Merlin’s domination of the J/105 fleet at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series at Marblehead Race Week didn’t just happen on a whim; it was the product of two decades of friendship, finely honed boatspeed and tuning, and a crew culture that balances serious performance with Fig Newtons, Branston Pickles, and every party on the regatta schedule.
At the center of it all is owner Charlie Garrard, steering the J/105 Merlin. His son Jack, runs the bow and between the two of them is a team that can practically finish each other thoughts: Alec Torrie, Scott Alexander, Gretchen Fisher, and Doug Sabin. The win in Marblehead itself was emphatic: eight bullets in nine races in a competitive local fleet. The foundation of the result is time in the boat—lots of it. Charlie traces the program’s roots back two full decades.
“We bought the boat about 20 years ago, and the team we’ve been sailing with have been sailing together for nearly all those 20 years doing race week up here, Thursday nights, Saturdays, and BVI Spring Regattas. We love it, so we’ve been together for a long time. We’re all good friends and just great team of people to be with.”
Merlin’s continuity shows up most in the conditions that defined this particular Marblehead Race Week: two days of tricky light-air racing followed by a punchier, heavier final day. Merlin’s score line, and the way they managed the course, made it clear they had a different gear when the wind went soft.
“We did really well in light airs, and oddly enough, today with the one day of heavy air, we weren’t doing that great. Even though we got another two bullets and a second, it was hard to get to those things. We had boats around us that we felt were quicker. We had good pointing on the first two days so we didn’t change the gear for today. But the light air days, we were just golden. It helps that we got lucky in a few spots here and there.”
The “golden” performance in light air had nothing to do with Merlin’s magic, however. It was a specific, disciplined setup and a clear philosophy about how to make a J/105 move when the wind is barely filling the sails. Charlie breaks it down in simple, practical terms that any J/105 skipper would recognize.
“Our rig was down at the six to 10 range, so whatever the tuning guide says for that, and super light on the backstay. We have a lot of in-hauler on the jib when we go upwind, and then the main was always flowing off the telltales off the back of the main all the time. So, in the light winds, it’s all about just keep the boat going. You know, don’t try and point. You just gotta go for speed.”
That “speed first, point later” mantra carried through the entire event. While others may have chased height and stalled the flow around their sails, Merlin’s crew was relentlessly focused on target boatspeed:
“The weight on the boat was more important in the first two days,” Charlie says. “We were always trying to get to 6 knots, you know, get to 6 knots and go. That was our big thing. So, we were footing, footing, footing until we got to 6 knots, and it was all about whether we could power up the boat enough. It wasn’t about point at all in the first two days.”
Central to making that mode work is the partnership between Charlie and Sabin, the team’s longtime mainsail trimmer. On Merlin, Sabin isn’t just trimming; he’s co-driving the performance of the boat.
“He’s really good,” Charlie says. “No, he’s awesome, and we have a great thing between us,” Charlie says. “He just coaches me around the course. He’s an awesome guy to sail with.”
With only eight boats on the starting line, Merlin didn’t need elaborate, high-risk start routines. Instead, they leaned into clear communication and low-drama execution.
“Eight boats, so it’s not super congested,” Charlie says. “It’s really between me and Doug is what goes on. We didn’t really have to have a lot of time where we had someone on the bow saying go up, go down, and most of the starts, there was enough space to look good, find a gap and go. We decided which end of the line do we want to be on, and end up somewhere in that part of the line and just go for it.”
If Garrard and Sabin owned the setup and the modes, young Jack on the pointy end owned the corners—where races are so often won or lost. As bowman, Jack Garrard’s brief is simple in theory and brutal in practice: keep the maneuvers clean, fast, and drama-free.
“Keeping it clean is keeping it fast,” Jack says. “So, if you can get it up quick and you can get it up without a twist, that’s the name of the game. And a lot of getting it up without a twist is keeping it down, or getting it down clean. So, keep the sheets clear, keep the (spinnaker) tapes clean, and you’re there.”
Charlie doesn’t hesitate to underline how critical that is to Merlin’s consistency. “Jack had the kite up within like a quarter of a boat length of rounding the windward mark. The kite was up and full.”
Behind Jack is Fisher, the boat’s pit boss and “squirrel” who makes sure the spinnaker is ready to go again. Their hoist record over nine races is the kind you can win a regatta with. Gretchen, the squirrel…we only had one small twist. Yeah. Out of every nine hoists, one minor twist. That was it.”
The same calm, deliberate approach applied to takedowns. “Takedowns were pretty clean too,” says Jack. We just decide in the last 10 boatlengths what takedown we’re doing, and then just nail it. And we had pretty good takedowns.”
Off the water, the program walks a fine line between discipline and enjoying everything Marblehead Race Week has to offer. They were at “every party,” as Charlie freely admits. The music, the food, and the nightly gatherings at this year’s host, Corinthian YC, were top-notch.
Merlin’s Marblehead win also punched their ticket to the Sunsail BVI Championship, a prize this tight-knit crew has been chasing for years. “We are so excited to do this,” says Charlie. “You don’t know how long our team has been waiting to [be] pulled out of a hat to go do this. So, we are on. The whole team is coming down.”
Jack, who’s been to the BVI once for its storied Spring Regatta says he’s been many less times than his father, but Charlie can’t wait to swap Marblehead’s windward–leewards for island passages: “I just can’t wait. I just can’t wait to go do it, like with my team of people who do this like once a year for the spring regatta… we’re now going to do it against the other, you know, Sailing World Helly Hansen Regatta people. Can’t wait.”
Note: The Sunsail BVI Championship and Racer Chaser Flotilla is now open for racing sailors and cruisers to join the regatta in early November. Click here for full details on the Championship and the Flotilla experience.
