James Freedman and his crew sailing MISS CONDUCT won the 2018 seven-regatta J/24 Texas Circuit that is sailed throughout huge state of Texas. His team was dominant, winning four of the seven regattas. Shown above is MISS CONDUCT on her way to winning the J/Fest Regatta on Galveston Bay with 4 bullets out of 6 races. In 2017, MISS CONDUCT finished second in the Texas Circuit and the 2018 victory was the step-up the team had been after.
Doug Weekly sailing with a UK Sailmakers spinnaker Lake Canyon. Notice how well the head of the chute opens.
Seven stops of the Circuit: Corpus Christi,
Ft. Worth, Dallas, Austin, 2 in Houston and Lake Canyon near San Antonio.
About his UK Sailmakers J/24 sails, Freedman said, “I really noticed after we got our new main that the leech responds really well to changes in trim. You can make the top sail fly, stall or a mixture of the two quite easily. It’s great for knowing whether you are in point mode or go fast foot mode.” Crew member Chris Corley said, “The UK Sailmakers sails gave us lightning fast speed as soon as we got them. I trim the spinnaker and the UK Sailmakers sail is easier to fly and it is the fast chute I’ve ever flown on a J/24. This sail allows us to square the pole all the way back and sail deep with speed, which has gotten us out of more than one bind. Several times I can remember sailing deep to get an overlap at marks and more than once it saved us from having to make an extra jibe. This sail even fills faster as we bear away from the windward mark.”
The Texas Circuit is one of the most active hotbeds of J/24 sailing in the USA. In fact, the boat that finished second in the 2018 series had finished 4th out of 48 at the 2018 Nationals in Maine. The Texas Circuit is a great test of sailors and sails since the different regattas are sailed on lakes as well bays off the Gulf of Mexico. The Circuit is also a good test of logistics since there are hundreds of miles of highway driving between some of the events.
Freedman uses UK Sailmakers Texas’ J/24 one-design inventory that includes the all-purpose Radial Head Mainsail made of Dimension Polyant’s 260HTP, a full Runner Spinnaker made of Bainbridge’s AIRX650 and Black Aramid Pro Racing Genoa, make with black aramid load-path yarns.
Good shots of MISS CONDUCT’s Black Aramd Pro Racing genoa.
MISS CONDUCT crossing the finish line with no others in site.
Pedro Gianotti of UK Sailmakers Texas has been developing his J/24 sails for over a decade. This is not the first time UK’s J/24 sails have taken the Circuit; in 2014, UK New York’s Emmett Dickheiser sailed with Stuart Ludlow when they won the Circuit. For fast J/24 sails, call your local UK Sailmakers loft.
Congratulations DCYC sailors!
Congratulations DCYC sailors!