The XOD learning curve: Interview with the team aboard Shri
by Mark Jardine 11 Aug 2015 18:38 BST
8-15 August 2015
Plenty of coffee for Ben McGrane, Chris Catt & Sam Parker while waiting for the wind at Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week © Mark Jardine
We talk to Ben McGrane, Sam Parker and Chris Catt who are sailing together for the second year in a row aboard X22 Shri in the massively competitive XOD fleet at Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week. They talk about the transition from dinghies, the challenges of Cowes racing and what makes an XOD 'tick'.
Mark Jardine: So Ben, it's quite a change for you from the boats you usually sail, how are you finding the XODs and Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week?
Ben McGrane: This is the second year for us now, so we feel a little bit like we know what's going on and the racing format. It's very different in the sense that you go to a dinghy event and they're all very similar in format and the sailing instructions are very similar. You come to Cowes Week and it's a lot more full-on, there's more information and the format of the racing is very different. We feel like we're slowly getting to grips with it. I think we're still like the new kids in a lot of ways and comparatively young compared to some of the fleet! We're really enjoying it and it's good fun.
Mark Jardine: Sam, how has the racing gone so far for you?
Sam Parker: Unpredictably. I think one of the hardest things that we've found is that it's not like your normal dinghy sailing regattas where you have a 'normal' course and you know pretty much what all the variables are that you need to have covered. We're starting to build up the local knowledge - the tidal conditions and the position of all the marks mean that it's a lot harder to get your head round everything.
Mark Jardine: Often Cowes Week can bring frustrations during the racing, how do you handle that on board as a crew?
Chris Catt: [laughing] Badly! I think you've got to take a fairly realistic approach to it and understand that there are a lot of variables and different things going on across the race track. There will be times that you are going to get frustrated and things are going to go badly – it's maybe sometimes your fault and sometimes because that's Cowes and that's it.
Ben McGrane: There's also the factor that, comparative to dinghy racing where you can have two laps in 35-40 minutes and it's all done and dusted, whereas here you can have a bad start, round in the last ten and then you've still got three hours of racing to go and there's still a chance to go and get a result, which is very much what happened to us two days ago. So you have to keep being realistic about it and just keep going and eventually hopefully get something right that everyone else doesn't see. Yesterday who knows what was going on out there, but certain people seem to know and they got it right - it was just a really long, hard race.
Mark Jardine: Your target for the week - where would you like to finish overall?
Ben McGrane: We finished 20th last year and we feel like we've improved, we've sailed a lot more as a team so we'd like to finish in the top ten, but it's a hard fleet so that'll be the goal and anything better than that would be great. If we're in the top twenty again then I think that's fairly respectable considering the guys we're racing against.
Mark Jardine: How do you handle the transition from the dinghy classes you usually sail, such as the International 14 and Merlin Rocket, to sailing an XOD where the styles are so different?
Ben McGrane: It's not only going from dinghy sailing to keelboat sailing, as sailing a J70 or something like that there are comparable elements to dinghy sailing, an XOD is completely different. I think it's taken the past year to understand how the boat works - things like not really steering the boat, just letting it do its own thing. There are times when the less hard you try, the quicker the boat goes - you can over-work the boat. It's subtle changes and there are a lot of things with XODs where there are fast boats and very well respected boats - we paid £6000 for what is arguably a reasonably good boat, but then I think you have to spend time working out what makes it tick and that's been a two year learning experience as to what makes our boat go. We're getting there with it but there are still times when you see boats going faster and you don't know how they're doing that, and other times where it's visa-versa and we seem to go really well and they're probably struggling. It's been interesting to say the least!
Mark Jardine: You say it's been a two year learning experience on the boat - is this going to turn into a long-term project as XODs seem to be a constant learning experience?
Chris Catt: I think to do well it's going to have to be, I doubt many people have come into the class and immediately found the front of the fleet and I think that's half of the enjoyment of it. We'll chip away and see where we can end up. We'll see what happens in five years time - see if we're still sat in this coffee shop pulling out top twenty results and pulling our hair out! [laughter] See if we're still not understanding what makes an XOD tick!
Mark Jardine: So a Captain's Cup win in twenty years time?
Sam Parker: How about during the [class] bicentenary? [more laughing]
Mark Jardine: Good luck for the rest of the week and thanks for your time.
Ben, Sam & Chris: Thanks Mark.
www.aamcowesweek.co.uk