RECENT COVERAGE : August 14, 2008

Similar to Article in Seahorse International Sailing Magazine

Dominik Zycki held the Star World Championship trophy while Mateusz Kusznierewicz concluded his acceptance speech with a tribute to many, including his coach, Andy Zawieja.  He told the audience, which included over 30 past world champions and Olympic medalists that “It is important to please Andy.   Afonso (Domingos) and Bernardo (Santos) made Andy happy at the BACARDI Cup, and it was our turn this time.” It wasn’t until the third leg of the final race of the 2008 Star World Championships that Kusznierewicz and Zycki’s clinch on the championship title was secure, and as the pair approached the finish line, the first to sound his horn and lead the cheering section was Andy Zawieja.

Andy Zawieja “has been our coach since the start of our Star career.  Almost every day that we have spent on the water has been with him,” confessed Zycki.

Zawieja’s magic touch has been imprinted on many Olympic and top-notch Star campaigns over the past 30 years, including that of 2007 Star World Champions, Brazilians Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada.  His overhaul of Spain’s Olympic sailing program from 1987 through 1992 was so admired by US Sailing that he was invited to work with Ed Adams and Mark Reynolds on their Star campaigns from 1992 through 1996.  He finished off the decade as a full-time coach for the Germans and has been an independent consultant for the past several years.  Robert Scheidt, Fabian MacGowan, Robert Stanjek, Mattias Miller, Peter Bromby, Augie Diaz, Eivind Melleby, and Afonso Domingos are among the Star skippers with whom he has conducted training sessions during this quadrennium.

Zawieja is a maestro who likens the Star to a violin.  While the Star class has strict tolerances within its box rule; hulls, spars, running rigging and sails change under stress.   Each time a Star takes to the water, especially on windy days, things stretch and must be tuned before the next outing. 

Zawieja’s focus is on tuning.  “They can have physical fitness trainers, nutritionists and sports psychologists, but my job is to give them confidence in their boat speed.  They are under a lot of stress out there so that if I can eliminate their concerns about their boat speed, they can go about making all of the other decisions that are necessary to win races,” said Zawieja of his tuning trainees.

Not a single tuning subtlety escapes Zawieja’s notice.  When US Sailing approached Zawieja to help with their Star program, particularly the reaching legs, back in the days when there was at least one reaching leg in every course, Zawieja purchased the boat that Torben Grael and Marcelo Ferriera had used to win the 1990 Star World Championships.  By taking note of the markings on the deck and the mast and by asking many questions, Zawieja gained detailed knowledge about setting the rig up for heavy air.  Zawieja tells a story about being in Ilhabela, Brazil just a couple of years ago and seeing a faded photo of four Brazilian Star boats sailing in heavy air.  “I tell you they were all set up the same way and they had the tuning right.  Over thirty years ago the Brazilians had it right!  This was even before Torben’s time,” remarked the fanatical tuning guru.

 Believe it or not, the timing of the Brazilian Men’s Keelboat Trials, could have played a hand in their results and this year’s World Championship.  After their Olympic Trials, Scheidt and Prada did not have adequate time to ship their boat to Miami, so they borrowed a boat.  As it turned out, the boat was set up well for heavy air as evidenced by Scheidt and Prada’s heavy air horizon job in the fourth race of the Worlds.  However, the team to beat ended up third in the regatta, and their boat selection may have cost them the title defense.

Just as Zawieja’s fellow countrymen, Kusznierewicz and Zycki were beginning their Star careers; John Dane III had a string of outstanding performances at the Miami OCR, the BACARDI Cup and the Springs in Folli hull number 8230.  Afterwards, Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada borrowed the boat and without a tuning overhaul did well in it.  Kusznierewicz and Zycki also chartered the boat and had a similar experience.  From 2005 through the 2006 BACARDI Cup, the Polish Star sailors raced Lillia hull numbers 8170 and 8252 and all the while Zawieja searched for a sister ship to Dane’s 8230.  The diligent coach found two and the Poles able to purchase Folli hull 8209 from an 82-year old Italian.  The other remained in the hands of the Swiss team that was vying with Flavio Marazzi and his super speedboat for an Olympic slot.  Kusznierewicz and Zycki debuted in the Folli in May 2007 at the Breitling Regatta where they took the silver.  Ever since, they have posted terrific results with this trusty steed, including their victory in the 2008 Star World Championships.  The hull, as with Dane’s trial horse, 8230, will be in Qingdao.

Initially, the Poles’ Folli 8209 had speed to burn during the beats, but seemed a little off the pace on the runs.  Zawieja’s analysis and remedy was that the Folli keel is a bit further aft than the Lilla and the speed solution lay in the placement of the rig.  They moved the aft pin in the mast step and cut the deck to allow the mast to cant further forward and suddenly Kusznierewicz and Zycki were charging down the runs. 

Zawieja is methodical in squeezing every last bit of speed out of his clients’ programs.  Coincidental coaching arrangements with the Portuguese and Norwegians before he accepted a full-time coaching position with the Poles, this February, proved beneficial to all, because under Zawieja’s tutelage, the three teams were tuning partners.  Zawieja, with his eagle eyes and photos, watches and knows whether one team is benefiting from a shift or another is distracted and has their heads down in the boat.  He suggests one change at a time to one boat at a time and repeats his drills over and over again until everyone has equal speed.

“A long time ago, I started taking the photos to prove to the sailors what I was seeing and how the tuning changes made a difference.  Once they understand the mechanics and I have their confidence, the photos are not as critical,” says Zawieja about his technique of photographing rigs and sails and debriefing his protégées.  He is a big proponent of sharing information.  “You beat the other guys because you are better sportsmen, not because you have secrets,” professes Zawieja.

Some Star sailors will stick with their tried and true methods for setting up a boat and may disagree with Zawieja, but he has found speed by tightening the lower shrouds, moving the uppers further forward and holding the spreaders more stable.  This setup enables teams to concentrate on playing the uppers rather than the lowers when they are powering up and depowering. 

Zawieja is convinced that you shouldn’t fix something if it is not broken.  He points to what he believes was a fatal decision by the Norwegians to change from a perfectly fast boat and set up to a new boat two weeks before the final Olympic qualifier.  “The new boat was a big distraction to their program,” argues Zawieja.  As for Flavio Marazzi’s and Wilke’s partnership on the Swiss boat, there is no question that “it is better in light air”, but the boat is “so different with the hull shape, the keel shape, the keel position and even the running rigging that it is difficult to say which change contributes the most to its speed.” 

Flavio Marazzi and Enrico DeMaria will be in Qingdao this summer and will be sailing a new and improved version of the boat that led throughout most of last year’s light air Olympic Test Event in Qingdao.  Shocking as it may seem, the Medal Round was a short race sailed in heavy air.  The Swiss trailed out of the blocks and never had a chance to catch the rest of the fleet, including Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada who were testing out a Mader.

For whatever reason, Scheidt and Prada did not pursue an exclusive arrangement with Mader and Juan K.  Instead, Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson did.  The Brits complained about their speed throughout the season in Miami.  They moved their keel around, flew in another boat, did a lot of fairing, even chartered another boat, all the while lamenting that they had sold their proven Lillia to their young Irish training partners.  While they had the option of repurchasing the Lillia, they didn’t.  Although Peter O’Leary and Stephen Milne were not the team that qualified Ireland for the Olympics in the Star, they displayed great jets by winning the final race of the 2008 Worlds. 

There is no doubt that Percy and Simpson have found the speed that they were looking for in the Mader.  “We knew that it would take some time and we may have sacrificed a better performance at the Worlds, but we’re on target for the Olympics,” said Percy during the light air 2008 Star Eastern European Championships in which he and Simpson performed brilliantly.  They didn’t win, but it was clear that they were confident enough in their boat speed that they could engage and put themselves in controlling positions no matter where they were on the course.

Lillia Stars claimed three Olympic medals in Athens.  Don’t expect a clean sweep in Qingdao.  Most of the boats are tweaked for light air and the Swiss are using a boat that no one else can touch.  Germany’s Marc Pickel decided not to use a boat that he built.  The only other team to measure in the German P-Star is the US team, which also owns one of the fastest Folli’s on the planet.  Everyone else will be deciding whether to measure in their Lillia, Folli or Mader Star in early August.