This week J World sailing and racing coach Ian Moriarty is in Miami Florida for the Melges 24 World Championships. Ian spends most of his time on J Boats like the J/80 and J/70 and helping J World clients get more out of their sailing, but he has taken the time to sail with a team from his home waters (Lake Carlyle) on that “other” sport boat.

We caught up with Ian before the first night of racing and asked him about his preparation for the event.  Here is what he had to say.

KB:  “So Ian, are you ready for the big day tomorrow?”

IM:  “The start of any regatta is always crucial. It is important to hit the ground running and put your best foot forward when you cross the starting line. This often involves quite a lot of preparation, going back days, weeks, and months in advance of race day one. I’ll share a bit about our evening before race day as well as our morning.”

“Our team has well defined roles, both on and off the boat. For dinner the night before we ate well. One person in charge of prep, another in charge of cooking and putting everything together, another to play music and encourage us, and another to clean up. We go by the philosophy that if we all do a little no one does a lot. Using these techniques we whipped up a great meal of salad, pasta, and pork chops in no time at all. We enjoyed our meal and debriefed our day of practice as well as set goals for the first day of racing. After cleaning up and agreeing on our departure time for the morning we all showered and went to sleep at a reasonable hour.”

“In the morning the roles rotate a bit to keep everyone involved. We ate a hearty breakfast of eggs, toast, and bacon. Oh and don’t forget the coffee and anti-inflamatories! We make efficient business of making sure we are all fed, awake, and ready with everything we need for the day and then we get out the door.”

KB: “Sounds like you are off to a good start.  Good luck, sail fast, we can’t wait to hear more tomorrow.”

Melges 24 World Championship Results

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