WINNER'S DEBRIEF / IT.ITERVIEW BY DAVE REED Yoodoo, WwldChicago N00D

When it comesto big-fleet one-designkeelboat racing on the Great Lakes,nothing deliverslike the Tartan Ten.So when Richard Grunsten,of Chicago,had to put his Farr 40 program on the back burner in favor of businessand family, he and longtime crewGavinFlinn boughtaT-Ten to keeptheirhands in the game.Theyunearthed a derelictand gaveit a newlife by repainting it, stripping offexcessgear, and giving it a contem- porary deck layout.'At the 2002Nationals, our first event, everyonewas making bets that we wouldn t finish in the top 10,"says Grunsten.'A lot of peopleeven told me that the boat was setup all wrong. But after we won, the boat becameheav- ily visited."In addition to a fastboat, Grunstenand his Voodoo team havebrought with them their Farr used boat; in other words, determine 40 experience,not to mention a few pro- whatyou're going to useit for. Becausewe fessionals,upsetting the peckingorder at decidedearly on that the focusofour rac- the top of the classand changingthe way ing was going to be strictly inshore yoodoo the boat is sailed.They kicked off their around-the-buoysracing, co-owners cavln Flinn (left) and it waseasy for RichardGrunsten. 2003season with a decisivewin in the 48- us to reconfigurethe boat for that pur- boat fleet at the Sailing World Chicago pose.Westripped offclose to 200pounds Whatwouldit costto upgradeto alay- NOOD. We talked with Grunsten and of unnecessaryhardware; including the out like yours? Flinn afterwardsto get the low-down on spinnakerpole track, four winches,reef- Barring the cosmetics,someone could their success. ing gear,stove, a porcelainhead (replaced spendroughly $1,800on hardwareto get Gavin, what were your priorities be- with Porta-Potty),and a bunch of other to a deck that looks like ours-keep in fore you started the refit? stuff. Laying out the deck was more a mind we don't have much becausewe First,and this is important, it's good to processof eliminationthan addition.(See don't racePHRF or distanceraces. Cos- establish some criteria when buying a photo below.) metically,the toughestthing is reshaping

A NEW IMPROVEDDECIK LAYOUT While improvinqthe efficienff the 2S-year-oldTartan Tendeck layout,Grunsten and Flinnmade Hull No 31.|look like it was born yesterday.Here's what they did: * Removedtour cockpitwinches, kept two cabintopwinches + Removedclutch banks and usedtwo halyardjammers, with rollers and/orturning blocks to get the halyardto a winch t Placedspinnaker cleat on the mast t Replacedhigh hand rails with low-profilerails beside companionway * Configuredblocks to enablecross sheeting the .} Moldedin cockpitfoot chocksfor jib trimmerand helmsman * Coveredtoe rail with PVCpipe to reduceleg bruising 0 * Changedto spinnakerpole storage on the boom z * Replaceda squareforward hatch with roundhatch U Y + Ledjib cunninghamto both sidesforward of secondstanchion E * = Placedouthaul under boom on swivelcleat o + Placedmainsail cunningham aft of maston a swivelcleat above I vangattachment N E i Movedforward spinnaker turning blocks forward for lessfriction and purchase 0 better c o

SarLrxo WoRLo September 2OO3 ."J the hole for a round forward hatch and WHAT'SA SPEEDBUILD? the guyswho sail with us havebeen with grinding off the old non-skid,but those Yq're not allored to userind instru- us for the pastfive years.We alsohad rel- are great winter projects for any crew. atively conservative mmts on the TartanTen so target boat- startsbecause we feel Why did you bother changing the for- we havea fastboat sowe don't necessari- sts€ds arc useless.We use tle spaedo wardhatch? ly needto push it too much on the line. wfiile goingthrcugh tads so re ftnou Virtually everybody in this class However,in a 48-boatfleet, if you're sec- wherere arc in our "speedbuiHs.' launchesthrough the companionway,but ond row, it's hard to dig back to the top As we set up fur a taclt depeldingon with sweptspreaders, it meansthe spin- 10, so we did push it when necessary. the condltions,we prft thc bon naker has to get draggedaround the rig downa Once we in off the start we hike little 'before it sets.We launch and douse bit to builda bit of speed.The crer harder and we vang sheetfar more ag- through the forward hatch, just as we do leansin andthen out to initiate the roll gressivelythan anyone else.We hike as on the 40. It's more efficient, faster,and so the helmsmancan turn the rudderas we do on the Farr 40-all out-and we puts far lesswear and tear on the spin- llttle as posslble.As we beginttc tacft tend to sail a bit higher with about the naker.It's a lot easierto launchthrough a the jlb trimmr will note the speedm samepace. round hatch. The bow guy dousesit-no the speedo. Is vang sheeting fast on this boat? one goesbelow to drag it down-he As rc completeour tck andthe boat The Tartan Ten has a deck-stepped grabsthe leewardend of the kite and is cornlngback up onto its llrc, the sails mast; it's a very large section and the starts stuffing it and the mast guy trips are immedlatelytrlmmed in to 85 per spreadersare swept really far back. So the halyard. ccnt. Tlc last 15 percentof the trim- when we vang sheetwe're attemptingto When we sail with sevenwe also havea mostly the flb-is countedup by the jib put the boom through the back of the designatedpit guywho standson a bench trimmer wlrois watchlngthe sFeedoand mast to flatten the main, which allows us that we built, attached to the settees is telliq the helmsmanhor the sS to sail with some sagin the headstayso below which raiseshim to chestlevel in bulldls going.Once the speedomatelrc we can punch through the waves. the companionway.He standsthere and the numberfoom the oppositetactt the Wethinkthe sailscan be made a lot flat- doesall the controls and the toD- sails ulll be cqnpl€tetytrimned andthe ter by vang sheeting,which letsyou go the per and foreguy. samespeed, but at a higher angle.Too jib trlmmer will say,"Up to speed."Then You had blazing speed in Chicago. many guysin this fleet sail around with he'll go to a tull hlke. What's the story? their booms up, with their leechesopen, We had a consistentcrew. Seriously, all and with lots of fullness in the front end

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Reader Seruice No. 37 SarLrxo WoRLD Seotember 2OO3 {

jib stant,"Chug, chug, chug."You can learn lg of the sails.What we do is very different We'll also work the cunningham to recognizethe sound if you're going than that. through the puffs aswell. What that does faster or slower.It takesa while to devel- Have any light-air tiPs? is flatten the luff of the sail by dragging and making a more ef- op,but it reallyworks.I discoveredit dur- We definitely Put people below, weight the draft forward jib, ing one Mac racewhen I was sleePing forward and to leeward, and then just ficient entry for the making it less down below I could hear the water and power everythingup: no ,Ioose powerfirlin the higherwind ranges. could tell whether we were going faster vang,jib carsforward, and scallopsin the Richard, what's your advice on work- slower.It soundsgoofr, but it's using jib. We'revery consciousin light air of ingthehelm? or at all your senses. crew placement;forward but no more I listen to the water more than I look Gavin, you guys got someheat for sail- than one personforward of the shrouds. the speedometer.In watchingother boats, ingwith pros in Chicago (three of six on- We believethe boat is besttrimmed by I've noticedthat peopletend to work the board). How do you resPond? not diggingin the bow, and easingthe tiller too much. They don't narrow their The guyswe racewith-both Category transom abovethe water a bit' Down- groovequite asmuch asthey should.You ls (amateurs)and Category3s (profes- wind, we havetwo peoplein the cockpit can set how tight the groove is by how sionals)-on the Farr 40 wereinvited to and everyoneelse out the rails' The rud- tight you adjust your jib halyard and sailwith us on the Tenbecause it's part of der is large so dragging it around is a no- sheets.A wider grooveis easierto sailto, the program. Our perspectiveis that we no. With that said,steering the boat with but a tightergroove is fasterand more dif- haveour group,many ofwhom arepro- crew weight is very difficult so a small ficult. Basedon one'slevel of experience, im- fessionals,but we will sail with whatever amount of rudder movementis required. I think a helmsman,as he or she the classdecides. Currently we can sail What about heavY-airtechniques? proves,should havea goal to narrow that with our professionals,so we do. Crosssheeting is a must. Allowing the groove.I've come a long way,but I still We are encouragingthe classto contin- jib trimmer to makeadjustments without havea long way to go' tightening up the rules,but the reality is going to leeward is very simple. As far as What do you mean bY listening to the ue that the top-five boats are all boats owned keepingthe boat flat,the toe rail is painfrrl water? by boat buildersand boatyardowners- as hell, so we coveredit with white PVC There's a consistencYto the water professionalsailors under the ISAFcode' tubing. Otherwise,as on other boats,we splashingagainst the boat. One way to We sailwith our guysbecause our interest haveone guy call the breeze,and as the developthat senseis to spendsome time in improving, and theseguys are essen- puff comeson the travelergoes down. If inside the boat and listen to the water is tiallyour onboardcoaches. + it's a big one we try to getmore backstay' movingalongside the hull...it'sa con-

ffi It willconsume You.

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Sailing.SPread the Word Y 1-BO0-966-SAIL' www.teamvanguard.com VANGUARd Reader Seruice No. 17