With three race wins to their name in as many races, Tim Ryan’s team on Vamos leads the way on the opening day of the 2024-25 Victorian J70 State Championships at the Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron.
It was a dominant performance from the Sydney-based team with the star-studded crew of Rob Greenhalgh, Charlie Gundy and James Peters taking the three bullets in shifty southwesterly conditions.
Racing took place off the coast of Capel Sound, about a 20-minute sail east of the club’s location, in order to ensure a fairer race course.
The boat speed of Vamos was clear, however a number of other teams from both New South Wales and Victoria remain in the mix.
David Doherty’s Matador, also representing the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, finished Day 1 with a 2,2,3 scorecard and sits in second overall, while the Sandringham Yacht Club-based Sirocco, skippered by Hayden Brown, sits third overall with a 4,8,2.
Australian J70 Class president Rod Warren, who also skippered his J70 Joust into fourth overall after Day 1, said the class was in a strong position in Australia ahead of the nationals at Sandringham this summer.
“The J70 class has attracted a lot of terrific sailors, and probably the reason is the portability of the boat, the relatively low crew number, and the competitiveness of the fleet,” he said.
“But also there’s this great camaraderie between the Sydney fleets and the Melbourne fleets.”
Warren said the racing between the Sydney and Melbourne fleets was highly competitive, which encouraged sailors to compete internationally, while also getting the best out of local venues like Blairgowrie.
“The international sailing is tremendous, you can get to any continent in the world and get a fleet of 50 boats, and if you can get to the bigger events there are 100 boats,” he said.
“Blairgowrie always offers opportunities to move through the fleet, so it doesn’t end up a procession – there are lots of different wind directions, gusts and passing lanes.”
Local Blairgowrie sailor Harriette Singh, crewing on Notte Bianca with Ethan O’Brien, said today’s racing was “a little different” to what the venue usually experienced.
“We’re used to our sort of direct southerlies, but today was a bit southwesterly, moving a little bit further towards the south,” she said.
“Heading out over into Capel Sound is really good because the depth is really consistent making it a little bit more of a fair race course, so we couldn’t use our insider knowledge as much with the tides but it was still a pretty good race day.”
There are a total of 19 boats competing in the event this weekend, made up of 13 from the home state of Victoria and six from Sydney.
Racing continues on Saturday and Sunday with a total of eight races scheduled for the event.
For full results, and more information about the event, head to https://bys.asn.au/2025-j-70-victorian-championships/
