Grand Prix SailorJune 16, 2003Grand Prix Sailor is a 13-year-old racing news publication of Sailing World Magazine (http://https://www.sailingworld.com/)SAILING WORLD CHICAGO NOODThe 15th annual Sailing World Chicago NOOD Regatta enjoyed a second day of bright sunshine and moderate northerly winds on Sunday–perfect conditions for racing, which made up for the fogged-out opening day of the event on Friday. All but one fleet squeezed in two races before returning to the docks at a comfortable hour to de-rig and pack and think about the unfortunate prospect of going to work on Monday.Bob Foley will be floating a little higher than most Monday after winning the Beneteau 36.7 class with three firsts and three seconds in the six races. Foleys boat may be called Tried & True but he and his crew are just getting the hang of this new one-design class.The first time we saw our symmetrical spinnakers was two days ago, says Foley. We had to completely re-evaluate our program for this regatta, which made it really interesting. Foley bought his boat in November and planned on a rigorous schedule of practices during the spring to get his team in shape for the summer season. But the weather was so bad we couldnt get on the water, he said. The only big race we had was the Michigan City distance race. Its a 30-mile port-to-port race and thats when it came into focus. In that race, they used mainly asymmetric spinnakers. But the class one-design rules, which applied for this regatta, required the boats to use only symmetric chutes and also limited them to two headsails. With the wind on the edge between the No. 1 and the No. 3, Foley said keeping the boat powered up while sailing with the blade was one of the keys to victory. Because we lost a day of racing, said crew member Ashton Lee, the courses were very short. It was more about keeping the boat moving and keeping people covered than banging every shift.The Beneteau 36.7 is a new class to the NOOD circuit. But with eight boats in racing in the Chicago NOOD and more than 100 sold nationwide–not to mention the international success of its big sister the Beneteau 40.7–it certainly wont be the last time these boats appear on a NOOD starting list. The Karma Sailing Group, sailing Karma, was second, 2 points behind Foley. Will John Hansmanns Legacy was third.The S2 7.9 is anything but a newcomer to the NOOD Regatta. In fact, the trailerable keelboat had already attended three NOODs this year alone heading into this stop on the nine-event tour. At the top of the score sheet in each of those previous regattas was Mike Bremer and Spike Bostons Frequent Flyer. Though the crew list has been anything but constant–Bremer couldnt sail in Detroit and Brad Boston filled in for his father in Annapolis and was doing the same here in Chicago–the team hadnt been beaten on the water. This regatta didnt harm that streak. After a second in the first race on Saturday–which was sailed in the lightest wind of the six–Brad Boston and Bremer cranked out four straight firsts before closing the regatta with a second.We didnt bang the corners, said Bremer when asked about sailing on a circle that included the 48-boat Tartan Ten fleet, which started first and did a number on the air for the fleets that followed. But we stayed wide and we stayed clean. A little internal competition didnt hurt either. [Brad and I] alternated helming the boat, he said. We had a little bet going as to who would have the best record. We tied, we each had two firsts and a second. Second in the S2 7.9 class was Doug and Jeff Padnos K2, with Don and Jean Bergman in third.The Farr 40 class entered the final day of racing with three boats all tied on points for first place. However, that tied was soundly broken today as Robert Hughes won both races on his Farr 40 Heartbreaker. With 2002 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year John Kostecki calling tactics, Hughes and company were able to hold off Owen Kratz, sailing with tactician Terry Hutchinson, and Tom Neill. Hughes finished the regatta with 12 points while Kratz had 14 and Neill, 17.In the regattas biggest fleet, it was Richard Grunsten, sailing his refurbished Tartan Ten Voodoo, who dominated the final day of racing, winning both races, the second one by a significant margin. Aside from the second race of the regatta, where Voodoo, with Volvo veteran Chris Larson trimming the main, had to grind back from an OCS, the team won four races and placed third in the fifth. Twelve points behind in second was the Buckles and Simon crew on Liquor Box, but only 5 points separated them from fifth. Rick Strilkys US was third, and Heidi Backus Riddles Nuts fourth. Rich Stearns Zoe rounded out the top five. Results and stories from previous days: http://https://www.sailingworld.com/–Stuart StreuliDAIMLERCHRYSLER NORTH ATLANTIC CHALLENGEWarm sunshine showered the fleet of 58 boats as the first wave of competitors sailed out of Newport on Saturday after the start of the DaimlerChrysler North Atlantic Challenge. Skippers and crews soaked up what will likely be the last dose of balmy temperatures theyll enjoy for the next several weeks. With a spring-like weather pattern dominating the waters south of New England, the frontrunners had several route choices and as of this mornings position report Sheldon Huntingtons Reichel/Pugh 65 Zaraffa appears to have played its cards best. Zaraffa, which is stacked with Volvo Ocean Race talent–including Neal McDonald as skipper and Mark Rudiger as navigator–chose the early northly option and was ranked first, heading due east at speeds in the low 20s. Zaraffa is the fastest rated of its class, and is one of the line-honor favorites, but on Saturday, the bigger boats–and the potential spoilers–will get underway from Newport. For hourly updates visit http://www.dcnac.deSPENDING TOO MUCH FOR YOUR SAILING SUNGLASSES?Are the price tags on your sunglasses hurting your eyes? Dirty Dog offers the highest quality polarized lenses and flexible frames that wont snap during that windward take down, for lots less than the other brands. According to Sailing Worlds June issue, the price is right for the new Wet Glass model. We offer the new Wet Glass to Grand Prix Sailor readers at 25 percent off only through http://www.dirtydog.com/product.phtml?ID=150 Enter this code swgps at check out, for discount to apply.YOUTHFUL SWEDISH MATCH SHOWDOWN AHEADTheres at least one high-profile match race regatta each week in Europe at this time of year. Two weeks ago, Jesper Radich, of Denmark, beat James Spithill, of Australia, in the finals of the ACI HTmobile Cup in Split, Croatia. Last week the 27-year-old Radich won again at Match Race Germany on Lake Constance and jumped past Spithill and fellow Dane, 29-year-old Jes Gram-Hansen, to take the Swedish Match Tour points lead with one event remaining. However, Spithill, a 24-year-old with two Americas Cup campaigns already under his belt, came back to win last week in the Pedrini Cento Cup, an ISAF Grade 1 event at Lake Garda, Italy, thats not part of the Swedish Match tour. The final tour event is the Swedish Match Cup, starting in two weeks in Marstrand, Sweden. In the meantime, Spithill is racing against fellow Americas Cup teams in an elite Nations Cup event in Trieste, Italy. Skippers for the six teams are Jochen Schuemann (Alinghi), Tommaso Chieffi (Team Chieffi), Magnus Holmberg (Swedish Victory Challenge), Andy Beadsworth (GBR Challenge), Vasco Vascotto (Mascalzone Latino), and Spithill (OneWorld). Only two boats will be used in the event, and they are far more like Cup boats than typical match-race regatta fleets. At 53-feet long and drawing nearly 14 feet, theyll sail more like Cup boats, too. Whether this is the kind of practice Spithill needs to beat both Gram-Hansen and Radich in Marstrand remains to be seen, but whoever wins the final showdown will be the tours youngest champion yet; in its first three years, the winners were Americas Cup skippers Peter Holmberg, Magnus Holmberg, and Bertrand Pace.http://www.tuttatrieste.it/index.php?lan=enghttp://www.swedishmatchtour.comCOLLEGE SAILING COED DINGHY CHAMPIONSHIPThe Harvard University Crimson sailing team kept the pressure on over three days of sailing at the ICSA/Gill North American Dinghy Championship in Detroit, and on the final day they claimed the championship for the fifth time in the schools history. For the third straight year, Harvard also won the Fowle Trophy, which recognizes outstanding overall performance in the six (fall and spring) ICSA North American Championships.Harvard coach Mike OConnor attributed the win to having the right crews for the job in the variable conditions. Adding that consistent starts allowed the team to win both A and B divisions. A-division senior Clay Bischoff, of Coral Gables, Fla., sailed with Lema Kikuchi, of Bethesda, Md., also a senior, and sophomore David Darst, of Greenwich, Conn. In B division, junior Cardwell Potts, of New Orleans, La., sailed with senior Michelle Yu, of Mountain View, Calif., and juniors Diana Rodin, of West Roxbury, Mass., and Gabe Dorfman of Port Angeles, Wash.After the opening day, St. Marys College (St. Marys City, Md.) appeared to have the best handle on the venues difficult conditions, but the Crimson came on strong the following day with wins in eight of the days races. Their 48-point lead pushed St. Marys to second overall and the University of Hawaii to third. For complete results: http://www.collegesailing.org/2003ORMA 60 TRIMARANSThe last we checked in with the ORMA 60 trimarans theyd just finished their grueling Challenge Mondial Assistance Race from Cherbourg, France to Rimini, and this weekend, nine of the fully-crewed 60s were mixing it up again on short courses, sailing their Italian Grand Prix. After two races on Friday and Saturday, Karine Fauconnier, of France, the fleets sole female skipper, caught everyones attention as she led her Sergio Tacchini-sponsored ride into a 2-point lead. A third in the final race on Sunday earned her the overall win by 1 point, and moved her into fifth overall in the ORMA 60 World Championship standings. Franck Cammas Groupama, which won the Challenge Mondial, is the top team, followed by Lalou Roucayrols Banque Populaire. http://www.multis-online.comLINDA ELIAS CHALLENGEThe Womens One Design Challenge, in Long Beach, Calif., has been renamed for a three-time winner, Linda Elias, who died last January at age 52 after a nine-year battle with cancer. The Long Beach/Los Angeles Womens Sailing Association runs the event, which will now be called the Linda Elias Memorial Womens One Design Challenge and is scheduled Oct. 18 and 19 in Catalina 37s out of the Long Beach YC. Elias, who last won the event in 1996 while struggling through effects of chemotherapy treatments for ovarian cancer, has been cited for her ability to inspire and teach women to sail and race. For entry info, contact Molly McCloud at the Long Beach YC Sailing Foundation, (562) 493-5173.GRAND PRIX SAILOR is compiled by the editors of Sailing World magazine. If youd like to subscribe, see http://https://www.sailingworld.com/ Contributing Editors: Tony Bessinger (tony.bessinger@sailingworld.com), Dave Reed (dave.reed@sailingworld.com), Stuart Streuli (stuart.streuli@sailingworld.com), John Burnham (john.burnham@sailingworld.com)
