Ingredients for Class Success

Terry McLaughlin has earned his place at the pinnacle of Canadian sailing: Olympic medalist, Pan American Medalist, World Champion, Canada’s Cup winner, America’s Cup skipper, and so on. When Terry goes racing today, you’ll find him in the J/105 class. Why? Here he comments in the class newsletter:

• I often comment that the J/105 is a great and comfortable boat to sail. Unlike a lot of boats, I find it very nice to race on whether you are at the back of the boat, in the middle or up front. I like the fact that you can go down below and comfortably sit or lie down when waiting for races to start. It is not a modern foiling multihull, but speeds between boats are similar and that provides close racing.

• The Class crew weight limit promotes lighter crew members on boats when the crew includes some big guys. Lighter can often mean female or youth, both of which are good for the Class. In Toronto, it is the most competitive one-design fleet so that does attract younger sailors.

• I think the sail restriction and Group 1 (amateur) rules are good for the Class. They both assist in controlling the cost of campaigning a J/105. I am not sure that my boat partner Rod Wilmer and I would have bought into the Class if we thought it was going to be any sort of an arm’s race to be competitive.