(Marion, MA)- Julian Sudofsky has been racing the J/70 CARLOS with his dad, Mike Sudofsky. Here are some of Julian’s observations after racing the J/70 in the past year on the J/70 circuit in the USA:“Since 2013 I have been racing the J/70 around the country with my dad. In my perspective, I think there’s no better way for a father to raise his son to love sailing. For the past two years this has been the best experience for me.
I’ve been able to travel to multiple places on the East Coast such as Key West FL; Miami, FL; Charleston, SC; Annapolis, MD; Cedar Point, CT; and Newport, RI. I have learned so much from all the world-class sailors in the fleet. I think that I’ve learned a combination of team chemistry, rig tuning, boat balance, and mark rounding skills that have helped me become a better sailor.
In the past few regattas we have seen boats from Norway, Brazil, Bermuda, France, Spain, Mexico, Chile, Japan, the U.K., and Peru. It has been great to sail against all these other teams. We have personally made friends with a Mexican team and a Brazilian team. Competing in these world-class events, I’ve been able to have conversations with famous world- class sailors like Terry Hutchinson, Jeff Johnstone, and Tim Healy.
I have competed in two Key West race weeks and a J70 World Championship, and in these regattas it’s not unusual to have 100 boats. With this amount of boats in our fleet, it creates very exciting regattas. Sometimes the starts can be very hectic with all these competitors screaming at each other, all not speaking the same language.
Overall, this has been a great experience. I have learned so much from so many intelligent sailors. A normal start for our team in the J/70 is starting somewhere in the middle of the line with clean air and using midline sag to our advantage. During our upwind leg we focus on keeping the boat flat and maintaining an open lane. The downwind legs are the most fun! Our top speed on this boat was 19.3 knots downwind. Due to the shape of the keel, the boat starts to make a high pitched hum when planing. I’m looking forward to competing in this summer’s 2015 J70 Worlds in La Rochelle, France!”
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