Interview with the 2022 Lido 14 Class Champions!  Ullman Sails sweep 1st to 7th

Interview by Butch Michel

All Photos by Cherie Olney   —  https://cherieolney.smugmug.com

Results

Congratulations Mark Ryan and Sarah Schaupeter for winning your 3rd Lido 14 Class
Championships! I would like to ask you both questions on behalf of the Lido family about the
Class Championships and how you prepared for it.
-Butch Michel #3166

Mark and Sarah with a great start in 2506

What did you do beforehand to prepare for the Class Championships? (Sails, rigging,
bottom of boat?)
Over this past year, I sent my trailer into the trailer shop for much-needed TLC. I got the
bearings checked out, new fenders (both fenders had fallen off), a new sidebar for support (that
had fallen off, too, over the years), and new lights. Now, I had the confidence that I could make
the trip down to Mission Bay safely (knock on wood).
A couple of weeks before the Class Championships I spent a day and a half prepping the boat. I
washed the boat down with soap and water. I polished the spars with car wax (Meguiar’s
DeepCrystal Auto Wax). I WD40 & McLubed everything that needed to move on the boat
(blocks, cleats, pintles, etc.). I checked every nut and screw. I wet sanded the boards using 600
grit wet sandpaper and then polished the boards & bottom with Teflon wax. I wanted to be ready
to go a few days before I had to leave for the Class Championships.
I also spent some time re-reading old sailing notes and re-reading a few of my favorite “Speed
and Smarts” bi-monthly newsletters that are written by Dave Dellenbaugh which have helped me
over the years to grow as a sailor.

Another great start

What setting did you use for mast rake?
My mast rake is 20 feet, 4 inches aft, and 20 feet, 10 inches forward. My forward mast rake could
be an inch or so looser for going downwind, but there is a nut at the shroud plate that’s
preventing me from doing that. That’s ok. I’ll try to deal with that in the wintertime. But what I
wanted to make sure of was to have the aft rake set at 20 feet 4inches. The boat seems to go well
upwind in most conditions at that rake.

Did this setting remain the same throughout the whole regatta?
Yes, my mast rake setting was the same throughout the whole regatta. Although it was windy on
Saturday (13-16 knots), I felt it was flat water and that I did not have to adjust my mast rake. In
the races, I felt my speed and height were good, and if it was not broken, don’t fix it. (Plus, I
already had something broken on the boat, no pun intended…)
I know of a few sailors who tightened their forestay one hole down in a big breeze and pulled
their centerboard up an inch or two to reduce the weather helm, but I have not done those things
for a few years now.

Mark and Sarah crossing 4th place finished Tyler Webb in the red and 3rd place finisher Chris Raab in the blue. Nice to see some color in a one design fleet.

How much ballast did you have to carry?
We had to carry 25 pounds for the boat. “Orin B.” weighs in at 285 pounds. As a crew, we
weighed in roughly 8 pounds overweight.

Where do you place the ballast inside the boat?
We split the weights into two bags and keep them right next to the centerboard just behind the
centerboard braces that connect the seats to the center trunk.

Do you sail with stock boards or custom boards?
We sail with Gresham boards, but this has not always been the case. In 2009 when we finished
3rd at the Class Championships in Mission Bay, we had a standard centerboard and a 6000
series rudder on our classic lido #4790. Upgrading our boards has been a long process due to
budgeting over time. At the 2010 Class Championships in Huntington Lake, we had stock boards
with a centerboard that was redone by our grandpa back in the day in lido #2506. At the 2014
Class Championships in Alamitos Bay, we had the same centerboard but a Gresham rudder &
tiller in lido #2506. In 2022, we had both Gresham boards in #2506.

Go Dodgers!

What brand of sails did you use?
We used Ullman Sails and bought them in April of 2019 right before the pandemic hit so they
didn’t have a lot of use and sat in the garage. They have had two or three High Sierra Regattas
under their belt and maybe another regatta or two. They looked like they had enough life in them
to make a run for the Class Championships, so we decided to opt to buy a new set during the
upcoming winter deal.

How did you approach the Qualifying series?
In qualifying, we were focused on simply qualifying for Gold flight which we felt meant to avoid
any big factors, such as an OCS or a DSQ. We also knew that the qualifying results did not carry
over to the Championship series. So mentally winning or doing well in qualifying was not a
priority. Plus, we knew the Gold fleet was going to be much deeper with talent and a whole
different ball game compared to the qualifying flights.

Use discount code OrinB Lido for 10% off at PitViper.com

What did you do to prepare for the start of each race?
Setting up on the line, we worked hard to get a safe line sight so that we could have the option to
win the middle corners of the lines and to punch out of the line sag. If the Race Committee was
favored, we’d start in the middle right of the line. If the pin was favored, we’d start near the
middle left of the line. We tried to avoid the corners of the lines and larger clumps of boats as
much as possible, but a few times we did find ourselves there.

We tried to pick our leeward boats as much as possible by setting up to windward of a boat of
our choosing early on in the final approach. In other words, I did not want to set up to windward
of a boat such as Greg Dair/Nick McCabe or Chris Raab/Scottie, for example.
We also got out early and did several one-minute starting drills on our own to build our time and
distance skills to the line with our line sight. We’d sail upwind for a good bit on starboard, trying
to get into a groove as quickly as possible off the line with speed and height. We’d do this
one-minute drill several times before and during the starting sequence to get into a rhythm of
sorts.

Without being a local of MBYC did the two of you compare thoughts of the race course?
We focused on keeping our heads out of the boat as much as possible during the Class
Championships and anticipating what would happen next (wind pressure, where we were on the
course, competition traffic, recreational traffic, etc). We also checked the tides daily and the wind
forecast, as well. We used the speed and height of our competition to help us analyze if we were
on a header or lift and which side was paying off.
Generally speaking, we liked the left to middle left side of the course for most of the series, both
the qualifying and the Championship series. We felt there was better pressure on the middle left
and we agreed we wanted to avoid the hard right because it usually looked softer. Plus, after the
qualifying day, we felt the pin was generally favored for the Championships series, too.

I understand on Day 1 of the Championship series you had a breakdown, could you explain
what happened and who helped you out?
The breeze was up for Day 1 of the Championships series. We probably saw breezes in the 13-16
plus knot range throughout the day. In race 1 our wood block that sits in front of the centerboard
trunk pulled out on the first offset leg. This wood block anchors our boom vang line, centerboard
line and Sarah’s (“The Crew,” inside joke) hiking straps. I guess we took that wood block for
granted! The wood block held on just long enough to finish off race 1, but Sarah did have to hike
off the skippers hiking straps on the second beat! Between race 1 and race 2, Sarah jury rigged
the vang and her hiking straps onto the centerboard trunk braces that connect the seats to the
center trunk. For the rest of the day, Sarah ‘simply’ used her foot to kick and hold the
centerboard up while we were going downwind and the centerboard braces held the vang system
and her hiking straps. The good news was that it was so windy that we didn’t want the
centerboard up the entire way on the downind legs. Plus, it made our gybes pretty quick. Sarah
‘simply’ had to edge off the board a bit with her foot and we were ready to gybe! Mentally, I did
not feel that the breakdown affected us greatly. It was kind of like spilled milk: it has happened,
now how are we going to stop the bleeding and simply make it work for the rest of the
day/weekend? I felt we responded to the breakdown nicely and we were able to refocus on sailing
relatively quickly during that day.

Back on land, after racing for the day and after a few beers and staring at the damage, many of
the Long Beach lido boys began to huddle around our boat and began to explain how to repair it
once we got home. After a few more beers, Grant Hill said, “Well, I’ve got some resin….” and
Scott Scarbrough said, “Well, I got a grinder…” and Kevin Thomas said, “I bet I can find some
glass around here…” and Jack Johnson said, “I got some sandpaper…” and Michael Oliver
said, “I’ve got a drill and drill bits… and a vacuum…” and Tyler Webb and Nick Santos said,
“Well, we can get more beer and ‘supervise!’” So we decided to sand down the old wood, grind
out the old fiberglass, and glass the block back in. I can not thank these boys enough! This is
what makes the Class so special. They did not have to give up their beer and dinner time to help
me out, but they did. The repair job actually turned out pretty darn good! I think this winter I’m
just going to sand the repair down a bit and put on a couple of clear coats to protect it from the
environment.

Past Champions Chris Raab and Stu Robertson around the leeward mark.

Do you two have different ideas in the boat, and if so do you discuss maybe on the
downwind leg what you’re seeing and feeling?
Generally speaking, I make the tactical calls and Sarah helps to build our strategy and helps us
to keep our head out of the boat throughout the races. We build our strategy and road map first
and use it first and tactics second. Sarah calls time during starts. The last twenty seconds she
calls out every second and watches out for sharks (boats that want to take our leeward hole). We
both agree on a safe line sight together. I usually say where I’d like us to start (boat end, mid
right, middle, mid left, or pin). During upwind legs, we both talk about wind pressure, traffic
(both competition and other recreational boats), and changing gears. Sarah looks out for boats
in my blind spot in the jib and asks what’s the plan (try to cross, duck or leebow) when we’re on
a collision course with another boat or group of boats. I also discuss what mood we’re in
(pinching/high mood or pressing on the jib to move fast forward to a corner, puff, shift, etc).
Sarah reminds me of the course as we near every mark (weather, gates, etc) because I sometimes
get too focused on tactics and going fast and I forget our roadmap/strategy.
This regatta, we were focused a bit more on our road map (strategy) and just a bit less on tactics.
In recent previous regatta together, we both agree that at times we were too focused on tactics
and not enough on where we were on the course (left, middle, right, etc) and this might have
gotten us into trouble (less than expected results). We came to the conclusion midway through
this regatta that it was better to sail around competition than to sail through them.
During the downwind we keep our heads out of the boat and looking behind as much as possible.
We tried to focus on building a quick road map as we neared the weather mark for the downwind
leg (reach around the offset mark, standard pole set, or gybe set). When we were roughly halfway
down the leg, we discussed which gate mark (left or right mark looking downwind) we liked.
Near the end of the downwind leg, we’d check the rudder for grass in Mission Bay, too.

On day 2 of the Class Championship series in race 7 there is video of defending Class
Champions Greg Dair & Nick Mccabe and you guys jocking around the Race Committee
boat. Can you explain what you were doing and why?
Coming into the last day, including our throw-out race, we only had a one point lead over Greg
and Nick, so we knew it was anybody’s regatta to win. Race 5 on Sunday, Greg and Nick
schooled us in the prestart with stronger match racing skills. They got a bullet and we finished
second (after we had to sail through the fleet from a bad start). This made us all tied up.

Race 5 Start. Adversity on the way to victory as Greg in 4794 manages to start too leeward and ahead of Mark sandwiching him with Chris Raab on Marks weather side.

“We tried to pick our leeward boats as much as possible by setting up to windward of a boat of our choosing early on in the final approach. In other words, I did not want to set up to windward of a boat such as Greg Dair/Nick McCabe or Chris Raab/Scottie, for example.” Mark Ryan from earlier in the article

In race 6, we were able to start on our own to leeward of Greg and Nick (with a clump of boats between us) and finished with a bullet over Greg and Nick’s 12th finish. This gave us an 8 point lead going into the last two races. (*with a throwout to spare) For us, this meant that Greg and Nick had to put at least 4 or more (*a lot more) boats between us in both of the final two races to have a shot at the title which is completely manageable if you have good match racing skills. We respected Greg’s match racing skills, and I figured he had more time and experience in that field of sailing over us. As a result,
we were conscious of where Greg and Nick were on the line throughout the races on Sunday. In
race 7, we were focused on positioning ourselves near the Race Committee boat when the P flag
was hoisted at 4 minutes to go to the start. At 4 minutes you are considered ‘racing’ in the
Racing Rules of Sailing and are allowed to engage your competition. We used the Race
Committee as a pick, of sorts, to prevent Greg and Nick from gaining any control over us. To
spice things up a bit more, the I flag was in effect which meant if you were over the line with
under a minute to go, you had to round the end of the line. This could be a very powerful weapon
if you have control of your competition in a match race senario. As the time ran down to one
minute to start we were both able to duck the line on starboard just in time. I then tried to use
several boats as picks further down the line, but Greg and Nick were still able to get a small, late
hook on us to leeward as time was running down. We were the windward boat, and as we turned
up to stay clear, we broke the small overlap and were clear ahead and Greg and Nick were now
clear astern in our disturbed air. Luckily, we had a safe line sight and were comfortably below
the line to pull the trigger and go. Greg and Nick had to peel away onto port and take sterns in
search of clear air.

The aftermath of the race 7 match race after Mark breaks overlap on Greg’s last second hook and blasts off to a perfect start with Greg buried in the fleet

Greg and Nick 4794 trying to recover after the failed Hail Mary

We continued on starboard because we were blocked by a few starboard
tackers on our starboard hip. Luckily, once we were able to tack, we had a strong crossing and
were able to finish 1st and Greg and Nick finished up 9th in the race, which mathematically gave
us the title. Although the points may not show it on the final results, the Class Championships
was a battle to the bitter end.

With this being your 3rd title and each one at different venues is there a favorite, hardest,
the most memorable?
Each Championship win was very memorable, but I wanted to win this year pretty badly. I have
great respect for the sailors that we raced against in the Class Championships this year (and
years past, of course). Many of them are lido legends themselves with multiple titles under their

belts and not just in the Lido Class either. We had five different Class Champion skippers on the
race course and I felt that four or five different teams could have the chance of winning. We also
had a Champion crew skippering this year (Erin Batchelor with Becky Lenhart) and another
Champion crew crewing again (Paul Ancitl crewing for Grant Hill). We also had several sailors
who have finished 2nd or 3rd at Class Championships in previous years and multiple District
Champions, too. Mentally speaking, we only won the Class Championships in 2010 & 2014
because we were not OCS. Other teams should’ve won those titles, but they carried an OCS, and
that’s racing for you. I wanted us to outright win the Class Championships this year without
another team losing the title because of an OCS or another asterisk reason. I felt we
accomplished that this year, as a team.

Race 8 Start

It’s great to see a brother-sister team doing so well. Back in the 70’s & 80’s way before your
time we had another sibling family that was fast, Bill and Sandra Denhart. I was very close
to the family and Bill always told me that his best sailing was when he was with his sis. Any
thoughts here?
I feel very lucky and fortunate to get to team up with my sis in lidos! I can’t stress enough how
great of a crew Sarah is! Our busy lives don’t allow us to team up too often, but when we do, we
seem to gel really well. One of my best friends, who races lidos as well, describes us not as a
skipper and crew combo, but that we act as one person. Many times I don’t have to say we’re
tacking or gybing, I just go for it knowing that Sarah already anticipates what we’re going to do.
That’s a pretty powerful weapon to have in double-handed racing. Sarah usually adjusts the jib
trim herself both upwind and downwind based on headers, lifts, puffs and lulls. Sarah also
adjusts the vang downwind automatically.
Sarah “The Crew” here, I’m going to chime-in on this question. I believe the key to our success
as a sibling team is the respect and trust we have for one another, even when Mark wears his
chicken hat out on the water. Mark is a phenomenal sailor and he is always respectful and kind.
He communicates, asks for my thoughts and always says “ please” and “thank you” in the boat.
We both recognize how special it is that we sail together, and I believe that only helps our
respect and trust to grow. We hope to be sailing together in Grandpa’s lido for many years to
come.
What is also really magical is that we get to race our grandpa’s old lido that was built in 1966.
Although our grandparents are long gone, their legacy and memory lives on and it’s pretty
special to race the same lido that they (and our mom and uncle) used to sail. That’s what’s great
about the Lido Class. The Lido is all about Family Sailing, Family Fun. Out at this year’s Class
Championships you saw multiple families sailing together or against each other (Stu Robertson
racing against his daughter Erin and the same for Jeff Lenhart racing against his daughter
Becky). In fact, looking at the results, I count 19 plus teams composed of families of some kind or
another (couples, husband/wife, brother/sister, father/daughter, etc.) You don’t see that in every class! The Lido Class has been around for generations and I hope it continues to stay around for
generations to come.