2016 J-24 East Coast Championship Recap by Tony Parker
The J24 East Coast Championships are back! After being arguably the most highly attended and most prestigious regatta in Annapolis for the last 39 years, the attendance had fallen off in recent years. But the class put in a sustained effort this year and were rewarded with almost 30 boats on the starting line.
And what a terrific three days of sailboat racing the sailors got. The Chesapeake Bay validated that it is the best sailboat racing venue anywhere in the country in the fall. The conditions challenged all three types of sailing: mid 20???s wind with blades on the first day; ???top of the genoa??? sailing in 15 to 18 knots on Saturday; and light air 4 ??? 7 knots on Sunday.
The racing was extremely tight; going into the last race, there were four boats within two points of each other with a fifth only 5 points back. We were able to get a good start the last race, went the right way and kept our main competitors behind us to win the regatta.
But the real winners were all the competitors. They were treated to superb sailing in an extremely competitive class over a gorgeous weekend. Coupled with on-land activities that everyone described as outstanding meant that this was, once again, a regatta not to be missed!
