1998 505 World Champions: 
Nick Trotman & Mike Mills

Interview by Jesse Falsone

Nick Trotman and Mike Mills are the first Americans to win the coveted 505 World Championship in 16 long years. They did so in impressive fashion, winning 2 races and placing sixth or better in three others. Many of these finishes, including one of the wins, were come from behind victories. The "Green Room guys" often found themselves in the second line of boats around the first windward mark, but their impressive off-wind speed, smart tactics and mental drive always catapulted them to the front. This is the stuff of champions.

In a candid conversation with this dynamic duo, it is clear that they are overwhelmed by this accomplishment and will savor it indefinitely. Nick is quite self-effaced in the interview as he is in person. Mike�s comments are, well, vintage Mike Mills. You can almost hear how he would answer the question with his wry wit and fiendish chuckle. The interview was conducted over email, and neither Nick nor Mike was aware of the other person�s answers.

This interview makes clear the obvious; it was no fluke that Nick and Mike won the Worlds (and the Pre-Worlds/North Americans). They worked extremely hard to get where they are, made sacrifices along the way and always kept their eye on the prize. It is very difficult to win a 505 World Championship, and that is what makes our class so special.

Above all, Nick and Mike are universally liked. This fact was made clear by the tumultuous applause they received from the entire 505 contingent and regatta staff during the awards ceremony. These two are great champions who haven�t compromised themselves in an effort to win.

JF: During the Worlds awards ceremony when your names were being announced as the new World Champions, I noticed an almost blank stare on your faces as the cameras flashed. What were your thoughts and emotions at that point?

NT: A blank stare? That sure isn't how I was feeling. It was a pretty overwhelming moment for me. I get all bunged up and emotional at times like those. It really is a great feeling to win, as stupid as that sounds.

There was a sense of achievement and completion of our goals. We invested a lot of time and energy, which raised the stakes emotionally, so when the mission was done, all that trapped energy came pouring out. Everyone's applause and cheers and congratulations really felt great. My only regret was missing Tim streaking with the American flag [JF: The streaker�s identity is still unconfirmed until further photo analysis can be completed].

"�we got the skills to pay the bills�"

MM: My thoughts were: "Yeah! That�s right. We're the champs..." Nah, it was cool, overwhelming. It sorta happened really fast. We went from, "cool, we won the NAs, we got the skills to pay the bills", to "wow, we're still in the hunt"... to "holy shit!"

My whole concept and goal that second week was just to stay in the hunt, try not to blow it, every day after sailing it was like, "well, we're still alive, sweet."

It felt pretty warm and fuzzy at prize giving, sorta accomplished a big goal.

JF: You guys had a pretty steady rise through the ranks over the past few years. You finished 9^th at the 1996 Worlds and had a decent year in 1997 taking a 3^rd at the NAs. You really turned it on this year taking a 3^rd at the Midwinter�s, a 2^nd at the East Coasts and you won the Canadians. It seemed as if you peaked at the right time. Was this timing lucky or had you planned your program and tracked your progress carefully?

NT: What we decided to do to prepare for the Worlds was to sail about once per month over the winter, and then every other weekend during the summer. This worked out to be a pretty good schedule. The most valuable time we spent was tuning with Tim/Bill, Mike/Pete, Tom/Wolf, Tim/Mike and others who joined us from time to time. Collectively we had a mission which was to sail in breeze and waves, so we sailed either in Bristol, out the Seconet River, or in Hyannis. Training with all those guys is what really boosted our program. We experimented with a bunch of different stuff, which you wouldn't try in a race, and really pushed to maximize every setting for every condition. We aren't close to finishing that, but we certainly are a lot closer now than before. In terms of our progress, we set some goals coming into the Worlds, but tried to keep it mellow early on. We didn't want to get too amped too early. Basically we wanted to win the Canadians, ECC's, and NA's leading up to the Worlds. We felt like we pretty much hit each one of those, even though we didn't win the ECC's we felt like we had sailed well, so we knew we had a shot going into the main event.

MM: We planned it all along. We've been sandbagging for years. We didn't want to peak to early, so we threw the 97 NAs, let Mike and Pete win. This is a mental game you know. Nah, Just kidding. It just worked out.

We've been sailing a ton since 92. I don't know how much, but its pretty close to more than any one else. Once we started getting pretty good, our 1^st beats and upwind speed still hadn't developed; not even that much by last summer. So basically until this summer, we've been making comebacks, trying to go fast downhill, and learning to pass boats and not give up. But this winter we worked a bunch on upwind tuning, sailed at least once a month all last fall, winter and spring, mostly just lining up and trying to straight line people. The outcome was some upwind speed that we never had before, or really some height. I guess we cashed it in this summer!

JF: What do you think each others personal strengths are?

NT: Mike's greatest strength has been his dedication and commitment to win the worlds. He is a great sailor, has a great feel for the boat, and is a house on the wire. I think he is probably the best crew downwind. He works the rail like a long board and keeps the boat rolling, thanks to quality cross training surfing. On top of all that he has a great attitude and is a fun loving guy, which makes for a great dynamic in the boat.

MM: Nick is a pretty gifted sailor in that he has a good eye for the sails and great feel for what the boat�s doing and why it is or is not going fast. He's competitive and likes and strives to win, which is important. He also believes in himself and self-confidence is very important when you�re trying to crush everyone in the world. To complete the meal, he's got a side order of humor and relaxation that keep him cool under pressure.

JF: What sacrifices did you have to make to elevate your program?

NT: Sailing every other weekend at a windy venue meant a lot of traveling and time away from home and my wife which was a definite sacrifice. She was really supportive and psyched for us, but is glad the mission is complete and fall is here, which means less sailing.

MM: I quit smoking two packs a day, eating Ding Dongs, and watching late night TV. But all of those sacrifices pale in comparison to all the tasty "Hors D'oeuvres" that I forced into my system after sailing everyday during the worlds to "stay in the zone."

Eh, we spent a lot of money. Time: I flew up to Rhody a couple of times and Nick came down to St. Pete, so we spent some weekends. We probably spent a lot of "brain energy" on getting pumped, but I wouldn't really call that a sacrifice.

JF: What do you like best about sailing together?

NT: Mike's endless ideas, his giggle fits, and of course winning!

"It feels good when we go fast."

MM: Hangin� out and winning if we can. What's nice about 505 sailing is that its an excuse for us to communicate, meet up, and deal on stuff, an excuse to hang out. We have to email each other and call each other and its totally fun. It feels good when we go fast.

JF: How would you describe the mood on your boat? Did it change drastically when you were behind?

NT: The mood was generally upbeat while we were looking for ways to pass boats and staying focused on going fast all the time. There were conflicts and frustration, �cause nothing sucks more than getting passed, but we kept a good dialogue going and would always work things out.

MM: The mood's usually the same all the time. Pretty mellow, if we're way behind then sometimes a little annoyed but not really, just psyched! What I learned from Macy last year, "Never give up." Its the truth, you just gotta keep goin', no matter how far behind you are, no matter how much you boned the first beat. That�s sorta the attitude in the room, whatever's goin' on, wherever we are in the fleet, just lookin� ahead and puttin� hits out on the five boats ahead. Once it was ours to lose, in the last three, it got a little more stressful cause we just wanted to end it.

JF: At what point (before or during the regatta) did you feel you had a legitimate shot at winning the Worlds?

NT: After winning the practice race I felt we had a shot at winning the worlds. Upton-Brown was sailing and we were as fast if not faster in that condition, and we stayed in phase better, and we figured he was the guy to beat, so after beating him in that race I felt we could do it.

MM: Its weird. We always thought we could do it or at least that�s what we thought. The stupid wheels we had on the windy NW day sort of scared the truth into me. Ridiculous. After that I was just trying not to think, only execute.

"Nothing bothers you when you domi the dojo."

JF: Did it bother you that many people suggested that there was a "curse" on all those who had won the Pre-Worlds or that the top sailors from Europe and Australia were not sailing as fast as they would be in the Worlds?

NT: No

MM: Nothing bothers you when you domi the dojo.

JF: How closely did you work with your sailmaker, Jay Glaser?

NT: I would talk to Jay from time to time and give him some feedback, but we didn't really change the sails in any big way, maybe one small change. Howie and Mike get all the credit for developing the sails. They worked hard with Jay and Pease trying different cloth and small shape changes. The sails were powerful with a lot of return which worked really well in the Hyannis chop. They also de-power well so they were quick in breeze. And the chutes are just plain fast, they have been the same for a while and we are really happy with them.

MM: We asked him for a new chute before the Canadians and he said he didn't have time. Jay's our buddy!

We had him make some pretty high profile adjustments, move the telltales around, change the color in the numbers, drop the cunningham grommet hole, find tinted mylar for the windows. As you can see, it made all the difference.

Seriously? That�s classified stuff and besides, only Mike, Howie, and Jay have that info, and they own the technology, so... Back Off!

JF: How much coaching did you receive before and during the regatta? Was coaching your key to success?

NT: The coach sure psyched everyone out. Josh was a great help. He was there for the practice race and the Worlds, missing the Pre-Worlds. It would have been incredible if he had coached us all summer, because he has a great eye for sail shape and trim, and we would have learned a ton more. Basically he helped us tuning on the way out with Tim and Bill, giving us feedback on how our setup looked compared to theirs and stuff like that. We would talk strategy before the start, but that game plan tended to get shuffled a bit. Josh was great support, he simplified all the little stuff, always told us we were looking good, and filled us with confidence and good vibes. He also brought his hotty woman out from time to time to distract the competition.

MM: Josh did a tremendous job. On shore, he took care of the loose ends, got lots of extra info on the current and local knowledge, and pumped us full of positive energy. It was probably bullshit. It was great to have him on the water. Josh has a tremendous eye for sails and knows the game. Yeah Josh!

"Our main focus in breeze was keeping the boat feeling
loose and slippery with the bow down going fast."

JF: You guys had great boat speed and pointing in the breeze. What is your main focus while sailing upwind in big breeze?

NT: Our main focus in breeze was keeping the boat feeling loose and slippery with the bow down going fast. Any time the boat felt slow, or the main was really heavy, we would rake a little to try to 'free up' the boat.

MM: For me, pretty standard stuff, same stuff we all do, be really huge, watch the compass, call puffs, talk about competitors, keep an eye on the mark, be huge, check out the rig, be huge, watch the compass, be huge, and eh, be huge.

Nick had it dialed in, regular settings, board up a little, leads out a little, a little more ram up that we used to, probably cause of the stiffer noodle, little more twisty main. The boat and board really felt like it had a lot of bite, we never felt like we were side slipping. Maybe our board was down more than most?

JF: You had mentioned during the awards ceremony that you had figured out the "tricky current" in Hyannis before the regatta. What other observations had you made about the sailing area before the regatta began?

NT: I'm not so sure how much of the "tricky current" we really did figure out, we knew what was going on and when it changed and how fast it was going, but I think that was common knowledge. Having sailed there a bunch gave us a slight advantage. We knew what to expect from certain conditions, and what to look for when the breeze was shifting.

MM: Nothing to quantifiable, going out towards the end of the two weeks, it felt like we lived there. Comfortability factor 10. Out of the South, light go left. Out of the Southwest, breezy, go right.

JF: Where does your 505 program go from here? Will you be lured into more "lofty" endeavors like sailing big boats or starting an Olympic campaign?

NT: I love the boat and plan to continue racing it as long as I can. I guess the next landmark is to win the worlds 5 times, but that's a pretty lofty goal. I'd love to just win it again, because it felt so good. No plans for big boats or the Olympics. 505's and team racing will feed my competitive side, and boardsailing in waves for the cheap thrills. I would love to sail an 18 or an A Class, or anything fast and overpowered.

MM: Nick's an asshole. I'm never sailing with him again. I'm shooting for my grandmaster in chess and trying to score some babes using my "I'm Luke Skywalker and I just blew up the Death Star rap" and seeing where it gets me.

"I rub the big blue ball every morning."

JF: How does it feel to have your names beside some of the best dinghy sailors in the world?

NT: It feels great. I rub the big blue ball every morning [JF: me too]. Still glowing and totally psyched!

MM: Its cool.

JF: What significance does the name "Green Room" have?

NT: Mike gets credit for the 'Green Room'. When you get covered up by a wave surfing your'e in the green room. It's sort of the ideal thing for surfers, what everyone is pushing for. Our boats green, Mike and I like to surf, seemed to fit.

MM: The Green Room is cool and deserves a more respectful answer. If you believe in all the "Mental Toughness" stuff, imaging, and performing to your largest potential and all that Arthur Ashe stuff, then you may have tried to get into "the zone", or "the groove" or perhaps "the room."

Our room is green, and its a place Nick and I go, and we hang out in there and sing Maceo Parker's "Shake Everything You Got" and I mostly sing Beasties songs like "the maestro" and stuff. In addition to the recording studio in our green room we also have some "high speed stuff" which we like to bust out when we're racing all you guys. The green room is also a surfing reference. "The Green Room" surfing reference pretty much embodies everything we live for in sailing and surfing, and was a good fit for the boat.

I'm sure the boat's "green" name has been cited by others with other, more dubious references, but we don't know anything about that. Its also likely you think that these dubious things are also the reason that I'm writing like this. ButIdon'tknowwhatyourtalkingabout.

JF: (Just for Michael): What is the Mike Mills formula for being a rock-star crew?

MM: Be large.

"The Green Room surfing reference pretty much embodies everything we live for in sailing and surfing, and was a good fit for the boat."