J24 Australian Nationals at Sandringham Yacht Club
by Simon Grain 19 Jan 15:40 PST
J24 Australian Nationals in Melbourne - 'Vice Versa' win overall © SYC
Last week the undisputed king of J24s in Australia picked up his 7th Nationals title. Sean Kirkjian and crew dominated the racing, finishing ten races with five firsts to finish on 20pts, 10 clear of second place Brendan Lee.
With the regatta backed by J24 Victoria's long time Sponsor 'Hodges Sandringham' the regatta must rank as one of the most competitive and successful Nationals of recent history. With a perfect week of sunny warm weather ranging from 20+ knots to light drifting conditions the racing was fierce, with the first four finishers all taking race wins.
Day 1 was taken out by Warren Slater sailing 'Jab' from Sandringham, a very popular day winner, Warren and crew showed what they are made of with a 1, 3, 4, setting an immediate benchmark and a warning shot across the fleet on the high level of competition to come.
Day winners for days 2, 3, and 4 all have the same name against them, 'Vice Versa' (purchased through the regatta from John Neville), with Skipper Sean Kirkjian, from Sydney, and crew of Shane Guanaria, Tony Reynolds (AJ), Oliver Guanaria, and Margot van der Poel, taking each day's chocolates.
Brendan Lee sailing Great White, and twice national champ in the last few years, fought a continuing battle with Sean and took the overall lead after day two, however Sean crushed this temporary setback with 3 wins and a 2nd over the next two days.
While the racing was close the rest of the fleet clearly has some work to do.
National President Steve Wright sailing 'Tinto' and national champ in 2022 took out third with a runaway win in the last race to take Warren Slater off the podium. With the wind dying in this race only Tinto, Vice Versa and Great White managed to finish, the rest of the fleet chewing boiled lollies when the time limit expired.
There was pain back in the fleet too, with previous national champions, struggling to convert effort into places. The oldest skipper Dave McKay (Australian Sailor of the year 1969 - and still celebrating !) in the regatta and a wily old fox sailing 'Stamped Urgent' came in 6th behind Simon Grain in 'Convicts Revenge'.
A recent record six entries from NSW and two from South Australia built the fleet out to 19 boats, Scott Hagan in the 'eBay auction' boat had respectable placings considering he hadn't sailed a J before the regatta. He was foiled mid-regatta with some mast issues and went through three masts in a day, however he is as keen as can be and with only 4 months in Australia from Ireland, is the new SA class rep, new boat owner and fired up in 'Hey J'.
Also from SA was familiar face Sophie Davidson, and her all-female crew on Hi who keep coming back for the regattas and friendly atmosphere. Catherine Thornton-Rofe was the skipper of the other all-female crew sailing Arthur Crother's 'Kaotic' from NSW, also keen, coming in at 14th. This year the organising committee also introduced a new trophy for the first female helm, award to Janette Syme on Jet who came in 13th place.
Day winners were celebrated after racing in the SYC new Foredeck extension to the club and provided a welcoming and friendly after race atmosphere, with welcoming free beers for those thirsty palates. A strong social theme ran through the regatta with a number of functions including Daily Recaps, a well attended NSW crew dinner, Thursday night twilight racing (some took the option of viewing from the foredeck cheering Scott Hagan on), a Mexican night and all culminating in the sit down dinner presentation evening.
In addition to the hotly contested "J of the Day" was the equally prestigious "pic of the day" and "volunteer of the day" awards which brought a few laughs and celebrated the community spirit that is so intrinsic to the J24 class in Australia. Sean Kirkjian, overall OD winner, brought thunderous applause all round after re-awarding the PHS win to Chris Ravesi in 'Panarea' being the next in line after the first three PHS places turned out to be the same as OD.
Steve Aulich was the RO for the regatta doing a very professional job setting great courses and turning races around fast - thirsty work Steve ! SYC put on a great regatta and the many volunteers helping run the regatta did an excellent job with very little fuss. Our thanks go Sponsor 'Hodges Sandringham' again and to the whole Sandringham Yacht Club team for a very successful regatta. With this regatta and next year's worlds being run up and qualifying regattas for the 2026 Worlds to be held at Sandringham in November, it was excellent practice for competitors and race management alike.
Preparations for the Worlds continue and the organising committee will shortly be sharing some exciting sponsorship news to help make these worlds a fantastic 'Australian flavour' regatta that both the locals and the visiting overseas competitors will remember for a long time.