The World’s Most Popular One-Design Keelboat
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.
Easter is often a time when there is little sailing on the bay. So if you feel like making the trip down to Paynesville for some excellent lake sailing then here is your opportunity. Sounds like a great idea and could be lots of fun.
The Gippsland Lakes Yacht Club would like to invite J24 sailors to participate in the inaugural GIPPSLAND LAKES RACE WEEK.
Have a look at the promotional poster GLRW FLYER and the notice of race N.O.R. G.L.R.W. 2012_Rev
For more info phone Stuart Loft the Sailing Captain at the Gippsland Lakes Yacht Club on 0488 055 462 or email glyc@sailglyc.com
The 23 boat strong fleet of Canadian J/24 sailors were treated incredibly well by their host for the Canadian J/24 Nationals, Port Credit YC. PCYC has to be one of the most gracious, fun-loving clubs on Lake Ontario, renowned for their “can do” attitude, excellent RC/PRO management of races and a club membership totally focused on having fun sailing. Note, this is the same crew that host the largest offshore race of the summer Lake Ontario season- the Lake Ontario 300 that starts this coming weekend.
The 23 teams woke up Friday morning to light air, blistering sun and warm temperatures. Nevertheless, the PRO managed to complete one race and then by 2:00 pm the wind shut off completely. The RC hoisted AP over H and the fleet went back to shore for shade, a dip in PCYC’s pool and re-hydration at the bar. By 4:00 pm a line of wind was spotted coming over the lake from the south west, so the fleet headed out and were able to squeak one more race out of the day. That’s awesome RC work, if you go to sail a Nationals, then be ready to go anytime! At the completion of Day one, it looked like Rossi Milev sailing CLEAR AIR/ ORANGE BLOSSOM was a leader to be reckoned with, scoring a 2-1 to lead over Peter Wickwire’s team on SUNNYVALE with a 1-3. Just off the pace was Tom Barbeau’s NAVTECH.CA with a 4-2.
On Saturday, the forecast called for very light air and the fleet wasn’t too optimistic, however, the wind filled in and by 11:00 there was a solid 9 knots of breeze coming from the east. The Race committee started the race right on time to make the best of the wind while it lasted. On the next 2 races, a persistent veer in the wind caused the race committee to put up ‘charlie’ plus green flags at the top end to indicate the leeward gates where shifted course-side-left. By the third race the wind had dropped substantially, but the waves & slop did not. The Race committee shortened the course and brought the windward mark to 0.9 nm. It was a hard slog up and down the course, and by the time the last boat had finished the fleet was exhausted. Still leading after this long day on the water was Rossi Milev with a 1-2-2 followed by Peter Wickwire’s SUNNYVALE with a 3-1-11 and Scott Weakley’s REX team working on the comeback trail with a 13-3-1. By 4:30 Saturday, the fleet was back on dock folding sails and finding shade. The wind had completely died so calling it quits when we did was the right call. The fleet was definitely dehydrated and looking forward to the party Saturday night where PCYC put on a great BBQ spread with salads and deserts, and plenty of beer taps flowing.
Sunday morning dawned with a good breeze and the fleet took off to get in two races before the time expiration for the start of the last race. After scoring a 5-5 and holding his principal competitor back, Rossi Milev’s team on CLEAR AIR/ ORANGE BLOSSOM from the local J/24 fleet at Port Credit YC were declared 2011 J/24 Canadian National Champions, winning with just 13 points after a toss race. Second was Peter Wickwire’s SUNNYVALE crew from Royal Canadian YC with 21 points. Third was another local boat, Scott Weakley’s REX team from PCYC with 28 points, winning a tie-breaker over Tom Barbeau’s NAVTECH.CA team from Yacht Club Quebec also with 28 points for fourth place. Fifth was the first woman team skipper, Katie Colman-Nicoll sailing QUICK NICK for the host PCYC. All in all, a good showing for the local PCYC boats taking three of the top five. [Excerpt from Jboats newsletter]
The Weymouth Olympic Sailing Center hosted their annual Weymouth Regatta that included the J/24 UK National Championship. The organizers were blessed with beautiful weather, gorgeous breezes both days of racing for all. The J/24s showed up en-masse ready to do battle to determine the 2011 UK champion– several veterans showed up that included past J/24 UK Champions, like Stuart Jardine from Royal Lymington YC.
After the first days racing in the steady breezes punctuated by long wind streaks, it was self-evident that one team simply had everything dialed in to go fast, stay out of trouble and show their transom to the rest of the fleet. By day’s end, Bob Turner’s SERCO from Castle Cove SC simply smoked the competition, starting off with three bullets and a second to lead by a large margin. Nipping at their heels and still within striking distance was Mark Penfold from the RYA sailed RELOADED.
The second day of sailing again dawned with good weather and a nice breeze from the southerly quadrants. Again, Turner’s SERCO team stepped on the gas pedal, dialed in a 1-2 for the first two races, then simply coasted home in the last two races with a 7-6 to win with 14 points. Brilliant sailing is an adjective that comes to mind to describe their remarkable, somewhat sparkling performance! Maintaining their second position was Mark Penfold’s team on RELOADED, finishing with 20 points. A perennial class leader, Stuart Jardine from RLYC sailed his latest generation J/24 STOUCHE to a strong third, narrowly missing out second by one point! Fourth was Darren Stansbury from Saltash SC with 30 points and fifth was Roger Morris on JOLLY ROGER from Parkstone SC Sailing photo credits- UK Fotoboat.com [Excerpt from Jboats newsletter]
J24 Australia welcomes Angus Middleton as the proud new owner of Amazing Grace in Adelaide and he is looking for some keen crew – see the SA pages for details.
Editor Doug MacGregor is at it again and Victoria is the place to be seen with a J, even in winter as you will read in this riveting issue of ‘Hit the Mark’. The local committees have been busy working out plans for the future with ideas for the AP regatta, unfortunately this idea has now been shelved and the National Committee is working on a new plan. Melbourne will hold an AP regatta in the future and there is a great deal of support for that, but it will be a few years away. Read on here …. J24_Newsletter_2011_07
J24 Rudder urgently needed. Please call Patrick on 0415 537524 if you have a spare and can help!
Latest news and racing dates for NSW – J24 NSW News May 2011
Victorian Newsletter Editor Doug MacGregor Hits the Mark again with some hard hitting questions on the future of J racing in Victoria in this scintillating edition of ‘Hit the Mark’ – Victoria’s own answer to the Government’s carbon tax. In this edition his editorials are joined by searching articles from Hugo Ottaway, G. Maps, M.Y. Scales, Count Em and more, making this one of Eds best yet.
Time to get reading ! J24_Newsletter_2011_05
Peter Stevens is our National Measurer and our representative on the ITC (International Technical Committee), this is a maintenance bulletin from him for us all to take careful note of.
There aren’t many maintenance areas that are more important, or more often overlooked than keel bolts. This is true for every boat, but particularly so for J/22s, J/24s and J/80s, all of which routinely hoist the boats in and out of the water using the bolts.
Failure of any keel bolt is bad, but most bolts are part of a massively redundant system, where the failure of any one bolt is rarely immediately catastrophic. For boats that are hoisted, the failure of a bolt holding the lifting gear can be catastrophic and has the potential to lead to the loss of the boat, or much, much worse.
While this article is being distributed to USWatercraft and J/Boats customers, it applies to virtually all production boats, regardless of builder or brand. If they use Stainless Steel keelboats and most of them do, it applies. Feel free to pass it along to your friends and fellow boat owners. It’s pretty important.
Since they live in the bilge, keel bolts can fall into the category of “out of sight, out of mind”. It is because they live in the bilge that they need routine care and attention.
J/22 keels are made using 316 Stainless Steel threaded rod, which is cast into the lead. The nuts, washers and lifting bar are made using 304 Stainless and are then electro polished. This has been the industry standard for many years, and has provided many years of service life.
Stainless Steel is corrosion resistant, not corrosion proof
The basic resistance of stainless steel occurs because of its ability to form a protective coating on the metal surface. This coating is a “passive” film, which resists further “oxidation” or rusting. The formation of this film is instantaneous in an oxidizing atmosphere such as air, water, or other fluids that contain oxygen. Once the layer has formed, we say that the metal has become “passivated” and the oxidation or “rusting” rate will slow down to less than 0.002″ per year (0,05 mm. per year).
Unlike aluminum or silver this passive film is invisible in stainless steel. It’s created when oxygen combines with the chrome in the stainless to form chrome oxide, which is more commonly called “ceramic”. This protective oxide or ceramic coating is common to most corrosion resistant materials. Unfortunately Halogen salts, especially chlorides easily penetrate this passive film and will allow corrosive attack to occur.
CONCENTRATED CELL OR CREVICE CORROSION
This corrosion is common between nut and bolt surfaces. Salt water applications are a severe problem because of the salt water’s low PH and its high chloride content. Here is the mechanism:
Chlorides pit the passivated stainless steel surface.
The low PH salt water attacks the active layer that is exposed.
The absence of oxygen inhibits the re-forming of the passive layer.
These three factors work together in a vicious cycle, repeatedly attacking the same small area. If the metal is under tensile stress- like from an over torqued keel bolt nut, the pit formed can transform itself into a crack. When a crack forms the process repeats and accelerates as the surface area of the ‘active’ layer is now much larger.
Prevention is the best cure
The best way to prevent corrosion is to keep salt away from your bolts. The best way to do that is to keep your bilge clean and dry. We’ve designed our interiors to be easily washed down. Take advantage of this. At the end of the day, when you hose off your deck hardware, stick the hose down the companionway and blast out the bilge and bolts. Pump and sponge dry and leave the floorboard off when you leave. Not only will this protect your keel bolts from corrosion, it will prevent mildew and keep your interior looking and smelling fresh.
Important note! Avoid using any cleaning products containing chlorine. Chlorides are just what we are avoiding. Read the label. Clorox, Comet, and Fantastic are all products that while good for most stuff are bad for this application. Check the label.
Annual Maintenance
Checking your keel bolts should be part of your annual maintenance plan. Working one bolt at a time, remove the nut and washer and clean the threads with a small nylon or brass brush or scotch brite. Do not use a steel wire brush, as this can lead to other corrosion issues not covered here! Check for signs of rust. If everything looks good, use a generous coating of anti-galling compound and re-torque the nut. Most J/22 keel bolts are 5/8
Keel Bolt Torque Table
| Bolt Diameter | Torque Nm | Torque Ft/Lb |
| 1/2″ | 26.0 | 19.2 |
| 5/8″ | 66.0 | 48.7 |
| 3/4″ | 130.0 | 95.9 |
| 7/8″ | 190.0 | 140.1 |
This Table is derived from information in Table A7 from ISO/DIS 12215-9.2. These values are for well greased threads. Friction in the screw and under the bolt head makes up approximately 90% of the tightening torque and approximately 10% contributes to prestressing of the bolt. The user is cautioned to use good judgment in applying these values.
Tip- If you can pull in your mainsheet, you probably don’t need a big breaker bar to torque your nuts. Over-torqueing is extremely bad. Particularly on the bolts holding your lifting rig, under-torqueing is equally bad. If the nut is loose enough to allow movement in the bar, the bolt can be loaded unequally, leading to tension stress on one side of the bolt.
While you are there
Since you are spending some time with your bilge anyway, this is a good time to give the rest of your lifting gear a good look over. Check your sling for any signs of wear; fraying, cuts, abrasions and the like. Your sling should look essentially new.
If you use a shackle in your system, check it too. If it is bent, rusted or shows signs of wear, just replace it. A new sling costs around 50 bucks and a shackle around 9 bucks. It is the cheapest peace of mind available.
If you think you find a problem
If you find or suspect you have problems beyond a good cleanup you should contact a marine surveyor who can inspect and report findings. Your surveyor will have the specialized knowledge and tools to give you an informed recommendation.
Additional Resources
Lots of info on Stainless http://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=1177#_Background
Recommended Anti-Galling compound
Loctite(R) Marine Grade Anti-Seize available @ Amazon and a gajillion other places
http://www.amazon.com/16-Oz-Marine-Grade-Anti-seize/dp/B0042T5MS0/ref=pd_sbs_indust_4