North Sails One Design

Racing Clinics News

North One Design
Etchells Kris Kringle Clinic

Report by North Sails One Design Designer Garth Reynolds

19 Etchells joined us for the NSOD “Kris Kringle” Etchells Clinic this past weekend. So much time is spent in the Etchells sailing in a straight line, we figured we would focus our efforts towards helping to improve the fleet’s starting strategy.

Peter Isler hosted a “Starting Technique” Presentation Friday evening at SDYC to discuss the various starting philosophies. Over the course of the weekend, we fired off seventeen races, about 15-20 minutes in length in relatively smooth water inside San Diego Bay. Breeze ranged from 4-8 knots all weekend. The goal was to provide an opportunity for the teams to experiment with different starting strategies, work on slow-speed maneuvering, and hash out the all-important crew communication/roles during the start. Unsuccessful starts were rewarded with the guarantee of another race in just a few minutes…so the pain of a poorly executed start didn’t last very long at all!

Everyone was very happy with the shake-up from usual routine, and enjoyed focusing on their starts. The close quarters were experienced all over the track, as boats were overlapped four or five deep at many of the race finishes.

Results:

Contact our Etchells Experts to get a Clinic organized for your fleet too!

North One Design
J24 Annapolis Clinic

Annapolis-Fleet 8
by Charlie Enright

April 11, 2009 - The weather wasn’t great, but the attendance sure was, at this weekend’s North Sails J-24 Fleet 8 Clinic. On the rainy, blustery, flat-water Saturday before Easter, the members of Fleet 8 practiced their boat handling technique by tacking and gybing on the whistle and racing on some jam-packed windward-leeward courses. Later in the afternoon the Worlds Race Committee came out and set some windward-leewards of their own. After a couple of officially organized the laps, the sailors came in, warmed up, and chatted with the experts. They were able to ask specific questions and get detailed answers during the informal debrief and post clinic discussion.

Contact our J24 Experts to get a J24 Clinic organized for your fleet too!

North One Design
Waterline Open House /
Performance Forum

by Charlie Enright

On Saturday February 28th, Chuck Allen and Charlie Enright gave a North Sails One-Design Performance Presentation at the Waterline Systems Open House. The Open house was a huge success. (It managed to get people thinking about sailing on the eve of a massive Nor’Easter!) Guests of the Open House toured the factory and listened to a variety of different presentations throughout the course of the daylong affair. There were a number of boats set up in the shop: a couple J-24’s, a number of J-22’s, a J-105, a J-160, a brand new Farr 30 and more. The presentations included a Volvo Ocean Race update, a session on boat measurement, keel fairing, the new rules, structural upgrades for small one design keel boats and the North Sails One-Design Powerpoint Presentation on proper boat set up, rig tune, sail shape and sail trim. Attendees of the North Sails presentation learned a ton, asked a number of questions, and booked future presentations for their local yacht clubs and sailing organizations. Sign up your local fleet today!

Star Clinic
Central Long Island Sound Fleet

by Bill Watson - Fleet Captain

Thanks for the Continued Support

Last Saturday our fleet had an early season North Sails Star clinic. At 9:00 a.m. John MacCausland was going over specific questions in the dry stall area helping on the oddities of each boat.

We officially started at 9:30 with over twenty participants. John began with a recap of the Olympic Trials reinforcing the new level the top teams have achieved. Also in attendance and commenting on the trials were Austin Sperry and Brian Sharp who participated along with Nelson Stephenson and Roger Sharp who observed the Trials. The major change is the level the top teams have achieved. Coaches, both on and off the water, and a total commitment to become the Olympic representative was made by all the top teams. It is not the weekend sport we participate in.

John took us around the course going through what works and how the teams are approaching each situation. Discussions of mark roundings with detail on the preparation, tasks and sequence as the mark is passed were very helpful. The session was extremely very well done with lots of discussion and detail. We all came away from the meeting enthused and wanting to try something new.

After a quick lunch we got out in an eight-knot southeasterly. John got on each boat, looked at the set-up, and critiqued how we had our boats set-up. I found this especially helpful, as I had never had someone at his caliber on board. John was able to discuss helm, speed wrinkles and overall setup that I had and changes he would make. Descriptions of the amount of helm is one thing but feeling and switching back and forth with a top competitor discussing what is the proper amount is invaluable.

Photos Guy Gurney

At the same time Guy Gurney was taking digital pictures from another powerboat. Guy got directly behind each boat and captured the position of the mast on each tack.

We had an enjoyable day, learned a lot and increased our enthusiasm. The Central Long Island Star Fleet thanks North One Design and especially John McClausland for a great clinic.

Contact our Star Experts to get a Star Clinic organized for your fleet too!

Star Clinic
Mid-Connecticut Fleets

John MacCausland Runs Clinics at C.L.I.S. and Mid-Connecticut Star Fleets

By Nelson Stephenson and David Bolles

John “Little Mac” MacCausland, representing North Sails and Marine Spars, Inc., ran Star clinics at Cedar Point and Milford Yacht Clubs on two consecutive weekend in May; May 8th at Cedar Point Yacht Club and May 15-16 at Milford Yacht Club.

The Central Long Island Sound (CLIS) Fleet had excellent Clinic participation with 7 boats and 9 skippers and their crew on the water. During the morning session held in the Cedar Point Y.C. Clubhouse, John MacCausland took the Fleet through his 2004 Clinic Tips and focused on overall tactics on and around the racecourse. John also provided a full report on what was learned in Miami over the 2004-2005 winter season by all the Olympic Hopefuls preparing for the Olympic Trials. Austin Sperry, visiting from Florida, also provided input from the perspective of someone who had committed to a full time Olympic Campaign. Everyone then adjourned to the boats for an afternoon on-the-water tuning session.

Using Nelson Stephenson’s Zodiac coach boat John (“Little Mac”) was able to spend time on each boat and check the overall set-up and preparation of each participating boat for the upcoming season. Following a great session of tuning, the Fleet went through starting drills for over an hour with John MacCausland coaching from the Zodiac. As always, the CLIS Fleet gained a great deal from spending the day with John MacCausland.

CLIS Skippers and Crew participating were Bill Watson (Fleet Captain – USA 8008) and his Crew Bob Gerber; Guy Gurney and Tim Duval (USA 7890); Thorny Cook and Mike Young (in their “new” boat - USA 7959); Carroll Beek (USA 7715), sailing with Frank Oxendorf (visting from Germany for the next few months); David Hoffman sailing with Star Skipper and Olympic Trials participant Fotis Boliakis (USA 7657); Rich Gordon and Desmond Walsh (USA 7604); Roger Sharpe sailing with his son Brian Sharp (also sailing USA 7890) and Nelson Stephenson and David Chard (sailing in their “new” boat USA 8080). Austin Sperry also assisted John MacCausland on the Coach boat during the on-the-water session and spent some time skippering USA 8080. Guy Gurney and Tim Duval also used a camera boat throughout the session, taking pictures of each boat under sail for the CPYC Web page and for use in further evaluating mast set-up for each participating boat. A new CLIS Skipper, Danny Bullard (USA 6912) also participated in the CLIS Clinic.

As always, the CLIS Fleet greatly appreciates the contribution of time and effort that John MacCausland makes in running these invaluable Star Clinics that have become an annual event at Cedar Point. Thanks also to Frank Oxendorf and Austin Sperry for visiting CPYC and the CLIS Fleet and helping to make this a great day for everyone.

The participants of the Milford clinic were Don Gray and Wayne Pierce in 8152, Charlie Correll and Ed Linke in 7474, Thierry de La Villehuchet and Dan Ronan in 8068, Emil Karlovsky and Joe Giunti in 7554, Jack Button and Chris Batchelor in 7565 and David Bolles and Alejandra Bolles in 8035

In the afternoon on Friday, May 14th, John arrived to set up the new “G” section mast in the Doc’s boat. In the evening many of the clinic members got together for a dinner at the Karlovsky’s. Then on Saturday morning the clinic members got together for a clinic on setting the boat up. The various procedures for getting the mast tuned up and set in the boat properly were looked at. After checking various measurements on the participants’ boats John two groups of three boats out for on-the-water tune-up. John spent a better part of 45 minutes on each boat going over how the boat was set up and noting things which should be attended to. Nelson Stephenson of the C.L.I.S. fleet provided John invaluable assistance by bringing his Zodiac and using it to get John from boat to boat.

On Sunday there was a general discussion period in the morning focusing in on such things as starting techniques and mark roundings. Then the boats went out to work on starting techniques and mark roundings. John made extensive use of the bullhorn from the Starting Line Boat, critiquing each boats starting performance. Great Coaching, a building breeze and bright sunshine made Sunday a great day to be in a Star Boat in Long Island Sound

All in all the Mid Connecticut Fleet members feel that the two-day Clinic was a valuable experience. The Fleet would like to thanks John and Nelson for all their work in making the Milford Clinic a great success.

Photos: Candy McGovern

We can put together a clinic for your fleet too! Fill out this form and we will contact you shortly.. or contact any of our Star Experts!

Lightning Clinic
Fleet 50

Clinic by Greg Fisher

This past weekend I did a 2 day Lightning clinic sponsored by Fleet 50, at Leeslyvania State Park 30 miles south of Washington in Virginia. It was a beautiful state park location to host the event, as the atmosphere helped maintain a nice informality for the 18 boats who participated.

We held a 3 hour boat side chat Saturday morning about sail trim, tuning and boat handling followed by two hours of drills and video Saturday afternoon. My wife, JoAnn also helped with the instruction on crewing the bow and her observations on making the switch from crew to driver.

That evening we reviewed the video of the day. It appeared that where we'd set up the video/TV was going to provide a major dilemma...It seems that the park rules allowed only one area where we could hold the cocktail party ( and the keg) which was a fair bit away from where we had electricity for the TV and video camera. But when someone produced a 250' extension cord all was well!

Sunday after an attempt to do more sailing, the wind convinced us it was not going to co-operate.
We held more discussions ( with our 250' power cord!) and the de brief. All in all it was a great place for a clinic...a beautiful location that again encouraged the informal instruction that can make these clinics so enjoyable.

Fleet 50 will be hosting a regatta in two weeks that should also prove to be an enjoyable experience for anyone who attends.

Thanks to Jeff Stork, Kathy Bleakley and Laurie Duncan for all their efforts in making it happen.

Flying Scot Clinic
Deltaville Yacht Club

Clinic by Greg Fisher

April 2003 - This past Sunday I did a clinic for an enthusiastic bunch of Flying Scot sailors at Deltaville Yacht Club about an hour away from Richmond, VA. About 55 Flying Scot sailors from several yacht clubs in the area braved the cold ( it was 45 degrees and blowing 20mph) for a discussion on sail trim, tuning and boat handling. We took a break inside to warm up and talk about use of the compass at lunch time.

Although we had intended for the clinic to be primarily an on the water video session...no one was disappointed that we had to remain on shore in the lee of the yacht club!

Thanks to Debbie Cycotte of Deltaville and Ron Mihills of Richmond on making it all happen!

Here's one of the emails I received afterwards:

" Thank you so much for taking the time to drive from Annapolis and share your insights with our local Flying Scot sailors. You exceeded expectations! I especially like your teaching style with lots of examples and clear, concise explanations. We all learned "tons of stuff", as one participant was quoted. "Now I hope I can put it to use!"

Come sail with us at RRYC sometime!
Thanks again".

Clinic by Vince Brun

"Vince,
I had a chance to talk with a number of folks who attended your clinic and they were absolutely thrilled with your help and advice during the two days. You were terrific.

I hope you enjoyed yourself and found the trip equally rewarding. I speak for the whole fleet when I say that we would love to make this an annual event.

Thanks again and I hope to see you you in San Diego this winter".

Mark Sloane - Fleet Captain

Etchells Clinic
San Diego Yacth Club

By Chris Snow

Each year the San Diego Etchells Fleet takes one of it's "One Design Weekends" and runs an instructional clinic for the fleet and any visiting out of town boats. In many ways this clinic is the foundation of the fleet and the emphasis is on learning, having fun and encouraging the sailors towards the back of the fleet. This year I had the honor of helping to put on the clinic.

"Thanks for the chalk-talk. This is the best presentation I have seen to date. Your instruction/discussion points were very clear, educational and very well presented. "

JC Langlois

In past years the clinic has focused on tuning and boathandling issues. This time we took a different approach and focused on the tactical side of Etchells sailing. As a big heavy boat, the Etchells is very tactical and it was felt all could benefit from a brush up on the basics.

Friday night we got the group together for a couple of hours in the evening and ran through the Starting and Upwind Tactics sections of the North U. Performance Racing Tactics CD. This served to get everyone in a learning mindest and ready for the practice starts and short races that followed on Saturday.

Saturday morning we got together in the classroom again and ran through a Powerpoint that refreshed the basics of rig tuning and sail trim for the Etchells. We emphasised that the tuning guide was just a starting point and that really understanding what the different rig adjustements did was just as important as knowing the numbers.

After that we headed out on to the water with the help of the San Diego Yacht Club Race Committee and worked on our starting technique and upwind tactics. A short line was set up and the fleet was cycled through many practice starts. Later we set up a short windward leeward course (not too short with 19 boats!) and ran a few practice races. We also set up a leeward gate to give the fleet some practice at chosing and rounding a leeward gate.

This year we worked hard to have coached on each boat for at least part of the day. We had some great volunterrs and I'd like to thank Bill Bennet (2000 World Champion crew), Andy Ladow, Casey Schnoor, Peter Burton (NA Champion crew) and Andrew Kerr for volunterring and helping out. I'd also like to thank the San Diego fleet captian Mike Held for organizing everything. Last but not least I'd like to thank Jeff Brown of Radier boats who generously donated the use of one of his new inflatables so we could easily transfer the coaches.

In the end, the weekend was a great sucess and learning experience for all!

J/22 Clinic
Newport Regatta

By Moose McClintock

Sail Newport sponsored a clinic for the local J-22 fleet on Friday, July12, the day before the annual Newport regatta. 20 local fleet members took part in a 3 hour (though it was originally planned as 1 hour) Powerpoint presentation run by Moose McClintock of NS Rhode Island that covered rig setup, tuning, sail trim, boat handling and boat setup. Questions came fast and furious as a full understanding of the interaction of trim to speed was thoroughly discussed.

Following a quick lunch, the fleet took to the water for several rabbit start upwind legs that allowed Moose to follow behind and comment on boat set up, sail trim and crew work. One last race was run where the fleet was able to use their new knowledge which produced very tight upwind and downwind racing. A quick de-brief on the dock got everyone on the same page as far as where they were relative to each other in rig tune and trim. The experience encouraged several to plan on sailing the New England Championships at the Buzzards Bay Regatta where Greg Fisher of North will do another seminar. Plan on being there.

Star Clinic
Central Long Island Sound Fleet

Report courtesy Nelson Stephenson

There is absolutely nothing like a cold, wet day with a 20 knot northwesterly to make an indoor Star Clinic seem like a great idea. As John MacCausland, arrived at Cedar Point Yacht Club for the 2002 Star Tuning Clinic we settled into the Cedar Point Yacht Club house for a morning of discussion about how to set up a Star. Little Mac fielded questions from the Fleet on topics ranging from set up to boat speed and spent time individually with each owner discussing their boat. He also provided the Fleet with his 2002 Tuning Tip, a booklet of practical tips on Star set-up and tuning. Following lunch and a break in the rain, the Fleet adjourned to the parking lot and John went over each boat in the Fleet, making sure that set up and tuning was "in the ballpark" and answering more questions from all Skipper's and Crew.
Saturday night the CLIS Star Fleet (and David Bolles) had a Fleet dinner hosted by Nelson and Mary Stephenson at their home in Southport, CT. The dinner gave the Fleet the opportunity to get to know John better, hear more about his US Sailing Olympic Campaign and the Winter Circuit in Florida and to just get back together again after a long winter.

Sunday brought much better weather and a "blue sky" day with a light morning breeze which built to a wonderful 12 knot breeze by the middle of the day producing a glorious sail in the middle of Long Island Sound. 7 Star boats enjoyed a great tune-up sail with John MacCausland following each boat in a "Coach" boat providing feedback and double-checking the set up on each boat. Guy Gurney served as Fleet photographer and took pictures of each boat to confirm rig set up. Following the picture session John MacCausland boarded each boat and again reconfirmed set-up and "on-the-water" feel of each boat.

At the end of the day, the CLIS Fleet and the 4 members of the MID Fleet that joined in as well were impressed with John's overall Star knowledge and patience. Certainly, North Sails has a great Star representative in "Little Mac" who contributes a great deal to the development of the Class.

The CLIS Star Fleet appreciates the effort that John puts forth and recommends that all local Star Fleets plan to begin their season with an on-the-water session with John MacCausland of North Sails.

"What a great way to start the season.. Great discussion with a knowledgeable, World class sailor who makes a difference in your
early season boat speed."
Nelson Stephenson

For more information on North Sails Racing Clinics, visit the Racing Clinic section of our web site.
To contact John MacCausland about Star clinics, sails or for tuning information, click here.

Time to get North Sails on the Boat....
John MacCausland of North Sails
takes the helm!

Fully tuned and ready for Action: Nelson Stephenson (7970), Guy Gurney (7890), Bill Watson (7657) of the CLIS Star Fleet

John MacCausland and Mike Saari tuning USA 7657.

John MacCausland "On-the-Water Tuning"
courtesy of North Sails

THESE GUYS DELIVER!!

Lightning Clinic
Catawaba Yacht CLub - Fleet 365

Report courtesy CYC

Lightning Fleet 365 of the Catawba Yacht Club hosted a tuning clinic on April 19-20, 2002. Renowned one-design sailor Greg Fisher was the clincian.
We were all aware of Greg's expertise. His resume' of sailing championships in multiple one-design classes is matched by few sailors. But in many ways, the real joy of the clinic was getting to meet and work with such a down to earth sailor who is an incredible teacher.

The clinic began on Friday night with a cookout and strategy session. Scheduled to teach from 7-9, it was well after 10 PM before we would let Greg go and he stayed patiently answering questions. The teaching portion began in the parking lot with Greg talking about tuning and sail shape. From there all went inside for a slide show lecture that covered starting strategies.

On Saturday, it was back to the parking lot, but this time Greg spent 30-40 minutes with every skipper in attendance. He helped each of us understand our specific boats and the tuning that goes with it. Most of us walked from boat to boat with Greg to hear him over and over again and learn of the subtle differences in tuning between different manufacturers.

When the wind would not build for on-the-water practice, we concluded the day with another slide show discussion of all facets of race course strategy.

Many thanks to Greg for an outstanding clinic.

Read comments below from participants...

"Not only did Greg prove to be as knowledgeable as predicted but he turned out to be a really nice guy, and one who has a genuine interest in helping you improve your sailing and racing. After an 8 hour drive, he was more than willing to stay at the clubhouse until 10pm sharing his knowledge with us. Everyone got personalized attention on rig tuning today (Sat) on their own boat, and if the wind had materialized, race strategy on the water was on the agenda for the afternoon."
-- Tom Martin, Fleet Captain, CYC.

For more information on North Sails Racing Clinics, visit the Racing Clinic section of our web site.

To contact Greg Fisher about clinics, sails or for tuning information, click here.

Christiane Cormier, Ron Wright, and John Holmes
listen intently to Greg explain a concept.
Greg explains mast bend and shroud tension
to the CYC participants.

"Great clinic! Greg is a great teacher and
I was amazed at just how interesting
he was. Got alot out of it."
Kevin Kearley, sailor.

"I had a super time & learned a lot."
John Holmes, 10527.

"I am a high school principal who has
spent a career in education.
Greg Fisher is a gifted teacher."
Ron Wright, 14620.

"I was one of the J22 sailors at the clinic and I know everyone really appreciated your excellent assistance. I have already put some of it to use. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us and please come back to visit anytime."
Tom Martin, J22 sailor

Etchells Clinic
Annapolis Fleet

By Moose McClintock

April, 2002 - Tim Healy and Moose McClintock of helped the Annapolis Etchells fleet get its season started by running a clinic on Saturday, April 20.

Organized by fleet member Jim Cullen of North Chesapeake and his co-owner Sandy Morse, the clinic attracted about 30 members of the growing fleet (there wasn’t an Etchells in Annapolis a year ago, now there are 19). The clinic started off with a 2 hour Power Point presentation that went over rig set-up, tuning and sail trim. The question and answer portion of this presentation was well received as most of the fleet is fairly new to the boats and there was plenty of information to disseminate. After a quick break another 2 hours were spent going over the boats and adjusting rigs to the tuning guide as well as explaining boat set up and techniques. A planned session on the water was thwarted by a distinct lack of breeze (and an incoming rain cloud) but all attendees enthusiastically thanked North Sails for helping get the fleet up to speed. The practical results of the clinic should be seen when the Etchells fleet makes its’ debut in the Annapolis NOOD the weekend of May 3,4,5.

Get your fleet up to speed with North Sails Racing Clinics!

For more information about Etchells Clinics, don't hesitate to contact the North Etchells Experts!

J/22 Clinic
Cleveland Fleet

"Greg, Thanks for your visit to our Fleet.
Needless, you are a big part of our fleet growth."

Lightning Labs
Havre de Grace
By Brian Hayes

A couple of seasons ago the International Lightning Class, and a few committed members, came up with the idea of sponsoring educational clinics throughout the country to promote Lightning sailing. The result became the "Lightning Labs". This past weekend (June 2-3) I traveled to Tidewater Marina in Havre de Grace, Maryland to run an edition of these clinics. 13 teams from Connecticut to Maryland assembled at Garrett Pensel's picturesque marina to be schooled on tuning, tactics, strategies and techniques. On Saturday morning we focused on boat tuning and crew work.

Saturday afternoon was spent sailing and doing drills. Starting line practice, a start/stop drill and several short course races were run before the breeze died and we all headed in for a Tidewater Marina sponsored dinner. Saturday evening we reviewed videotape of the days sailing while overlooking the water. Sunday brought more breeze and a few breakdowns. We did manage 4-5 short course races and some indepth coaching while the sailors were racing. We summed up the weekends events in the early afternoon and every was on the road by 3 after a very full weekend of training and coaching. After the success of the clinic there was talk of holding a fall regatta in Havre de Grace this year. Keep your eyes on Flashes and go and support on of the ILCA's newest fleets.

"Brian, it was a pleasure to meet you and attend the Lightning Lab this weekend. I think I can at least speak for Anita and myself in saying that we found the weekend very informative, and I believe our whole troup from Fleet 253 can say the same. We especially appreciated the in-depth review and personal attention to issues we had with our boat, trim, crew technique, etc. Your comments relative to our boat generated a pretty substantial punch list which we are planning to chip away at over time. Thanks again for your great instruction."

Tom Dexter

Star Clinic
Cedar Point Fleet

Article by Nelson Stephenson

To kick off the 2001 sailing season the CLIS Star Fleet held a Clinic to be sure that everyone in the Star Fleet is tuned and ready to go. The Clinic was well attended with over 20 Fleet Members, Skippers and their Crew attending, including Jane Lawrence, our Fleet Secretary who joined us for lunch.
John MacCausland of North Sails and Marine Spars conducted the Clinic on May 13, 2001. The Clinic included how to set up a Star mast, the critical measurements and tuning tips to make the mast fast and general tips on rig set-up and boat tuning. John left us with his full collection of tuning sheets and critical measurements for the Star which will prove invaluable to the Fleet. Following the morning session the Fleet had lunch with John who answered a multitude of questions from the entire fleet on topics ranging from use of Star equipment to upwind and downwind go-fast techniques John
has developed and proven over the past 15 years in making a Star fast.
Although the weather didn't cooperate and the on-the-water session with John in a coach boat was cancelled, the Fleet really enjoyed John's open, direct style and the incredible amount of excellent information he transferred to the entire Cedar Point Star Fleet.
Following lunch, John spent the remainder of the day in individual time with each Fleet member going over their Star, making recommendations and answering even more questions. The Clinic hosted by John MacCausland provided practical answers to real world questions and made us all better understand what makes a Star fast and why.
For those not familiar with John MacCausland, he is one of the true "bright stars" of the Star Fleet and a past winner of the Bedford/Pitcher. In January of this year John won the Star Olympic Class Regatta in Miami and has begun his campaign to represent the US in the Star Fleet at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. John's Clinic was invaluable in getting our Fleet started right in 2001 and continued a long tradition of service in the Star Fleet with the best sailors assisting the rest of the Fleet in achieving better performance in their Star. Clearly a major reason that the Star Fleet at CPYC and around the country continues to grow. Fast boats, great friendships and reasonable cost keeps the Star Fleet strong.

John and his Father John Sr. (another legend in the Star Fleet) own and operate Marine Spars in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. For years the MacCauslands have provided the Star Fleet with anything they might need for a Star Boat from the smallest wire to a complete new Mader. They also represent Spar Tech Spars in the US and we all know that there are two types of Star sailors....those that have lost masts (and thereby met the MacCauslands) and those that haven't lost a mast yet.

The Cedar Point Star Fleet now has more boats registered than at any time in the recent past. Tim Duval and Guy Gurney now own 7890 and Nelson Stephenson now owns 7970 both relatively new Star boats. David Hoffman, who will be joining the Star Fleet in 2001, acquired Tim and Guy's former boat (6970) over the weekend and these new boats will bed joining Carol Beek McCallum and Will Swigart (7715), Rich Gordon (7604) and Aaron Bell (5787) who acquired new Star boats last season. The fleet will also include three new skippers in the CLIS Fleet, Joshua Goldman (7498) Jim Kelly and Dan Kratzer (6378), all of whom will be new to Cedar Point. The Star Fleet will total 15 registered boats in 2001.

Rounding out the Star Fleet will be Thorny Cook (7332), Bill Watson (7657), Jim Thrasher (6953, Al Raymond (5879), David Polsky (6633) and Don Gilbert (6685).

The CLIS Star Fleet will hold its World Qualifications Elimination Series (Jane Lawrence Trophy) with racing from May 26 through July 7, 2001. The 2001 Season Championship (Coley Trophy) will encompass racing from May 26 through September 3, 2001

Let the Games begin! The Star Class is ready.

"John's Clinic was invaluable in getting our Fleet started right and continued a long tradition of service in the Star Fleet with the best sailors assisting the rest of the Fleet in achieving better performance in their Star."

Nelson Stephenson

J/22 Clinic
Philadelphia

by Greg Fisher

This past Saturday I did a J/22 seminar in Philadelphia at the Corinthian Yacht Club. It actually worked out fairly well in limited time and we set it up quite a bit differently than I've done in the past. Many thanks to fleet captain Andrew Armstrong for setting it all up and moving me from boat to boat via motorboat.

At 9:30 am we had a little tuning talk around a boat...hitting on the key points of setting up the boat..and describing what areas of sail trim would be most important considering the conditions for the day.

At 10 am I started jumping on each fleet member's boat. We had 1/2 hour for each boat. During that time we could go over his tuning, his trim, go over boat handling, his last start, etc...

Lunch was at 12:30 with a discussion about some of the things we learned and what everyone should work on so far. After getting back on the water and going over the last 4-5 boats we called it a day at 4pm and I was taken to the airport.

This "seminar" worked out very well. Everyone got my personal attention and had help with anything they wanted. I could easily tailor my "lesson" to what that sailor needs most. It was quite a successful day hopefully for all of us.

"Greg, thanks again for the time you spent with us Saturday. It is always great to get so much learning out of a small amount of time. I am happy to report our first "official" win in yesterday's spring series racing - thanks to your showing me how to balance the boat upwind. We sailed without the spinnaker, and were so fast upwind that even the boats that flew chutes could not catch us downwind. This was cause for celebration as is was a year to the day that we started in the J/22."

Nick Hackett

For more information about the J/22 clinic in Philadelphia, feel free to contact Greg Fisher.

If you are interested in a clinic for your fleet, please fill out our
Clinic Contact form and we will contact you to organize it.

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CALIFORNIA YACHT CLUB
Coronado 15 and Capri 14.2 Clinic

Report by Randy Sprout

California Yacht Club, North Sails One Design, and Catalina Yachts got together to put on the 2nd annual race clinic September 16th & 17th for these 2 great little racing boats. What can a "dingy" sailor learn from the sail maker and the National J-24 Champion, Chris Snow, from a day in bay? Well, plenty! We learned that the start line is not always where you thought it might be. We learned that you never ever start on the port tack, on less you are VERY SURE that it's favored.We learned techniques to determine where to start and how. We learned that the outhaul can be too loose even in 3 knots of wind. We learned that pulling in the main and letting out the jib can turn the boat up towards the start line, and the opposite can turn the boat away from the start line, without "burning" much of the leeward hole you need to accelerate. We learned that coming in off the tanks in light wind can make the boat tipsy, loose, and fast in ultra light conditions.
This 2 day event brought out the serious, the curious, and sailors from as far as San Francisco and San Diego. Several Star sailors and J-24 sailors were there just to see what makes these little Catalina dingy racers go so fast. College sailors have daily coaching from the most basic of drills. Chris put our group through some of these same drills and made the point that racing in regatta after regatta doesn't mean you are learning or getting any better. It does take coaching and hard work, through drills. Altogether 44 sailors attended the chalk talks and slides, and 32 managed the drills on the water in 16 boats. Video review after the drills showed errors that racers were more then happy to correct.
The 2nd day was full on racing for the 2 classes with 3 races for each class. Frank Glynn, as PRO, assisted by Morgan Gross, Jay Gross, Robert Sprout and Skip Skipwith provided professional course work Results were hard fought races, especially among the Coronado15's, where the lead changed every 3 minutes, and the results counted for their Coast Cup. In the Capri 14.2 fleet, the racers, placing 3rd Pat Riker & Chris Larson, placing 2nd Becky Thaler & Scott Tobin, and placing 1st Susan Taylor & Werner Horn. In the Coronado 15 fleet the racers, placing 3rd were Walt & Monique Prue, placing 2nd Vincent Paternoster & Wayne Lewis, and placing 1st Barrett & Randy Sprout. Perhaps the best message from the committee boat, FORTUNA, was just as the 3rd race was finishing. A huge fog bank was bearing down covering everyone, when Dr Gross yelled "31 degrees to the breakwater"

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Snipe Clinic
GROOVIN' WITH GREG

Eight boats showed up at the Surf City Yacht Club in NJ for the District 1 Snipe clinic: two intense days of training, drills, and laughter with Greg Fisher. The level of the group was high and little time was lost on shore with boat tuning; instead, since we all craved boathandling and starting drills, that is what Greg gave us. Start after start on short lines, long lines, boat favored lines, pin favored lines, and best of all the chance to hear in the bellowed voice of boat driver Jack Elfman when you actually hit that elusive spot.
Greg's attitude was as always light and friendly, which spilled over to the rest of the group; though we are all good friends, we are not used to cooperating with each other on the water. But since there were no trophies to be won (or lost), and since everyone would go home a winner as long as they learned something new, all were open to critique and pushing the limits of boat to boat interaction. The buzz words by the end of the day Saturday were, "It's just a clinic", which seemed to excuse all sorts of rule testing.
Two favorite drills: the first was "raise your hand when you think you are on the starting line." My crew Jerelyn Biehl and I hit it right a few times, but it is surprising how variable your perspective is even when the line is short and there are no other boats around. No wonder it is so hard to figure out in a real racing situation.
Our second favorite drill was "stop and go". All eight boats started in a line up; one whistle was stop, two whistles was go. It was easy to tell if you were gaining or losing on the boats around you, but it was also easy to leave your ego at the door; if the boat above gained, you could always get your crew to say they weren't totally stopped. (The penalty for not stopping was buying the drinks after racing, so she was probably lying, but it helped.) Later on we got to apply our newly learned skills to acquire and protect a hole on a very short starting line.
The video Saturday night was also enlightening; how often do most of us get to rewind our sailing and have it analyzed by 17 of our closest friends? We picked Greg's brain for two hours about sail trim and mast sag as well as angle of heel and boathandling techniques, though we probably only scratched the surface of what he knows about making a boat go fast.
But the best part was that everyone had a good time and learned some new tricks in a very non-threatening but competitive atmosphere. Try crossing that guy who's on starboard... he won't hit you or throw you out of anything crucial, but he will tell you if he had to duck. After a not so stellar start, ask the boat who managed (again) to steal your hole with ten seconds to go what you could do differently. Tack in underneath that guy on starboard layline and see just how close you can push it without a foul.
All in all, Greg's clinic was a great addition to the Snipe calendar. Eight boats evenly matched creates a fantastic learning environment, and I recommend it for every fleet. Just get your reservations in early.
RESULTS:
Most Improved: Mark Schneider/Ashley Schneider
Best Gybes: Paul Cronin/Kate Fears
Most Determined: Darryl Waskow/??
Most OCS: Carol Cronin/Jerelyn Biehl
Most Vocal: Lee Griffith/Lisa Griffith
Most Quiet: John MacRae/Barb Evans
Flattest: John Manderson/Monique Gaylor
Highest Pointing: Pedro Lorson/Mimi Berry
Form more information on North Racing clinics, click here to contact us.

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Melges 24 Clinic
Rocky Mtn Leukemia Cup

"Hi Vince,
I wanted to thank you again for the clinic on my boat Sunday. It really helped.
As you recall we took second place in the race you were with us. After you left we were able to get a second race in. The exciting part is that we took first place on the second race Sunday which gave us first in our fleet for the entire regatta. This was the first regatta I have ever placed higher than fifth.
Best of luck on your upcoming races.
Mark Drummond"
For more information on having North One Design clinics for your fleet send e-mail to info@od.northsails.com.

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North One Design Clinic
California Yacht Club

by Chris Snow

20 boatloads of Coronado 15 and Capri 14.2 sailors took a day to improve their racing skills by attending a North One Design clinic held at Cal Yacht Club August 1st. Chris Snow from North One Design conducted the clinic which was organized by local C-15 sailor Randy Sprout and Cal's Sail Committee chairperson Pat Riker.
The group gathered in the club at 9:00 AM for in depth chalk talk on starting followed by a review of basic sail trim. Later in the morning the group headed out on to Santa Monica Bay where a long starting line was set up and drills were run to teach everyone how to know when they were on the starting line, how to stop, start and accelerate their boats better. Many practice starts were run and three short races, including one back to the hoist took up the afternoon. After derigging the group reconvened for a debrief and short talk by Gerry Douglas of Catalina Yachts.
Clinics from North One Design are a great way to have fun and build your fleet in a no pressure learning environment.
For more information on having North One Design put one on for your fleet send e-mail to info@od.northsails.com.

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Thistle Seminar
Newcastle Club

For more information, contact Ched.

If you would like a clinic/seminar
for your fleet, please fill out
this form.

Ched,
Thank you for a perfectly delightful evening. The weather was perfect -- less hot, less humidity and a breeze. The racing was fun -- short courses, cross current and several starts. The program back at the house held the interest of the club members -- our own video, your commentary and the instructional tape you brought.
I had thought the program would conclude about nine-thirty. At ten o'clock I tried to see where we were. You had a thirty minute tape and the members were ready to stay and watch.
At ten-thirty I tried, once again, to see where we were. Finally, at ten-forty the program came to a close and I got home after eleven o'clock.
It was a graeat night and we thank you.
I hope your trip was uneventful and you arrived home somewhere around two o'clock in the morning, your expected time of arrival.
Some of us think the club members learned a lot.
Thanks again. Ed Lasbury

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Shields Clinic
Mission Bay Yacht Club

Dear Ched,
Thanks again for a wonderful seminar. I know I can speak for all of Shields Fleet 18 and all other attendees in saying that we all had a great time, learned even more than imagined, and enjoyed meeting and talking with you.
As an eclectic group of sailors, we now have another experience in common, and a body of knowlege shared. I know this will inspire all of us in our short and long distance goals and aspirations regarding sailing and the development of our Shields Fleet.
A fine job. Come back to visit soon. Let me know what your plans are for the Shields Nationals in Marion this September.
Putting on more backstay,
John Arendshorst
For more information contact
Ched Proctor
North Sails East
203 877 7627
203 877 6942 fax

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Thistle and Snipe Clinic
by Greg Fisher

May 15-16 - This past weekend I did a couple seminars in the midwest - one in Kansas City, KS for Thistles on Saturday and one in Omaha, NB on Sunday for Snipes. It was great as only 2 boats out of the 26 total involved did NOT have Norths... and all are happy and speedier as a result!
Friday night I was to give a talk at a local marina near Kansas City, but since it had lost its roof in the last round of tornados, we instead had an informal party at a fleet member's house. Saturday, we met at the lake where, of course, it was blowing a solid 20-25 mph. We still went out and half the gang (it seemed) went swimming. Back on shore(soon), we spent the rest of the afternoon doing an around the boat type talk and a lot of personal boat setups (and some bailing). Actually, this may have worked out just as well as we truly got the fleet well set up and tuned. The personal attention was appreciated I think.
Sunday morning I met with the Omaha Snipe fleet (3 hrs from Kansas City) where the breeze was perfect and the sun was out. Again, first I did an around the boat set up talk followed by the personal boat tuning chats. 13 boats hit the water and had an informal race. I was able to video each of them, both upwind and down, for almost 2 minutes each. After the race we gathered together where I showed the video. Since I was playing the camera through the club's VCR and they had a blank tape, we copied it and left them with what we had gone over that afternoon. Since I narrated it as I watched, they were pleased they had entertainment for future meetings... I mention this as this seemed to be a big plus that they could look at it all again later...and with the narration, could learn some more.
Different world out there....Sunday night on my drive back to Kansas City through some nasty thunderstorms while listening to a local radio station, they were announcing tornado sitings like we'd announce high school football scores here in Ohio!
"And this next song is....."
If you would like a clinic for your fleet please contact us.

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J/24 Clinic
San Francisco J/24 Fleet
by Chris Snow

On Friday May 7th and Saturday May 8th I had the opportunity to run a J/24 racing clinic for the San Francisco J/24 fleet. We had 35 people in four boats attend the clinic which combined both classroom and on-the-water learning. The clinic was organized by Ed Martin and Wayne Clough of the local fleet and we ran it out of Encinal Yacht Club located on the Oakland Estuary.
Friday night we had an in depth discussion of how to start which included tips on big picture and small picture pre-race preparation, how to defend you position and the pitfalls and advantages of all the different types of starts. Saturday morning we gathered outside on the club patio for a brief discussion of tuning the boat, basic sail trim for the boat and tips and techniques on making the boat go fast. We then went down to a fully rigged boat on the dock and practiced setting, jibing and dousing the spinnaker with the boat tied stern-to the dock.
Next it was out on the water where a short staring was set and many practice starts consumed a lot of the afternoon. We video taped each one (3 minute sequences) for replay back at the bar afterwards. We also did a bunch of tacking and jibing drills to work on the boat handling. At the end of the day we ran a couple of short "real races" that were won by Doug Nugent on board "Nixon was Cool". All told a great couple of days and a good learning experience for all.
If you would like a clinic done for your fleet (any of the classes we make sails for) please contact us.

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J/24 Clinic
Bermuda Fleet
by Bill Fortenberry

On the weekend of May 1st and 2nd, I ran a clinic for the sailors of the J24 Bermuda Fleet. We had 35 participants and 6 boats on the water.
This clinic reminded me of the importance of fleet building and how dedicated one design sailors are to their fleet. This group was incredibly enthusiastic and very eager to learn more about J24 racing. It is quite gratifying to see sailors quickly improve with some simple coaching and information.
We videotaped the clinic. The video is an amazing tool for teaching and in my opinion the best part of the clinic was reviewing the video from Saturday on Sunday morning.
This clinic gave me the opportunity to create and solidify my relationships with the Bermuda fleet. All said it was a great experience for me and the sailors.
In Bermuda, they race J24's, IOD's, Etchells and the famous Bermuda Fitted Dinghy.