EL FIDELDO Smokes J/24 South Australians

(North Haven, South Australia)- The CN Management South Australian State titles were held at the Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia over the weekend of the 9th and 10th of March off North Haven, just north of Adelaide sailing in the challenging waters of Gulf St Vincent. 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 downgrading 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 2nd heat however the 3rd 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 Townsend's 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 7th 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.  For more J/24 Australian sailing information

CARRER Takes J/24 Cordoba Championship

(Villa Carlos Pax, Cordoba, Argentina)- As they have for years, the "400 Club" as it's known amongst the J/24 sailors that go sailing in Argentina's Andes Mountain range hosted yet another fantastic regatta, weather be damned.  Located not far from its famous vineyards for making the delicious red Malbec's and for snow-skiing in yet another direction (like at the top of the lake!) the J/24 sailors made the most of what can be some of the world's most spectacular sailing conditions as well as it's craziest.  Think of sailing on any Swiss Lake, Lake Dillon in Colorado or Nevada's famous Lake Tahoe; micro-bursts are normal and boats sailing at one another with spinnakers on opposite legs are simply part of the game.

For this year's event, the Campeonato Centro de la Republica Cordoba, it was Pablo Despontin's team on CARRER that managed to win by the narrowest of margins.  With 21 boats on the water of Lago San Roque from Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Mendoza and Neuquen the fleet managed to sail three races over the course of three days, such is the case with mountain breezes!

On the first day of sailing, the fleet managed to get in two good races with a reasonable winds.  The second day of racing was difficult and the RC was only able to get in one good race due to highly variable climatic conditions that went from storm to calm and mountain "Borneos" of 180 degrees changes in wind direction, until it settled to about 8 to 10 knots.


Despite the weather conditions, there was incredible enthusiasm and very cool racing amongst the J/24 sailors despite the heat of the competition. Not to mention, of course, was the absolutely amazing party in the evening with beautiful people, fine wines & champagne and incredible fireworks magically reflecting off the lake like it was a mirror!

Sadly, there was no racing Monday since there was a complete lack of wind.  As a result, the regatta ended with three races counting with no throw-outs.  True to their tradition for this event, the regatta organizers, 400 YCC, J/24 Cordoba Fleet and others had a fabulous closing ceremony and awards.  To next time, as they say, but this time with more wind!  See J/24 Cordoba photos in Picasa photos.  More J/24 Cordoba pictures on Facebook.

J/24 ACE Wins Class In Sydney Harbor Regatta

(Sydney Harbour, Australia)- Hosted by Middle Harbour Yacht Club, the Sydney Harbour Regatta is one of the largest, competitive keelboat regattas in Australia.  Over the weekend of March 9-10, over 200 keelboats raced in 26 divisions on 10 course areas on Sydney Harbour and Offshore.

For the second year running, the event was blessed with beautiful conditions, both days boasting winds of 8-10 knots early on and reaching 16-17 knots by late afternoon. Taking advantage of the gorgeous weather was a highly competitive J/24 class.  A good fleet of seven boats participated for the two day event.

Starting off by winning the first race, Dave West's team on ACE threw down the gauntlet and never let up on the fleet.  After two days of racing, Team ACE walked off with four 1sts and two 2nds to dominate the J/24 fleet with a total of 8 pts.  Giving them a run for the money by winning at least two races was the Scott and Adam Jamieson family team aboard JSPOT, amassing a 3-3-1-3-2-1 scoreline.  The JSPOT boys were clearly learning how to sail smarter, faster, cooler, more awesomely every race, as evidenced by their 1st in the last race.  Brett Hudson's WILDFIRE was hoping they would be "on fire", but a last race OCS was not helpful to their overall performance-- perhaps a bit too eager to put the spot on JSPOT for the last race!

The Sydney Harbour Regatta was sponsored by leading water sports and technical apparel supplier, HELLY HANSEN and supported by Sydney Ports, Robert Oatley Vineyards and Sydney City Marine.  Pictured here is a highly modified J/24 dinghy prototype sans keel, made of wood with Gougeon epoxy, with the J/Sprit concept employed circa 1926. Yes, the J/24 was waaaay ahead of its time. :)   For more Sydney Harbour Regatta sailing information