The J/24 fleet is off to a running start this season with the Sailing World Helly Hansen Regatta, the start of Thursday Night Racing and a successful crew training clinic hosted at SSA May 13. Hoping to keep the momentum going from hosting a successful North American Championship last fall, the fleet has a full schedule this year for racing, crew training and more!
The first weekend of May, Fleet 8 competed in the Sailing World Helly Hansen Regatta Series. Principal Race Officer Barbra Vosbury and her talented crew of race committee volunteers were able to run 9 races to start off our season and did a great job with the challenging Chesapeake Bay conditions. Fleet 8 would like to thank all volunteers who made this opening regatta a huge success and participated in our season opener. Winners of the regatta were Pete Kassal’s Spaceman Spliff in first place, followed by Pat FitzGerald’s Rush Hour in second and Jim Bonham and his SISU team finishing third.
Hot on the heels of a great regatta weekend, J/World’s Thursday Night Racing series kicked off with typical Annapolis conditions with a southerly breeze building to the mid-teens. Three quick races served to knock the rust off for many of the teams that came out for the first night, followed by a social with the J/22 fleet over at J/World.
Just following the first TNR, renowned sailing educator and former J/World Director Kristen Berry led our first crew training clinic of 2023. Over 30 sailors participated to get an introduction or a refresher on tips and techniques to be successful racing J/24s and keelboats. Another goal of the clinic is to help match up the many crew looking to race on boats and boat owners looking for willing crew to fill their rosters. Kristen engaged the participants by describing the various crew responsibilities in a classroom setting and then led dockside demos in the First Street Basin to represent best practices while racing. To follow up on our first clinic, we will be inviting Coach KB back to lead more demonstrations and on-the-water training opportunities this summer. Stay tuned for more details on our next crew training event this June!
-Fleet Captain Sam McGuire
