MORE ON HOW THE (KEY) WEST WAS ALMOST WON!
Key West Race Week is over and we have checked in with some local top talent to see how the West was almost won! We spoke w/ Chris Wientjes who drove Woody to a second place overall finish in the J-80 class and John Dane III who drove Tiburon (Melges 30) to a third place finish in its PHRF Class. Chris has had a great run of finishes lately, that include Sugar Bowl 1st (on 22’s w/Baker), Verve Cup 1st (throttle man on Zephyr) and top 4 in local J-22 Fleet 46 while only sailing in two thirds of the races. Here is how our Q&A’s went with Chris & John:
NOYC.org: Chris, Congrats on your second place finish in J-80’s at KWRW. How did it go?
Turley: Better than expected! I got lucky to get hooked up with Pearce Wood’s J-80 program he was putting together for Key West. We may have finished second but Pearce put together a first class program. The boat was in great shape, the sails were new, the crew was incredible and the accommodations were awesome.
NOYC.org: Who sailed with you?
Turley: Pearce, Marcy Lake, Chris Wilke, Michelle Hitter & Louise Bienvenu.
NOYC.org: What kind of experience do ya’ll have with the J-80.
Turley: Pearce bought the boat last year and won LPRC w/ Michelle, Louise & Benz. Wilke & I have been mostly sailing J-22’s lately. I sailed this boat a few times when Charlie Dupin owned it.
NOYC.org: How did ya’ll tune the boat, you must have had some decent boat speed since you pulled off several top three finishes in a 23 boat fleet?
Turley: Wilke & I , initially set it up like a J-22 and found that to be a little soft. Our speed was very similar to most of the boats except current J-80 World Champion Kerry Klinger who won most of the races. We asked if we could get his settings and he obliged. We copied his rig tune and our finishes dropped a few points so we found a happy medium somewhere in between. We really were not that blazing fast. On the day we pulled off two thirds we had hung over crew puking over the side (Wilke?)
NOYC.org: If it wasn’t boat speed how did you pull off those great finishes?
Turley: The crew work was great and we had good starts but we usually found ourselves leading the middle of the pack. We would pick up plenty of boats on the down wind legs and at the favored pin of the gate roundings. The front of our class would usually get mixed up in the PHRF herd with plenty of bad air. The PHRF herd also prevented you from sailing the proper polars for these sprint boats. We found ourselves gybing twice as much as our competitors to stay in clear lanes. On several occasions, we picked the more congested favored gate pin and that would help pick up a few boats there also. We hit some nice shifts upwind and making sure that you didn’t hit the waves wrong driving upwind was also critical.
NOYC.org: Chris, I have had the pleasure of sailing with you on several occasions and your sailing personality can be compared to the following: Kyle Turley, Bobby Knight & Mount Vesuvious. Your thoughts?
Turley: Maybe you just bring out the worst in me or it all pertains to your crew work.
NOYC.org: Any closing comments before we get to John Dane?
Turley: It was an incredible week of sailing, Pearce put together a great program and Wilke, Louise, Marcy & Michelle were real troopers and fun to hang with.
NOYC.org: (THIS JUST IN! NOTE:)The ISAF has selected the J-80 as the men’s keel boat for the 2002 World Sailing Games held in Marseleilles, France in late June. Woody’s second place overall finish this past week qualifies them to represent the USA at the 2002 World Sailing Games. Go get em!
Danes turn
NOYC.org: Congrats on your 3rd in class finish down @ KWRW. Do you think the 15 second spread for yanking the Yanmar saildrive on the Melges 30 was a little much?
JDIII: Thanks, based on the fact that we won 6 of the starts, we were rated as scratch boat and only finished first twice, I think something was obviously wrong.
NOYC.org: What do you think of the Thompson 30, Henderson 30, the ratings and the talent they had on board.
JDIII: Both the Thompson 30 & the St. Pete Henderson 30 that finished second were well sailed. The real problem with the PHRF class this year was how the boats got rated. We had an excellent series last year and got hit six seconds per mile while the Henderson 30 got helped 3 seconds per mile despite major modifications to improve their performance. They added a huge roach main with 2 added battens and then put on a new keel and the rating went up 3 seconds. Explain that to me. This year there were 3 other Melges 30’s racing and I feel good, that in only one race, did one of them beat us and that was due to a poor buoy rounding. We averaged over 10 seconds per mile faster than the other 30’s probably due to crew, sails, tactics and boat preparation. In other words, if we were not there, then they would be looking to help the Melges 30’s against the Hendersons and Thompsons.
NOYC.org: I noticed that last year you had Benz on board and this year you didn’t. Did you miss him?
JDIII: Of course you miss someone of Benz’s caliber. The good news is that our food and beverage bill was greatly reduced because of his absence. We did however throw him a banana a few days to help him out.
NOYC.org: It seems that you really like the Key West racing venue, any closing comments.
JDIII: For those who have never attended, it is really one of the best sailing times you can have. The hardest part is getting your crew to tell you what their real weights are, as the rules are real particular for this regatta. Thanks for the opportunity to talk.
-steinkamp
