The Women of the J24 Community

Recent years has seen a steady stream of the women enrolling in the offerings of the Boating Academy at SYC and then enhancing their sailing skills through the Female Sailor Development Program.

With such a bevy of courses on offer from beginner through to helming, a large cohort of women have come through the programs wanting to utilise their newly founded skills on the race track.

The J24, an international One Design racing keelboat, has always raced under a ‘maximum weight rule’ designed to encourage the formation of mixed crews.

Typically with five crew needing to come under the ‘400kg maximum’ most boats training for the upcoming Epigen J24 World Championships to be held at SYC in November 2026 are mixed crews sporting men, women & youth, including Lijia Xu from China who has recently announced her itentions to compete. Lijia is an Olympic Gold medallist, multiple World Champion & previous Rolex World Sailor of the Year, definitely one to watch!

Apparently the strength of these programs and offerings has caught the eye of Jacquelyn DeBoise, President at inception of “Peerless Industrial Systems (USA) LLC”, parent company of the Sponsor Epigen, who recently visited Australia for the first time to see how preparations for the upcoming 2026 Epigen World Championships are coming along.

Jacquelyn, a strong supporter of women in business and sports, was very excited to mingle with so many female sailors committed to competing in the upcoming Worlds in Plymouth as part of their road to 2026 qualification.

As the weather warms and the new season approaches and you are seeking some close racing and a wonderful social community off the water maybe the J24 is for you!

If interested you can reach via J24@syc.com.au OR through our J24 Community WhatsApp QR code

Adam Keyes-Tilley
Victorian J24 Committee