Chuck Allen interviews Scott Snyder following his Bermuda title win

by Talbot Wilson on 24 May 2010 Congrats on your win at Bermuda Race Week, you guys dominated. Tell us about the team that travelled there with you.

Scott Snyder, Captain/Trimmer: Being invited to Bermuda International Invitational Race Week is a tremendous honor as the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club truly knows how to organize a world class international event. What I’ve learned from previous visits as both crew and captain is that the week-long regatta guarantees to dish up a wide range of conditions, competition and unfamiliar water that will challenge the metal of even the most seasoned team. With that in mind, we approached this year’s invitation by assembling a team that would first be “fun” to sail with, and second, included crew with great versatility and experience. I wanted to put together a team that was unselfish on the water, and fun off the water.

Having discussed this regatta for some time with my good friend and world-class sailing Photographer, Tim Wilkes of Rochester, NY, together we put a team together that consisted of Brian Simkins of Long Island, NY, Michael Dannecker of Denver, CO and Greg Schertz of Denver, CO. Interestingly enough, all five team members are great drivers in their own right.

Despite our attempts to get a practice regatta in a month prior to the regatta, knee surgery for Brian Simkins kept him on crutches until just a week before the regatta – also cementing his role as driver for the week as we had originally planned to co-helm the regatta – a decision that paid off immediately as everyone on the crew really focused on their role for the week. Even our practice day before the regatta was blown out due to winds in excess of 40 knots. We dedicated a few hours the evening before the regatta to verbally review roles and team work process verbally before heading out to the course on the first day of the regatta without ever taking a single tack together as a team.

I’ve never been a part of such an unselfish team before. The entire week was full of great communication, clear lines of decision-making, proactive crew work, and great fun. As our victory was such a great team effort, we’ve decided to participate in this interview as a team as well.

The conditions got gnarly, enlighten the readers on what went down in Bermuda.

Tim Wilkes, Tactician: Aside from the first day, races were held in 22 to 40 knots of breeze. Not that we've never sailed J24's in those conditions, but it certainly isn't the norm. The game changes quite a bit when boats are that overpowered. Solid crew work is essential to keeping the driver and tactician on their game plan. And that's exactly what we had. Every puff, every wave... was dealt with. We kept our competition where we wanted them for the most part and were able to go about our tactical plan. Now that's not to say we never had our moments of chaos and panic! A dropped spinnaker guy in a gust upwards of 40 knots almost cost us a well fought lead barely three boat lengths from the finish.

Amazingly, everyone in the fleet was up to the big breeze challenge. Not a single boat failed to attempt flying their spinnakers (unless of course they were already shredded). And the top five were on their game in every race. This made for some fantastic and strenuous racing since we had no opportunity to relax and enjoy a comfortable lead. What a great fleet to sail with.

Tell us about your sailing background and what led to you sailing The J/24.

C: I got into J24’s about 18 years ago after moving to Colorado from Chicago. Having done some recreational sailing to that point, the Dillon Yacht Club’s J24 fleet was 25+ boats strong at that point and it was difficult to “not” want to get involved. I received some great coaching and assistance from a variety of local sailors with international experience and bought hull 1574 with two close friends. After a few years of progressively better results, I bought hull 5253 “Severance Check” and began several years of aggressive travel to both coasts as well as the Texas Circuit to broaden my experience across vastly different sailing conditions. An important assist throughout the years of J24 sailing has been the assistance and support that I’ve always received from the North Sails team, especially Chuck Allen, who continues to serve as both a great inspiration and support of our program.

To read the full interview, please go to: http://www.onedesign.com