Jester Helm Newsletter February 2024

Dear Jesters

2024 seems to have come round quickly, with only about four months to go before the start of this year’s Jester Azores Challenge. We already have 23 starters on the provisional list, so it promises to be yet another vibrant event. Almost half of the skippers on the list are prospective first-time Jester Challengers, once again proving the enduring appeal of the Jester format. In an increasingly over-regulated world, skippers seem to relish the freedom to exercise their own judgement and make their own decisions. 

As announced in the last newsletter, the Jester Azores Challenge 2024 start date will be Sunday June 16^th, from Plymouth only.  There is a very small caveat that this still has to approved by the King’s Harbour Master, but we don’t foresee a problem with this. Once again Mayflower Marina is very happy to host the Jester skippers prior to the start (many thanks again to Charles Bush for this). Details of any discounts will be published with the full event information. Last year, for the Jester Baltimore Challenge, we combined the Skippers’ Briefing with a Skippers’ Lunch on the day prior to the start. This format worked so well that we will be doing the same again this year, with the briefing and lunch at Jolly Jacks on Saturday 15^th June. Once again, full details and menu choices will be circulated closer to the time.

A big thank you to Bernie Branfield for organising a Jester Symposium at Weston-super-Mare on the 3^rd February – on the theme of ‘Preparing for the Azores’. There were presentations on a wide range of topics from previous JAC entrants Tony Head, George Arnison, Graeme Shimwell, Bernie Branfield, Paul Mead and Roger Fitzgerald, lots of discussions… and general socialising, meeting up with old friends and making new ones.  Over 50 people attended from experienced Jester veterans to complete newcomers, and including many hoping to take part in this year’s JAC.  Consensus was that it was a great success, enjoyed by all and special thanks should also go to Mike Atkins and Weston Bay Yacht Club for hosting the event.

We are still intending to launch a dedicated webpage for Duncan Lougee, so tragically lost in last year’s Baltimore Challenge. The basic material for the page is now assembled, but we really would appreciate a few more reminiscences and tributes from fellow-Jesters. Even just a simple sentence or two would be very welcome. Contributions can be submitted either to the Jester Helm email address, or via the Contact page on the website.

Finally, an interesting statistic. This year’s Jester event is the sixteenth since inception in 2006. The OSTAR, with whom of course the Jester shares much of its origins, started in 1960 and this year’s OSTAR, starting on May 5^th, is the seventeenth edition of that event. By the time of the next OSTAR, the eighteenth presumably in 2028, the Jester Challenge, all being well, will be about to notch up its twentieth event. It is truly heartening that the corinthian spirit that was so fundamental to that iconic original transatlantic race in 1960 remains alive and well. Jesters can be proud, or at least tickled, that in twenty years they will have sailed as many events as the OSTAR has in its sixty-four year history

With best wishes

The Jester Helm