VAYU WINS COLORS REGATTA 

Sunday, June 14, 2009)  “If I could point to one incident, which more than any other, decided the outcome of this regatta,” said Ron Buzil, skipper of winning boat, Vayu, “it was that last weather mark rounding on the last race on Sunday.

“We were one point behind Mojo going into that race.  Right after the start, as soon as we crossed paths with them, we saw they were slightly ahead.  We tried to stick with them and beat them on flat out speed and boat handling.  But they were fast.  Real fast.  We were nearing the end of the final beat to the last weather mark, with about a quarter mile to go to the layline, both of us on port tack on the left side of the course.  Mojo was about three boat lengths to windward of us with our bows almost even.  The speed and pointing of the boats were very evenly matched. 

“We tacked, closing the distance to the port layline.  Mojo tacked to cover.  About two boat lengths from the line Mojo tacked back to port.  Seconds later, we tacked, right on the port layline.  Now we’re about fifteen boat lengths from the starboard layline. 

“I saw Mojo was going to have a bit of time to set up their pole after their next tack.  We would not.  I told our foredeck to get ready for a tack set and to make it good.  They didn’t need to be told.  Ed Radzikowski, our mastman, has been doing this on Vayu for eight years.  Lior Cohen, our bowman, has been up there for six years.  Wojtek Wolantkowski, our foredeck crew, is in his first year on Vayu, but he had several years doing bow on Temptation before coming to us.  And our pit person, Melissa Farrell, also in her first year on Vayu, came to us from the Farr 40, Gravitas, where she did pit.  So the foredeck and the trimmers all knew what was expected of them and what we had to do at this mark rounding. 

“When we tacked at the pin our bow was right behind Mojo’s transom.  We were within striking distance.  I was thinking maybe we’d get them with our downwind speed. 

“Carrying our upwind speed through the tack, as I turned I was able to get our bow to leeward of Mojo.  Our pole was going up as we came out of the turn.  Ed “rang the bell” with the spinnaker halyard and it was up in seconds.  Before it was even completely up Lior and Wojtek were bringing the genoa down.  The spinnaker filled and we accelerated.  I glanced over at Mojo.  Their genoa was still up. 

“We pointed down and when we caught our breath and got into downwind speed positions, we were bow even with Mojo but two boatlengths to leeward.  I leaned over to DS (Scott Reich, my mainsail trimmer for ten years) and whispered, ‘We just won the regatta!’  I probably shouldn’t have verbalized that then but that’s what I was thinking.

"I'm very happy for the Mojo team.  They sailed well and deserved to win.  I'm sure they'll carry some of this momentum with them for the rest of the season."

And so ended Columbia Yacht Club’s 2009 Colors Regatta, with Buzil’s Vayu in 1^st place.  In 2^nd place, tied for 1^st (but the tie-breaker went to Vayu), was Mojo under skippers Jeff Comeaux, Gary Powell, and Scot Ruhlander.  3^rd Place was won by Tsunami and her skipper Don Hayes. 

This is the only class event of the year in which professional sailors are allowed aboard the Beneteau 40.7’s, one per boat.  Saturday, after the racing, many of the crews of the fleet, representing a majority of the participating boats, attended a video analysis of the day’s races conducted by nationally renowned sailors Dawn Riley and Andrew Kerr.  Dawn had been taking video from a chase boat. 

The weather cooperated, up to a point, because there was wind, mostly in the 6 to 14 knot range.  The downside was the rain and cold for most of Saturday’s racing.   

The Chicago Beneteau 40.7 Fleet does not allow any “professional” sailors aboard for any race in a class event, which is a race on Lake Michigan in which the 40.7’s have their own start, with the exception of this event, the Colors Regatta.  The class defines “professional” as anyone who is categorized in Group 2 or Group 3 as defined by ISAF (http://www.sailing.org/28577.php).

The purpose of allowing pros for this event is to enhance the skills of the fleet and to allow sailmakers a chance to review their products in one-design competition. 

Andrew Kerr, Vayu’s coach and trainer for ten years, was aboard for all races of this year’s Colors Regatta.  Andrew works to coach the team on trimming and the kinetics of racing as well as working with Vayu’s tactician, Rob Rafson.   

Although not a professional sailor, Bob Vickery, skipper of the 40.7 Collaboration, was aboard Mojo and driving her for both of Saturday’s races.  Bob focused primarily on getting Mojo’s rig tuned and the result, in her increased speed and ability to point, was noted not just by her crew and by the other boats but by the final scores, with Mojo tying for 1^st place. 

Perry Lewis, from North Sails was aboard Excalibur for Saturday and on Spanker on Sunday.  Mike Considine, from UK-Halsey Sails, was aboard Mojo on Sunday.  Of course Dawn Riley, doing the video from a chase boat, was assisting the Das Boot team.  

This was the first buoy regatta, in the three years in which Mojo with the 40.7 fleet, that she has finished in the top three and taken home an award flag.  Mojo’s skipper, Jeff Comeaux, had this to say about their accomplishment:

“We especially enjoyed this regatta because we finally got Mojo's speed at a level that allowed us to compete.  Since we purchased this boat in 2007, we've had an uphill battle trying to figure out tuning and trim characteristics of the 40.7.  Many of the 40.7 owners and crew have all contributed to our slow learning curve, however Bob Vickery truly deserves most of the credit.  Bob sailed with us on Saturday and helped us fine tune our rigging.  Gary, Scott and I feel that we may have finally found "the" baseline" for our boat and we hope that going forward, we can make adjustments when needed that will help us maintain good speed, pointing, etc.  I would give my vote to Bob Vickery for the MVP.

“Sunday Race Summary - In race one, we felt that Vayu was slightly faster with equal pointing.  Hence, Vayu beat us in race one.  In race two, we made a few adjustments and felt that our speed was equal - perhaps slightly faster at times with equal pointing.  The last quarter mile of the upward leg was interesting and changed our 2-3 boat.  If we didn't have two dips, we may have held our 2-3 boat lead, perhaps beaten Vayu.  Overall, we were thrilled with our performance and results.

“Notable moment - our first leg in race two....we were the first boat at the windward mark.  As I turned on the mark, I took a quick glance to my left and saw the entire 40.7 fleet to our lee. NICE !!” 

This is what Bob Vickery had to say about his experience this weekend on Mojo:

“From what I saw on Saturday and heard about Sunday, it was hard fought.  Don't be too surprised Mojo sailed well on Sunday as I understand they had Mike Considine on board keeping them going well.   

“As for my involvement with Mojo, I enjoy helping people that are appreciative of my effort and the Mojo team seems to truly appreciate my help.  This is the second year I have helped them for a day at the Colors Regatta and they are making progress. 

“From my perspective, all of the 40.7 skippers are seasoned sailors and have experienced some sort of success racing.  The challenge for new sailors entering our fleet seems to be understanding the characteristics of the 40.7 rig and the range of adjustment.  Team Mojo isn't any different.  They are all good sailors and can handle the boat, but getting the rig tuned correctly has taken some effort.

“Saturday morning, I spent two hours trying to get the rig tuned correctly.  We didn't get it perfect, but we did make it a great deal better than what they had been sailing with.  Since they were short handed, I tracked down two of my most enthusiastic crew members to lend further help.  Laura Olsen and Mark Palikowski came running down to Belmont Harbor Saturday morning after I woke them from a sound sleep.  Their enthusiasm should not be understated.  It was cold and raining, perfect conditions to stay in bed on a Saturday morning and yet they came down to the harbor in record time and really contributed to Mojo's success.  

“Once we had the rig right, we headed for the starting area and did a little sail tuning.  From there it was just a matter of a good start and getting sails up and down.” 

3^rd Place Tsunami’s driver, Bryan Hayes, weighed in on the regatta with these comments:

“I don’t think anybody enjoyed the rain and cold on Saturday.   Jay Muller put it best when he said that he has worn less skiing. 

“It was very important to keep the boat moving fast all weekend.  We saw a lot of puffs and lulls that required constant attention to keep the boat speed up.  I don’t think we had enough backstay on Sunday upwind.  I wanted more power for the light spots and the little bit of chop but the forestay was too soft, and the main full and round with very little twist so we couldn’t point that great but we had speed a few degrees lower.  Next time in similar conditions I think it would be better to have added backstay to reduce headstay sag, flatten the main, and open the main leach for a more forgiving shape and better pointing.  Our MVP is always DH (Don Hayes, Tsunami’s skipper and mainsail trimmer).  He is the heart and soul of Tsunami.  

“Mojo looked fast all weekend.  Congrats to the whole Mojo gang on a great regatta.  They really seem to have boat speed.  We started the 2nd race Sunday at the pin with Mojo a boat length to weather and on our hip.  We have had a lot of success in that position in the past.  As best as we tried we could not climb up on them and get on their leebow and drop them back.  We had plenty of room to leeward to gain speed and work up on them, but they were fast and held their height beautifully.  We eventually had to tack and take their stern.  They did a great job.  

“My guess is we haven’t seen the last of Mojo.  Our fleet is only getting better.  The better any one of us get than the better we all get.    “

Vayu’s practice and hard work were on full display watching them round the weather mark.  I think they gained a boat length on the fleet every top mark with good driving and well timed crew work.  They also seemed very fast downwind.  Theirr spinnaker seemed a little more squared back and they also were heeled more to weather at lower wind speeds than the rest of the fleet. 

“It is great to see how boats are finding faster and faster ways to sail.  There is a lot to learn and there is still more speed in these boats that we haven’t uncovered yet.   

“Special thanks to Cate Muller for helping organize our video review and helping make the clinic happen. Se did a great job.  Thanks to Dawn Riley and Andrew Kerr, their experience and insight were very helpful and can only help our fleet sail better.  Tsunami learned a lot this Colors Regatta.

“Our 40.7 fleet is looking good.  I think everyone is ready for the NOOD, and as we have seen, anything can happen.  Good luck to everyone and lets go out there and race like hell!” 

Finally, Tsunami’s tactician, Tory Enerson had these observations:

“What a great regatta!  I thought that it was a very challenging regatta in many ways. 

“The wind was so flukey that it made tactical decisions very difficult, as well as making it difficult to keep boat speed up.  I found our polars very helpful in that regard.  As far as tactics, I thought that the most important decision was to stay out of the middle of the course (a lesson we learned the hard way on the first upwind leg on Saturday).  The far right or far left seemed to do almost equally well, with the exception of a few isolated legs.

“Downwind, I thought that the angles were king, along with clear fresh breeze.  I think I used my hand bearing compass as much this weekend as I have in any regatta.  I was very impressed with how the fleet has consolidated.  It was so great to see Mojo doing so well.  I think that on the first day it was easy to attribute some of that to Bob Vickery’s guest helming, but they came out on Sunday with Jeff driving and did a fantastic job and have really showed such great improvement on all facets of racing, particularly their boat speed has been great.  I was pleased that they were able to maintain their position for both days and tie for first.  It seems to be very helpful to have this be our 'pro' regatta to help everyone with honing our sailing ability. 

“Even though Tsunami did not have a pro, we still benefit from having the pros on other boats to measure ourselves against.  I really enjoyed the debrief with Dawn and Andrew, even though Dawn told me I wasn’t allowed to drink before any more debriefings in the future. 

“As to the MVP on Tsunami, I would have to give the award to our long-time family friend, Eric Esko.  He has been sailing with us for two years now, but this is his first time running the foredeck.  Our 19 year old Kansas freshman was flawless up there, and I couldn’t be prouder of him. 

“All in all, I really love this regatta.  A great tune up for the NOOD, Columbia is a great host, and of course, sailing with all of you is always a great challenge and pleasure.”    

Upcoming:  The NOOD Regatta, three days of intense racing this weekend (Friday through Sunday, June 19-21^st) hosted by Chicago Yacht Club.  Will last year’s 40.7 winner, Turning Point, come back and triumph again?  Or will long-time NOOD champion La Tempete reestablish her dominance? 

Twelve boats will be competing for the honors. 

Stay tuned and keep up with results and regatta daily reports at:  NOOD 2009   

Photos of the 40.7 Fleet at the Colors Regatta start at:  Colors Photos

Suggestion:  use the full screen play option. 

More 2008 & 2009 fleet photos start with:  40.7 Photos 

Anyone can submit photos for publishing on the 40.7 websites.Email to cygnus(at)interaccess.com. 

A history of the 40.7 results of the Colors (formerly West Marine, formerly Boaters World) Regattas since 2003 is at:Colors History