Muhthull! t 99 No tebook Sponsoredby GORSAIR MARINE 5 6 Roleof theUSYRU Multihull Council I n the past, multihull sailors were homogeneouswith the rest of the sailing I community within USYRU. Their representationwas mainly throughvarious one- I designclass associations, not multihull sailorsas a whole. With the formation of I the Multihull Council, multihull sailors as a group now have a more visible position within USYRU. The Multihull Council has a seaton the USYRU Board of Directors,and even though it is only one vote, we can be heard. The Council is madeup of multihull organizationsand other interestedgroups; the direction the Council takes is largely determined by the input of the member organi- zations. The Council is not an arm of USYRU telling sailorshow things are going to be; instead,it is their forum to determinethe multihull position on all USYRU affairs and conveythat positionto the Board of Directors. So,now that multihull sailorshave a voice in the Union. use it! r AMERICANSAILOR o JULY1991 17 Cot ConYerts FourHot MonohullSqilors Turned Mulfihull Soilors ShoreSome Insights on theChqllenge, Excitement ond Compeiilionof SpeedSoiling BY TODD SMITH sailing much like his Olympic-class Tornado sprinting off the starting line. In 1988,Pete, along with his crew, Pat il t is well understoodthat one of rhe Muglia, won the Tornado trials and t.V objectivesol sailboatracing is I representedthe U.S. in Korea. Since to get aroundthe courseas fast as I that time. Pete has won the Tornado I possible.And whatbetterway to go Nationals,the 1989 ProSail circuit on fast than to sail a high-aspectratio, Hobie 21s, and competedin the Little lightweight multihull. Many of the America's Cup on perhapsthe highest PeteMelvin finest sailorsfrom monohull rankshave technology catamaran afloat, the C- recentlyrecognized that they can com- Pete: After racing the 470 for so class Catamaran. bine thechallenges of yachtracing with many years,I wantedto try something During AmericanSailor' s interview, that added excitement of adrenalin- new and exciting. I had always liked Peteexpanded on his involvementwith pumping speed. the Tomado; she looked fast and fun. multihulls. This recent trend of accomplished What also turned me on to multihulls monohullers turned multihullers has AS: What attracted you to the were the people sailing the boats. taken place in the land well known for Tornado versus the other Olympic- Everybody seemed to have a good trendsetting,Southem Califomia. Per- classboats? attitude. hapsthe most recognizedname to start racingcats is DennisConner, who made the switch in the world's most presti- USYRUMultihull Council gious yacht race.the America'i Cup. I99l Officersond Areo Representotives Many otherpopular names in theracing community have also started racing Chairman Gordonlsco 1602 Eddings (618)457-8702 multihulls to quench that "need for Carbondale,lL 62901 speed," including Pete Melvin, Pease ViceChairman HenryWaite P.O.Box 1328 (201) 349-2388 Glaser, Steve Rosenberg and Craig TomsRiver, NJ 08754 Leweck. Secretary ToddSmith 10965Rochester Ave. #303 (213)473-4004 Westwood,CA 90024 Pete Melvin AreaA TonyVandenoever P.O.Box 660 (508)866-7559 SouthCarver, MA 02366 PeteMelvin has masteredmany dif- Area B RogerMunz P.O.Box 236 (516)298-4672 ferent classesduring his sailing career. Laurel,NY 11948 In his younger years growing up in AreaC HenryWaite P.O.Box 1328 (201) 349-2388 Florida, Petewon the Optimist Nation- TomsRiver, NJ 08754 als on numerous occasions. He then Area D TomHllls 114 Alden Dr. (904)862-3880 moved into the 420 classwhere he won Ft.Walton Beach, FL 32548 the USYRU Youth DoublehandedCham- Area E TomTannert 178Wichita Place (216) 836-01 11 pionshipsin consecutiveyears. Then, Akron,OH 44313 at the ripe old age of 14, Peteraced in Area F J.D.Smith P.O.Box 841 (903)872-561 1 the 19'T6International470 Trials. It Corsicana,TX 75151 was here that Pete starteda long cam- Area G WayneMooneyham 3859Suncrest Dr. (408)272-2097 paign to representthe U.S. in an Olym- SanJose, CA 95132 pic class. Area H PaulUlibarri 10559Evanston N. (206)364-9938 Seattle,WA 98133 Despitetwo very successfulU.S. Trials in 1980(second place) and 1984(third AreaJ RichardBlount 191IStrand (213) 379-6345 HermosaBeach, CA 90253 place) in the 410 class,Pete continued Area K GeorgeGerhardt '1913 Fairview (404) on his quest to reach the Olympics. 233-5153 Oshkosh,Wl 54901 After graduatingfrom Boston Univer- IYRUMultihull Rep. PeaseGlaser 258Glendora Ave. (213) 433-9930 sity, Petemoved to Long Beach,CA, to LongBeach, CA 90803 begin his professionalengineering ca- Offshore BillDoelger 34 WhitePine Rd. (617)964-2670 reer. And it was also at this time that NewtonUpper Falls, MA 02164 Pete made the switch from high per- PortsmouthCte. MarkHarris 2027ValenciaWay (702)355-7035 formance dinghy sailing to master a Sparks,NV 89434 - new breedof cat multihulls. PortsmouthCte. DarlineHobock 5373E. 27thSt. (918) 744-8803 In less than two years,Pete acceler- Chairman Tulsa,OK 74114 ated on the leaming curve of multihull AMERICANSAILOR o JULY1991 19 After moving to California, I startedsailing the Tomado S with my crew PatMuglia. We both hadthe opportunityto sail the boat threeto four times a week. often after work during the 3 6 summer. We went to the pre-trialsin Newport, RI, and came in secondbehind Gary Knapp (anothermonohuller turned multihuller). We were very encouragedafter that regatta.At E the 1987Tornado Worlds in Kiel, we were the top American finisher. We had come this far, so we decidedto go for it and boat hard the next six months in preparation campaignedthe 6 for the U.S. Trials. We peakedat the right time and won the c 1988 Trials, representingthe U.S. in the Tornado class. AS.. What advice would you give to other multihull sailors? Pete: Most peopleswitching from monohullsto multihulls havelittle problem gettingthe boat to do well upwind. What really separatesthe cat sailorsfrom the monohull sailors is downwind vang. In dinghies, you usually vang the main closed like a bamdoor. In multihulls, you have to induce the proper twist This is where the experiencedmul- along the entire sail. w.:-w sail- tihuller hasthe advantageover newcomers.Downwind Peaseand Jay Glaser jam on board a Prindle19. ing is totally differentin catswith the way you sheetthe main, thetwist of the sailsand the angleson which you sail theboat. crewing experienceon the multihulls (world championTor- The bestway to becomeproficient in multihulls is to spend nado crew and multi-time Tornado national champion and a lot of time on the boat. And one of the best things about Prindlecrew) havepropelled this teamto the #l U.S. ranking multihulls is that other cat sailors are very open about in the Tomado class. Along the way havebeen two Tomado sharing advice on boatspeed techniques, tuning tips, North American titles, a Tornado Nationals title, a second- rigging ideas,etc. placefinish at the 1990USYRU Alter Cup on Prindle l8-2s, and many firsts on the SouthemCalifornia Prindle circuit. PeaseGlaser Peaseshared some thoughts regarding women rn In 1988, women sailors sailing and multihull sailing. becamethe hot topic of dis- AS.' You have shown that women can competeon cussionamong sailboatrac- a level playing field with men in multihull sailing. ers when Allison Jolly and Not only are you the #1 U.S. Tornado skipper, but Lynne Jewell brought home you are also the first woman to be a top-ranked U.S. the gold in the Women's skipper in an open Olympic class. Do you think that 470 Olympic class. Women this will help entice other women into multihull have long been excellent sailing? sailors,but the stellar suc- Pease: Women have beencompeting successfully cessof Allison and Lynne for awhile; I'm hardly the first. But yes, women can brought women sailors to compete equally with men in multihulls (and many the limelight in the yacht- other classesfor that matter). I think that the recent ing community. And in successand positive responseof dinghy sailors who this booming era of more have begun sailing catamaranshas encouragedother women competitors, yet dinghy sailors to branch out. I would hope that my another woman has made a successwould similarly encourageother women. mark for herselfby becom- If anyonehad told me three years ago that I would be ing the first woman from PeaseGlaser helming a catamaran,I would have laughed. But the the U.S. to be ranked#1 in boats are really fun to sail - not frightening. Women an open (co-ed)Olympic class:Pease Glaser. can be effective skipperingor crewing. For us, it works well The boat that Peasehas masteredjust happens to be to have Jay, who is stronger, stand on the side and trim the anothertrendsetter, the hot-rod Tomado. But just how did main. On the other hand, one of the top-ranked Tornado Peasego from a high-performancedinghy sailor to a high- crews in the U.S. in the pastfew yearsis a mother of teenage performancemultihull sailor? As Peaserecalls, "After the children,and shetrims the main from the wire. The issueisn't 1988Trials, I wanted to start racing a Snipe,which sportsa necessarilystrength, but technique. strongfleet in SouthemCalifornia. My boyfriendat the time, Jay Glaser, didn't want to hike and bought us a Tornado AS.' You have experiencedthe best of both worlds: the instead. formality and tradition of yacht club organized sailing Peaseand Jay have since married and have been tearing through the Olympic classesand the casual off-the-beach around the courseon multihulls ever since. In fact, at their sailing through the Prindle classes. How do these two first major regatta,the 1988 Tomado Nationals, Peaseand types of sailing compare? Jay came in second. The combination of Pease'sdriving Pease: Once you get on the water to go racing, it really skills (honed by 470 competition) coupled with Jay's vast doesn'tmatter if you're sailing out of a yacht club in Europe 20 AMERICANSAILOR o JULY1991 or off the beachin SouthernCalifomia.