Indholdsfortegnelse for May/June 2018 i Sailing World

Like everyone else in my local Laser Frostbite Fleet 413, for a few hours every Sunday during the miserably frigid Newport, Rhode Island, winter I escape the house and savor a few hours of me time. Ideally, I’ll follow the same routine every time: out of the house by 11 a.m., cruise control with the local blues station playing on the radio, pit stop at the coffee shop. I’m parked at Sail Newport by 11:45. I’ll loiter for a bit, see who’s around, but the cover comes off at noon sharp for the immersive, soulful experience we call rigging the boat. Step 1: Open the stern plug and pray there’s no trickle. When it’s subzero, whatever is in there is frozen anyway, so why do I bother to check? Routine.…

Colleen Baumann had a tough start to her college sailing career — she couldn’t sail. She started her freshman year at Old Dominion University recovering from a shoulder injury, which she sustained during a high school regatta the previous spring. After surgery, physical therapy and a six-month recovery, she was finally cleared to start sailing again in January. Luckily, her new teammates and coaches kept her involved and raised her spirits. “It was heartbreaking not to be able to sail,” says Baumann. “Since I was 11 years old, the longest I have ever gone without sailing is a couple of months. I had to be out for a year because of my shoulder. It felt like a lifetime.” ODU coaches included Baumann in everything from sitting in on practice in…

Losing Paralympic status was a shock to all of us who see sailing as an ideal pursuit for anyone who is blind or otherwise living with a disability or debilitating disease. We know that boats can be adapted to support most, if not all, disabled people. However, it’s also a fact that, in the parlance of Olympic and Paralympic competition, boats are not this wondrous thing that we call boats. They’re “equipment.” Equipment is expensive, and therein lies the challenge of getting enough countries and continents invested or reinvested to regain Paralympic sailing status for 2024. It can happen — perhaps it will happen — but 2018 is critical. Decisions will be made beginning in November and announced in late January. Until then, life goes on, so at this inflection…

I wake to the sound of wind battering the shutters and linger under the billowing white mosquito net. Listening to it howl outside the house stirs a cocktail of excitement and nervousness. I think about the forecast; 13-foot seas and 30 knots isn’t something to be taken lightly. Anticipation of the forecast is visible among my teammates as we roam around our shared house and gather our belongings on the morning of the start of the Caribbean 600. I go easy on the coffee, which never helps my nerves. We have high goals and expectations for this race, which adds to the stress. Given the forecast, there’s a chance we can beat the record, but our objective is to beat Rambler 88, the big American maxi, across the finish line.…

Ed Schneider is a lifer in Taycheedah, Wisconsin. His playground is Lake Winnebago, and not only during the summer when the lake is nice and soft and the wind cranks at the bottom of the lake. Today, he co-owns an amusement park and a water park, but those being seasonal, he gets his winters off. There’s no hibernating or snowbirding for this guy, though. In the heart of winter, Schneider’s happy place is on the ice, or more precisely, on a wind-powered craft, hurling himself across the ice. We’re not talking about iceboats, either. Schneider prefers sleds pulled along by windsurfing sails, kites and handheld wings. Hours on frozen Winnebago is how he hones his skills and equipment for a little-known pastime called short-track sailing. That’s STS in the subculture…

Part of my role as a pro sailor is helping others around me improve. My main goal when doing this is to make sure they are self-sufficient and don’t become robotic. We won’t achieve much if I have to keep saying “head up” or “head down” or “more trim” or “weight out.” I want them to reach a level where they know exactly what to do and when to do it. Then, we can limit our onboard conversation to calling plays. No specific details, only the outcome — just like in many other sports. Can you imagine football players in the huddle listening to the quarterback give each of them individual instructions as a play is run: “Hey, block that guy.” “Don’t let him through.” “Run over there, and I’ll…

By rule, on a Farr 40, our new sails have to last an entire year. At one Farr 40 event, for example, we won the Mediterranean Circuit using a mainsail that had been used for 132 race legs, a light jib that had been used for 20 upwind race legs and a 1.5-ounce spinnaker that had done 34 downwind race legs. With a full racing calendar, this means we need to do everything we can to keep our sails in the best condition possible. Sails are slower as they age, so it’s critical to keep them young as long as possible. Here’s how we — and you — can get the most out of your sails by simply maintaining them correctly. First Setup Be careful removing your new sail from…

At a late-fall fundraiser for Long Island’s Oakcliff Sailing, on the 49th floor of the downtown Nasdaq building in Manhattan, Ethan Johnson, a sailor at Oakcliff, bends the ear of Oakcliff supporter Lec Maj, assessing his interest in sponsoring a team to sail the 2018 Miami to Havana Race. Maj is intrigued, and after reviewing the numbers with Johnson a few months later, he agrees to sponsor a team to do the race and join them on board as a trimmer. There’s one problem, though. All of Oakcliff’s nine offshore race boats are 1,317 miles north of Miami, perched on stands, slumbering with a dusting of fresh snow on their shrink-wrap covers. All of them but one: Weegie, a Columbia Carbon 32. It’s on a trailer, ready to hit the…

“I fill the classic role of the navigator. Just like on any boat, the navigator knows exactly where we are, and where we should go. I know exactly the way things should be done so they’re done right. And like every navigator, the skipper listens to me, considers his options and then does his own damn thing!”—ART MITCHEL Art Mitchel is old school, in a never-take-the-easy-way-out sort of way. Art, the “corporate navigator” of Harken (yes, it’s on his business card), is the third member of the company’s original afterguard. While Peter Harken covered product development and Olaf Harken covered marketing, Art kept the business on track, making the Harken brothers the success they are today. This required the honest hard work that builds a business. He has never been…

Patrizio Bertelli, the 71-year-old chief executive officer of Prada Group and husband to Miuccia Prada, has been associated with the America’s Cup since the 2000 edition in Auckland. His Doug Peterson and German Frers-designed challenger, Prada, steered by Francesco de Angelis, won the Louis Vuitton Cup but lost in the match to New Zealand 5-0. He returned in 2003 with a new Prada, this one designed by Juan Kouyoumdjian and Ian Howlett and steered by Rod Davis with Gavin Brady. The team failed to shine, losing in the Louis Vuitton semifinals. He tried again with Luna Rossa, only to lose 5-0 to Emirates Team New Zealand in the final of the Louis Vuitton Cup in Valencia, Spain, with Jimmy Spithill steering. Subsequently, his Luna Rossa syndicates competed in the Louis…

I’m teetering on the edge of control, suspended on a trapeze wire, uncertain what will happen next. Every micro adjustment I make of the slippery carbon cylinder in my hand is a flirt with danger. The high-frequency vibrations of the foils slicing through the waterline buzz like a pestering mosquito, and their escalating pitch foreshadows something sinister. My buddy Iain Jensen, “Goobs,” slips as he scurries and scrambles on the bow. Working with furious efficiency, he drops the carbon foil perfectly like a butcher wields a cleaver, deliberately, calmly, efficiently. Not bad for us first-timers. The foil grabs hold of the water passing, in a blur, beneath the flexing SuperFoiler. Goobs seems to be trembling ever so slightly as he vaults back toward the wire. It could be his nerves,…

On Friday, April 23, Bruce Perry, a friend who was the administrator of the Conservation Commission on Nantucket, called to tell me the town was opening Sesachacha Pond that day. All winter he’d heard me talking about my dream of one day sailing “through the cut.” As it turned out, we were scheduled to have dinner with Bruce and his family that night, and since he planned to watch the cut’s completion that afternoon, he said he’d tell me about it in the evening. Bruce and family lived in what’s called an upside-down house (bedrooms downstairs, living room and dining room upstairs) overlooking Long Pond in Madaket on the western end of the island. It was the perfect place to hear about a pond opening. Apparently, Sesachacha had been at…

Steitz came of age in a time when German racing yachts were making an impact on the global racing scene — the Admiral’s Cup and the Southern Ocean Racing Conference. Ralf Steitz, president of U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Sailing Foundation, speaks his mind. His friends say it’s one of his most endearing qualities — that and his reputation as a veracious and convivial old soul. Yes, Steitz, 55, is quintessentially German: direct and clear about his intentions and expectations of those under his watch, of whom there have been many. You always know where you stand with “Ralfie,” one of American offshore sailing’s most influential leaders today. Steitz grew up on Heligoland, a German archipelago of two islands in the southeast corner of the North Sea. It’s an area with…

“Are we on the long tack?” I ask because our tactician is having a noticeably hard time figuring out what to do. “Uh … no,” our tactician responds. “OK,” I say. “Let’s tack, then we can sort it out.” It’s not that he is doing anything wrong, but the tactician’s job is tough, and it’s a tricky day. “Agreed. Tack when you’re ready,” he says, sounding relieved. The long tack is a way to ensure we are sailing the shortest distance to the mark. It’s also a conservative move, a way to bring us back toward the center of the racecourse when unsure of the best move, which is surprisingly often. But while we assess what to do, at least we are not hurling ourselves toward the corner for no…

The longer we race sailboats, the more we realize how true it is that we never stop learning. That’s what makes the sport so fascinating. I have notebooks full of little nuggets of knowledge that are now ingrained in me whenever I’m on the racecourse or coaching. Let’s start with Karl Anderson, who always preached the importance of delivering a positive message to the team, especially after a tough day, letting them know the team is still in good shape and all is well. Make everyone feel like they’re still in the regatta. This goes a long way, especially if you are respected on the boat. From Moose McClintock I learned that twings down on a spinnaker sheet or guy is similar to applying vang tension on a mainsail; it…

On paper, the second Southern Ocean leg of the Volvo Ocean Race is 7,600 miles, the longest of the race by a lot. These are the difficult miles that push men, women and equipment to their breaking point. This classic and defining segment of the race can be fast and kind, but more often than not, it’s fast and brutal, the sort of leg that finds even the most hardened veterans and masochists clamoring for the exit door at Cape Horn. Such will be remembered of the 2018 edition, the one that claimed one life and stripped years off many others. “The Southern Ocean has been especially tough this year,” wrote Simon Fisher, navigator and helmsman for Vestas 11th Hour Racing, hours before they passed the iconic landmark in the…

Erika Reineke is lovely. Yes, it’s an odd way to describe someone who kills it on the racecourse, as she does in her Laser Radial these days. With unbridled enthusiasm for the sport, her presence among the Olympic sailing squad brings out the best in her teammates and friends. She also comes across as genuinely thrilled about everything in life, as one might expect of a 24-year-old college grad and Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year. Reineke’s due recognition follows her selection as college sailing’s top female, and four years as an All-American at Boston College. With an environmental geoscience degree in hand, she’s now the US Sailing Team’s golden girl, with big hopes for Tokyo 2020. What’s your secret to managing such an intense sailing schedule and keeping a flawless…

I recently came across a book I was given for my 10th birthday 58 years ago, Successful Yacht Racing by C. Stanley Ogilvy (W.W. Norton & Co., 1951). Ogilvy was an accomplished Star boat sailor, a Ph.D. mathematics professor and a prolific sailing writer. In his book, he wrote, “Aside from winning a token prize [for winning a race] there is no material reward for excellence. No professional managers wait on the dock, anxious to sign up the day’s winners on their teams. No scouts cluster around waving contracts. The lack of tangible assets connected with winning is the best thing that could have happened to the sport. It means there is no place for the chiseler afloat. In any other kind of race, referees and officials swarm over the…

I look to my left and then to my right and think, I can outrun these guys. I’m rocking the boat, carving channels in the ice so my runners don’t stick. One hand is on the tiller, and the other is clenching the limp wire shroud. The stay flexes as I rhythmically push and pull the boat, building up potential energy, like drawing a bow. When the race starts, I want to be on the back stroke so I can catapult it forward and sprint away from the line. When I go, I’ll be running full tilt, steering as I sprint like a 50-yard-dash maniac. I can cheat the boat into the wind to climb high on the guy to leeward of me before jumping in the boat and bearing…

It was way back in 1998 when the NOOD Regatta first rolled into St. Petersburg, Florida, a time now so long ago that most of us can hardly remember what it was like. President Bill Clinton’s Monica Lewinsky scandal was just winding up, Dale Earnhardt was winning the Daytona 500 on his 20th attempt and one-design keelboat racing was on the up, with the emergent classes of the day being the Corel 45s and the Mumm 30s. Raceboats were loaded with sailors willing to hike their butts off all day in a simple open exchange for rum, beer, crew gear and maybe a red Mount Gay ball cap. The NOOD Regatta scene was an eclectic mix of new and old one-designs when 149 boats assembled at St. Petersburg YC for…

PERFORMANCE SINGLE HANDER Designed and built by go-fast experts Reichel-Pugh and Melges, the 14 is a userfriendly, modern solo rocket ship. An excellent upwind performer with narrow tacking angles, the 14 cuts cleanly through chop. And boy does it move—upwind and down, in light air or breeze-on. The cockpit is comfortable, large, and selfbailing, and the hull sports contoured “wings” for hiking power. The two-piece tapered carbon mast accommodates a choice of sail sizes to suit a range of sailors and ages. The Melges 14 was selected “Best Dinghy” by Sailing World in 2016. For more on the Melges14: www.melges.com MAINSHEET A 57 mm T2 soft-attach Ratchamatic is rigged from the aft end of the dagger board trunk so it’s within easy reach from a full hike. Two 40 mm…

What separates the real champions from the wannabes? Five letters: f-o-c-u-s. I’m talking about laser-beam attention from every crewmember. To perform at the highest level, you have to have it. Take this grinder, for example. He has a climb ahead of him on the path to perfection. I don’t care how many reps you can do at the gym. If you can’t keep both hands on the pump all the time, don’t bother. As for his buddies on the other boat, don’t text while driving, especially on a cat. —Dr. Crash…