J/24 Floral Cup at Weymouth Yacht Club
by Ben Williamson 28 Jul 2005 11:12 BST
22-24 July 2005
The J24 class was back in Weymouth again for the Floral Cup being held as part of Weymouth Regatta. Many teams were using this event as a final warm up before the Nationals and Worlds later this year at the same venue.
The first two days were dominated by light winds and with the courses being held so close to the shore some big shifts to deal with. Race 1 was won by RSJ (Tony Edwards) with Peggy (John Powell) taking second, Madelaine ( Duncan McCarthy) stretched away from the chasing pack to secure third. Jacobite (Mike Street) utilised their local knowledge to take Race 2 with Joskin II (Al Clarke) and Johnny Bravo (John Derbyshire) emerging well from a very busy leeward mark rounding to take 2nd and 3rd respectively. RSJ took their second bullet in race 3, with Rumble (Ben Williamson) just holding off Reloaded (Duncan Peace) to take 2nd.
The winds swung to the NW for day 2 and RSJ continued their good form to take race 4, with Rumble and Reloaded repeating the positions of the previous race. Peggy and Reloaded were involved in a very close race for the lead in the second race of the day, with Peggy just emerging at the front on the final beat. Rumble just managed to hold Joskin II off to take third. The final race of the day started in very light winds, Rumble managed to find some breeze and a favourable shift to emerge in the lead from an initial poor position with Madelaine sailing a very good final beat to the finish to sneak second.
The fleet woke up on the final day to horrendous conditions, a Force 6 southerly and driving rain. However, after a short postponement the rain cleared and the breeze moderated to give some excellent conditions in the bay. With all to play for, the fleet started on jibs with Joskin II making a great start down at the pin end to lead into the windward mark, Johnny Bravo were in pursuit with Rumble rounding in third. Although the racing remained very tight throughout the fleet, the front three managed to hold these positions to the finish. The final race unfortunately could not be held due to problems getting the committee boat to hold it's anchor, this gave Rumble the Regatta with Joskin II taking 2nd and RSJ who showed great pace and tactics in the lighter winds third overall.
Another great J24 event, with very close racing leaving the fleet counting down the days to September for the Nationals and World Championships.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Boat Name | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 4264 | Rumble | Ben Williamson | Royal Yorkshire Y.C | 5 | -9 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 16 |
| 2 | 4247 | Joskin II | Bob Turner | CCSC | 7 | 2 | 4 | -8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 21 |
| 3 | 4222 | RSJ | John Turner | Royal Yorkshire Y.C | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | -10 | 8 | 7 | 23 |
| 4 | 4245 | Madelaine | Duncan McCarthy | Parkstone YC | 3 | -7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 25 |
| 5 | 4265 | Reloaded | Duncan Pearce | CC | 4 | -12 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 28 |
| 6 | 4259 | Jacobite | Mike Street | CCSC | 6 | 1 | 5 | -10 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 33 |
| 7 | 4115 | Johnny Bravo | John Darbyshire | Royal Cornwall YC | 9 | 3 | -10 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 35 |
| 8 | 4268 | Peggy | John Powell | CCSC | 2 | 4 | 11 | 7 | 1 | -14 | 14 | 39 |
| 9 | 4237 | Riot | Michael Wright | RYYC | 8 | 6 | 7 | -11 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 44 |
| 10 | 4170 | Tiger | Barry Grant | CCSC | -14 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 49 |
| 11 | 4261 | Jinseng | Andy Gaunt | CCSC | 10 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 10 | -11 | 52 |
| 12 | 4253 | Howden | Tom Reed | RDYC | -14 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 5 | 8 | 65 |
| 13 | 4180 | Jevan | Stuart Barnes | CCSC | -14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 81 |