J/24 Victoria State Championship at Sandringham Yacht Club, Australia
by J/Boats 12 Apr 2021 10:29 BST
Victoria States J/24 Championship © J/Boats
Recently the Sandringham Yacht Club hosted their annual Victoria States J/24 Championship. The fleet was blessed with gorgeous sunny weather, winds ranging from 4 to 18 kts, the breeze starting northwest and shifting to the southwest on both days. Choppy seas made for difficult steering conditions upwind, with teams making the hard choice of which jib to use in the upper wind ranges - the 150% genoa or the 100% jib. The fleet was unusually over-eager and aggressive on the starting line, with lots of general recalls, restarts, U-flags and even several U-flag DSQs!
After an eight-race series, it was Brendan Lee's Checkmate that consistently powered their way to victory, winning four races and counting only podium finishes to win by a significant margin. Taking the silver was Warren Campbell's J-Force, posting all top five finishes for a cumulative score of 22 pts. The bronze went to Adam Keyes-Tilley's Baile De Luna with 28 pts total.
Rounding out the top five were Hugo Ottoway's Bruschetta VI and Warren Slater's JAB in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Winning the PHS handicap division was Darren Cuttsy's Joyride, followed by Richard Taylor's Haywire in second and Chris Ravesi's Panarea in third position.
A big thank you to Sandringham YC Race Management and PRO Warren Campbell and the Committee for putting on a fabulous event. Plus, thanks to our contributors, Carina Tomietto, Craig Wiley, Adam Keyes-Tilley. More video at www.facebook.com/groups/j24victoria
For Australia J/24 class sailing information, see www.j24.com.au