J/24s win big in Sandringham Yacht Club Thursday Twilight Stern Chaser Series
by Hugo Ottaway 12 Apr 2018 23:32 AEST
Jack Fullerton and Two Dogs © J24 Australia
It is without doubt, that the Sandringham Yacht Club Thursday twilight stern chaser series is the hardest regatta to win of the year. With a variable PHS in play and conditions that often favour the larger boats with soldier's courses, the strength of the J24 fleet is regularly demonstrated in winning performances.
This year's twilight series attracted 77 entries over two divisions including with up to 13 J24's, it runs every week for 24 weeks, although there are a number of drops in the series, miss one important week and you're dead! The fleet ranges from 50 footers in division one to the smallest J24 in Div 2.
This is a great series as the J's start anywhere from 10 to 16 minutes after the first boat crosses the start line. Chasing the fleet down has become an intense competition made even harder by a shifting performance handicap that penalises any boat who finishes in the top three in any race.
This year was a bonanza with J24's filling the top 3 positions. The 2017/2018 winner was Jack Fullerton in his beautifully prepared "Two Dogs". Jack won by a huge margin often proving impossible to catch with good boat speed and tactics. He is a shining example of our younger breed in the J24 class at Sandy. Second (and current runner up in the 2018 National Championship) Simon Grain in Jet and third (current National Champion) Bruschetta VI skippered by Hugo Ottaway.
J's feature strongly in this multi design race often getting line honours and filling the top places over recent years.