Interview with Pete Mitchell of North Sails
by Mark Jardine 14 Jul 2016 13:25 BST
14 July 2016
Pete Mitchell sailing his Solo © Will Loy
We spoke to Pete Mitchell of North Sails about his 2016 sailing in Merlin Rockets, Solos and Scorpions and the latest developments in the Scorpion and Solo classes.
Mark Jardine: Hi Pete, what's the next event you have coming up?
Pete Mitchell: Hi Mark, the next event is Salcombe Merlin Rocket Week. David Hayes of Selden Masts has kindly lent us his boat, even though I haven't helmed one before so very trusting of him! I've got a good crew, Alex Hayman from Maguire Boats up front; he has done a bit of Merlin sailing this year so I will be relying on him a little. This is more of a fun week instead of work but we'll see how it goes.
Mark: Salcombe Merlin Week always attracts around 120 boats and it's a unique venue. What challenges does that present to you when you're sailing a new class at a venue like that?
Pete: I don't really know to be honest, and I think that is part of excitement – the unknown. Of course I have done double handers in the past but a new class is always tricky, and the Merlin is not a boat you can just jump in and be at the top of the fleet. There is a lot going on with 60 boats on the water at any one time and there are quite narrow yet busy estuaries that you sail through so it will be difficult trying to keep your head out of the boat yet at the same time trying to maximize performance. I sailed a Solo there last year, in the South West Championship, which was good fun but it's just so tidal and the wind direction can be from anywhere, it's nothing like I have ever done before. I'm going there to enjoy sailing the boat in a nice part of the world.
Mark: You could have any kind of weather conditions there. What challenges does that present to the sail maker to make sails that can cope with the diverse conditions?
Pete: That is all part of the challenge; you are trying to find an all-round performer that hits the complete wind range and crew weight inside of that. You need to be aware of the market you are looking at, the majority of the UK One-Design classes need to be affordable to all, and also user friendly from club racers to World Champions. It's hard but I think that is one of the strengths of North Sails, we can make a World Championship winning sail, that at the same time a club sailor can use with ease. The North Merlin range has a good track record at Salcombe Week with Richard Whitworth winning the event last year, so I will be pretty happy going into the event knowing the sails are fast.
Mark: You are also doing a lot of sailing in the Solo class. Can you tell me a bit about that and what championships you'll be doing?
Pete: Yes! The Solo is one of the main classes I sail throughout the year, one thing that draws me to the class is the sheer size and quality throughout the fleet as you can get anything from 30 plus at local open meetings to 70 plus at area Championships – and it only seems to be getting stronger! Earlier this year Charlie and I started to look at new mainsail designs as we had a few ideas that we believe would improve the already very successful ST-2 range, so I am looking forward to see the finished product. In terms of events so far, I was happy to come away with 5th at the Nations Cup in Medemblik as it was a predominately windy week and I was at my lightest I had been for a few years. Coming back and winning the Southern Championships was nice, at this event I used a development mainsail so that was a good indicator that things are going well. The next event is the Nationals at Pwllheli. It's actually the week after Salcombe Merlin Week so we have a quick trip up to there on Friday night. I've never sailed at the venue so a little unsure on what to expect but I know it will be a hard week, the competition in the class is excellent and another strong turnout of 80+. I've been working pretty hard to get my weight up - I've always peaked at about 80kg but I'm now 82kg, aiming to get to 83kg which should give me a little more oomph in the bigger stuff.
Mark: Lastly, the Scorpions down at Looe - a venue that the class is very familiar with. What are your aims for that championship?
Pete: I haven't done a great deal this year in the Scorpions as events have clashed but I am looking forward to getting back in the class. I'd be happy to come away with a podium place finish. A lot of past national champions are back in this year so I'm really aiming to enjoy the racing. Looe is going to be a great venue and with 50+ entries also. I think it's going to be another great week!
Mark: The Scorpions seem to be a class that always attract a lot of marine industry professionals, they always return to the Scorpion, Chris Turner being a classic example of that. What is it about the boat that brings people back time and again?
Pete: It does, and I think it's a combination of the basics of the boat itself, where everything makes sense in terms of size, weight and sail area. Plus it isn't hugely expensive to be competitive; some of the older boats are still very quick. Also you've got twin poles and the one-string raking system which helps a variety of crews from 120 kilos up to 160-170kg be competitive around the race course. And the boat is quick, great fun downwind where you can really send it. And of course the fleet are so welcoming and friendly.
Mark: With the Scorpions, are you finding now that you're producing an AP sail that is usable across a wide weight range or are you producing different sails for different customers?
Pete: We have the J-5 jib and DS-4 spinnaker which were developed with Tim Rush and some of the top Scorpion teams. We do have two different options for our M-5K mainsail and that's to cater for both the cascade kicker and the prodder kidder. Some crews historically always liked prodder kickers, but moving forward, I think a few are creeping into using the old style kickers so we changed our mainsail designs to try and accommodate that.
Mark: Apart from the kicker arrangements, are the sail shapes for both setups similar?
Pete: Yes, extremely similar, just subtly different in the luff entry of the mainsail.
Mark: Many thanks for your time Pete and best of luck with your upcoming events.
Pete: Thank you.
northonedesign.com