Our Sailing News

5085 Sailpac Crew  - winner of the J24 Legends Race 2.  Helm - Neville Wittey, Foredeck - Sarah Marie, Mast - Zoe, Pitt - Mathew, Trim - Tim. Besides  the on-water excitement, the highlight of the weekend was the  Legends Dinner on Sunday at the Crowne Plaza in Terrigal. We recognised 17 Legends of the J24 class over the last 30 years, and  Rob Mundle was the Master of Ceremonies of this wonderful event.  Thankyou you to all of our sponsors who donated gear worth nearly $50,000.  



PSS students mix it up with J24 Legends - By Jenifer Wells
The October long weekend means one thing to serious J24 sailors and students: the NSW State Championships hosted by the Gosford Sailing Club.

This iconic event, as usual, attracted a strong fleet for the 2010 NSW States – seven PSS boats were joined by competitors from NSW, Victoria and South Australia to make exciting racing among the 27 competing boats in eight races over two days.  The event was generously sponsored by many companies including UVEX who provided a pair of sunglasses for every crew member in the Regatta.

However this year the NSW J24 Association added a twist to the Regatta.  Following the State Championships, 18 “J24 Legends” took up the helm to compete in the Legends Regatta on the holiday Monday.  Sailors must have won a national or world J24 Championship to qualify as a Legend. 

The Legends were introduced at the popular Sunday night dinner by MC Rob Mundle who presented each one with a J24 Legends Musto vest.  The Legends ranged in age from mid-30s to mid-60s.  The next day the competitive spirit was palpable as the Legends met their respective crews, some of whom were shaking off the dust after a rather big night at Terrigal Crowne Plaza.

Six PSS boats were helmed by Legends - Mark Bethwaite, Murray Walters, John Crawford, Ian MacDiarmid, Paul Charlton and Rob Mundle – and the final boat was helmed by Olympian and multiple World Champion sailor Neville Wittey.  This gave PSS students a rare opportunity to learn from some of the best J24 sailors, many of whom have also excelled in other classes, from national and world titles to Olympic medals and America Cup campaigns.  Indeed some have been on the winning podium so often that they would need a large “pool room” to house their silverware as a standard trophy cabinet would be far too small.

Some of the Legends may have aged a little but it did not dampen the fierce competition in the starts for the two Memorial Races dedicated to two late J24 Legends Andrew Short and Ian Bashford.

Under overcast skies in a 10-15 knot breeze the fleet aggressively attacked the starting line.  Tangles and a bit of “biffo” abounded resulting in numerous general recalls in both races.  The dreaded black flag was eventually flown to ensure that the fleet could finally start – minus one boat in Race One which was deemed to be OCS and therefore disqualified.

Neville Wittey summed it up after the races.  “The starting line was like the tiger pit at Taronga Zoo.  I’m just glad there were no insurance brokers around as they would have wet their pants.” 

The prestige of winning the Legends Regatta was not forgotten at the top mark in the first race as boats all over the downwind leg performed their 720 degree penalty turns after quite a few crashes among some polite shouting around the buoys.  The traditional windward/leeward course was varied in the second race to include a fifth leg to finish back at the Gosford Sailing Club marina. 

The first race was won by J24 National President Simon Grain in Make My Jay.  The second race was very convincingly taken out with a hefty lead by Neville Wittey onboard school boat Sailpac.  “It was a bit of fun and a great idea to bring all these people together,” Neville said.  It had been four years since he had sailed a J24 and he has been a strong supporter of the annual Gosford Regatta.

“I met my wife at this Regatta 6-7 years ago,” Neville explained.  We became buddies and then we got married last year.  Unfortunately she couldn’t be here because of business but it was really cool to have my daughter Teana cheering me on around the marks onboard the PSS rubber duck.”

Neville also said that it was an interesting exercise to team up with a crew he didn’t know – all PSS students.  “I didn’t know what experience they had and it was great to see the crew develop and improve, both individually and as a team.”

PSS Crew member Zoe said it was “awesome” to sail with Neville and cross the finish line first.  Zoe has sailed for a few years with PSS and said that Neville provided invaluable advice to the crew including the need to “keep your eyes out of the boat”. 

Fellow crew member Matt agreed that sailing with Neville was a fantastic learning experience.  “He was very good, very assertive and excellent on tactics.  He is a good coach and got the team talking and giving feedback.  Looking back at the whole fleet as we crossed the finish line was amazing.  I’ve definitely been bitten by the winners bug!”

PSS principal Terry Wise surprised Mark Bethwaite at the Sunday dinner by announcing that Mark would be competing in his “own” boat – that is, the very boat he sailed to victory in the 1982 J 24 World Championships.  Mark had sold Bandit after the Worlds and it has traded hands many times, including a number of times through Terry.

“It was the first time I had sailed a J24 sine the ’82 Worlds”, said Mark.  “What a surprise to step back in to the very same boat!”  Mark’s fortunes in the Legends Regatta were not favourable, being OCS in Race 1 and later spearing a spreader through the leach of the genoa.  “The race committee alleged that I was over the line by one millimeter but I don’t believe them,” he laughed.

Mark said the Regatta was a lot of fun and he enjoyed sailing with the PSS students.  Having sailed for 55 years Mark was slightly bemused that one of his crew had undertaken her first introductory sailing lesson less than a week before the Regatta.  However he was full of praise for Victoria and the rest of the PSS students.

Having been talked in to the Gosford Regatta following a late drop out, Victoria laughed that she was “still alive” and that she had had “no idea” what the racing would be like.  “I find it fun to be thrown into the deep end.  You literally sink or swim and I like adrenalin rushes.”

The disparity in sailing and racing experience was noted by Rob Mundle as he presented the prizes to the winning crews.  “Bob Hagan’s crew had 317 years sailing experience between them and Mark Bethwaite had 122 years – with Victoria making up about 20 hours!”

Rob loved the idea of the Legends Regatta as well and was full of praise for the J24 Association, Gosford Sailing club, sponsors and crews.  He was a little concerned about Terry’s suggestion that the class run another Legends Regatta in 20 years time.  “Terry, I’m 64 and so is Bob Hagan.  I’d suggest 10 years is a slightly more realistic goal!”