Higgins, I'm taking the Ferrari

Thomas Magnum, P.I., drove a red Ferrari. Charlie Enright drives a red J/24. Magnum solved mysteries on Hawaii. Enright solves the beats and runs off Newport on Thursday nights. And they both have stylish facial hair. Coincidence? I think not. Here's this week's widsom from Charlie Enright of Rooster (USA 4274).

J/24 Blog: You just wrapped up a very successful collegiate career at Brown University. Which of the many skills or lessons you learned in college sailing have proven particularly useful in sailing the J/24s in Fleet 50?

Charlie Enright: College sailing and Fleet 50 sailing are very similar. Both put a premium on starting and positioning. The average college fleet race is about 18 to 22 minutes long, this does not leave a lot of time for grinding back. In practice, especially at Brown, we did a lot of practice starts. The average college sailor does more starts in college than they will in the rest of their sailing careers. (Not science, but it must be true.) Once off the line, the positioning of our boat relative to other boats becomes our main focus. Perhaps one side of the course is heavily favored, a characteristic we see in Fleet 50 all the time, maybe we decide we want to go left, and as a rule, we decide to let all port tackers cross and lead all starboard tackers back left. Why would we spend time on port tack early in a beat if we want to go left? To check in with the fleet. That is how you play the percentages. Look for weather bows to come down (i.e. boats on your hip point more toward you) and always consolidate when you can. There are anomalies on one-sided racetracks and you always have to position your boat for the what ifs.

Like in college sailing, starting is vital in the short races on Thursday nights. Last Thursday was no exception. How did you approach the two starts? Also can you explain a bit how the flow of information works on your boat during the start? Feedback from the bowman, jib trimmer, and tactician can be very useful during the pre-start, but too many people talking at once can also negate any benefit in a hurry.

CE: Last Thursday's line was pretty square. We started at the pin in both races because we wanted to take advantage of the fair tide and, what we thought, was better pressure on the left. I also just really like starting at the pin. Before every start, we as a boat, come up with a game plan. We take into consideration a lot of things: where we want to go on the beat, how square is the line, where we think all the other boats will be and how to avoid them, what position on the line will allow us to play the first beat the way we want to play it, whether we need to get onto port tack right away, are we going to be on starboard all the way to the fort, anything we can think of. The key to starting is getting one that can help you execute your game plan. The best way to end up where you want to be on the line is to back it all up a couple of steps. If you know you want to be at the middle of the line at go, you know you want to be on your final approach to starboard of the boat at a 1:30, and if you know that you also know that you want to be on port in the middle of the line at 2:30. I like to tell my crew how many maneuvers we have left as it becomes apparent. We have a bow guy calling lengths to the line. We have the trimmer listening to the helmsman who only says, trim, slow, or racing...we have one person dedicated to the time and another looking back for scoopers. Our time guy is our radio guy after the start. As the helmsman, I am constantly thinking about three different spatial scenarios. The distance between our bow and the line, whether we are bow out or bow behind relative to immediate neighbors, as well as our lateral distance to windward and leeward. The first two are pretty self-explanatory, the third is a bit more tricky and in my opinion a bit more important.

As with any northerly breeze, the wind last night was shifty and puffy. I noticed that upwind you don't even hold on to the mainsheet most of the time. Explain how you switch gears on your boat, how you depower when a puffs hits?

CE: The genoa drives the J 24. The puffs last Thursday night were not knock-down puffs. Mike, our genoa trimmer, dealt with most of them. In those conditions I keep one hand on the tiller and the other works the jib winch handle and the backstay. We are very active with our genoa. I only play the main when it gets really windy or really wavy. Flat water allows us to keep the leech profile of the main the same. Easing the genoa helps flatten the boat and allows it to climb to weather, unlike easing the main. The only time I ease and trim the main in conditions like last Thursday night is through tacks. As the puff comes the genoa goes out, the backstay comes on, the genoa comes back in and the backstay comes off.

Samson had his hair. And we all know what happened when he cut that. Is there any truth to the rumor that you're afraid that shaving off that Magnum P.I. moustache will compromise your sailing skills?

CE: Here is the story with the mustache. It started as a bet, gained some serious volume, now I can’t get rid of it.