J-22 North Americans, Dallas, TX

Sorry for the long delay since my last post. Things have been pretty busy around the Young household and sailing has had to take a backseat for a while. After a couple of month sailing hiatus, I am very excited to be competing in the J-22 North Americans which begin tomorrow (9-30) and are being hosted by the Rush Creek Yacht Club outside of Dallas.

I taught sailing during my high school and college summers at Rush Creek and the place and people have a special place in my heart. Rush Creek offers one of the best one-design racing venues of anywhere in the country and the hospitality and the quality of the race management is unmatched.

My good friends, Mark Salty and John Morran are sailing with me and as usual, we are kind of jumping in at the last minute and are hoping for the best. Mark owns the boat and has generously offered me the opportunity to drive. The three of us have been friends since we were teenagers and it is literally all we can do to stop laughing long enough to race. Needless to say, we have a lot of dirt on each other!

The economy and the long distance from the larger J-22 hubs of the mid-west and east coast will likely keep the fleet number at close to 40 boats but the depth of the competition will be great.

The fleet includes former World Champion Terry Flynn, Kelson Elam, Marvin Beckman (who recently won the Etchells 22 North Americans), Rob Johnston, Jeff Progelhof, Chris Doyal, Max Scott, Eric Faust....just to name a few. I am sure there are plenty boats from other parts of the country that I haven't had the pleasure to race against that will be super tough as well.

I love the J-22 for the simplicity and the overall level playing field it provides. Older boats are equally competitive with newer boats and they all go about the same speed. It really boils down to tactics and crew work and the ability to change gears as the wind velocity dictates

The weather forecast is for perfect sailing conditions with temperatures in the mid 80's and a solid 10-20 mph for the next couple of days. The regatta is scheduled to be a nine race series with one throw-out after five races are completed.

From my experience with racing on Lake Ray Hubbard, it is key to stay in phase with the wind shifts, sail what you have and don't try and chase shifts. Good, mid-line starts will work fine and if you can get yourself in a position to tack on the first shift to get in phase, your chances are good that you will be in the hunt at the first windward mark.

The key for me in any series with a lot of good sailors is to just try and be consistent and not make any major mistakes. Usually, over the course of three days on shifty lake sailing, the team that avoids the major meltdown will be there at the end.

Hopefully, I will be able to shake off the rust and get us a few good starts and let Mark and John will drag me around the course from there. I will keep you posted!