J/99s continue winning ways in Australia
by J/Boats 4 Oct 2022 07:38 AEDT
Rum Rebellion © Cruising Yacht Club of Australia
J/99 Rum Rebellion won the 88.0nm Flinders Islet Race off the east coast of New South Wales, Australia.
After 15.5 hours of racing, the J/99 Rum Rebellion topped the podium winning IRC and line honors Two-Handed division and coming in third overall in IRC Division 2 with the fully crewed boats. This is absolutely fantastic sailing from the two-handed team. Plus, it proves yet again the versatile design of the J/99 in all wind and sea directions and conditions.
The winning skipper, Graeme Dunlop- explains what took place on their epic race-winning performance:
"On 24-25 September, the 2022 edition of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's Audi Centre Blue Water Pointscore series Flinders Islet race was run, with Shane Connelly's J/99 Rum Rebellion sailed by Graeme Dunlop and Tony Sutton winning two-handed line honors and the two-handed IRC win - a testament of how good these boats are in all conditions.
Upwind in messy seas and downwind in the light breeze the J/99 shined. Picking the shifts, sailing high and fast to the island, and getting some nice deep angles on the way home was key to the win.
The race itself was relatively straightforward and risk-averse. A southerly breeze filled in before the start making for a fast downwind start and the team on Rum Rebellion elected to two sail reach out of Sydney harbor to conserve energy and protect the inventory as we knew the next few hours beating into a southerly was going to be tough.
Sailing out of the Sydney Heads mid-fleet, Rum Rebellion went offshore in 1 -22 knots with TWDs of 170-195 degrees, chasing current and waiting for the SE shift. Tacking back to shore on the SE shift allowed the J/99 to take advantage of the current and set up a nice lay line into the islet. A SW shift with a rain cloud forced a couple of tacks at the island.
Rounding the island and heading out to sea into pressure, the team then waited for more SW which came as expected and the team gybed back in. We got some nice pressure off a localized rain system, and then the land allowed the team to sail deep angles and avoid having to gybe back out to sea.
As a result, this set up a drag race with the Sydney 36 on the way into Sydney harbor, some smooth gear changes, and the right sail selection allowed them to cross the line around a minute before the competition.
It was a great race for the J/99 and the team is looking forward to the rest of the series."
The final Results for the Rum Rebellion were:
- 1st IRC Two Handed
- 2nd ORCi Two-Handed
- 2nd PHS Two-Handed
- 2nd IRC Overall Corinthian
- 3rd IRC Overall Div 2