Cary, First Welcome to the J/24 class. Please email me so I can see you get
added to the District 12 mailing/email list (Lake Erie and Western Michigan),
send you a regatta schedule, etc. Where are you sailing out of?
If you
want info on sailing with 4, I suggest you talk to our District Governor, Adam
Zangerle. He has a bit of experience sailing with 4 (big guys). Email him at Adam_Zangerle@steris.com
Cary, Class rules limit us to 882 lbs total crew weight. That's five average
size people. I sail local club PHRF with four no problem, because in PHRF, the
boats get spaced out so conservative sets and drops won't cost you places. All
halyards are on the mast, so it works out well. At a one design regatta with
crowded mark roundings, one must have five. A heavy air spin drop in a crowd is
tough with four. Get good T Shirts! Feed 'em a good lunch, and buy premium beer.
Crew prob. solved.
Good luck,
Chris Elliott
Matador #1922
Cary,
You need people not for the work only, but to keep the boat flat.
This is very imoprtant on this boat. the J24 begins to heel very soon, and this
slows the boat. The number is five persons on a j24.
Personaly, I have
always difficulties to find a crew, and sail with one or two people. It's not
enough to be efficient in a race, but, well, it's fun anyway .
Eric
Taranis
I was planning on a crew of 4 this summer, then i started reading below about
people using 5 and 6 people... I always have sailed bigger keelboats and this is
my first time racing a 24. Do I need the weight of 5-6 people? I have always
gone with less weight the better. Am i really going to be shorthanded with the
following positions:
Foredeck
Jib/Genoa/Twings
Spinnaker
Helm
I sail in lake erie, our wind is usually 10 or less... and if
it blows we are over 17 knots...
Thanks
Cary
Gator Bait