NEWS

Southern Spars Meets Concord Pacific Racing’s Andre Van Dam & Galen Richardson

The UniCredit Youth America’s Cup has been lighting up Barcelona with a unique brand of foiling action, powered by the AC40. The teams in this exciting competition are comprised of some of sailing’s brightest talent. With a diverse range of sailing backgrounds, each has their own unique road to this big stage. Canada’s Concord Pacific Racing performed impressively in Group B but couldn’t quite overcome a hugely competitive fleet to make the semi-finals. Southern Spars recently spoke to two members of Canada’s Concord Pacific Racing to delve into their sailing backgrounds and find out what makes them tick:

Andre Van Dam

 A young sailing talent with dual citizenship in New Zealand and Canada. Andre’s competitive sailing journey includes being a reserve for the 470 Olympic team and a training partner for the Tokyo 2020 Olympians. In 2022, Andre took the bronze medal at the 470 Junior Europeans.

Other sailing achievements include champion at the New Zealand Open Match Racing National Championship in 2022, and finishing 6th at the World Match Racing Tour Finals in Sydney. In 2023, Andre’s team secured second place at the Youth Foiling Gold Cup in the 69F in Miami. Andre has also served as an ETF boat captain and currently works as a junior sailmaker at North Sails.

Could you tell us something about your background in sailing? What class(es) of boat have been formative in your journey?

I started sailing at 10 years old at Paremata Boating Club. I’ve grown up sailing dinghies, progressing from Optimists and Starlings, and then onto double-handed classes.

I really found my passion for sailing through the technique and technical attributes of the 420 and 470 classes. I had always used North Sails in 420s, and when I joined the New Zealand 470 programme, we were developing sails and two-boat testing for months before the Tokyo Olympics—line-up after line-up. It was such a great opportunity to learn about sails and improving them, which has definitely inspired me to pursue a career in sailmaking.

I started sailing foiling boats in 2018, and it has definitely been a learning curve. Every boat has been a new experience. I’ve been fortunate enough to sail some really cool boats like the 69F and to borrow some mates’ foiling Moths whenever they let me, of course! Getting involved with the Youth America’s Cup has been a goal of mine since watching the San Francisco event in 2013, so to finally be a part of this is extremely exciting.

What inspired you to pursue sailing? Do you have any notable sailing role models or heroes?

My grandparents built a trimaran in the early 70s and sailed around the world. When I was 10, I always thought that was crazy, and I decided that’s what I would do once I had completed my ‘Learn to Sail.’

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in sailing, and how do you apply it?

Controlling what you can control is a big part of sailing. Things often go wrong when you’re racing, so focusing on the big picture is always helpful.

How does it feel to sail an AC40?

Sailing the AC40 is like nothing else. We get to sail so fast—going double the wind speed upwind is an insane feeling. We’re sitting in pods with just our heads exposed, so having trust and communication with the other side of the boat is crucial. It’s a huge change from normal sailing. There’s so much happening on these boats, with many moving parts and systems that need to work for us to sail the boat. Every second is precious time to learn and practice.

How do you stay focused? Do you have any interesting pre-race routines or rituals?

I’m not sure I have any specific pre-race routines, other than I like to be early to the boat park.

AC40s are a brand-new challenge—what have been some of the biggest lessons you’ve learned or adaptations you’ve made?

With the speed we’re going, you’ve got to think steps ahead. We’re still learning to sail these boats, and having time on the water is super important. You have all these controls at your fingertips, and not having to pull ropes is a completely different experience. The biggest lesson is learning to understand the data and then implement it. There are a lot of numbers to work with, and aligning data with the feeling of the boat so quickly is really the next step in sailing.

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As a Junior Sail Designer at North Sails, can you share any insights into how North Sails’ technology contributes to the AC40’s overall performance? And how does it perform together with the Southern Spars rotating rig and Future Fibres ECthree rigging?

The AC40 has such a complex system. These boats go through a lot—everything is constantly moving and contributing to making it fly and sail fast. With North Sails on board, these sails are the most consistent you can get—everyone has the exact same sail to race with. In the AC40, you’re putting the sails through such a range of setups, applying so many controls when we’re foiling to reach our top speeds while still generating enough power to get on the foils. These sails are incredibly efficient.

As a junior sailmaker, working on building these sails has been such a refined practice. Everything is measured, and it’s the level you aspire to reach. These are the coolest sails I’ve ever seen built on the North Sails floor in New Zealand.

The AC40 is such a complicated boat but has been refined so much that it has a slick and clean layout, keeping everything organised. A big part of a boat achieving these speeds and handling such high loads is safety and control. I think all the rigging has been put through its paces and has done an excellent job for us, allowing us to keep sailing as much as possible.


 

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With your background in the data-driven, high-tech world of SailGP, and your experience working in electronics, how important are data and electronics on the AC40?

I’ve been really fortunate to be involved in SailGP, working with electronics, data, and analytics. With the world of sailing moving more towards highly technical and electronically controlled boats, it’s been a great experience to start getting an understanding of how these systems work. Data and analytics are just as important for us on the AC40. For the training days we’ve had on the boat, being able to review footage afterwards with data has been hugely beneficial. The majority of your takeaways come during debriefs, using these tools after our sessions. It’s an area I’m really excited to learn more about.

How does the ECthree rigging on the AC40 compare to the Future Fibres rigging used on SailGP boats? What are the advantages of using such advanced rigging systems?

Having mostly worked on the shore side of SailGP and the F50, we are always looking at the longevity of the products we’re using and maintaining them to last as long as possible. Now that I’m sailing the AC40, we’re trying to push our equipment to the limits, so we need to have full trust that the gear we’re using will do what we need it to. In both instances, the ECthree and Future Fibres products have lasted as long as we need them to, while performing under some pretty extreme conditions. It’s great to be able to use equipment that we can rely on when pushing our boats to the extreme.

Galen Richardson

Galen Richardson has been competing in high-performance dinghies since he was fourteen. Starting in the 29er before transitioning to the 49er, Galen competed at the 2018 29er World Championship in Hong Kong, and placed fourth at the 2019 49er North Americans Championship in Kingston.

In 2022, Galen teamed up with Madeline Gillis of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and transitioned to the Olympic foiling class, the Nacra 17. Galen and Madeline most recently competed at the 2024 Nacra 17 World Championship in France, with their sights set on representing Canada at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Galen has worked for the SailGP Tech Team in the Electronics Department at several events, and for the Canadian SailGP team as a member of the Shore Team. Galen holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Health Studies from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and is a Canadian Sailing Development Squad member.

Could you tell us something about your background in sailing? What class(es) of boat have been formative in your journey?

I grew up sailing Optimists on Lake Ontario at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club. As soon as I could, I wanted to sail fast boats, so I moved into the 29er as soon as possible. I’ve been sailing double-handed high-performance boats ever since, and I now sail the Nacra 17, where I am campaigning to represent Canada at the Olympic Games. Sailing the Nacra has been a great experience for building a foiling knowledge base.

What inspired you to pursue sailing? Any notable sailing role models or heroes?

It’s hard to name one person that I look up to in sailing. There have been so many sailors in Canada who have been role models for me. Billy Gooderham always says that being a professional sailor from Canada is like being a professional hockey player from New Zealand, so I take inspiration from any Canadian sailor who has helped put Canada on the map. Over the past couple of years, it’s been really cool to work with Phil Robertson on the Canadian SailGP Team. I like his competitive style and the fact that he’s a bit of a maverick. I really look up to him and all the other team members.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in sailing, and how do you apply it?

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned over the past few years is that you can’t just get by being a good sailor. You’ve got to be prepared to take opportunities in the sailing world, and having other skills—like boat work, rigging, and data analytics—will really help.

How does it feel to sail an AC40?

Although we haven’t had much time in the boat, sailing the AC40 has been pretty epic. It’s a fine balance between sailing the boat fast and on the edge, but not risking too much and wiping out.

Sitting in the cockpit, you feel so locked in that it can be hard to get a sense of how fast you’re actually moving. You’ll be sitting there thinking you should be squeezing a couple more knots out of the boat, then look down to see you’re already doing 30 knots in 10 knots of breeze.

How do you stay focused? Any interesting pre-race routines or rituals?

It’s been tricky lately, being around all these amazing boats and having this once-in-a-lifetime experience of sailing for the Youth America’s Cup Team. It’s a fine balance between staying cool, calm, and collected, and taking everything in and really enjoying the moment. The more involved you get and the more experiences you have, the more you get used to it. It can be easy to get frustrated over the little things, so I always remind myself to take in the view and enjoy the journey—some of the things we get to do are pretty cool and are opportunities that most people only dream of.

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A big thanks to Galen and Andre for talking to us. For more on the Women’s and Youth America’s Cups and the AC40 click here.

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