J24 Fleet 86

Several Tampa Bay J/24 sailors made it to Jacksonville for the annual King’s Day regatta Nov 21st; four boats in the twenty boat fleet had crew members from our area. Three short practice races were sailed on Friday afternoon in nice 10 knot NE breeze. In addition to polishing up some crew work, the practice race helped build a little appetite for the oyster roast later that night.

Photo by Trista Nightingale

Saturday brought less ideal conditions with very light breeze and a solid flood current. The lead boats struggled to advance against the current and close the final 100 yards for about 20min as the time limit expired and the only race of the day was abandoned.

Three races were completed on Sunday in a light but fairly solid breeze that averaged about 5 knots. It took multiple general recalls and combinations of I and Z flags to get the fleet off the line. Starting cleanly was paramount as boats that had to restart struggled to find passing lanes in each of the races.

David Noble’s team (including local sailor Tom Barry) won the event which is a nice accomplishment since they are pretty new to the J/24 circuit. Free Candy from Columbia, SC finished second and Party Reptile from Augusta finished third. Majic and Vanishing Act, from Jacksonville and NJ, rounded out the top 5.

The Florida Yacht Club and Fleet 55 are always fantastic hosts and make this a great event to attend.