Star Western Hemisphere Championship 2015

John Payne Photo

Coconut Grove

One race today in perfect conditions again!  10-12 knots from the southeast, warm water, warm air.  I don’t think we have had a week of Star sailing this good, anywhere, in a very long time.

Lars Grael turned it on today and got the win.  Brian Ledbetter continued his strong form and local legend Augie Diaz finished third.  Brian and I had a bad start and struggled our way back to 12th to secure third overall.  We were pretty happy with that considering to two very bad races we sailed earlier in the series.  Augie Diaz and John MacCausland rounded out the top 5.

We did improve our downwind speed through the week, relearning little tricks that I have probably learned and forgotten 3 or 4 times through the years.

The season is finished here in Miami so I am going to send my boat to the west coast where we have one regatta a month starting with San Diego in May.  I would like to sail a couple of these races with my son Danny.  He has never sailed with me in the Star.  I think it could be a lot of fun. In early September the North American Championship will be in Seattle which will cap off the 5 events out there.  Then back to Miami for the winter series starting in November.

A big thank you to my crew Brian Terhaar who did a great job up front all week!

For complete results go to: yachtscoring.com

Paul

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Star Western Hemisphere Championship

John Payne Photo

Coconut Grove

Two races were held today on Biscayne Bay, in ideal conditions for Star racing.  The wind was again 8-12 knots from the South.  Blue skies, warm water and slightly warmer air temperature.

In the first race, Brian and I shook off the morning blues, or what ever it was that we had the first two days, and won the first race.  We were 5th after the first lap but sailed the second windward leg very well to round first, overlapped with Ledbetter. Ledbetter/ Revkin closed in on us at the finish and we must have beaten them by less than a foot.  Andy MacDonald and Brad Nichol sailed a good race to finish third.

In the second race, Ledbetter/Revkin led wire to wire and closed out the regatta with one race to spare.  Their total score without a discard is better than anyones score with a discard.  Congrats to them, they sailed very well.  Miami local Augie Diaz and Arnis Baltins play doth left side of the course well downwind and upwind to take second place.  Third place went to Arthur Anosov and Dave “Julius” Caesar.

Brian and I were fighting near the top the whole race.  I made a couple mistakes with the wind shifts.  Also, keeping the boat going fast all the time is not easy.  The wind is fickle so you are constantly changing gears.  In the end, five of us came to the finish line all overlapped and we  just managed to edge out the others to take 6th.

So with Ledbetter/Revkin taking first place, the battle for second is on.  Lars Grael and John MacCausland are tied on 26 points.  Brian and I have removed up nicely from 9th to 4th overall with 30 points.  Behind us in 5th is Aguie Diaz with 40 points.

The forecast for tomorrow is more of the same.  One race only tomorrow, starting at 11:00.

as usual, for complete results go to: http://www.yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=1230

Paul

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Star Western Hemisphere Championship 2015

John Payne Photo

Coconut Grove

Two races were held again today on Biscayne Bay, in 8-11 knots from the south.  The wind was quite shifty again which gave everyone plenty of opportunity to move up…….. or down.

In the first race Brian and I crossed the starting line too early.  This meant we had to go back and restart about 1 minute after the others.  We had made up some ground, and then our starboard shroud let go.  Somehow the bolt that held it on had come unthreaded. We were very lucky not to lose the mast right then and there. We were able to find a spare pin to in the boat and get the shroud back on. In the end we finished 21st.   John MacCausland and Bruno Prada had bad luck in that they did not realize that they were over the start early and did not go back so they were scored as didi not start….last.

Brian Led Better and Josh Revkin sailed an excellent race to that the win followed by Marcelo Fuchs and Donald Seifert.  Andy MacDonnald and Brad Nichol had a good race to round out the top three.  I don’t know how they all got to those positions cuz I couldn’t see, but those are the results.

In the second race, we had a good start very close to Lars Grael.  We were able to play the first two shifts slightly better and were first to the first mark and led the entire way to the finish. It was a great race up in front with four boats fighting the whole way.  John MacCausland and  Bruno Prada eventually ended up 4th, Lars Grael and Samuel Conclaves ended up third and Brian Ledbetter and Josh Revkin finished second.

So I guess Brian and I are sailing constantly in that we are inconsistent all the time. Also, we are the only team to have won two races. Hopefully, tomorrow morning we can have a better first race.

Once the 5th race is in the books, all teams will be allowed to drop their worst score.  This will change the positions a bit.  If you go the the site below, you can see how tight things are at the top with the discard.  The first 4 boats are within two points.  Brian and I will be about 14 points off the lead with a discard.  We have made it tough on ourselves but not impossible.

For complete results go to: http://www.yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=1230

Forest for tomorrow has greatly improved.  Early this week, Saturday looked like a drift off but now it should be 10-14 knots from the southeast.

Paul

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Star Western Hemisphere Championship 2015

John Payne Photo

Coconut Grove

The Stars are back on Biscayne Bay for the last time this season.  The “Spring Championship” is being hosted by Biscayne Bay Yacht Club.  7 races are scheduled Through Sunday.

Today we had the first two races in 7-9 knots from the southeast.  These are perfect Star boat conditions. However, it was extremely hot and humid today.

There are 39 teams from 8 countries competing here. The 2016 World Championship will be held on Biscayne Bay at this exact time so this regatta is a good one for anyone thinking ahead to next year.

In the first race today, John MacCausland and his crew Bruno Prada worked the left side up the first windward leg and had a nice lead at the first mark.  They extended on every leg and won easily. Larry Whipple and Austin Sperry were second with Hubert Merklebach and Makcus Koy in third.  Marcus is the current world champion crew.

Brian and I had a good first leg, rounding the first mark about 8th but lost 20 boats in the firs downwind.  After rounding the leeward mark, Brian noticed we had a plastic bag on our keel.  We got it off and moved up a bit to 23rd but still not a great race.

In the second race, Brian and I got off to a good start and played 4 very quick wind shifts in the first 5 minutes of the race to jump out to a 100 meter lead.  We led the whole way around and won the race.  The Brazilian team of Marcelo Fuchs Ronald Seifert finished second and pressed us a bit downwind as we are still struggling with our speed there. The two of us had a big lead over the rest of the fleet. Lars Grael and Samuel Conclaves sailed well to finish third.

Tomorrows forecast is for a bit more wind, maybe up to 12 knots from the southeast.

For complete results go to: http://www.yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=1230

 

Paul

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