19TH
NORTH SAILS RACE WEEK
Long Beach, CA/June 27-29, 2003
Presented by Golison & Golison
and Premiere Racing
www.Premiere-Racing.com
June 29, 2003 For Immediate Release
IN
SAILING, IT FALLS INTO PLACE --- OR FALLS ALL
APART
Sunday's weather: wind 4-15 knots,
S-SW.
LONG
BEACH, Calif.---A lot of things can go wrong in
sailboat racing, and most of them did at the 19th
North Sails Race Week concluding Sunday. The spoils
went to those who overcame their bad luck or blunders
(take your pick) or simply waited for fate to
make their days.
Jim
and Lori Thompson, sailing their new J/109, Shekinah,
from Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club in nearby San Pedro,
didn't even finish the first race of the three-day
weekend when they sailed over their spinnaker
after it tied itself in a knot worthy of a Boy
Scout's merit badge. But later they were able
to discard that result as the worst of the seven
races, win two races and then a tiebreaker with
Dick Velthoen and Paul de Freitas' J/35, Rival
and---shazam!---collect additional honors as PHRF
and event Boat of the Week for winning the most
competitive class.
They
also shared the Lydia Kent Family Trophy with
PHRF 3 winner Paul Kent, one of eight descendants
of the trophy's late namesake on board.
"We
are surprisingly pleased," Jim Thompson said.
"We were just here to learn and get used
to using an asymmetrical spinnaker."
So
they weren't distraught over their opening disaster.
"We
didn't even know there was a throwout," Lori
Thompson said.
That
wrinkle was introduced this year, but it didn't
help Samba Pa Ti. John Kilroy's Farr 40 from California
YC, with Paul Cayard as tactician, twice recovered
from jumping the gun in starts Saturday to share
first place with Peter Stoneberg's Shadow from
St. Francis YC going into the last race.
But
then a third misstep Sunday was fatal, and that
was compounded when Samba Pa Ti failed to return
back across the line completely to clear itself,
requiring a second restart. By that time, a fickle
4-knot breeze that greeted the fleet of 130 boats
on the final day had built to a brisk 15 swinging
hard right for the second race, leaving few passing
lanes to play catch-up.
Stoneberg
said a match race was shaping up in the pre-start
maneuvering when "they came at us on starboard.
We were thinking about going back at 'em, but
then we thought if we did that it might be a mistake."
Caution
became the wiser move. Shadow, with Ed Baird calling
tactics, sailed to its third consecutive win and
fourth overall as Samba Pa Ti fought back to fourth
place to save second overall.
Another
San Francisco boat, Tom Coates' Masquerade, also
overcame a setback to run away with the largest
class where 25 J/105s contested their Pacific
Coast Championships. Coates wasn't on the boat.
He cut his left hand severely last Wednesday so,
on 48 hours' notice, tactician/mainsail trimmer
Chris Perkins became skipper and helmsman.
"It's
an amazing team," Perkins said, "and
I have a J/105 so it was about like sailing my
own boat."
They
also were strong at staying out of trouble and
changing gears in the wide range of conditions,
although, Perkins noted, "Since we're from
San Francisco, we're certainly more comfortable
with the [stronger] breeze."
In
similar style, Jed Olenick, stuck on business
obligations in San Diego, had Joe Cramer sail
his J/120, Doctor No, the first two days. Then,
with three new crew members plus himself on board,
he returned Sunday to win the last two races and
wrap up the class title with a one-point win over
John Laun's Caper, also from the border city.
The
key, Olenick said, was the first, fluky race Sunday.
"It was tough," he said. "But there
was a big shift and a course change to the left,
so we're thinking, 'Oh, the wind went left.' So
we took the right-hand side of the [leeward] gate
and went left when most of the other boats went
right. We moved from third to first."
Sounds
easy, but such conditions are difficult even for
Dave Ullman, who with one race remaining found
himself even with Don Jesberg of San Francisco
and Newport Harbor YC rivals Argyle Campbell and
Bruce Ayres dogging their transoms.
"Any
one of those four could have won this," said
Ullman, who sailed with Olympic silver medallists
Jay and Pease Glaser on board and represented
the Balboa and Alamitos Bay YCs. "We had
real trouble in the light air."
But
when the wind kicked in for the last race, they
beat Jesberg by about a minute for their third
win.
Other
winners included Cita Litt's lemon-yellow Schock
40, Cita, in PHRF 2 and Jim Demetriades' sky-blue
Transpac 52, Yassou, in PHRF 1. The win marked
Cita's return to bigtime buoy racing after a year's
hiatus.
Cita
helmsman George Twist said, "We were a bit
rusty . . . "
"And
a little lucky," Cita Litt added.
With
Roy E. Disney's Pyewacket bowing out after four
races to slip into its Transpac mode, Yassou cruised
to first place in PHRF 1, although Dale Williams'
ILC 46, Wasabi, and Oscar Krinsky's 1D48, Chayah,
corrected out in Race 6 and 7, respectively, after
collecting 37 and 38 seconds per mile.
The
Yacht Club Challenge Trophy was won by St. Francis,
based on the class wins by Masquerade and Shadow
and a second place by Bill Wright's Zsa Zsa behind
Fanger and Mario Yovkov in the 1D35s.
North
Sails Race Week is co-managed by Golison and Golison
and Premiere Racing. Premiere Racing is the event
organizer for Key West 2004---the annual January
sailing pilgrimage for boats from across the U.S.
and around the world.
Long-time
sponsors North Sails and Team McLube were joined
by official timekeeper and new Day Sponsor Nautica
Watches. J/Boats, Raider RIBS inflatable tenders,
Albertson's, Kaenon Sunglasses and Sailing Pro
Shop were official supporters of North Sails Race
Week.
Official photographer: Sue Bodycomb / YachtShots.com
Class
winners (7 races):
PHRF
1 (7 boats)---Yassou (Transpac 52), Jim Demetriades,
Los Angeles YC, 1-2-2-1-1-(3)-2, 9 points.
PHRF
2 (11)---Cita (Schock 40), Cita Litt/George Twist,
Newport Harbor YC, 3-(4)-1-2-2-1-2, 11.
PHRF
3 (8)---Chance (Farr 395), Paul Kent, San Francisco
YC, 2-2-1-1-1-1-(4), 8.
PHRF
4 (11)---Shekinah (J/109), Jim and Lori Thompson,
Cabrillo Beach YC, (12)-5-1-2-01-3-3, 15 (wins
tiebreaker from Rival (J/35), Dick Velthoen/Paul
de Frietas, Ventura YC).
PHRF
5 (9)---Kiwi Boat (Young 88), Chuck and Brad Mercord,
NFYC, (3)-3-2-3-3-2-3, 16.
FARR
40 (9)---Shadow, Peter Stoneberg, St. Francis
YC, 1-2-(6)-6-1-1-1, 12.
1D35
(8)---Sensation, Fanger and Mario Yovkov, San
Francisco, (5)-4--1-1-1-1-3, 11.
SCHOCK
35 (11; Pacific Coast championships)---Piranha,
David Voss, Channel Islands YC, 2-1-2-1-(4)-4-1,
11.
MELGES
24 (16)---USA 399, Dave Ullman, Balboa/ABYC YCs,
1-2-3-1-3-(7)-1, 11.
J/120
(6)---Doctor No, Jed Olenick, San Diego YC, 1-1-(2)-2-2-1-1,
8.
J/105
(26)---Masquerade, Chris Perkins, St. Francis
YC, 1-1-(5)-1-1-1-1, 6.
J/80
(7)---DNA, David Hammett, Bahia Corinthian YC,
1-1-1-1-(2)-1-1, 6.
Complete
results and photos at www.premiere-racing.com
CONTACTS
Golison
& Golison: (714) 379-4884 / fax (714) 379-3865
bruce@golison.com
Premiere
Racing: (781) 639-9545
NSRW@Premiere-Racing.com
PRESS
OFFICER
Rich Roberts
(310) 835-2526
richsail@earthlink.net
web site: www.Premiere-Racing.com
