J/24 Autumn Cup at Parkstone Yacht Club

Wind, rain and sunshine for the J/24 Autumn Cup at Parkstone © David Harding / www.sailingscenes.co.uk

Wind, rain and sunshine for the J/24 Autumn Cup at Parkstone © David Harding / www.sailingscenes.co.uk

Wind, rain and sunshine for the J/24 Autumn Cup at Parkstone © David Harding / www.sailingscenes.co.uk

Report from Mark Jardine:

It has been a big year for the J/24 class in the UK this year; once again over 40 boats at the nationals, 55 UK teams trying to qualify for the worlds and 15 nations taking part in the world championships at Weymouth. The turnout of only 19 teams could be forgiven after such an intense season of racing.

Last year’s Autumn Cup, also held at Parkstone Yacht Club with racing in the bay saw big winds on Saturday with a respite on the Sunday and this year proved to be the same, although not quite as extreme.

All the teams had chosen to use jibs in the strong Westerly wind. The water was extremely flat for the strength since it was coming straight over Poole Harbour. Fast out of the blocks in race one were the 72-year old Jardine twins on ‘Stouche’ who took the win in front of national champion David Ellis on ‘Hitchhiker’ and Alan Bennett’s team on ‘Jam’ third. The second race saw David Ellis go one step better to win with Tom Reed’s team on ‘Howden’ second and ‘Stouche’ climbing through the fleet to finish third.

The wind began to clock around to the north as the rain hit before the third race, prompting the race officer to place the windward mark close enough to the beach to make avoiding the beach huts a priority. ‘Stouche’ was the early leader in the race but both Tom Reed’s ‘Howden and David Ellis’ ‘Hitchhiker’ took better routes to overhaul them. Conditions at the windward mark were extreme with huge shifts and flattening gusts. ‘Howden’ made the best of the conditions to take a good race win.

Saturday night saw the annual class dinner and prize giving at Parkstone Yacht Club so there were a few saw heads on Sunday morning.

In the moderated conditions, the Jardine twins on ‘Stouche’ won the first race of the day with ‘Hitchhiker’ second and Duncan McCarthy on ‘Madeleine’ third.

This set up a final race showdown between ‘Hitchhiker’ and ‘Stouche’. All David Ellis needed to do was make sure that the Jardine twins finished outside the top two. A little bit of pre-start match racing tactics ensured this, cornering ‘Stouche’ and forcing a penalty. This kept them well back in the fleet and gave ‘Hitchhiker’ the Autumn Cup. Duncan McCarthy on ‘Madeleine’ went on to win the race to take third overall with Andrew Hill’s ‘Wijit’ second and Phil Owen on ‘Zaphod’ third.

2006 is already looking like a classic with the Europeans being held in Parkstone and already some new boats and new faces in the fleet. Those who joined the fleet especially for the 2005 worlds have stayed in the class, proving just how strong the class is in the UK.

Report from David Ellis:

The final Open Meeting of the J24 Calendar was hosted by Parkstone YC over the weekend 1/2 October. Following the hectic season that many of the travelling fraternity had undertaken, a reduced turnout of 19 boats was to be expected. Those that did attend enjoyed a great weekend’s sailing in winds of up to 20 knots, with Bryan Drake as Principal Race Officer setting his usual high quality courses.

Saturday greeted the competitors with what appeared to be a pleasant WNW force 3 to 4 in the harbour, but which quickly turned out to be a 4 to 5 outside in the bay. During the day a series of fronts came through, complete with ice cold squalls.

In these blustery conditions three races were held, with Alan and Lis Bennet in Jam leading race one for some period, before trading places with Stuart Jardine in Stouche and David Ellis in Hitch-Hiker for the last half of the race, with Jardine taking the gun followed by Ellis and Bennet.

Race two was lead virtually from the outset by Ellis, with Tom Reed in Howden working throught the fleet to to take second place, having repaired their spinnaker which split down the centre seam prior to race one, with Jardine filling the third slot. The end of the second race saw the wind ease, and many boats started to change from jibs to genoas, only to quickly change their minds before the third start as the wind freshened again.

Race three was closely contested between Reed, Jardine and Ellis throughout, with places constantly changing. Choice of buoy to round at the leeward gate was critical throughout the weekend, and Jardine lost crucial ground at a critical point in the race with a wrong selection. At the end Reed ran out the winner, followed by Ellis and Jardine.

Saturday was the night of the Annual J24 Dinner and Prize giving, with 90 people in attendance. A most enjoyable evening was had by all, with Tom Reed and team celebrating their win by finishing the evening at Chilli’s night club. Their names don’t feature again in this report!

Sunday brought lighter airs, with the fleet split between jibs and genoas. As time was of the essence for getting boats lifted out, Bryan Drake went straight to the Black Flag for both races. In race four Jardine got his nose out in front and kept it there from the first windward mark onwards, taking first place from Ellis and Duncan Mcarthy in Madeleine, now consolidating on results of 4, 6 and 4 on day one.

Going into race 5 the scores between Jardine and Ellis were 8 points to 7 points, such that if Jardine came first or second with Ellis behind him he would win the series. Any other scenario gave the series to Ellis. In the shifting Northerly wind, Ellis played it safe and match raced Jardine out in the pre-start, such that both were down the fleet at the start, and finished mid fleet. Meanwhile Mcarthy went from strength to strength and led the fleet throughout the race, followed by Andrew Hill in Wijit and Phil Owen in Zaphod.

Overall Results: