J24 Legends Regatta Monday 4th October 2010 - Gosford Sailing Club
by Simon Grain on 29 Mar 2010
Up to 30 J24s are expected for the Legends Regatta David Staley - copyright
This will be the most amazing collection of past and current World Champions, National Champions and Women on Water winners, the J24 class has ever brought together for a day of racing and conviviality.
Immediately following the NSW State Championships, this one day regatta will become the stuff of Legends itself.
If you want to meet and talk with, sail against and have a beer with our Sailing Legends, you need to book early and be at the Legends Regatta.
How does one little boat create this big legend?
The J24 is one of those yachting phenomena we see only occasionally, from a single boat 'Ragtime' built by Rod Johnstone in his garage back in 1976 it has grown rapidly into the world's largest and most successful one design small keelboat. Even now nearly 40 years later it still retains an amazing and substantial place in the worlds sailing scene.
Internationally it has been the stuff of legends, with a list as long as the sailing scene itself of National and international champions, Americas Cup and Round the World sailors. Names like Kostecki, Read, Kolius and Baird, head the list of hundreds of notable sailors, all of whom have become legends in J24s and sailing internationally.
Here in Australia, we have a similar record of sailing legends from the early days of Js in Australia, Bethwaite, Mundle, Murray, Buckley, Lissiman, Short, Geitz, Basford, Plante, Anson and more – names we all know. And now we have a more recent group of sailors that we currently sail with who are creating their own records, the stuff of future legends.
How does one little boat create all this magic?
Strict one design, strong competition and class camaraderie would be a good start. There are other classes that fill parts of the J24 package, but even now no other class puts it all together with a boat that you can easily cruise ‘two up' on with sleeping accommodation below (for four), club race with 3 to 5 friends, race against a hot National fleet, or go overseas and represent your country against 90 other boats that represent the best of nearly 6,000 other J24s in the world.
And you can buy a boat for about $20,000 that you can do all this in.
Nothing else comes close !
The J24 Legends Regatta. Here's your chance to have one of Australia's J24 Sailing Legends sail on your boat as either skipper or crew.
For more information, go to www.j24.com.au
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