(Gosford, NSW, Australia)- The Gosford J24 Classic Regatta was once again a great success with a fleet of 13 making the huge effort to sail and trailer to Gosford from Sydney and Lake Macquarie. Saturday delivered very gusty westerlies with an average of 25 kts all day. We saw some fantastic broaches, whole crews hanging off life lines up to their eyes in water which thankfully wasn’t as cold as Sydney, a man overboard, a few cautious kite hoists and someone with a very squeaky voice now! Day two gave us a virtual glass out mixed with some nice 10 kts and at one point saw boats changing to a short-lived jib.Overall, Sean Kirkjian's crew on SAILPAC walked off with all the marbles. Second was John Crawford's crack crew aboard INNAMINKA. Third was Brett Lewis sailing WILDCARD.
A big "Thanks goes out to Gosford Sailing Club for running good courses in touch conditions; to Terry Wise for bringing 6 Pacific Sailing School teams and introducing them to the fantastic world of J/24 Racing; to WATER HOUND for the huge effort to get their boat to their first regatta – they assure me they are now hooked (and we will be seeing more of them); to Waterborne Again for breaking away from club racing and joining the fleet; to all our usual loyal skippers who come back year after year for the fun; and to everyone for competing. Many thanks to Kevin Phillips for his on water photos and for full results and some great photos.We hope to see you all at Balmain Regatta on 28 October, and the NSW State Championships on 3 & 4 November at RPEYC. Remember, we will be presenting a Travellers Award at the end of the season so the more you enter, the better your chance of being the best overall NSW J24!!! For more J/24 Gosford sailing information. For more J/24 Australia sailing information
