also took out the handicap win for the series ahead of John Neville in ‘Vice Versa’ (raffle winner as well) and Robin Townsend sailing in Good Company (well …renamed from Excite Your Senses for the regatta)

Perhaps the most unusual thing to happen was a text message from a new French crew member to be sailing with Janette Symes in the middle of the night to indicate the potential success he was about to have with an Australian woman and the subsequent no show !!!!

Rotten luck Janette, I didn’t see it awarded, but that would be where you lost the Thommo Cup this year I guess !

The results this year mean the racing is wide open, Dave is nearly beatable (last seen recharging his confidence with a beer under the boat) and although the usual suspects are still near the pointy end the pattern is definitely changing. Victoria is the place to race J24s at a club level at the moment in Australia with consistent racing all year and a strong ‘travelling’ group of owners as well. However some of the best sailors still come from Sydney and I know Steve Girdis is taking the message home to the harbour city that the storm is coming from the South in the next two major regattas.

Now is the time to start thinking about going to the NSW States on Cup weekend at RPEYC and the Nationals at the same venue in early January and mixing it with our Sydney mates.

Finally, thanks go to all the owners, skippers and crews, their travelling companions and those left at home, without you this group of sailing loving people could not get together regularly and tell old stories while they make new ones.

See you at the next one.

If you have good pics send them to me and I will get them online.

For full results Click Here

The MRX is a Farr 1020 with a small steroid pack stuck up it’s transom, a better rig, a racing deck with a bigger cockpit, a better keel and about 1200kg lighter.

In Auckland they have 10 of them – all identical and just like the J24 they offer incredibly close racing. The JET crew has just been over there doing the MRX Pacific Keelboat Challenge and having a fantastic time

Next year we need to get a group of 6 J crews to go over and have a fantastic J party sailing in this regatta, we would have a ball. I know because we did this year.

I have put together a story and a few pics about it all – too much to go on the J site front page so here is a link to it on another page

CLICK HERE TO READ ON

Greg Rowlings has completed a hat-trick of Tasmanian championship wins in the International J24 keelboat class, taking out a hard-fought series on the River Derwent.

Read all about it in this link to the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania    Click here

Monjon Australia 2013 J24 Victorian Championships are almost upon us, this will be another hard fought regatta and now is the time to get your entry in and arrangements made for accomodation and travel.

Regatta dates are the 20th and 21st April.  Venue is Sandringham Yacht Club.

Click here to go to the regatta page for more information that will help you

The NOR and other race documents and notices to competitors will be available shortly from the SYC site.

Once again our  friends at MONJON are the Major Sponsors of the regatta being very generous in their help of the class here in Melbourne – Thank you very much Jon at MONJON.

MONJON is a specialist security company that provides professional ‘in-house-trained’ personnel, equipped with leading edge technology that meets the demands of their many national and multi- national clients.

MONJON specialises in Static Guard, Patrol Guard, Electronic Surveillance, and Security Training, including Road Traffic Management services for sites ranging from major construction to TV and Film production sets and major events.

So if you or anyone you know needs security and more in Melbourne then go to the MONJON site   www.monjon.com.au

Also sponsoring the regatta this year is UK Sails. Sam Haines of UK has donated a brand new kite to be won by the skipper that comes exactly in the middle of the fleet. Sam’s aim is to support the class stalwarts who make up the bulk of the class by being there every week and not usually winning any silverware. Here’s one for you guys in the pack – how good is that – thanks Sam !

If you need to ring and find more information out, then contact: Sarah Thompson 0415 931 046  or  Kirby O’Brien 0403 025 250

South Australian State Titles 2013

The CN Management South Australian State titles were held at the Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia over the weekend of the 9^th and 10^th of March. A predominantly light wind event saw the local fleet joined by a few guest skippers chartered boats and one visitor from Victoria. Andrew Townsend pulled a crew together and entered JJF, while Jamie Goode returned to the fleet in No Eye Deer after upgrading to a Farr 30 at the start of the year and Bill Coutts (the previous owner of JJF) was the guest helm in Stockcar. Special thanks go to Ron Thomson and the crew of Kicking Bottom who made the trip from Sandringham for the weekend.

With concerns about whether there would be enough wind for any racing, the race officer got proceedings underway in a very light and shifty breeze and had to rotate the course through more than 90 degrees before the two laps were completed. A slightly stronger and much steadier breeze allowed for a fairer 2^nd heat however the 3^rd race of the day was abandoned as the wind disappeared completely with most of the fleet getting swept north on the tide. With 2 wins El Fideldo were looking like the boat to beat with Kicking Bottom pushing them hard with 2 second places.

Sunday saw one race completed in a light northerly before the wind started swinging to the west bringing the possibility of a sea breeze. Although the direction steadied, the breeze failed to build and the last two races were run in similarly light conditions. El Fideldo managed to maintain their unbeaten record with Kicking Bottom close behind and Dave Nicholson on Such Is Life finishing consistently at the front end of the fleet to secure third place overall.

Under PHS, it was Bill Coutts that took the honours by only half a point from Andrew Townsend with the other Townsends in Good Company taking third.

It was good to see almost all the boats at the CYCSA on the water for the weekend and great to have some competition from further a field. The next event in SA is the Great Southern Regatta, again held by the CYCSA, on the 6 and 7^th of April. To secure our One Design start, it would be great to see as many boats on the water as possible. Details are available on the CYCSA website.

2013 J24 State Championships

Hosted By Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia

*** PROVISIONAL RESULTS ***

Updated:  10/03/13  3:47:47 PM

2013 J24 State Championships

Hosted By Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia

*** PROVISIONAL RESULTS ***

Updated:  10/03/13  3:47:47 PM

Sydney Harbour Regatta J24 Division on 9 & 10 March saw 7 boats enter for racing in a 15-20 knots North Eeasterly  under perfect blue skies – a change after a wet February and a lot of  strong winds recently.

With a very busy harbour,  crews had lots of fun racing and congratulations to those who made it out both days.  Whisper, Kaotic and Waterborne Again only managed one day but added to a fun fleet!  Wildfire, J-Spot, Waterhound and Ace completed the 6 races with no protests.. and no dings… David West steering Ace to 4 wins to secure the series for the third year!!

J24 competitors enjoyed a few too many drinks on the beach at MHYC with thanks going to all involved in running a great regatta and giving us our own division again!!!

If you didn’t win the Nationals in Melbourne and if you aren’t Ben Lamb then you didn’t, well you get another chance as the Victorian States are coming up and will have much the same line up of keen trophy hunting skippers.

Known as the ‘Balmy Regatta’ the Vic States always attracts a good turn out and a great social scene. So if you are sitting on the fence and can’t make up your mind then now is the time to slip off to the YES side.

Entries will be online through the Sandringham YC site   www.syc.com.au and the NOR will be out soon for more information

Regatta dates are :

April 20th-21st

Want to see and download the whole poster – here it is:

2013_States_A3poster_100

Once again our  friends at MONJON are sponsoring the regatta, so if you need security and more in Melbourne then go to the MONJON site   www.monjon.com.au

Just want to ring and find out, then contact: Sarah Thompson 0415 931 046  or  Kirby O’Brien 0403 025 250

In conjunction with Charter World Yachting Holidays Terry Wise from Pacific Sailing School is organising an adventure of a lifetime!

Terry wanted to give the J24 guys and girls an opportunity to enjoy this fantastic opportunity and asked me if I knew any that might want to go, so I said quick – on the website with this idea.

You can join Terry sailing on a 45ft cruiser this July sailing through the superb Cycladic Islands of Kea, Siros, Mykonos, Paros, Serifos, Kithnos and Hydra. Rich in historical archaeological and cultural significance, the Greek Islands are the world’s favourite cruising waters.  A 12 night cruise from $2790 per person.

Spaces are strictly limited to 6 people plus Terry (in charge of ice for drinks !)

Please RSVP by 22^nd February 2013 if you’re interested.

Note – this is a sailing holiday with friends and not a PSS course.

Check out the attached Itinery and brochure

Greece trip       Itinery

March sees 2 of Sydney’s premier yacht clubs hosting regattas with J24 Divisions – you all keep telling us you want more one design class racing so here’s the perfect opportunity for you to race against other J24s.

http://www.shr.mhyc.com.au/

www.rpeyc.com.au

Classic Regatta NOR 13