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See also:2006 Regatta Reports |2005 Regatta Reports | 2004 Reports | 2003 Reports | 2002/2001 Reports
J/24 Sails
Report by Chuck Allen North Sails powered 1st, 2nd and 3rd places at The St. Pete YC Green Bench Regatta. Top 3: "We were just a little off the pace set by Brian and Robby but we were also cleary faster than everyone else. We were using the original North main I bought used from Robby in 2005 and a genoa with 30+ days as well. Sure love my North Sails." -- John Denman For information on North sails for your J/24 don't hesitate to contact our J/24 Experts!
J/24 Sails
Report by Chuck Allen North Sails won the Fleet 50 Season here in Newport, RI. We had sails on 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10. Also, NS were on 26 of the 34 boats in the fleet.Here are the results:
2 5.19 Charles Enright Rooster 4274 5 1 3 4 10 17 14 4 6 19F 6 3 11 5 31S 4 7 5 2 1 3 34S 34S 34S 7 7.72 USA 3145 Will Wells 3145 7 2 11 1 5 19 22D 15 28S 28S 1 4 2 18 31S 10 4 2 33S 2 21F 34S 34S 34S 9 8.73 Scott Milnes Sugar Plum 1557 23S 23S 5 9 3 6 27S 27S 13 12 12 9 20 15 31S 6 6 33S 4 15 4 34S 34S 1 For information on North sails for your J/24 don't hesitate to contact our J/24 Experts!
Report by Paul Bogataj
The crew was really enjoyable to sail with. Craig (trimmer), David (middle), and Brian (bow) took care of everything very effectively. I was happy to win with them. The boat had North San Diego sails that have been used all season, and it was very easy to get the boat going fast and high and keep it going in the changing conditions. I really like those sails. Photos and results are at http://www.j24fleet.com/ For information on North sails for your J/24 don't hesitate to contact our J/24 Experts!
Report by Brian Bissell In a very light 3-day-contest, Dave Bonney, sailing with North Sails on his J24 for the first time came out on top, winning 3 out of 4 races in the 2006 Annapolis Race Week. There was some tough competition, but we had the right combination of boatspeed and good boathandling. It also helped that we went the right way on the race course more often than not. We used a full set of North J/24 Newport Designs (with a Kevlar reinforced Genoa) that were one year old. This was a good warm up regatta for the J24 North Americans later this month. I'll be sailing with Dave for that event as well. For information on North sails for your J/24 don't hesitate to contact our J/24 Experts!
Report by Chuck Allen The start of the J/24 New York/NJ Parkway Series was this weekend
in Staten Island, NY... An excellent turnout combined with "Blade Conditions" made for superb sailing off of Sandy Hook. It blew form the 260-280 degree direction
both days, ranging from 18-30 knots. Blades were used most of the regatta with
our North Sails Jibs simply dominated the event! For information on North sails for your J/24 don't hesitate to contact our J/24 Experts!
Report by Mike Ingham J-Daze is always a fun regatta. It was the first weekend in May on lake Canandaigua, one of the gorgeous finger lakes of upstate NY. It is a 30 mile long lake with great winds out of the North or South where there is a long fetch, but out of any other direction the hills send the wind down on us in swirls. We never know what weather we will get at J-Daze, and we have even shoveled the snow off the boats in the past. This year we set up Friday evening under sunny skies and nice temperatures. Saturday we woke up to driving rain, blowing 15kts, and temperatures in the 30’s. Man was that cold, but the wind was out of the NW and it was a great day of sailing. Two races before we went in for a civilized lunch, then the rain stopped and we had two more great races. We had good starts and our boatspeed was excellent. It was a bit puffy so shifting gears was the key to speed. We focused on the “big lines” which in this case was the main sheet and Genny sheet, with some backstay and even vang playing if the changes in wind were big enough. Saturday night as usual at J-Daze was a blast. It always coincides with the Kentucky Derby and everyone cheers even thought they have no idea who the Horses are. Mount Gay sponsored the event and that always helps! One race on a dying Southerly was all the lake had in her on Sunday. In the end, I think 13 or 14 of the top 15 were North Sails customers! That’s an impressive. It was again sunny and warm so hauling and de-rigging followed by awards was fine. For information on North sails for your J/24 don't hesitate to contact our J/24 Experts!
Interview by Brian Bissell
The 2006 J24 Nationals hosted by Houston Yacht Club took place last week, April 27-29, and it was a regatta to remember. The race committee was excellent and reminded me of the premier race committee work at Key West Race Week. Conditions didn't make it easy on them, but they were the epitome of professional. Sailing Anarchy sponsored the event and added a few appreciated extras such as the beer boat that handed each J24 5 cans of beer for the crew after the last race of the day for the sail in. There were live bands, good food, and fun parties every night. The racing, however, was where the real fun was had. In such a competitive class, with its rich history and storied past, I believe it's impossible not to have butterflies in your stomach before the start of the first race. An F-18 fly-by in the prestart only added to the excitement. On our boat, with skipper Chris Snow, trimmer Willem Van Waay, tactician Mark Brink, bowman Andrew Kerr, and tactical assistant, pit, and twings Brian Bissell (myself), we knew one thing from our combined experience....let's not make the big mistake early on, just stay in the hunt. So much for that idea, as we found ourselves going back to round an end after the first start of the regatta. What had happened was they called sail number 2938 and we were bow number 29. We got the clarification as we were rounding the midline boat. Oh well, let's see how many boats we can catch. I was impressed with how everyone on our boat kept their cool. No one was freaking out. We were on a mission. After starting in last place and giving the fleet a sizeable head start, we were able to grind back to a respectable 7th place, which fortunately was our worst finish in the regatta. I think our impressive comeback in that first race gave us some much needed confidence in our boat speed, boat handling, and tactical wizardry. We then knew that we didn't need to win the start to win the race. In fact, starting anywhere but 2 minutes behind the fleet would be nice. In varying breeze conditions (we saw everything from 3 to 30 knots) our scorecard read 7, 3, 1, 2, 1, 1, 4, 6 and we took home the J24 National Championship by a 46 pt. margin. The scary thing is that we were constantly improving and we still have room for improvement. We used a full inventory of North San Diego designs and 2nd place Mike Ingham used a full inventory of North Newport Designs. Each design has a slightly different tuning guide, but one thing we learned was that our tuning matrix was slightly off. For whatever reason (possibly the stretch characteristics in our upper and lower shroud wires) we were setting up tighter than what the tuning guide suggested. Each day we'd come off the water and measure our shroud tension with the Loos Gauge and it would be tighter than what we thought it would and should be. By the end of the regatta we had adjusted our matrix to fit the tuning guide recommendations and our boat speed improved. Lesson learned: don't rely on an old matrix, check it out before each regatta to make sure nothing has changed and you still get the same numbers through the full range. It might seem like a hassle, but I believe it's worth it. The one thing in common between the team I won J24 Worlds and North Americans with and this team was that we really were a "team". On both boats, we probably had 5 guys on the boat that could call tactics as well as anyone else and a few guys that could even drive the boat as well, but everyone played their role for the betterment of the team in order to achieve the ultimate goal....winning the regatta. Some professional sailors I've sailed with think that it's better to be the "alpha male" on the boat rather than be a team player. I've even heard of a tactician on a Farr 40 tell a fellow crewmember that he's not being paid to talk and to keep quiet after he simply tried to call out a puff of wind. Sailing with those types of people don't make you want to perform at your best. In fact, maybe even the opposite. One thing I will definitely take away from both experiences is the importance of the "team" when sailing on boats with more than one person. Find more pictures at www.yachtshots.com. For more about the event, visit the regatta website. For information on North sails for your J/24 don't hesitate to contact our J/24 Experts!
Interview by Chuck Allen Mike Ingham and Team won The 2006 J/24 Easter Regatta in fine fashion, repeating as champions from 2005. The first team to ever win the regatta back to back-hard to do on Lake Murray, SC. Mike hails from Rochester, NY. North Sails customer: Dan Borrer, St. Augustine, Fl., finished third overall by dominating the second half of the event in a variety of conditions. His team is showing superb speed with the important ability to "change gears" when needed . Both Ingham and Borrer are sailing with our Newport Upwind and San Diego Downwind Series Sails. North Highlights: The conditions were unbelievable this year with the majority of races being held in 9-18 knots of breeze from the WSW direction. This venue can typically fall into the 2-6 knot category, seeing 5 races normally. The Columbia Sailing Club R/C masterfully got in 9 races, which they thought might be a new record... All The CSC Members come out in full force for this event, volunteering at all levels: from on the water to cooking out in the evenings-they run a top notch event!!!! Some other notable North Sails Customers that have recently purchased sails were Jason Decker aboard Rush, finished 6th, one of his better finishes. James Howard on Classic, always in the hunt, wound up seventh and Chip Till and his Team on Large Red Delicious, were eighth-If not for a DSQ, they would have been closer to third for sure. Steve Wood and Team Tasmanian Devil finished ninth and Kiki Werner aboard Pee Wee rounded out the top ten. Many of the boats were packed up and driving to Houston, TX for The J/24 Nationals next week. Everyone looks forward to attending the event again next Easter! If you need any help at the Nationals, or is looking for new sails for your boat, give our J24 experts a call today!
Interview by Chuck Allen
Tell us about the Melbourne worlds? CB: It was awesome! It was absolutely an experience of a lifetime. The Aussies put on a fabulous event, They have wonderful sailing conditions... we were there for 2 regattas and never once touched the motor - it stayed tied in the boat the whole time - there's just always plenty of wind! ...and you guys shipped brain cramp? Whats up with that?
CB: Yes, we did, as did the Brazilians and four of the Japanese teams. The decision to ship vs. charter a boat is never easy, but we've learned that a big part of doing well is in the details - no unnecessary distractions and confidence in the equipment. The latest shipping containers have door openings wide enough to better fit the boats. It's really pretty easy. Is the shipping itself a headache? CB: Not really, it helps when you speak the same language, although there were times I wasn't sure that was the case in Australia! But really these shipping company's do this container thing like clockwork- like they don't understand why we call up months in advance and worry about all the details. On the packup to return home the container arrived to the yacht club an hour after we finished racing, they set it on the ground, we loaded it up and they trucked it away an hour later. I talked to our shipping agent in the States when we arrived back home and it was already on a boat home. Always the most important thing is to have a good shipping agent. So you have a way to tip the boat on its side for the container? CB: yes, a pretty simple dolly. The Japanese teams have the dolly thing really figured out well. They are looking like they are prepared to continue their presence at worlds in the future ... several of the Japanese teams were fast and smart and consistently up front. They are really good competitors, tough to beat! Fast... OK, what is it that makes somebody fast at an event like this? CB: Lots of things. The boat has to be right, good bottom, foils, mast. Good sails are critical. Good teamwork and boathandling. But at a worlds there are a lot of boats with the right stuff. Then it moves to the tougher stuff... confidence in the equipment, confidence in your ability to shift gears and stay fast, and finally which team can put all the rest behind and best master the course - the starts, the fleet, the wind, the conditions - all of it. Any surprises with equipment down under? CB: Well not really.... just that when we first arrived we noticed that all the boats down there have really strong, beefy spreader brackets. We couldn't figure out why they'd want the extra weight aloft, until the first day of the Australian Nationals when the wind quickly built to 35 - 40. They said puffs to 54. Most of us finished the race with mains only, something I had never imagined we would ever do. We were wishing there was a reefing grommet in that Fathead Mainsail - we would've used it! But the interesting thing was when we returned to the dock, expecting to see carnage, and there's virtually no one with any broken gear. incredible! So what sails were people using? CB: The Brazilians and most of the Japanese teams had North, with a 50 /50 mix of San Diego and Newport. I would say half the fleet had Norths and a mix of about 4 other brands made up the other half of the fleet. It is a huge advantage to know, as you're racing side by side with somebody good, that your sails are at 100% - and it becomes who can feel what the boat needs and instinctively adjust to suit the best. So even if everyone had great sails, it then becomes who shifts gears the best - and that's where the support from North has been invaluable - all the photos, the coach boats with you and Greg Fischer, and the ideas and advice via phone calls and emails from people like Vince Brun, Chris Snow, Antony Kotoun .... all that comes into play. It's amazing really, any monday after a regatta where we're not going well and Mike can be on the phone searching for answers with Vince. So when do you see packing it up for the next one? CB: 2007 in Acapulco is going to be an event to remember! We have to qualify, and for sure there will be plenty of teams who want to go. But if we do qualify we would drive to that one - the road trip to mexico is half the fun!
Interview by Chuck Allen Dan Borrer and The Borrer Racing Team have won The 2006 ST. Pete NOOD. Dan uses North's
Newport main and genoa and San Diego spinnaker.
Light winds have been prevailing in The Tampa Bay/St. Pete Region leading us into The 2006 Results:
For information on North sails for your J/24 don't hesitate to contact our J/24 Experts!
Interview by Chuck Allen
What were the conditions like? MI - The Melbourne Australia J24 Worlds was mostly windy, but not all. Like most week long events we needed to be fast in all conditions. There were a lot of days that we had the thermal wind which peaked at about 25kts and it was a shallow bay so we had significant chop. We also had a light wind day with some chop, and another windy day from the shore so it was flatter. A little of everything. The chop was short and steep, unlike anywhere in the world that I have sailed before, teams definitely have to practice their technique in these conditions. We started to figure it out toward the end of The Worlds, where we finished with two bullets. You researched the local weather at the venue for a few months before going, did you find this useful? MI - Absolutely! We looked at historical data for the past year in the exact location where the events were to be sailed, printed all kinds of charts and graphs to put into our arsenal. We found the information to be very close to the previous years conditions. Knowing what the conditions were going to be like for the most part-really helped by taking an item off our plate. There were of course those random days that threw a wrench into things. The Brazilian team won, what was their secret? MI -The Brazilians who just were second at the England Worlds by one point have been practicing four days a week since then and it showed. They had North Sails as we did and their “secret” was that they were fast in all conditions. Some of the other teams would be fast in a specific condition, like the Italians with some brand I was unfamiliar with and were great in light wind, but dropped like a stone when it blew hard. Your team seems to have improved a lot in the last year, how did you do it? MI -Unfortunately, we are all working guys so we have not had much time to practice. But the time at regattas and the training we do has been spent learning how to tune the rig. The mast but position and the rest of the setup is key, and the tuning guide is pretty much dead on. We have learned that there are minor differences in the boats, so we are less concerned with that measurement from the bow stem bolts to the mast step and more concerned with how much prebend we have. How about shroud tension? MI -Once the prebend is set correctly it is important to set the shrouds to the tuning guide. It is hard to guess what the wind really is and I think the loose gauges all read differently. To deal with that issue, we have been setting the shrouds to what we think the wind is, then just sailing up wind. If we are starved for power, we go down a notch on the shroud tension, if we are overpowered, we go up a notch. That way we don’t over think the whole thing. We also don’t set them to what we think the wind will be, we set them to what it is at the start. The start is the most important anyway and we always guess wrong so we gave up trying. What about trimming? MI -We have spent most of our practice time learning how to use the “big lines” The big lines are the jib/ genoa sheet, jib leads, main sheet, and traveler. How tight or eased the sheets are is critical to every time the conditions change or we need to change modes. For example, if we need to be in point mode we have learned how high we can go without stalling. We still have much to learn, and that is where we are spending our time. Any other advice to your fellow J24 sailors? MI -We have helped a lot of people tune their boats, and I am surprised how often people don’t follow the North Tuning guide. It’s a good guide and if nothing else it is a great start. A lot of time went into the guide from multiple world champions. So use it until you learn how to win with what they win with, do not try to be too clever. Also, if you are shipping your J/24 by container and have issues-call Curt, who sails with us, he'll figure it out fairly quickly. What J/24 Events are you planning on sailing this year? MI -We are unable to make it to Midwinters after being away for so long at Worlds, bummer because that is a fun one. We'll hit The Easter Regatta in S.C., then to Nationals in Texas, some local events in Rochester and of course The North Americans (in my home waters of N.Y) ending with The East Coasts. Mike, if you look at the list of regattas above-you are defending Champions at Easter, Nationals and East Coasts-pretty impressive! I bet you put up a good fight at The North Americans in Rochester seeing that you have sailed there "just a few times". Thanks for taking the time to talk with us and tell your story of Australia.
2005 J/24 Reports and Articles, click here!
For more information on J/24 sails, contact the North J/24 experts.
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1. Brian Malone - North Newport Series Sails
I was invited to skipper a J/24 in the District 19 Championship this past weekend because the owner was out of town. There were 29 boats mostly from Seattle, but a few from Vancouver B.C., Portland, Montana, and California. Saturday's three races were shifty with variable wind velocity, so really benefiting those who could adapt to the changes quickly. Sunday's race was light and tricky, which we won and Keith was called over early.
Mike, congrats on finishing second at The Australian Nationals and forth in The 2006 Worlds! Back to back regattas, both a week long, shipping your boat from New York to Melbourne and taking three and a half weeks off of work-WOW! I bet it was quite the time with The J/24 Worlds, The Volvo finishing, The Olympic Regatta and The Australian Tennis Open all happening at once. Here are some quick questions to relay your experience to other J/24 Sailors in The States:
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