J24 Fowey Shield at Fowey Gallants Sailing Club

The welcome arrival of the first weekend event of the season proved a gruelling aide memoire to muscles following a winter without regular racing and also a reminder of what great sailing the UK J/24 fleet can offer.

Boats began arriving by land on Thursday ready to launch from Penmarlam Quay on Friday, & by sea from Plymouth and Falmouth. Friday evening crews from 15 J24’s gathered at the Fowey Gallants for the obligatory weigh-in & for the majority of the fleet a catch-up with fellow competitors - Madeleine’s crew needed instead to explore the meandering passages, steep slopes & impressive headlands of Fowey whilst in full foulies and running shoes...

Several new helms joined the fleet including Matt Hardy with Sublime, Ed Wilton with Phoenix and the furthest travelling boat from Blackpool, Mike Preston with Team Quattro.

Saturday morning commenced with a race briefing in the Fowey Gallants with boats heading down the estuary in deceptively calm conditions for an 11:30 start. The race course was set up with the windward mark approximately 1.5 miles WSW of the estuary entrance and start line to the SE providing excellent viewing for families and friends who walked from Fowey to Polruan.

The race officer, Peter Morgan, managed to fit in 5 back to back Windward / Leeward races. The majority of the fleet were sailing under jibs with a steady 20knt breeze gusting 25knt + in the squalls. Saturday brought close racing with 4 different boats being first across the line through the day; Jeli, Hedgehog, Skilled Services, and Legal Alien.

Squalls added an element of surprise throughout the day particularly at the beginning of race 2 which concealed the windward mark and during Race 3 which induced some alarming broaches from several boats. Jiggy 2 have some incredible footage of their epic broach 500m before the race end which can be seen on the UK J/24 Class Association Facebook page including their extremely efficient recovery. Cookie, the dolphin with a wedge missing from its dorsal fin, frequently added a degree of astonishment appearing regularly on the start line and around the windward mark.

Overall positioning at the end of Day 1 had Madeleine and Hedgehog on 8 points apiece, with Hedgehog in pole position on count-back. Contenders for the podium after 5 races included Jeli, Jawbreaker, Jiggy 2 & Legal Alien.

Saturday evening crews congregated at the Royal Fowey Yacht Club, replenished courtesy of St Austell Breweries and presented a barbecue with an excellent spread to restock energy levels after a demanding yet hugely satisfying day.

Sunday morning crews gathered on the pontoon achy but eagerly anticipating another day’s racing. An exceptional fleet effort to help Madeleine re-rig their main halyard, (particularly the ingenuity of Dinger from Hitchhiker) showed what a supportive and sportsmanship fleet this is.

The race course was set up almost identically to Saturdays racing with all to play for across the fleet. Hedgehog took the bullet in Race 6 leaving the final race result imperative for the shield. All boats were sailing under jibs with NW 20knt+ with stronger gusts & a quick turnaround between races. Race 6 Hedgehog and Madeleine were neck and neck up the first windward leg, forcefully taking a longer route for the downwind leg, battled an heroic tacking duel upwind more often seen in Match Racing than in the J/24 fleet for the final upwind leg. This confrontation clearly demonstrated the versatility of the J/24 as well as the competitiveness & skills of the helms & their respective crews. Unfortunately for Madeleine the battle was in vein as they were OCS at the start of race 6 costing them dearly in terms of points accrued. Phoenix, who were forced to miss 3 of the Saturday races due to a severely damaged tiller, were first to cross the line for Race 6.

Final results – The Fowey Shield 2012 goes to Darren Stansbury with Hedgehog. Nick MacDonald with Legal Alien takes 2nd place & Duncan McCarthy with Madeleine takes 3rd.

A huge thank you goes to all of the Fowey ground crew who helped make this first away event of the season such a success. All boats entered are hugely appreciative to St Austell Breweries, Sail Shape (a Fowey sail maker) and Fowey Maritime Centre who have all contributed to this event. Particular gratitude goes to Peter Morgan and Paul Toms without whom this event would not have been possible.

Good luck to all boats entering the Spring Cup in Plymouth next weekend. If the racing from the Fowey Shield is anything to go by, this season has some exceptional racing to come.

Overall Results: