NORTH AMERICANS



Houston YC was a perfect host for the 1971 FD North American Championship which was held in conjunction with the Texas Olympics. It is a beautiful, spacious YC with all facilities to host any type of regatta. Martin Bludworth and Fred Struben organized the regatta in real Texas fashion.

The courses were excellent with good windward legs and correct length. Also, Texas winds gave us a good test from light air to heavy breezes. They said we missed the real heavy chop that develops from the south--but who needs it!

My comments on this series will be confined to thoughts on the boats and technique rather than on the races themselves.

You have got to go fast to windward! To do this boats that had good sails, an adjustable rig, and skippers that knew how to make these rig adjustments were always in contention.

Good sails mean a mainsail that is medium cut and draft adjustable with luff and foot controls. Also, the cloth should not be too lightweight, because under the severe stresses of heavy air, light cloth will distort, forming bad wrinkles.

The genoas have gotten fuller every year. Most of the top sailmakers are now building genoas which are much fuller, especially in the lower section of the sail. These genoas give greater drive and are generally faster than the flat ones.

Spinnakers that reach are really the No.1 choice. There isn't much difference on the run; however, in Houston as in CORK and the Nationals, if you could fly your chute well on the reach without having it collapse, you really made out. Practice is the only answer here, besides having a chute that will reach. Spis with the tops too full are bad for reaching--I know because mine was cut this way.

An effective adjustable rig means having your genoa halyard adjustable from the helmsman's position. You have got to be able to do this going to windward in heavy air. In Houston, FDs with their rigs carefully set up before the race always got to windward first. We tried to get out early and make several test runs to windward to get the leech tension correct on the genoa. We did this with another boat. Sometimes we set up with too much power (rig too straight) and then slacked off the halyard until we could hold the boat fairly flat.

The mast must be set up to keep the main working at full power. If the side shrouds are too slack, your mast will bend off too much and the main will lose power.  With our small Needlespar mast, we had to set up real tight. Also, the top of the mast can go off too far to leeward. But here you also have to look at the sail itself -- perhaps the top part of the leech is too loose, resulting in loss of power.

PHOTO ABOVE : Jack Strothman (US1266) with Frank Levinson and Chas. Obersheimer in hot pur suit. Note differences in mastbend.
BELOW: Winner Levinson and crew Don Ehler about to "thread the needle". Gary Lee of the San Diego Naval Sailing Club fends off.

Most of the FDs kept their centerboards full-down going to windward in all types of winds. Unless it is over 30 mph, I haven't been able to prove that raising the board helps to windward. Bernardo Martinez, the fastest man to windward I've ever sailed against in the FD, always keeps his board full-down going to windward, and he adjusts his rig with precision.

Gluing my eyes on the little yarn just aft of the jib luff was a big help. Trying to keep the boat moving and not stalling out from pinching is the greatest problem, and this really requires 100 percent concentration. During the race, my crew, Don Ehler, keeps the information flowing on the position of the other boats, etc. He also does the timing of the starts.

Spending a lot of time preparing your boat and know ing your sails and equipment really pays off. We worked on our boat on and off for about 6 months before we really knew it, and we are still working and hoping to improve.

	PHOTO ABOVE: Charlie Obersheimer (US373) and Ron Sugel (US857)
	BELOW: Jack Strothman leads around the gybe mark with Levinson in close persuit. Houston Post phot by Gerry Glick

I have two sets of sails--they are exactly alike; also one other genoa which is a little flatter. Here again, the sails can go in almost any type of breeze with the adjustments in the rig. Being a sailmaker, I could have ten sets--but this is a mistake, I think. That doesn't mean you shouldn't get new sails, but it does indicate you should not have ten different brands and cuts of sails because learning all their different capabilities and being able to get the adjustments correctly made is not very possible with everything else on the FD.

In Houston, as in any other FD regatta, boat handling and all the tactical maneuvers were practiced almost to perfection by the leaders. Tacking fast is PRACTICE. Rounding marks is PRACTICE. Setting the chute is PRACTICE. Lowering the chute is PRACTICE. Spell out all the tactics so they become second nature -- especially in heavy air where the difference is most apparent.

The Houston YC is to be congratulated again for hosting a top FD regatta. With the other Olympic boats also racing, their job was certainly a difficult one. We were a little awe-struck by their formal dance one night--but by Texas standards, it was a minor affair. Thanks again, Martin and Fred, for a swell FD regatta and good water (even if it is polluted.) to sail on.

1971 NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS F. Levinson    US- 255    1    3    5    2    2   11    21.7 J. Strothman   US-1266    4    2    4    4    3    1    24.7 G. Lee         US-1095    2    5    2    5    1    6    26 C. Obersheimer US- 373    3    4    3    1    4    F    27.4 D. Croshere    US-1133    6    8    1    3    5    F    41.4 L. Villasenor  MX- 122    7    1    8    7    7    5    49 C. Hight       US-1279    8    7   11    6   11    4    63.7 C. Colthorp    US- 995   15   11    6   l0   12    2    65.7 A. Gort        US- 494    5    9    7    8    8   14    66 C. Cullinane   US-1162    9   l0   l0   11    9    3    67.7 G. Masters     US-111O   11    6    9    9   14    8    72.7 P. Vigil       MX- 107   l0   13   19   14   l0   l0    87 M. Vazquez     MX-  50   12   20   20    S    6    7    94.7 R. Sugel       US- 857   13   15   16   16   15   12   101 E. Grubbs      US- 989   17   14   17   13    F   13   104 B. Nettles     US-1289   16   18   12   20   13   16   105 B. Murn        US- 876   14   16   18   15   16    F   109 D. Devlin      US- 181    Q   12   24   12    F    9   112 B. Kenyon      US- 772   19    Q   15   17   17   15   113 G. Scott       US- 740   21   19   14   19   18   17   117 C. Cope        US-1213    Q   17   13   18   19    S   123 C. Reynolds    US- 789    S   21   21   24   21   18   129 D. Hensley     US- 826   20   22    F   22   20    F   140 J. Lewis       US- 714   22   25   22    F    F    S   150 B. Wright      US-1310    S   23   23   23    F    S   151 B. Logan       US- 421    Q   24    S   21    F    S   154

ABOVE: Gary Lee led the West Coast boats finishing third overall.
BELOW: Larenzo Villasenor (MX-122) took sixth, best Mexican placing.