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Deaked
If you're like me, you've been involved in this sport for far too many
years. One upside to this sort of longevity however is making some pretty
good friends along the way. One of my friends from way back in the day
is Dave Klatt, otherwise know to many of you as Deke. We basically grew
up sailing together, and though never quite to my level, Deke is a mighty
fine sailor. He recently reached a true high point by winning the 2004
J/24 North American Championships. We grabbed Deke for a few word about
the win. Enjoy
You just won the J-24 NA's. Who the hell are you?
DK
I grew up sailing in Channel Islands, CA. Started sailmaking in high school
and except for a short time as a rigger I have been a sailmaker ever since.
I now work for Gary Swenson in the Ventura Ullman loft. I bought my J
24 in early 2001. This is my second boat after having a wavelength 24
in the 80's
Why did this regatta, above all the others, come
together?
DK
Good question. If I knew the answer we would never lose. Seriously, we
trained hard, sailed in the J Fest in April on S.F. Bay for current practice,
and made some new sails.
You work for and use Ullman Sails? What is the state
of the sailmaker wars within the class?
DK
North is the biggest followed by Quantum. Ullman is a lone #3.
Every big regatta has at least One Scary Moment.
What was yours?
DK
In race 6 I got the worst start of the regatta, took the whole fleets
stern on port after not making the leeward pin. We were in last place,
but found lots of clear air up the middle and right side of the course
while all the leaders went to the port layline. The current was weaker
to the right and we were able to round the first mark in the top ten.
The one thing that saved us was that most of the fleet over stood the
first mark.
You strung together a couple of bullets. How?
DK
We decided after race 3 that we would sail our own race. There were big
holes in the wind and the current was a major factor. In
race 4 the current was a raging flood. The committee boat was favored
by 15 degrees. We started at the pin tacking around the mark wanting to
be the first boat to hit the beach. There was a freighter just to weather
of the start and we had to reach off a little to past behind while all
the other boats had to tack into the stronger current. This worked better
than expected and at the top mark we had a huge lead.
In
race 5 we did it the old fashion way. Good start, hitting a few wind shifts,
and being able to leebow the leader coming into the last weather mark.
With all the freighters, there were a few clear lanes and controlling
was fairly easy.
How would you rate your boatspeed?
DK
Our speed was excellent most of the time. In the lighter wind on Saturday
we had a small pointing problem. On Sunday we loosened up the shrouds
2 turns and all was good.
How do you rate the strength of the J/24 class?
Will you continue to race in the class?
DK
The class is almost as strong as ever. The East coast has bigger regattas,
but there is plenty of talent out here. Were else can you buy a good used
boat for under 20 grand and sail against the likes of some the best AC
guys?
I
will continue to sail the J until something in So Cal comes along that
has a bigger fleet in the under 30 foot and 30 grand range.
Is this your biggest win?
DK
Yes by far.
Is it true that you learned everything from Scot
Tempesta?
DK
Between
you and your Dad, yes.
Thanks bro.
DK
Thanks Scot. I see my 15 minutes are almost up.
06/29/2004
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