J24s at Plym Yacht Club Anniversary Regatta
by Steve Wassell 5 Jul 02:04 PDT
26-27 June 2021
Plym Yacht Club provided some excellent racing for the J24 class in Plymouth Sound on the weekend of 26th and 27th June.
Saturday saw a light/moderate south easterly breeze for a set of 4 windward/leeward races. The fleet of ten J24s saw a very keen start with boats fighting to get into position to lead the start. It became clear after race one that Paul William's Phoenix was the boat to catch, as they showed some blistering upwind speed to take race 1 with Dave Cooper's Red Alert in 2nd, Phoenix also took races 2 and 4 with Dave Hale's Cacoon in 2nd place in both. Race 3 saw Dave Hale take the honours with Steve Wassell's Dogs Jorrocks in 2nd. Red Alert lost its spinnaker halyard which hampered their progress in races 3 and 4. Day one ended with Phoenix leading with Cacoon in 2nd and Dogs Jorrocks in 3rd place.
Then on to day two where things were very different. The wind went to the east and increased considerably with some huge gusts coming over Jennycliff Bay. All boats went to jibs and you could feel the crew tension as the gusts came through the race course.
Race one start was a lively affair with everyone fighting for the committee boat end to be the first to get onto port tack to escape the brutal outgoing tide. With the gusts getting up to around 30kts it made for a lively spinnaker leg back to the leeward mark and boat speeds reaching over 10 kts in the gusts. Phoenix again showed her worth and consistency by taking race 5 with Cacoon taking 2nd again.
The second race saw carnage across the racecourse. The gusts were 30kts plus and saw a spectacular chinese gybe from Mark Lewers on Hijinks after snapping his pole. Boats were spread wide over the racecourse as crews battled with the conditions. The wind gusts final assault saw Dave Hale's Cacoon loose her mast on the kite leg. A spectacular day's sailing for sure. Phoenix won the last race with Dogs Jorrocks taking 2nd on the day. The race committee decided not to run race 3 due to the conditions.
Congratulations go to Phoenix and her crew for first overall, despite losing her mast Cocoon was 2nd and the Dogs Jorrocks 3rd over the regatta.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Boat Name | Helm | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Phoenix | Paul Williams | 1 | 1 | ‑4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 2 | Cacoon | Dave Hale | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | (DNC) | 11 |
| 3 | Dogs Jorrocks | Steve Wassell | 3 | ‑7 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 17 |
| 4 | MaJic | James Torr | ‑8 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 24 |
| 5 | Hijinks | Mark Lewers | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | ‑9 | 8 | 25 |
| 6 | Red Alert | David Cooper | 2 | 6 | ‑8 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 28 |
| 7 | Jive | Lorna Graham | 9 | 4 | ‑10 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 30 |
| 8 | NJO2 | Tim Octon | 7 | ‑8 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 31 |
| 9 | shere khan | | ‑10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 34 |
| 10 | Juggernaut | Neil Trathen | 6 | 10 | 6 | 10 | (DNC) | DNC | 43 |