2009 J-22 Austin Circuit Stop

Mark Salih asked me to steer his boat in the recent J-22 Austin Circuit stop held over the April 4-5 weekend. We recruited my trusty sailing partner John Morran to round out the crew and we were excited to get back on the water. We really hadn't raced seriously since the Mallory Cup finals in September so naturally, I was a little worried about the rust accumulation.

We got out on the Friday afternoon before the event for a little practice and shook off the cobwebs of not having been on J-22 since the 2008 Midwinter's a little over a year ago. Since the forecast was for strong winds on Saturday, we decided to use some older sails to preserve our new sails for the North Americans which will be held at Rush Creek this fall. Mark, John and I plan to enter that event and we wanted to use this regatta as a tune-up.

The J-22 Class in Texas always has a strong turn-out and the competition is very tough. I would venture to say that the top 5 boats in Texas make up at least 5 out of the top 15 boats in the country. If you can win in Texas, the odds are pretty good that you will do well on a national and probably international level.

Regrettably, I didn't get a copy of the final results and don't have the registered boats so I will have to operate from memory. I believe there were 22 to 25 boats registered with most of the top guys there. We were missing Terry Flynn, Kelson Elam and Jeff Progelhoff though. If those teams had been competing, the competition would have been mindbogglingly. J-22 veterans like Rob Johnston, Marvin Beckman, Max Scott and Eric Faust were going to provide a tough battle for us.

On Saturday, the breeze started out quite strong from the typical southerly direction. The forecast was for the breeze to slowly die during the day with a strong cold front coming in later that night. Saturday certainly looked like it was going to be a great day of racing. We got out early and got the rig tuned for the conditions. I have reached the conclusion from years of racing J-24's, J-80's and J-22's that the boats sail best when the leeward shrouds are just starting to go loose. And, for what it is worth, it is usually better to be caught with your rig too loose rather than too tight.

With the wind cranking pretty hard prior to the first race, we had the rig tuned pretty tight. As time went on, it seemed that the really strong puffs were fewer and farther between so we started gradually loosening the rig. On the J-22, I always make sure that the back stay bridles don't get too tight or too loose for the given wind conditions. If the backstay bridles are too tight, the headstay and jib luff will be tight in the lulls and the jib won't be able to sag enough to keep the boat powered up. If the bridles are too loose, it is impossible to get the back stay on tight enough in the big puffs. So...it is imperative that the bridles are adjusted every time the upper and lower shrouds are adjusted.

At the first start, we were near the leeward end of the line and had a pretty average start. We were able to tack out and duck a few boats and get in phase with the shifts. By the first weather mark, we were in the top 3 and were able to work our way into the lead to win the race fairly comfortably. I don't remember the specifics about the 2nd and 3rd race but do remember not having super great starts but getting ourselves in phase with the oscillating shifts and getting ourselves into a top 3 position at the first weather mark and we were able to eventually work our way into the lead for a win in each of the first 3 races.

Each race, the breeze and backed off a bit and it was starting to look pretty light and sketchy for the fourth race of the day. The pin end was quite favored for the 4th race and we were fighting for it with Marvin Beckman. As it turned out, we were both over early and had to restart. The wind then began to swing to the East and die even more leaving the race to be a bit of a one tack fetch on each leg. This did not bode well for our chances of a full recovery from our premature start. We sailed just an okay race and eventually finished 8th in the race. At the end of the first day, we held a 2 point lead over Rob Johnston after our less than stellar 8th in the last race of the day.

In retrospect, there was really no reason to risk a premature start. We were sailing well enough that if had just gotten an average start, the odds are pretty good we could crack the top 5. The 8th place finished made our 3 bullets seem not so amazing! On Sunday, the front that was predicted had arrived and the wind was gusting to 40 mph from the north. After postponing the start for a couple of hours to see if the wind would lay, the race committee eventually decided to cancel racing for the day and the regatta was ours. It is always a blast to race the J-22 and John Morran and Mark Salih did a great job as always. We can't wait to sail a few more events this summer in preparation of the J-22 North Americans this fall.