J/24 UK National Championship at the International Paint Poole Regatta
by Johnny Allen 5 Jun 2018 03:47 PDT
26-28 May 2018
The 2018 J24 UK National Championship was held over the bank holiday weekend of 26th-28th May as part of the International Paint Poole Regatta. With thunder and rain forecast, the regatta weekend looked bleak, but miraculously the sun shone through to bring a very hot and desirable event.
With twenty-one entries, the J24 class was the largest fleet in the regatta and as usual, presented extremely close one-design racing.
The event attracted a good turnout of boats with two visiting from Ireland as the fleet gets ready for their World Championship at Lake Garda in August 2018.
The first day of the regatta started with a moderate easterly breeze which was less than most boats expected, with the majority of the fleet swapping to genoas before the start of the first race. The first three races saw Chaotic and Madeline leading the fleet with two wins to Chaotic.
The last race of the day brought with it a right hand shift which allowed the U25 crew aboard Team Impact to capitalise and come through with a dominant win. With Madeline receiving a black flag in the last race, Saturday ended with Chaotic leading the regatta.
Sailors woke on Sunday morning to heavy rain, however by rigging time, the clouds had past and once again a day of hot sunny weather was enjoyed, even if the wind was a little light at times. Another four races were held in the light conditions, with several boats finding the pace to finish at the top of the fleet. The Parkstone U25 team once again showed good speed winning the first race of the day, with Mojosi and Danjerous When Wet also scoring bullets. Duncan McCarthy had a consistent day with one win and three 4th place finishes, bringing them up to lead the regatta by four points after the second day, followed by Chaotic. Under-25 team Majic were lying in 3rd place with a set of consistent results with Team Impact U25 only one point behind in 4th.
After an early start on Monday morning, the fleet arrived at the race course for a 9am start – but the wind didn't. Two races were scheduled to conclude the championship series and the fleet waited for three hours for the wind to fill in. Drifting around in no wind got too much for several travelling competitors who took the decision to head back to shore to get an early crane out. At 12pm, seemingly out of nowhere, the wind filled in to allow the race officer to get one race in to conclude the regatta. This saw Madeline and Chaotic locked into a match race battle for the overall win, resulting in Madeline being disqualified from the last race after a protest hearing. The two under-25 teams were also in a close fought match race for 3rd place, but James Torr's team aboard Majic managed to hold off Giles Kuzyk's Team Impact until the end. At the front of the fleet, Joe Cross, Mark Lewers and William Pollock secured the top three places in the final race of the event.
Congratulations go to Nick Phillips and team on Chaotic who sailed well to become the 2018 National Champions. Duncan McCarthy closely followed in 2nd place and James Torr's U25 team took 3rd.
The event saw several new faces to the J24 class who showed great form; many in preparation for the 2020 J24 World Championship which is coming to the UK and being hosted by Parkstone Yacht Club. It's also great to see two under-25 teams battling near the top of the fleet after being attracted last season by fantastic, affordable, one design racing. This bodes well for the future of the class and any new teams are encouraged and welcomed.
The class would like to thank Poole Regatta, Parkstone Yacht Club and our race officer, Bryan Drake with his team of committee boat crew and mark layers for providing excellent racing and courses throughout the event and for their perseverance on the last day of racing.
Overall Results:
If you finished in the top ten at the J/24 nationals then enter your Gear Guide information here
Pos | Boat | Sail No | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | Pts |
1st | Chaotic | GBR 4177 | Nick Phillips | Parkstone YC | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 5 | -11 | 31 |
2nd | Madeleine | 4265 | Duncan McCarthy | Parkstone YC | 1 | 2 | 2 | (BFD) | 4 | 1 | 4 | 4 | DSQ | 32 |
3rd | Majic | 4248 | James Torr | Saltash SC | 5 | -12 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 43 |
4th | Team Impact U25 | 4236 | Giles Kuzyk | Parkstone YC | 8 | -10 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 46 |
5th | Mojosi | 4260 | Shane Hewlett | BCYC | 4 | 3 | -19 | 6 | 7 | 12 | 1 | 10 | 9 | 52 |
6th | Cacoon | 4269 | Dave Hale | Poole YC | 11 | -13 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 12 | 5 | 54 |
7th | Jawbreaker | GBR 4271 | David Cooper | Saltash SC | 7 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 14 | 3 | 15 | 3 | (DNC) | 60 |
8th | Jobs for the Buoys | 4263 | Joe Cross | Poole YC | 12 | 6 | -18 | 3 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 1 | 66 |
9th | Unity Lets | 4245 | Matthew Conyers | RWYC | 6 | 5 | 12 | 13 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 17 | (DNC) | 70 |
10th | DanJerous When Wet | GBR 5238 | Mark Lewers | Royal Western YC | (RAF) | 9 | 15 | 14 | 11 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 73 |
11th | Flying Colours | GBR 4266 | William Pollock | Parkstone YC | 16 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 13 | -17 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 75 |
12th | #Team Sail Shape | 4064 | Alan Harris-Guerrero | Royal Fowey YC | 3 | 8 | 13 | 10 | 16 | 9 | 13 | 7 | (DNC) | 79 |
13th | Jam Too | 4206 | Austen Davies | Bude SC | 10 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 15 | 4 | 10 | DSQ | (DNC) | 94 |
14th | Crackerjack | GBR 4074 | Dave Butters | Parkstone YC | 17 | 16 | 11 | 9 | (DSQ) | 11 | 12 | 14 | 6 | 96 |
15th | Jineration X | 4241 | David Tabb | Parkstone YC | 14 | 4 | 5 | 16 | 17 | (DSQ) | 16 | 18 | 7 | 97 |
16th | Jolly Roger | GBR 4270 | David Sparrow | Parkstone YC | 9 | 15 | 17 | 5 | 18 | 13 | (DSQ) | 9 | 12 | 98 |
17th | JuJu | GBR 4254 | Quinton Hall | Poole YC | -18 | 18 | 16 | 17 | 5 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 4 | 101 |
18th | Jumpin' Jive | IRL 3060 | Mark Usher | Greystones SC | 13 | 14 | 8 | 15 | 10 | 19 | 18 | DSQ | (DNC) | 118 |
19th | Jelignite | IRL 4532 | Finbarr Ryan | Howth YC/Lough Ree YC | 15 | 19 | 14 | 18 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 15 | (DNC) | 135 |
20th | Joskin 2 | GBR 4225 | Steven Tapper | Parkstone YC | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | 8 | 16 | 19 | 16 | DNC | 147 |
21st | Il Riccio | GBR 5219 | Chris McLaughlin | RORC | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 176 |