THREE REASONS 'STAMPEDE' CHARGED THE J70 WINTER SERIES
We caught up with Bruno Pasquinelli who is owner and helmsman for J70 “Stampede”. Bruno won the J70 Winter Series held in Tampa, Florida at the Davis Island Yacht Club this year.
The J70 Winter Series is composed of 3 events between December-February with one overall series winner. We asked Bruno how he prepares for events like this, and how it contributed to his success.
What are the three most important factors that helped you and team Stampede win the 2017 J70 Tampa Winter Series?
Boat/Sails/Crew
I have great ground support from Jay Vige. The boat is well prepared and maintained when we get to the regatta and need to go sail. The electronics have batteries, the radios work, preventive maintenance has been done, the rig is set to the micrometer settings, etc.
“We have confidence that our boat is ready for the event and are not distracted by boat issues.”
Work on my skills
Stampede sails each big event with a top tier team of sailors. I am the weak link on the boat. I am an amateur sailor with no formal training. I try and learn things every time I sail. I keep a detailed journal about the boat/rig/sails/conditions for each race we sail. This is helpful when we meet as a team prior to an event and then every day before we sail to make sure the boat is going out to the course with an effective setup for the conditions that day. I also put notes in the journal about skills or situations I don’t execute well. I have sailed with some great people over the last year and the first thing I tell them when they get on board is that this is recreation(fun), I want to do well, and that they are my coach. I want feedback on things that will up my game. These things go in my journal. Some of my notes over the last year include entry/exit angles for mark roundings, tiller movement on tack/jibe/mark rounding exits, slowing down at the leeward mark to not get stuck outside the pinwheel, starting techniques, etc. I draw diagrams in the journal and study them before I sail at each event. I have GoPro footage from every race and I review the footage on the plane while traveling to the events. The camera is mounted directly over the tiller and the video clearly shows when I drive well and when I don’t. I review the video of the “incidents” in my journal.
Sail a big event every month
This helps me retain the skills I am learning from each event and raise the performance of the boat.
“Trying these three things together gives me the confidence to concentrate on my job on the boat and leave everything else to the team. It is working.”
We had a great Worlds in San Francisco and won the Davis Island Winter series. Lastly, our sails are awesome, thanks North Sails!
