Bacardi Cup- J/24s- March 8-13

(Miami, FL)- A long time supporter of the J/24 class has expanded their renowned Bacardi Cup to include J/24s for the first time ever as part of their week long festivities called Miami Sailing Week.   Hosted by Coral Reef Yacht Club you can be sure you will be well taken care of by one of the best regatta hosts in the world.  With a great club, fantastic pool and outdoor bar/ cabana you can rejoice with even greater pleasure recounting the day's racing and amusing stories about past J/24 Midwinters and other events on Biscayne Bay.  Contact CRYC or sign up now at http://www.miamisailingweek.com.  Bacardi and CRYC promise you will have a memorable time.  Can't go wrong.  J/24s are cheap to charter and race.  Weather is awful up North because of an El Nino year, so head south and soak up some good rays and enjoy fair breezes! For more regatta and sailing information.  

Mel Hawkes- women's perspective sailing J/24 Australian Nationals

* Mel Hawkes had a wonderful, endearing story of her experience sailing the J/24 Australia Nationals on-board STARPAC: "When my legs had finally stopped shaking and after I had stuffed a roll in my face I headed for the bar. Not normally a drinker I am finding I am quickly making up for that in the last few days. Still in a bit of a daze, I found myself being asked how we did. I had no idea, so was very surprised to find not only had we come fourth overall, but we had been leading for a while on the first race.

The whole experience has been a steep learning curve and another one  I found was probably how to annoy everyone by me piping up, I had no idea where we were, I was too busy concentrating on my  two little lines that were my job. The correct terms for them would be the topping and the kicker line.

I must confess to shutting my eyes at each start as it looked more like a pack of bumper cars about to attack and judging by a rather loud thud at one point I think that theory was correct.

I have an absolute respect for all skippers, especially mine, as to how they manage to pick their spots, remain calm, is a new mystery to me. I also have to re-think the theory that men can’t multi-task as our skipper, apart from helming and trimming the boat, prevented me from hanging myself on more than one occasion and hoisting up the bow girl with the pole and that’s just the parts I had my eyes open for.

My goal tomorrow is to try and look up at one point. Baby steps! I started sailing with Pacific Sailing School a few months ago after a holiday in St. Lucia and I managed to flip a Hobie Cat which I am told is pretty hard to do. A few months later I find myself racing in the J/24 Nationals way out of my comfort zone. Hank at the school reassured me that girls can be very good sailors, let’s see what our skipper has to say at the end of the week. ;)" 

Thanks Mel for such a heartwarming story--- we all started sailing somewhere, sometime, someplace...some great, some not so great. ;)  Persevere, have fun and God Speed!    

J/24 Australian Nationals

WETTY GRIPPER Takes All The Marbles

(Sandringham, Australia)-  The lads aboard WETTY GRIPPER, lead by cosmic J/24 sailing genius Sean Wallis, bested the lot at this year's 2010 Australian J/24 National Championship.  Hosted by Sandringham Yacht Club, the event was blessed with great sailing, good breeze and a great sailing time by all.

On a day where bad luck stories abound, Sean Wallis and his team on WETTY GRIPPER came home to win one of the closest and most hard fought titles for many years. Doug McGain on CODE VIOLATION was bridesmaid and Dave Suda sailing PACEMAKER was third.  Adam Evans and his youth team won the Handicap Title.

In true one design tradition you can always rely on great a competition. With the last days racing to go only one point between first and second and one point between third and fourth separated the top teams. At that point, Doug McGain from NSW was first with 14 points, Sean Wallis from WA was second 15 points, Hugo Ottaway from VIC in third with 22 points, Dave Suda from VIC in fourth with 23 points and Sean Kirkjian from NSW at 32 points.

For some perspective on how competitive this group was, McGain, Wallis, Ottaway and Kirkjian, are all former J/24 Australian Champions, and Suda a runner-up J/24 National Champion.  A bit like having Ed Baird, Ken Read, Jon Kostecki and John Kolius beating each other up for podium finishes separated by only five points going into the final heat.

On the second to last day, it was a postcard perfect day on Port Philip Bay, a 10 to 15 knot southeast wind matched with a flat sea and clear 28 degree temperature that saw both Suda and Kirkjian win heats putting additional pressure on the front three boats. Doug McGain and Hugo Ottaway consolidated their positions with two seconds for Doug and two thirds for Hugo. Sean Wallis had his worst day so far with an 8th and 4th, however with the one race drop system now achieved after six races completed, Wallis was still able to hold second.  The rest is history, as evidenced by Wallis's WETTY GRIPPER excellent performance on the last day, consolidating their position to win over McGain on CODE VIOLATION.  For more sailing and regatta info.