Considering the winds and waves at the 2022 J/24 World Championship in July, one could say everything is indeed bigger in Texas. Corpus Christi, in particular, delivered a week of big breeze in July that put 38 teams to the ultimate test of endurance over 10 races, most of them in blade conditions. Olympic medalist, Hall of Famer and Texan Paul Foerster came out blazing, winning three straight races on the first day, and appeared to be running away with the championship. But skipper Mike Marshall, trimmer David Hughes, tactician Allan Terhune, pit Jeff Hayden and bowman Rod Favela stayed true to their own path, getting faster every day and letting the regatta come to us,” Marshall says. His team on American Garage continued to adapt and change to the conditions while hunting for fractions of boatspeed with their tuning, and they came away with a hard-fought one-point win in the final race. Marshall and Terhune, both of North Sails, share their thoughts on getting faster under pressure.
You essentially pulled a J/24 out of the weeds and gave it a proper rehab, proper enough to go win a world championship. What’s in a boat that can go win the Worlds?
Mike Marshall: A boat that can win the Worlds is a no-excuses boat. We sailed the whole event at the top of the genoa and didn’t break anything. And whenever we were on the wrong side of the racecourse, the boat was doing the work and still going fast. It comes down to all the little things adding up to a 1/10th gain here and there. Having the right keel shape is super important, as is having a good mast and the right sails. There’s no one thing you can put your finger on, but when all the things add up, having a boat on which] you didn’t lose anything because it didn’t break is probably 80 percent of it.
What’s the process for taking an unknown boat and building a tuning matrix from scratch?
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