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J/24 Sails
Skippered by Pat Toole, who was assisted by a veteran team of close friends (Dale Turley, George Witter, Les Wulf and Chris Stanizowski) 3 Big Dogs representing Santa Barbara Yacht Club came home North American Champions in the waters of Puget Sound yesterday. Sailing agianst a fleet of 35 boats in variable conditions Pat and team sailed a super consistent series. Arfter discarding a 15th the crew counted all their races in the top 5 including three first places. 10 races were sailed overall. North Sails were dominant at the event with places 1 though 7 sporting North One Design sails. In all 9 of the top ten flew North Sails. Almost all the top team had a new North Twaron genoa (either a Newport or San Diego design). Rounding out the top three were Keith Whittemore on Tundra Rose and Scott Milne on Tremendous Slouch. All three of the top teams are veterans of the J/24 circuit in the US. Whittemore is off later this week to compete in the Italian Nationals. Milne's team scored an impressive three first places in a row on the second day. Toole's victory should come as no surprise to anyone who has been around the J/24 class for a while. Pat and team have sailed in all the recent Worlds held in North America and they are constant fixtures at regional and National events. They have won multiple races at the Worlds as recently as the last Worlds held in Annapolis.
Assisted by Andrew Kerr of North U., I ran a clinic for the fleet on Thursday. We started with a one hour chalk talk and then proceeded to work around the boat park helping customers get their boats setup. Later we headed out on the water and did some on the water coaching. Conditions were a little on the blustery side but we did get some video that will be posted here shortly. Many thanks to Jack and Anne Chrstiansen for all there help with organizing the clinic, lending and driving their powerboat and for their hospitality.
Please contact any member of the North One Design team for more information on our J/24 sails or how to make your boat faster
1)
 Pat Toole---Three Big Dogs2)
Keith Whittemore--Tundra Rose3)
Scott Milne---Tremendous Slouch4)
Fernando Gonzalez---J-Netically Altered5)
Mike Ingham---Brain Cramp6)
Eric Sanderson---Suspence7)
Pete Sauer---Bound 4 Glory8)
 Hideyuki Miyagawa---Siesta9)
Self Abuse---Harry Dursch10)
Micheal Whitfield---TMC RacingFor information on North sails for your J/24 don't hesitate to contact our J/24 Experts!
J/24 Sails
Congrats on your win at Bermuda Race Week, you guys dominated. Tell us about your team that traveled there with you. Scott Snyder, Captain/Trimmer: Being invited to Bermuda International Invitational Race Week is a tremendous honor as the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club truly knows how to organize a world class international event. What I’ve learned from previous visits as both crew and captain is that the week-long regatta guarantees to dish up a wide range of conditions, competition and unfamiliar water that will challenge the metal of even the most seasoned team. With that in mind, we approached this year’s invitation by assembling a team that would first be “fun” to sail with, and second, included crew with great versatility and experience. I wanted to put together a team that was unselfish on the water, and fun off the water. Having discussed this regatta for some time with my good friend and world-class sailing Photographer, Tim Wilkes of Rochester, NY, together we put a team together that consisted of Brian Simkins of Long Island, NY, Michael Dannecker of Denver, CO and Greg Schertz of Denver, CO. Interestingly enough, all five team members are great drivers in their own right. Despite our attempts to get a practice regatta in a month prior to the regatta, knee surgery for Brian Simkins kept him on crutches until just a week before the regatta – also cementing his role as driver for the week as we had originally planned to co-helm the regatta – a decision that paid off immediately as everyone on the crew really focused on their role for the week. Even our practice day before the regatta was blown out due to winds in excess of 40 knots. We dedicated a few hours the evening before the regatta to verbally review roles and team work process verbally before heading out to the course on the first day of the regatta without ever taking a single tack together as a team. I’ve never been a part of such an unselfish team before. The entire week was full of great communication, clear lines of decision-making, proactive crew work, and great fun. As our victory was such a great team effort, we’ve decided to participate in this interview as a team as well.
Tim Wilkes, Tactician: Aside from the first day, races were held in 22 to 40 knots of breeze. Not that we've never sailed J24's in those conditions, but it certainly isn't the norm. The game changes quite a bit when boats are that overpowered. Solid crew work is essential to keeping the driver and tactician on their game plan. And that's exactly what we had. Every puff, every wave ... was dealt with. We kept our competition where we wanted them for the most part and were able to go about our tactical plan. Now that's not to say we never had our moments of chaos and panic! A dropped spinnaker guy in a gust upwards of 40 knots almost cost us a well fought lead barely 3 boat lengths from the finish. Amazingly, everyone in the fleet was up to the big breeze challenge. Not a single boat failed to attempt flying their spinnakers (unless of course they were already shredded). And the top five were on their game in every race. This made for some fantastic and strenuous racing since we had no opportunity to relax and enjoy a comfortable lead. What a great fleet to sail with.
Tell us about your sailing background and what led to you sailing The J/24. CI got into J24’s about 18 years ago after moving to Colorado from Chicago. Having done some recreational sailing to that point, the Dillon Yacht Club’s J24 fleet was 25+ boats strong at that point and it was difficult to “not” want to get involved. I received some great coaching and assistance from a variety of local sailors with international experience and bought hull 1574 with two close friends. After a few years of progressively better results, I bought hull 5253 “Severance Check” and began several years of aggressive travel to both coasts as well as the Texas Circuit to broaden my experience across vastly different sailing conditions. An important assist throughout the years of J24 sailing has been the assistance and support that I’ve always received from the North Sails team, especially Chuck Allen, who continues to serve as both a great inspiration and support of our program.
You guys travel to events often, which is awesome, what do have planned for the next year on the circuit? Scott Snyder, Captain/Trimmer: Our Colorado teams have great competition right here in the square state, but our game only improves when we travel…that’s just part of sailing in Colorado. Although this team is half Colorado, and half New York-based, we assembled this team specifically with Bermuda in mind but with hopes of continuing our success after. Each of the crew has their own programs to manage this Summer and Fall, but we looking to identify some marquee events to get the team back together again a few more times this year if possible. So this team has never sailed together before? What do you attribute your instant success to? From Greg Schertz, Foredeck: Even though each of us does a lot of skippering, we were all fine with taking on a specific responsibility and sticking to it. Before we sailed, we discussed the role for each person so we didn’t have 5 “skippers” on the boat. We all made mistakes during the regatta but we were confident with each others’ capabilities and never felt the need to get involved with someone else’s business. During the racing, it was easy to focus on our roles because we never had an issue with boat speed. With sails that are easy to trim to the “sweet spot” we never had those discussions we’ve all heard before, like “why can’t we point” or “why are they faster than us.” Without having those worries we could focus on the task at hand of figuring out the wind and the chess game with the other boats
You have been sailing with North Sails for quite some time, what models do you prefer and what keeps you sailing with The Blue Dots? From Michael Dannecker, Mast: I guess looking back; I’ve never sailed with anything but North on my two J24's or the Etchells. The first thing I do whenever I’ve acquired any new boat is to purge the old sails and a clear choice to go with North for our set-up. I find immediate value and versatility with my North Sails. From my first phone call to Chad Hough at North, a fellow Michigan guy and friend, he set me up with a full San Diego quiver of sails and I have stayed with that cut for the past five years. I find the variable conditions here in Colorado to be a good fit for the San Diego sails, especially with the flat water and shifty breeze. Seeing that chop is rarely a concern as the San Diego cut seems to really perform well for us especially down-wind when we see many folks in the fleet hoisting competitor kites. Then again, Colorado sailing quickly shows you that anything can happen here and you better be on your toes - but our speed always seems to be there right when we need it. Our team here really couldn't be happier with the performance, value, and predictability that our North sails continue to provide us year after year!
Give us some feedback about how you and your team tune your J/24, anything different then our North Sails Tuning Guides? Scott Snyder, Captain/Trimmer: As we raced this regatta on a great local boat provided by Bermuda J24 fleet member, Christopher Regan, we didn’t have an previous experience with the boat to understand what modifications, if any, would need to be adjusted from the North tuning guide. The boat sailed pure, and the standard settings for our North Newport Cut sails could not have been better. We didn’t stray from the North tuning guide at all.
You have now sailed with our Twaron Genoa-what do you and your trimmer notice in the set up, etc… as compared to The Pentex Sails you have used for so long? From Brian Simkins, Helm: The sail sets up great and was very easy to trim. The beauty of the new Twaron sail is its ability to hold its shape through a wider wind range. You can almost set it and forget it. The shape is absolutely perfect and allows you to concentrate on driving and not worrying about have to make as many fine adjustments. The shape holding ability is almost to a fault, the sail does not de-power naturally at the high wind ranges so you do need to work with your trimmer to ease and trim the sail through the puffs.
J/24 Sails
Lessons learned from J-Daze: How to Use the Kevlar Genoa: We thought we were very fast sporting the new Kevlar Genoa and it looked nice! It is very smooth and held it shape well in the breeze.
So to get the most out our new Kevlar Genoa we make subtler adjustments in the sheet until it gets windy, but once it is windy the trimmer needs to stay sharp! Mike Ingham
J/24 Sails
Have you ever been to a regatta you hoped would never end? I think we have all been to plenty where we couldn’t wait for it to be over but not too many that we hoped could keep going on forever. Well there is a new event in Mexico that will keep likely keep you coming back for more day after day no matter what your position in the event. Let me tell you a little about it. This event was put together by some people who are not afraid to think big. A number of years ago Mexico hosted the J/24 Worlds out of Puerto Vallarta (Paradise Village in Nuevo Vallarta) and it was simply a fantastic event. Organized by Peter Wiegandt he put on a show that I do not think will be topped in many years (hopefully someone will prove me wrong). Now fast farward to 2010 and the Mexican Bi-centennial. Peter and his friend Ernesto Amtmann who has been brought back in to revitalize an event called MEXORC held bi-annually in Puerto Vallarta create a new event called Copa de Mexico as a true celebration of sailing in Mexico. This regatta included events from the big boat sailing MEXORC to Opti sailor for all over Mexico going at it, to a world class kiteboarding event with the present World Champ in attendance. By the way the present World Champs in J/24 class and his crew attended Copa de Mexico, more on that in a minute.
The event was held in a small town on the Northern side of Banderas Bay, near Puerto Vallarta. La Cruz is a real Mexican fishing village, in fact the boats came in right near us at the brand new Marina Riviera Nayarit and set up shop to sell there catch straight off the boat. Super friendly genuine people live here with a big smile of their face morning, noon and night. Peter and Ernesto brought in some pro race committee people from the states to help them out. Bruce Green from San Diego YC and his team did a great job all week under somewhat trying conditions. Now to the racing. 53 boats participated, while most were from Mexico, this was a true international event. Countries represented included: Peru, Brazil, Monaco, Germany, Italy, El Salvador, Puerto Rico and the USA. Our crew consisted of myself helming, Rich Bowen of the North Sails PRG Group trimming, Chuck Allen of North One Design Rhode Island, doing tactics, Marianne Schocke from Sweden and chairwoman of the 2010 Worlds in Malmo doing twings and Andrew Kerr of Seattle and North U. doing the box. A great team and lots of fun to sail with. Chuck’s strategy which proved correct, was to be conservative and not have any big number races, especially early on. The first part of the regatta had pretty unstable winds and there were times in many of these race where we did not look good but we kept chipping away and we had good speed that allowed us to chip our way through the fleet to overcome a less than perfect start or a missed shift. Halfway through the event our worst race was a tenth and many of our close competitors already had races in the twenties. By staying clean and not taking too many big chances we felt we would surely be in contention for the event towards the end. The second half of the regatta was when the weather stabilized and the normal wind patterns resumed. Generally the wind here on West Coast of Mexico starts somewhat left of West and as the breeze builds it slowly shift right. This makes the races pretty predictable and places a higher premium on getting a good start. As Chuck told me at least once (at least I thought I heard him say it), “I still got it”. We did get some good starts and managed to put together a great string of finishes toward the end of the event.
My strategy was to try and force him as far away from the start line as possible, make him start very late and have to sail through the fleet. Before the start we basically “stalked” him with our genoa down so that as soon as we went into sequence we would be right on his tail to start forcing him away from the line. The first start, a recall worked fairly well. We both started 4-5 lengths back from the line. The next start which went did not go as well, we both started on the line, we tacked right before we were able to and got the first little righty and then covered up from there. All told we had great speed in a borrowed boat, we used the San Diego designs including our NEW Twaron genoa. This sail is super fast in all conditions but really seems to have an extra gear when the wind gets above ten knots. All indications so far are that the sail is lasting well. I urge everyone who is serious about their racing to look into getting one of these. Results for top 10 as follows:
Complete results can be found at http://www.j24mex.com/copamexico/results.html For information on North sails for your J/24 don't hesitate to contact our J/24 Experts!
J/24 Sails
The first day of the J24 Midwinters brought shifty, puffy, flat water conditions. These conditions put a premium on staying in phase; starting was a huge part of this. You had to stay in the middle of the line until just under 2 minutes, figure out where the wind was, and how you had to position your boat to get it. If the wind was to the left, like it often was, it was very important to position yourself in a place where you could stay on starboard tack for a while. This meant finding low density places on the line, preferably with a nice hole to leeward so you could put your bow wherever it needed to be for the three or four phases you might have to survive just to get to the pressure line you thought would win out. In these conditions clearing tacks set you back a ton, if you sailed out of phase for just a couple seconds you were out of the top group. In the last race we started in a low density spot on the line with a nice hole to weather because our intention was to get onto port immediately. If you are looking to tack right away it’s because you’re flat to the line on starboard. In this scenario the only way to be able to tack is if nobody is on your hip or if you’re able to flush them straight away. We did a great job of staying in phase and used our speed to live in some tough lanes when the bow was changing direction with the wind. It was important to change gears during every oscillation and change in velocity: traveler, sheet, backstay, genoa, crew weight. A good heads up from the rail makes all of this a lot easier. Random fact: on day one we wanted to put our jib car in a place where there was a screw and not a hole, normally we drill out the screw heads but because we were using a borrowed boat we achieved our desired lead position by turning the actual car around. It seemed to us that the new SD Aramid design liked the lead I bit further aft than we are used to seeing with the Newport Pentex. Day two was light. To set up for the lighter air we took a full turn off our uppers and lowers so that the leeward upper was breaking nicely and we were sailing with about a half inch of leeward spoon. We were not sure what side the breeze was going to fill from but we did know that port was the long tack and we wanted to get on it quickly. Unfortunately, we started in a bit of a hole and we weren’t able to flip right away. We tried coaxing a boat to weather onto port but came up empty and decided it was time to swallow our pride and take some sterns. As soon as we went to duck they slammed us. We had to do a couple of the clearing tacks we had avoided the day before and a result we rounded the weather mark in 25th. We did our best to stay in the pressure and maximize our VMG in the changing conditions. We ended up coming into the leeward gate on port pole with leverage to make a right hand turn. We opted out of this maneuver because it involved an abrupt hair pin turn and we thought that there was less traffic at the left hand turn gate. We reached over to the left turn gate, with speed as our friend, kept the kite up late and rounded fast outside a couple of chicken-winged boats on the inside. We were immediately on the long tack and to leeward of the fleet. The boats that we were approaching the mark with had to gybe around it, wait their turn, and then tack to get in phase. It was worth giving up the leverage. We rounded the weather mark in 10th thanks to a little pressure on the right but lost two boats on the run to finish/survive with a 12th. There was no more racing that day. Day three brought a little bit of everything. The first race was quite windy. We learned our starting lesson and hedged towards the slightly less favored, slightly less populated boat end of the line. We held on starboard for as long as possible. It looked liked two boats would cross our bow so we led them back. We rounded the weather mark in 3rd and stayed there for the duration of the race. The second race was much lighter; we had people down below at the start. Our hole looked to be adequate until a port tack approacher set up camp beneath us. Five seconds after the start we knew we would not be able to live to the top left so we took sterns immediately in an effort to avoid the middle. The top left won out but our edge worked well enough. We rounded the top mark 15th but beat the fleet to a gybe in some nice right pressure. We kept chipping away and ended up finishing 7th, even though it didn’t feel like it. We found ourselves in a high risk place on the line in the third race, as far as density goes, and ended up being called over early, even though I know we were bow back on a couple other boats that weren’t called. (I only say this because I was ashamed at how bad our start would have been if we were permitted to race it out, we must have been over at some other point inside 1 minute.) We ground back by thinking about one point at a time, staying in phase, using the lanes we could, and keeping the boat moving fast and powered up all the time. We ended up finishing 18th and in doing so turned the scoreboard into a sticky situation. After the third day we were tied for the lead with two other boats and there were two other boats one point back. 5 boats within 1 point! Wednesday was windy. When we saw the forecast we knew it was time to move our mast butt. Before the regatta we came up with three different places for our butt, each about a 5/8 of an inch apart. Because it was windy we kicked the butt to the forward position in order to get some more headstay tension. In addition to moving the butt, we left the dock with our uppers measuring 29 and our lowers measuring 31. We were confident that would be fine with the velocities we were seeing and the relatively flat water in Tampa Bay. We left the dock with the blade on deck and used it for the first beat of the first race. We started at the boat and tack immediately onto port and in phase. We used the next righty to cross the course all the way to the left. We led the two left-most boats only to watch them shear inside. The two shearing boats just so happen to be the boats we were tied with. We finished 3rd in the race with one of the boats we were tied with one place in front of us and the other one place behind, as close as we could possibly be yet again. On the last run of that race Peter Bream, who had been sailing an excellent regatta up until that point, ripped his spinnaker and had to miss the next race to sail in and get a new one. We got a decent start in the middle of the line in the second race of the day. We flopped onto port in phase with the leaders and did a good job speed-wise on the long tack to join the top group. John Mollionce, the boat we were one point up on, was one boat to our right and rounded the weather mark in first. We rounded in 6th. We soaked on the front group over the course of the run and leveraged ourselves to make a left hand turn at the gate. We were the 6th boat to gate but the first to make the left turn. We rounded on the long, lifted tack, and waited for bows to cave. Lucky for us, they did. We were able to get across all but one boat. Mollicone won the race and we took second. This left us both tied for the lead with one race to go. The last race came down to a who-beats-who scenario, unless both boats sailed their drop and if this happened we would come out on the losing end. Mollicone knew this and began tailing us right away. There was a bit of gamesmanship going on with regard to the headsails. At first we both had our genoas hanked on. We brought our blade on deck to have all our options open and that prompted them to make a change. When the start began we were both to the right and deep in the box, us with the genoa, them with the blade, us pulling, them pushing. When we broke for the line we were ahead and appeared to be on time in the absence of other boats. Because of all the dirty air we ended up being slightly late and as a result we both tacked onto port. We were ahead and maintained the lead through the ducks. The genoa was working to our advantage and Mollicone had to tack out, back onto starboard. He was met by another pack and led them back towards us. During our next encounter we were still ahead and we were presented with the option of hitting them and leading back right, or switching sides and getting to his left, where the winners were coming from. We chose to split. We sailed towards the middle on an average number and watched John sail in a better lane toward the top right. The top right came in and we found ourselves behind. On the run we leveraged to make a left turn at the bottom. John was forced to gate the other way. He tacked to follow us but on the outside of a shift and started losing his lead. He was unable to hang in his long port tack lane and was forced to tack back to the left. The top right came in again and we rounded a couple places ahead. They had a great run and gated right behind us in 9th and 10th place. They tacked, we followed, they tacked, we followed. After tacking about 15 times we were on the starboard tack layline and we reached into the finish. If this wasn’t dramatic enough, while this was all happening we had to make sure that we finished no worse than 13th. It was intense. John and his crew sailed a great event, it was an exhilarating last day and it was exciting to be a part of it. Big thanks to an unbelievable crew: Nate Frizzell on the bow, Whitney Prossner in the middle, Chuck Norris trimming the kite and doing upwind tactics, and Dave Hughes in the cockpit and helping with downwind tactics. For information on North sails for your J/24 don't hesitate to contact our J/24 Experts!
J/24 Sails
I just got back from sailing the J24 ECCs, a great regatta held each year in Annapolis Maryland. It is one of the top yearly regattas for the J24 class and sure is a great way to end your season of J24 sailing in the Northeast. So if you haven’t sailed this regatta you should treat yourself to it! The regatta was down in numbers this year due to a lot of other regattas being scheduled at the same time. Most of them were sailed off the waters of Annapolis so the town was hopping with sailors. One of the bigger events in town being the Melges 24 Worlds which was won by a previous J24 World Champion, Chris Larson. Chris also sailed the J24 Worlds this year, held in Annapolis back in May and he finished 2nd there. I suspect the fact that the worlds were held so early this year impacted the overall numbers of most J24 regattas this year which is unfortunate. This will all change for next season as folks start to prepare for some great events headed our way here on the East Coast one of which being the US Nationals in Marblehead, MA next September. The weather this past weekend seemed to have a similar flavor of the Worlds weather earlier this year with rain on and off throughout the event. We did have a touch more breeze at times but overall it was lighter breeze than you would typically see at the ECCs this time of year. One of the great things about the ECCs is that you usually have one day of breeze on and a day of light which makes having the complete quiver of J24 modes quite key to win the event. In fact we had our rig set at 20/15 (based on the old style gauge) for most of the time. This is always a good setting to be at when sailing in Annapolis like conditions where you have lighter trends with waves followed but some spurts of breeze. The last race on Saturday the wind was up at the start and it sure seemed like it would hold so we jumped up to 27/24 on our rig which was great on the first beat and then the breeze nearly died on the run, the second beat it felt like we were trying to push the trailer in the boat park with the brake on. Boy that 20/15 setting would have been nice then! One team that sure put a lot of time in this year preparing for the Worlds as well as trekking out to San Francisco for the US Nationals was Tony Parker’s team who sails a boat called Bangor Packet. I’m sure if you’ve sailed any major J24 event in the past 30 years you have seen this boat with Tony at the helm. There are a lot of things I respect about Tony and one of them is how he approaches sailing his J24. He sees the value of making sure his boat is in top condition and has all the best equipment and sails. Tony has been sailing with North Newport J24 designs for many years and always seems to have a tick of speed on the fleet. Bangor Packet showed this speed this past weekend and crushed the fleet. His team of Dave Schoene, Rossi Milev, Mattie Farrar and Ross Dierdorff beat out the many other seasoned J24 veterans that sailed in this event. Tony proved that the Newport DX -7K Pentex Genoa is still the benchmark in fast J24 Genoas. He also used our Newport Fat Head mainsail and FR2 Radial spinnaker. Mike Ingham with Team Brain Cramp used a Fat Head mainsail, FR2 Radial spinnaker and the new Twaron Radial Genoa. They finished out the regatta in third place and won 2 races. A special thanks to Chuck Allen and Greg Fisher for their time on Thursday afternoon running on the water drills for all our North customers that came to this event! Results: http://www.severnsailing.org/results/2009/111j24.shtml Hope to see you all at the Midwinters! For information on North sails for your J/24 don't hesitate to contact our J/24 Experts!
The 2009 J/24 US Nationals was simply a great event. My crew and I were lucky enough to win it but that was not the reason the event was so great. The real reason is that there is simply no place better in the US to sail, that’s my opinion but one I know a lot of people share. Sailing upwind in 18-20 knots of wind looking straight at one of the most magnificent bridges in the world with a carpet of fog rolling in under it and over the hills of Marin, well it’s kind of like Nirvana for one design sailors. The Bay can be a challenging place to race but there was no doubt that all who made the trek to San Francisco Y.C. for this year’s event came away smiling. I will leave some people out here but special thanks have to go to Luther Strayer, Ned Walker, Michael Whitfield, Wayne Clough, Jeff Zarwell, Vicki Sodaro and many others for making this event happen. First I’d like to give you a little overview of our experience attending the event and then I would like to give you a detailed description of how we set up and sailed our boat. Hope you enjoy this report. The few days before I left to drive up to San Francisco I spent running around getting the boat ready and making sure I had all the supplies we needed to rig the boat right and race it. While still in town I bought polish, gathered rags, soap, tape, tools, etc.. so that when I got to the event I would not have to “run out” to pick anything up. This is a good idea and always saves a lot of precious time at any event. The Boy Scouts motto of “be prepared” sure applys to sailboat racing. My crew was to all meet me in San Francisco and to be honest I was really looking forward to nine hours of solitude as I drove from San Diego to San Francisco. As anyone who has done this drive knows, this is not the most exciting drive. Mostly it consists of a dead straight route 5 going straight through the Central Valley of California. That not withstanding as the father of two teenagers with a wife working full time, a dog and a cat plus all my responsibilties at North Sails, I needed some time to get my head into regatta mode! At my first gas stop in San Clemente just up the highway I had my first mishap. One of the hubs for the trailer axle had come off and was missing. It appeared that all the grease could quickly leak out the hub and I knew that would be bad. Miraculously there was an auto parts store a block away an luckily they had the correct hub. A few well placed taps with the hammer to get it on off we were off. By now it was mid afternoon and I was just in time for rush hour in Los Angeles (it seems to start at about three in the afternoon). A litte stop and go and we were up Grapevine hill and down into the Central Valley. I ended up pulling into Tiburon at about 10:30 that night. The next day was spent fully prepping the boat from top to bottom. Fully cleaned and washed the deck and hull. Added a coat of polish to the mast. Stepped the mast and lubricated all the turnbuckles. I took my time and carefully got the mast centered side to side in the boat and tuned it to our base setting of 24/21. Putting the boat together I noticed that the clevis pin holding the top of the backstay to the mast was bent slightly and that the main cover had worn through very close to where it cleated. So despite my best intentions I made run to Sausalito for a new pin and the line to make a new halyard. By the end of the day I was pretty beat but satisfied that when my crew arrived the boat would be ready to hit the water which was my goal. We needed time to work out our communication and make sure each of us new our responsibilities. Here is who my crew was and what they did on the boat: Andrew Kerr—Bow: Andrew and I have sailed together for about 15 years. Originally from the UK he now lives in Olympia Washington and works as a sailing coach, primarily for North U, North Sail’s education division. Andrew’s job is pretty multi facted. First he has to do all the mechanical stuff of getting the sails up and down, gibing to spinnker pole downwind, rolling the boat in tacks and gybes as needed, that stuff is relatively easy. His more important role is feeding good information to skipper on puffs and waves and also tactical information on what he sees on the course and what the other boats are doing. Andrew basically runs a constant commentary during the race that would go something like this. “Wave set in 3,2,1, followed by a puff in 10. Flat spot here in 2. Bow number 10 coming on starboard, I have him in the forward window, looks like he is crossing by one length, no duck needed. Do you see him?”. That goes on for the whole race and really helps to keep the whole crew in tune with what is actually happening. With his commentary streaming we can keep our heads in the game the whole time. Adam “Broadway” Bennett---Mast: Adam is a young transplant to San Diego from New York via San Francisco. I met him when my family and I were living in San Francisco and he was coaching my son’s in Opti’s there. We had not sailed together but Adam did a great job. As the mast person he is responsible for running all the lines in the middle of boat, outhaul, Cunningham boom vang, twings for the spinnaker, etc. He plays a huge role downwind to help balance the boat and is constantly adjusting his weight to help me keep the helm neutral. At the weather mark he eases the vang, overhauls the spinnaker guys and sets the vang to the proper tension for the breeze at the moment and adjusts for each puff. He also helps the bow person with judgement calls on other boats, whether we are crossing or not or whether we are gaining or not. On a J/24 the skipper and tactician can only see part of the course and it is important for the bow and mast people to be dialed into what is happening. Adam got his “Broadway” nickname from his resemblance to “Broadway” Joe Namath, famous quarterback for the New York Jets. Chuck Allen—Tactics: Chuck runs the North One Design office in Rhode Island and is a very experienced sailor in boats of all types. Chuck has a really nice way about him on a boat and for me always manages to keep things on the lighter side which helps me a lot because I tend to get pretty nervous. He is a great conservative tactician which probably comes from his growing up racing small boats in college at the University of Rhode Island where he was an All American. Chuck has responsibility for when we tack and jibe and where the boat gets placed on the course. As the skipper I try to give him as much information I can about the boats that I can see to leeward and how we are faring against them. A number of very ago Chuck and I were sailing together in the Midwinters in Tampa. There was a really competitive fleet and the pin was generally favored. After about the fifth third row start in a row Chuck turned to me a said as serious as he can be, “Chris, I don’t think you could start a lawnmower.” John Fracisco—Cockpit: The reality is that the hardest job on a J/24 is doing the cockpit. John has been sailing the boat for close to as long as I have and he is great at it. He has a great technique for tacking the genoa even when it is windy. John and I worked hard together on getting our timing down. Ideally there is less strength involved and more technique. Our goal on each tack is to get the genoa inside the lifelines and then get’s John’s weight out on the rail quickly while I grind the sheet in as the boat comes up to speed.
Boat Set Up and Sailing: Here is how we set up our boat and sailed it in the Nationals. For the Nationals we used the North San Diego designs. We used a new San Diego Kevlar genoa that I thought was especially fast in the breezy conditions we had. My feeling has always been that the San Diego sails are especially good in a little stronger breeze but I also felt like we could go well in the lighter winds too. The San Diego genoa is rounder in the front and straighter in the back (especially in the top of the sail). This makes the groove wider when sailing in waves and also makes the sail depower faster when the sheet is eased slightly as the wind pipes up. The San Diego main is a little bit fuller than our Newport main which helps the sail in the breeze. You can put on more backstay, and get more headstay tension before the sail gets too flat and starts to invert.
Mast tuning: I have never been one to move my mast butt between races but I have been sailing Etchell’s a lot. The Etchells has the same mast section as a J/24 except longer and the spreaders are in line. Etchells sailors tend to move their mast butt around more, back in light air to induce bend and forward in a breeze to restrict it. This event we did move our mast butt back and forth and I was happy with the speed. In the first race of the day we had the butt back ¼” and then for the second race when the breeze was in we moved it back forward. I think this gave us more punch in the lighter wind with the genoa as we had a little more headstay sag and I think the Kevlar genoas can use that. For shroud tensions I followed the tuning guide but I did err on the side of tighter rather than looser. If I checked the rig at the dock and the number was shade under what I was looking for I always went and half turn tighter so that we ended up a shade tighter than what the tuning guide called for. We also checked our “base setting” over the course of the regatta. We counted turns back to what we thought was base each night. Inevitably our “base” would be too loose and we would have to tighten the shrouds somewhat as they had stretched a little during the day. Sail Trim-Setup:
Speaking of flat, we tried very hard to sail our boat flat all the time, even when the wind was really on. The keel on the J/24 is so short that any heel at all just results in sideways movement. All the time it is much better to hit a wave head on a stop the boat’s forward movement than to heel over and go sideways. In a place like San Francisco that has a lot of steep, short chop and is windy and puffy they way to do this is with twist in the sails. Keep the traveler in the middle. Max out the backstay, get the vang nice and firm (there should be slight bend to the boom) and twist the leech of main so you can bear off a little without having the boat heel to much. On the genoa, you need the jib halyard very tight (three people pulling it up) to pull the draft in the sail forward and twist open the upper leech. Keep the jib lead in the same hole as you have for moderate wind (or 1-2 holes back max) and ease the sheet to keep the boat level. Be subtle on how much you ease it. Do not let it out too much at once unless it is a HUGE puff. It is very important to play the main and jib together. John and I were a little out of synch in the beginning. He knew I wanted him to ease the sheet for big waves and puffs but if he let the sail out too much and I did not ease the main then the helm would load up, the boat would heel too much and try and round up into the wind. The best was when we listened to Andrew calling the waves. We would try and ease both sails BEFORE we got to big waves. This way when the boat slowed in the waves, and the apparent wind moved aft, we would stay flat and the boat would be ready to accelerate out of the wave set. When you get it right it really works great. Sailing Downwind: Generally the boat sails dead straight with a slight weather heel. In a good breeze the boat will have a tendency to round down or “death roll”. To counteract this you will want to have the tactician and at times the mast man and bow person sitting on leeward side of the boat. The thing you do not want is to have to sail too high just because you are afraid of the boat rounding down. Keeping the crew weight stacked to leeward really helps.
Gybing downwind in breeze is one thing that can strike fear into the hearts of any J/24 crew. The key to good safe gybes is:
Thanks for reading and please contact myself or any member of the North J/24 team if you have any questions.
Day one began with winds of about 5-8 out of a southerly direction with the wind wanting to swing toward a sea breeze direction of southeasterly. The wind shifted back and forth for races one and two as the gradient and sea breeze worked against each other. In races three and four the sea breeze filled in and Biscayne Bay produced the classic 10-12 knot conditions with oscillating shifts it is known for this time of year. Getting off the line with a clear lane to get in phase was key all day as it usually is. We were fortunate to find ourselves in that position on 799 in most races and our North inventory with the new Kevlar genoa provided us with the boatspeed to turn that success into three firsts and a fourth on the day. Gary Sprague on Scout’s Pride sailed a great day. He had a 6,1,2,3 on the day but was DSQ’d in race one. This race turned out to be his throw out anyways so he was on track to push the top of the standings hard. Brian Malone and John Paulson’s teams also had great days. All teams of these teams are powered by North. Day two had an 11AM start, an hour earlier than Saturday, and only three races. As a result, the wind held in the 5-8 range all day as the sea breeze was not able to develop before the end of the day’s racing. On 799, we reached both first weather marks in first. This was not always such a good thing though due to the puffs filling from behind on the runs. These were conditions to test the most patient sailor’s nerves. We managed to hold on to third in the first race and win the second allowing us to retire from the last race and use it as our throw out. This was an especially nice luxury in the Miami heat and allowed us to get the boat packed for the trip home at a more leisurely pace. The next three finishing spots were hotly contested and came down to the last race. Second through fourth were separated by three points in the end as local standout Sprague, District Governor Malone, and last year’s winner Poulson all also powered by North sailed hard to finish second third and fourth respectively. Congratulations to everyone who came out to support this great event. Thanks to all of the volunteers for their time to run a great event. I know this event will continue to grow in popularity based on this year’s experience. For information on North sails for your J/24 don't hesitate to contact our J/24 Experts!
Can you tell us a bit about your history in the class? Tony: I was training with the French America's Cup Team in August 1978 during the first J24 North Americans in Newport, Rhode Island. I saw a mass of identical boats on Narragansett Bay all racing. On one picture perfect day, they were unable to get a race off because the competitors were so aggressive and the rules did not provide for anything other than individual or general recalls (no I flag, no Zulu Flag, no Black Flag). I thought to myself, that sounds like great fun. I bought one the next winter. How do you think the class compares from then to now? Tony: The class has really changed. I sailed the first Worlds with about 620 pounds of crew. We all sailed with four. We launched the spinnaker off the bow. We had 2 genoa halyards and a luff groove. We had a long distance race in the Worlds. The racing was great but I cannot imagine a boat racing in the configuration of that day would be within 15 minutes of the top 2009 J24 at a finish. The one constant has been the quality of racers. We probably had every major sailmaker in the US at that first World Championship. The fleet was deep and it was competitive. The difference is that we have learned so much more on how to make these boats go fast. You finished 9th at the Worlds this past spring which is a great success in such a deep fleet! What did you do to prepare leading up to the event? Tony: Our training lasted about 18 months. I realized that I and my team needed to raise our game considerably to compete at an equal level to the top teams. A couple of my crew that I had been sailing with were not able to spend the time required for such an endeavor and so I had to find a couple of key replacements. The first major regatta we entered after my decision to ramp up our program was the 2008 Mid Winters. While we did well, I brought in a couple of really good J24 sailors who basically told me to completely rebuild my boat if I wanted to compete at a higher level. Many thousands of hours/dollars went into rebuilding the boat that winter. We continued to do very well all year. We never finished worse than 3rd in any regatta but I knew we were not fully competitive. I still had so much to learn about keeping the boat going, particularly in heavy air. And we needed to settle on a team and go through enough regattas so we knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses. It wasn’t until the Fall of 2008 that I finalized on a World’s crew. We then sailed in the East Coasts, the King’s Day regatta, the Midwinters and the regattas in April before the Worlds. We also had a bottom job and keel job done just before the Worlds. Tell me a little about the people you sail with? Tony: I like having people on board with positive attitudes. The truth of the matter is that I screw up more than anyone else on the boat, so most of the mistakes are mine. I try very hard to find people who leave their mistakes behind them and only focus on what is remaining of the race. It is never over until it is over. I have always been lucky to have positive people sailing with me. I try very hard not to criticize anyone on the crew, particularly in the heat of the moment. We all worked very hard on that because we knew the Worlds were going to be full of potholes and opportunities to screw up magnificently. It was our ability to deal with the situation AFTER we screwed up that was going to determine how we did in the regatta. Who were your training partners leading up and during the event? Tony: We really didn’t have training partners. Will Welles and I would tune up from time to time and Will co-skippered a local regatta with me just before the Worlds. I also had several excellent J24 skippers sail with me during that 18 month preparation period. I learned from those experiences that we all have slightly different styles of sailing and they all seem to get you to the same spot about the same time.
Tony: Not on the water. Maybe there is an advantage being able to go to your own home every night and remove the logistics issues but I didn’t feel there was an on-the-water advantage. The critical issue was getting off the line in clear air for the first 5 minutes. If you were able to do that, you were pretty assured of a good finish. Local knowledge doesn’t help you with that. How did this Worlds differ from the last worlds you sailed in Annapolis? Tony: How different is night from day? That regatta we finished about 34th, got thrown out of three races and were never competitive. I am not sure we had one top 20 finish. Tony: We bought both a Kevlar and a Pentex. We tried the Kevlar for a couple of regattas before the Worlds and thought it would be a bit better in heavier air but it was a little sticker in the very light stuff. It was a tossup. When Will Welles said he was going with his Pentex, that was the deciding factor for us. I think we made the right decision, based upon the conditions we faced. What were your expectations going into the event? Tony: I was realistic enough to know that the likelihood of us winning was very slim. We would have had to sail a perfect regatta. I had set my upper sights on top 5 and felt we should be able to crack the top 10. We took what turned out to be a stupid penalty flag (a top competitor came up to me after the race and said he saw the whole incident and said we didn’t foul the other boat and would have witnessed it for us) and then added insult to injury by failing to file the written notification that we took an I flag. Those unnecessary 32 points was the difference between 6th and 9th for us, but then again, I am sure everyone else has a tale of woe that they could cite. Were you happy with your result? Tony: Yes. What a treat just to be competitive. I am 63 years old and am an amateur. I don’t think there was a skipper within 25 years of my age in the top 30 and most of the teams in the top 40 were full on professional teams. What was it like to be winning after day 3? Tony: Nice, but I knew there was a whole lot of racing left to go and I also knew there were a bunch of boats that would be in front of us as soon as they could throw out a race. I try never to get too high or too low, just take every race, every start, every leg, one at a time. When is your next regatta? Tony: I am thinking about San Francisco for the Nationals and Sweden for the Worlds next year. I just have to see. Tony: I have been lucky to have sailed with some terrific J24 sailors in the past 2 years. I have learned a bunch from them. The one thing right now that has me intrigued is that many of the top pro teams put their jib lead much further forward than I do (like a couple of inches) and then ease off the sheet to make it work. They might be on to something and I am curious to experiment with that. I thought I had good light air boat speed but this might be another gear. The secret is to always be curious and always experiment and ask questions. Thank you Tony!
The 2009 J/24 Worlds were held in Annapolis, MD, where as we all know the conditions can be light and variable especially when fronts move through. The event started off with three days of intense measurement: boats, rigs and sails were all put under the microscope. With the majority of the fleet flying North Sails, it was pleasing to see our sails breeze through measurement and all of our customers come out smiling-just one less thing to worry about! That Sunday, before the practice race, North Sails held a “local sailing conditions” clinic over at Eastport YC-where our very own Chris Larson was the featured speaker, he is also a past World Champion and Annapolis resident. We had to limit the talk to two people per boat since there were 82 registered for the event, passing out flyers and walking the docks really got the word out as we had around 90 people in attendance with standing room only. Chris did a wonderful job of describing why the conditions would be light (frontals coming through), current, etc… we had some great feedback come out of this.
Monday came around and as predicted the conditions were light and variable and this pattern was to hold throughout the regatta ending on Friday, with the best sailing to be the last day. Our sails would begin to litter the leader board right from the get go and remain dominating the top twenty throughout the week. In fact, the only two teams in the top ten were Santa Cruz and Casale, both past World Champions. Santa Cruz makes his own brand of sails in Brazil and Casale flies Elvstrom Sails-congrats to both of these teams, especially The Brazilians for their regatta win. The Italians would end up in eighth place. Some of the other sailmakers seem to struggle with their sails showing a lack of power for the lighter conditions as of evident on the race course and in the overall results. Chris Larson led the way for North Sails, in fact he was winning the event going into the last race, showing awesome speeds all around the course and on all points of sail. Chris’s professional approach to sailing was quite noticeable just watching him and his team around the docks. Chris sailed with our San Diego Main, Newport Technora Genoa and San Diego Spinnaker. Pereira from Argentina would end up third sailing with our Newport Main and Pentex Genoa with a San Diego Spinnaker-this combination proved to really- really fast as he would dominate the last and best day of sailing (where we had three races) in around 5-9 knots of breeze. These guys were unstoppable-I know for a fact, as we did battle with them in two of the races and we could not hold pace. As a matter of fact, The ARG and CHI Teams seems to really enjoy these conditions throughout the last and best day of sailing.
For information on North sails for your J/24 don't hesitate to contact our J/24 Experts!
J/24 Sails
J/24 Sails
Jorge: Well as you know Chris, Mexicans aren't very big in size so that's why we sailed with 6 people, perhaps isn't the most practical thing. The crews are: Jose Alfonso Gutierrez who was the trimmer, Andres Akle flew the spinnaker, Pablo Rion did the middle deck, Daniel Carvallo was foredeck, Federico Fernandez (the kid, 13 years old) we used him as weight and myself who also did the tactics.
Jorge: At the beginning it isn't that hard because the Opti class is very well organized, but after that it gets harder for the young sailors in Mexico because there is not really any class to keep going. What I did was to sail the most competitive class at the time and the one with the best opportunities to travel, so after Optis I sailed Hobie 16 for almost 4 years and then I got into Lasers for one year. After that I did a bit of J24s for the Worlds in 2007 here in Mexico and then sailed Snipes for a while for the Panam Games to switch back to J24`s until now. For instance, there aren't any Snipes here in Mexico so we lived in the US and South America at that time.
Jorge: On J24's, my experience is down to the Worlds in Puerto Vallarta, and the one in Italy, besides those 2 championships I might have sailed it in the ocean 5 or 6 weekends and the rest of the time only in Valle. In a very near future we want to go to the Worlds in Annapolis and after that I don`t know how much more I will be sailing j24s but for sure I will keep sailing them at least in Valle as it's the most competitive class in Mexico right now.
Jorge: Yes, Valle is a tricky place and specially during those dates. I set my boat for the lowest range of wind that I expected because my theory is that you need to get out of the no wind patches as fast as possible and when you get the puff you'll always move. For the first 2 days which were the lightest ones I had the shrouds in 19-12 and from there the most that I tightened them was 3 turns in the outers and 1 in the inners, which would leave us in somewhere around 21 -15. Regarding the sails I tried to trim them as flat as possible and always have the lead position as far aft as possible. Perhaps we moved the genoa leads a lot with wind changes even without tacking.
Jorge: Well of course we had the advantage of knowing the place, but from my experience most lakes are very similar especially if they are about the same size. Actually I do the tactics and there is not a specific tactician, however the crew gives me some information. But anyway, what I think is most important in Valle is to see how the puffs are moving because some times they cross the course and some times run parallel to one side, so depending on that was when we tacked in the shifts. I also tried very hard to never get caught very far in one side because with any unexpected wind shift we would be in the bottom of the fleet for sure, so we preferred to play the middle as much as we could even if we weren't first to the next puff. And besides that was all about getting right the shifts which was not that easy hahaha.
The problem is that sailing is still a very unknown sport here in Mexico so only few people practice it which makes it hard to get better and more competitive. However, it's been improving lately and if all the people keep working in promoting the sport there is a good chance of speeding up the process.
Jorge: I want to start sailing Snipes again and also try to campaign in 49er for London 2012, so in the near future I need to start practicing in both classes.
Jorge: Weird but I don`t listen to music, however I can ask my crew what are they listening to and tell you.
Another great weekend for North J/24 sailors! John Poulson and his team aboard Long Shot won the St. Pete NOOD beating a lot of good teams! John who just finished 5th at the Midwinters is on fire for the upcoming Worlds. We are working on an interview with him. Please keep tuned! Here the results:
For information on North sails for your J/24 don't hesitate to contact our J/24 Experts!
Jorge Murrieta (MEX) and his Team Vitamin Water have won The 2009 J/24 North American’s powered by North Sails. They used a combination of Newport Upwind and SD FR-2 Downwind in securing the championship. The event was held in Valle de Bravo, Mexico sailed with 44 boats. Chris Snow/Chuck Allen (USA) finished in a close second having a chance at the title on the last day but fell short. Kenneth Porter (MEX) was forth and Mike Ingham (USA) fifth, both using North sails.
The Hand Gliding World Championships were here the same time-these guys are crazy! Keep tuned.. Interview with Jorge Murrieta coming shortly.
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J/24 Sails
Will Welles and Team Win The East Coast Championship!
Friday morning the sailors where greeted with cold temps and light breeze for the first day of racing. Four races where sailed with a shifty East to southeasterly breeze ranging from 5 to ten knots. Will Welles and team where able to figure out the tricky conditions and stay consistent with all finishes in the top ten to take an early lead of the regatta over North customer Pete Levesque and Team Mookie. Another North Customer, Tony Parker, ended the day in third. Saturdays forecast was for big breeze and rain. The competitors sure saw the big breeze as the only race of the day was sailed in breezes ranging from 18 to 25 knots and building. It was a tough decision to sail with the blade or tough it out with the genoa. About half of the fleet was using the blade, and seemed to have an edge over the genoas. The race was finished in about 25 to 30 knots of breeze and the entire fleet was now switched to the blade as the race committee was getting ready to run a second race. The race was started and boats completed 2 legs as the breeze built from 25 knots to being in the high 30’s. After most of the fleet announced they were retiring from the race the PRO decided to abandon the race and send the fleet in. The North Sails One Design Team was on scene immediately with van ready to take sails to the loft for repair. A great effort by the North One Design Team had a pile of sails repaired and back the yacht club for racing on Sunday. Sunday was a beautiful day for golf not so much for sailing. With conflicting breeze directions and not enough velocity the regatta was over. Will Welles and team won the 2008 J24 east coast championship by 14 points, with Tony Parker and Team Bangor Packet in second.
For information on North sails for your J/24 don't hesitate to contact our J/24 Experts!
J/24 Sails
North Sails were on the top five boats for J/24 Fleet 50-Newport. We typically have 30 boats sailing on Thursday Nights and the competition is tough. We have enjoyed a 75% market share with Newport Upwind and SD Downwind being the majority. Congrats to Will Welles for dethroning Jen Hookenson-no easy task!!! 1 For information on North sails for your J/24 don't hesitate to contact our J/24 Experts! To order your fast North J/24 sails online and have them delivered to your door, click here.
J/24 Sails
This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the 30th Annual Changing of the Colors Regatta up in Lake George, New York. There were 70 boats sailing in flickle breeze and at times, light rain. On Saturday the wind would fill in for about an hour at a time, just enough to start and finish two/three leg windward leeward courses. Saturday’s first race was sailed in a tapering southerly. The first beat was comprised of a long port tack and a short starboard drift once the breeze shut off completely. There were a number of different headsails represented on the “run.” Some boats used their genoas, others their spinnakers, some a combination of the two. Eventually the breeze went forward enough that everyone was in their genoa, beating back to the starting line, the new finish of the race. The second race was sailed in a slightly more stable northerly. This three-leg test of patients ended up being the final race of the day. The race committee had visions of a third race until one of the competitors reminded them that “you don’t try to ski with out snow.” All and all, we were pretty lucky to get two races in and just as a side, I don’t think I’ve ever heard such entertaining VHF banter. Sunday’s wind conditions were a bit nicer, approximately 3-5 knots from the West-North-East. We sailed a five-leg and a three-leg windward leeward. The breeze held for 7 of 8 legs on the left side of the course and 8 of 8 on the right. As we pulled the boats out of the water the breeze came ripping down the lake, white capping and causing ironic laughter ashore. The event was a lot of fun. Lake George is a great club and I am sure I will be back next year. Congratulations got out to Kirk Reynolds, his crew, and his North Sails for a great job in some very, very tough sailing conditions. For information on North sails for your J/24 don't hesitate to contact our J/24 Experts! To order your fast North J/24 sails online and have them delivered to your door, click here.
This past weekend 18 boats participated in the 23rd annual Downeast Regatta hosted by the Portland Yacht Club. Competitors showed up Saturday morning to find overcast skies, intermittent rain, and no wind. The race committee chose to send the fleet out at noon, wind or no wind. No wind it was, but as soon as we reached the race area we were graced with a sailable southerly. The pin was heavily favored in the first start of the event. With 30 seconds to start we found ourselves all alone at said favored end. As the gun sounded we flopped on to port, ladder rungs to weather and looking good. However, halfway up the beat it became apparent that there was something special about the right hand side of the racecourse. There were puffs coming off of an island located on the right side as well as some serious current relief. As we began to notice this we put the bow down in an effort to consolidate as well as take part in some of the relief. A few minutes into our bow down mode we realized that we were just giving away VMG as the J24 doesn’t get up and go when you lean on her up wind. Having notice that, it was back to normal upwind mode with a good lesson learned. The second race was similar to the first with the addition of some pea soup fog. Something that helped us a ton was timing the amount of time spent on starboard and port. We assumed the first beat to be square and spent an equal amount of time on port and starboard until we were able to pull the mark out of the fog. After we found the first beat to be slightly skewed we adjusted our times accordingly for subsequent legs of the course. After the second race the fleet was instructed to return to shore. An early end time made for a great afternoon of hanging out and feasting on lobster. Tropical Storm Hanna moved through southern Maine on Saturday night leaving crisp northerly winds for Sunday morning’s racing. We did not realize how crisp the wind was until we reached the starting line and were able to experience the entire fetch. At the bottom of the course it was gusting to 20, making the blade a viable option. At the top of the course it was a bit softer and way shiftier. We chose to go with the genoa hoping to make big gains at the top. At the bottom of the course the two sails seemed to be relatively even and at the top the genny was faster in a straight line but the blade out tacked it for sure. (Proving once again that there is always an argument for one over the other and that the crossover is bigger than people think it is.) After the first race the breeze began to taper and most of the fleet was caught tight on their rigs. When this happens you have to be sure to adjust everything else to achieve your desired power. The pressure that chose to stick around did so on the perimeter of the racecourse. The trick to the day was to gain leverage to a side early and use the weather bows as an indicator of when to tack and cross. Once across you had to consolidate back to the side from which you came in an effort to avoid the middle. You had to play the pressure more than the compass, getting across people when you were in it and strong. The Downeast Regatta is a regatta that everyone should go to. The place is beautiful, the food is great, and the people are some of the most hospitable I have ever met. Thanks go out to the Portland YC, The Handy Boatyard, and Carter and Amy White for putting on a first class event. Top 3: 1st For information on North sails for your J/24 don't hesitate to contact our J/24 Experts! To order your fast North J/24 sails online and have them delivered to your door, click here.
North Sails did quite well at the Marblehead NOOD regatta this past week. Jeff Earl from Beverly Mass hoisted his brand new North Sails for the first time ever at this regatta and won the event! He is very happy that he switched to North Sails. Jeff used a Newport main and Genoa and the new FR2 spinnaker. North J24 sails finished 1,2,3 and 4! J-24 -- NOOD Regatta @ Marblehead Race Week 1. \p = Tie broken by 1st places, 2nd places, etc. For information on North sails for your J/24 don't hesitate to contact our J/24 Experts! To order your fast North J/24 sails online and have them delivered to your door, click here.
For information on North sails for your J/24 don't hesitate to contact our J/24 Experts! To order your fast North J/24 sails online and have them delivered to your door, click here.
J/24 Sails
Last weekend 20 boats made it out to the Sail Newport starting line 1.5 miles off of R2 at a bearing 240 degrees. When the fleet arrived at the rendezvous point they were met by a light southerly breeze and plenty of slop. The race committee set a fairly even racecourse that had a bit more pressure coming out of its top left corner. After a two-boat tuning session we decided we were happy with our base setting on the shrouds (20-15), a loose jib halyard (big, round, scallops), and super forward jib car setting (end of the track). We had a mediocre first start and decided to get onto port right away. Being to leeward in light and lumpy conditions is an enormous advantage so even though we liked the top left we conceded it early for leeward positioning. After being on port tack for about two minutes, windward bows began falling into us so we consolidated back to the fleet while simultaneously heading for our top left. We got across 18 of the 19 other boats and switched sides with the race leader who had come out of the left. After rounding in a close second we kept trying to soak inside and gybe on top. With a little separation, a bit more pressure and a great layline call we were able to scoot around the competition and lead around the course-right gate, the better gate for avoiding boats that were still sailing down wind. Rounding the leeward gates in clear air in lumpy conditions is an unbelievable advantage. The wide tacking angles that come with choppy conditions make for exaggerated wind shadows and a scenario where the rich seem to get richer. We were able to maintain our lead and ended up winning the first race of the regatta. The next two races we won the pin and were able to put our bow down when necessary to get through the occasional boat-stopping wave sets. We found starboard tack to be a bit more bow into the waves and because of that we sailed starboard tack with a couple degrees of leeward heel. Sailing with a bit of leeward heel is like sailing with gathered potential energy, when you hit a wave you go to flat instead of heeling all the way to weather and losing flow on your foils. We found port tack to be more wave-friendly and because of this we sailed port tack dead flat. Angle of heel through the waves was the key to upwind boat speed on Saturday. Conveying exactly where the weight needed to be made it easy for an already heady crew to keep the boat moving nicely though the waves. Footing helped the boat point on starboard, we kept our leeward telltale flicking most of the time. Conversely, on port tack, we were bubbling our jib in the puffs and sailing with a more traditional J-24 inside break. We ended up using our out-of-trouble starts, maneuver-minimizing game plan and slight upwind speed advantage to take the next two races of the day as well.
Top Ten:
For information on North sails for your J/24 don't hesitate to contact our J/24 Experts! To order your fast North J/24 sails online and have them delivered to your door, click here.
J/24 Sails
Ron, could you tell us a little bit about your sailing background? RM: I started sailing PHRF on the Pamlico River in my J-24 back in 1999. In 2001 I moved over to Belews Creek and began sailing the 24 in some One-Design events. I fell in love with One-Design sailing and now I try to travel as much as I can. Tell us a little bit about your Charleston team? RM: We sail with four. Bob Turner normally trims and does tactics, but this regatta we had him on the bow. He has been sailing with me for years. In some ways he is like my co-skipper. When things on the boat break, he can always fix them. I guess you can say he doubles as a Boatwright. Next, we have Lorne Cheesman in the middle. He is in charge of balancing the boat. He is very aggressive with his weight, especially downwind. John Collins was our upwind and downwind trimmer. It was great to sail with John because he was the one who got me into one-design racing back in Belews Creek. Sailing with four really opens up the middle of the boat. We find it works well for us. Sounds great. What North Sails were you using and how did you like them? RM: I was using the Newport upwind sails and the San Diego kite. Why were you using sails from both inventories? RM: We use the guide as a baseline but because our rig is a bit older we generally have it set tighter than the guide tells us to. I think the guide is written for newer, stiffer masts. I spent a lot of time making sure my forestay is at max length and that my pre-bend is where I want it for each condition. What regattas are on the horizon? RM: Local stuff this summer. Going to Wrightsville Beach in early August, they are trying to get their fleet going down there. Southeast Regional Champs. East Coast’s in Annapolis. Our Districts down here. We are really hoping to qualify for next year’s worlds in Annapolis. For us, an all ametuer team, going to the worlds would be an experience of a lifetime.
J/24 Sails
Tony Parker/Rossi won The 2008 Annapolis NOOD's with ease, showing excellent gear changing/adaptability in the mostly 7 knots and under event. Will Welles and Chuck Allen won the second day with a 1, 5, 2- but could not catch up to Parker after a 14 on the first day. Mike Ingham and his team showed some great speed posting superb scores, but they too had a tough one in in race four. Steve Lopez/Chip Till and their family team from NJ were also quite fast but did not sail on the last day, otherwise they were always in the top group. North Facts:
For information on North sails for your J/24 don't hesitate to contact our J/24 Experts! To order your fast North J/24 sails online and have them delivered to your door, click here.
J/24 Sails
North Sails finished 1, 3 and 5 in the J/24 Class at The 2008 Charleston Race Week this past weekend. After having a tough first race in the series, Ron Medlin and Team caught fire with four bullets to go on and win the event. North Sails won five of the six races held, which mostly saw the top end of genoa type conditions. Our Newport Series Sails were first and third with our San Diego Series placing fifth. North Sails provided the weather service for the event, which proved to be quite popular.
Robby Brown and Chuck Allen of North Sails One Design team up to win the 2008 St. Petersburg NOOD J24 class and Overall Award. Robby and Chuck topped a great field of J24s with North dominating the field in the end results. The regatta conditions covered a wide range of wind strengths with the first two days having predominately light air and the final day having winds ranging from 5-15 knots. The North sails performed outstanding in all wind ranges. We used the upwind Newport designs and the new San Diego spinnaker. Twenty-six J24s competed in the regatta making it the second largest class at the event. Boats featuring North Sails won every race with the top six spots going to North boats. Mark Liebel, a new North customer, was third at the regatta after suffering the same misfortune as we did on the run of the first race that was shortened at the first leeward gate. In that race, the wind died and shifted about 50 degrees leaving all but one of the front boats on the wrong side of a knock that turned the fleet upside down. Mark was extremely pleased with his new North sails stating that the groove was easy to drive on the upwind sails and the spinnaker was real fast and easy to fly during the regatta. He was overheard reflecting, asking why he waited so long to make the change to North. Other North customers showed great performance in speed and tactics as North claimed the top six spots in the class. Todd and Genoa Fedyszyn sailed an outstanding regatta to finish second with help from North’s Brian Bissell. The balance of the top six finishers Mark Liebel, Steve Wood, John Poulson and Paul Van Ravensway respectively all sailed outstanding regattas with top finishes except one big number along the way in the tricky conditions. The fickle winds of Tampa Bay proved challenging for even the best sailors. Our team on Preparation J, sponsored by Sunsail, was honored with the overall regatta award in an admittedly close decision among several outstanding performances in other talented classes. We are honored to win the award as a J24 team. Our team consisted of co-skippers Robby Brown, helmsman, and Chuck Allen, tactician (Friday and Saturday, Bill Icely Sunday), Jeff Olsen, trimmer, Jim Traun, bow and Sandy Scheda, boat partner and mast. We had an outstanding team all weekend. We were fortunate to get off the starting line in good shape every race and had enough boat speed to stay with the lead group each race. After the big shift handing us a tough finish in race one, we finished out with all first place finishes with no boat crossing our bow at any time in the last three races. I was extremely pleased with our speed and got many compliments about how fast we were. I feel this is a reflection on North’s commitment to ongoing research and development and tuning information. Chuck Allen, Brian Bissell and myself, Robby Brown, along with the rest of the North J24 team look forward to assisting you at the next J24 event, and we are always happy help with any questions you may have about getting the best performance from your boat. Top 6: From Sailing World Web site: Feb 17, 2008
For more information on J/24 sails, contact the North J/24 experts.
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The conditions got gnarly enlighten the readers on what went down in Bermuda.
I first heard of the event from a close Mexican friend of mine Kenneth Porter. Kenneth is one of the guys responsible for making the J/24 the huge fleet it is in Mexico. Generosity defines Kenneth, when he is not helping his fellow sailors, he is helping the class technical committee, raising a family and generally getting things done. Anyhow Kenneth invited me to sail and also offered me the use of one of his two boats. An offer I could not refuse. 
Going into the last day and the last two races there were pretty much two boats who could win the event, ourselves and Maurico Santa Cruz. We were able to beat him by one boat in the first race of the day setting up the final race. Going into that race we could not finish worse than second and if we were somehow able to force Mauricio to eat his throwout ( a 23) we would win, we had a throwout to spend. 
Tony Parker and his Bangor Packet team have had a stellar year in the J24 class! Tony is arguably one of the top amateurs sailing J24s today. Here is a brief interview on how he has approached his program in the recent months to prepare himself for the Worlds. 
Did you feel like you had an advantage being a local?
Tactically I found Valle very hard, big shifts and lots of up and down in the wind speed. How did you and your tactician approach the regatta and the difficult conditions?
Ten races were sailed over the weeklong event and if you have never sailed here before make sure to put it on the list! The breeze comes in at 12:30pm-so you leave the dock just before, sail until 5:30pm where you arrive back to The Club Nautico for the most festive atmosphere you could imagine-just beautiful here!
This past weekend J24 fleet 8 of Annapolis hosted the J24 East Coast Championship. Forty-Eight boats competed for the title in the tricky Annapolis sailing conditions.
The 2008 J24 District 10 championships were help in Miami, FL this past weekend July 12th and 13th. The local Fleet and their representatives had a wonderful event organized, with great race management, when the fleet arrived and the conditions were everything that Biscayne Bay offers in the summer. Tropical but pleasant temperatures and consistent winds provided for a great venue to determine the district’s representative at the 2009 World’s in Annapolis, MD.
“We’ve been using North Newport upwind and San Diego downwind since we bought the boat last year. As our driving and trimming have improved, we have developed a lot speed with that combination, especially in moderate conditions. We were able to come off the line clean and drag race our way to the front of the fleet. From there our crew executed flawless mechanics and high percentage tactics to bring it home.
Congratulations go out to Ron Medlin and his crew for their impressive victory at a talent-filled Charleston Race Week. The Bash boys won four of seven races on their way to the podium and here is what they had to say:
Do you tune your rig off the tuning guide or do you get creative?
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.—Local sailor Robbie Brown and co-skipper Chuck Allen, of Wickford, R.I., strung together a scoreline full of ones at the 2008 Sperry Top-Sider St. Petersburg NOOD Regatta. The only problem was two of them came in the first race in the form of an 11th.
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