J24 Spring Cup at Parkstone Yacht Club

Our first regatta of the season and a great opportunity to catch up with the National J24 Fleet, both on and off the water, since the last regatta in October. With two major European Regattas over the coming year, the scene was set for two days of competitive sailing as we re-acquainted ourselves with windward-leeward courses. Poole gave us near perfect conditions, with a fair breeze and sunshine for our first day.

The first race saw conditions of 20 knots plus and the whole fleet on jib, the race committee gave us a great first course despite shifty conditions. Whilst we raced closely, there were some familiar names in the leader board, taking the right lifts and spotting the right side of the course.

By the end of Race 2 the inconsistent breeze had most of us thinking that we could change up to Genoa but it wasn't until the start of Race 3, when the wind dropped that teams knew a mid race, downwind sail change could be the difference between a top placing and a mid fleet finish. Madeleine's start in Race 3 was hampered by the tide, McCarthy not only performed a flawless sail change but sailed through the fleet to finish first.

Dominica Lindsey, new to J24 helming, sailed a great regatta with an impressive 3rd in the 3rd race. William Lack is admired for his tireless enthusiasm encouraging the youth sailors on Vinyl Solutions. Lack junior sailed an impressive Race 5 and came a close 3rd to two of the fleets top helms. Whilst it was clear that both Jolly Roger and Hitch Hiker are still in a 'developmental phase', they gave a flash of their potential, each with a P1 finish by the end of the regatta.

We all agreed the conditions were changeable which led to some tough calls on which side of the course was favoured. However the leader board showed that our top crews consistently made the right calls over the 6 races. Congratulations to Madeleine and also to Chaotic who fought out a closely matched series of races. Our thanks to the Race Committee for a great weekend racing and PYC for hosting the hungry sailors and providing delicious food and cold beer! A special mention too, to local Mark Bennett Patisserie for consistently brilliant sandwiches!

Overall Results: