18
Skiff International Regatta - Barnabas Bridges
The Gap To Challenge For Title
SAN
FRANCISCO---Australians and a 20-year-old local
windsurfer were the winners Thursday when the
third annual 18 Skiff International Regatta rushed
toward a championship showdown with the madcap
Bridge to Bridge race.
John
Winning's Computer Associates team won the three-lap
buoy race by 15 seconds over Howie Hamlin's West
Marine in the early afternoon, then Trevor Barnabas
followed Seth Besse's board across the finish
line by 38 seconds in the five-nautical-mile run
from the Golden Gate to the Oakland Bay span.
The
results left Winning---the event's oldest skipper
at 52---with a one-point lead over Barnabas, 49
and a five-time JJ Giltinan (world) titlist who
has said he is retiring from the class after Friday's
ninth and final buoy race.
Hamlin,
a two-time Giltinan winner, failed to finish the
Bridge race---or, more accurately, really didn't
start it. He and crew Mike Martin and Rod Howell
set their spinnaker as the gun fired, then sailed
into a deep trough, buried their bow and pitch
poled upside down.
Martin
said, "It took us 20 minutes to get it back
up, and by then the race was over."
The
dramatic spill left West Marine four points off
the lead, but the way Computer Associates and
Omega Smeg have been sailing so consistently this
week that might be too much to overcome.
The
start, with eight of the 18 Skiffs, 18 windsurfers,
14 kite boards and two 29er skiffs thrashing about
in a steep chop just outside the Golden Gate,
was a spectacular sight not often seen in sailing.
Barnabas
said, "Nothing prepares you for that. We
got a good start and set a chute and survived
the first 50 meters, which was a big plus."
As
they rounded the turn into the south bay, Barnabas
said, "John [Winning] was on the shore but
he had plenty of wind. We were quite concerned.
We were pretty much in the middle."
Grant
Rollerson's Fisher & Paykel and Winning's
Computer Associates finished within a minute of
Omega Smeg in that order, but Besse, a former
world youth champion windsurfer, slipped in front
of Smeg in the last few hundred yards.
No
kite boarders, though breathtaking at the start,
managed to finish. When the fleet turned the corner
they were left behind in dying breeze and a stiff
opposing ebb tide that swept a couple of them
onto the beach of Treasure Island, well wide of
the finish line.
The
forecast for 35-knot winds failed to materialize
on a brilliantly sunny day that started with Winning's
come-from-behind win over Hamlin in a moderate
breeze of 15 knots. Halfway down the second run
Hamlin jibed to the left side of the course, leaving
the right side open to his Australian rivals.
Winning,
sailing with Euan McNicol and Jack Young, said,
"When he jibed away we were in a puff so
we just kept riding it."
When
they crossed near Alcatraz Island, the Aussies
were in front, and they held their lead with some
tight covering.
"He's
a slippery little bugger," Winning said.
"We couldn't let him go."
Barnabas'
red Omega Smeg, with Trent Barnabas and Robert
Greuter as crew, had to return after crossing
the starting line early but recovered nicely and
even led Hamlin at the last windward mark.
The
regatta is one of the class's three international
events, along with the European International
Championship and the JJ Giltinan Trophy Championship,
the class's premier event contested annually in
Australia since 1938.
Standings
(after 8 of 9 races, one discard):
1.
Computer Associates, John Winning/Euan McNicol/Jack
Young, Australian 18 Sailing League, Australia,
3-3-1-1-2-(3)-1-3, 14 points.
2.
Omega Smeg, Trevor Barnabas/Trent Barnabas/Rob
Greuter, Australian 18 Sailing League, Australia,
1-1-3-2-4-(4)-3-1, 15.
3.
West Marine, Howard Hamlin/Mike Martin/Rod Howell,
Newport Harbor YC, Newport Beach, Calif., 2-2-6-4-1-1-2-(9),
18.
4.
Sunrise, Patrick Whitmarsh/Paul Allen/Chad Freitas,
St. Francis YC, San Francisco, 5-(7)-2-5-3-2-5-4,
26.
5.
Fisher & Paykel, Grant Rollerson/David Cunningham/Chris
Cleary, Australian 18 Sailing League, Australia,
6-4-5-3-9-(9)-4-2, 33.
6.
Vodka Cruiser, Dalton Bergan/Jeff Nelson/Kevin
Richards, Newport Harbor YC, Newport Beach, Calif.,
4-5-4-9-5-(9)-6-6, 39.
7.
Canada 1, Fred Eaton/Dan Cunningham/Rob Patterson,
Royal Canadian YC, Toronto, 9-9-8-6-6-(9)-7-5,
50.
8.
Emery Worldwide, Dana Jones/Jon Bell/Campbell
Rivers, Ventura (Calif.) YC/St. Francis YC, 9-6-7-7-9-(9)-8-9,
54.
Bridge
to Bridge Race (5 nautical miles):
1.
Seth Besse (windsurfer), 27 minutes 10 seconds.
2.
Omega Smeg (18 Skiff), 27:48.
3.
Fisher & Paykel (18 Skiff), 28:22.
4.
Computer Associates (18 Skiff), 28:34.
5.
Sunrise (18 Skiff), 32:45.
6.
Canada 1 (18 Skiff), 32:57.
7.
Vodka Cruiser (18 Skiff), 34:15.
8.
Steve Bodner (windsurfer), 39:32.
9.
Steve Sylvester (windsurfer), 41:48.
No
other finishers; non-finishers included 18 Skiffs
Emery Worldwide and West Marine, 18 windsurfers,
13 kite boards and two 29ers.
More
information: www.stfyc.com
and www.18footers.com
ST.
FRANCIS YACHT CLUB
Race
Office
(415)
820-3713
PUBLICITY
Rich
Roberts
cell
phone (310) 766-6547
richsail@earthlink.net
