From twilights to grand prix…
On 25th November the CYCA Cruising Committee hosted an information evening entitled “From twilights to grand prix”, a presentation by Michael Spies, Julian Plante, and Michael Coxon.

Michael Spies is well known as the last skipper to win the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race in a production boat and spends his time optimising such boats to be competitive on the racing circuit.
Julian Plante is currently the tactician on the TP52 Quest and is seven times Australian champion in various classes. Michael Coxon, has competed in 28 Rolex Sydney Hobart races, has competed in both the America’s Cup and the Admiral’s Cup, and whilst he is the sailing master of Alfa Romeo, in 2008 he will be at the helm of Wild Oats XI.

Over eighty audience members attended representing a wide range of boat owners and crew. CYCA directors Alan Green and Howard Piggott were in the audience, as well as well known campaigners such as Ed Psaltis, and Bob and Ann Penty.

After a brief introduction by Cruising captain John Keelty, Michael Spies started off his talk by posing the questions “What was the appeal of a production boat over a one off design?” Resale was the first point but as Michael said using cars as an example, there is a lot of difference between a Falcon that you drive around to the Falcon that wins at Bathurst.

Some of the issues that he covered included mast set up, quality backstay systems and jib car systems. He also discussed using a two bladed feathering propeller and the need for good trailing edges on the keel and rudder. Much more was then touched on such as antifouling, weight, skin fittings, and how all of these issues needed to be considered to best utilise the parameters of IRC.

Julian Plante and Michael Coxon then took the stage to talk about sails. A wide ranging and informative talk followed with good audience participation. Michael and Julian encouraged the use of photographs and good record keeping maximising the potential of your sail wardrobe. They also encouraged taking pictures so both you and your sail maker can assess the quality of your sails and how you are using them. Additionally, taking notes to best record what sail and what trim works best was also recommended.

The panel also gave the audience some key points about sails to consider at the very beginning which include:

• What sort of racing are you doing?
• What are your expectations and goals?
• Assess your team
• Consider the strengths and weaknesses of existing sails
• Inspect sails for current condition, and
• Develop a priority list of service, recut, replace, or purchase of additional sails.

Other issues discussed were shape, material, inventory and much more. The evening was finished off with a shout at the member’s bar by Brendan Hunt from Vicsail where the audience took the opportunity to further engage the presenters with questions. – Andrew Hawkins