Interview with International 14 World Champion Glen Truswell

by Dan Holman 25 Mar 2015 12:28 GMT 25 March 2015

Dan Holman talks to Glen Truswell about his International 14 World Championship win at Geelong, Australia and his new boat for the 2015 season, Crumpet 2.

Dan Holman: So, the dust has settled after your emphatic win at the i14 worlds in Geelong, Melbourne. Has it settled in yet?

Glen Truswell: In a word No! To be honest, I think it's because I still view myself as a bit of a newbie to these unbelievable boats! Don't get me wrong, I can kind of get my head around us winning an event or so here and there nowadays, but not what just happened this last twelve months, it must be a dream right?

DH: Yes - of course you had a great season winning pretty much everything, but apart from the epic Prince of Wales Cup race itself, most of your victories were down to the wire "lastminute.com" affairs, Generally involving 4 x world champion Archie Massey. You had been knocking on the door from your early days in the class, but what do you think made the difference this year and in particular in Geelong where you won every race except for race 2, when you came second?

GT: Sorry to correct you Dan, but it wasn't "pretty much"! (Tongue in cheek whilst grinning from ear to ear.) But yes you are absolutely right, we were more than fortunate to find the rabbit at all most of the time, let alone drag the little %&*@ out of his bag so often! To be honest I think sailing with Sam (Pascoe) in 2014/15 really threw the rule book out the window for the pair of us. Before the first time we ever stepped in the boat we consciously discussed and bought in to the fact that we would trial and discuss absolutely everything pertaining to how these boats are sailed and setup to race. In effect, I believe we unshackled ourselves from precedent and this helped us move forwards. The way we sail and set the boat up now is extremely different to how either of us sailed previously. Don't get me wrong, we were undeniably quick almost immediately, but we were also dangerous and prone to the sort of mistakes where you end up laundering sails in the ocean! Despite eventually winning, this remained a trait that we exhibited in abundance at both the Europeans and POW week. At the Worlds we somehow found a way to step beyond this, I think it was by having confidence in our conviction and letting things happen rather than snatching at opportunity impatiently.

DH: So I guess that you are saying that your main leap forward can be attributed to a solid amount of time in the boat with a classy sailing partner, predicated on a "no stones unturned" approach to setup and technique?

(N.B. It's probably worth mentioning that in the last 18 months, Sam came second at the last 14 worlds helming Glen's boat with Alex Knight, then went to Thailand and finished runner up at the Fireball worlds crewing Nathan Batchelor, before getting your sailing relationship underway culminating in a comprehensive win at this i14 worlds. In most people's books this would make Sam one of the great all rounders of recent times.)

GT: Dan, as an independent project manager for new product development in the marine industry, one has to be seen to turn out a well-dressed outfit! Of course you're absolutely right, but coming from my background we were also running some pretty special equipment designed and developed with the best suppliers in the industry. Nobody at the worlds was running our hull design, mast laminate spec, gennaker pole design, foil design/configurations. Only a few people had the presence of mind to shift to our sail manufacturer the week before the Worlds! When you genuinely know you're the fastest all the other stuff (keeping the sails out of the ocean aside) often just falls in to place. I don't mind people saying "well they had the fastest boat" that didn't just happen by accident!

DH: It is a refreshing to see an unrepentant statement that you were running on what you consider to be better gear, rather than the traditional text box approach of running conventional gear and working on out sailing the rest! But it begs a few further questions: How much of your advantage do you perceive to be hull, rig and foils? Considering a drag budget for this sort of boat, the hull is by far the biggest part of the pie, so one would imagine that, say, a 5% improvement in the hull, would be far more effective than a 5% improvement in the foils.

GT: Yes, obviously you need a good hull platform as your basis; our hull is good that's for sure! I remember the first time we put it on a racecourse, I was absolutely stunned at how competitive it was and how it appeared to flatter us straight off the bat. Looking back only reinforces that first thought process because knowing what I know now, our foil designs, some of our sail inventory and the way I set the rig up back then was not a patch on what we have today and yet we still finished 5th at the Europeans. You'll remember that after that first season I modified the design of the first and last metre of the hull by what would in many classes be considered large numbers, but to be honest, it was only really a bit of a "tickle" to aid the boats performance in sub 7 knots of breeze whilst making the boat look more like the sort of shape I could relate to and find comfort with in my mind. Dave Hollom and Composite Craft had already done an exceptional job prior to my intervention! You've sailed it, its rocket ship silly at times! With regard to spars, foils and sails, I think you're right, there are few single "golden bullets" available here, yet cumulative gains when a complementary state of integration is achieved is still notable. Chasing complementary integration is a tough game though as gains are both hard to quantity and elusive. If you accept that fact, it's kind of hard not to adopt a "Jo Richards type" hands on, intuitive, experimental, approach in order to attempt to move forwards.

DH: Your "day job" to a large extent involves driving cost out of production boats and hence maximising profitability. "Crumpet" started out life circa 2010 with pretty much everything adjustable that could be adjustable. In the intervening 4 years you have changed an awful lot on the boat, its rig, foils and systems. Is your afterhours experimental approach a bit of a reaction against the day job - trying to create the ultimate and damn how long it takes? Or is it the influence of Mike Lennon, long-time collaborator and renowned dinghy bimbling perfectionist? Or was it baggage from your previous class (Merlin Rockets)?

GT: Truth be told you quite often end up working with the same people/suppliers simply because for want of a better description you have the same eye for things. Say for example, Mike Lennon and myself appear to both strive towards very similar types of shapes and profiles and in this respect his sails always look closer to what I would perceive ideal whether I have been involved in the development process for that particular class or not.

DH: How essential do you feel that your experimentalist approach is to make gains in development classes - can you compare it to your other long-time collaborator Jo Richard's approach in the N12s, where he reappeared in the class after decades away with a radical departure (no pun intended) in design terms, and was dominant. Where would you place the trade-off between time in the garage and time travelling and sailing?

GT: Designing theoretically fast equipment on computer is easy nowadays but it all so often simply just doesn't work in the real world due to either computational simulation limitations or real life practicalities. It's not like we race on smooth tarmac at known speeds derived by engine output and gearing? Personally I try to figure out exactly what key performance/design attributes I am looking for from each piece of equipment before I even consider what's available on the market. Once I've nailed that down in my mind I visually check what's on the market for potential compliance before measuring items that pass the visual test. If an item then measures well, I buy it. Why not if someone else has done the hard yards for you? Its often me doing the hard yards so I'll happily take my hat off to someone who got there before me! If it doesn't measure well then I set about getting the part I am looking for designed and made one way or another other. That's exactly what I do for customer boat projects (recreation or race) so it's also what I do for my own race boat projects. Age and experience really do appear to help but you've got to keep sailing the boat unless you're a natural and I certainly wouldn't proclaim that. Sam and myself did 60 days I14 sailing this last season, in almost any other class I'd call that work but the I14's such a rush for the sense receptors its always an experience very different to your last!

DH: Your background prior to entering the i14 class was in what I would describe "proper" boats, you won the Streaker nationals (twice) in a boat you built. In 2009 you won the merlin nationals in a boat that you fairly heavily modified (a pattern perhaps emerging here). Some SB3 (now SB20) sailing, good old fashioned sit down tack when the sail flaps stuff. How would you describe the transition into high performance sailing? Would you say that you had to unlearn old habits? How long would you estimate that it has taken for a guy whose background is not principally in HP sailing to get fully fluent?

GT: I think you've glossed over my illustrious Javelin sail career Dan? But yes, prior to the I14, hanging out the side of slow, tactical, nip and tuck boats was all I'd really done with any great conviction. Trouble was with 27 years of it under my belt, as pure a noble art as it is, I was over it and found myself campaigning to leave the sport! Because I was mid campaign cycle with a great friend of mine, I committed to sail the Merlin for one last season in 2009 but made no secret about the fact it was going to be my last regardless. The measure of an enjoyable outing had slowly just evolved in to something far too results focused at my time of life! I am ashamed to say it, but it never crossed my mind to try an I14 until Jo Richards brought to my attention that Composite Craft had a brand new Dave Hollom designed hull collecting dust! My first thought was, I like windsurfing, that's what I'll end up doing a lot more of now I've given up sailing, it's pretty much like a windsurfer really I guess, if I get a windsurfing mate to sail it with me it will be a right laugh, it really doesn't matter if we do well or not. With these thoughts I visited the I14 Nationals for a day to survey proceedings, although the boats all looked scarily different they all appeared to go at pretty much the same speed and the folk I met all seemed good so I bought the boat having never sailed one! Personally it was quite tough to transition to high performance skiff sailing, but that was also the best bit of it all, it was like going back to being a clueless kid learning to sail all over again from scratch. If I am honest you've got to be a strong and confident enough person not to mind been seen in public with an I14 making an absolute monkey of you because at times they just do that and always will! The flip side is that the comradeship and mutual respect within the fleet is really high, effectively you are praised, encouraged and supported no matter what the outcome. At times the wheels still fall off in dramatic fashion for the best guys in the world, it's just the way it is so there's absolutely no finger pointing or sniggering behind backs unlike many other fleets. I still wouldn't consider high performance skiff sailing my primary mode of sailing, I still like to sit in and "get the pan handle going" whenever Sam gives me the opportunity but a couple of seasons leaves most people competing comfortably at International regattas.

DH: We have touched on the fact that 1543 began life with a no compromise "everything adjustable" philosophy, and that you haven't been shy of modifying it either. I saw it at the dinghy show 2010 before it had even touched the water, and lets be honest it was like a snake's wedding in that cockpit. You sold 1543 before you won the worlds to some very astute 14ers looking to trade up. You have been building a new boat from a bare shell out of the same mould as 1543, still only the second of its design in existence. With four years of 14 sailing under your belt and having turned over most of the stones, how has your philosophy towards changed in the intervening period?

GT: When I originally put the boat together, I knew little or nothing about I14's so I largely took Mike Lennon's advice on fit-out. Mike was only a year out of the class himself and had won POW and suchlike, Mike likes a good bimble, as do I, so the boat did end up pretty complicated! Some stuff ended up in the cylindrical filing cabinet after only our first outing but most stuck around for a couple of years. Being able to "shift on the move" was interesting initially as it did allow us to learn stuff quickly about the inputs the boat did and didn't like. It also assisted us sail around some of the shortcomings of our equipment at that time via the use of heavy manipulation. In the earlier years our equipment developed massively, becoming far more refined and hence we began to find we didn't need to use most of the controls anymore, so took them off. Ultimately equipment that's highly refined isn't very sensitive to setup and is just quick pretty much all the time. Most people don't believe me but more than 80% of the time I set the vang and downhaul before we've even got past the yacht moorings on our way out and I don't touch them all day! It's a similar story with the dagger-board we designed which is so low drag whilst developing just enough lift for upwind work that we no longer have to raise it at all downwind! It's hard enough staying on the side of these boats and simply steering, there are no medals awarded for making it harder for yourself than it need be! I am excited by my new boat but in reality it's only a few small iterative steps based on the theme, I certainly haven't stuck my neck out, at this stage I don't feel it's unnecessary to do so.

DH: It seems to me that, as you have become more familiar with the gear and your sailing has become more robust, you have felt happy enough to cast off a lot of the adjustment to the extent that your new boat will be fitted out and sailed more like a skinny 49er. It is something that a lot of windsurf rig designers covet, and some achieve - the ability to cover a wide wind range on one setting. Having seen the standard to which your boats are executed and finished, how do you cope with the inevitable scratches, dings and occasionally worse that come hand in hand with launching, racing and recovering these fast and exciting boats?

GT: I14 racing can be bit of a steeple chase at times, some people say "it's not racing" but you quickly learn to love it due to the "surprise and delight" that the uncertainty brings! I guess the Prince of Wales Cup race is synonymous, the National Championship being won and lost over the duration of a single race. The truth is that many, many more boats have stood up and grasped the nettle than could have realistically won a series. Good on them I say! It keeps the big guns guessing and the collective dream alive in all of us. Isn't that what sports meant to be about? Incidental damage is largely irrelevant, it's all worth it in the end - you can't see scratches and dents through sheets of white water anyway?

DH: You have won the last world championships by what to all intents appeared to be a whitewash. Some of the winning margins were huge - did it feel easy? Or do you feel that you were still grinding out results? Given the magnitude of your win, what motivates you now going forward?

GT: The combined elapsed race times for the event show that we were almost 2% faster than the next boat on the course. On one hand, this is the sort of statistic Olympic team managers would swap their gender for and yet being pragmatic on the other, reality is the stars aligned so well for us in Australia it's kind of hard to know exactly where we stand moving forwards! It's true to say circumstance may have made it look easy but reality is you are only an OCS away from putting yourself under a lot of pressure to do something really stupid! Having won every bit of tin-ware in the class now, interestingly enough, unlike other classes, I don't feel in any way like I've just ticked something off my bucket list before moving on. I am not sure if this makes me motivated or hungry, I think I am probably just happy doing what I am doing which is why I am looking forward to starting back at the beginning with a new boat to see what unravels this time round! For those who haven't yet, come try it.

DH: Glen, many thanks for your time. Best of luck for the season with the new boat.