July 15 – 17, 2014
This year 420 Nationals was held at San Diego Yacht Club, July 15th through 17th. Earlier in the year, my crew, Max Brennan and I had become interested in sailing 420’s, a new boat for both of us, and had spent the first part of the summer focusing on learning this boat and were really looking forward to Nationals. We knew that the competition would be tough, with sailors coming from around the country, most older than us with more experience in the boat. We had worked hard to prepare, however and felt ready for the event. Max and I arrived at S.D.Y.C. on Tuesday morning to get rigged and ready to go for the first day of racing for the Club 420 Nationals. After the skippers meeting we towed out to the Coronado Roads for racing. The wind was extremely light so we got our boat set up for full power.
On the first race of the day we decided to go left which usually works when its light in So Cal. We got a great start off the pin and went left as hard as we could. We were super stoked when we rounded the top mark in 5th we lost 2 boats on the downwind but still finished 7th of 54 in our first race. On the second race we had trouble getting off the line when the wind got lighter. We got stuck going downwind when the wind died and had a bad race. After that the wind died and racing was cancelled for the day.
On the second day we had more consistent results for our skill level, having just learned to sail the 420. The wind was also better allowing us to get in 5 races. We sailed well and felt that all of our hours in the boat were paying off.
The last day was our best with consistently good results a 24, 19, and a 17. We also got some better breeze, about 13-14 knots. In the last race we had another great 1st beat and rounded the windward mark in 5th but all of the top guys blew past us on the reaches, which are very difficult in breeze. This is something that Max and I intend to work on in future practices. We finished the regatta exactly mid fleet – a result that we felt great about and our coaches were really pleased with.
Overall, this was a fantastic experience that has inspired us to want to continue sailing 420’s together and work towards future events such as Orange Bowl and other big events throughout the world. Thanks to MSSF for funding this fantastic experience.
Jack Joslin