We catch up with Interlake National Champion Matt Fisher to hear about his experience at the 2021 Interlake National Championship Regatta, hosted by the Sandusky Sailing Club on Lake Erie in Sandusky, OH.
Karl Felger: You and your family have a strong history in the class. What is it like having that type of legacy?
Matt Fisher: My Dad loved the Interlake Class and all of the great friendships developed when he was sailing Interlakes. We have been very welcomed in the class, and have always enjoyed the camaraderie at regattas. I have tried to give back to sailing by helping support events where people can learn more about the sport or learn more about Interlakes. My Dad gave quite a bit back to the sport and it that has been as much as his legacy as winning 13 Nationals. I am trying to do the same — more at Hoover than anything else, but I will not catch him in either the helping or the class championships categories.
KF: What can you tell us you focused on for this year's Nationals?
MF: Our participation in the regatta wasn’t really decided until the last couple weeks before the event. I crewed for my son Stu in a Thistle all summer, and sailing the Interlake was really Stu’s idea to have a regatta where I steered. We didn’t approach the regatta with one area that we focused on - we don’t look at regattas that way. We actually knew that it was going to be a windy day on Thursday and not as much the rest of the regatta. So we tried to get mentally prepared for big breeze.
KF: With big wind shifts on the course at the Nationals (and many of our events), What were you looking for at the start of each race? Was there a particular side of the course or starting line you were shooting for?
MF: This is likely the most asked question I hear and I hear asked. We have gotten away from trying to guess which side is favored. We spent 3 or 5 years trying to determine which side will be favored. We weren’t very good at that. Sure, in light air, especially in very light air, we will look upwind with 2 minutes to go and try to see if we can tell if there is any more pressure on one side or another. But our “strategy” in 90% of the races is start near the favored end and sail the shifts. Sure we end up on a side and have sailed lifts out to a side when we are trying to get back to the middle. But we do not try to guess which side is favored. Yes, one side oftentimes will come in and often the people that win from that side after the race will either say they sailed up the middle or they saw something on that side; but we sail shifts as much as we possibly can.
KF: How do you approach your rig tuning? Do you deviate at all from the standard tuning guides?
MF: I never deviate from the tuning guide. If your brother is a sailmaker, and you ever complain about your boat speed, and he finds out you are not tuned according to the tuning guide he wrote, you are in for a long Thanksgiving dinner.
KF: If there is one trick, technique or tactic that you use on the boat that you can share with our up-and-coming fleet members, what would it be?
MF: I don’t have tricks, I don’t think. Sail in many different sailing conditions as possible and work on your weaknesses. If you normally sail at Hoover and have trouble with waves, travel to Sandusky or somewhere on Lake Erie to get better in those conditions. Same as if you are from Sandusky and have trouble with inland lakes, sail in the small lakes so you can have fun when you go to Mohican for the 2022 Nationals.
As importantly; before your next fleet race ask the fastest boat in your fleet to sail next to you side by side upwind — and downwind. Look at what they do. Best case, get someone to take pictures of your boat and theirs. You will see differences.
KF: You’ve always been extremely fast sailing downwind in the boat. Any concepts you can share?
MF: I think it is knowing your angles in the lighter air, and keeping good balance and sailing low in the puffs and waves in the heavier air. When it is under 6 or 7, there are angles you can take that result in your optimum speed or VMG ( I really don’t use that acronym, just wanted to try it here). Even in the light air, you want to keep the spinnaker full and keep trying to drive down until your chute flyer tells you that they don’t have good pressure.
But communicating with your crew/teammates is the most important part of downwind sailing As I just said, constant communication with the spinnaker flyer — in all conditions — is critical. When a puffs makes its way to your boat, the spinnaker flyer should tell the skipper “I have a good puff’ and the skipper should say, “ok, I am taking it down. is that too far?” the spinnaker flyer then says, "yup too far", or "nope, I’m good”. I am having that conversation with the spinnaker flyer the entire leg. If you are sailing with 3, use the third to call puffs in all conditions. Where the puffs are and when they will hit. This is incredibly valuable. Have that person look for where the spinnakers are flying higher in light air, and encourage them to have the authority to encourage the skipper to steer the boat closer too that puff if it is possible. In a big breeze it is equally important to sail under the puffs.
KF: What's the biggest challenge you find sailing the boat and how do you overcome it?
MF: I find the Interlake tough to sail upwind in big breeze, big waves. I have seen Skip Dieball sail the boat with lots of vang and seemingly stuffing the boat into the wind rather than bow down in the waves. I crewed for Skip in our boat at a windy regatta in Cleveland, and he broke the vang in 1174. He fixed it, but he put a lot more vang on than I did. I saw Jim Ward doing the same thing this year and going well. Same to what I discussed in an earlier question, I need to sail more in the 18+ with the people who depower by using the vang rather than dumping the main.
KF: How do you hand mainsail trim on the boat? Are there any specific things you look for or do that are key to your success?
MF: I trim the main to the tuning guide. I might trim looser than most in some conditions to try to keep the boat moving, but it depends on the wind and water conditions.
KF: Do you sail other boats? What aspects of sailing those do you bring this boat and vice versa?
MF: I sail several other boats and they are all different. I actually keep a notebook on 4-5 key things that each boat has for trim or balance . It actually is tougher sailing a couple different classes than people think. Skip, my brother Greg and just a couple others can go from one class to the next in successive weeks and be one of the fastest boats on the course. I have a harder time doing that than they do. I think there is nothing that replaces time in the boat and sometimes sailing one kind of boat can hurt your sailing in another boat. It is fun to go from one class to the next because it is like traveling to different countries and meeting different people in different cultures. But accelerating off the starting line and having smooth tacks is something that you need to be conscious and aware of when you switch from one class to the next.
KF: Why make a switch to Evolution Sails, especially with success in the past using other brands?
MF: My brother moved to Evolution Sails at the end of last year and I want to do all I can to help Greg and Evolution be successful. I have always admired my brothers styles of trying to help grow a class while also selling sails. Google “Pros Among Us” Sailing World Sept 22, 2016. It is great to have a new sailmaker trying to make class members trying to sail better and have more fun doing it.
