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