J24 Blog

Canadian Nationals winner Bruce Long offers this race report.

The View – J 24 Canadians

So the stars aligned and we found ourselves on top. Nobody was more thrilled and surprised than me. Paul Elvstrom said that a regatta is won on the beach, before you set out on the first day. So being a bit of a student of the game (read obsessive) the following was key to our success:

1. Team – I had the good fortune of being joined by some great friends, who each could have helmed, called tactics, or crewed better than myself. We are each former or active dinghy sailors. The multiple one design big fleet experiences brought a comfort about the chaos. At least, we had been there and knew what we were trying to achieve! So get to know some dinghy sailors, cultivate some juniors, or buy a Laser.
2. Sails – I have been a long customer of Brett Willett’s Sobstad loft. I have coddled a suit he built for the 2002 Worlds and added a new genoa this year. Flyer has NEVER had such jets. We were higher and faster than some exceptional sailors flying some much newer sails. Brett is local, priced right, knows the boat, has the experience in the class and the sails are finished superbly. Flyer is set-up verbatim from his website and advice. Seems like a no brainer to me.
3. Boat - After 15 years of upgrading, rebuilding, rearranging, and fairing, Flyer is now optimized. Clint Currie’s artistry and guidance over the years has been invaluable. I spent some time over the winter tweaking and this spring re-sanded and polished the hull and foils.
4. Rig - The spar is tuned to the Sobstad data. The entire weekend we had our rig set at our base setting. We got caught on Friday when it got up to 12 knots with 4 people but were able to tough it out upwind with back stay on. I am happy to share the numbers.
5. Starts & Tactics - We all participated in gathering of data before each race. Although the tide was ripping and the beach was favoured at times, (really?) we went out of our way to start with no one on our leeward bow and avoided the high-risk ends. I am more comfortable in speed mode and some skippers are pinchers. We got great speed quickly and were able to leg out (see 1,2 & 3). Funny- speed equals point! We were able to get to the clear air and rolling. We aggressively changed gears for every wave set, puff, lull or rounding.
6. Shut up & Drive - Knowing that everyone on board was a great sailor and they all were doing their job better than I could, (have you seen my foredeck work?), it was pretty easy to bear down on the wooden stick. I was able to relax and get in the groove.

So, there is no rocket science from me. I am happy to have any one ask about the gear, settings or our routine. Thanks to all for the well wishes after the event. It means a lot to me to compete at a high level against some excellent competitors.

To win was just a bonus.

Bruce

Crew – Reto Corfu, Rob Cullen, Sean Staniforth, Ed Tchoi, Brett Willetts