Andy Burdick Race Course Notes for ILYA Invite Win

Watch as Andy Burdick, President – Melges Performance Sailboats, shares his Race Course Notes with tips and observations on his 2017 ILYA MC-Scow Invitational win on Lake Beulah with SailZing.com’s Al Haeger.

Andy had an awesome regatta with finishes: 1, [8], 1, 4, 1, 2, 2

Andy shares the following topics:

0:18 – Be on the lifted tack. No matter what. From the start.
0:54 – Sail on the lifted tack, but look up the lake for where the next line of breeze will be.
1:28 – At times, sailing a header into a new breeze may result in a big lift. It’s challenging.
1:50 – Andy doesn’t use a compass to determine lifts and knocks. He uses feel and knowledge of pre-race and during race angles.
2:18 – “Patience is a big thing”. Avoid drastic changes in course, sail shape… and the #1 thing is maintain angle of heel.
3:00 – Anticipate lulls and “shift gears” ahead of time to power up. Be ready to shift weight quickly to maintain angle of heel.
3:20 – When shifting weight, don’t stand up, but shift butt lower in boat.
3:33 – In lulls, don’t be so quick to bear off. Andy maintained sail, point and angle of heel and waited for new breeze to maintain separation with boats to leeward.
4:00 – Top competitors were distinguished by the best boat handling.

SailZing.com interviewed Andy after the 2017 ILYA MC-Scow Invitational Regatta hosted by the Lake Beulah Yacht Club where he was the event champion. http://www.LBYC.us East Troy, WI

Andy can often be seen at events promoting the sport of sailing and the Melges Performance Sailboats line of products and North Sails.

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Check out Part 1 of the interview: https://youtu.be/D2rPLJmHytg

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SailZing RACE COURSE NOTES are observations and tips realized in the context of sailboat racing. These add value by providing helpful context to some of the general skills as they’re applied in actual racing.