(Lake Minnetonka, MN)- Racers enjoyed unseasonably warm temperatures,
topping out in the 80s, for the J/22 Western Great Lakes District
Championships/ Evergreen Cup. Sixteen boats participated in the regatta,
which was held September 27 and 28, 2014 on Lake Minnetonka and hosted
by J/22 fleet #1 at Wayzata Yacht Club. To increase the number of boats
on the line, several J/22 owners from the lake generously offered their
boat to guest skippers and crew.Five races were completed on day one of the regatta in wind speeds from 5 to 11 mph. The final race was canceled on day two as a result of extremely light breeze.
"My favorite part of the entire regatta was rounding the top mark of the first race simultaneously with 10 other boats," says Mike Bowers, fleet captain. "Nothing could be more fun than racing against a group of equally skilled sailors."
Mike Miller, EN FUEGO’s boat owner remarks, "We had the best communication effort to date on 486. This gave us a competitive edge in a highly talented one-design fleet.”
John "Ole" Olson from SUPER LULU PUPPY, hull number 989, was very proud to have daughter Maggie driving. "So many people at the yacht club have helped Maggie develop as a skipper. Many of the top sailors in the fleet jumped on our boat for a few of the rumbles in the bay and other races. The whole fleet supports her success."
A trophy was also awarded to the top women's team 1048, MOXXIE. Holly Jo Anderson, along with experienced crew Kathleen Cahill, Danielle Lindeman and Jenny Wilson finished just ahead of the Minnesota Women’s Sailing Team, DONE DEAL.
"Wayzata
Yacht Club boasts the largest number of women sailors in the country,"
explains Anderson. "Young talented female and male sailor participation
is growing as a result of our strong high school and college sailing
programs as well as the many experienced instructors at the community
sailing schools."No regatta is complete without a celebration and great food. Jill Fynboh's exceptional meals on Saturday and Sunday were delicious. Trophy technical shirts were donated by Carol Pine of Pine & Partners and Paul Cossette, owner of LynLake Brewery.
In addition to thanking the many volunteers that helped coordinate the event, J/22 fleet #1 recognizes the outstanding WYC race committee, including Blake Middleton and Jarod Silverman. And thank you to Sue Slack and Tim Oelschlager, volunteers on the race committee boats.
The top five teams for the event included AQUAVIT (John Dyer, Bruce Martinson and Bill Richards) in 1st, WHO’S DRIVING (Dave Brasch, Kevin Kenny and Mike Bowers) in 2nd, EN FUEGO (Mike Miller, helmsman Mike Schmidt and Matt Carlson) in 3rd, SUPER LULU PUPPY (John Olson, Claire Hanley, Terry Foster and skipper Maggie Olson) in 4th and HURRICANE BAR & GRILL (Jon and Kim Monson, Brynn Paterson and helmsman Chad Olness) in 5th.
One of the unique “fleet-building” exercises that J/22 Fleet #1 has gone through, in addition to supporting keelboat sailing for their local high schools and colleges, is the “Let’s Rumble & Learn Weekend” that was held just prior to the J/22 Western Great Lakes Championship.
The once a month fleet-specific rumble format at Wayzata Yacht Club (WYC) offers sailors several short races in one day. If you blow a start or go up the wrong side of the course, you get the opportunity to improve on the next race. At the most recent WYC J/22 rumble, the fleet used this opportunity to work with boat owners and crew-members to advance their boat tuning, handling and racing experience.
Organizers
invited J/22 class expert, Terry Flynn of Quantum Sails to provide
whiteboard, on-the-dock and on-the-water training on everything from
boat setup to sail trim and racing tips. The event started on Saturday
afternoon with a whiteboard presentation by Lars Hansen on forestay
measurement and boat tuning and setup. This discussion moved to the
docks and one of the J/22s for a hands-on presentation given by Terry
Flynn on boat tuning, crew position for optimal speed and more.“Sailing on a boat with very light crew weight, I was pleased that Terry Flynn set the record straight on a few misconceptions,” says Kathleen Cahill. “These small adjustments, such as crew position, could make a big difference for us.”
In addition to Flynn, several top-of-the-fleet experts shared their knowledge during the races by rotating every two races onto different boats. These experts included Mike Bowers, John Dyer, Terry Foster, Lars Hansen, Kevin Kenney, Andy Marston, Mike Miller, Mike Schmid, Kurt Taken-Holtze, Matt Thompson and Thorn Turner. Each of the coaches offered a little different perspective and a range of valuable input and feedback.
“It was interesting to see the varied interests in what each boat wanted to get out of not just the training session, but from racing at WYC,” explains Mike Bowers. “I coached a crew that was involved to advance their competition; another boat made it a fun family activity; and one team wanted to improve their overall seamanship. I think it is great that one sport and one club can support such varied interests. It was enjoyable to help everyone get closer to their goals.”
“What a great event. This should get added to the schedule for years to come,” says Lars Hansen. “Looking over my notes there are three things that everyone can work on. First, the skipper must focus on driving before anything else. Second, the trimmer should take responsibility for their sail. By the time the skipper tells the trimmer to adjust the trim the moment is already gone. Third, communication is critical. For example, the spinnaker trimmer should be communicating to the driver during the entire downwind run. Talking about pressure on the sheet gives the skipper clues to heat it up or drive deeper. Someone else, possibly the foredeck, should be watching behind and to the side of the boat for puffs. A small adjustment to catch a puff can make a big difference.”
“As a new boat owner in the fleet, this was an incredible learning experience. The boat tuning classroom and on-the-dock training reinforced what I learned from Lars when he helped put my boat in for the first time this year,” says Holly Jo Anderson. “Thorn gave the entire crew excellent tips during the races. Applying his suggestions, we even got the bullet on the second race. Having experience racing with four people on a J/22, Kurt pointed out some hardware changes that will definitely improve boat-handling efficiency.”
During the race, Sean Delany videotaped various boats. Once back to the club, Flynn reviewed these video clips with the group—showing proper sail trim, boat heel and more.
“I would like to thank everyone at WYC who helped put on such a successful event. I really like the format and the club and class did a great job supporting this style of seminar,” says Flynn. “The large number of guest skippers helped everyone in the fleet gain hands-on training. This type of format used at more clubs would definitely build participation.”
WYC J/22 fleet #1 offers a special thank you to organizers, Terry Flynn, the fleet’s expert coaches and food sponsor Veritas Marketing for making this a successful event that will likely be repeated in years to come. Sailing photo credits- Jarod Silverman @ Minnetonka Photography For more J/22 Fleet #1 regatta and sailing information
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