Sailing Japan J24 race

Sailing Japan in a J24 with 7 other boats is possibly one of the best days you can have on the water whilst yacht racing.  There is no doubt that the J24 is a well thought of yacht with more than 5,000 of these wonderful 24 footers built world wide.

With 8 J24 yachts all heading to round the Windward mark at the same time it made for some very exciting moments.

Here is a vid.

J24 Affordable World Class Racing

2009 and the J24 Worlds sees thirty years of J24 competition sailing arrive at the 2009 worlds to be held in Annapolis, Maryland, U.S.A.

There is no doubt that there a many reasons  the J24 has thrived and survived so many years in competitive yacht racing. It is certainly an incredibly honest sailing boat. If you sail it well it sails well if you sail it with less skill it will respond as such. For a world class racing yacht the J24 is cheap to get into and chap to own compared to some of the larger and more exotic rughs of today. But most of all the J24 is fun.

When sailing in Japan you will really have to try hard NOT to see a J24. There are hundreds of these boats tied up to docks or sitting on hard stand  trolleys all over Japan.  I would say that anybody thinking to start sailing in Japan would be very wise to include the J24 in their “boats to buy” list.

Take a god look around as there are many available. I suggest buying one that is a little (not a lot) run down and bringing it back to a high gloss well tuned rig yourself. The cost of refurbishment is not so great and you will very much enjoy both the repair project and the added  sense of  ownership of “your boat” once your J24 back to it’’s original glory.

A J24 can be raced at many clubs across Japan and across the globe. if you think you would eventually like to sail in a world championship then the J24 offers a chance to sailors in japan as the actual number of competitors is dropping making it a little easier to get to the top in Japan. Do understand that being top in Japan does not say you will be top when sailing against the top sailors racing J24s from other countries.

If you think you would like to try out on a J24 drop us an email and we will try and line you up with a crew position to try out. It’s fun so come on and give it a go. You will not need any money or special equipment to try. Come on email us today and give it a go.  mark@sails.co.jp

J24 Point Race KYC Sun. April 19th 2009

For my sailing in Japan today I was lucky enough to be invited to sail with “Black Pearl” and the rest of the J24 fleet out of Kansai Yacht Club , KYC. The weather was warm and the wind tricky all day which really added to the fun of the competition.

I found that as we moved around the first 5 leg course that these races are pretty much a competition of minimizing errors. It sems to me one must not focus on being tough or winning. One must focus on not making mistakes and you will win. The J24 boats are very much the same (each owner will disagree as they love their boats very much) as with any one design. Therefore it comes down to crew work and tactics. I used to think that some sailors and sailboat crews sailing in Japan or anywhere else for that matter were almost super beings of some kind. Now as I participate  more and more I know it’s a game of , “he makes least mistakes wins”

When we see boats that a rigged as closely as the J24 fleet at KYC and we know the crews are veterans then we can know that every small mistake will cost meters and with matched boats and top crews getting those meters back is very, very hard unless the guys in front make a, yes you guessed it, unless they make a mistake.

Of course luck counts a little as well. One example of luck, or actually bad luck is the wave. Today we had extremely light conditions and were all working hard to squeeze out boat speed when a very heavy motor boat swung into a large curve about 200 meters from our position. When those waves created from his wake hit our boat we were alone in the water as all the other J24 yachts in the race were on an opposite tack. This meant we got hit and they did not. As each wave hit us it robbed us of speed until we finally stopped dead in the water. I would say it took 15 seconds for us to lose speed and then regain it. Now with a boat moving at 5 knots per hour this equates 9.26 kilometers per hour or 2.57 meters per second. Therefore a loss of only 15 seconds will open a gap of 38.58 meters between us and the boats in front. Such a loss is massive and requires incredible skill, precision sailing and yes even a bit of luck to get back.

Now remember today we had 5 legs. This means we had to go around 4 buoys. With each turn we had to raise or douse the spinnaker and raise or douse the Genoa. That’s 8 sail movements. If we just fluff each one by one second we are another 20.56 meters behind. And then heaven forbid if we completely fluff a rounding and jam a line in a winch, as that would mean the race is lost.

If you take what I say to heart and if I am correct, the good news for all of us is that with practice and team work we can eliminate mistakes from our sailing and then we can all take on the super beings and win. I know I for one will be out there training as often as I can. If you would like to join me as either a beginner or experienced sailor give me a call or drop me an email mark@sails.co.jp.

My very happy and large thank you to Nishikawa-san, Black Pearl and KYC for a great days sailing in Japan.

See you on the water.

mark.