J/24 Southern Areas at the Henri Lloyd Weymouth Regatta
by Stuart Jardine 12 Jul 2010 12:13 BST
10-11 July 2010
Near perfect sailing conditions greeted the 17 strong J24 fleet that mustered at Weymouth for their Southern Area Championships. With winds from the West backing South West ranging from 8 knots in the morning to around 15 knots in the afternoon gave everyone the opportunity to compete in the closest racing probably experienced by any class in the UK.
The Combined Clubs of Weymouth under the Peter Hopford as the Race Officer and his team with well designed courses to ensure the very minimum of clashes from the 5 very different types of boats racing off the same starting line at 5 minute intervals gave some superb racing. Using a seperate windward finish for the J24 Class and the others finishing on the other side of the start boat worked very well.
Five great races (with 1 discard) were completed with the eventual winner, the current European Champion Nathan Batchelor in Serco 4247 after a poor first day for his standards by winning the final two races on Sunday just clinched the trophy from Stuart Jardine in Stouche by 1 point with Duncan McCarthy in Madeleine 4245 one point further back.
Others needing mention were Roger Morris from Poole in Jolly Roger 4270 in 4th place showing great speed at times, a little more consistancy and he will be there. The next three boats tied on 19 points with Stig McDonald in Jam II 4206 taking 5th overall by virtue of winning race 2 followed by Alex Knight in Jeepers 4194 with 2 second places and then David Cooper in Jawbreaker 4271.
Finally a special mention to Sam Pascoe, a crew off Jeepers, for launching and recovering all the visiting boats from the new cranes at the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy and of course the Sailing Academy for permitting the Class to use these great new facilities.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Boat Name | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 4247 | Serco | Nathan Batchelor | Castle Cove Sc | -12 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | GBR 4215 | Stouche | Stuart Jardine | Royal Lymington Yc | 2 | 3 | 1 | -10 | 4 | 10 |
| 3 | GBR 4245 | Madeleine | Duncan Mccarthy | Parkstone Yc | 1 | -4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 11 |
| 4 | GBR 4270 | Jolly Roger | Roger Morris | Parkstone Yacht Club | 3 | 2 | 6 | -11 | 6 | 17 |
| 5 | GBR 4206 | Jam 2 | George Kerr | Rya | 5 | 1 | 5 | -14 | 8 | 19 |
| 6 | 4194 | Jeepers | Alex Knight | Castle Cove Sc | -10 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 19 |
| 7 | GBR4271 | Jawbreaker | David Cooper | Cargreen Yc | 4 | -6 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 19 |
| 8 | GBR 4259 | Jacobite | Mike Street | Castle Cove Sc | 6 | -13 | 9 | 5 | 11 | 31 |
| 9 | 4248 | Chaotic | Sue Proudfoot | Uk J24 Class Association | 8 | 7 | 8 | -15 | 9 | 32 |
| 10 | 4242 | Hitch Hiker | Andrew Taylor | Parkstone Yc | 7 | -12 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 37 |
| 11 | 4027 | Jiggy With It | Paul Wiliams | | 11 | 11 | 10 | -13 | 7 | 39 |
| 12 | 4251 | Italian Job | John Gorman | Rya | 13 | -15 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 43 |
| 13 | GBR 4261 | Jinseng | Andy Gaunt | Weymouth Sc | 15 | 14 | 14 | 3 | -16 | 46 |
| 14 | 4213 | Djinn | Adrian Bennett | Saltash S.c. | 9 | 9 | 15 | -16 | 13 | 46 |
| 15 | GBR 4254 | Juju | Rob Clark | Parkstone Yc | 14 | 10 | 13 | 12 | -15 | 49 |
| 16 | GBR 4153 | Jam | Tim Brouard | Poole Harbour Yacht Club | -17 | 17 | 17 | 9 | 17 | 60 |
| 17 | GBR 4147 | Hijack | Mark Lewers | Uk J24 Class Association | 16 | 16 | 16 | -17 | 14 | 62 |