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J/24 2002-2001 News J/24 Program Overview || J/24 News || Tuning Guide || Contact J/24 Experts || Order For current news, click here.
Report by Tim Healy North sails Place 1,2 at J24 North Americans.
Report by Tim Healy
Long time J24 sailor and 2000 World Champion Brad Read with team 'Blind Squirrel' from Newport, RI won the regatta. Their speed and ability to hold narrow lanes was the key to their success. Second was Tim Healy and team 'Anna' also from Newport, RI. Geoff Moore and his team were third. All three teams use the North Newport Design sails. As a matter of fact, seven out of the top ten used North sails exclusively! 1,2,3,5,6,7,10 all used North. Also, no other sail maker had more than one boat in the top ten. When asked why he uses North Sails, Britt Hughes from Stratford, CT said " I feel confident that my questions will be answered correctly by a successful and experienced j24 sailor when I contact North. No other sail maker can offer that added value to their product."
For more information about North J24 sails please contact the North J24 Experts! Complete results can be found at the www.j24class.org
Report by Tim Healy North Sails claim top positions in the J24 and Etchells at the Newport Regatta. Newport, RI Teams using North Sails finished first and second in both the J24 and the Etchells class at the 18th annual Newport Regatta. In the J24 Class, Tim Healy from Newport, RI finished first in the 34-boat J24 fleet. Will Wells from Marblehead, MA was second. Tim used the Newport model J24 sails and Will used the San Diego model. "The sails performed in all conditions, it is obvious that North has spent more time perfecting J24 sails than any other sail maker ", said Will Wells. The conditions ranged from 8-18 mph with moderate to heavy chop. Five races were sailed over two days in B.I. Sound.
Ched Proctor from Milford, CT, was a close second. Both teams used the LM1 6.5 Jib, GM 6.5 jib, PC+ Main and the Full Radial Spinnaker. Ten races were sails over three days in the waters of Block Island sound just south of Narragansett Bay. This regatta was the New England Championships for the Etchells Class.
Report by Chris Snow June 12, 2002 - The 2002 Canadian Nationals was held at West Vancouver Yacht Club in Vancouver,B.C. truly one of the prettiest places to sail in the world that I have seen. This regatta had 27 boats competing, a combination of Pacific Northwest and mostly Canadian boat. The regatta was won handily by Keith Whittemore who used all North Sails. He had firsts and seconds all along and threw out a second to score a total of 6 points. Second overall and the top Canadian was Steve Fleckenstein who used a combination of North and a local sailmaker sails. For more information about
the Canadian Nationasl and/or J/24 sails, feel free to contact the North
J/24 experts.
Report by Tim Healy
Sail Newport Memorial Day Regatta The 2001 Memorial Day regatta attracted 19 J/24s from
the NorthEast region. Nine races were sailed north of the Newport Bridge
on the waters of Narragansett Bay. Conditions ranged from 0-16 kts with
a slight chop. Everyone was happy with the format of 30-min windward
leewards. Numerous starts and mark rounding was the goal for the regatta,
and we got it. Many thanks to Ida Lewis YC and Sail Newport for running
a no frills regatta packed with great racing. NORTH
FACTS:
Results- Skipper- Sails: For complete results visit: www.sailnewport.org
Report by Moose McClintock
The racing was anything but straightforward. Lake Murray in Columbia is typical of inland lakes with the wind coming from any direction at any speed at any time. The first race featured a glass off that ended with the back end of the fleet running in to the upwind finish with spinnakers. Horton had gotten a big jump but we did a nice job of being patient and aiming at the marks to come back for second right on the line. The second day we were over early at the heavily favored pin. It was so favored in fact that you were overstanding the weather mark ½ mile away. We were first to the mark after restarting…..go figure. We ended up stretching out to a huge lead as the breeze picked up from a glass off to 18 knots, winning the race going away. The third race got under way in a dying breeze that saw North customer Steve Wood leg out to a huge win while we picked our way back from a poor first beat to gain second again. The final race saw Andy Horton 2 points behind us so he engaged us in match racing maneuvers. It took a couple tries to get it right (fortunately there were several general recalls) but when the race got started we had a safe leeward start on Andy, eventually pinching him off and then rolling him. Since we’d both been focused on each other we realized we had some catching up to do to save the regatta. We did another nice job of slowly picking the shifts and got back to 6th while Horton ended up 18th. Doug Macleans win in the last race allowed him to move from 4th to second overall.
The big thing I got out of this regatta (since I try to learn something every time I sail these boats after a layoff) was rig set up. Looking at this as standard lake racing, we didn’t set the rig up for max conditions in any race but stayed light on the rig all the time. In the flat water and incredibly up and down conditions (nearly a glass off every race) we always had the right median set up for the conditions, not always the best but never the worst. I really feel like this gave us the edge. For more information about the Easter Regatta or our winner sails, feel free to contact the North J/24 experts.
Report by Chris Snow We had the San Diego NOOD regatta here this past weekend. 14 different classes raced in WIND, something you don't see in San Diego everyday. Breezes were in the 18-20 knot range for most of the weekend and a great time was had by all. North sails were aboard the winning boats in the Etchells, J/24, Soling and Melges 24 classes. In the Etchells class, last weekend's winner Eric Bentzen from Seattle using a North jib and FullRadial Spinnaker, second was Andy Ladow, sporting a new set of North One Design sails and third was Norm Reynolds also using North Sails. Bill Engle, also with North finished fourth in the 30 boat fleet. The J/24 class was won by North Sails One Design's own Rodrigo Meireles. He sailed his own new boat "Danada" to win over the husband/wife team of Gary and Julie Mithcell who also had North Sails. Third overall was Richard Demmler from Seattle also with North. The Melges 24
class was won by long time Melges 24 sailor Cathy Wood on "Foxtrot"
using North Sails. Runner up was the Rick Rajewski/Steve Maseda a newer
team using North Sails. Special mention in this class has to go to Mikee
Anderson of Coronado, CA a high school student. Mikee is starting a
campaign for the Olympics in the 470 with another junior Graham Biehl.
Mikee The Soling class which is quite strong in the San Diego area (probably due to losing it's Olympic status) had a nice turnout with six boats travelling over from Mission Bay Y.C. and points north. Their class was won by Steve Smidt sailing BYCOR. Second overall from the Pacific Northwest, was Ian Wareham who also used North. North sails were also used to win the competitive
J/120 and One Design 35 classes. Thanks to all the customers who chose
North Sails and congratulations to all the winners. North is a proud
sponsor of the NOOD series and we are glad to support the high caliber
of one design racing
Report courtesy John Francisco March 18, 2002 - It was a breezy, cool weekend in San Diego, at the San Diego YC-hosted NOOD Regatta. The Meireles/Smith team continued their winning ways with 'Danada', taking first in the 11 boat J/24 fleet, followed by the Mitchell's 'Geraldine', and Richard Demmler's 'Itchy and Scratchy' (traveling from Oregon on their every other year swing through Southern California). The conditions were breeze-on Friday and Saturday, with Saturday's racing curtailed after one race was completed due to other classes' inability to hold together (dismastings, boats sailing around with crew, numerous capsizes) in the 15 - 20 knot breeze. Special note of appreciation to Joan Chandler's group on 'Free Radical' for pulling some sailors out of the water on the approach to the finish line, Saturday. It's not often that you see jibs on J/24's in San Diego, and this was one of those years (it seems like every other year at the San Diego NOOD we use jibs at least one day, though). Sunday was shifty/puffy as San Diego's South Bay can be, with no one side of the course being favored for more than half a leg. Sailing World has reports on their website at: http://www.sailingworld.com/sw_nood_subcat.php?sectionID=2502 and full results are online at: http://www.sdyc.org/raceinfo/noodresults.htm
For more information about the J/24 sails, please contact the
Report by Rodrigo Meireles
Report courtesy John Francisco
The weekend of March 2 - 3, St. Francis Yacht Club
hosted the Spring Keel event, the first event of the California North-South
travelling series. 14 J/24's entered, and 13 made it to the start line
for a beautiful weekend of sailing on San Francisco Bay. There were
also fleets of Melges 24, Express After hearing all week from S.F. locals about how nice the weather was treating them, I could not wait to get into my truck Friday afternoon for the drive to the Bay Area. My boat had left San Diego the day before, and was already sitting rigged at the St. Francis YC when I arrived just after sunset. Our crew this weekend was Rodrigo Meireles, bringing his boat USA 5005, myself, Rodrigo's boat partner Troy Smith, and Steve Pickel, my regular bowman from USA 3324. I had not sailed with Rodrigo nor Troy, but I knew Steve, and that we would be solid at the front of the boat. Unfortunately I missed them at the yacht club bar, and would not get to meet everybody until Saturday morning. Saturday morning was beautiful. I felt like I was
in Southern California. The weather system hovering over the Bay Area
brought balmy temperatures in the mid-70's, and Santa Ana-like offshore
breeze, which I have never seen before. It was blowing like an August
morning, but warm, and out of the east, just over 15 kts. or so, and
it appeared solid, moreso as you looked The race committee spaced out the starts between the
classes, adding 2 - 3 minutes between the previous starting signal,
and the following class warning signal. The fleet was spaced evenly
along the line, but it turned out that the boats that started near the
pin and got into the flood current first (we were starting near the
Golden Gate bridge, with the weather mark just off of Alcatraz), got
a good jump. We started near the boat end along with Doug Nugent. At
this point, I need to mention the other regatta that was starting off
of Ft. Mason (halfway up the beat). There were about 60 big boats (J/105's,
Farr 40's, other PHRF boats) out for a midwinter regatta To get out of the current, the fleet practically jibeset
to race towards the beach. Most of the fleet took the high road, and
were almost headstay reaching to keep their air clear. We took a low
road approach, as there was enough pressure to make it work, and we
wanted to stay in clear air and away from traffic. We jibed back to
starboard below the flood-tide current line, After a leisurely sail back to the starting area,
it was time to get ready for the next race. The wind had dropped to
about 10 kts., still out of the east, and a couple of our guys shed
their foulie bottoms for shorts to enjoy some California sunshine. With
the flood still in effect, 'Danada' found Around the leeward mark, 'Danada' rounded inside of
'Fat Bastard', but left enough room in the light air for 'Blue J' to
roll through. We passed 'Blue J' on the beat, to round fifth at the
top mark. The breeze was still starting to peter out down the course,
with some big puffs at the top 200 The fleet sailed in some light air to get back to the club, and the later finishers had a longer time to get across the line due to the rapidly dropping breeze. That night Brian Mullen, skipper of 'Blue J', hosted a BBQ at his place, and a lot of the fleet made it over there. Thanks to Brian (and his neighbors and crew) for hosting us. There was plenty of beer (thanks Lanes!) and food. A third of the party then migrated to Marin, another third made their way to the Balboa Cafe (where Brian and Justin tried to abuse me), and the other third went home and got rest. Sunday morning dawned bright and warm, again, but
with no breeze anywhere on the Bay. I mean it was glass, and if the
water had been warm, it would have made for excellent water skiing conditions.
Wisely the race committee postponed onshore for an hour, when they thought
they saw something building on the water, so a lot of the fleet hoisted
sails, and rocked out to the After a general recall, the fleet got off the line
clean. 'Blue J' port-tacked the fleet from the pin end of the line.
At the boat end, 'Nixon' made 'Danada' tack away from the start line
with about 20 seconds to go, putting 'Danada' as the weather-most boat.
'Blue J' tacked in front of From that point on, it was a matter of covering the fleet from ahead for 'Danada'. The middle part of the fleet was very tight, though, with leeward roundings of five to six boats overlapped common. After five legs, the finishing order was 'Danada', 'Blue J', 'Cool Breeze', 'Take 5', and 'Wonder Woman'. 'Nixon Was Cool' was part of the group that sailed the first run high, and was able to get back into sixth by the finish. By now it was 3:30pm, and the race committee let us sail for home, a 5 mile beat back to the St. Francis YC in flat water, that was not as painful as it could be in say, August. We got back to the yacht club, waited for the hoist, packed the boat up, St. Francis handed out dry bags to the top three places, as well as provided snacks and beer, and 'Danada' started the long trip back to San Diego, and 'Take 5' the long trip back to Los Angeles. This was a well-run event, and the most fun I have had sailing on San Francisco Bay since last summer's J/24 National Championship. The top three: 1. 'Danada', Rodrigo Meireles, USA 5208, 4 pts.
Report by Moose McClintock January 14, 2001 - N.A. champion Tim Healy have won the 2002 J-24 Midwinters under extremely difficult conditions, outlasting 30 other competitors in a predominately light, shifty regatta. Second place was professional sailor Andy Horton, who qualified for the 2002 Worlds in Kingston using North Sails at the Northeast Regionals last fall. 3rd and 4th were former World Champion Brad Read and defending Midwinter champion Geoff Moore, also with North Sails. Geoff also qualifies for the 2002 Worlds with his 4th place as the first non-qualifier. The 6 race series, run from the Key Biscayne Yacht Club, saw winds ranging from a chilly 12-6 knots the first day to 4 knots the second day before ending in a warm, pleasant 7-8 knot final day. The aggressive fleet had to wade it's way through multiple general recalls but generally all the races got off well with just 2 OCS in the series, several under the guise of the black flag. Healy (1,3,1) led after the first day clear of Moore and Read, who took the lead the next day after winning the lightest race of the regatta. Going into the final day 3 points separated the three with Horton another 3 points back. Healy won the first race the final day ahead of Horton while Moore's 5th put him in second with Horton 3rd as Read finished out of the top 10. While Healy spent the last race consolidating his position both Moore and Read had poor starts that doomed them to double digit finishes that dropped them behind Horton in the final scores. North Sails dominated the final results with 1,3,4,6 finishes. In fact, Will Crump (producer of the new J-24 boat handling video) in 6th suffered an I flag that cost him 5th overall. No other sailmaker had more than 2 of the top 10. North Sails also won 5 of the 6 races and was never out of the top 2 in any race, impressive in the wide range of conditions. There were two scheduled events at the regatta that deserve mention. First was a winners roast emceed by Geoff Moore after the first day of racing with the top finishers from that days racing. Topics covered sail trim, tactics and overall strategy on the course. This seemed like a very good idea for the fleet as many of the competitors were new to this regatta and competition. A good idea for future regattas. Second, the fleet was fortunate to have new Executive director Eric Faust lead an owners meeting targeted at finding out where the class is going. Eric outlined his personal history in the class and introduced his goals to inject new enthusiasm into the class. Chief among his goals are improving the Class magazine for content and timeliness, developing the website for better dissemination of information, and improving communication with the membership. One of the biggest things Eric is working on is getting tax exempt status for the class. This will allow the class to market major championships which will lead to higher turnouts and more participation from the grass roots of the class. Eric is very enthusiastic about this, it will be a big shot in the arm of the class. From my point of view, as I always look at these regattas, is what did I learn after being away from the boats for a while? The one problem we had with speed on Tim's boat was being just a touch off the pace in the very lightest conditions downwind. We use a Newport Slant Nose which has always been very fast. By gauging off the boats around us we realized that by spreading the bottom of the sail with a little bit more squaring of the pole and a little more trim the chute stabilized with more projected area and the last day we were able to consistently sail lower and faster than everyone around us. Another day, another lesson. Click here to find complete results and photos. For more inforamtion on North J24 sails, don't hesitate to concat the North J24 experts.
Report by Moose McClintock Hello everyone,
A great weekend of sailing in Annapolis, 65 boats, good breeze, warm temperatures, World Series. And of course another good result for North Sails One Design. It doesn’t get any better.
Brad Read led the way with a thoroughly dominating performance, beating Tim Healy of North Sails One Design by 10 points and Will Welles from North Sails Northeast by another 23. Brad and Tim both used the Newport Designs and the Slant Nose spinnaker while Will used the San Diego designs. Brad showed great all around speed, very close to Tim in speed on the 10-15 knots of the first day and maybe a little better speed in the lighter breeze on Saturday. In Sunday’s 6-8 knot breeze both Tim and Brad sailed through the fleet after mediocre starts to press the leaders and finish off very consistent series. Will Welles’ third clinches a Worlds qualifying spot with his third if the class designates this regatta as a qualifier, we’ll know this week.
North was 5 of the top 10! North Sails won 4 of the 6 races, Brad won two, Will won one Mike Ingham of Rochester, after switching from another sailmaker to prepare for the Worlds next year, won one. Mike’s performance suffered a little after the first day after coming down with the flu but he still ended up tenth and was very encouraged after a tuning session with Brad and Tim the day before the regatta. He felt his speed was the best he’s had.
For myself, I was impressed with the overall speed both Brad and Tim showed. Having been out of the boats and North Sails for a while I was happy to see that setting up both boats to the tuning guide resulted in nearly identical speed. All our customers were very satisfied that they can get very close to top speed with the easy to follow instructions and then fine tune for their personal sailing techniques. It’s also very easy to identify where their problems lie when we know where they’re set up, from there it is extremely easy to make constructive tips to help them if they feel a little off the pace.
Results for the regatta can be found at http://myweb.clark.net/pub/ssa/
For more information on the regatta or J/24 sails feel free to contact Chuck Allen or myself.
Report by Geoff Moore
Long Island Sound is notorious for its poor sailing conditions during the summer months. Wind is a rare commodity from the end of June through to September. So the thousands of sailors who occupy Long Island Sound every summer learn to make the best of what little wind they have. For example, just two weekends ago the J/24 district 3 regatta was held at the Housatonic Boat Club where the wind peaked at 5 knots.
But once October rolls around all bets are off. This past weekend my crew and I sailed the J/24 Northeast Regionals out of Noroton Yacht Club. The breeze never dropped below 20. Well, there might be some race committee officials who might debate that. We could hear them on the radio discussing wind readings, “22 knots at the starting line with lulls around 18 at the windward mark”. I am sure they were well intentioned, but I believe this was misleading. It probably was only 18-22 knots six feet from the water at the height of the race committee boat, but for those of us racing sailboats it was gusting well into the thirties at the top of our masts. Both days of the J/24 2001 Northeast regionals could best be described as survival conditions!
Forty boats registered, but far less than half of them made it to the starting line for the fifth and final race last Sunday. It was one of those regattas where it was way more fun the second it was over then it was when we were actually sailing. Andy Horton’s crew and mine, were tied for the lead going into the windiest and final race. We both were using North sails, and we both had good starts. I tried to take advantage of a quick left shift shortly after the start, but in hind sight it was just too windy to expect to tack well. Andy saved three tacks on us and rounded the windward mark about a length and a half ahead of us. We set our kites and exploded away from the offset mark. I was able to maintain an angle slightly to leeward of Andy’s as we blasted down and through the steep waves. The crews were in the pushpits. Spray was blowing horizontally across the water. Just when it seemed it couldn’t possibly get windier a hammer blast would whack into the sails and press the rudder beyond what you had previously thought was the limit of control. Occasionally, we would see a boat in our path still sailing upwind, but luckily they all managed to get out of our way. There was one angle, and one angle only. Evasive maneuvering was out of the question. Eventually we started to get out towards the port lay-line and I knew Andy was going to have to jibe. We were still on starboard, and I wasn’t sure if he would cross us or not. I also figured that there was less than a 50% chance that either of us could survive a jibe in good order in that much wind. Of course, it is hard to be accurate in your calculations when you are living moment to moment, never quite sure if your bow will come back through to the surface.
Much to our displeasure Andy and his team completed their jibe, well sort of….They were on port. The mainsheet shackle had ripped off the end of his boom, and their spinnaker was flogging, but they didn’t wipe out. We screamed, “starboard” as loud and as menacing as we could, but I doubt that they heard us. They weren’t in any position to evade us anyway, and I certainly wasn’t trying to hunt him. That is when it got really windy. The puff that hit just then actually caused me some pain. I don’t know if it was the impact of wind molecules on the back of my head, or if it was the emotional shock that it actually could get windier. I think I closed my eyes for a moment. When I opened them Andy was barely surfing across our bow on a much closer angle to the mark than we were. The huge blast had narrowed the jibe angles so much that we were now both over stood to the leeward mark. To make matters worse we still had to jibe! Andy was still struggling to get his spinnaker filled without exploding it, and we were traveling at breakneck speed away from the mark. A second or two later and I was ripping down a rather large wave as fast as we had gone all day and I knew it was time. “Jibing”, I screamed as I let the bow slide down the wave. If I was going to wipe out I wanted to make sure that we had at least jibed onto the proper jibe. I knew I wasn’t up for more than one attempt. The bow carved nicely into the turn, but the spinnaker was slow to follow the rotation. The result was an enormous amount of whether heel. “Through the main over NOW” I croaked. The main came in half way and hesitated. Now, some people won’t understand this particular moment in time, but for those of you who do. I won’t bother to explain my emotional state. It was an anxious moment. The boat kept heeling and we kept crashing down the wave. We were heeled over so far that the starboard stanchion bases were below the surface and kicking up roster tails that were like a fire hose in my face. That part was OK though because I really wasn’t all that interested in witnessing our future. The main started to go back the way it had come. I screamed, “NO”, but anything I said was meaningless. My crew understood the gravity of the moment and gave a mighty tug on the sheet. The main came back and crashed down into the water on our starboard side. I remember thinking, “this is going to be one heck of a spectacular crash, but it sure is taking a long time.” Again, I opened my eyes to find that we were starting to level out. The rudder was still in the water, and it felt as though there was flow on both sides of it.
The mark, where is the mark? As long as we still had our heads above water we might as well try to win. The problem now was that the mark was way too high an angle to carry the spinnaker. Easing the pole forward and heading up was not an option. Dousing too soon meant a slow (a relative thing) jib reach angle. To whether Andy was just getting his spinnaker filled. He was over stood too, but we had surged way forward on him. I held off for another monster blast or two and then asked my foredeck crew if he would move from the pushpit and go “smoke” the spin halyard. As he stepped behind the mainsail to gain access to the halyard I though to myself, “ I’ll bet that halyard is fetched up hard in its cleat”. Sure enough, it took a prolonged chorus of foul language, and some less than flattering comments from the four of us in the pushpit before that cleat let loose the spinnaker halyard. We apologized to our foredeck later when he showed us the nasty rope burn across his fingers. As we gathered in the spinnaker I headed up towards the mark. Andy was still surfing fast and low with his newly filled kite, but as we converged he started his douse. I think they were still struggling with their makeshift repair on their mainsheet because as we headed up to cross their transom they couldn’t sail high enough to defend against us. We rolled over them on the crest of a breaking wave and surfed that same wave all the way to the leeward mark. We were winning the regatta!
The final beat to the finish was anticlimactic. Near the end of the ensuing tacking duel we fouled the jib sheet around our compass, and then followed up with a mediocre tack. Any Horton and his crew passed us and won the regatta and qualified for the 2002 World Championships in Kingston Ontario. Congratulations to Andy and his crew. They certainly earned it. We were second, and Twins were third.
Report by Geoff Moore This past weekend I had the pleasant duty of sailing
in the J/24 Changing of the Colors regatta on Lake George. For those
who have never had the pleasure, Lake George is located just South of
Lake Champlain about an hour north of Albany. That places it just about
half way up the state of New York on the NY/ Vermont border. It is roughly
the south and west boundary of the Adirondack Park system. The natural
beauty of the lake would be enough to attract a crowd of J/24 sailors,
but The Lake George Club, our host, is an equally spectacular sight.
The impressive mixture of massive stone work and rough hewn timbers
create a rustic elegance that matches the Oh..., did I mention that there is a sailboat race?
This year was a little unusual in that we had pleasant breeze, and sun,
both days! It isn't uncommon to get either a real blowout, or no wind
at all. Sixty boats made it to the starting line, but not every boat
was able to stay out all day There was a very nice sit-down dinner on Saturday
with karaoke singing and a roaring fire in every room. Sunday awards
were handed out at 3:00pm so that everyone could get an early start
home. Yes, I know...it is a long drive, and a dirty job, but, hey...they
want their perpetual trophy back,...so I guess that means we will have
to go back next year.
Report by Chris Snow I had the pleasure of sailing with Roger Harden of Austin, TX his team of Harald ten Wolde (born and raised in Holland a great help when ordering dinner and awesome on the bow), Kurt Carson, Shere Kersting and Roger on the helm. Roger chartered a boat from a UK owner who delivered the boat to the event. After a day or so of tuning the boat we were off to the races. The first two days of the event were "typical" with 18-20 knots of wind blowing from the North and a very steep chop. We managed to log a 3,12,6 in the first three races but in the 4th race our number was posted OCS at the weather mark. We elected to sail the race and protest to see if we could be reinstated but to no avail. Meanwhile Italian Paolo Cian was putting on clinic in steady consistent sailing. His first 4 races were 1,3,9,8 in a 58 boat fleet which looked pretty good after the second day. 10 races were scheduled and the third day two were planned. The breeeze did a 180 overnight and was light out of the south with very flat water. Just like Texas as Roger said. He felt pretty at home and we won the day with a 1,3. Paolo fared well with a 4,2 but we picked up a couple of points and were ready to sail the final four races and see what we could do. Unfortunately it was not to be as Thursday dawned light again with enough wind for only one race. We got tied up at the start and had to fight our way back to a 12th place. Paolo won this race which pretty much sunk our chances at winning the event. When all was said and done we finished third overall, one point behind 68-years young Stuart Jardine sailing with twin brother and his son. A great sight to see. Paolo used North Sails San Diego designs built
by North Sails in Italy. Roger and crew used North San Diego designs
built in the US and fourth place Albert Koojiman from Holland also used
the North San Diego designs. For more information on all our J/24 designs
contact Chuck Allen or Chris
Press Release from the St. Francis Race Office San Francisco, CA The defending champion, Chris Snow and his crew Andrew Kerr, Nick Can Der Wense, Dave Kurt and Bart Hackworth aboard BOGUS won the 2001 AUDI J24 U.S. National Championship. This year's event was held at the St. Francis Yacht
Club and sailed north of Treasure Island on San Francisco Bay. With
the traditional big breeze of 18-22 knots building in the afternoon
and the typical currents on the Bay, twenty-nine boats competed for
the national title. The racing was Geoff Moore and crew John Mollicone, Jill Murray, Gary Tautz and Harold ten Wolde had pulled ahead by two points after Race 7, which caused quite ahead-to-head battle to ensue on the race course during Race 8. Chris Snow and crew managed to get ahead; however, and they refused to relinquish their leading role. They were not the only boats that had to fight their way to stay ahead though, as third place Tundra Rose led by only two points to fourth place Tribal Pleasure going into the last race. Congratulations to the champions, thanks to the race committee, and to our general sponsors; TackTick and Svendsen's Marine, who gave away a RaceMaster; Waterline Systems, who generously donated a new rudder to the Top Amateur (Tundra Rose); North Sails; Sail California - J-Boats; Hall Spars & Rigging; our Secondary Sponsor Stella Artois; and the title sponsor Bay Area Audi Dealers. Thank you also you to the National J24 Association, St. Francis Yacht Club and their band of faithful volunteers, and Fleet 17 of San Francisco for hosting a stellar event! Until next time... Top Three Race results: For complete results please see the StFYC
website.
Report by Rodrigo Meireles The J-Fest regatta was held in Ventura last
weekend. 22 boats sailed in light to medium conditions. North Sails
was represented by Chris Snow and myself. On Saturday we sailed 5 races
and Chris had 3 bullets. He was smoking! On Sunday we had two light
air races and I was fortunated to win one. Chris Snow won the regatta
and North sails were on 7 of the top 10 boats.
Photo Yamazaki Taketoshi The J/24 Worlds has just finshed,and 'SLED' Japanese boat finished first with Domingo's boat ARG4677 in second. North Sails dominated the event! TOP 10:
For complete results and more information about the Worlds, visit the event's web site by clicking here. For complete details on North J/24 sails contact North J/24 experts.
Report by Chris Snow Squirrel finds a nut in Houston! Blind Squirrel skippered by Tim Healy of North Sails One Design Rhode Island is the new 2001 J/24 North American Champion. Crewed by Gordon Borges, Anthony Kouton, Chris Snow and Will Harris, Blind Squirrel endured, hot sticky and shifty conditions to win the event in Houston, Texas by 11 points over the Austin, TX based Mr. Happy owned by Bob Harden and Eric Nelson. Conditions for the regatta were a challenge for the sailors and race committee alike starting on Thursday with a postponement to let a couple of lines of thunderstorms blast through. The weather cleared out nicely leaving a light northerly and westerly for the first two days of the event, not typical of Galveston Bay which usually a nice 10-15 knot seabreeze to cool things off. The seabreeze reappeared on the last day of the event which greatly helped the spirits of the fleet. Tim and crew used the North's Newport designs and had great speed in all conditions, allowing them to concentrate on staying in the middle and minizing risk in the shifty breeze. Will Crump, formerly one of North's sailmaking competitors reemerged in the J/24 with his World Champion winning Evita and took fourth overall in the regatta.
Clinic by Chris Snow and Tim Healy prior to the event Photo courtesy regattaphoto.com For more information on the NA's go to www.j24na.com. For more info on North J/24 sails contact Tim Healy or Chris Snow.
Report by Tim Healy The 34th annual J24 Easter Regatta was held April 13-16 on Lake Murray in Columbia, SC. 46 boats attended, traveling from Canada, the East Coast and the Midwest. The 2001 Easter regatta was also the South East Regional Championships which is a Worlds qualifier for the 2002 Worlds. Columbia Sailing Club hosted another excellent event and definitely came through with their famous Southern Hospitality. There are few regattas that compare to this one when it come to feeling welcome at a regatta site. It seems that the whole town is working to make sure all the sailors return, and spread the word about the great time had by all. Six races were sailed over the three-day event. We saw many wind conditions ranging from 0-25 knots and all very shifty. Consistency was the key to a good result which is easy to say but hard to deliver on this fluky inland lake. The weather ranged from sunny and 90 degrees to torrential downpours. The water however was always extremely flat. North sails had a very strong showing with overall
finishes of 1st and 4 out of the top ten. I would again like to thank Mark Alexander, Jim Farmer and Columbia Sailing Club for their Hospitality. Please click here to find link to complete regatta results.
Report by Tim Healy J/24 Midwinter 2001 Tampa, FL Fifty-one boats attended the j24 midwinters held at Davis Island Yacht Club Tampa, FL Feb 1-3. There was no racing the first day (Thurs.) due to the lack of wind. Friday we arrived at the DIYC for an 8:00 am harbor start and found no wind again. The breeze finally filled by 12:00 and we started racing by 1:30. Three races were sailed on Friday with the wind out of the North East at 8-15 knots and very flat water. At times we had the backstay on fairly hard for entire weather legs. Tacking angles were tight and the racing was extremely tactical. The right side of the course seemed to pay most of the time because of a combination of steady pressure, right hand shift and maybe even a little favorable current. However, it was not a drag race to the right corner. There were many opportunities to get out of the middle and left. The starting line was set very long to discourage recalls, and it worked. We sailed with our rig at 24-21 for the first race and then went up to 27-24 as the breeze increased to 12-15 with flat water. Saturday was a continuation of Friday afternoon's weather with slightly lighter breeze NE 7-13. We left the harbor at 8:00 and started promptly at 9:00. Light showers passed over all day and the temp slowly dropped to about 50 degrees. We set the rig back at 24-21 before the first start. By the start of the seventh race the breeze had dropped to 5-7 knots, visibility was about ¾ of a mile and you could see your breath (brrrr). Throughout the event, we would sheet the genoa within 2" of the spreader tip with the foot just touching the chainplates. In the steady pressure when the boat was up to speed, we would sheet right too the spreader tip and add a few clicks to the main sheet for added height. Otherwise we followed the tuning to its recommended settings. The sails looked great and proved their versatility once again. Davis Island did a great job getting seven races off in what ended up being a day and a half of racing. Thank you Bill Icley and the hole crew at DIYC. Results:
Former Shore Sails partner joins forces with long-time rival 12/11/2000
Moore began his J/24 career while sailing with, and
then against, fellow Rhode Island sailors Ken and Brad Read. “In
those days, Newport was the epicenter of the rapidly expanding J/24
class. We were just kids with no idea where these boats would lead us,”
laughed Geoff at a recent meeting with Ken (Read.) “It will be
great to work with Ken and the North Sails team after competing against
the Read brothers (and thus North Sails) for so many years. It sort
of completes the circle for me. We have all traveled so far and have
learned so much it will be great to compare notes,” said Moore.
J/24 Team at the 2000 North annual
meeting
Article by 2000 World Champion Brad Read
For Example: On our boat, we feel that we have an edge in the top end of the genoa condition. Why do these folks have a perceived edge? Time in the boat with the same crew knowing how the boat should feel in a particular condition. Time, Time, Time. Time in the condition gives you confidence. No guess work. Just plain confidence. The toughest battle though is to avoid having a bad condition that can put you out of a regatta. Ken Read, Terry Hutchinson, John Kostecki, Chris Larson, Vince Brun, Jim Brady et al had their great runs because although they each did have one outstanding condition, yet they had no bad ones. They had a complete game. They spent countless hours on the water becoming better in a variety of conditions. Time on the boat! That is the secret.
Article reproduced from the J/24 Class Open Forum with author's authorization
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The
2002 J24 Worlds were held July 21-26 at Portsmouth Harbor Kingston,
Ontario. Sixty-two teams representing ten different countries competed
for the world title. Nine races were sailed over the Five-day event
with a wide range of conditions. Monday's conditions were 12- 15 from
the south in the morning, diminishing to 3-5 in the afternoon. On Tuesday
a cold front pushed through just before the first race. The breeze became
North 10-16. Wednesday was a lighter northerly and the racecourse was
set on the inside course. Thursday saw the last day for the Northerly
and only one race was sailed in the dying breeze. A warm front approached
Friday morning and produced a few showers and a 16-25 knot Southeasterly.
Two races were sailed Friday completing the series of nine races.
1 Brad Read North Newport Design
4 Andy Horton other
Mar
7, 2002 - I just got back from San Francisco where we raced the St Francis
Spring Keelboat Regatta. It was expected to be a cold and windy regatta
as it supposed to be in San Francisco this time of the year, however
instead we had a warm and moderate breeze regatta with winds coming
from East (8 to 15 knots) on Saturday and North (8 to 12 knots) on Sunday.
The turnout was good with 14 boats and the regatta was very well organized
as always by the St. Francis Yacht Club. We were fortunate to win the
regatta with 1,2,1. The second place went to David Wiard and the third
place to Brian Mullen. Both first and second place were using North
Sails. We had San Diego sails (AP-2 main, GP-5 genoa and SD-4 spinnaker)
and David had a mix of Rhode Island and San Diego sails ( AP-2 main,
GP-5 genoa and Slant Nose spinnaker). 
The
2001 version of the J/24 Europeans was held this year on the Ijsselmeer
out of Medemblik, Holland. This town is famous in Europe for the annual
SPA regatta, an Olympic class regatta that attracts Olympic hopefuls
from around the world to sail in this town located about 20 miles south
of the North Sea.
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