Cody and I wet-sanded and waxed a J/24, owned by our ex-Eckerd Sailing coach Robbie Brown, last Wednesday in preparation for the 2009 J/24 Southeast Regional Championship Regatta in Jacksonville, Florida. We started with 400 grit sand paper, then 600, finished with 800, then waxed and buffed the hull. We spent most of the day working on the boat, and Cody went back the next day to finish the buffing; in return I drove to DIYC towing the Santa Cruz to her new home in the dry storage boat yard. It was a great opportunity to use some the skills we learned this summer to earn some money to put toward the boat.
Furthermore, Robbie needed a 140 pound person to fill in the "mast" position for Regionals and I fit the bill. I had wanted to sail with Robbie, an awesome J/24 sailor and North Sails rep, for a long time and finally got the chance to. The conditions were puffy and shifty winds starting at 11-15 knots and building to 18-23, with a ripping current, by the end of Saturday's racing. I hadn't seen J/24's surf like this since the 2008 Midwinters and the racing was fast by J/24 standards. We finished the first day in second place and in contention for first place if we sailed well the next day
Sunday brought even more and colder wind, with huge puffs and shifts. We had a hard time finding a groove in these conditions, but kept second place. Team Tarheel won the regatta with five firsts and qualified for the 2010 J/24 World Championships. Robbie was disappointed with the 2nd, but I learned a lot and had a good time. Results can be found here.
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