Planning to win BY BENZ FAGET, North Sails New Orleans

Benz Faget of North Sails New Orleans recently won the 1994 Mallory Cup for the US Men's Sailing Championship. Benz & crew sailed a nine-race final in J-22s on Lake Hefner, in Oklahoma City. With a Low-point total of 18.25 points— half as much as the second-place finisher—Benz must have done something right. We asked him to talk about the most important keys to his successful championship campaign.

The 1994 Mallory Cup is a goal that David Bolyard, Tom Baker and myself set early in the year. Although seldom sailing together, all three of us sailed many one-design regattas in preparation for this one. You must win the quarter finals and semi-finals before you represent your area in the finals.

Our quarter finals were held at Mobile, Alabama in Flying Scots. Karin Lorenz and Rory Hebbler, a very competent Flying Scott crew, worked hard helped us earn a decisive win with three firsts and a third.

We then went to the Atlanta YC to meet the challengers for the Southeast area. Tom Baker and Karin Lorenz (once again) crewed as we eked out a three quarter point victory in the fluky winds of Lake Altoona. Now we were going to the finals, which would be sailed in J-22s, and I need to practice.

Doing our homework. Looking at the schedule, I noticed the J-22 Worlds were being held the week before in Annapolis. At first I tried to get our team together for the regatta, but the logistics were impossible. However, a local sailor, Dwight LeBlanc, was going so I asked if I could crew. The experience was very educational. I went around talking to the top sailors in the class about lead positions, trimming, steering techniques, and boat handling. The sailors freely explained their methods of making a J-22 go fast.

Our team arrived at the Finals two days before the regatta for practice and to spend time talking to the local sailors. In the practice race, we finished second. Pretty confident in our speed and boat handling, we stayed out on the water afterwards to make improvements. Our practice routine consisted of 5-10 tacks upwind, set the spinnaker, 5-10 jibes, take down, and head back upwind. We did this for approximately two hours.

Stop, look & listen. On the first race day, we scoped out the competition and became aware that there were several strong teams. The winds were blowing 15 - 20 knots out of the North; gusty and shifting. We ended up finishing second to the team of Doug McClean. After the race, discussion showed that we had made a critical error. We did not sail upwind enough before the race to know the possible compass headings.

The second race went better and we led most of the way. However, on the last upwind leg we made another mistake. The McClean team tacked away from what we thought was a lift and passed us.

"The discussion after the race was covering the competition, as well as staying focused. We knew we could if we could stay focused..."

In the third race, our determination paid off. Before the race, we sailed the course and chose the left side as the favored side. At the start, we picked out Doug McClean's team and started close to leeward, forcing them off to the unfavored right side. Our race preparation was correct and we went onto win by a nice margin. Doug's team, however, came back to place second. At the end of the first day, Doug led us by 1.25 points, and Robert Breslin and Mark Foster were close behind. Our team had to concentrate on beating Doug, but not to forget about the other boats.

Pushing the plan. The next day we stuck to our game plan and our teamwork was improving. Mark Foster came on strong by winning both races, but unfortunately was disqualified for a premature start in the second race. We now had a three point lead over Doug McClean's team with the other teams fading back.

Consistency was now the after-race discussion, as was our intention to be somewhat conservative. Our pre-race preparation was becoming second nature and our team work had improved significantly. The game plan was to play the shifts, stay in the middle, and cover Doug's team whenever possible. We executed this plan as designed. At the end of the day we finished with 8 3/4 points. After checking the score board, we stood with one race left and a 13 1/4 point lead. It was time for celebration!

To win a regatta of this caliber takes time. You've got to be prepared. Concentration on the details is important, but most of all it is important to have a good team and a good game plan. Preparation and planning gives you confidence in your sailing, your ideas and decisions.