{"id":65727,"date":"2016-06-21T18:07:36","date_gmt":"2016-06-21T22:07:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/?p=65727"},"modified":"2023-05-06T21:18:38","modified_gmt":"2023-05-07T01:18:38","slug":"keeping-it-competitive-as-a-corinthian-in-a-pro-fleet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/how-to\/keeping-it-competitive-as-a-corinthian-in-a-pro-fleet\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping it Competitive as a Corinthian in a Pro Fleet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n At the 2016 Sperry Charleston Race Week, the Melges 24 fleet mixed pros and corinthians, and proved that you don’t have to be a professional to do well.<\/span>\n Quantum Sails<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

At the 2016 Sperry Charleston Race Week, a number of boats in the Melges 24 and J\/70 fleets proved you don\u2019t have to be a pro to be competitive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

One of the most unique aspects of sailing is that amateur teams get to test their chops against the pros on a regular basis in fleets like that of the Melges 24 and J\/70. But for some newcomers, that can be a burden as much as a blessing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

More than 200 boats of all skill levels gathered this sprint at the 2016 Sperry Charleston Race Week. We talked to two top Corinthian teams, Dr. John Arendshorst who owns the J\/70 20\/20 and siblings and boat owners Megan and Hunter Ratliff of the Melges 24 Decorum, to find out their secrets for success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

1. Find a great group of people to sail with<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n

Arendshorst says he\u2019s been fortunate to gather a group of good friends who are also good sailors from his home area of Macatawa Bay, MI. \u201cThere\u2019s a great group of people that find time to want to sail. If you can at least keep the nucleus of the group together for most of your events it helps a lot,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

The Ratliff\u2019s echo that sentiment. \u201cWe like to keep people on the boat that are fun, and we have a good time together,\u201d says Megan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

2. Follow the guide<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n

Quantum is constantly working to update its tuning guides for the various one-design boats. \u201cThe tuning guide is a good starting point. As you improve and get to know the boat, you can make small adjustments for how you like to sail, how heavy your crew is, and other variables,\u201d Arendshorst says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s nice about the tuning guide is that it\u2019s pretty easy to follow. It\u2019s almost plug and play. And for all the fine-tuning, [Quantum\u2019s] Marty Kullman, Scott Nixon, and Chris Rast have been very helpful. It\u2019s nice to have access to experts in the class,\u201d says Hunter Ratliff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

3. In sportboats, speed wins<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are some old big displacement boat sailors that like to sail the boat really high and slow and it\u2019s awful,\u201d says Arendshorst. \u201cIn a boat like this, you\u2019ve got to put your foot into it and get the thing going. The foils work better the faster the boat goes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

4. Don’t be afraid of bad finishes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n

It can be intimidating to come into a big fleet like the J\/70 or the Melges 24 and face dozens of boats on the starting line\u2014there were 67 J\/70s in Charleston this year\u2014many of them with professional sailors on board. But the opportunity to sail against that caliber of crew can really push you to get better faster. \u201cIt helps so much to sail against the top guys because it really pushes you to develop as a team at a faster rate,\u201d says Hunter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

5. In big breeze, choreography is king<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve just bought a J\/70 or a Melges 24, you probably did so anticipating a wild downwind ride, and you\u2019re sure not to be disappointed! But sailing a sport boat in big breeze becomes less about tactics and more about boat handling. \u201cAt 25 knots, it\u2019s all about keeping the boat upright, so having a crew with good choreography is a real asset,\u201d says Arendshorst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

6. Time in the boat<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n

The best way to improve your crew choreography is to spend as much time in the boat as possible, sailing in a variety of conditions. Since they\u2019ve bought their boats, both the Ratliff\u2019s and Arendshorst have sailed the summer and circuits in the Midwest and south.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

7. Ask questions and use your resources<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n

While we can\u2019t all spend 250 days per year on the water, we can all learn from those who do. At Sperry Charleston Race Week, Quantum\u2019s Ed Baird offered a number of off-the-water talks and informational sessions. There were also post-race dock and debriefing sessions led by Quantum pros designed to help all crews improve. \u201cEveryone is really willing to share information that will help you get to the next level,\u201d says Hunter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

8. Keep things in perspective<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n

A big fleet still only has one first place. If your primary goal is to stand on top of the podium, the Melges 24 and J\/70 fleets may not offer the best opportunity. However if you\u2019re looking for some fun and excitement, you\u2019ve come to the right place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re going to have good results and you\u2019re going to have poor results, but any time you\u2019re going 18 knots in a sailboat planning downwind it\u2019s really difficult not to have a smile on your face,\u201d says Hunter.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You don’t need to be a pro or have a pro on board to win races. Two top corinthian teams share their strategy for making to the top.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19599,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"BS_author_type":"BS_author_is_guest","BS_guest_author_name":"Quantum Sails","BS_guest_author_url":"","hydra_display_date":"20160621","hydra_display_updated":false,"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"156","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"You don't need to be a pro or have a pro on board to win races. Two top corinthian teams share their strategy for making to the top.","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Keeping it Competitive as a Corinthian in a Pro Fleet %%sep%% %%sitename%%","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","arc_story_id":"TBJ6NSS2QLTU5CPYY7GHTPGVEQ","arc_website_url":"keeping-it-competitive-as-corinthian-in-pro-fleet\/","custom_permalink":"","arc_subtype":"right-sidebar","arc_exclude_from_feeds":false,"sponsored":false,"sponsored_label":"Sponsored Content","sponsored_display_label":false,"sponsored_image":0,"post_right_rail":true,"post_right_rail_ad_1":true,"post_right_rail_ad_2":true,"post_right_rail_ad_3":false,"post_right_rail_ad_4":false,"post_right_rail_recirc":true,"fixed_anchor_ad":true,"post_top_ad":true,"post_off_ramp":true,"post_taboola":false,"labels":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[156],"tags":[272,713,714,284,183,235],"class_list":["post-65727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-to","tag-charleston-race-week","tag-corinthian-sailing","tag-quantum","tag-regatta-series-tips","tag-sailing-how-to","tag-tactics"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65727\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}