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Written by Tonja Sanchez
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The 2012 Texas Circuit dates have been finalized. See the Notice of Circuit at left for more details. Don't forget to get your royalty numbers in order by filling out the form to the left and bringing it to the first race of the year. This is required for all racers. March 31-April 1: Elissa Regatta at Houston Yacht Club April 14-15: Cowtown Stampede at Fort Worth Boat Club May 5-6: Leukemia Cup at Dallas Corinthian Yacht Club (Southwest Championship) June 9-10: Surfin' Safari at Corpus Christi Yacht Club September 22-23: Houston One Design at Houston Yacht Club October 13-14: J/Fest at Lakewood Yacht Club November 17-18: Texas Circus at Lake Canyon Yacht Club See ya on the water! |
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In Memory of Robert Rickard |
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Written by Kelly Holmes
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On this 12th day of December, 2011, the J/24 Texas Circuit has lost another family member. Robert Rickard, foredeck on Siren, left this earth and will be missed by all. Robert started sailing on the Circuit with Corey Harding on Happy Dance before joining Tonja Sanchez on Siren. He has sailed on Siren for the past 5 years. Robert was always an uplifting and inspiring person to all of those that were fortunate enough to meet him. Surviving him is an amazing wife, Pam, who attended almost all regattas with him, and a great group of friends. Robert, you will be missed but never forgotten. 
You will embark on a fair sea,
and at times there will be fair weather, but not always.
You will meet storms and overcome them.
You will take it in turns to steer your boat through fair weather and foul. Never lose courage.
Save harbour awaits you...in the end.
- Daphne Du Maurer |
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2011 Texas Circuit Winner - mr. happy |
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Written by Tonja Sanchez
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Congratulations to Bob Harden and team mr. happy for winning the 2011 Texas Circuit. It was an exciting year with lots of boats moving up the ranks. We have a couple of new J/24 boat owners that have expressed interest in racing in the circuit, and we hope that we can get some folks that "rested" this year back in the 2012 circuit racing. If you know someone who has a J/24, encourage them to get out there and participate in some of the best competition in Texas. A big congratulations and recognition also goes to those that rounded out the top five Texas Circuit winners: Second - Bryan and Vicki Dyer and team aboard RumLine
Third - Kelly Holmes-Moon and team aboard Bad Moon
Fourth - Corey Harding and team aboard Happy Dance
Fifth - David Broadway and team aboard Superman A complete list of the 2011 results can be found here. The 2012 Texas Circuit schedule will be out soon. Rest for a few months and then gear up to get going again in March 2012!! See you on the water! |
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Simple Stuff - Trailer Poppits from Waterline Systems |
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Written by Administrator
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Below is a helpful article from Waterline Systems. You can visit Waterline at www.waterlinesystems.net. We've fielded the same question from a few people in the past month or so...How tight should my trailer poppits be? (J24 Texas Editor: poppits are the stands on the trailer, who knew this is what they are called?) The answer is probably, "looser than you have them." We want almost all of the weight of the boat to bear on the keel. The poppits are mostly to keep the boat from toppling over. A big screw is a pretty powerful simple machine. With a big bar and 6 poppits, it's pretty easy to lift the keel completely off the trailer. The bad news is that that is a lot of weight bearing on a small area. And, the actual area touching the boat is MUCH smaller than the pad. The laminate will not like that for long. Here's how we do it: • First, lower all the poppits.
• With the boat on the hoist, set it on the trailer in the right spot fore and aft.
• Be sure that the full length of the keel is touching the keel support.
• Bump the hoist down a tiny bit, so theweight of the boat is all on the keel, and the tension on the strap is pretty light.
• Raise all the poppits until they are touching the hull. As you raise the poppits, check that the boat is still level side to side and the keel is still flat.
• Tighten each poppit so they are tight against the hull, but you can still grab them and wiggle them.
• When all the poppits are adjusted to "just wiggleable" Put ONE Turn on each poppit. |
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J/24 Hiking Position - 2011 Rule Changes and Looking Forward |
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Written by Tim Winger, IJCA-ITC Chair
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 In the rule changes implemented this year (2011), the Class chose to eliminate our old rule 8.3 that stated “No member of the crew shall station any part of his/her torso outside the upper lifeline other than temporarily, notwithstanding the provisions of Racing Rules of Sailing 49.” The intention of eliminating this rule was to simplify our rules and to better align with the ISAF and the Racing Rules of Sailing. We seem to have forgotten why this rule was written in the first place, and none of those of us who are responsible for vetting these changes picked up on the significance of making this change that it would allow hiking between the lifelines on boats equipped with upper and lower lifelines. Once the Class Rule had been removed and competitors began to hike between the lifelines, there was a very broad cry internationally to reverse the change and not allow hiking between the lifelines as is clearly allowed in RRS 49.2.
We were only slightly ahead of our times since the ISAF has a proposal before it (130-06) to delete the section of RRS 49.2 that allows hiking between the lifelines. This proposal may or may not be approved for the 2013 Racing Rules of Sailing, but it is clear that there is broad interest in disallowing this practice in our sport.
After a vote by the IJCA Executive Committee and approval by the IJCA Technical Committee, the IJCA has submitted a proposal to ISAF for an emergency rule change to reinstate former rule 8.3 as new rule 8.4.
In the interim, it is suggested that all Notices of Race and Sailing Instructions for all J/24 events include the following language: “No member of the crew shall station any part of his/her torso outside the upper lifeline other than temporarily, notwithstanding the provisions of RRS 49.” When using the IJCA standard documents, this should appear in section 1.4 of the NOR and SIs.
We apologize for any inconvenience this change and its reversal might have caused, but the IJCA never intended to allow hiking between the lifelines.
Tim Winger
IJCA-ITC Chair
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