Sailing with the legends.
Recently I sailed the International Masters Regatta hosted by San Diego YC and sailed in San Diego’s South Bay. I was lucky enough to be invited to sail with two-time Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year, Cory Sertl and a great group she put together. The regatta is sailed in J/105’s from the local San Diego fleet using a matched set of sails that the club owns. This regatta was started back in the 1970’s by Don Trask and Malin Burnham and back then was sailed in J/24’s (Don was the west coast builder of J/24’s and Lasers at the time) on San Francisco Bay. The regatta is invitation only (12 teams) and the list of people who accept each year reads like the diary of a 12 year old Chris Snow under the entry, “people I'd like to sail with someday”. Multiple World Champions, America’s Cup winners, more Rolex awards than you can imagine, and then there are the guys who are just really, really good.
From left, Cory Sertl, Meg Myles, Chris Snow (looking short), Jody Swanson, Mark Sertl, Suzy Leech, John Rudderham.
To make it fair, the regatta is sailed in a round robin of twelve races total. The club sets up a changing dock big enough to hold the whole fleet just off the starting line where the rotations happen. It’s a challenge to run 4 races per day but SDYC’s team is well practiced and does a great job keeping the races long enough, but not too long and keeping the rotations going.
About two weeks before the regatta I chatted with Cory who mentioned she thought I would be good to do tactics. I did a little double take, I’d sailed on South Bay enough to know it’s tricky and the flat water there makes the boats go close to the same speed so passing is hard. After I hung up the phone my next call was to my son, Nevin who has been the winning tactician on a number of winning Lipton Cup teams. The Lipton Cup is sailed the week after the Masters in the same boats and same locale. It is one of a number of similar trophies Sir Thomas Lipton of America’s Cup fame donated to clubs around the US for regional competition. Nevin was great and gave me a full download. Key points were:
Starting at the pin is generally strong. J/105’s do not like other boats on their lee bow. Starting at the pin is a great way to guarantee you will be free to go fast. Plus in a “normal” westerly in SD South Bay the far left is often favored upwind.
“Last one in wins the pin”
Work to be max speed at “go”. Give yourself enough room to be able to accelerate to full speed in the last seconds to the start.
Getting a top three is like giving yourself a throwout. Key is to turn a deep race into one a few places better. That’s where the good result lies.
When the racing got going we were not fast out of the blocks. Our first five races had us scoring a 8,7,7,2,10. Far from anything to write home about. Race 6 is where were started to hit our stride, ticking off three more seconds and all remaining races in the top 7. At the end of the day we ended up 3rd overall. Local legend, Scott Harris from Coronado, sailing with more local legends won the event. Twenty points separated the top 5 after 12 races. Personally, I was pleased to see our trajectory being an upward one. We got better as the event went on. That’s always a good feeling.
The racing is very close… Photo: Mark Albertazzi.
I was thinking about the feel of the regatta before we started sailing. I’d sailed in it a few time before, and I remembered that it’s not at all an easy event. Every invited skipper is really, really good. They might not be driving an Olympic class boat or doing tactics in the America’s Cup these days but they still have the knowledge of how to sail really well around the course. And all those years of experience means they have sailed with a ton of really good people, many of whom are happy to spend a fun weekend racing.
Sailing truly is a sport for all ages and this event is proof. Many, many thanks to SDYC and the many volunteers who make the Masters and Lipton Cup happen. Special thanks to regatta chair JR Young who made it all look easy. You rock.
Sunrise over San Diego Bay.