Star North American Championship

Photo by Bronny Daniels

Marina del Rey

The final two races of the Star North American Championship were held today in identical conditions to the other days, 7-8 knots from the southwest and choppy seas.

While Arthur and I had great starts and were up front in both races, we could not match the speed of Eric Doyle. We got a 2, 4 to his 1, 3.

There was a lot of up and down and back and forth with other players but the championship boiled down to just that.

Next Star event for me is the Vintage Gold Cup in Gull Lake Michigan, where I will be Sailing with my son Danny in our 55 year old wooden Star, GEM. More on that later.

The Star World Championship in mid October is next on Arthur and my schedule and we will be working hard on a good result there.

For complete results go to: www.starclaas.org/NorthAmericanChampionship

Paul

 

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Star North American Championship-Day 3

photo by Mary Stuyvesant

Marina Del Rey

Race 5 and 6 were held today in 7-8 knots of wind and very sloppy seas. On weekends, Marina Del Ray gets a lot of chop from all the recreational boats that come out of the harbor and head up to Santa Monica and Malibu.

In Race 5, Tutu and I had a great start and good speed. We managed to win the race with Eric Doyle in a close second and Steve Gould with Greg Seek in third.

Race 6 did not go so well for Tutu and I. We weren’t fast and I went the wrong way almost all the legs. We finished 12th. Mark Reynolds with Roger Cheer crewing won the race. The left side of the course was good and Nick Madigan of Newport got over to that side on the second windward leg, sailed well and finished 2nd. Eric Doyle again was strong with a third place.

After 6 races, Doyle/ Infelise are leading by 4 points over Arthur and I with Vasella/Trinter 9 points back in 3rd. Mark Reynolds is in 4th wirth Carlie Buckingham sailing well today to move up to 5th.

Races 7 and 8 will be tomorrow to close out the Championship.

For complete results go to: http://results.calyachtclub.com/RaceResul…/2018/star-na.html

Paul

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Star North American Championship

photos by Bronny Daniels
 
Marina Del Rey
 
Races 3 and 4 of the Star North American Championship were held today in 8-11 knots of wind from the southwest. The sea was quite a bit more choppy than yesterday which made for some challenging steering for the helmsmen.
 
Eric Doyle and Payson Infelise continued their winning ways in race 3. They were fast and smart, which is deadly. I on the other hand, sailed not so smartly in race 3 and we finished 6th. Chrlie Buckingham, fresh off qualifying the USA for the 2020 Olympics in the Laser class, sailed a great race to finish second and Peter Vessella and Phil Trinter rounded out the top 3.
 
The start to Race 4 had two general recalls before the fleet finally got off under a black flag. As we rounded the first mark, a few to the top contenders were notified of their disqualification for starting early under the black flag. Among them were Eric Doyle, Mark Reynolds and John MacCausland, all three being past world champions.
 
Arthur and I sailed very fast down the first run to pass Jim Buckingham and grab the lead. We kept it simple up the second windward leg and stretched out to a comfortable lead for the run to the finish. Vasella/Trinter were very fast today and grabbed second from Buckingham/Moss who finished 3rd.
 
So after four races, Arthur and I have the lead by 2 points over Vasella/Trinter. But this lead is tempered by the fact that Eric Doyle made a mistake in race 4 that carries a hefty penalty. After tomorrows racing, each team’s score will be summed after discarding their worst race, which will help Doyle a lot obviously.
 
Arthur and I need to keep working on all aspects of our sailing. We have moments of greatness but not consistently enough.
 
For complete results go to: http://results.calyachtclub.com/RaceResults/2018/star-na.html
 
Paul
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Star North American Championship

photos by Mary Stuyvesant

Marina Del Rey

Today was day 1 of the Star North American Championship in Marina del Rey, California. The conditions were beautiful for Star sailing; 7-9 knots with a moderate sea.

In race 1, Eric Doyle, with Payson Infelise up front, held a narrow lead of Arthur Lopes and I. Eric had a bad start but dug his way out by playing the left side of the course and it worked. Rick Merriman, Vasella/Trinter and john MacCausland with Arnis Baltins rounded out the top 5 and things pretty much stayed that way around the 6 mile race track.

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In Race 2, I was a bit late at the start and was just barely able to get a clean lane. We were forced to the right pretty quickly and rounded the first mark 8th. Benny Mitchell with Patrick Powell crewing held a comfortable lead at the first mark after a 1.7 miles windward leg. Eric Doyle was second, with Vasella, Andy Mac Donald, and Merriman in a tight group. Mark Reynolds, out sailing for the first time in a while rounded just ahead of Arthur and I.

Arthur and I had a good downwind leg to round the gate 4th and all but caught Doyle and Mitchell by the second windward Mark. We could not quite get around them and the three of us finished within 3 boat lengths with Mitchell taking the win, Doyle 2nd and Arthur and I third.

So after Day 1, Doyle leads with 3 points, we are second with 5, Vasella is third with 9 and MacDonnald and MacCausland are tied on 11.

6 more races are scheduled for the championship which will end on Sunday.

For Complete scores go to : http://results.calyachtclub.com/RaceResults/2018/star-na.html

I am also posting on my FaceBook page. Trying to move into the 21st century.

Paul

www.cayardsailing.com

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Western Hemisphere Championship

Coming to the windward mark in USA8466-GEM

Coxonut Grove

The two final races of the 2018 Star Western Hemisphere Championship were held today in 15-18 knots of wind from the southeastz. Jorge Zarif of Brazil was on fire winning both races today. It was very physical and the conditions suited the 25 year old Finn sailor perfectly.

Tutu and I had the second best scores with a 3, 2.  Lars Grael had finishes of 2, 4  which was sufficient to protect his lead and win the Championship. At the last mark of the last race, Grael was 8th while we were second. Finishing in these positions would have given Tuto and I the Championship. But Lars and Samuel sailed very fast down the final run to pass 4 boats.  I am happy with our performance considering it was our first time sailing together.

Jorge Zarif moved up to third for the series with his great finishes today and Augie Diaz with Bruno Prada crewing finished 4th. Tomas Hornos finished 5th.

The only sailor not from Brazil in the first three teams was myself. Brazil has always been a strong sailing country and they are producing more good young sailors like Tutu and Jorge Zarif.

Leaving the windward mark…in a hurry!

This was the last event of the winter series here in Miami which started in November. The next Star Championship will be the Eastern Hemisphere Championship in two weeks time in Trieste, Italy. After that we will be racing on the west coast for several regattas including the North American  Championship at Marina Del Rey in August.

For complete results Go to www.yachtscoring.com

Paul

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Star Western Hemisphere Championship

Start of race one today-Ken Batzer photo

Coconut Grove

Another perfect day in Miami, if you like Sailing. 10-14 knots from the southeast with a moderate chop.

In race one, the left side of the line was favored and Tutu and I grabbed the favored spot. That was the highlite of that race for us. From there, I managed to go the wrong way on each leg and even get a bit of kelp on the keel on the final run to finish 12th.  Tomas Hornos sailed fast and smart to win the race followed by Augie Diaz and then Jorgen Schonherr of Denmark. Lars Grael had his worst race finishing 4th.

The wind built a bit for race two and we got off to a bad start. We were forced to clear our air by sailing out to the right and the right was good.  Tomas Hornos led at the first mark,  while we rounded tenth. Lars Greal had started early and had to restart so he was deep.  Tutu and I went fast downwind passing 8 boats to round 2nd at the end of the first lap. John Dane, the Star representative of the USA at he Olympics in 2008- Beijing, has sailed well all week and was third at that point.

Up the second windward leg Tutu and I were just plain fast and the wind was steady. We passed Hornos to take the lead near the final mark and stretched our lead downwind to the finish.

Action coming into the top mark

So going into tomorrow’s final races, Grael leads with 11 points, we have 16 and Diaz/Prada have 26. The forecast for tomorrow is fairly strong with winds in the high teens. These have been long, hot, days on the water with four hours of racing each day. The Star is very physical in these 10-14 knot conditions.

For complete results, go to https://yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=4468

Paul

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Western Hemisphere Championship

Photo by Ken Batzer

Coconut Grove

Two more races were completed today enroute to crowning the 2018 Western Hemisphere Champion in the Star Class.

More postcard conditions today…8-12 knots from the East Southeast.

In race 1, after a tricky battle with various adversaries, Arthur (Tutu) and I won the final sprint  to the line to take the win. Luca Modena of Italy pushed us hard and finished second while Lars Grael maintained his consistency with a big comeback to finish 3rd. Diaz had a tough race and finished 10th.

In race two, Tutu and I had a good first lap as did Grael.  As we went up the second windward leg, Greal got left while we were out to the right. The wind shifted 30 degrees left.  Large windshifts have been happening both days but it always comes back. It didn’t this time and Tutu and I lost 500 meters to Grael and 4 other competitors.  We stayed focused and ground are way back to 2nd. It could have been much easier than that!

Our speed upwind and downwind seems very good. We tried a different job today which was good to learn about.

Grael and his crew Samuel Goncalves have a strong grip on the championship, with 7 points, at the half way point. Tutu and I are in second place with 15 points. Jorge Zaria Ian third with 19. It will be tough to reel the Brazilians in and tommorrow will be decisive.

For complete results go to www. Yachtscoring.com

Paul

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Western Hemisphere Championship

Photo by Ken Batzer

Coconut Grove

The final series of the Star winter racing is happening on Biscayne Bay, today through Sunday.  Two races per day are scheduled to award the Spring Silver Star in the USA.  37 teams from 7 countries are competing.

With the sun shining, the water temperature at 78F, the wind from the east at 10-14 knots, the sailing conditions were excellent as usual on Biscayne Bay.  The Brazilian’s came out strong with Lars Grael and Jorge Zarif finishing in the top three in both races and taking a commanding lead in the series after day 1.  There were several individual recalls in both starts and the wind was shifty as it came over Key Biscayne.  So there was plenty of mixing.  If you got out of phase with the shifts you could lose a lot of distance in a hurry.

I am sailing this regatta with Arturo Lopez of Brasil.  This is our first time sailing together so we have some room to improve on our boat handling and communications.  We managed a 9, 3 and are in 4th place.  Many of the top teams had one good race and one in the teens.  It is a long series at 8 races and after 5 races, each team will discard their worst score.  The “discard” keeps the teams very close in score and usually means that the regatta will be won in the last race, which is good.

Friday’s forecast is for winds in the 10 knot range from east southeast.

Complete scores can be found at www.yachtscoring.com

Paul

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2018 Western Hemisphere Championship

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St. Barth’s Bucket

St. Barth’s

Three days of racing here in the Caribbean, for 25 Super Yacht’s, concluded today with a 8-10 knots race, clockwise around the island.

For us on Rosehearty, it was quite a different week. Many of our usual competitors like Seahawk and Perseus were not in attendance this year.  Zenji and ourselves ended up grouped in class D with three yachts who weigh 1/3 of our weight. There was no contest.  The winner was Hap Fauth’s Whisper. Whisper and Blue Too beat us on average by 20 minutes each day.  A bit of a change for us as we had won our class that last two years here.

Four years on with the same core team on Rosehearrty and our crew work and  manouvers just keep getting better.  Today we actually started a drop, in a super yacht, when the bow was at the mark. That’s a first. Hats off to the crew of Rosehearty!

In other classes, Svea won the J class while Nilaya won Class A over Visione. The Class B winner was Sojana, Class C Farfalla, and Class E Missy.

Sailing in St. Barth’s is truly a special priviledge.

Off to San Francisco and tomorrow. Looking forward to being home.

Paul

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