2015 was a golden year for San Diego’s George Szabo, winning the first ever SSL Lake Grand Slam in Grandson,

Bow n: 06, Sail n: USA 8320, Boat Name: eleven fifty-nine Skipper: George Szabo, Crew: Edouardo Natucci

Switzerland and the SSL Finals in Nassau, Bahamas. George raced with different crew for each event, neither of which has English as a mother tongue. Prior to his two big wins last year, George won the Star World Championship in 2009 with Rick Peters. George is recognized as one of the fastest Star sailors in light conditions.

“The SSL format is totally different from any other regatta”

“With the SSL qualifying format your initial goal is to be the top ten for every race, that is totally different from any other regatta. Once you have made that hurdle, your next goal is to sail well to be top seven, then top four, then win it. Sailing windward – leewards is all about picking sides and if you are not certain about which side pays, then with this format you probably won’t gamble for the race win but go up the middle, which would be good enough to make the next round. Even in the final race, the prize money goes down per place, so you are protecting third just as much as you would protect second, so the same applies. The SSL format creates a scenario where you have a different mindset to traditional fleet racing.”

SSL Lake Grand Slam – Fairy tale on the lake

September 2015 – Lake Neuchâtel, Grandson, Switzerland

Bow n: 09, Skipper: George Szabo, Crew: Patrick Ducommun, Sail n: USA

American helm, George Szabo with Swiss crew Patrick Ducommun won the inaugural Star Sailors League Lake Grand Slam, winning the final to be crowned Swiss Open Champion and $25,000, a quarter of the $100,000 Prize Purse.

“Patrick and I had only sailed a two hour practice session together on Lake Neuchâtel and that was two years before the Lake Grand Slam – that’s it, the only time we had sailed together before the event. You don’t always go out there and say let’s win a regatta. First off you work on the speed and look at what the wind shifts are doing and go over the basics over and over again. We progressed as the event went on and Patrick is a hard working crew and really motivated. We did have a language barrier, I learnt some French in High School, so I have enough but telling a guy to turn around and lay on his stomach and move to weather is not easy for me. So I could only come out with “your a door not a window” and he didn’t understand but after a hand signal Patrick got the message and smiled. All of that makes it fun and having fun makes you sail a little more relaxed, ultimately I think you sail better.”

SSL Finals – Szabo and Natucci Crowned Champions

December 2015 – Montague Bay, Nassau, Bahamas 

American George Szabo and his Italian crew, Edoardo Natucci, won a dramatic final of the Star Sailors League in Montague Bay to win the $40,000 first prize, a fifth of the $200,000 Prize Purse. In tactically challenging conditions and a slew of penalties, Szabo and Natucci took the honors by a boat length.

“I have always been a little faster in lighter air and Nassau, in that respect, paid to my personal advantage, as we had light winds for the whole regatta. The qualifying rounds had a little more wind and we were not the quickest but when it got down to the final day, we won the first race easily, going up the middle but in the second race we struggled and needed to get from sixth up to fourth. It is difficult because you can’t just go and bang a corner, that strategy is not going to work here. It came down to passing Bernaz & Rambeau to make the final race and I had to wait for them to make a mistake; they chose to round the right hand leeward gate and I knew the current was favored left and I knew we had them. In the final the pressure was on and some people get bunched up (stressed out), out of the four teams, we were the only one not to do turns and ultimately that was a huge advantage. Winning in Nassau with Dodo (Edoardo Natucci) was fantastic, he works super-hard and we get on really well. When I was younger I went sailing the Snipe in Italy with an Italian crew, so even though Dodo speaks English very well, we communicate well in crunch situations in Italian, which is kind of funny. Dodo is a ball of energy and a lot of fun to be with.

I have been very lucky to have excellent crews in the Star Sailors League both of them are excellent personalities. Patrick will be crew in Hamburg, to defend the Lake Grand Slam and Dodo will be crew for the SSL Final in Nassau, if we get selected.”

Fast in the Light

“I really can’t give you a technical answer to being fast in the light. When I was young, I wanted to be one of the best sailors in the world and I would get off on my lunch break and go sailing and the same after work. Sailing in San Diego in dying thermal conditions after 5pm, takes a lot of practice and you have to work at it in light air and I probably had a lot more hours sailing in light airs as a kid then I had in the breeze. In San Diego we don’t really go out racing in more than 20 knots of breeze, which is a bummer as we don’t get enough time in heavy air. But I guess my light airs experience has perpetuated itself but in terms of technique, I honestly don’t know why.”

by Louay Habib