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| Photo Credit: Onme van der Wal |
Keith Magnussen from Ullman Sails Newport Beach checks in after four days at Key West Race Week.
When we left the LBC (Long Beach California for those unfamiliar) we had hopes of learning a lot about the boat and being in the mix. After three days of racing, and one non-sailing day, we are tied for third in the ultra competitive C&C30 class. There is a mixture of Olympic, Americas Cup, and world champion sailors around us that we are just excited to sail against on a level playing field in a boat like the C&C30.
I will not bore you with play by play details but there have been some exciting moments and the racing has been FUN! Tight mark roundings and close fleet racing has made the event even more exciting. We have worked hard on the rig tune and the sails are performing excellent.
Today we switched up spinnakers twice and made a few jib changes as the wind strengths vary. It is important to know when to put the bow up for speed and a low plane versus VMG mode. Our 1.5A that we use for bow up has proved fast and our VMG runner is keeping us moving in the light stuff.
Upwind we started with the Code 1 jib for the light choppy stuff and ended the day in our Code 2 as the wind increased.
Crew work has been amazing. Our coach, Brent Ruhne, has given us confidence that we are one of the cleanest boats at all the mark rounding. Cody Schlub (bow), Dave Millet (Pit), Ben Wheatley (Mid bow), and Dustin Durant (Trim) work together seamlessly and quietly which allows us to push the envelope a bit more.
Erik Shampain on the tactics has done a great job keeping us in the top of the fleet. He has a calm demeanor and understanding of all aspects of the boat, this is vital in a leader in my opinion. When I recruited Erik for the position I was confident that he would be the right guy to move us forward.
I am trimming main on the boat and am working hard to keep Ed in the groove by paying particularly close attention to the heel angle. I have also found it really crucial to anticipate the wind and be slightly ahead of the curve in order to keep the rudder straight and not fight the sails.
One more day and we are hoping to move up a but in the standings and make the West Coast proud!
