It was an extremely active season for the Swan 42 Class and particularly for our program aboard Arethusa. The season started in November 2008 and went through to the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) Invitational Regatta in late September of this year. Arethusa participated in the IRC East Coast Championships, Key West Race Week, the Heineken Regatta, the St. Thomas Rolex International Rolex Regatta, BVI Race Week, the Leukemia Cup, the NYYC Annual Regatta, Block Island Race Week, the Sail Newport Coastal Living Regatta, the Swan 42 Class Nationals and the Invitational Cup, hosted by NYYC in Newport. Other than having a lot of fun, there was a purpose to the schedule. The program had two main objectives: do well in the 42 Nationals and qualify to represent NYYC at the inaugural Invitational Cup.
The fact that we could participate and do well in a wide array of events is a testimony to the Swan 42. We were 1, 2, 2 in the three IRC events and had great one-design sailing in the other regattas. The Swan 42 was sponsored by New York Yacht Club as a Corinthian one-design and launched in 2007. The objective of the class is to have fast, modern, multi-purpose boat with strict one-design rules and limit the number of ISAF Category 3 professional sailors on board to only one. The class has grown rapidly, with about 42 boats sailing worldwide. We’ve had approximately 20 boats at the Nationals every year since 2007, with solid participation at all the major regattas on the East Coast as well as many of the big European regattas. This has made the 42 one of the most competitive amateur fleets on the East Coast…and yes, my wife Wendy and I have cruised our 42 – in Maine and the Bahamas.
To reach our objectives in this competitive class, we believed the program should be built around three factors - “time in the boat,” consistency of crew, and preparation. Time in the boat was all about setting a schedule – but consistency of crew (we sail with 10 or 11 onboard) was the biggest challenge due to the lengthy schedule and the requirements on crew makeup to qualify for the Invitational Cup. We’d need at least four NYYC members on board, and the tactician and the “Cat 3” had to be from NYYC. Our approach to the crew issue was to create a “team.” This meant organizing a core group who would sail a majority of the events as well as developing a list of people who could fill in from time to time, while keeping everyone informed on how the program was doing and involving as many as possible with off-thewater activities or coaching. As a result, we had over 30 people sail with us this season, with six or eight who were there for almost every event.
The schedule was arranged so we had a “warm-up” event before the major events (KWRW, BIRW, Nationals), and we tried to get a large majority of the same crew to sail both regattas, so people essentially could commit to segments of the schedule. That allowed us to have a consistent and “practiced” crew for the major events. Preparation includes a lot of different things. Some of the more important items included keeping thorough notes on the racing and rig tune, maintaining equipment and sails, and crew logistics.
By time we got to the Nationals, we were in a position to take advantage of this program. We had many hours sailing as a team, we had a tuning guide that was proven and easily implemented, and we had a boat/sails that were thoroughly vetted and prepared. We sailed the Sail Newport Coastal Living Regatta the weekend before the Nationals, so by the Nationals many of the crew below had sailed one or two events on the boat plus the weekend before to warm up.
Helm Phil Lotz, Newport, RI
Navigator Wendy Lotz, Newport, RI
Chute Doug Lotz, Newport, RI
Jib Peter Benedetto, Croton-on-Hudson, NY
Sewer Scott Bihl, New Canaan, CT
Jib Rob Moore, Sausalito, CA
Mast Blake Kimbrough, Newport, RI
Tactics Stan Schreyer, Northampton, MA
Main Rick Merriman, New York, NY
Pit Brendan Marshall, Newport, RI
Bow Martha Parker, Newport, RI
Because the Nationals was a qualifying event for the NYYC Invitational, we had to make sure the crew roster conformed to the requirements. That left a few key team members off the boat, but we were lucky to have them help us prepare as off-the-boat coaches.
We took a very conservative approach to our positioning and strategy for the regatta. After watching and participating in many 42 events, we knew that everyone could win a race...and conversely that anyone can have a very bad race. With no throwouts, the people who won were the most consistent. Based on that, we elected to sail in such a way that minimized any really deep races...which also meant we were less likely to win races. As a result, we never finished worse than 8th or better than 2nd.
Having won the Nationals, we earned the privilege of representing the New York Yacht Club in the inaugural NYYC Invitational Cup, a Corinthian event that attracted 19 teams representing yacht clubs from around the world. This presented a new set of challenges. The first challenge was reorganizing the crew, for two reasons. First, the Invitational Cup rules only allowed two non-NYYC members, requiring us to replace four people, and second, several other key team members had simply run out of vacation time. We had the entire roster of NYYC membership to choose from, but we needed to find people with both Cat 1 status and enough time to practice and sail in the event. In keeping with our program philosophy, we focused on people who not only could commit to the regatta but also spend a few of the remaining summer weekends practicing. We were also fortunate to have Ken Read, a NYYC member who lives in Newport, agree to sail with us as Tactician, as well as these fine sailors:
Helm Phil Lotz, Newport, RI
Navigator Wendy Lotz, Newport, RI
Chute Doug Lotz, Newport, RI
Jib Stu Streuli, Newport, RI
Sewer Tripp Dolman, New York, NY
Jib Byron LaMotte, New York, NY
Mast Chris Lotz, New York, NY
Main Rick Merriman, New York, NY
Pit Brendan Marshall, Newport, RI
Bow Blake Kimbrough, Newport, RI
Now we had the pressure of representing the host club as well as sailing with one of the world’s best sailors. This made practice even more important! To level the playing field, NYYC purchased 19 identical suits of sails for the event and “pinned” all the rigs at the same setting. To simulate the regatta, we practiced with the rig at a fixed “medium” setting and used only our medium jib and chute – in light air and heavy air. The team did a few local races with Ken to work out the more subtle things like communication and starting. We had a few very “shaky” moments during practice, but towards the end things came together.
Although Ken was masterful calling the shots during the racing, we learned the most from his attention to detail in preparing for the regatta. During practice, he critiqued every maneuver and we discussed how to improve things that we had been doing for 12 months. He went through Arethusa’s interior inch by inch, making sure we had no more than the minimum amount of equipment on board. Every tool and spare part was scrutinized to ensure we were not carrying any needless weight.
Racing with Ken was a great experience, especially having my two sons and wife on board. I was nervous that the crew or boat – or my driving! – would not be up to the level of competency to which Ken is accustomed. Additionally, I did not know what the on-board chemistry would be like once the real racing started. Because we ended up sailing in Narragansett Bay and not in the ocean for all but one race, Ken probably had to work harder than he had anticipated. There were 20 to 30 degree shifts and we were gaining and losing boats every 30 seconds. Ken was very patient, and he did a great job reading the shifts as they came down the course. He focused on “winning” our side of the race course and then grinding down boats after the first weather mark. As it turned out, the crew work was flawless and the chemistry was terrific. At the end of the day, the basic philosophy of our program helped us win the Invitational Cup. ✦
