Regatta Updates:

Eugene Schmitt sailing downwind at the Sunfish Rondinella Regatta at Bay Waveland Yacht Club. It's hard to tell, but I place telltales (backwards) about 6" from my leach so I can immediately tell when my flow is reversed.

It’s been a long time since I did a righteous update. Eric Eiffert emailed me and said he liked my tuning guide. I asked him were he got it. He said sunfishweekendwarrior so now I’m a little inspired.

My last real update was Midwinters 2019. In term of major regattas, I’ve sailed the 2019 Worlds, 2020 NY Downstate Regionals, and the Gulf Coast Regionals since then.

2019 Worlds (Bonaire): I placed 7th overall. I was toward the top of the fleet after the first day and fell from grace on Day 3. If I recall correctly, the first race of Day 3 was abandoned as markset couldn’t properly set the 2nd windward mark due the water depth. I was in 2nd or 3rd place at the time and the abandonment kind of knocked me out of the groove for the day. Additionally, a nice medium breeze came in for the rest of the day, and that’s always been my weakness in the boat. The perfect day for sailing for most people usually results in my worst finishes. Unfortunately, the perfect day is usually the day where we get the most races in, thus accelerating my fall down in the results.

Overall, the competition was extremely strong. This was my first Worlds where I felt sailed a little worse than where I should be. I felt like I was a little more in the mix for the regatta whereas in other worlds I’ve felt like I didn’t belong near the top of the fleet and just got lucky with a few good races. I did win 2 races at the event which was pretty cool.

2020 NY Downtstate Regionals (Connetquot River Dinghy Club): This was a great regatta and my first real Covid-era regatta. I will say that the folks on Long Island did it right. If everyone uses a basic level of common sense, it’s perfectly safe to sail a single-handed regatta. Dan Hesse ran away with regatta. I think I’ve beaten him the last few regatta we’ve sailed. Not that weekend. I don’t know if there’s many people on the planet that could have beaten Dan on his home waters. It was impressive watching him. Paul Jon was 2nd and definitely 1/2 a notch better than me that weekend. I got 3rd. Lee Montes was close behind in 4th.

My main take-away from the regatta was that I have to improve my downwind speed. Going back to the old maintain or gain college drills, I counted myself as -16 in sailing downwind for the regatta. I would literally lose a boat a leg downwind. I’ve had this problem for sometime. I’ve just never had the ability to pass massive amounts of boats on a downwind leg like many of my counterparts. I think the fact that this fleet was a little smaller and the people that I needed to beat were right around me all the time just highlighted the fact that I was slower than them. PJ and Dan would just pass or leave me if they were anywhere near me downwind. After the regatta, I stayed on the water and just practiced carving it up in the Great South Bay chop. I learned a lot. One trick I learned was that sometimes it’s OK let the sail way out (like 120 degrees) to depower a little bit if you have a solid surf on a wave. During the regatta, I kept submarining because I was too powered-up running into the wave in front of me….even if carving across a wave when by the lee. If I felt like I was solidly on a wave and likely to stay surfing on it, I would let my sail out to slow down a little and then power up if I felt like I was falling of the current wave or a I saw an opportunity to jump to he next waive in a flat spot or chop. Now, keep in mind these were some of the steepest waives relative to their wavelength that I’ve ever sailed it. It was some fun and challenging stuff, and I just never came close to figuring it out during the regatta.

Also of note, I was pretty out of shape for this regatta and I did not like it. I usually try to sail at less than 175lbs. I was probably 185 lbs for this regatta. It was a breezy regatta, but carrying a little extra weight doesn’t help if you can’t carry it well I didn’t like the feeling. This paragraph is a “note to self” to not put myself in that position for a major regatta. Generally speaking, optimum weight for a Sunfish is certainly less than my playing weight.

2020 Gulf Coast Regionals (Bay St. Louis, MS): First, I was super pumped up just to have this regatta. It was the first time in a long time where we had a good turnout. We registered 20 boats, but about 15 sailed the first day as the breeze was pretty heavy. Maybe 6 or 7 boats were finishing the second day as the breeze was a solid 20+.

I tied with a dude named Ricky Welch. He’s a local GYA hotshot that hopped into a Sunfish. Although we tied, I think he’s probably a little better than me, and certainly could be one of the best in the world with a little practice. As we all know, the Sunfish is nuanced boat that take a little time-in-the-boat to get better. If Ricky practices, he’s my odds on favorite for the 2021 Worlds. We’ll see if he puts in the time.

2020 Rondinella Trophy (Bay St. Louis, MS): This is more our less BWYC’s “king of the Sunfish” regatta. I won 3 of the 4 races and the regatta. My main take-away was that I have improved my downwind speed a little. Usually, Todd Edwards just leaves me downwind. l could hold my own with him rounding the weather mark right behind me and even closed a lot of distance if he rounded ahead of me. I’m not saying I’m fast, I’m just not bad like I was . I’ve been focusing a lot on staying in power zones by the lee or reaching, as well as steering with the heel of the boat, especially when it lightens up a little. You can use a little more rudder as the breeze picks up. If it’s in in the 6-9 range, I’m basically setting my boom at 90 degrees and steering completely with my weight (Opti style). As the breeze picks up I’m coordinating that with a little more aggressive turns of the rudder. I really feel like there’d diminishing returns if you try to go too aggro when the breeze and waves just aren’t there. You’ll end up just getting flagged and you’re not even creating any additional VMG.

Sunfish Gulf Coast Regional

https://www.sunfishclass.org/news/article/photo-finish-for-schmitt-and-welch-at-gulf-coast-regionals

Well, we were looking at having over 30 boats for the Gulf Coast Regionals, but Hurricane Sally kept the Florida competitors away. We hope to get 30 boats next year. I’ll update some lessons learned later.

2019 Sunfish Nationals at Midwinters

Below: Start of Race 1 at the 2019 Midwinters.  That’s me (76443) right above Hank Saurage (75200).  PER 1 is Renzo Sanguineti who will be the Peruvian representative in the Sunfish Class for the Pan Am Games.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted.  It’s actually been a year.  Let’s see, since the 2018 Midwinters I’ve sailed the NA’s (Lake Bluff Y.C.) and Worlds (Carolina Y.C., Wilmington, NC).  I didn’t do that well in either.

2018 NA’s –  The regatta was entirely light and the RC had problems getting races in.  On the first race of the final day I forget to put my plug in (again) and had a boat full of water after the race.  I had to go in and missed the next 2 races of the regatta which were the only 2 races with a decent breeze.  I was in 8th when I had to go in due to the water in my hull.  I can’t recall what place I finished.  It was pretty deep considering I had to throw out a last place and eat a last.

2018 Worlds – 2018 Worlds was the opposite.  The regatta was extremely breezy as the Carolina coast was getting hit by bands from Hurricane Michael.  I think we had 3 races on the first day and I barely finished the first of them.  I was extremely sea sick and couldn’t finish the other races.  Day 2 was cancelled due to the weather.  Day 3 was better, but the sea state was still very rough.  I had a transdermal scopolamine patch on that made me feel better, but I have a hard time sailing with that patch.  The last day was a flatter sea state and I did much better.  I ended up 25th which was disappointing considering I placed 2nd the year before.  That’s OK, it was learning experience and it’s always good to mix it up with the best in the world.  Congrats to Jean Paul!

2019 Midwinters – We only had 5 races over this 3 day event.  Uncooperative weather is starting to be a trend.  I was 5th overall, but it was very close.  6 races would have meant we had a throughout.  Going out on Sunday for our the 6th and likely final race, I was really in a 3-way tie for 2nd.  As it turns out, the wind never came in so I we never got the throw out.  I was 180lbs  (heavy for me) in a predominantly light air regatta and sailed well all things considering.  I need to realize that I can hang with the likes of David Mendleblatt, Conner Blouin, Stewart Draheim, and  Greg Gust in the light stuff.  Heck, I finished ahead of David Hernandez and I think he’s the best sailor in the world in any condition where there’s not a race over 20 mph.  He’s extremely fast and consistent in 0-18.  I’m definitely a click off with my speed, but I can hang with this group if I keep my head on straight.  BTW, congrats to Conner for a flawless regatta.  This guys is as consistent as it gets.  I really don’t know that he has any holes in his game.

My takeaway from the regatta is that I’ve got to get more consistent with my downwind speed.  I was -11 on losing boats downwind over this regatta.  All those guys in front of me were +something over the same period and that was really the difference between us.  If/when I figure my speed issues out I’ll update the blog with some tips.  At this point I’m unqualified to be giving out any downwind go-fast pointers.

Finally, shout out to Ron and Beth Owens.  Hank, Lee, and I crashed at their pad in Tampa.  Ron and Beth were all-star hosts.  I just enjoy this class.  It’s fun to sail with such great friends and competitors; and meeting new friends like Ron and Beth is icing on the cake.

 

 

 

 

Sunfish #1 – 1954

A fried of mine, Mark Isaacs, sent me these pics from the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum.  This is the first Alcort Sunfish sold back in 1954.  Pretty cool.

Summer Regatta, Mobile YC – Recap

Team BWYC fielded a strong team for the Summer Regatta held this past weekend at Mobile YC.  Jackson Benvenutti (North Sails) organized the team for Saturday.  Clinton skippered the first race with a solid 5th.  Ella Lansford skippered race #2 and finished 8th.  She was also over early and had to re-round the bottom gate so 8th is pretty good all things considering.  It’s good practice for her too as she’s headed to Junior Liptons next weekend.  Jackson skippered the final race on Saturday and walked away with a strong bullet.

I replaced Jackson on Sunday.  Ella skippered race #4 and finished with another 8th.  Clinton sailed the final race.  He won the start and extended his lead to get a bullet in the final race of the regatta.  BWYC ended up 4th.  Mad props to William Trapani and Kate Lansford for their all-star crew work all weekend.

Congrats to the Passholes for a great win and to Ponchartrian and Gulfport for making it close!

Above is The Red Boat in action during Race #5: (L to R) Ella Lansford, Eugene Schmitt, William Trapani, and Clinton Edwards.

Final Viper Results Below…….

Commodore’s Cup @BWYC

We sailed the Commodore’s Cup at BWYC this past weekend.  We had 5 boats (Clinton Edwards, Todd Edward, Kippy Chamberlain, Gilly Chamberlain, and Charlie Breath).  I pulled my back earlier in the week so lent my boat to Kippy.   I wish I could have sailed as it’s nice to have a decent sized fleet with some good sailors on the bay.  The breeze was 18-23 mph for the 1 day regatta.  Todd Edwards had 2 bullets in the first 2 races, but snapped his mast at the start of race 3 and wasn’t able to make it back out.  Clinton ended up winning, but it was close (1 point – I think) with Kippy at the end of the regatta.  Kippy is probably 140 lbs, but could hang surprisingly well in the breeze.  He’ll be deadly fast once he learns how to sail the boat downwind in the breeze.

Zak Fanberg took my boat out after the regatta.  He’s probably 6’2″ and 215 pounds.  He could move surprisingly well.  Here’s some vid of Zak.  You’ll see him naturally taking the boat by the lee and then making a nice turn to traditional flow at the trough of the wave.

Here’s Zak strength testing my mast step.  It’s blowing 18+ here and I think his feet are still under the leeward cockpit.  I should have taken the jens out for him.  Good shot of BWYC in the background too.

Sunfish Nationals at Midwinters Recap

View from St. Andrews Bay YC.  Courtesy of @courtneycoopercumberland

The Midwinters were held March 21-24 at St. Andrews Bay YC.  The Regatta was a country qualifier (top 3 countries) for the 2019 Pan Am games.  All of the top Central and South Americans showed up.  Alonso ending up winning the regatta, but it was close with Jonathan Martinetti.  Jonathan got flagged for a kinetics in the last race when working on gaining an overlap at the leeward gate with Alonso.  Jonathan had to retire from the race, but sailed a great regatta other than hat.  I ended up 6th after a decent last day.  Stewart Draheim (USA) also sailed a great regatta finishing 8th overall.  Also, congrats to Sunfish Class newbie, Eric Oetgen (USA), for winning the Int’l Masters Worlds and for a strong showing at the Midwinters even with a DNS (broken mast).  Eric is going fast already and his learning curve will be steep.

My overall takeaway from the regatta is that the Central/South Americans are just dialed in.  They are smart and fast all the way around the race course.  I think David Hernandez is scary fast and probably the fasted guy on the planet in any sort of regatta with variable conditions from 0 to 18 knots.  Alonso is right there, but definitely separates himself from David and the rest of the world in 18+ knots.

Personally, I’d like to drop a few pounds.  I have speed issues in the medium breeze as evidenced by my scores on Day 2.   I’m in decent shape in the light (0-5 knots) and heavy (15+ knots) conditions, but I just can’t keep up when I’m inside the cockpit and others have their butts on the side of the boat.  I also need to practice on sailing the boat flatter in the medium breeze.  I have a tendency to heel the boat over.  It’s just kind of a knee jerk reaction when I feel I’m a click off the pace from everyone else in terms of speed.

I need to get better downwind especially in medium conditions.  Most of the top sailors are about 5 waves faster than me on any given downwind leg which results in me losing 1 or 2 boats every downwind.  The racing is that close.

I’m realizing that it’s just time in the boat.  You have to attack every downwind as an opportunity to ride every wave that you can.  I think the “that you can” is the key phrase.  That is, you’re simply not going to catch every wave on a run.  You need to know what waves you can catch (i.e. is the wave angle right?, is the boat properly powered up?, do I have a clear lane to ride to leeward or windward?).  If not, one needs to be positioning the boat to catch the next “catch-able” wave.  I find that I get frustrated when I miss a wave, but the real frustration rests in the fact that I tried to catch a wave that was not catch-able, and now my boat isn’t in a position to catch the next wave.  I’ve wasted a rudder turn, roll to windward, and probably a pump to fall at least 2 wave sets behind.  Understanding what waves to catch comes with time in the boat.  One has to approach downwind sailing as trying to ride every wave that you can and then advancing wave sets when the opportunities arise (i.e. surfing over wave sets in flat spots or breaking through a wave in front of you when the boat is powered up).

Lastly, going downwind I experimented with letting my sail breathe a little when sailing by the lee on a wave when the boat is at max power.  The idea being that when I start to slow down I’m able to bare down a little more (even more by the lee) and simultaneously trim the sail to re-power up and ride the wave a little longer.  If I don’t ease the sail when I’m at max power, I end up trimming in too tight when heading down to re-power the boat up.  Jacobo Margules (MEX) taught Marguerite Koehler this on the practice day and she shared it with me.  I don’t even know if Jacobo’s logic is my logic, but it seemed to work.  I need to practice it much, much more.  In simple terms, when I felt I was solidly riding a wave I’d let the sail out because I could afford to do so as I there was no danger of falling off the wave ride.  As soon as I’d feel the boat slow down a little bit I’d go deeper by the lee and then trim the sail back in.

I again sailed with a Foerster jens, but moved it up a little.  I sailed with the clove hitch on the upper spar at 66″ from the top of the spar.  I’m still not sure where to set the thing or if I should sail with the jens at all.  I feel like it helps me point in the lighter breeze and let’s the leach breathe appropriately when I start getting by butt over the rail.

Thanks Santa!

Many thanks to Todd Edwards for fixing my hull.  His patented foam block repair job is like that little blue pill for a Sunfish.

Anne, Todd, and I where talking about Sunfish sailing for 2018.  We have the Sunfish Rondinella Regatta on Superbowl weekend.  I think I can get these two to the Midwinters also.

Here’s the major schedule for me this year.  I may try to go to the South Americans in April.  Cartagena was great at the 2016 Worlds, and I’d would love to get back if the schedule and budget permit.

2017 Lipton Cup – Pass Christian, MS

So I got back from the Sunfish Worlds on Saturday to sail the 97th Lipton Cup on Sunday.  The Lipton Cup is the Gulf Yachting Association’s club championship\.  This is the last year that the regatta will be held in Flying Scots.  It’s moving to the Viper 640.  I sailed the last race of the Lipton’s for the first time.  Randy Santa Cruz and Sydney Eagan crewed for me.  We rounded the windward mark in 3rd place, jibed on shift and quickly went to first.  Randy is an incredible crew, especially downwind.  We ended up winning the last race.  Bay-Waveland Yacht Club tied for 1st, but lost the tie breaker because if you tie with the previous champion (Pass Christian YC in this case) you lose all tie breakers.  We’ll have another shot at them next year in Vipers.

[That’s Randy Santa Cruz on on the left]

http://www.sunherald.com/sports/outdoors/article171126687.html