J24 World Championships 2005

Report by Ben Williamson

Three Bridlington J24s qualified for the 2005 World Championships held in Weymouth during September. The three crews were accompanied by a large entourage from the Royal Yorkshire Yacht Club who were out each day on the water aboard past Commodore Phil Wright's Swan 48 and a huge 10m RIB chartered by Charlie Day and Hugh Williamson.
Crews began arriving at the outstanding National Sailing Academy at Portland a week before the event to have the boats fully measured. Many hours working on the keels for the RSJ and Rumble crews to remedy some minor failures during the measurement process. The boats were then sailed over to the Regatta Village at Weymouth where the event was run from for the remainder of the week.
Weather ranged from light and variable winds at the start of the week to gear busting 35 knots of breeze towards the end of the week. Race organisation as you would expect at an event of this calibre was simply outstanding and the fleet was full of professional full time sailors, olympic campaigners and sailmakers. In a fleet of 55 boats from 16 countries ( a genuine world championship!) Rumble was 22nd, Riot 35th and RSJ 44th.
All the Brid teams had a great week on and off the water and all learning huge amounts during a superbly organised event. Mail Ben Williamson