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See also: Regatta Reports 2004-2007 | Regatta Reports 2001 - 2003
Sonar Sails
Interview by Brian Hayes
Ernie, thanks for finding the time to answer a few questions about your success at the 2011 North Americans and congratulations to you and your team on your runner-up finish. Can you tell us a little bit about how you got into Sonar sailing? Ernie - I’ve been sailing Sonars since 1987. I bought 22, formed a partnership with Bert Foster and we called the boat Sesame Street. We won many more than our share of trophies over the years. We were Wayzata Yacht Club Boat of the Year five times. I’ve been through many changes in the Sonar Rule and many different tuning systems. I’ve kept the boat up. New rigging systems have come through but I’ve kept things that work for me and my crew. I kept jib winches long after many changed to the 2:1 jib sheet purchase because I like sailing with women and children. The popularity of the 3:1 jib sheet fine tune convinced me to get rid of the winches. I still like the magic box as a jib halyard fine tune because I can get reproducibility of settings. I have subsequently sold 22 to Joe Beckey (he renamed the boat Presto) but continue to sail with him because he is a great guy to sail with. Tell us about your team, who did what and how you all came to sail together? Ernie - We were substantially a pick-up team. All four of us had never sailed together before Friday of the regatta. Fortunately for us (but not the regatta) Friday was a drifter and the fleet sat at the YC. We went out and practiced in very light and trying air for two hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon. This allowed us to work out our choreography. I have trimmed main for about 20 years. I had chosen Brian McHenry because he had sailed with Joe and me on Thursdays. The front end of the boat with jib and pit is complex and Brian had that worked out. I chose my helmsman, Sean Delaney, when I found out that he had grown up sailing Sonars with Skip Duryea in Noroton during his misspent youth. Sean steers a J/24 and had just come off a 5th place in the Maine Down East Regatta. Our fourth was Dave Lutian. Brian Hayes sent an email asking if anyone had a spot for his nephew Dave and I raised my hand. Turns out Dave was the piece of the puzzle that joined the rest of us together. He provided excellent input and was a conduit of information from Ched Proctor (on Fast Forward) with whom he sails Etchells and Stars. Dave did a great job of trimming the spinnaker downwind and giving tactical information upwind.
Ernie - Small lake sailing is about playing shifts and puffs. Going out on Saturday the RC was reporting wind from 080 to 135. Brian and I turned to each other and simultaneously said “That’s not bad.” Some shifts are geographic and after 35 years on the lake I’ve found out where a few of them are. The races were in relatively light air with wind from the East. We don’t sail East winds often so memory pays. We paid attention to the compass and to darker water. We generally sailed our own race for the first half and stayed on the lifted board and stronger wind unless there was an over-riding reason not to. You can see Presto’s tracks on http://kws.kattack.com/player/regatta.aspx?FleetID=3d51964e-2138-4ae4-82c5-377323383f11&bBanner=True&bLogo=True We generally were in the right place and passing boats. In the later part of the race we figured out who was challenging us and covered them. It kept us in the early finishers. At the end of the three Saturday races someone told me “You’re in third”. I about dropped my teeth. The boat you sailed was #22. Obviously one of the oldest boats in the fleet and the best showing of a “classic” Sonar in years. How did you get #22 race ready to compete for the North Americans? Ernie - I have always held the belief that the Seidelman boats are stronger and stiffer than later hulls because the manufacturers were still trying to figure out how to cheapen the product by putting in less materials. They suffer from the usual maladies such as weakened chainplates, rotting mast bases, and soft keel sump boxes but I had made those bulletproof years ago. 22 is 200 lb overweight and I submit that the weight is in the hull so when you pull on the backstay the boat doesn’t fold in like a banana. Because I’m a geezer I have plenty of purchase on the backstay. All blocks were treated with One-Drop. I replaced the vang system and brought it from 7:1 to 20:1. I took off all the accumulated junk. I replaced some lines and halyards that were going bad. The boat was working smoothly at the time of the regatta. Our main was new but our jib had two seasons and spinnaker had three seasons. We take very good care of our sails. I had the boat tuned for the wind conditions. I’ve been working with a Paralympic sailing team (see below) so I’ve gotten a lot of input on tuning and technique from Betsy Alison. I’ve had the opportunity to assist Betsy on her coach boat and listen to her as she coaches teams. It rubs off. If you had to pinpoint one thing that most helped you gain your result what would it be? Ernie - We worked as a team with each person doing his job and supporting the others. There was a very democratic feel to the team. We all came to the same conclusion very quickly. Upwind, Brian and I focused on sails, Sean and Dave focused on keeping the boat moving in the right direction. Downwind, Brian and I gave input on wind while Dave trimmed the spinnaker and Sean steered. We were usually sufficiently of the same opinion that we were all ready to tack or jibe as the necessity became apparent. What’s next for you and your sailing plans? Ernie - I’ve been working with Bert Foster’s Paralympic sailing team since 2006. Bert lost the use of his right arm 40 years ago but only found out five years ago that he qualifies as a disabled sailor. When he told me we were going to go to China to win the Gold Medal for the US I told him “Bert, I love you dearly but I won’t cut my leg off just to sail with you. But I will be your bos’n.” So I’ve been adapting Sonar #757 (Captain Hook www.paralympicteamcaptainhook.org ) for a paraplegic jib trimmer and one-leg main trimmer. This winter we go to Florida for the trials. If we all do our jobs we’ll go to England next summer to win the Gold Medal for the US. At home I’ve been working with sailors with disabilities and other disadvantages through the Wayzata Community Sailing Center www.wayzatasailing.org . I’ve organized sailing experiences for blind children and disabled children. I’ve also organized sailing for foster children, inner city children, and Asperger’s Spectrum Disorder children. Most recently I’ve organized an event for disabled veterans. I believe that there is a huge portion of the population that would love to go sailing but no one has every invited them. I’m doing just that. One more thing, it’s tough to get people to come out here to Wayzata, Minnesota (we call it Why Bother, Minne Nowhere). However, you guys missed a great regatta. The race management was impeccable. The food was great. The beer and rum flowed like water. The trophies were spectacular. The camaraderie was exhilarating. Yes, it’s a long drive but the regatta at the end of the drive is worth it. Put your boat on the trailer and travel! It certainly sounds like you keep your plate full and, once again, congratulations to you and the team. Also, best of luck to Team Captain Hook as well as the community programs you are helping organize in Minnesota. Sonar Sails
Report by Brian Hayes The 2011 Sonar New Englands were, once again, held in beautiful Marthas Vineyard this past weekend (Aug 5-8, 2011) and sailors using North Sails once again brought home the top spots. Though a logistically challenging place to get to, once there the sailing venue and hospitality of the folks at the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club make the challenges worthwhile. This years event featured a small but competitive fleet with Dave Franzel, tuning up to defend his World Championship in Scotland in less than 2 weeks, Alex Meleney’s team as well as the Fast Forward team of Linville, Linville, Galloway and Steinborn all on hand to try to capture the title. 10 races were scheduled and all 10 completed in pleasant, if not breezy, conditions in Vineyard Sound. While racing was tight throughout the weekend the experience of the Fast Forward team, with Jim Linville at the helm for the weekend, slowly began to grind a steady points lead to the point that, after a come from behind win in race #9 the team sat out race 10 to rest gear (and bones) for the hour long sail back to Falmouth where visiting teams launched and hauled. In 2nd throughout the weekend was Alex Meleney and his team on #390. This was a great showing for Alex for no other reason that he also was the regatta chairperson and we all know how difficult it is to run a regatta and perform well on the race course! Franzel and team also opted of sailing Sunday to rest and prepare for their trip to Scotland and missed both races Sunday to drop from 3rd to 5th in the standings which enabled the Greg Stevens and his crew and Zach Shapiro and team to slide into 3rd and 4th respectively. North Sails were 1,2,5. For complete information on North Sonar sails contact our Experts.
Sonar Sails
Report by Brian Hayes The 2010 Sonar North Americans were hosted by Eastern Yacht Club on September 23-26, 2010 and Marblehead, true to form, served up “typical Marblehead” conditions. Tricky, shifty, windy, wavy, light and everything in between was presented to the 35 teams vying to be the 2010 NA Champ. 11 races were held over 3 days with Friday’s 4 races held in light/moderate breeze with a lot of confused waves. Saturday brought more of the same until the 4th race of the day when the expected cold front finally made an appearance and offered more solid pressure but equally shifty breeze from off the north shore of Massachusetts. Sunday brought drifting conditions on the sail to the race course until 10am when someone “turned on the fan” as the final 3 races were held in 20+mph breezes from the NNE and bone jarring, 4 foot+, boat stopping waves. Local Marblehead legend Jud Smith managed the first two days of racing better than the rest of the group and hung on in the breezy final day to win the event with 60 points. In 2nd was North Sails customer Peter Galloway (with Ched Proctor crewing) who found the final days breeze to his liking and finished with a 2,1,1 final day tally and a total of 71 points. The next 4 positions were all grabbed by North Sails customers including Lee Morrison in 3rd, Dave Curtis in 4th, current World Champion Dave Franzel in 5th and Bob Monro in 6th. North Sails One Design sponsored the event by providing daily weather reports for all the competitors. The morning discussions around the coffee table were the North forecasts and wind reports. The reports were quite accurate, considering the peculiar timing of the Friday front and were both helpful and educational for the participants. North Facts:
Results at: http://www.easternyc.org/page/4617/5829 For complete information on North Sonar sails contact our Experts. Sonar Sails
Report by Brian Hayes Sonar Long Island Sound Championships- Noroton Yacht Club, Darien, CT (26 boats) I thought I had stumbled into the wrong event when I arrived at the Sonar LIS Championships as the parking lot was full of sailors that are familiar to many but not to Sonar sailors. Strolling about were Pete McChessney, Russ Silvestri, Ed Adams and a host of other top sailors who all came to Noroton to get in some Sonar practice for the upcoming NYYC qualification series for their fall invitational. Add to these names the likes of Sonar greats Peter Galloway, Steve Shepstone, Skip Shumway and a list of many others and the event was looking to shape up to quite a battle. The visitors did not disappoint as McChessney and Silvestri found themselves in the top 2 spots on Saturday evening with a 1,2 and a 2,3 respectively. However, our team of Craig Sinclair, Peter Wilson, Carolyn Wilson and myself were right on their heels with a 5,1. After a long wait for breeze Sunday the NYC committee was able to squeeze in 2 challenging races. With McChesney finding some difficulty finding open lanes in the tight fleet and Silvestri out of the picture as an early withdraw due to time constraints our team posted a 3,1 to win the event by 18 points. In 2nd was Pete McChessney followed by North customer Ed Sweeney, who sailed an awesome series as well with 3 top 4 finishes. North 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 8th!!! For complete information on North Sonar sails contact our Experts.
Sonar Sails
Report by Brian Hayes This past weekend I attended the Sonar Tappan Zee Challenge held at Nyack Boat Club on the Hudson River. The conditions were as good as can be hoped for on the Hudson in May for the 19 teams with moderate temps and a strong, shifty NW all weekend that kept teams on their toes and featured a few wipeouts downwind and sail flogging upwind. I was presented a unique opportunity for this regatta to crew for 2 different teams, one on Saturday and another on Sunday. While I had hoped to drive my own boat with my own team I decided instead to take advantage of this offer as it presented a fun challenge for me. My Saturday team consisted of 3 sixteen year olds from the Nyack Boat Club. The Nyack Fleet is hoping to establish a stronger youth base of sailors and the team I was with on Saturday is the start of this plan. Dan, Brandon and Alexandra greeted me on the dock Saturday morning next to Dan’s pride and joy. Sonar #102 (using sail #7) is, shall we say, a classic. An older boat built by the long defunct Ryder Boat Co. with an original mast and, close to, original sails (although the spinnaker may have been original!). Dan’s dad Mike “rescued” the boat from a yard just before they were going to cut it up. While the boat was the oldest in the fleet by several years the crew was excited to learn and so we pushed off the dock towards the river in a very puffy, shifty NW breeze. Dan, my skipper, was the most experienced with a few seasons of frostbiting and some natural ability. While not a product of any sailing program Dan loves to sailboat race. Brandon, our bow, is still getting wet behind the ears but a terrific kid and enjoys being on the water. Alexandra was our 4th and, while she had some big boat experience in her homeland of Denmark, her time on dinghies was very limited/non-existent. We spent the first part of our sail out discussing who was doing what. As we were greeted with the 1st 20 knot puff Dan mentioned, “You’ll fly the spinnaker, right? We don’t really have much practice with that.” Gulp! The plan was start clear of everyone and work on making old #102 go as fast as possible while teaching the kids some/all of the nuances of Sonar sailing. After a clear start we headed left and worked on driving, feathering, working the traveler, feathering, looking for puffs, feathering, trimming, feathering, etc.. A tack onto port and a nice lift and the kids find themselves in 6th at the top mark! Excitement, joy and pride beamed from Dan’s face. A challenging run finds us losing a few boats and a good 2nd beat finds us passing a few to round the final weather mark in 3rd. Ahead of World, North American, area and fleet champions! ½ way down the run the 2nd place boat wiped out and lost a crew (or skipper) overboard and the team on #102 finds themselves in 2nd place with only a few hundred yards to the finish but the fleet is charging in from behind with a big puff. Trying to protect the left, then the right finds us cross the line in 4th. A high point of the weekend for my teenage team. Smiles, laughs and a general feeling of accomplishment swept over the team like they had just won a Worlds and nearly every boat in the fleet sailed by to congratulate the kids and probably try to figure out how that old boat beat them! It was cool and fun to see and certainly the pure feeling of doing well, or better than you think you can, that the team felt was a sight that I have not had the good fortune to witness in quite a while. The rest of Saturday was more challenging. The more seasoned teams began to shake the rust off and sharper crew work and newer equipment began to rise to the top. We made mistakes and did 720’s, hit a few marks (3 to be exact along with hooking one on the rudder) and, while the results weren’t bad (11,11,16) the first race glory was not to be repeated and Team 102 found themselves solidly entrenched in 9th place after day 1. Sunday brought a perfect day with warmer temperatures, a bit less breeze and a far more “seasoned” team. My crewmates on Sunday were to be Dan’s dad Mike, his boat partner Jack and their crew Nancy. My team was now (at least) 3 time older than Saturdays (probably closer to 4 times!). My Sunday team was far more experienced and the Nyack Sonar fleet defending Champs. Mike is a former Thistle sailor who just got back into sailing a few years ago when he moved back to the NYC area with his family and has experience and drives well. Jack is a longtime Sonar sailor and fleet sparkplug at Nyack. He partnered with Mike a few years back to form a good solid team. Nancy is a longtime Nyack sailor who Mike has known for decades. Together they make up a team that is, perhaps, more Odd Couple (or Odd Triplets) than Alignhi but a nicer group of people you’ll never meet. Like Saturday our best race for the team was the 1st one on Sunday where Mike kept the boat going fast, driving good lines and avoiding “slow down” situations. The last run found us in 5th but a favorable shift and some good driving on a few waves found us surge past 2 boats (including a past World Champion!) to finish 3rd. Less luck in the next few races had the “veteran” team take a 6,8 to finish the regatta in 7th overall. Mike and his team were thrilled to be the top Nyack boat but perhaps even more excited that Dan and team #102 held on to finish 11th and end up as the 2nd place Nyack boat while just missing beating out several USMMA teams that featured USMMA sailing team members. Overall the results showed Skip Shumway winning the 2010 Tappan Zee Challenge followed closely by runner-up Lee Morrison of Noroton with North customer Alex Meleney in 3rd. Steve Shepstone followed in 4th and US Paralympic Team member and North customer Ric Doerr rounded out the top 5. All in all a fun and challenging weekend. The kids did great considering the condition of the equipment they are using and the “veterans” showed that experience trumps youth. The challenges of using older sails becomes very apparent when sailing against teams newer sails and this point was not lost by my teammates. It was great to support the local Nyack fleet and I hope to be back later this summer as the fleet has asked about a speed clinic now that they saw what we could do with old #102.
For complete information on North Sonar sails contact our Experts. Sonar Sails
Report by Brian Hayes Finally a perfect spring weather weekend!! With temperatures in the 70’s and pleasant 6-15mph breezes 21 teams descended upon the Manhasset Bay Yacht Club in Prot Washington, NY for great racing and superb hospitality. PRO Judy Hanlon was able to run 4 races on Saturday and 3 on Sunday to the delight of all the sailors. Saturday forecast was for a light NE breeze, shifting west throughout the day. The incoming tide and shifty breeze jumbled the results throughout the day as only Peter Galloway and his team were able to stay consistent with a 1,4,4,2. The rest of the fleet struggled with at least one mid-fleet race which put Galloway in the lead for the party on Saturday night. After rehashing the day’s events on the terrace over a cold beverage the competitors were treated to a “Ask the Experts” panel discussion. Top performers of the day, including Peter Galloway, Eric Goethert, Scott Harrison and Ric Doerr, shared their thoughts on tuning, course management and other Sonar tips. After the round table and dinner a raffle of many great items was held including North Sails backpacks, shirts and NorthU educational books and CD’s. Congratulations to the winners. Sunday morning brought a calm, glassy bay but, with breeze forecast PRO Hanlon sent the fleet out after a short postponement. Nearly perfect timing as the breeze filled on the way out to Long Island Sound and 3 great races were sailed. With a throwout in play Team Galloway had their work cut out for them as they had no bad races yet still found themselves tied going into the 7th and final race with Bill Lynn from Marblehead. Team Galloway were able to keep the team from Marblehead behind them throughout the race and convincingly won the 2009 Sonar ACCs. Congratulations to Peter and his crew Ched Proctor and Paul Steinborn. Results can be found at: http://www.manhassetbayyc.org/Files/2009SonarACC_Sonar_Overall.htm Lastly, many thanks to the group at Manhasset Bay YC as well as the staff from the United States Merchant Marine Academy for helping set courses and for the use of their support boats. All their effort made for a very fun weekend of Sonar sailing.
*Partial North inventory For complete information on North Sonar sails contact our Experts.
Sonar Sails
Report by Brian Hayes The 2009 IFDS Florida Midwinters were held this past weekend at St. Pete Yacht Club. All 3 IFDS classes (Sonar, Skud 18 and 2.4) had starts. The fleets were small (as to be expected the year after the Paralympic Games) and many of the competitors were able-bodied as the event was marked as open and classification was not required (you just had to sail by the IFDS rules). In the Sonar and 2.4 all the boats in both fleets had North Sails except the last place finisher in the Sonar fleet. I was able to sail with Paul Callahan and Roger Cleworth (both classified as para-eligible due to their disabilities) and we were successful in winning the event. In 2nd was Ralf Steitz from Kings Point. John Twomey, of Ireland, was 3rd. More details at www.spyc.org 2.4. Meter:
Sonar:
For complete information on North Sonar sails contact our Experts. Sonar Sails
Report by Brian Hayes The “Fast Forward” team of Peter Galloway, Ched Proctor, Jim Linville and Paul Steinborn dominated the 2008 Sonar North Americans to score a 15 point win over 39 other competitors from around the country. Conditions throughout the 3 day event proved challenging as high pressure dominated the weekend, which made for perfect golf and apple picking conditions, but the wind struggled to top 5 or 6 mph in most of the races. After a 13 in the first race of the 6 race series, “Fast Forward” notched 5 straight top 5 finishes which seemed nearly miraculous given the unpredictable winds and strong current factor. In 2nd was Tyler Doyle from Marblehead with Jud Smith crewing. A 2,1 in the last 2 races enabled them to make a big jump in the standings. In 3rd was Andrew Crocker and his team from Marblehead. 4th was Craig Sinclair from Noroton. Sinclair was the only boat other than Galloway that could win the championship going into the final race after being able to discard their 1st race 30th. Jim Crane rounded out the top 5 while Dave Franzel finished 6th. Results can be found at: http://www.seawanhaka.org/files/Sonar%20Results%20Final.mht
**North main and jib. For complete information on North Sonar sails contact our Experts. Sonar Sails
Report by Brian Hayes The 2008 IFDS QINGDAO INTERNATIONAL REGATTA was completed on May 15, 2008 with 12 Sonars representing 11 countries. In keeping up with the pace they set in France last month the team from GBR (Robertson/Stoedel/Thomas) outlasted the team from FRA (Jourdren/Larhant/Vomont-Vicary) by 6 points to win GOLD in this pre-olympic event. In 3rd was the team from ISR (Cohen/Efrati/Vexler). Rounding out the top 5 was AUS (Harrison/Boaden/Martin) in 4th and team USA (Doerr/Angle/Donohue) in 5th. Regatta details can be found at: http://www.2008ifdsqdregatta.com/en/ Results:
For complete information on North Sonar sails contact our Experts. Sonar Sails
Report by Brian Hayes In the final European tune-up for the China Games, GBR Paralympic teammates John Robertson, Hannah Stoedel and Stephen Thomas dominated the Sonar division of the 40th Hyeres Race Week. The GBR team won 8 of the 10 races and discarded a 2nd and a DNC in the final race to post a perfect scoreboard. Up next for the Paralympic Teams is the 2008 IFDS International Regatta which starts this Sunday in Qingdao, China where many of the top teams are expected to compete. Team GBR used the North Sails One Design SuperMain+ and AP++ jib. Results from Hyeres can be found at: http://sof.ffvoile.net/results/sonar.htm For complete information on North Sonar sails contact our Experts.
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As soon as the Sonar North Americans were completed in Wayzata, MN a few weeks ago I heard from several folks about a well sailed old Seidelman built Sonar that finished 2nd in the event so I emailed Ernie Brody, who organized #22’s North American program, and asked if he’d do an interview and tell us the story. Ernie told me no problem but he had a few things to do 1st, like organize a charity fundraiser and get Bert Fosters Paralympic Team organized for their southern swing this winter. Seemingly always on the go I figured that he ran out of time but then, presto, Ernie’s complete interview appeared with pictures and a complete rundown of how they turned #22 from Sesame Street (se Bert and Ernie) to Presto (with Joe Beckley) to a runner up finish at the North Americans!
Peter Galloway’s team on Fast Forward (with North Sails One Design’s Ched Proctor on board) won the event and it looked like quite a cat fight for 2nd. You guys managed to sail consistently well and never sailed yourselves out of any race. Did you have a general game plan that you tried to follow every race? 
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