USMRA
Lends A Helping Hand To Congressional Cup Skippers
 |
| One of Team Gram-Hansen has
a spill after losing the shackle and his righting
pressure from a jib clew. Photo by Sean Downey |
LONG
BEACH, CA (April 6, 2003) - Two days before the
start of the Congressional Cup, the skippers and
crews gathered at Long Beach Yacht Club to check
in. While most milled around and established themselves
in the area, two crews took advantage of a not
well-known asset in the area, two shiny Tom28's
owned by TeamOne of San Diego.
The
boats were trucked up to Long Beach as part of
a tour that will see the USMRA presented to the
yachting community of California, including a
spot at the Pacific Sail Expo at Jack London Square
in Oakland, CA the last week in April.
Last
week, fifteen people gathered in San Diego for
a sailing meet, including Scott Dickson. While
there, Dickson expressed a great interest in the
program that the USMRA is putting together. It
was then that he was informed of the tour and
he expressed an interest in sailing the boats
in Long Beach.
Schedules
were compared and a deal was struck to provide
Dickson and his crew the opportunity to get in
some important practice before the start of racing.
The Catalina 37's which are used in the Congressional
Cup are not available for the crews to practice
on until the day before racing begins.
 |
| The crews are evenly matched.
Photo by Sean Downey |
Dickson
and crew, including older brother Chris, met James
Herrera, President of the USMRA at the gangway
11 in the Alamitos Bay Marina. Chris had just
flown in from Auckland an hour before and wasted
no time getting on the water.
The
others invited to take part in the day's festivities
were Jes Gram-Hansen and crew which had flown
in earlier that morning from Denmark. Gram-Hansen
is currently ranked Number 1 in the world on the
match racing circuit.
The
boats left the dock and tacked their way out of
the marina and into the open Los Angeles Harbor.
With the wind blowing 12-18 knots, it was a perfect
day to see some action.
A
line was set and the two crews practiced start
after start to the first cross, where they pealed
off and entered into another starting sequence.
The dueling was so close that at one point, Dickson
drove his bow up the stern scoop of Gram-Hansen's
boat. A crew member had to run back and free the
two vessels from each other.
It
was a truly exciting experience for the chase
boat guests who had the best seat in the house
for an exclusive, private match race between two
world class teams.
This
was the first time that Chris Dickson had sailed
on a Tom28, and Scott’s second. However,
Gram-Hansen and crew have raced the boats extensively
in Europe and love them.
 |
| Dickson sits on top of Gram-Hansen
during pre-start. Photo by Sean Downey |
That
being said, it was quite out of form when Gram-Hansen’s
trimmer seemed to lose pressure on the jib sheet
due to a shackle blowing off of the clew and went
heels-over-head backwards into the drink during
a quick tack in lumpy seas. He managed to keep
a hold of the line and with a bit of help from
his teammates, was able to haul himself back onboard.
Showing the complete professionalism you find
at this level of competition, the crew went about
the race as nothing had happened. He was seen
wringing out his shirt after the sequence was
completed, however, with a chagrined look on his
face when the chase boat came along side and through
him a towel.
Immediately
after that incident, the chase boat roared back
to Alamitos Bay Yacht Club to pick up late-arriving
Steve Flam, a local sailing pro from the Long
Beach area, who will be calling tactics for Gram-Hansen
in the Congressional Cup. He is a true gentleman
of yachting and really adds to the sport.
By
the end of the day, the wind had picked up to
about 18 knots. The crews were unaffected as the
racing reached a fevered pitch and a draw was
declared by all participants.
Chris
Dickson remarked after his first sail on the boats,
“The Tom28 is a great boat. I had a lot
of fun.”
Chris
also borrowed James Herrera’s gloves as
he had forgotten his. (These lucky gloves are
now available for sale on Ebay.com with the bidding
starting at $4,000!)
 |
| (From left to right) Dave
Ridley, Tony Stuart, Chris Dickson, Scott
Dickson. Photo by Sean Downey |
The
chase/press boat and onboard commentation was
provided by Doug Mclean, who is a match racing
competitor and close friend of Scott Dickson from
ABYC. Chris Wells, also of ABYC, set marks and
helped out with everything else. It is people
like this group helping out the best way they
can that makes yachting fun for all.
All
in all, everybody had a great day of sailing and
smiles were on every face as they disembarked
the boats at the long dock in front of LBYC in
preparation for the Skippers’ dinner at
6:00pm.
The
USMRA has made arrangements to keep the matched
pair of Tom28’s in Long Beach for the week
for parties interested in the program. Contact
James Herrera, jamesh@usmra.net to arrange a ride.
The
USMRA was founded in February, 2003 to provide
a medium to promote the sport of match Racing
in the United States. It his hoped that with the
continued support of members and the yachting
community, it will eventually exist as a feeder
system to the Swedish Match Tour and other match
racing events worldwide.
Membership
is currently being established with official teams
from San Diego, Newport Beach, Dana Point and
Long Beach, California. The USMRA will hold a
match racing series this summer off the coast
of select cities in California under the title
of The Pacific Challenge Cup.
All
parties interested in creating a team or hosting
an event should contact James Herrera, or visit
www.usmra.net for more information.
All
Photos by Sean Downey
USMRA
United States Match Racing Association
James Herrera
955 Harbor Island Drive #155
San Diego, CA 92101
Phone 619 209 4742
Fax 619 209 4744
http://www.USMRA.net
jamesh@usmra.net
