Buenos Diaz
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Stibra
May 15, 2009, 4:50:54 AM5/15/09
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http://www.sailinganarchy.com/fringe/2009/051509_augidiaz.htm
Buenos Diaz
Snipe/Star superstar Augie Diaz stepped into the International 505 in
February only to walk away with a resounding win in the 29-boat
Midwinter Champs. Anarchist KmMccabe, one of the geniuses behind the
excellent High-Performance Dinghy Open as well as an enthusiastic
Tempest sailor, caught up with him for a great SA Innerview. Enjoy,
and be sure to watch for part 2.
Kmccabe: Thanks for taking the time for this discussion, Augie. I was
hoping to have a chat with you about what I think is something pretty
unique in 505’s, that is, someone essentially stepping into the class
and walking away with a major trophy.
Everybody already knows that you’re fabulous, you’re one of the best
in the sport. Quite honestly, I’ve been following your career ever
since I was a kid in high school.
Augie: I don’t really agree with that, and as we go through our
discussion, I think you’ll see why - and by the way I STILL haven’t
figured out how it really happened that weekend, because basically it
was almost like a Perfect Storm that happened. I like to analyse; when
I lose I like to know why, but when I win, I really like to understand
exactly why as well. So, I’ve done a lot of thinking about the
Midwinters; and the thing that troubles me is that I just can’t quite
put my finger on it. I’ve got a lot of tidbits but I can’t say really
that this is the way things happened and I know what I’m doing. Which
is what I like to be able to do after a race.
Kmccabe: OK, well I’ve got some suspicions as to why you did well. It
has to do with the fact that you are a newcomer. I think that a LOT of
people in the class get too involved in the gear. I think it’s the
fact that you come from a different perspective where you can see
things fresh and you’re not involved in fashion and styles, the latest
and greatest piece of gadgetry. There are a lot of frustrated
engineers in the 505 class, and consequently, they focus more on the
equipment and less on the actual sailing of the boat, moving the boat
around the course. Its my opinion that your experience with the other
classes has basically allowed you to see what’s important and focus.
Ok if you could just tell me a bit about the reasons why you selected
the boat you did, why you picked the masts, a lot of the reasons why
stuff gets done in the 505 class is the “best guys are using x or y”.
Augie: We should start with the story of why I got into the 505’s…
Kmccabe: OK
Augie: I had my Star boat next to Carl Buchan all last season - he had
his boat down here and he was sailing it with his son Jamie. About
halfway through the season, we were talking the usual stuff about
sailing. At one point I said, “Carl, I really envy you. You get to
sail with your son.” My sons are too big for the Snipe and too small
for the Star. In typical Buchan brilliance, he mutters under his
breath, “you should sail 505’s with them” and then walked away. I
thought, “I’m not going to get into 505’s at this stage - I’m too old
and too busy to do that.” But that idea started working on me. Then I
made the biggest mistake; I sent my sons a clip or two from the
website of what it was like to sail a 505 and said “hey would you be
interested in sailing with me on this boat? Would you guys sail with
me?” They both came back with “Absolutely! Hell, Yes! I would love to
sail on a boat like this with you!” So I said, “OK well I guess I got
buy-in from them.”
So I started looking for a boat. The first call I made was to Ethan
Bixby (North Sails former 505 world champion). Ethan hooked me up to
sail in the ECC’s up in West River and Macy Nelson was super-gracious
in getting me Nick’s (Macy’s son) boat to borrow for the event. It
took off from there. Having had experience with the Flying Dutchman,
getting back in a boat like the 505 with the new ‘chute, it was even
better than I recall the Flying Dutchman being. It was an adrenaline
rush, and it snowballed from there. Now, one is going away to MBA
School and the other just got married. But, I am in the 505 to stay.
So, how to get a 505: At first I wanted to get a good used boat. Then
I quickly found out a good used boat is as expensive as a brand new
one. Then I said, “Well, let me get a new boat.” I asked Ethan, and he
told me to get a new Rondar. I started trying to figure out how to get
a Rondar and I realized that I wasn’t going to get a new Rondar rigged
anytime soon, so I did the next best thing. I got a Rondar Hull. Paul
Young (owner of Rondar) was very gracious and helped me out got me a
new hull right away. When I started thinking about how long it was
going to take me to rig that boat I freaked out. I said, “this is
something I’ll never be able to do”. So I got a call from Jesse
Falsone, who I met at the West River regatta – Jesse’s super helpful.
That’s one thing about the 505 class and I think its both that the
people are great people and it’s a self preservation issue. The boat
is so overwhelming and difficult that if you don’t help people and if
you don’t have an openness the class would not grow.
I’m used to the Snipe class where the boats are not that difficult but
the class is very open. I’m used to people walking up to my boat and
taking pictures and measurements. It’s a totally open book. So I’m
used to that. The Snipe would survive without that quality in people
but I don’t think the 505 would. So you wouldn’t believe how helpful
people have been.
So Jesse calls me up and says, “look Augie, I know you’ve got a new
Rondar coming but you’ll probably never get that thing rigged in
time.” I said “you know what, I already realized that.” Jesse told me
he wanted to sell his boat, but really wanted to sell it to someone
who he knew was going to sail it. So, I called Ethan Bixby. By the
way, Ethan Bixby represents about 90% of my program. Literally,
everything I do, that guy has so much patience, I almost feel bad
calling him. I try to keep it all short. Ethan said “buy the boat” so
I did. Probably the best decision I have made so far.
The boat came with two masts. A Proctor Cumulus section and a
Superspar M2. When I first rigged the boat up to go sailing down here
(Miami) I rigged the Cumulus because the main mast for the boat was
the Superspar M2. I put up the Cumulus because I knew I was going to
be crashing and burning and I didn’t want to risk the Superspar.
We practiced over the Christmas holiday and then the first first two
weekends in January we did sessions Ethan, Eric, Drew Buttner, John
Lowe and Craig and some of the guys in Saint Petersburg. For this
practice series I rigged the M2 by Superspar. Regarding masts I think
the guy who put it best is Peter Alarie who said “Look, the M2 is
probably a great mast between 8-18 knots, above and below that you’re
probably better off with an Alto or some similar section to that.”
Guess what? In the Midwinters we probably sailed in that eight to ten
knot breeze the whole time. I noticed that when we were both in the
boat we struggled a little but as soon as my crew Tommy got on the
wire, we picked up a little bit and the mast seemed to power up. I did
something between Friday and Saturday that I don’t know was smart. I
lengthened my spreaders a little bit. That mast does have the spreader
bracket at the lower position at 10 feet. Most of the other masts have
the spreader bracket at 10’ 4”. So when you’re looking at spreader
length on all the masts you really have to keep in mind where the
spreader bracket really is in relation to the others. That four inches
makes a big difference. I was trying to copy Ethan as much as
possible, so that when he starts speaking about rigs I know exactly
what he’s talking about. We meld. Its important when you’re trying to
learn a new class. So between Friday and Saturday, I lengthened my
spreaders a little because I wasn’t sure my mast was as straight
sideways as I would like it to be. BUT I’m not really sure that was
faster. I’ll have to do a little work on that.
Kmccabe: How long did you lengthen your spreaders? Where did they come
from and where did they go to?
Augie: They went from 16.5 to 16.75”. Remember I’m at 10’ - if you had
a spreader bracket that was at 10’4” I would shorten the spreaders a
little bit about a quarter of an inch.
Kmccabe: Just so that we’re clear, that’s ten feet from where?
Augie: That’s ten feet from the deck band (not the gooseneck). That’s
the most common measure that I hear guy’s talking about. Guys like
Jesse, Macy and Drew share everything.
Kmccabe: Drew is awesome.
Augie: He’s super-knowledgable. Peter Alarie and Tyler talk about
stuff a lot too, so there’s a great sharing from all the top sailors.
They give out great information. My sense is that if you are going to
talk about spreader bracket you have to have those measurements. These
boats are complicated enough.
Kmccabe: yes the class is great at setting standards…
Augie: That’s very important, I need to simplify things.
Kmccabe: OK what about blades?
Augie: For the blades I’ve got Waterrats, That’s another person who’s
great. Larry Tuttle. Because I’m good friends with Ethan, I have
really good access to Larry mostly over email and we’ve spent a lot of
time speaking about things. So I have a 445 that was designed by
Larry/Jesse and built by Larry. That’s what the boat came with. I’m
used to heavy boats and particularly at starts and when turning the
boat I felt like I was going sideways a lot, so under Ethan’s advice I
got a 480 for the Midwinters. That’s what I used. Of course it didn’t
blow. What I really needed to do was figure out how to make it work in
a blow. I didn’t get to do that. You’ll get a kick out of this: Tommy,
my crew, was a little disappointed because the only time it blew
fifteen knots was in the first race, and Tyler and Jeff Nelson sailed
away from us. Tommy was upset, so after the race I said “Tommy come
with me; let's go for a walk.” We walked over to Tyler and Jeff and
said hello. I then looked at Tommy and he looked at Jeff and said
“Tommy, do you understand now?” Tommy said, “yeah I understand.”
Tommy’s 6’4” and 175 he’s like a rail and then he stands next to Jeff
Nelson and he looks like a linebacker. He understood.
Kmccabe: Jeff’s a big boy..
Augie: Oh yea. But I really needed to have the wind blow all weekend
to figure that out.
Kmccabe: For heavy air where do you think you need your board to be?
In terms of area?
Augie: That’s absolutely a tough question - it's a moving target and a
subject of discussion with Larry. I’m undecided. I’m leaning towards
staying with a 480 ‘cause that’s what Ethan’s using. So if I’m going
to be using Ethan’s sails I may as well stay with the 480 for
consistency. There’s a lot to be said for going to a place like San
Francisco with a smaller blade. But I don’t know that I’m going to
have time to figure all that out. What I have to do is get good at
using the equipment that I have. I need to understand why I’m going
fast or slow.
Kmccabe: I can say unequivocally that you moved around the course
faster than anybody else. Which brings me to the next question about
your sails. I know that you’ve got the relationship going with Ethan -
I know that because Ethan is the number one person for 505 sails from
North in the United States, you went with North Sails. How do you like
the sails?
Augie: Well, I like the sails a LOT, its all I really know. I haven’t
used the Glasers yet. The Glasers, well because I’m light, the Glasers
look to be more the sails for a heavier crew.
Kmccabe: Do you have a set?
Augie: No, not yet. I probably should do that, but you know what? I
probably won’t because I have to keep things as simple as possible.
Ethan wants me to put a lifting pin in my boat. I am trying to figure
out a way to sail in a breeze without the lifting pin.
Kmccabe: I am SURE you will find a way to do that.
Augie: That’s kind of like a need thing. I like the sails a lot. I
went with the standard sails. I went with Dacron to begin with and
will go to the other sails, probably the 3DL’s and take my time with
that. With all the other things I’ve got to figure out I will probably
just go with whatever sails Ethan uses at the World’s.
Kmccabe: You definitely intend to go to the World’s with Tommy?
Augie: Tommy has promised that he’ll get up to 190 pounds, you should
see him eat, he eats a lot, but he doesn’t gain weight.
Kmccabe: Oh to have those problems!
Augie: Basically, I’m going to give him some time to gain weight
because I like sailing with Tommy and he is very good. You can make up
for a lack of weight with proper boat handling but not on those long
courses and not against the big boys.
Kmccabe: You know San Francisco has a reputation as a heavy air venue.
So with the luck of recent World Championships its probably NOT going
to blow.
Augie: Well I will tell you, its going to blow some. I’ve sailed in
San Francisco enough to know it's going to blow. But I do agree with
you particularly on those two race days the morning race could be
light.
5/11/2009
Beste Grüße,
noi vediamo a Riva
Julius
GER 8666
--
Julius J. Jacoby
Rechtsanwalt
Goth & Jacoby Partnerschaft
Rechtsanwälte Steuerberater Vereidigter Buchprüfer
Postfach 31 02 40, D-80102 Muenchen
Karlsplatz 4/V, D- 80335 Muenchen
fon ++49(0)89/54 59 59-10
fax ++49(0)89/54 32 43 42
julius...@gmail.com
raja...@datevnet.de
Peter Goth Rechtsanwalt, Steuerberater, vereid. Buchprüfer - Julius
Jacoby Rechtsanwalt
AG München PR 852
http://www.xing.com/profile/JuliusJ_Jacoby
--
Štibra
e-mail: sti...@it.hr
___________________________________
Sailing blog: http://sailing.bloger.hr
Seascape18: http://www.seascape18.com
5o5 Croatia: http://www.int505.hr
Buenos Diaz
Snipe/Star superstar Augie Diaz stepped into the International 505 in
February only to walk away with a resounding win in the 29-boat
Midwinter Champs. Anarchist KmMccabe, one of the geniuses behind the
excellent High-Performance Dinghy Open as well as an enthusiastic
Tempest sailor, caught up with him for a great SA Innerview. Enjoy,
and be sure to watch for part 2.
Kmccabe: Thanks for taking the time for this discussion, Augie. I was
hoping to have a chat with you about what I think is something pretty
unique in 505’s, that is, someone essentially stepping into the class
and walking away with a major trophy.
Everybody already knows that you’re fabulous, you’re one of the best
in the sport. Quite honestly, I’ve been following your career ever
since I was a kid in high school.
Augie: I don’t really agree with that, and as we go through our
discussion, I think you’ll see why - and by the way I STILL haven’t
figured out how it really happened that weekend, because basically it
was almost like a Perfect Storm that happened. I like to analyse; when
I lose I like to know why, but when I win, I really like to understand
exactly why as well. So, I’ve done a lot of thinking about the
Midwinters; and the thing that troubles me is that I just can’t quite
put my finger on it. I’ve got a lot of tidbits but I can’t say really
that this is the way things happened and I know what I’m doing. Which
is what I like to be able to do after a race.
Kmccabe: OK, well I’ve got some suspicions as to why you did well. It
has to do with the fact that you are a newcomer. I think that a LOT of
people in the class get too involved in the gear. I think it’s the
fact that you come from a different perspective where you can see
things fresh and you’re not involved in fashion and styles, the latest
and greatest piece of gadgetry. There are a lot of frustrated
engineers in the 505 class, and consequently, they focus more on the
equipment and less on the actual sailing of the boat, moving the boat
around the course. Its my opinion that your experience with the other
classes has basically allowed you to see what’s important and focus.
Ok if you could just tell me a bit about the reasons why you selected
the boat you did, why you picked the masts, a lot of the reasons why
stuff gets done in the 505 class is the “best guys are using x or y”.
Augie: We should start with the story of why I got into the 505’s…
Kmccabe: OK
Augie: I had my Star boat next to Carl Buchan all last season - he had
his boat down here and he was sailing it with his son Jamie. About
halfway through the season, we were talking the usual stuff about
sailing. At one point I said, “Carl, I really envy you. You get to
sail with your son.” My sons are too big for the Snipe and too small
for the Star. In typical Buchan brilliance, he mutters under his
breath, “you should sail 505’s with them” and then walked away. I
thought, “I’m not going to get into 505’s at this stage - I’m too old
and too busy to do that.” But that idea started working on me. Then I
made the biggest mistake; I sent my sons a clip or two from the
website of what it was like to sail a 505 and said “hey would you be
interested in sailing with me on this boat? Would you guys sail with
me?” They both came back with “Absolutely! Hell, Yes! I would love to
sail on a boat like this with you!” So I said, “OK well I guess I got
buy-in from them.”
So I started looking for a boat. The first call I made was to Ethan
Bixby (North Sails former 505 world champion). Ethan hooked me up to
sail in the ECC’s up in West River and Macy Nelson was super-gracious
in getting me Nick’s (Macy’s son) boat to borrow for the event. It
took off from there. Having had experience with the Flying Dutchman,
getting back in a boat like the 505 with the new ‘chute, it was even
better than I recall the Flying Dutchman being. It was an adrenaline
rush, and it snowballed from there. Now, one is going away to MBA
School and the other just got married. But, I am in the 505 to stay.
So, how to get a 505: At first I wanted to get a good used boat. Then
I quickly found out a good used boat is as expensive as a brand new
one. Then I said, “Well, let me get a new boat.” I asked Ethan, and he
told me to get a new Rondar. I started trying to figure out how to get
a Rondar and I realized that I wasn’t going to get a new Rondar rigged
anytime soon, so I did the next best thing. I got a Rondar Hull. Paul
Young (owner of Rondar) was very gracious and helped me out got me a
new hull right away. When I started thinking about how long it was
going to take me to rig that boat I freaked out. I said, “this is
something I’ll never be able to do”. So I got a call from Jesse
Falsone, who I met at the West River regatta – Jesse’s super helpful.
That’s one thing about the 505 class and I think its both that the
people are great people and it’s a self preservation issue. The boat
is so overwhelming and difficult that if you don’t help people and if
you don’t have an openness the class would not grow.
I’m used to the Snipe class where the boats are not that difficult but
the class is very open. I’m used to people walking up to my boat and
taking pictures and measurements. It’s a totally open book. So I’m
used to that. The Snipe would survive without that quality in people
but I don’t think the 505 would. So you wouldn’t believe how helpful
people have been.
So Jesse calls me up and says, “look Augie, I know you’ve got a new
Rondar coming but you’ll probably never get that thing rigged in
time.” I said “you know what, I already realized that.” Jesse told me
he wanted to sell his boat, but really wanted to sell it to someone
who he knew was going to sail it. So, I called Ethan Bixby. By the
way, Ethan Bixby represents about 90% of my program. Literally,
everything I do, that guy has so much patience, I almost feel bad
calling him. I try to keep it all short. Ethan said “buy the boat” so
I did. Probably the best decision I have made so far.
The boat came with two masts. A Proctor Cumulus section and a
Superspar M2. When I first rigged the boat up to go sailing down here
(Miami) I rigged the Cumulus because the main mast for the boat was
the Superspar M2. I put up the Cumulus because I knew I was going to
be crashing and burning and I didn’t want to risk the Superspar.
We practiced over the Christmas holiday and then the first first two
weekends in January we did sessions Ethan, Eric, Drew Buttner, John
Lowe and Craig and some of the guys in Saint Petersburg. For this
practice series I rigged the M2 by Superspar. Regarding masts I think
the guy who put it best is Peter Alarie who said “Look, the M2 is
probably a great mast between 8-18 knots, above and below that you’re
probably better off with an Alto or some similar section to that.”
Guess what? In the Midwinters we probably sailed in that eight to ten
knot breeze the whole time. I noticed that when we were both in the
boat we struggled a little but as soon as my crew Tommy got on the
wire, we picked up a little bit and the mast seemed to power up. I did
something between Friday and Saturday that I don’t know was smart. I
lengthened my spreaders a little bit. That mast does have the spreader
bracket at the lower position at 10 feet. Most of the other masts have
the spreader bracket at 10’ 4”. So when you’re looking at spreader
length on all the masts you really have to keep in mind where the
spreader bracket really is in relation to the others. That four inches
makes a big difference. I was trying to copy Ethan as much as
possible, so that when he starts speaking about rigs I know exactly
what he’s talking about. We meld. Its important when you’re trying to
learn a new class. So between Friday and Saturday, I lengthened my
spreaders a little because I wasn’t sure my mast was as straight
sideways as I would like it to be. BUT I’m not really sure that was
faster. I’ll have to do a little work on that.
Kmccabe: How long did you lengthen your spreaders? Where did they come
from and where did they go to?
Augie: They went from 16.5 to 16.75”. Remember I’m at 10’ - if you had
a spreader bracket that was at 10’4” I would shorten the spreaders a
little bit about a quarter of an inch.
Kmccabe: Just so that we’re clear, that’s ten feet from where?
Augie: That’s ten feet from the deck band (not the gooseneck). That’s
the most common measure that I hear guy’s talking about. Guys like
Jesse, Macy and Drew share everything.
Kmccabe: Drew is awesome.
Augie: He’s super-knowledgable. Peter Alarie and Tyler talk about
stuff a lot too, so there’s a great sharing from all the top sailors.
They give out great information. My sense is that if you are going to
talk about spreader bracket you have to have those measurements. These
boats are complicated enough.
Kmccabe: yes the class is great at setting standards…
Augie: That’s very important, I need to simplify things.
Kmccabe: OK what about blades?
Augie: For the blades I’ve got Waterrats, That’s another person who’s
great. Larry Tuttle. Because I’m good friends with Ethan, I have
really good access to Larry mostly over email and we’ve spent a lot of
time speaking about things. So I have a 445 that was designed by
Larry/Jesse and built by Larry. That’s what the boat came with. I’m
used to heavy boats and particularly at starts and when turning the
boat I felt like I was going sideways a lot, so under Ethan’s advice I
got a 480 for the Midwinters. That’s what I used. Of course it didn’t
blow. What I really needed to do was figure out how to make it work in
a blow. I didn’t get to do that. You’ll get a kick out of this: Tommy,
my crew, was a little disappointed because the only time it blew
fifteen knots was in the first race, and Tyler and Jeff Nelson sailed
away from us. Tommy was upset, so after the race I said “Tommy come
with me; let's go for a walk.” We walked over to Tyler and Jeff and
said hello. I then looked at Tommy and he looked at Jeff and said
“Tommy, do you understand now?” Tommy said, “yeah I understand.”
Tommy’s 6’4” and 175 he’s like a rail and then he stands next to Jeff
Nelson and he looks like a linebacker. He understood.
Kmccabe: Jeff’s a big boy..
Augie: Oh yea. But I really needed to have the wind blow all weekend
to figure that out.
Kmccabe: For heavy air where do you think you need your board to be?
In terms of area?
Augie: That’s absolutely a tough question - it's a moving target and a
subject of discussion with Larry. I’m undecided. I’m leaning towards
staying with a 480 ‘cause that’s what Ethan’s using. So if I’m going
to be using Ethan’s sails I may as well stay with the 480 for
consistency. There’s a lot to be said for going to a place like San
Francisco with a smaller blade. But I don’t know that I’m going to
have time to figure all that out. What I have to do is get good at
using the equipment that I have. I need to understand why I’m going
fast or slow.
Kmccabe: I can say unequivocally that you moved around the course
faster than anybody else. Which brings me to the next question about
your sails. I know that you’ve got the relationship going with Ethan -
I know that because Ethan is the number one person for 505 sails from
North in the United States, you went with North Sails. How do you like
the sails?
Augie: Well, I like the sails a LOT, its all I really know. I haven’t
used the Glasers yet. The Glasers, well because I’m light, the Glasers
look to be more the sails for a heavier crew.
Kmccabe: Do you have a set?
Augie: No, not yet. I probably should do that, but you know what? I
probably won’t because I have to keep things as simple as possible.
Ethan wants me to put a lifting pin in my boat. I am trying to figure
out a way to sail in a breeze without the lifting pin.
Kmccabe: I am SURE you will find a way to do that.
Augie: That’s kind of like a need thing. I like the sails a lot. I
went with the standard sails. I went with Dacron to begin with and
will go to the other sails, probably the 3DL’s and take my time with
that. With all the other things I’ve got to figure out I will probably
just go with whatever sails Ethan uses at the World’s.
Kmccabe: You definitely intend to go to the World’s with Tommy?
Augie: Tommy has promised that he’ll get up to 190 pounds, you should
see him eat, he eats a lot, but he doesn’t gain weight.
Kmccabe: Oh to have those problems!
Augie: Basically, I’m going to give him some time to gain weight
because I like sailing with Tommy and he is very good. You can make up
for a lack of weight with proper boat handling but not on those long
courses and not against the big boys.
Kmccabe: You know San Francisco has a reputation as a heavy air venue.
So with the luck of recent World Championships its probably NOT going
to blow.
Augie: Well I will tell you, its going to blow some. I’ve sailed in
San Francisco enough to know it's going to blow. But I do agree with
you particularly on those two race days the morning race could be
light.
5/11/2009
Beste Grüße,
noi vediamo a Riva
Julius
GER 8666
--
Julius J. Jacoby
Rechtsanwalt
Goth & Jacoby Partnerschaft
Rechtsanwälte Steuerberater Vereidigter Buchprüfer
Postfach 31 02 40, D-80102 Muenchen
Karlsplatz 4/V, D- 80335 Muenchen
fon ++49(0)89/54 59 59-10
fax ++49(0)89/54 32 43 42
julius...@gmail.com
raja...@datevnet.de
Peter Goth Rechtsanwalt, Steuerberater, vereid. Buchprüfer - Julius
Jacoby Rechtsanwalt
AG München PR 852
http://www.xing.com/profile/JuliusJ_Jacoby
--
Štibra
e-mail: sti...@it.hr
___________________________________
Sailing blog: http://sailing.bloger.hr
Seascape18: http://www.seascape18.com
5o5 Croatia: http://www.int505.hr
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