Everyone goes fast as Melges 32s Tune Up

by International Melges 32 Class Association on 2 Dec 2007

Everyone goes fast as Melges 32s Tune Up in Ft .Lauderdale SW

Three challenging races whipped the eighteen strong fleet in tip-top shape today at the Lauderdale Yacht Club for the Melges 32 Winter Tune-Up 2007. Leading the pack with satisfying finishes is the 'Pinta' team comprised of Michael Illbruck (helm) and John Kostecki (tactics). From Torquay, UK is none other than Joe Woods on 'Red' in second and in third overall is Alejandro Sole with Jay Lutz calling tactics on 'Black River Racing'.

The day started off in typical Florida fashion. Sunny, with tempatures hovering in the mid-80's — absolutely picture perfect sailing weather! Fleet coach Morgan Reeser presented by Henri Lloyd said, 'How can if get any better than this?'

The stage was set as the fleet lined up for the first heat at 11 a.m. Light breeze, lots of boats, excited crews, media boats and
the Lauderdale Yacht Club's PRO boat and support boats all standing by, everyone awaiting the major action now associated with this tune up regatta. That’s what is so great about this type of casual event. The goal is to learn and specifically — how to race these hot Melges 32s as fast as possible. As the first race kicked off under a light breeze, Reeser had his loud hailer, still and video camera virtually all going at once.

He said, 'the current is going to push the leeward end over. Watch out guys! You will want to make a quick tack to port and sail a long port tack.' True enough, as the gun sounded, three boats were called over the line at the leeward end. The boats that tacked to port extended to the right side of the race course and looked good. 'You sailed a perfect race from the coach boat.'

Last year, owner and class member Jeff Ecklund helped to organize the very first Winter Tune-Up Regatta so that new people could get into the Melges 32 class and learn how to get up to speed in just one weekend. Looking at the results and with the coaches we have this weekend, it may only take a day! The result last year was tremendous and this year is no different.

It was phenomenal to see progress in such a short amount of time. People are taking to the learning curve and excited about the progress they see from race to race. 'The coach has proof. Video. Cameras. So if I say something they don’t believe in – I can show them proof,' said Reeser. Reeser is a world class sailor and the current Great Britain 470 Women’s Olympic Team coach. He refers to all of the sailors on the water as athletes. The amount and level of coaching delivered by Reeser is apparent.

The concept is first rate and the Lauderdale Yacht Club is doing a top notch job this year for the Melges 32 Class Association. To see this many boats tuning up for the forthcoming winter championships is very exciting. Joe Woods and his 'Red' team travelled once again all the way from cold, snowy
and wintery England. This is one of many trips for Joe. He raced Melges 24s for years and has been doing all of the Melges 32 events. The effort shows as he won the first race and then followed up that accomplishment with a 'horizon job' in race number two. Very impressive indeed.

Wood's set up seemed to be a bit different. In these light air conditions Joe and his team featured the following:

- Aggressive weight balance sailing upwind so that the boat was racing at the proper angle of heel
- A steady helm so that the boat was settled down and not 'rough' through the water
- More backstay on than the competition, yet more headstay sag than most.
- Conclusion – a softer rig than most
- More mast rake as his boom was lower

Upwind. Another thing Joe did well was his mainsail trim. In light air and flat water, Joe had his main trimmer add pressure to the main. They were trimmed harder than most everyone and they were fast.

Downwind. When they turned the mark, their kite
was up and full before the transom cleared the mark. Tim Edwards on the hoist is awesome!

'It is great to see a boat sailed clean and correctly,' commented Reeser. 'More angle of heel downwind in these light conditions allows Joe to sail lower and have proper sail shape in the kite. They look good.'

The rest of the fleet now has to catch up and learn some of these tricks.

Looking to tomorrow's racing, and the first day of the 'Take A Junior Sailing' program, Germany's Illbruck racing his brand new boat leads by four points. After being over in the first race he recovered for a third place finish. From there, he progressively improved — in race two he scored third again and won race three by a slither in front of another new owner, John Taylor from South Florida. Costing Woods the game for the day was a troublesome third race — still fast, but simply went the wrong way. Today's conditions kept everyone guessing.

The racing and competition got closer and tighter as the day
progressed thanks to some good sailing and great advice from 'the tune-up' staff on the water.

After three races the fleet sailed into Bahia Mar Resort where they are being kept and taken care off. Over 200 sailors hit the dock virtually at once. Cold drinks, music, sunshine... It was a perfect day for Melges 32 sailing!

Preliminary Results

Overall

Sailed:7, Discards:1, To count:6, Entries:18, Scoring system:Default scoring system
Rank	Helm	Tactician	SailNo	Boat	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Total	Net	Owner
1st	Illbruck, Michael	Kostecki, John	401	Pinta	STFYC	4.0	4.0	1.0	4.0	1.0	5.0	(10.0)	29.0	19.0	Michael Illbruck
2nd	Woods, Joe	Lenz, Dave	700	Red	Royal Torbay YC	2.0	1.0	(10.0)	6.0	5.0	2.0	3.0	29.0	19.0	Joe Woods
3rd	Ecklund, Jeff	Melges, Harry	32	Star	LYC	1.0	5.0	3.0	9.0	4.0	(13.0)	1.0	36.0	23.0	Jeff Ecklund
4th	Meadows, Kip	Horton, Andy	77	Roxanne	NYYC	(15.0)	2.0	12.0	5.0	2.0	1.0	4.0	41.0	26.0	Kip Meadows
5th	Pugh, Stephen	Wijsen, Seadon	158	Taboo	STFYC	(10.0)	6.0	5.0	3.0	3.0	9.0	7.0	43.0	33.0	Stephen Pugh
6th	Taselaar, Pieter	Wilmot, Jeremy	169	Bliksem	NYYC	5.0	(13.0)	4.0	7.0	6.0	12.0	5.0	52.0	39.0	Pieter Taselaar
7th	Swartz, Jim	Worthington, Kimo	007	Q	NYYC, STFYC	6.0	9.0	9.0	10.0	(14.0)	4.0	2.0	54.0	40.0	Jim Swartz
8th	Mulin, Kate	Wohfs, Mike	134	Arkle	Port Credit YC	8.0	7.0	7.0	(13.0)	7.0	6.0	8.0	56.0	43.0	J. Sherhock
9th	Sole, Alejandro	Lutz, jay	163	Black River Racing	Lakewood YC	3.0	3.0	11.0	15.0	(17.0)	7.0	13.0	69.0	52.0	Doug Strebel
10th	Hesse, Bob	Smith, Jud	153	Lake Effect	Youngstown	(14.0)	11.0	8.0	1.0	11.0	11.0	14.0	70.0	56.0	Bob Hesse
11th	Carroll, Jason	Doyle, Sean	128	Summer Rental	Larchmont YC	9.0	10.0	(16.0)	8.0	10.0	8.0	12.0	73.0	57.0	Jason Carroll
12th	Rhyne, Steve	Moon, Ben	157	Mojo	Lakewood	11.0	15.0	6.0	11.0	9.0	(18.0)	6.0	76.0	58.0	Steve Rhyne
13th	Jennings, Jack	Shriner, Dave	141	Pied Piper	LGYC	13.0	8.0	14.0	14.0	8.0	3.0	(19.0 OCS)	79.0	60.0	Jack Jennings
14th	Fairbanks, Tad	Dore, Pat	149	Fast Forward	Eagle Harbor YC	7.0	(18.0)	13.0	2.0	13.0	15.0	17.0	85.0	67.0	Tad Fairbanks
15th	Taylor, John	Smith, Ezra	1315	Ninkasi	NYYC	(19.0 OCS)	12.0	2.0	18.0	12.0	10.0	15.0	88.0	69.0	John Taylor
16th	McSweeney, Terry	Merriman, Rick	126	Unknown	Edgewater YC	12.0	17.0	(18.0)	12.0	18.0	17.0	9.0	103.0	85.0	Fathom Racing
17th	Tillinghast, Edward		151	Dark N'Stormy	NYYC	16.0	16.0	(17.0)	17.0	15.0	14.0	11.0	106.0	89.0	Ed Tillinghast
18th	Wells, Ben	Britton, Terry	140	Savannah	KYC	(17.0)	14.0	15.0	16.0	16.0	16.0	16.0	110.0	93.0	Sean Guinness