1994 - ncesa

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Melges-Sobstad ZENDA WIN LIST! Black Tie 1st Nagawicka 1st Charleston 1st ILYA Invite 1st MESA Champ. 1st Wawasee 1st Torch Invite 1st Western Michigan 1st U.S. Nationals 1st Inland Champ. 1st Blue Chip 1st Cedar Lake 1st *Melges-Sobstad Sails are fast right out of their jet black bags! In <strong>1994</strong> Melges-Sobstad E-Sails proved their absolute speed in every condition at every regatta! *If you want to be assured of the best quality sails and the absolute fastest design you had better call Melges Sobstad Sails in Zenda, Wisconsin! Easy to tune and easy to sail, Melges-Sobstad E-Sails designed and built by Harry Melges. ABSOLUTE SPEED *For the #1 Service with your new E-Sails you know you can count on the Zenda team of Representatives, Buddy Melges, Hans Melges, Harry Melges, Andy Burdick, Eric Hood, Jim Gluek and Eric Wilson along with our Minnesota Representative Billy Allen. Call Zenda for our 1995 update on E-designs. , Melges-Sobstad , 414-275-9728 THE REPORTER 38
Probably no one, East or West, is more respected than Henry Colie when it comes to making a scow go fast. Henry was good enough to share his thoughts with us. Over the last decade I have had the great opportunity to have sailed with some of the East's finest E-scow sailors. The most important lesson I believe I've learned is to stress the basics: a good boat, good sails, and above all a consistent crew who enjoy sailing together and are willing to share the responsibilities. It's important to realize that the E-scow is a crew's boat and should be set ttP to maximize the performance of the crew. Learn to React MA-4 was designed around a sailing style drilled into me by Peter Fortenbaugh and reinforced by Dick Wight That is to react to a puff before it hits and to hike to accelerate the boat forward. The answer is not to start pulling lines and dropping tracks to depower. Keep an eye on the jib telltales. If the puff is a lift, convert the added power into speed and point If, with everyone in full hike, the boat is overpowered, then come on with vang to flatten the main and open the upper leach. If the vang does not do the trick, then crack the sheets a bit to get the boat back on her feet. As the puff passes, the sails should be powered back up before anyone is allowed to come in from biking. If the puff is a header, keep biking to help steer the boat down to its proper course. The crew should be aware that they are the ones steering the boat and that the rudders are just speed brakes in disguise. Cockpit Layout On first seeing a clean deck boat, most people ask, "Where are the cleats?" When designing the cockpit layout, I first looked at what lines we pull and how they contribute to sailing and when and from what position they are most likely to be used. The sheets, vang and tracks are speed controls. They are either kept in hand with the help of Oxen self-cleating blocks or located, as the jib tracks are, so that they can be adjusted without coming in from a full hike position. The jib cloth, cunningham, outhaul, forestay and shroud tension are tuning adjustments. They are by no means unimportant, but they are not adjusted in every puff. These are adjusted dming sail checks before the start, at the beginning and end of runs, or as subtle corrections to changing wind and sea conditions. Twings The twings have been moved to just forward of the chainplates so that after a set or jibe the guy is down on the deck and out of the way. This lets the crew quickly hop out and hike, allowing the skipper to sail bot angles out of a jibe. The twings are also great during survival jibes because the chute can be kept close to the boat and under control until the pole Theory and Philosophy By Henry Colie T HE REPORTER 39 is latched. What we are left with is a clean deck which no longer restricts each crew member to one hiking position but allows the crew to move about the deck more freely according to changing conditions. Since MA-4 was built without backstays and we predominately sail with a crew of four, our fourth being our chute trimmer, no one crew position has a work overload. The jib man concentrates on the jib trim. The board man's job is the vang, competition and wind. Our fourth focuses on how the main tracks upwind and flies the spinnaker downwind. This frees the skipper up to concentrate on sailing, tactics and tl1e race at hand. ("Why Is Less More?" See Mark Beaton's article in last Winter's REPORTER, page 56). Backstays Backstays were our most hashed over topic. 'The last thing I wanted to do was to add a question mark when it came to rig security. Finally a design was decided on that included the chainplates mounted at the maximum sixteen inches aft, longer aft swept spreaders, and a bull built with appropriate reinforcement to handle the loads. This combination has proved rock solid in thirty knot, big-sea conditions and is, in fact, Jess likely to experience mast failure than a backstay boat with its chainplates in stock position. The trick has not been to overload the boat with high shroud tensions but to provide a strong rig which does not surge forward when hit by a puff or when the nose is buried while running. As far as using backstays to improve our performance, we have not felt at a disadvantage when sailing against backstay-equipped boats. If they are not needed for safety or to add to performance, they are just weight, windage, extra lines in the cockpit and above all a distraction when the crew should have their heads out of the boat and in the race. Flotation Past experience has taught me that, for most of us mortals, capsizing is a part of racing an E-scow. For this reason, and as a result of some not-so-fond memories, the boat needed to be self-rescuing, if possible. Because the deck has no holes in it and the spinnaker sheets are led through tubes, the deck is watertight. With this watertight deck, as well as with over twice the ·flotation required under the new rules, and all of it placed outboard, the boat has enough positive buoyancy to prevent swamping in the event of a capsize. If the seas are large enough to rise over the cockpit combing, or in the event of a turtle, the added foam displaces enough water to allow the boat to be sailed dry and the race to be continued. This has also shown an added advantage in survival conditions where the foam displaces the water that would normally slosh around behind the boardwells. This lets the boat float higher and forces the water out of the bailers.
Page 1 and 2: Red Fleet winner Elam Kelson (GL-21
Page 4 and 5: WESTERN MICHIGAN INVITATIONAL July
Page 7 and 8: Tim Turns Thirty. Now this is a par
Page 11: WESTERN MICHIGAN CHAMPIONSHIP The 6
Page 14 and 15: NCESA C H AMPIONSHIP 1994 E SCOW NA
Page 16 and 17: Wheeeeeeee! Porter team, appropriat
Page 21 and 22: 1994 Blue Chip Mystery Guest Ken Re
Page 24 and 25: Starting ... and starting ... and s
Page 26: There's nothing like it, is there?
Page 29 and 30: Local sailor Rick Morris, ]r. settl
Page 31 and 32: TRIPLE CROWN The winner of the firs
Page 33 and 34: With the racing concluded for the d
Page 36: JOIN THE WINNING TEAM! 316 Industri
Page 39: R.ll Up in the high country of fara
Page 45 and 46: from our normal track positions. Wh
Page 47 and 48: Once the boat is going fast through
Page 49 and 50: Easter Regatta Charleston, SC April
Page 51 and 52: Lon Schoor, H-7, sails on to win th

1994 - ncesa

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