J24 Blog

The J24 Hedgehog sailing downwind at the J24 worlds in Sardinia.

Photo by Pete Sauer

You can follow along with Pete Sauer here. Results here.

[source: Afloat]
Tuesday, 16 September 2008

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Incumbent and current All-Ireland Sailing Champion Stefan Hyde was deposed as J24 national champion over the weekend, when the Carrickfergus crew of Taz took the J24 National Championship title at Carlingford Lough.

Carlingford Sailing Club played host to boats from seven different clubs competed in the highly competitive Loughs Agency-sponsored J24 Class National Championship, with the overall title going to Michael Ennis and the crew of ‘TAZ’ from Carrickfergus Sailing Club.

Seven races were sailed over the two days of the event and the Carrick crew won the last two races impressively to beat former champion Mickey McAldin of Lough Erne YC in ‘Murder Picture’ by three points overall. Another three points behind in third place was the defending champion Stefan Hyde of the Royal St.George YC in Dun Laoghaire (who is also the current All-Ireland Sailing Champion).

The leading local Carlingford entry was James Byrne in ‘Gossip’ in fourth place, after consistently finishing in the top six in every race. Competitors travelled from as far afield as Dun Laoghaire, Malahide, Lough Neagh and Lough Erne to race in the event. The J24 is one of the biggest international classes of small keelboat racing boats and the Irish Class Association is looking to bring the European and World Championships to Ireland in the next five years.

Results

1st TAZ Michael Ennis Carrickfergus Sailing Club
2nd Murder Picture Mickey McCalden Lough Erne Yacht Club
3rd Carrabeg Stefan Hyde Royal St George Yacht Club
4th Gossip James Byrne Carlingford Sailing Club
5th Jay Kay Tim Sheard Lough Neigh Sailing Club

[source: US Sailing]

The U.S. Men’s Sailing Championship (USMSC) for US SAILING’s Clifford D. Mallory Trophy, sponsored by Rolex Watch, U.S.A. and Dry Creek Vineyard, will be held from September 16-20 at San Francisco Yacht Club (Belvedere, Calif.). Eleven teams, skippered by some of the country’s top male sailors, will race J/24s on windy San Francisco Bay.

In line with the long tradition of the event - founded in 1952 with past winners including sailing legends such as Buddy Melges, Jr., Cornelius Shields, John Kolius and Dave Ullman - this year’s fleet is stacked with talented sailors and champions.

Among the veteran competitors in the 2008 USMSC are Scott Young (Austin, Texas) who has won the title five times, twice as crew and three times as skipper, and placed third in 2007; Paul Wilson (New York, N.Y.) who finished fourth at both the 2006 and 2007 events; and Peter Sauer (Kalispell, Mont.) who placed third in 2002.

Past and present J/24 class champions will be well-represented by David Klatt (Oxnard, Calif.), who placed second at the 2007 J/24 North Americans and first at the 2004 U.S. J/24 Championship; Ian Trotter (Chula Vista, Calif.) who took first place at the Sperry Top-Sider San Diego NOOD Regatta in the J/24 class earlier this year; and Michael Whitfield (Orinda, Calif.) who finished tenth at the 2007 J/24 North American Championship.

Rounding out the fleet will be teams skippered by Ken Kleinschrodt (Mobile, Ala.), Gregg Delany (Greenwich, Conn.), Alan Bock (Helena, Mont.), Pat Toole (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Les Beckwith (Wolfeboro, N.H.).

Complete results, daily reports, and photos from the event will be posted on the event website at www.ussailing.org/championships/adult/usmsc. The U.S. Men’s Sailing Championship for the Clifford D. Mallory Cup is part of US SAILING’s National Championships series. For more information about these events, visit www.ussailing.org/championships.

Tim Healy Wins the 2008 J24 North Americans

Photo by Dallas Johnson

The J24 North Americans at the Wayzata Yacht Club on Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota saw one race in on the forth day, sailed in extremely light wind. Bob Harden and the crew of Mr. Happy took the bullet but it was Tim Healy who hung on to win the regatta and the North American J24 championship. Healy finished 18th in the 8th and final race of the series but with 8 races in was able to discard the result for a net of 22 points (40 total). John Mollicone was second overall and Chad Olness moved up 2 places on the day to round out the top three. Full reults here.

Photo by Dallas Johnson

Day 3 of the 2008 North Americans saw two races in light winds, the first won by Tim Healy and the second by John Mollicone. Healy maintained his overall lead, with Mollicone moving up two places to 2nd overall, scoring a 2nd in the first race to go along with the bullet in race two. Bill Fastiggi slipped a place to 3rd overall. Full results here.

Photo by Dallas Johnson

After a second day of racing with 3 more races completed, it’s Tim Healy moving up five places to first, replacing Will Welles (Paraloc), now in third place. Bill Fastiggi (Beauty) moved up one place to 2nd overall. For complete reaults go here. For more go to SailKarma.

Photo by Dallas Johnson

Results after day one:

Complete results here.

Photo © Nick Frampton

Wild Times at the UK Nationals. After a total of 3 races, Mark Penfold helming “Reloaded” takes it with a 1,1,2. Stuart Jardine won the 3rd race. Here is Mark Jardine describing the final race:

Conditions were getting decidedly fruity for the final race. Their were more white caps on the waves and spray blowing flat off the tops of them, it was going to be a full-on finale. The race team were keen to get everyone away first time before the wind got too much to race in and raised the black flag to encourage a clean start. The ploy worked and the fleet ploughed upwind with sails ragging and crews hiking to the limit.

Full report here.

Photo by Nick Frampton

From the UK Nationals:

The five crew of J/24 Juvenile Deliquent were rescued just seconds before their upturned boat sank stern-first into the waters of Weymouth Bay on Sunday. The incident happened in the first race of the British National Championships in winds of 25-29 knots and big seas.

More here.

Triumphant return for Reloaded, a watery end for Delinquent

Mark Jardin reports on the first (and only) race so far:

[Source: Yachts and Yachting]

After racing was cancelled due to high winds on the first day, the fleet was chomping at the bit to get out on the water on day two of the 30th Anniversary J/24 nationals in Weymouth. Just after midday PRO Frank Newton judged the wind had dropped enough for racing to begin.

While the sun may have started shining, the wind certainly hadn’t gone away. An over-eager fleet led to an almost inevitable general recall on the first attempt to start the race. This lead promptly to the black flag being hoisted and a more orderly second start.

From the off, Mark Penfold’s ‘Reloaded’, back on the water after a couple of years collecting moss, took a commanding lead. Conditions were fierce with the wind a constant 25 knots and gusts much higher. The left hand side of the beat paid off with ‘Reloaded’ rounding the windward mark first, Thijs Knapper’s ‘Phoenix’ second and Jon Powell’s ‘Peggy’ third.

The run saw the real drama begin. High speed surfing was had by all on the run leading to a few broaches and the odd capsize. Half way down the run Adam Bowers’ ‘Juvenile Delinquent’ had a huge wipe out filling the boat with water. It was clear to the crew that the boat was going down so they abandoned ship to the safety of a nearby rib.

Conditions continued to get more difficult with the wind going from strength to strength. ‘Reloaded’ just held it together on the final beat, despite a last-minute broach on the final run to take the win. ‘Peggy’ came through into second just ahead of ‘Phoenix’.

The postponement to another day combination of flags were wisely hoisted by the race team at the finish line sending the slightly reduced fleet back in to lick their wounds and repair the damage. Tonight sees a barbeque for the fleet at Weymouth Sailing Club.

Adam Bowers said after the sinking of his boat:
“You can look on a situation like that one of two ways; either it was bad luck that we lost the boat or it was good luck that all five of the crew are safe and well. I’m definitely looking on the positive side of the situation.”

Mark Penfold commented on the winning return for ‘Reloaded’:
“It was great to have her back on the water and performing in such big conditions, I’m over the moon. We’ve a totally international crew on board with British, Swedish, Danish and Cornish sailors – a triumph for us all.”

Links:

• Yachts and Yachting
• Practical Boat Owner
• Foilborne