Irish J/24 Easterns at Dundalk & Carlingford Sailing Club

16 & 17 June 2001

Chris Smith, in Jus B Coz, Strangford Lough Yacht Club, became Irish Eastern J/24 Champion for 2001 by wining this six race event last weekend, sponsored by Capital Finance and hosted by Dundalk and Carlingford Sailing Club. Desmond Fortune, Royal St George YC, Dublin Bay, was second overall in Hard on Port, and Tim Sheard, Lough Ne-agh SC, third in Jay Kay, Europe's oldest J/24. Apart from the Champion, the best placed older Westerly built boat was Michael Clarke's Jeriatrix, Lough Erne YC, and the local J/24, James Byrne's JAB, won the final race.

40 visiting J/24 sailors, in eight J/24s towed by road from Dublin Bay and the Loughs Erne, Neagh and Strangford,, came to D&CSC to join James Byrne's JAB, the one local J/24 so far, and all enjoyed well organised yacht racing, four races on Saturday, and two on Sunday, in superbly scenic sailing waters overlooked by the Mourne Mountains. June is a busy month at D&CSC. On the previous weekend, 28 visitors in 14 boats joined local Flying Fifteen keelboats fleet for their Eastern Championship. Next weekend D&CSC hosts more visitors at the big Oyster Pearl event.

This J/24 event was the best of yacht racing, six closely contested races, with Race Officer, Michael Harris-Barke, re-marking that boats often overlapped on the finishing line, results separated by a metre or two, with the last to finish only two to three minutes behind the first after racing for about 100 minutes.

Saturday's courses were in Rostrevor Bay, six one mile legs, upwind then downwind, in a moderate north east wind down the valley between Slieveban and Lecanmore mountains. Sunday's courses, one in a west and one in an east wind, as a front went through, were be-tween Slieveban and Carlingford Mountain, with a moderate east going ebb tide adding to racing tactics. Simple J/24 upwind-downwind courses use only two buoys but make excellent competition. All five crew are kept busy, thinking and working, all the time.

J/24 success demands sharply timed starts, then off to windward, sail trim and boat balance taking the best from every windshift. Downwind legs also need intelligent work with fast detailed boat handling, tactical gybing, big spinnakers set, and always the threat from boats just behind and to those just in front.

Finishes were downwind over the same line as the start, and, with his fleet thus nearby, Michael Harris-Barke had the next race start underway just a few minutes after the previous had finished. For sailors who like lots of well organised close brisk racing for crew teams of five in real fast boats, Carlingford Lough last weekend was the place to be. How close this racing was shows in the results, with cases of two and of three boats with same total points after six races.

Next Irish J/24 outing is the National Championship, hosted by Royal Irish YC, Dublin Bay, 16 & 18 August, followed by September's Midland Championship on Lough Ree and October's Western Championship at Lough Erne.

Overall Results: