News and Events

J/24 2009 Western Regional

September 24th, 2009

The 2009 J/24 Western Regional Championship was held on the waters of
San Francisco Bay this last weekend, September 19th – 20th, 2009. It was
hosted by the Berkeley Yacht Club who delivered great racing and
exceptional hospitality! As we know, the Bay Area is considered one of
the most popular sailing venues in the country and once again proved
that that premise is true.

BYC held a practice race on the evening of Friday, September 18th which
allowed the out-of-town teams to get oriented to the local conditions
prior to the Western Regionals kicking-off. The Western Regional
Championship was planned as the “feeder” event for the 2009 J/24 U.S.
National Championship being held this weekend at San Francisco Yacht Club.
The Western Regionals were comprised of seven (7) relatively short
course races which were sailed by seventeen (17) teams from as far away
as Annapolis, MD, Seattle, Washington and Dana Point. The racing took
place on the “Berkeley Circle” and the PRO was Jeff Zarwell of
RegattaPro. Conditions on Saturday went from eight (8) to sixteen knots
and on Sunday the wind range was even greater. The fleet raced in five
(5) knots in the first race and ended up racing in twenty-two (22) knots
in the seventh (7th) race of the series.

Keith Whittemore, Tundra Rose, from Seattle bested Mark Hillman, WIP, of
Annapolis, MD. The Racing was very close and competitive as Tundra Rose,
Small Flying Patio Furniture and Tremendous Slouch nailed bullets!
Tundra Rose knocked off four (4) bullets, Tremendous Slouch two (2) and
Small Flying Patio Furniture took the last one.

The final results are posted on the Regattas page.

In winning this regatta, Keith Whittemore of Tundra Rose has qualified
for the 2010 World Championship being held in Malmo, Sweden next August.

Sponsorship wise, the Berkeley Marine Center provided free launches,
hauls and storage for all out-of-town boats traveling in for this
regatta. GU Sports, Berryessa Gap Winery, Cheap Diver and Touchstone
Management Consultants, Inc. provided gifts, goods and services in
support of the regatta.

Looking forward, the 2009 J/24 Nationals are being held this weekend, on
September 25th thru the 27th at the San Francisco Yacht Club. This
affords folks an opportunity to get a few days of wine tasting and
sight-seeing in between the great racing these two events afford.

Details of both these regattas can be found at
www.j24westernregionals.com and www.j24nationals2009.com

Ghost of Summer’s Past Regatta

September 15th, 2009

Title: Ghost of Summer’s Past Regatta
Location: Regatta PRO Season-Ender
Link out: Click here
Description: Replacement for Great Pumpkin Regatta due to date change
Date: 2009-10-31

Howdy Fleet,

It has come to my attention that it appears that the date of the Great
Pumpkin Regatta held at RYC this year is October 24th which is what we
are advertising on our website as the season closer for the 2009 Summer
Series. When we as owners originally agreed on the dates for the 2009
Summer Series schedule last winter, the date listed for the GP Regatta
on the RYC website, (the best information that I had at the time, (mea
culpa) was shown as the following Saturday Oct 31.

In sum we as a fleet agreed to race on 10/31 but (obviously) the trick
is that the GP will not be held on that date.

I’ve just spoken to Jeff Zarwell of Regatta PRO and begged for his pinch
hit services. And as luck (or the ghosts) would have have it Jeff has
an opening on Saturday 10/31. So we are all set–Saturday 10/31 is the
date for the October regatta and the conclusion of the 2009 Summer
Series. Shall we call this: “The Ghost of Summer’s Past” regatta?

Jeff has kindly offered to to contact the Melges-24 and E-27 fleets to
see if he can entice them to join us for a season closer to reduce the
financial pressure on hosting a regatta ourselves.

I don’t think there is anything formal that needs to be done by the
fleet membership besides encouraging as many teams as possible to come
out for one last jog around the buouys as we will be picking up the $$$
slack as a fleet for any smallish turn-out.

I will work with fleet’s webmaster to update the race calendar to
reflect 10/31’s race date,

Cheers,

JPS

J/24 Nationals

August 29th, 2009

The J/24 US National Championship will take place on San Francisco Bay September 23-27. Get the latest information at the official website.

J/24 US Western Regional

August 22nd, 2009

The J/24 US Western Regionals will be hosted by the Berkeley Yacht Club September 19-20. Get the latest information on the official website.