J/24 Autumn Cup at Poole Yacht Club
by Joe Cross 15 Oct 2019 07:17 BST
28-29 September 2019
After a week of watching every available forecast race officer Steve Thompson made the brave (and as it turned out correct) decision to go ahead with the J24 Autumn cup at Poole Yacht Club. A weekend forecast of strong winds fuelled the usual debate as teams launched amid the strong winds and rain of Friday afternoon.
Saturday dawned with a strong south westerly breeze so the decision was made to race within the harbour to shelter from the mid channel gales. Following the briefing 22 teams went afloat for 4 races back to back.
Race one started on time at 10:30 with Madelaine helmed by Duncan McCarthy leading from start to finish. A pack of boats followed in close company with Joe Cross in Jambalaya just holding off a late charge from Dave Cooper's Jive to take 2nd followed by Cacoon and National Champions Hustle in 4th & 5th respectively.
A quick turn around and the fleet were away for race 2. Once again a good start from Madelaine catapulted them into an early lead which they held to the finish, this time Nick Phillips and team on Chaotic recovering from a main halyard issue in race 1 sailed a solid race to finish 2nd ahead of Sam Pearson's Hustle.
Race 3 saw the breeze increase with some particularly strong gusts on the run resulting in plenty of planing. Jive stormed into an early lead which they held until the final run when the ever consistent Madelaine powered past to take their 3rd win of the day. Jive took a close 2nd with Hustle once again taking 3rd. The increased breeze saw some spectacular broaches and Chinese gybes (David Harding of Sailing scenes' pictures available on his website) however all starters finished safely.
The final race of the day started with 2 boats OCS but the majority of the fleet starting cleanly for another 3 laps. Once again Madelaine started well leading around the windward mark and extending away to take a clean sweep for the day followed by Chaotic and Nick Macdonald's Mojosi in 3rd.
The fleet returned to Poole YC with smiles on their faces ready for a barbeque laid on by the club straight after racing allowing crews to get together and socialise after an exciting day on the water.
Following a few protests the day's results were posted seeing Duncan McCarthy and his team on Madelaine leading the way with 3 points following a very impressive "perfect day". 2nd was Dave Cooper's Jive on 9 points with Joe Cross' Jambalaya 3rd ahead on count back of Sam Pearson's Hustle both on 11 points.
Sunday morning dawned with gusts over 30 knots and a forecast of building breeze during the day. The decision was therefore made to abandon the days racing allowing boats to be lifted out before the weather closed in. A slick operation executed by a team of Poole YC members meant that an hour and a half later the 16 visiting boats had been lifted out of the water ready for the prizegiving where Poole YC Commodore (and J24 sailor) Nye Davies presented Duncan and team Madelaine with the Autumn Cup. Duncan thanked the team at Poole YC for putting on a good event and getting 4 good races away in challenging conditions to finish the UK qualifiers for next year's UK worlds.
The fleet now move on to the final qualifying event of 2019, the World Championships in Miami. With 6 UK teams currently entered it should be a good event to round out a successful season for the J24 Class.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Boat Name | Sail No | Helm | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | Madelaine | 4265 | Duncan McCarthy | ‑1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2nd | Jive | 4261 | Dave Cooper | 3 | ‑5 | 2 | 4 | 9 |
| 3rd | Jambalaya | 4263 | Joe Cross | 2 | 4 | 5 | ‑6 | 11 |
| 4th | Hustle | 4225 | Sam Pearson | 5 | 3 | 3 | ‑7 | 11 |
| 5th | Chaotic | 4177 | Nick Phillips | (DNF) | 2 | 8 | 2 | 12 |
| 6th | Mojosi | 4260 | Nick MacDonald | 6 | ‑12 | 6 | 3 | 15 |
| 7th | Cacoon | 4269 | Dave Hale | 4 | 7 | 4 | ‑9 | 15 |
| 8th | Phoenix | 4222 | Izzy Savage | 7 | ‑10 | 9 | 8 | 24 |
| 9th | Majic | 4248 | James Torr | 12 | 6 | 7 | (OCS) | 25 |
| 10th | Team Impact | 42 | Giles Kuzyk | 9 | 8 | 11 | ‑16 | 28 |
| 11th | NJO Sails | 4067 | Tim Octon | ‑10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 29 |
| 12th | Jam Too | 4206 | Austen Davies | ‑14 | 13 | 12 | 5 | 30 |
| 13th | Dangerous When Wet | 5238 | Mark Lewers | 13 | 15 | ‑21 | 11 | 39 |
| 14th | Boomerang | 4232 | Jim Anderson | 17 | 11 | 13 | (DNF) | 41 |
| 15th | Unity Lets | 4245 | Mathew Conyers | 11 | (DNF) | 16 | 15 | 42 |
| 16th | OJ | 4236 | Steve Brown | ‑16 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 43 |
| 17th | Jooler | 4219 | Rob Libby | 15 | 18 | ‑19 | 13 | 46 |
| 18th | Flying Colours | 4266 | William Pollock | 8 | (DNF) | 17 | DNF | 48 |
| 19th | Jolly Roger | 4270 | Roger Morris | (DNF) | DNS | 14 | 12 | 49 |
| 20th | Jam | 4153 | Ben Maddaford | ‑19 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 52 |
| 21st | Athena XP | 423 | Octavia Owen | ‑20 | 16 | 20 | 18 | 54 |
| 22nd | Mr Mann | 4241 | Dan Vickers | 18 | (DNF) | DNS | DNS | 64 |