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Report by Greg Fisher
http://www.yflyer.org/Documents/xls/09SrNatl.htm "This year was my first year skippering and I had my sister crewing for me. On the final day of competition we switched to a new set of norths and won the last race, moving us into seventh place. With me and my sister finishing seventh that makes the top 8 boats family members. Also 1 and 2 Jr. were sailing norths. Last but not least everyone knows that the economy is hitting everyone hard. One of our top sailors was planning on sailing in the nationals before he lost his job. He was unable to get up the registration.
An anonymous donator put up the money for his registration. I think that says a lot about the y-flyer class." -- Samuel Hodges For more information about the winning Y-Flyer sails by North, contact our experts.
Interview by winner Paul White
We also won the Old Salt award. It is determined by adding the age of the skipper and the age of the crew, then subtracting the finish position of the regatta. Our Old Salt number was 139. Kay was 69 yesterday. The next highest number was 115. We really showed the youngsters how to sail. Winds were in the upper teens, mid 20s and more with gusts well into the 30s on .Sunday. Seas were 2 - 3 feet in race 4 and race 5 on Sunday. We sailed almost a perfect regatta. Kay and I always have been heavy weather sailors and it all came together - for the entire regatta. Race 5 was abandoned when a lake wide blast descended upon us and more boats went down than stayed up. That ended the regatta. Kay and I went over and were in the 70 degree water for almost an hour before we were picked up. My boat and I were blown away from Kay and we were so far apart, I could not see her in the water. The RC boat got Kay. A Sudbury police boat, not supporting the regatta, finally picked me up. I needed help to get the boat up as by then it had turtled and I was exhausted. All the police boat wanted to do was tow me to the lee of an island and out of the wind. For more information about our fast Y-Flyer sails, contact the Y-Flyer experts.
Interview by Greg Fisher Congratulations on your win at the 2004 Y Flyer Nationals! I know you've been second 4 times. That must make it all the more special! Drew: Thanks Greg. I was wondering if it would ever happen. The difference between first and second is huge. What a great feeling to finally get that monkey off my back. You've been sailing the Y Flyer and been involved with the class for many years. You were President of the Class. The Class seems to be as strong as ever at a time when some classes are struggling. What are some of the things that make the Y so popular? More importantly the Y is a great family boat. The crew need not be large or strong so there are many teams consisting of husbands and wives, fathers and daughters, moms and son etc. Our decision to not use spinnakers keeps crewing a little easier allowing for crews of any skill level. Weight is not critical either so really anyone can team up together. Lastly, our regattas are fun. We are competitive on the water, but as you know we have a great time on shore. We are all good friends and look forward to each regatta. How did you prepare this year for the Nationals? Anything different from years past? Drew: We came to nationals with a lot of confidence having won the two previous regattas with good speed and teamwork so we didn’t change very much. I did my usual wet sanding down to 2000 grit (I am a wet sanding freak). I took a little extra care with my blades this year painting the aluminum centerboard with epoxy and sanding both the board and rudder down to 2000 grit. I think that made us a little faster. One thing new this year was really neat. Nicole and I had a strategy session just before we left nailing down exactly what we would do in certain situations. This really helped, even though we have sailed together for years we knew just what to expect from each other in any given situation. You and your crew Nicole have been sailing together for quite a while. Can you give an idea of how you breakdown your responsibilities tactically?...how about upwind when "changing gears"? Drew: Nicole is a super crew. She gathers the information and I usually call the tacks. She is especially good at giving me the facts without inserting her opinion, letting me make the call. Afterwards she will tell me if she agreed or disagreed with my decision. I like that. Nic never “sells” her opinion and we trust each other. She reads the compass closely informing me of changes and looks for wind lines and puffs. I read (guess) the direction of the puff or wind line and make a plan. (Since I unconscientiously verbalize every thought Nicole knows the plan!) Lake Mattoon is a textbook on gear shifting. It has lot of puffs and shifts and we really worked the gears hard. Nicole will announce, “puff on,” and have the boom vang ready. As the puff hits I drop the traveler as she vangs to bend the mast. After our speed increases I will sheet the main harder while Nicole trims the jib about an inch. Then she will tighten the cunningham a little to keep the draft in place. We are in full fifth gear at this point. As the puff subsides we loosen everything in reverse order. You mentioned you've made some major changes in boat setup and sail trim upwind in big breeze. Can you describe what has changed this past few years? Drew: Since the Y-Flyer has no backstay we bend our mast with the mainsheet or the boomvang. In the past I have sailed in a big blow almost two-blocked with a very tight mainsheet and the traveler all the way down. Last year I decided this was giving me too much weather helm and restricting me to fifth gear only. Now I bend my mast considerably with the boomvang first and sheet the main a little less resulting in the same flat sail but with less weather helm and the ability to trim hard into fifth gear when needed. To compensate for the loss in pointing I bring the traveler up about one third of the way. I am working the traveler differently as well. When the puff is on I bring it up one third to point the nose up a bit and feather more, when I get a lull or some flat water I lower it all the way, sail fatter and foot, just opposite of what you might think. What adjustments do you make for light winds? Drew: I make no adjustments to the standing rig; I just trim the sails differently. I am fanatical about traveling up and loosening my mainsheet (leech). The jib is sheeted out about 2 inches. We heel the boat a lot, never going flat. Tacking the Y is not easy since you sail from well heeled on one tack to the other. Can you outline your steps through a tack? Drew: I like a tack with a lot of weight transfer. Since we go from one chine to the other a traditional roll tack (hiking to weather and popping up on the other side) doesn’t work. First I center the traveler and sheet the main a little to start the nose up. As the boat goes head to wind we both jump quickly and simultaneously to the new leeward side heeling up a lot and easing the main as I go. As we get our sails full I will slide to the middle or high side traveling up and then sheet the main back in. It does no good to slam to boat back to a flat position like a Laser or JY15 because you need to keep the windward chine out of the water. Can you do the same for gybing? Since the Y doesn't sail with a spinnaker I imagine the steps are quite different. You can but to a lesser degree. Lately we have been concentrating on throwing our weight over more to get the heel, however getting the whisker pole set quickly inhibits Nicole from going hard and fast to the other side. We start with us both under the boom on the low side. As we start the jibe I grab the block on the boom and throw it and my weight over to the other side very hard. At the same time Nicole uncleats the jib and jibes the pole moving as quickly as possible to the low side pulling in the new jib sheet as she goes. Since I get to the low side before her I grab the mainsheet and hike out some, but have to be ready to move back in when she comes over or we will both be swimming. This takes a lot of practice and good footwork to step over the centerboard trunk and move together, but our jibes are looking more like our tacks now. A good thing. Can you take us through a typical start with you and Nicole? How do you handle the communication especially? We normally do a traditional port approach and duck into our hole with 30 to 10 seconds remaining depending on the wind and competitors. Nicole will call starboard boats and time as we determine who is too early or late in order to get an open spot. When ducking into our hole Nicole is very good at slowing the boat and/or pulling the nose around with the jib. This is very important to slow, or accelerate quickly. My communication is quick and to the point, “slow,” “flutter,” “pull me around,” and “go hard.” Immediately after the start it is imperative that Nicole tell me if I am too high, or too low and fast, or if we are rolling the boat to leeward or squeezing the boat to weather. I cannot take my eyes off the sail at this point and I must trust Nicole to guide my steering and trim. What is your next on your sailing horizon? Thanks Drew and congratulations for your victory at the Nationals!
For more information on our Y-Flyer sails contact the North Y-Flyer experts. |
Last week the Y Flyer Nationals were sailed in Indianapolis, Ind. at Indianapolis Sailing Club on Geist Reservoir. Light winds were expected and that's exactly what the fleet primarily sailed in though 5 races were still sailed in the 3 day event. Class Builder, and North rep. Chet Turner from Mattoon, IL sailed with his wife Lela Summers to take the win by 5 1/2 points over Mark Barton and his wife Jill from Little Rock. Dave and Jan Irons, also from Mattoon were 5th with North Sails. An interesting statistic for the Y class is that all of the top 6 boats sailed with family teams! 
Kay and I sailed and won the Y Flyer International Regatta on Lake Ramsey in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, July 12/13. Our race scores were 1, 1, 1, 2.
Second place had scores of 2, 2, 6, 1. Needless to say, we still are showing ivory from ear to ear.
Drew
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