The 2021 J24 NSW STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS will be held on the weekend of 6 and 7 November 2021. The event will be run by RANSA on Sydney Harbour in the vicinity of Clark and Shark Islands, and will comprise 6 WW/LW races over two days, with the first warning signal at 1025.
The Notice of Race and entry details are attached.
At this stage we are unclear as to what will be permitted under COVID restrictions in November, but the outlook is hopeful and this serves as advance notice so that you can begin preparation.
We look forward to seeing you on the water again, and in the meantime please let me know if you need further information – by email please as the RANSA office is not attended full time.
Lock down is driving us all mad with non sailing depression, why just the other day I heard from a disgruntled J owner lamenting the lack of sailing. Sitting on a half drunk box of Coronas, complaining about the extra weight he is putting on with the ‘stay at home and consume’ lifestyle.
And that my friends, leads me to the things we shall have to remember if and when Chairman Dan ever lets us go sailing again. ‘What’s this rope for’, ‘ah that’s a very important rope and that’s another very important rope’ as one of my crew said to one of our new Thursday night crew. Yes we have a boat full of ropes, sheets, lines and all those other things that will have escaped our attention for so long and they are all very important.
Then there is the paperwork, the electronic sign in … remember to do that or suffer the embarrassment to your crew as you meekly admit all their hard effort has been in vain. To the bar skipper … and have that wallet ready !
Now are you ready for CCW, this is the new factor we have yet to come to grips with. It won’t be easy, it will be a messy calculation we’ll all have to make to get racing again, especially for the Nationals where we’ll have to factor in interstate politics and shenanigans.
CCW will be a calculation taking in state and city lock downs, days lost to the corona, movement interstate to escape the rot, a series of calculations to rival Bitcoin mining – and this just to allow you to go racing against your fellow sufferers.
Get out those scales skippers, it’s just the first step to understanding and complying with your new CCW, your Covid Corrected Weight.
The collective crew girth has expanded along with the weight and something has to be done about it. So your new CCW will be a calculation to bring your lockdown excesses back to the standard 400kg. Based on the lockdown CCF (Covid Correction Factor) established on the number of days you have been in lockdown, divided by the number of crew still able to fit on the rail and multiplied by the number of boats entered and divided by the average wind strength expected in the regatta, a CCF will enable your crew to weigh in at a higher weight as long as the corrected weight comes back under 400kg.
Melbourne boats will benefit most by this due to the larger number of locked down days and it is anticipated that the max actual weigh in weight will be in the region of 430kg. Sydney boats will probably only reach half that actual weight before going over the corrected 400kg. South Australian boats will barely register any change.
There are penalties to be factored in for skippers that have tried to escape the lockdown by moving to other states (Ron) and a negative CCF will be applied here so that they may only be able to weigh in up to around 370kg which will then be corrected up to the 400kg limit.
Naturally there will be different State Associations arguing their different CCFs and this is to be all settled by the National Association in time for the expected revival of um … J24 yacht racing.
G’day thrill seekers, Corona drinkers and J24 people.
For obvious reasons the Nationals aren’t locked in …. as we are still locked down
The semi-official word is that the Nationals are on ….. until they are off
We all want to go sailing, racing and knocking back a Corona or two with our mates. So Dan willing, we get to 80% on the needle and the creeks don’t rise …. we’ll be sailing
So pencil it in … Jan 6-9, J24 Australian Championships at SYC !
International Pulse, the international J24 mag has a new issue out, with details on the North Americans, World Champs at Corpus Christi next year, European Champs in Ireland next year, reports from Ireland, Canada, Hungary and Sweden – all good reading but a little depressing reading with the boat locked down around here. Anyway grab yourself a sherbet and get into reading about the other half – it’s all good stuff. Click here
Advance notice, although to be confirmed, the dates for the National Champs have been penciled in as 6-9 January next year. This will be confirmed within the next month.
J24 Victorian Championships quick wrap from Adam Keyes-Tilley our very active promotional guy. A bit of dressing from Simon.
We had two days of competitive and close racing where 8 bullets were shared amongst 4 boats (Checkmate and Jet had multiples). 15 pretty well behaved boats competed with some incredibly close finishes.
Wind ranged between 4 – 18 Knots, north westerlies shifting SW on both days. Choppy seas made power rigs important and there were some amazing breeze lanes that had boats climding out and falling in on the fleet, catch one and you had a conveyor to the top mark.
Lots of recalls, restarts, U flags and some U flag DSQs
Shifty wind and difficult sea states made for tricky conditions
Lots to talk about at the J24 sponsored food and drink celebrations afterwards, with free beers and magnificent food prepared by the SYC chefs the Ken King Centre afterparty certainly kept the Vic States party tradition alive.
Congratulations to those in the chocolates in particular Brendan Lee and crew in ‘Checkmate’, the One Design winner.
Well done to the PHS winner Darren Cutts in ‘Joyride’
A big thank you to SYC Race Management and Preso Warren Campbell and the Committee for putting on a fabulous event.
The VIC J24 Committee are pleased to announce the Vic States this year are to be held at Sandringham Yacht Club on March 27/28.
The Vic States has a tradition of great hospitality and social get together combined with very competitive sailing. We are expecting a large turn out from the Vic fleet with youth sailors joining our fleet in up to four boats. We also extend a warm welcome to interstate competitors, and suggest you contact us to help prepare for your needs.
Starting with informal drinks at the Ken King Centre on Friday evening, racing on Saturday followed by a BBQ and beers at the KKC, racing on Sunday followed by a presentation BBQ at the KKC.
J24 registration and crew weigh-in will take place on Friday 27 March between 1600 hrs and 1900 hrs and Saturday 28 March between 0700 hrs and 0830 hrs.
Proposed Race Schedule (TBC)
Race No.
Date
Warning Signal
1
Saturday 27 March
No earlier than 0955 hrs
2
Saturday 27 March
At the completion of race 1
3
Saturday 27 March
At the completion of race 2
4
Saturday 27 March
At the completion of race 3
5
Sunday 28 March
No earlier than 0955 hrs
6
Sunday 28 March
At the completion of race 5
7
Sunday 28 March
At the completion of race 6
8
Sunday 28 March
At the completion of race 7
No warning signal shall be made after 1430 hrs on Sunday 28 March 2020.
There will be no re-sails after Sunday 28 March 2020.
TRAILER AND CAR PARKING
Road trailers used to transport interstate boats to and from the regatta may be stored at the Sandringham Yacht Club for the duration of the event.
Each interstate boat will be provided with parking for one vehicle in the SYC member’s car park during the event. An access “key” will be required, subject to the payment of a refundable bond.
Car parking for Victorian members (boat owners and crew) will be subject to the normal rule of access at SYC. Car parking is available in Council car parks in Jetty Road or in nearby streets for those without SYC car park access.
All welcome, call Vic President Warren Campbell for more information on 0418 530 670
The J24 National Committee has taken the painful decision to reverse our earlier decision to run the 2021 Nationals on 7-10 January 2021.
The 2021Nationals will not be held at this time and at this point there are too many variables to plan a replacement regatta and timing.
We all want to sail but due to the current flare up in SA, and the potential for this still to happen in other states with border closures and quarantine, it is not possible to guarantee a safe, trouble free running of the regatta. We have had discussions with Australian Sailing, some of the interstate competitors who have have contacted us and expressed an interest to compete, the Vic Association and SYC. This decision has been a unanimous one from all National committee members.
The J24 NSW Championships have just been completed at Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, Pittwater on 31 Oct & 1 Nov. Ten entries were received, but Calypso suffered a trailer-related incident and did not compete (it’s a long story but a good one….ask Paul about it when you’ve got a few minutes to spare)
Those regular boats who chose not to compete missed out on a great event, notwithstanding the weather which threw everything at us from warm and sunny to thunder and lightning and at times LOTS of rain! The venue and facilities are excellent, lots of hardstand space, cranes, a very professional race crew and helpful, welcoming staff. COVID Rules were obviously in place and restricted social activities a little but it all ran very well.
The RO Stephen Merrington managed to get all 6 heats run on a difficult stormy weekend when a lot of other club racing around Sydney was cancelled.
Saturday started with a North Easterly at around 10 kt, but later shifted southerly. Two races had to be abandoned half way through which was unfortunate (especially for Tinto, leading both times) but that’s sailing!
Steve Quigley on Convicts Revenge won Race 1, followed by Tinto and El Fideldo, and Race 2 was won by Ace (Dave West) from Innamincka and Stamped Urgent. Another race was started but then the storm closed in and competitors were sent home in the pouring rain.
With the forecast early Southerly change expected to get up to 30kt, hopes were not high for much sailing on Sunday but we were fortunate to get all 4 races run, in a wind moving from SW to South and increasing from 8-10 kt to well over 20.
Tinto won Race 3 after a poor first leg, coming from 4th at the last mark to the final margin of 24 seconds from Convicts Revenge and Ace. Race 4 went to John Crawford in Innamincka from Convicts Revenge and Ace.
With the strengthening wind we were all on Jibs for Race 5. This race had the closest finish of the series with the first 5 finishing in 6 seconds, Ace taking first from Innamincka and Tinto.
The final race was getting tough with the strong and gusty Southerly really testing everyone. Convicts Revenge got the better of Ace in a tight tactical battle up the second work to win, and Tinto taking third.
Racing overall was very tight and competitive, with most finishing within 2 or 3 minutes each race. However here were no protests and no (bad) collisions, so a good weekend all round. Convicts won the series on countback from Ace on 10 points, with Tinto 3rd on 14. Welcome (back) to the J fleet Steve and the crew, we are looking forward to more good close racing with you at Cronulla and elsewhere.
PHS results gave the win to Okavango Delta 1st, Waterborne Again 2nd and El Fideldo 3rd. Congratulations and well sailed to all of you.
A Resilience prize was awarded to Sailmates. Competing in their first State Champs, they finished every race and flew a kite on every run. Well done!
Finally, special “Thanks” to Bryce at Infinity Rigging, and Shane at Doyle Sails who donated prizes for the event. Please support these locally owned businesses where you can.
Photo Credit Nathan Goss
