The J24 class is gearing up for a hot regatta in Melbourne this season

by Simon Grain on 14 Dec 2009
The 2010 J24 National Championships will be held at Sandringham YC in Melbourne on January 2nd - 8th.

Approximately 20 boats are expected to attend with boats coming from WA, SA and NSW. This will be the first National Championships held at the new Sandringham Clubhouse, a multi million dollar state of the art facility situated right on the breakwater.

The old building has gone and the new setup includes a comprehensive building that includes member’s bar, lounge, outdoor terrace, restaurant, function rooms, training auditorium and management offices. The hardstand area is well equipped with 2 cranes for J24s plus a travelift and launching ramp. The Ken King Centre right on the marina offers refreshments and a press room.

The defending champion Sean Wallis from Perth will be there and we expect a tough battle between him and the rest of the fleet. Other top skippers with a chance of winning are Hugo Ottaway (Vic) a previous National Champion, David Suda (Vic), Sean Kirkjan from Sydney, plus Alyn Stevenson and Peter Stevens from Adelaide.

The program is for 10 races over the week with the regatta run by the excellent team at Sandringham Graeme Watt, a Sandy member is highly regarded in race management and is the Race Officer.

We have an extremely good women’s crew skippered by Kirsty Harris from Victoria, they won two races at the 09 Nationals in Adelaide and will be sailing in this years champs, they are one of a number of crews looking for selection to next year’s World Championships in Sweden.

We expect a warm summer with 20knot sea breezes and excellent fair racing with courses set right off the club.

The class is undergoing a strong resurgence of interest currently and many previous skippers who have stopped racing regularly or moved up to larger keelboats are getting back into the class. The value of boats is increasing as good boats become harder to find. We are finding a strong class value in those that don’t want to race Etchells and have a more multipurpose boat that also has the largest international keelboat class in the world that allows them to compete in international regattas.

Regatta Calendar
Saturday 2nd January 2010
Registration. Measuring and Weigh In.                               1000 – 1600hrs

Sunday 3rd January 2010
Registration, Measuring and Weigh In.                                0800 – 1200hrs
Invitation Race                          Warning Signal                  1355hrs
Regatta Briefing and Welcome Function                             1830hrs

Monday 4th January 2010
Racing                                          First Warning Signal        1155hrs

Tuesday 5th January 2010
Racing                                          First Warning Signal        1155hrs
Organised Club Dinner                                                         1830hrs

Wednesday 6th January 2010
Lay Day / Provision for resail

Thursday 7th January 2010
Racing                                             First Warning Signal     1155hrs

Friday 8th January 2010
Racing                                              First Warning Signal    1155hrs

Prize Giving Dinner                                                               1900hrs

More information about the J24 Australian Nationals and the class is on the new class website at www.j24.com.au