Nassau

Today was the final day of racing here in Nassau. The quarter finals, followed by the semi finals and the final race, was the card.  The wind was 14-18 knots from the south and the race course was tucked in Montague Bay so that made for some big wind shifts and the breeze passed over the eastern end of New Providence.

Phil and I made the quarter finals by finishing 4th in the qualification series during the past four days.  In the quarterfinal race, we found ourselves to be fast upwind and led the fleet around the first mark.  Unfortunately, we found ourselves to be slow downwind, a theme that plagued us all week.  We managed to hang on to 5th and qualify for the semi final.  The two Italians and Ben Saxon (GBR) with Steve Mitchell were eliminated from this round.

Six teams raced in the semi final. The wind shifted to the right soon after the start, and Phil and I    were to the left of the fleet, so we were behind immediately.  Our speed was good but we never managed to find an opportunity to get back into the race.  British Laser Gold Medalist, Paul Goodison with crew Frithjof Kleen, sailed very fast down the final run and just managed to beat the German Team at the finish line to qualify for the final. Cayard/Trinter (USA) , the Polish team and the German team were eliminated from this round.

The final featured four teams: Mark Mendelblat(USA) who won the qualification series, Robert Scheidt(BRA), Xavier Rohart (FRA) and Paul Goodison (GBR).  The conditions hadn’t changed.  Mendelblat started to right of the fleet and controlled the first intersection. That small lead evaporated pretty quickly due to the wind shifts.  At the first mark Goodison, Scheidt and Mendelblatt were all bow to stern.  Rohart was not far behind. The group stayed in these positions the whole way around the track and once again, Goodsion won by just two meters.  He who caught and surfed the last wave would have made the difference.

This was the toughest of the five SSL finals.  The competitors were deeper than ever and the reasonably strong wind conditions required a lot of physical output.  I, for one, am pretty tired after racing 13 races in 5 days.  There are 11 Star World Champion skipper here.  Only four qualified for the racing today.  That tells me that the younger sailors coming from the smaller boats are very talented and sharp.  They are picking up the particularities of the Star rather easily and their talent is pulling them ahead.  I am very happy that the Star has been chosen to be the boat for this Allstar event.  I think it is the perfect boat for the task.

I had thought of not coming this year as I was concerned about where I would finish. In finishing 7th,  I exceeded my expectations.  I feel extremely lucky and honored to be able to race against all the sailors in this fleet.

As competitors we all owe a great deal of gratitude to Michel Niklaus for his passion and vision in creating the Star Sailors League.  His vision for the next 5 years is to have 4 “Grand Slam” events followed by the Finals each year.  He is purchasing 100 Stars and setting up bases in various venues around the world to make this vision come true.  He is continually upgrading the coverage of the event and the online following is growing exponentially.  This is one of the brightest events to come along in our sport in a long time.

Phil and I  want to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season.

Paul

Nassau

Very light wind made today very challenging for the 25 teams competing in the SSL Finals here in Nassau.  It was a balmy 84 degrees with 4-6 knots of wind from the southeast out off  the track today.  The Italians were on fire!

Francesco Bruni of Palermo posted a 4, 1 while his countryman Diego Negri scored a 3, 3 in these light conditions. Meanwhile Mark Mendleblatt and Brian Fatih maintained their consistency with a 1, 2 taking over the lead in the qualification series while Robert Scheidt slipped to second place with scores of 2, 19.  Beyond that, there was plenty of mixing.  Phil and I had an decent day with a 14, 9.  We were never at the front of the fleet having gone the wrong way on the first legs of each race.  In race 2, we hit the right side hard on the third leg and made a nice comeback from about 15th.  We managed to stay in 4th place which is a pleasant surprise and testament to the “trading” of positions that is going on in this fleet.

Three races are on the cards for tomorrow and the forecast is for 13-15 knots from the south southeast.  This will make for shifty racing as the wind will be coming over the island and onto the race course.  The seaway should be fairly flat.

I can’t tell you how much fun Phil and I are having racing against all these great sailors.  There is no other event in sailing that brings Olympic champions, World Champions, Round the World Record holders, Round the World Race winners and America’s Cup winners, together in a one design sailing contest.  Then to hold the races on the waters off the east end of Nassau, which is in my opinion the best sailboat racing waters in the world, makes the SSL Finals even more exceptional.

Finally, I want to say that it is an honor to be on the same race track with these athletes who have put a lifetime of effort, passion and commitment to achieve all that they have!

Remember to follow the racing live at StarSailors.com.

Looking forward to racing tomorrow!

Paul

PreRace Rig Tuning

Nassau

The Star Sailors League got underway today with two races in 12 knots from the east. The competition has never been tougher here, or maybe anywhere.  No other sailing event puts 25 World Champions Olympic medalists, offshore champions together in one fleet on one race track.  See the entry list on www.StarSailors.com.

Phil and I had a decent day with a 8, 13.  We had very good speed upwind and struggled a bit downwind.  We are working hard on our downwind speed and have improved since Saturday when we first starting training.  There are a few Gold Medal Laser and Finn sailors here and they can really go downwind! There is plenty of sailing left so hopefully we can continue to improve through the week.

Robert Scheidt had the best day while Mark Mendelblatt and Brian Fatih (USA) also had a good day and had it not been for a foul at the top mark in the second race, they may have been in the lead having won the first race easily.  I    cant tell you how deep this fleet is.  Just look at the scores. It wouldn’t be hard to finish last in one of these races.

Four races are on the cards for tomorrow. The forecast is for 15 knots from the east-southeast which makes for perfect sailing in this 78 degree water.

The format for the SSL Finals is four days of “qualifying” followed by the quarter finals, semi finals and finals on the 5th day, Saturday.  The races are lived streamed.  Follow the SSL finals on www.starsailors.com and Starsailors on Facebook and Twitter.

I am really happy to be here sailing with my Olympic team mate Phil Trinter, to be amongst this great group of sailors, fighting for every inch on the race course.  These are the good old days!

Paul

Gull Lake, Michigan

Three races were held today in 8-15 knots of wind.  At times, the gusts were up to 17 knots which is a lot of wind for these restored, 50 year old, boats.  There were a few breakdowns today.  Brian and I gingerly sailed the last lap of race three with a broken backstay attachment.

In the first race of the day, race 3 of the regatta, Brian and I led wire to wire keeping things rolling from yesterday.  In race 4, we got out of phase with the wind shifts early and got in traffic.  On the second windward leg we went left which the locals have been telling us all week, is the favored side here.  The only time we didn’t win the race is when we went left.  We finished 5th in race 4 while are closest rival, Arthur Anosov and Julius Caesar won the race.  Andy Mac sailed very well to get second in that one with Mark Reynolds and Johnny Mac rounding out the top 4.

The Start.    Images from the Vintage Gold Cup 2017
Gull Lake, MI

Race 5 saw Brain and I get back on our form.  We were third to the first mark, and stayed in third at the bottom gate.  Arthur rounded the right hadn’t gate and headed off the the left while we went back to our favored right side behind Andy Mac who was having another great race.  We played the right and worked the shifts to lead at the top mark and held our lead down the final run to take race 5.

I called Durward Knowles, Gold Medal winner in Gem IX in 1964, after racing. I actually Face Timed with him so he could see the boat and some of the guys. We used his care takers phone.  He is 99, soon to be 100.  I told him he could see us in the phone.  He said: “No Mon! Not in the phone.”  Imagine what its like to be 100! He really enjoyed seeing his boat and all his old friends.   Oldest living Gold Medalist in the World!

After racing , there was a concours de elegance, with 20 judges all viewing the boats and asking us skipper why our boats are special.  Mine, 4789, is the only Gold Medal winner in the feet and the only varnished hull.  The keel is painted gold so I told the judges it was made of gold since the boat was a gold medal winner.  Some of them bought that.

I am not sure who won the concours de elegance but I do know that Brian and I are leading the sailboat race with 4 points after a discard and Arthur and Julius are in second with 8 points.

Images from the Vintage Gold Cup 2017
Gull Lake, MI

Of utmost importance, tomorrow morning at 08:00 we will play the back 9 of the golf tournament. My partner, Jim Babel, and I are tied with Reynolds & Reynolds for first place.  I played better than usual Thursday so I am a bit worried about tomorrow’s expectations.

The wind forecast for tomorrow is light winds.  This could be the great equalizer as it is very easy to get big shuffles in the fleet with light and shifty winds.  Two races are scheduled beginning after golf.  This is civilized sailing!

You need to go to Vintage Gold Cup on Facebook and see the great video’s of these cool boats. A big thanks to Don Parfet and Jon Vader Molen for getting these boats together, out on the track and inviting us all here to sail them!!!

By the way, there are more awesome wooden boats out here in the midwest.

Go Irish!

Paul

Eivind Melleby and Joshua Revkin, 2017 Star World Champions

Troense, Denmark

The final race was held in a 8 to 16 knot Westerly under sunny skies. The showdown between Eivind Melleby and Lars Grael materialized as Grael took the early lead and Melleby struggled to stay in the top 10.  Hubert Merkelbach, Diego Negri, Reinhard Schmidt and Johannes Polgar all over took Grael while Melleby moved up to 8th. In the end the math worked in favor of the 45 year old Norwegian and his 27 year old crew Josh Revkin of the USA.  They are the new Gold Star winners.  The also won the newly awarded Paul Elvstrom trophy for the team that won had the best score without a discard. Trine Elvstrom, daughter and Olympic crew in Los Angeles in the Tornado class, presented the trophy.  Paul Elvstrom won his second Star World Championship 50 years ago in Copenhagen.

Danny and I had a decent race finishing 31st.  Our combined weight (390lbs) is just too light to be competitive.  There is a reason there is a maximum weight limit (about 440lbs) in the Star Class.  Weight is fast!  We were slow upwind and that is especially tough on the first leg of the course right after the start.  Danny had us going very fast downwind but not enough to compensate. Our goals for the week were to sail together, have fun and get Danny some big fleet Star racing experience…in that order.  We did all that.  We spent a bit more money on masts than we hoped to, but that’s racing! I think Danny truly likes sailing the Star and will be racing for years.  I think I may have done my last race as a Star crew.  Putting it politely, my body is a little bit sore.

After racing, it was the big pack up of the boat and all the equipment then the prize giving dinner which was held in a local gymnasium….not the most Scandinavian of experiences.  The local fleet put in a huge effort with 80 volunteers to put the regatta on.  The fleet in Denmark has been small in recent years and hosting the Worlds grew the fleet to 15 boats.  Part of awarding World Championship venues is fleet building for the longevity of the class. Next year’s World Championship is in Oxford, Maryland.

Then (1989) and now.

Danny and his girlfriend Evan are driving the boat we chartered back to Berlin and then will go to Gothenberg to stay with his grandparents and cousins.  I am on my way back to San Francisco which I am really looking forward to. I have been living out of a suitcase since May 25.  That’s long even by my standards.

Paul