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J/24 - 2003 Regatta News J/24 Program Overview || J/24 News || Tuning Guide || Contact J/24 Experts || Order
See also: 2002/2001 Regatta Reports and Articles
North Sails Finish 1, 2 at J24 East Coast Championships! Report by Tim Healy The 2003 J24 Ecc’s we held in Annapolis MD October 31-Novemver 2. Fifty five teams made the trip and were welcomed by our three host Yacht Clubs, Annapolis Yacht Club, Severn Sailing Association and Eastport Yacht Club. The weather was warm and sunny which usually means light winds for the Chesapeake and this was no exception. The wind was light from the south all three days with the best breeze on Friday when we were able to complete 3 races. The conditions were 5-10knt of breeze with relatively little powerboat chop. Saturday and Sunday we sailed one race each day in a 5 knot breeze with much more power boat chop. Our team (USA 5277) was lucky enough to win the regatta, helped by our ability to hold lanes off the line combined with solid boat placement. We used the Newport upwind sails and the San Diego spinnaker. Mike Hobson and team “Meltimi”, a local team who sailed fast and consistent, finished second with all North San Diego sails. Our rig was set at the light air setting, 20 on the uppers and 15 on the lowers, all weekend and once again it proved to have a wide range of 0-10knots. Our genoa leads were set so that the foot of the sail was slightly farther from the cainplates than the spreader tip. This gave us more power when we needed to sheet out and accelerate. Downwind we just tried to keep the boat moving. Pole forward VMG reaching was a must. Our pole was on the lower ring and the guy was cleated in order to stabilize the chute. The crew weight was low to the deck and one crew was sitting on the keel. I also took the slack out of the backstay to reduce the movement of the mast in the chop. Our hosts did a fantastic job getting in five solid races in very challenging conditions and I hope to see more teams in Annapolis at Nationals in the spring. For complete results, click here. For more information on North Sails for your J/24 please contact our J/24 Experts!
Mike Ingham powered by North wins the 2003 Canadian Nationals!!! Mike used Newport Main, Jib and Genoa and SD full radial spinnaker. Congratulations Mike!!!
Report by North Sails Italy We are happy to report the victory of Lorenzo Bressani on Kaster at the J 24 Worlds in Medemblik. Perhaps the fact that North has won 7 of the 8 races and will almost certainly have 6 or the first 7 finishers is a truer indication of the dominance of North. Albert Kooijman using Newport fore and aft sails with a San Diego spi won 4 races but did not fare well in the light going. The rest of the North boats used San Diego sail models which with the GP 7 Genoa are certainly proving to be the best all around J 24 sails ever made. Vince Brun and Chris Snow have come up with faster and faster sails over the years and we thank them for sharing them with us in Europe. For more information on North Sails for your J/24 please contact our J/24 Experts!
Report by Tim Healy
1st, 2nd*, 3rd and 4th used North Sails! For more information on North Sails for your J/24 please contact our J/24 Experts! For complete results, click here.
Report by Chris Snow
Any thoughts that the J/24 class is dead can be put to rest after this regatta. 52 boats from all over the country showed up for this three day event. There were a number of boats from the East and West Coast and of course a large contingent of Midwesterners looking to get in some time on one of the “inland seas”. Lake Michigan is a great place to sail and is truly more like sailing in the ocean than sailing on a lake. At 80 miles across and over 300 miles long this lake can really develop some substantial seas very quickly. Sailing here is really more like sailing in the ocean than a lake. The shifts are relatively slow and the waves require a patient hand on the tiller. Our team which included myself, Nick von der Wense on tactics, Chris Nesbitt in the cockpit, Dave Kurt on the mast and Andrew Kerr on the bow was well prepared. We trailered our boat from San Diego and having sailed the boat just a few weeks earlier in San Francisco knew what to expect. There is nothing like having your own boat at an away regatta! The first race started in light Southeasterly breeze. This is the direction we were told the lakebreeze comes from and we were excited to see the wind already in that direction at 10:00 A.M.. Maybe the wind would fill throughout the day? The pin end of the line was quite favored and surprisingly there was a substantial current, at least half a knot that was moving from south to north. We positioned ourselves about one third of the way up from the pin and the strong current soon caused a hug pile up on the pin boat to leeward of us. This and the fact that a lot of boats did not anticipate the strong current gave us a big jump on the group at the leeward end. Unfortunately the wind shifted right soon after the start and we looked to be about mid fleet halfway up the beat. Nick saw stronger wind ahead and instead of tacking we held on and were the first to the new breeze which proved to be a bit of a header. Now we looked great on the boats to our right and we tacked to converge with the fleet. We were clearly first or second and as we converge with the Zaleski brothers on “Twins”, yes they are really twins we barely crossed them on port. We hipped up on them and continued to the left eventually tacking on the port layline coming in with good breeze and speed. The left side won the beat and with the wind now shifted left the run became almost one jibe. Game over, we won the first race. The second race was similar to the first expect that he fleet by now was fully aware that you can have current on a lake! The start was clean and the wind now had filled in a bit. The beat was more even and we rounded the first weather mark in second or third with the guys on “Twins” leading. They led to whole race until the last leg. The wind was still shifted right ( which favored the right gate mark as you approached them), however there were now puffs coming down form the right side of the course now as well. We both went around the right mark facing downwind but we practically tacked around and headed out to the right. A shift to the right soon came and now we were well bow out on the Z’s. They eventually caved into us and we both tacked back to the left. From there it was a covering contest and we tried to herd them out to the left layline as quickly as we could. The fleet behind was close and we wanted to minimize tacking which in the light air and chop we were sailing in was really slow. After two races we had two firsts and feeling pretty good! One more race to go in the first day. Unfortunately we got kind of “chicken winged” up at the start and had to take a LOT of transoms off the line. Of course the wind shifted left which did not help matters. We hung tough though and instead of melting down like in my youth we kept sailing and trying to pass boats. Pass them we did and eventually we wound up 6th in that race. This race taught me again a lesson I’ve learned too many times. In bigger fleets and especially in boats that generate bad air like the J/24 being able to go straight after the start is key. Start in low density areas and increase your chances of getting a clean start. Usually one end or another is not favored by so much that this approach will not work. At the end of the first day we had 8 points and John Mollicone who was sailing great despite taking an “I” flag in the second race had 19 points. Ryan Cox our fellow Californian had 20 points. The second day of the event dawned clear and windless. With a 9:30 start time many of us left the dock early and were wondering where the RC was when we heard that the postponement flag was flying on shore. At about 10:30 the flag came down and we were off to the races. Well not quite, the breeze was pretty light and not quite settled in when the fourth race started. Greg Eiffert on “Brain Cramp owned the leeward end and soon after a nice lefty came in and he was off to the races. He jibed around the weather mark and our boat in third carried on straight. At one point the breeze in the middle of the run dropped out almost completely are we got a great heading puff and at one point we were laying the leeward mark on starboard. It did not hold however and Eiffert and the rest of the boats in the middle made a nice gainer by staying low and in the middle. Eiffert won the race and Dave Breitner on VooDoo, out of Wayzata YC in Minnesota was second, we took third. Starting well is always a big issue in these regattas and the next race showed just how challenging it is to get a good start every time. We got buried at the leeward end and were forced to tack early to the right, the left was favored and we got worked, rounding the weather mark around 20th. With our work cut out for us, this was a short four legged race with a downwind finish, we stuck to our guns and kept our air clear downwind. Staying close to the middle we were able to take advantage of all the shifts and eventually ground our way to 11th. By the time of the final race of the day the wind had settled down and we wisely avoided the crowded leeward end. Actually the wind had shifted a bit right and now the line was square. Starting about 1/3rd of the way down the line we got a great start and were soon battling it out for first with Chris Jewett on the “Usual Suspects”. This is another team from Minnesota that has great crew work and speed. We got close to them at times but their speed was great and tactics even better. We finished second and Luther Tatge from Dillon, Colorado was third. As the boats returned to the harbor the skies opened up and a serious thunderstorm developed. The reggae band that was slated to play that night blew out its sound board in the rain and packed it in early. For those of us from the West Coast it was exciting to see how fast the weather can change in this part of the country! The final day started with another postponement on shore ( this time no one left the dock early). At about 10:00 the AP came down and we went out to wait for the wind offshore. At this point the day was clear and almost cool with less humidity than the days before. Around 11:00 a light breeze started building on the shore and slowly filling out onto the lake. With a 8 point lead over John Mollicone going in, we wanted the RC to wait as long as possible for the breeze to fill. They were of course anxious to get races in and started the 7th race in a adequate but light 6 knots. This time the wind was out of the east and the South to North current was stronger than ever. This resulted in another huge pileup at the pin. We wanted to start up from the pin but started back on port too late. We were sailing up the line on port to leeward of three rows of starboard tackers, the bad air and strong current made our progress very slow and we never got to a point where the fleet thinned out. We started on port in the third row with Mollicone getting a fine start at the pin and getting onto port soon thereafter. We ended up getting ping ponged a few times until we finally broke clear and had a lane we could continue on port with. We had good speed and just kept sailing straight where the boats on our weather hip were struggling to keep their air clear. Slowly but surely were started getting into the top groups of boats just by not tacking. About this time I looked over the leeward quarter of boat back at the city front and the weather picture had changed very dramatically. The white puffy cumulus clouds were gone and towering black clouds had taken their place. As I was looking a bolt of lightning struck well to the south. Rain was now falling over downtown. On the radio, which were monitoring the RC on, came alive with talk about the lightning and there was a hint of panic in some of voices. Somebody said “you’ve got to do something” and a minute late the race was abandoned. The fleet headed for home and the Championship was over. On the way in we got some torrential rain and a pretty good lightning show. All the top three boats used North Sails, on our boat we had the standard San Diego designs, Ryan Cox in third used these same sails. Second place John Molicone used a North San Diego spinnaker. Check out the Milwaukee Art Museum. For more information on North Sails for your J/24 please contact our J/24
Experts!
Report by Tim Healy July 2003 - The J/24 25th Anniversary regatta was held this past week
hosted by Sail Newport in Newport, RI. 95 boats from as far as Japan
competed
in this four day event. We were blessed with spectacular weather and
superb regatta management allowing six races in four days including
a 22 mile long distance race around Jamestown island on Friday(four
hours!). We were lucky enough to stretch our lead to a comfortable
margin after race five on Saturday and finish 3rd in the final race
to win the regatta. Our team was co-skippered by Tim Healy and Brad
Read. Gordon Borges was on the bow, Nick Judson was at the mast and
Davenport Crocker trimmed. Our boat was #5257 that we sailed for the
first time at this regatta. For more information on North Sails for your J/24 please contact our J/24 Experts!
North Sails 1,2,3 in J/24 Western Regionals. Report by Chris Snow With qualification on the line for the 2003 J/24 Worlds 18 boats lined up at the docks of St. Francis Yacht Club for the Western Regional Championship May 31 and June 1st. Mark Twain’s quote “ the coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco” was apropos as we dropped our J/24 h“Bogus” off in the St.FYC parking lot at about 1:30 in the morning on Saturday. After a full afternoon spent at Galpin Ford (worlds largest) in San Fernando Valley getting our Ford Club Wagon back into towing shape the cool air and fog horns echoing across San Francisco Bay were a little surreal for our mostly Southern California team. After dropping the boat it was off to bed for a few hours sleep before it was back to the club for rigging the boat and crew weigh in before breakfast. We knew we were close to the weight limit and so had taken Friday as a day of fasting (including little to no drinking of liquids) to make the limit. As we arrived so late we had to wait until the morning to weigh in at 7:30. Not a big deal but those breakfast burritos sure tasted good! Then it was a quick rigging of the boat. Last Summer I built myself a “real” gin pole using some experience I had (including dropping a mast the day before the Worlds) and I have to say that having the right equipment sure makes things go easier. Our new gin pole is made from a 3” section of spinnaker pole tubing and is light and stiff. I have it rigged up with clips and 7x19 wire for the aft two legs and a small Harken block and tackle to pull the forward leg very tight. A 2:1 block and tackle with a small ratchet block is just right to pull the mast up to vertical and I have rigged a webbing strap to go around the mast that is fastened with schackle not a knot. Anyhow two people can get the rig up in about 15 minutes and it is simple to set up and store on the trailer. I have “Bogus” set up with a permanently installed mast collar so that all we have to do when stepping the mast is slide it through this collar and make sure the butt of the mast is in place on the shoe on the “I” beam. When I installed the collar I was very careful to make sure that the mast was perfectly straight side to side and the the mast fore and aft was at the maximum “J” position. Now when I step the mast all I need to do is adjust the upper shrouds to make sure the mast is straight side to side ( the mast does not have any type of permanent bend to it) and then tighten the lowers so it stays straight side to side. I highly recommend this set up as it really saves tuning time at regattas. After rigging the boat we washed and dried it and them applied Teflon “Starbright” to the bottom. Usually you are not allowed to take your boat out of the water during the course of the regatta ( this is the case with many keelboat classes) and so the Starbright not only really cleans the bottom but it also helps to keep marine growth off for a few days. After applying and buffing out the Starbright by hand with clean rags we launched the boat. Anyhow, now to the racing. Often for a bigger one design regatta the St.FYC Race Committee, well run by John Craig, will take the fleet all the way down to the Berkeley Circle, as there is moderate current there and even sometimes a little less wind. This was not a option for our fleet as the Star District Championships was taking place there at the same time. So we were to set up off the windward (west) side of Alcatraz Island (still looks like a scary place) and use the area between there and the Golden Gate as our racing area. If you have ever looked at a chart of San Francisco Bay you will note that this is some of the deepest water in the Bay and if you know much about current you’ll know that it runs fastest in the deepest water. To say there was a lot of current would be an understatement. The tide charts called for a flood all weekend. Since the prevailing seabreeze in the Bay is from the west and the current floods from the west the end result was we were sailing in relatively light wind the whole time. Upwind the boat was sailing over the ground slower than it would in the absence of current and downwind we were with the current and again had less apparent wind. The end result was the much anticipated “big breeze” of San Francisco Bay was no where to be seen. Instead it felt like a windy day in San Diego. The first race started in a moderate flood we elected to start near the committee boat in order to not get caught in what I thought could be a log jam of boats at the leeward end. Off the line we were even with the boats to leeward but soon the wind bent left a bit and they started to look good from the shift and because they were getting out of the current sooner. Soon the wind shifted back to it’s original direction and filled a little from our side. At the first mark Wayne Clough on “Downtown Uproar” was first and we were a close second. Downwind you wanted to get in as much current as possible and so our tactician called for a jibe shortly after the weather mark. This proved the right call as we got a nice puff and better current almost immediately. Rounding the leeward mark first we held on the win with Wayne in second, Doug Nugent (no relation to the Motor City Madman, Ted) was third. This was the last race we would win in the regatta as things were about to get more interesting. After two more races and heading for the barn on at the end of the first day we had logged a 1,2,3 on the day for a total of six points. Doug Nugent has exactly the same scores and had beaten us handily in the second two races of the day. Doug, with a lot of Bay experience had started to leeward of us in every race and took quick advantage of the relief from the current the left side of the course offered. Going in to the second day, we new the conditions would be almost an exact repeat of the previous day. Our failure the day before had been in being too passive on the line when we knew the left side of the course was favored. For the last two races my plan was to start to leeward to the guys we had to beat as I knew we had to be in front of them at the first mark on the very one sided course. The first start went almost perfectly we were the leeward most boat and had good speed and height off the line. Kermit Schickel showed great speed and even greater height to peel up off us on the second beat and win the race. We finished second and put two points on Doug and his gang on “Cool Breeze”. Going into the final race we again knew we had to be towards the leeward end and to leeward of all our competition. We felt that if Doug or another of the frontrunners got a jump on us at the start it might well be impossible to get around them on the one-sided course. Unfortunately for us the rest of the fleet was figuring this out as well. At the gun Eric Sanderson and “Suspence” had us teed up nicely right at the leeward end, they snuck around the pin and got away to a very clean wire to wire victory while we were stuck almost head to wind and over the line early to boot!!! We jibes around the leeward end and knowing that going right at all was certain death we tacked and started reaching to the left side of the course. Sailing in all that bad air was frustrating but we slowly started crawling our way back into the race. We were tempted many times to tack out to the right for clear air but stayed the course and in the end finished 8th in the race. Doug had an even worse 11th but held on to finish second overall and take the District 20 qualifier spot. Ryan Cox and the guys on 3324 had a great day on Sunday and broke a tiebreaker with Kermit for third overall. The top four teams in this regatta used North Sails and all showed great speed. Thanks to the St. Francis YC for a well run regatta! Final results:
Report by Tim Healy The 2003 Bank of Newport Memorial Day Regatta was a true wake up call for all of the 29 Boats registered for the regatta. Mid Week forecasts of 25-35 knots may have scared some folks away, but those who hung in there and did their homework were treated to 14-16 knots of breeze on Saturday and 4-12 knots on Sunday. All-right, all-right, the sun never came out and it was a bit more like frostbiting than a Memorial Day Regatta.....but for those working the kinks out after a long, rough winter, it was a great weekend. The J/24 fleet got in 9 races over the weekend. Tim Healy and his
team were the leaders after day one, but Jens Hookanson and Team Salsa
came on like gangbusters on Sunday leaving the fleet in their wake.
With a 1,1,1,3 on Sunday, they launched their way to a decisive 6 point
win. Third place was won by Ralph DeVivo's Pipe Dream along with co-skipper
John Mollicone.
Report by Chris Snow Valle de Bravo, Mexico. Mike Ingham and the crew on “Brain Cramp” won the 2003 J/24 North American Championships held in Valle de Bravo, Mexico. Mike used North Sails exclusively as did the top nine competitors in the regatta. The year marks the first time the North Americans have been held south of the border and by all accounts the regatta was a huge success. Valle is a small town about two hours drive outside Mexico City. The town, which is over 300 hundred years old is on the shores of a large reservoir. Situated at about 4000 feet the climate is cool and mild with moderate and reliable thermal breezes, a truly beautiful place to race sailboats. While the turnout for the regatta was somewhat small with 27 boats, four boats U.S. boats made the long trek down to Mexico. Mike Ingham and crew had to also win the furthest traveled award as they towed “Brain Cramp” all the way from Rochester, N.Y.! North Sails has long supported the fleet in Valle and just recently North’s Chris Snow did a tuneup clinic for the fleet that was well received. The top ten finshers in the nine race series were:
For more information on North Sails for your J/24 please contact Chuck Allen or Chris Snow at North Sails One Design
Report by Tim Healy 2003 J/24 Cowtown Stampede Bob Harden won the 24 boat fleet with a brand new
set of North Newport J24 sails. He has now qualified for the 2004 Worlds
in Noroton Ct. Bobs next big regatta is the J24 NAs in Mexico where
he will be flying his North sails again. Frank Keesling with Eric Foust
(J24 class executive director) and team Dumpster were second. Fred
Am Rhein
and team Flower Power were third. All used North Sails exclusively. Top 3:
Report by Tim Healy The 2003 J24 Midwinters were held at Biscayne Bay Yacht Club January 8-11th. Thirty eight boats from as far away as Venezuela and Ireland attended this extremely well run regatta. Eight races were sailed over the first three days of the event and due to the lack of wind the RC was unable to get any races off the last day. The wind was light – moderate ranging from 3-12 knots. The direction of the breeze was 290- 180 and the seas were flat to light chop throughout the regatta. Two weak cold fronts passed through and kept the temperature in the low seventies with low humidity. North Sails One Design’s Tim Healy and team “Anna” won the regatta with 23 points after eight races and one drop. Andy Horton from Annapolis was 2nd and Mike Ingham with team “Brain Cramp” from Rochester were 3rd. The 1st and 3rd place boats used all North Sails. “The sails provided exceptional speed throughout the full range of conditions” said Ingham. The Pan Am Trials were held just before the Midwinter’s at the same site. There were 17 boats competing for the right to attend the Pan Am games this summer in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. This regatta was also sailed in light to moderate conditions with flat water. Wind direction was 290-350. Seven races were sailed over the two day event. Tim Healy and team “Anna” were 1st using North Newport sails, Bob Harden and team “Mr. Happy” were 2nd, the Zaleski Twins were 3rd and Mike Ingham with team “Brain Cramp” were 4th. Mike Ingham used his North Sails at this regatta also.
The J24 Class, Jack King (Flat Earth Racing) and Key Biscayne Yacht Club did a fabulous job running these two regattas. The week was packed with good racing and the competitors were made to feel welcome by the host club. Thank you to everyone involved. Complete results can be found here. For more information on our winning J/24 program, don't hesitate to contact the North's J/24 experts.
2002-2001 J/24 Reports and Articles, click here!
For more information on J/24 sails, contact the North J/24 experts.
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Milwaukee,
Wisconsin was the venue for this year’s edition of the J/24 U.S.
Nationals held August 1,2,3. The city of Milwaukee has truly undergone
a renaissance in the past few years. While the city is still a center
of heavy manufacturing it is also becoming a little more culturally
enlightened and the downtown area, right near the Milwaukee Yacht Club,
where the regatta was held has a lot of new construction and interesting
buildings. The most striking example of this new construction is the
addition made to the Milwaukee Art Museum a couple of year ago. The
Quadracci Pavillion was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava
and one look at it tell you that Wisconsin is not all about beer, brats
and cheese anymore. The wings of the museum open and close during the
day giving the impression that the building is actually flying! It
is also visible from the water. Very Cool!!!
On
the Tuesday between the two regattas, Tim Healy and Geoff Moore held
a North Sails sponsored
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