J/24 Worlds at Medemblik, Holland Overall

by Mark Jardine 25 Aug 2003 12:01 BST

66 boats from 15 nations at the J/24 World Championships © www.YachtsandYachting.com

The Jardine twins celebrate their 70th birthdays at the J/24 World Championships © Frank Kuhlmann

With so many new classes trying to compete with the J/24 these days you might think the turnout for the World Championships would be small and the international flavour of the event would be thin. Nothing could be further from the truth. 66 teams from 15 nations travelled to Medemblik, Holland from nations as far away as Australia, Japan, the US, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Peru.

While World Championship selection is commonplace in dinghy classes it is rare in keelboats but it is fully implemented in the J/24. Each nation is given a quota based on the number of active boats in the country. The UK received 3 places for the 86 active boats, which is doubled due to the Worlds being in Europe. An extra place was awarded due to 3 charter boats being provided from the UK bringing the total to 7.

Once at the event the strict measurement process started. Everything is weighed and measured to ensure that the one-design racing is exactly that. This continued until the practice race on Sunday. Sailed in the lightest winds of the event the racing was tight but far less tense than the main event. Jim Griffiths’ ‘Crew Clothing’ finished the race 4th and as top British boat.

On Monday the event started in earnest but only one race was completed as the wind failed to find stability until very late in the day. Gabriele Benussi in ‘Sailing Planet’ from Italy stated his intentions for the title early taking victory.

Tuesday saw a stronger and slightly more stable wind blowing across the Ijsselmeer. 3 races took place to bring the regatta back on schedule. Bob Turner’s ‘Headcase’ took the British result of the regatta by winning the first race of the day but Italian Lorenzo Bressani in ‘Kaster’ really shone with all three results of the day on the podium.

Having won the last race on Tuesday Albert Kooijman’s ‘Just 4 Fun’ came out of the blocks fast again on Wednesday. The Dutch team had an astounding run of four victories in a row mid-regatta. The Italian team on ‘Kaster’ continued their consistent run while other top teams floundered in the teens.

Thursday saw three British boats top at the windward mark. Mark Jardine helming ‘Crew Clothing’ lead with David Ellis’ ‘Hitch Hiker’ second and Duncan Peace’s new ‘Wijit Reloaded’ third. ‘Just 4 Fun’ and ‘Kaster’ came through towards the end but it was a good day for the British teams. The day saw Lorenzo Bressani’s team on ‘Kaster’ take the title through brilliantly consistent sailing, never finishing outside the top ten.

The final day still had much excitement with the podium far from decided. Andy Horton helming the US boat ‘ING Direct’ took the win propelling them to second overall. Gabriele Benussi in ‘Sailing Planet’ completed the podium.

Racing in Medemblik is always hard with the steep chop and shifty winds. Put that together with a top quality fleet of identical boats and sailing consistently becomes extremely difficult. The top British team was Bob Turner’s ‘Headcase’ who finished eighth. They had moments of brilliance but more importantly kept their heads when down in the pack to pull out with good results every day. A very good performance in such a high quality field. The Jardine twins on ‘Stouche’ finished 14th overall just before celebrating their 70th birthdays!

The next major event for the UK fleet is the UK Nationals from the 18th to the 21st September at Parkstone. See you there if you want to join the largest one-design keelboat class in the world.

Overall Results: (9 races, 1 discard)

Pos	Sail No	Boat Name	Helm	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	Pts
1	ITA432	Kaster	Lorenzo Bressani	5	3	1	2	8	2	5	3	DNC	29
2	USA5078	ING Direct	Horton/Wolfs	3	8	4	16	6	8	2	11	1	43
3	ITA471	Sailing Planet	Gabriele Benussi	1	15	2	3	4	12	3	16	4	44
4	NED57	Just4fun	Albert Kooijman	18	9	21	1	1	1	1	7	9	47
5	BRA42	Spectaculus III	Mauricio Santa Cruz	DSQ	2	5	7	2	4	6	9	12	47
6	ITA434	Fiamma Gialla	Andrea Casale	16	6	3	4	3	OCS	22	1	2	57
7	JPN5271	Santa Black	Yutaka Takagi	7	5	14	10	11	15	10	2	7	66
8	GBR4247	Headcase	Bob Turner	19	1	25	15	OCS	5	11	8	13	97
9	ITA269	Gingerinup	Fabio Nocera	2	24	6	18	5	22	12	29	8	97
10	ITA194	Widecontrol	Sergue Chevstov	21	4	22	13	21	11	8	32	18	118
11	GER5266	MAN Roland - Rotoman	Leif Tom Loose	4	23	10	17	13	OCS	20	14	24	125
12	ITA233	J di F	Luigi Ravioli	23	10	19	5	14	14	PPN	31	11	127
13	AUS186	Code Violation	Doug McGain	28	19	11	9	7	40	25	15	21	135
14	GBR4215	Stouche	Stuart Jardine	8	17	OCS	11	15	21	36	23	14	145
15	JPN5317	Gekko	Tomomi Hatakeyama	9	7	23	PPN	PPN	3	44	45	3	146
16	JPN5261	Siesta	Kobun Kuramichi	14	14	20	20	30	9	29	26	15	147
17	GER5281	United Five	Jan Kaehler	27	22	12	22	DSQ	25	21	5	16	150
18	USA5325	High Five	Roger Harden	13	39	15	28	26	19	26	13	17	157
19	GBR4265	-.-	Duncan Peace	26	21	18	24	36	7	9	24	49	165
20	JPN4855	Sled	Kazuyuki Hyodo	11	18	29	6	OCS	PPN	32	PPN	10	167
21	GBR4242	Hitchhiker	David Ellis	35	40	9	14	34	26	7	47	5	170
22	AUS161	Convicts Revenge	Stephen Girdis	OCS	33	13	27	9	6	18	28	36	170
23	GBR4253	Crew Clothing	Mark Jardine	OCS	25	8	32	17	39	4	22	26	173
24	NED62	J-Spot	Ivo Kok	25	13	26	40	18	DNF	17	40	6	185
25	NED39	Jan Steen	Frans vd Wel	17	16	30	23	27	36	13	33	DNF	195
26	ITA460	Botta Dritta	P. Mario di Fraia	6	29	7	DNF	DSQ	29	16	18	25	197
27	USA5296	Red Dawn	John Wilsey	37	27	24	12	28	20	30	21	44	199
28	GER3117	Quickfoot	Peer Kock	40	38	OCS	19	19	17	27	19	23	202
29	ITA404	J-Mix	Elio Cavallo	34	12	36	31	12	13	37	35	34	207
30	USA153	NEXX/1stStr.LiveProd	Daniel Borrer	42	28	34	38	39	35	15	20	20	229
31	NED63	Kasbank	Max Houtzager	32	11	OCS	34	OCS	27	PPN	17	19	243
32	ITA240	Borgo Scopeto	Andrea Fornaro	10	34	31	DSQ	24	33	19	PPN	27	245
33	PER321	Regatas One	Rafael Neumann	29	42	OCS	33	22	31	50	12	35	254
34	BER13	Team Sadiiqi	Pete Ramsdale	38	41	35	35	16	PPN	33	27	40	265
35	SWE4896	Front Runner	Per-Hakan Persson	36	20	45	29	PPN	DSQ	14	44	22	266
36	GER4718	Bay Bee	Klaus Schutt	31	32	40	21	31	18	61	PPN	32	266
37	JPN5083	Hanseikai	Mikio Tokano	22	48	42	42	29	23	35	34	39	266
38	GER4746	Antigen	Kirsten Harmstorf	33	36	33	26	38	34	39	30	50	269
39	JPN4740	Tohsei	Keiko Nogami	DNF	44	37	51	20	16	31	36	38	273
40	GBR4213	Wave Warrior	Angus McPhie	45	45	17	37	43	46	60	10	RET	303
41	ARG5095	Cacique	Sergio Pendola	OCS	43	16	PPN	25	PPN	PPN	48	37	304
42	ITA461	Miki	Eugenio Trumpy	39	37	43	56	47	24	41	46	28	305
43	PER4698	Regatas Too	Javier Arribas	15	53	39	41	32	50	58	39	41	310
44	NED28	Ham	Hans Hussem	30	35	44	30	DNF	DNC	24	54	29	313
45	GER1185	Gronau	Stefan Karsunke	20	26	32	44	DSQ	49	46	65	33	315
46	NED55	Nou Moe	Niclas Kuipers	44	59	52	45	OCS	28	43	25	31	327
47	GER4401	Irma Schabulski	Henning Baur	OCS	51	27	47	45	38	53	6	DNC	334
48	ITA455	Bel Colpo RMC	Roberto Casadei	DSQ	30	48	43	35	48	42	60	30	336
49	NED51	De Jans	Nils Jannichsen	49	31	28	50	48	PPN	47	42	42	337
50	GER5282	Vitesse	Manfred Koenig	12	52	47	PPN	37	32	48	49	DNC	339
51	ITA113	Indiana J	M. Santarcangelo	24	47	54	49	46	57	49	37	46	352
52	HUN203	Euphemya	Tamas Madarasz	48	55	49	53	44	43	45	41	PPN	378
53	SWE80	Dream On	Robert Ambjornsson	47	46	53	55	53	PPN	40	50	45	389
54	IRL4794	Hard on Port	Desmond Fortune	OCS	54	56	57	23	58	38	57	47	390
55	NED64	Oasis	Klariette Antuma	43	61	51	39	51	42	56	61	DSQ	404
56	USA1965	Roger Rabbit	Kathy Lundeen	41	DNF	50	DNF	49	41	54	55	48	405
57	NED17	Jente	Cees Draijer	52	60	60	54	33	54	52	59	52	416
58	NED46	Hollands Roem	Sander Bausch	OCS	56	38	46	50	44	DSQ	64	51	416
59	GBR4263	Flagship Flyer	Ian Braham	DSQ	50	41	DNF	42	DSQ	55	52	43	417
60	NED52	Jantjeuutdekachel	Jon Boen	46	58	61	59	41	53	59	62	53	430
61	MEX5324	Orixa	Alfonso Gutierrez	50	64	58	52	54	45	62	51	DNC	436
62	ITA386	Anfitrite	Lorenzo Chiarugi	DSQ	49	46	36	DNF	DSQ	DSQ	38	DNC	437
63	NED60	Jee in Planee	Jeannot Bruggeling	51	62	55	58	52	56	51	63	56	441
64	NED61	Oh Jee	Ernst Jan vd Wal	54	63	59	60	55	47	63	58	DNC	459
65	SWE12	Hugin	Josefin Akerstrom	OCS	57	DNC	DNC	56	51	57	56	55	466
66	NED24	Fighting Lady Yellow	Evert Kroll	53	65	57	DNF	DNC	DNC	64	66	DNC	506