The good news from Key West is that J/105 owners can look forward to many more years of fun in the sun. That is, if you take into consideration that half the races at the Terra Nova Race Week this year were won by card carrying (Medicare that is) senior citizens. Lew Gunn (80) started the fireworks with a bullet in the first race on Tuesday. Following his example, yours truly (67) was motivated to win one on Wednesday and another on Thursday.

What a week of beautiful weather to remind us of the summer to come! 70s with clear skies and balmy evenings with dinner under the stars and palms trees…the lap of surf on a beach. Only slight drawback was the lack of wind on Monday and Friday to get races off. But, the great sailing on the three days between made up for it. Had we raced Friday it would have been an incredible affair. 4 boats (TERN 7, Jim Doane’s FLAME, Dave Wagner’s GIGI, and Richard Bergman’s ZUNI BEAR) were all within 3 points of one another after deducting the worst race from the score. The throw-out provision kicked in if 7 races were completed.. There could have been a 4 way tie at 20 points! 28 boats showed up, 3 more than last year. Interestingly, only 8 of these were repeaters from last year. If 20 new boats from this year were added to 25 from last year, we could have had a 45 boat fleet! It seems the talent depth of the fleet gets deeper each year. The boats are all sailing faster. 6 boats were vying for the top three places in the last race…including the above, plus Steve Tedeschi and Jim Js TASTES LIKE CHICKEN and Larry Harvey’s ANGRY BEAVER. Looking at the results, 17 boats (60% of the fleet) had at least one finish in the top 25% of the fleet (7^th or better). Last year 14 boats placed in the top 25%.

There was more wind and wave action than last year in the six races over three days. We started behind the 80 boat Melges 24 World Championship Fleet as the only other class ( the 2^nd biggest) on that circle with Dave Brennan, veteran of a lot of Miami racing and international race management as the Principal Race Officer (PRO). John Bonds, Sr., past Director of US Sailing, was a spotter and race management consultant. Courses were 1.5 mile windward-leeward twice around in the morning, then with 3 beats and a finish to windward in the afternoon. Leeward gates were used and our starting line was half the length of the Melges’.

We learned rather quickly that the J/105 Fleet was getting off the line and going rather fast, so it was hard to start at the leeward end of the line and get far enough in front to clear many boats on port prior to the layline. And, you didn’t want to go to the port layline and have to thread your way through the disturbed air and wake of 80 Melges coming from the windward mark on starboard with spinnakers up. Lew Gunn pulled it off beautifully in Race 1 and was never headed. We were almost there in race two until ANGRY BEAVER planted one on us, forcing us into a series of clearing tacks with other boats.

Nelson asked me to comment on what we learned new this year compared to last year. There are 5 things:

1. Jib Shape. On Saturday and Sunday in light air, we experimented with jib lead and halyard tension when sailing against other boats. While the normal approach is to allow some wrinkles in the jib to allow the draft to move aft, it seemed we were faster by almost eliminating the wrinkles and pulling the draft forward when there was slop. In other words, in smooth water you can get away with draft aft, but in the stop-and-go slop, having the draft forward (and leads forward) in an acceleration mode worked better. Best here to have the leech of the jib parallel the mainsail and forget which telltale breaks first, rather than try to adjust the leads to suit the luff telltales.
2. Rig Tension. Or lack thereof. In light air we were down to 28, 12, 0 (Uppers, Intermediates, Lowers) on the Loos Guage. (Note: The Loos guage doesn’t read less than 7 due to the stiffness of the rod, so zero is another turn off) We think as low as 18, 7, 0 would have been better in very light air. One way to determine whether you have the right shroud tension is to check the leeward shrouds when sailing upwind. They should be just slack but not waving around in the breeze. That test works for all wind velocities. The new Ronstan calibrated turnbuckles were a great help. Only the bottom half turns and you can read the turns on a scale on the side of the turnbuckle. This allows you to always return to your base setting or set up heavy air and light air settings by the numbers and not have to use a Loos Guage nor get confused as to exactly where you were on the last adjustment. They are also handy when dropping the rig and setting up to the same numbers later. These turnbuckles can only be fitted with new replacement rod shrouds as the turnbuckles are shorter than the Navtec.

In the first two races (13-15 knots) we were at our last year’s Mid-range settings of 41,21,7 and in the 3 heavier air races (16-20 knots) on Wednesday and Thursday morning, we wound them up to 46, 26, 35. I like to see the tip of the mast fall off a bit to leeward and to have the lowers tight so that backstay tension translates into headstay tension, not more lower mast bend. But, this can be a function of mainsail design. Mine is set for a straight mast with little luff curve. Key in heavy air is to set the boat up to sustain speed as you weave your way through the waves…without the knee-jerk effect of being overpowered when you bear off and having to feather the boat in gusts up into waves, thus losing speed. We were able to sustain 6.6-7.0 knots steady in these conditions upwind. That is, except for one stretch of a mile after rounding the leeward mark when the tack line had dropped from the end of the sprit, down under the bow and up over the lifelines to port. Think a smooth bottom doesn’t make a difference? I couldn’t get the boat over 6 knots.

A test of a smooth bottom and quick calibration mode is whether you can hit 7 knots on the GPS (calibrate the speedo to this number) with the RPM on the engine at 3000-3100.

3. Crew Position Upwind in light to moderate air, the boat seems to like more weight to leeward and forward than I have been accustomed. It feels better on the helm, digs in and tries to climb to windward better.
4. Mainsail Trim Downwind. Read the article on this subject in the February 2002 SAILING WORLD. The boat goes deeper and faster with the upper leech of the mainsail eased and twisted off considerably with the boat heeled as much as possible to windward. This was news to me. During the week, our target downwind speeds were 6-7 knots depending on wind velocity.
5. Mainsail Trim Upwind. A number of boats were trimming their traveler cars as far as possible to windward in moderate air, with the boom pulled 6" to weather off centerline and claiming that this was fast. I haven’t tried it yet, but I will for sure.

In terms of boat preparation, we've known for years that J/105 with it’s underpowered rig in light air must have a smooth bottom. That was a priority. TERN 7 has a Baltoplate bottom sanded to 800 w/d. We were also using a jib having no battens. To prolong this sail’s life, I plan to add vertical battens (which roll parallel with the furler) if the proposed batten rule is passed. I noticed that the Melges were using this style of batten. These will avoid the hard spot in the top of the jib caused by the roller battens.

This year I sailed with a different crew than in 2001. Robbie Wilkins from Columbia SC was the tactician, Dan Dickison and Verner Daniel from Charleston were bow and navigator, Alan Joseph from Northeast Harbor ME was the trimmer and at the last minute due to a 6^th crew’s illness, Joe Schutz-Heik from Larchmont NY joined us. They were great fun to be with and kept me out of enough trouble to win. No team is flawless. Key to winning in a fleet this size is to minimize the goofs. I re-read Dave Perry’s "Winning in One Designs" on the flight to Key West just as a reminder. And, we went into the event hoping to finish in the top 10 each race. Only the top 4 boats did this. We also decided to minimize the risk taking around marks, giving room where it was questionable, etc. Turns out we never collected a trophy for winning a day, but did manage to hang in there to earn 3rd best for each day. Fortunately, the boats placing 1^st and 2^nd each day weren’t the same. Consistency won out in the end.

I was reminded once again, particularly having heard some of the stories from other classes, how much fun it is to sail a J/105 where there is more cutting of slack for one’s fellow competitor and where one doesn’t see an overly aggressive application of the rule and the related nastiness and shouting.

Key West was a fantastic learning experience for us, and surely for others. It was an opportunity to make new friends in the class. Jeff J. and Karen Hall did a wonderful job with the J Hospitality Tent and Concierge Service. This provided a gathering spot for all away from the din of the big tent. And, the seminars were universally helpful. The 84 J Boats in attendance accounted for 26% of the 324 boat event, up 1% from last year. That 1% gain came from the 3 boat J/105 gain. I want to congratulate the other owners for their contribution to the fun and the efforts they made to participate. I hope to see you there next year.

A quote from Tom Leweck in his Email SCUTTLEBUTT of January 28th sums it all up:

"It would be really hard not to have a good time at KWRW - sailing in warm
water with 15 knots of breeze wearing tee shirts and shorts. And Peter
Craig's race committee worked diligently to add to the enjoyment with
constant and enlightened use of the VHF radio to insure all the competitors
know the course their sailing, the distance and bearing to the weather
marks, and even the precise time of the next starting sequence. A great
daily regatta newspaper provides race results and keeps everyone informed
about what's happening. Also, in the spirit of good communications, the RC
thoughtfully chose to modify the ISAF starting sequence so it looked a lot
like the old system with some extra guns and flags thrown in.

However, I came home from KWRW with the feeling that it was not the racing
itself that make this regatta so special. It's the fact that the event
organizers have provided the venue and facilities for the ultimate weeklong
reunion for racing sailors. The event provides a wonderful opportunity to
spend time with people we don't get to see often enough. And after all -
isn't it the people who make our sport so special?

 

Bob Johnstone