Southern California based "Loco" has been in Key West since Tuesday and are in the final preparation stages before the racing starts tomorrow. Keith Magnussen from Ullman Sails Newport Beach gives us this update:
It has been a long build up for team "Loco" and yesterday we finally had the chance to sail next to another C&C 30, which was exciting since this is a crucial aspect of preparing for any one design regatta.
Owner, Ed Feo, purchased Loco around a year ago with the intentions of going East to match up at some of the great events the class had organized. Ed approached me and inquired about putting together a team and wanted to get the most out of the boat. We recruited Erik Shampain (Tactician), Cody Schlub (Bow), Dustin Durant (Trim), Ben Wheatley (Trim), Dave Millet (Pit), and myself on main. Brent Ruhne has joined us as a coach which is extremely valuable when trying to learn a new boat.
Cody and myself arrived on Tuesday to start putting the boat back together after the long drive from Long Beach. Erik was next to show up and if you have worked with Erik and Cody then you know that our boat is now in the water, working great and looking good.
Ullman Sails Newport Beach furnished the sails with Bruce Hollis leading the design team. We worked on rig tune yesterday and after some tuning we started feeling confident in the shapes and were ready to line up against some other boats... finally.
The next few hours were so valuable, we managed to see how important it is to work the boat upwind with communication vital as any chop and light spot really took a toll on boat speed. When it was time for some practice starts and short w/l races we felt that we had improved enough to hang.
It was just good to be near 5 other boats. In the end we had great upwind speed, were able to hold a lane when in a bad position and felt good downwind.
Sunday was supposed to be another full day of practice but the wind has not cooperated. It has been 30-38kts of wind for most of the day and we are hoping that we might get an hour or so in the evening.
