A STORY COMPLETED
by Terence Lawton.
Most readers will be aware that Peter Colclough was not able to defend his title in Durban after suffering a damaged leg in a car crash. It should be remembered also that this interview was conducted at the end of last season.
Do you think that there is much difference in the various hulls? People say that the Kyrwood and Rondar hulls are a different shape.
I think there is far more in the imagination that in actual fact. I don't think its absolutely vital but it is something you can see. So if you go and look at a boat and it's a different shape and it sails past you on a beat, whether it was a shift or not, you put it down to hull shape. Then you get physched out. I don't think that the Kyrwoods are particularly fast. There were times in Denmark when they were definately slower and times when they were equally as fast. But at no time did they actually shoot away from us. Kyrwood is not somebody who has come along and done a magic boat.
Do you think that Bojsen-Moller's old style Kyrwood was noticeably faster?
Yes, he did seem fast in certain conditions. There was only one race when he pulled up a lot and that was when it was fairly windy and I just pipped him after he had closed up quite a lot. That was the only time I sailed next to him. I prefer not to sail next to people comparing my speed as you don't really know how people go.
Talking about being physched out, how did you feel after coming 15th in the first race in Denmark?
I felt pretty good because we had picked up so well from such a bad start and I didn't feel that we were any further away from the leader at the finish than we were at the first mark. If you can stay something like that with all those boats I thought it was a good indicator that we were going well. I was annoyed, but not enough to let it upset my sailing. You've got to accept things as they are and get on.
Why are you still using a Proctor D?
It's undoubtedly the lightest mast around. Its bend characteristics certainly suit my sails. Bojsen-Moller went to a lot of trouble with his Carbon Fibre sheathed mast yet it was only the same weight as mine. He won't be using the same mast again next year without rebuilding it.
How do you prepare for a championship?
I tend to be conservative in rig and not turn up with new sails. I did that at Weymouth and was 14th in the first race. That didn't worry me unduly but I wanted the same conditions the following day so that I could use my other sails and have some idea if there was any gain in the new shape or whether I had just sailed badly. Of course it was the first calm wind we had sailed in all year since Grafham. I still use the standard shape of sail as every time I experiment I have a bad race. We've made minor changes to the one sail. Major changes have definitely not been as fast.
How long do you think that sails last?
You should get a good season's use easily. I feel that my Mustos have all been better at the end of the season than in the beginning. They stretch in a little bit and loose some of their fullness.
The profile and section of foils is a big subject. How do you go about selecting what you want?
It was something I put very little effort into, but now I have made the effort to get them made to a template. I use a very conventional section and the profile is a continuous leading edge which everybody else is using. I don't feel the so-called laminar flow sections are right. It's not my idea - I'm only repeating what the experts say, like Bransford Eck, not other helmsman. I had a long chat with him in Bermuda and picked his brains. He is a fluid dynamicist by profession.
Where should people start looking to improve their own performance?
From the sailing point of view I feel that the full size spinnaker is better on the sea. It might not be as aerodynamically perfect as a small one but its got so much more weight in it when it comes to pulling the boat off the top of a wave for surfing.
The legend of the speed of the Australian spinnakers has come about because they sail on flat water. They were terrifically fast when I was in Australia. When you are reaching with a flat sail the wind has a chance to curve around it. With some of the big ones it is not an aerofoil, the boat is just being blown along.
I seem to be able to sail as high as the little sails. I can go as high as anybody when it's blowing. In the lighter breezes I feel a smaller sail can be better because your apparent wind can be much tighter. But in championship races I always use the same sails as you cannot rely on the wind being the same on the course as in the boat park.
You've got to have a set-up that is capable of winning in any conditions. It's no good having a specialised rig. It's unlikely that you can have a boat set up to be fastest in all conditions. It's the boat that is second or third fastest in all conditions that will win. You have to go for all round performance because championships are rarely sailed all in one wind strength. I think that it is a bad championship that is as it will be won by the person whose speciality the conditions are.
How long do you intend to go on racing a 505?
Until I don't enjoy it.
You still enjoy it even though you start favourite for most races and championships?
It was only the first year that I won regularly. In 1978 I wasn't favourite for the nationals and for the last two years I haven't won races by big margins. It's been tight racing.
What about one sentence of encouragement to everybody who wants to beat you?
They've got to work harder! Make sure their sails are set right all the time, the boat is upright and its going to hold, together. No chips in the centreboard. Its no good having a boat that will flex around the rig. Its no good having a tight rig if the boat stretches and gives as it goes over waves and so slackens off the rig. You just loose all your power. So work harder.
