A Q&A with Mark Pincus about the 2018 J/24 Midwinter Championship
by David Schmidt 28 Feb 2018 08:00 PST
March 2-4, 2018
J/24 Midwinter Championship day 2 © Christopher Howell
While designer Rod Johnstone is a smart and insightful man and a darned good sailor, he had no idea what he was creating during the summer of 1975 when he designed a small keelboat, which he built in his garage in Stonington, Connecticut, with help from members of his immediate family. Once splashed, the tidy vessel, which Johnstone dubbed Ragtime, became an instant success on the waters of Long Island Sound (and beyond), and it wasn't long before Johnstone had amassed some enviable trophies and began fielding serious inquiries from soon-to-be "J/24" owners.
Ragtime's legend spread, more boats were built, a class was formed, its ranks swelled, and-in 1995-the J/24 was inducted into the American Sailboat Hall of Fame, with the special distinction of being the most successful keelboat of all time and a production run of some 5,300 boats.
Scrolling through the list of former J/24 World Champions is akin to looking through a who's-who of sailing for several decades, both in the U.S. and abroad, and even today, some 41 years after Ragtime's keel first kissed the brine, this world-championship title is still one of the hardest to win.
While there's no question that the racing is competitive in this diverse class, there's also no question that J/24 sailors have long enjoyed traveling to destination regattas with their trailer-friendly boats, especially in the winter, and the class has long enjoyed a robust Florida circuit that's included the J/24 Midwinter Championship since it's inaugural event in 1978.
This year's J/24 Midwinter Championship, which is being hosted by Shake A Leg Miami, is set to unfurl on the waters of Florida's Biscayne Bay from March 2-4. As of this writing, 41 teams from three countries have entered, thus ensuring racers more than enough racecourse competition to shake off any accumulating midwinter blues.
I interviewed Mark Pincus, regatta chairman of the 2018 J/24 Midwinter Championship, via email, to learn more about this year's event.
What's the regatta format, how many races do you aim to rifle off, and how serious is the competition level?
The format is the typical Windward-Leeward courses and ten races are scheduled. [This year represents] the largest group of sailors [that we've had] in many years [with] 40+ entries [and it] shows that it's a serious regatta. That is due to the 2019 J/24 Worlds also being held in Miami in October of 2019.
If you were a gambling man, what teams would you be eyeing for the Top Three by the time the last finishing gun sounds?
As mentioned above, more [there will be more] teams than usual [this year] so the competition will be higher than normal. This is the first regatta with 2019 berths being awarded for the 2019 Worlds.
You have the usual pros coming from North [Sails] and Quantum, and a bunch of boats with a lot of major J/24 regatta experience. But since the pros usually fill the podium, we will award Corinthian trophies also to make everybody get a chance at a trophy!
Am I correct that this year marks the regatta's 40th anniversary? Any interesting stories from the regatta's early days?
Technically, last year was the 40th [anniversary regatta]... but [this year is] the first of the next 40 years! After the first few J/24 Midwinters in Key West, Coconut Grove and Coral Reef Yacht Club got the regatta for many years in a row. It was the week after New Years and [was] filled with 100s of J/24s and 500 college-age crews...[J/24s were] the hot sport boat of the 80's!
And [it] lead to the debauchery one can imagine...we have members of the current Board of Directors at CRYC who fondly remember being part of the revelry that came with the [Mid Winter Championship] each year...and whom have denied it happening again at that club!
What advise would you lend to first-time J/24 Midwinter Championships entrants? How about to returning race veterans?
We actually have a couple of youth boats coming that will be their first time and several other new members to the local Miami Fleet 10 jumping in for the first time. A
[My] advice for them is to keep doing it and gain from the experience of sailing with bigger fleets and the pros who are usually happy to give advice. And what can I tell returning race veterans...they usually have pretty good programs as a lot of them travel their boats regularly.
What kind of nightlife and onshore entertainment can sailors look forward to, after a great day on the water?
Well, it is the Bacardi J/24 Midwinters...so we begin with the best Mojitos and carry on with Bacardi's Cuban Storm made with Bacardi 8 and Regatta Ginger Beer, another one of our sponsors!
We have three or four nights planned with dinners and the famous Bacardi Bar featuring all of their famous brands, and the fourth night is for the sailors to go out and experience either [Coconut] Grove's great bars or make a sojourn out to South Beach!
Has the J/24 Midwinter Championships taken any steps in recent years to reduce its environmental footprint or otherwise green-up?
[You] caught me here... usually with other regattas I organize we do have a relationship with Sailors for the Seas...and I do not know why we don't this time!
We do have the normal 'garbage' rules in the [regatta's Sailing Instructions] and sailors are generally cleaner with our environment to begin with...but, our only official act of goodness is that Shake-A-leg Miami is our Host and they give back to the community in many, many ways.
To start they are a sailing marina dedicated to bringing the disabled community out onto the water in any way they can. And due to the nature of their programs, they are one of the first in the community to organize bay/island clean-ups.
Anything else that you'd like to add, for the record?
Miami - J/24 Worlds Championship - Oct 19-26, 2019!!! Regatta Park in Coconut Grove!!