MMR 050919
Six Perpetual Trophy Winners Named SAN FRANCISCO (September 19, 2005) – Winners in four IRC classes and five one-design classes were named this evening at the Rolex Big Boat Series. Hosted by the St. Francis Yacht Club, the event awarded its six historic Perpetual Trophies at a gala trophy ceremony where winners also received specially engraved Rolex timepieces. The St. Francis Perpetual Trophy, which was established to stimulate and encourage competition among large ocean racing yachts. Philippe Kahn (Honolulu, Hawaii) and his TP52 Pegasus 52 won the IRC A class. The trophy has been awarded annually since the inception of the Big Boat Series 41 years ago to yachts invited to a race or series of races that are measured and handicapped in accordance with the current measurement rule and rate 40 feet or more. This trophy was donated in 1964 by Commodore A. L. Sandy McCormick. Robert Youngjohns (Woodside, Calif.) won the City of San Francisco Trophy, which is one of the two golden spades used to break ground for the Golden Gate Bridge in 1933. His DK46 Zephyra won IRC B class. John Siegel and his Wylie 42 Scorpio won IRC C class and the Richard Rheem Perpetual Trophy. The trophy was established in 1972 in memory of Richard Rheem, whose famous yacht Morning Star was the elapsed time winner in the 1949 and 1955 Transpac races to Honolulu. Gary Mozer (Long Beach, Calif.) won IRC D class and the Keefe-Kilborn Memorial Trophy, which was established in 1976 to honor Harold Keefe and Ray Kilborn. Mozer’s J/109 Current Obsession won the 10-boat class. Steve Madeira (Menlo Park, Calif.) and his J/120 Mr. Magoo won the Atlantic Perpetual Trophy, which was established in 1978 and features the ship’s bell of the yacht Atlantic, long-time Trans-Atlantic Ocean record holder (1905). The bell was donated by John C. “Jack” Morris, and the trophy by Jack H. Feller Jr. Scott Sellers (San Francisco) won the Commodore’s Cup, created in 2004 to encourage competition in one-design racing on San Francisco Bay. His J/105 Donkey Jack triumphed in the 33-boat fleet, the largest one in the series. In the remaining classes, Chris Busch (San Diego, Calif.) won the 1D35 class with his Wild Thing, Mark Dowdy’s (San Francisco) Eclipse won the Express 37 class, and Double Trouble, owned by Andy Costello (Novato, Calif.) won the Sydney 38 class. St. Francis Yacht Club’s Big Boat Series presented by Rolex will be featured in the television program “Spirit of Yachting,” to be broadcast internationally later this year. For sailors worldwide, the Rolex “Spirit of Yachting” films convey the exciting highlights of the racing season from a host of locales that offer spectacular conditions and intense competition. Each year, Rolex produces a series of 30-minute films capturing the racing action. For results and additional information on the Rolex Big Boat Series go to www.stfyc.org or www.regattanews.com. Ainslie Takes Fourth Finn Gold Cup MOSCOW, Russia (September 18, 2005) – 18 months ago in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Ben Ainslie Ainslie (GBR) won the Finn Gold Cup for the third time in a row, a feat only once before achieved in the event’s 48 year history by Jorg Bruder (BRA) between 1970 and 1972. Today in Moscow, Russia, Ainslie has made his own record, winning the ISAF Grade W Finn Gold Cup for the fourth consecutive year after racing had to be abandoned only the final day. So Ainslie makes history in being the only sailor to win four Finn Gold Cups, and these in successive years. He won in Athens, Greece in 2002, Cadiz, Spain in 2003, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2004 and now Moscow, Russia in 2005. Final Results 1 GBR Ben AINSLIE 17 2 GRE Emilios PAPATHANASIOU 21 3 CAN Christopher COOK 42 4 POL Waclav SZUKIEL 54 5 CZE Michal HRUBY 58 www.finngoldcup2005.ru J/24 Worlds Won by Kotoun WEYMOUTH, England (Septmeber 18, 2005) – J/24 basilica World Championship has been won by Anthony Kotoun and the crew from Jigalo, representing the US Virgin Islands (ISV). Teams from Argentina, Australia and Italy fought for second, third, and fourth at the finish. A redeeming second place went to Sean Kirkjian and his Jobs For The Boys team (AUS). Kirkjian sustained hull damage during a collision on Thursday. The team worked hard through the night to have the boat back on the starting line for the final race. They were rewarded for their efforts. Luigi Ravioli and the crew from Fiamma Gialla (ITA) also made repairs from Thursday’s damage to finish third. Alejo Rigoni driving Luca Vive (ARG) finished a close fourth. The fleet was awarded many special awards. Ian Southworth, Echidna (GBR) was the top UK finisher in 9th place. Tomomi Hatakeyama, Gekko (JPN) was the best helm under 30 years old. Antigen helmed by Kirsten Harmstorf finished 39 and won the Jaeger Trophy for the best finish in an All-Women’s Crew. Tim Sdheard, sailing Jay Kay (IRL) finished 51st with the oldest boat entered – Hull number 191. Final Results 1 ISV Jigalo Anthony KOTOUN 47 2 BRA Bruschetta Mauricio SANTA CRUZ 48 3 ITA Fiamma Gialla Luigi RAVIOLI 52 4 AUS Jobs for the Boys Sean KIRKJIAN 57 5 JPN Gekko Tomomi HATAKEYAMA 65 The X-Factor Prevails at Shields Nationals Nobody could touch Madam X at the 2005 Shields Nationals, held on Long Island Sound off Larchmont YC last Thursday through Saturday. Skippered by Jonathan Pope, of Marion, Mass., the defending champion counted two firsts and two seconds in five races to win the 40th anniversary class championship with ease. Ten points astern, Com Crocker and Kurt Weisenfluh of the host club won a tiebreaker for second over Bill Berry, who, like Pope, is a Buzzards Bay sailor from Beverly YC in Marion. Twenty-three boats competed, sailing a light air race on the first and third days, plus three days in 15 to 20 knots with big waves from the east. Next August, the championship moves to Marion. www.larchmontyc.org/racing-calendar.html Match Race Worlds CALPE, Spain (September 18, 2005) – James Spithill (AUS) is the new ISAF Match Racing World Champion, thanks to his round robin score after a storm washed out his final with defending champion Ed Spithill (USA). Earlier in the day the two finalists had completed 3-0 victories in their semi final matches before the rain struck Calpe and brought the Championship to a frustrating conclusion. Luna Rossa (ITA) helmsman Spithill showed why he was one of the favorites for the title, impressing from day one and beating the early pace setter Paolo Cian (ITA) yesterday to win the round robin. Baird came good in the latter stages of the Championship after a disappointing start, which at one stage saw him on a 1-3 record. However a magnificent run of nine straight victories saw him claim a semi final berth and then whitewash CIAN 3-0 in the last four. Spithill also dole out a 3-0 defeat to Mathieu Richard (FRA) in his semi final, but with a terrific final lined up, the weather intervened, meaning Spihill’s win over Baird in the round robin was to prove a World title winning victory. A heavy storm made impossible for the teams to race the finals, after the last match of the semi finals so, as Spithill and Baird had the same number of points from the semi finals, the highest placed sailor in the round robin took the honors. Cian claimed the bronze medal thanks to his superior round robin record to Richard. The Italian said, ‘We faced the best teams all over the world, so the bronze medal is great for us, but of course, as we were leading the whole time the qualification series sometimes we thought we could win, but still we are very happy.’ ISAF Match Racing World Championship Final Standings 1. James SPITHILL (AUS) 2. Ed BAIRD (USA) 3. Paolo CIAN (ITA) 4. Mathieu RICHARD (FRA) 5. Ian WILLIAMS (GBR) 6. Philippe PRESTI (FRA), 7. Sebastien COL (FRA) 8. Eugeny NEVGODNIKOV (RUS) 9. Peter GILMOUR (AUS) 10. Staffan LINDBERG (FIN) 11. Bjorn HANSEN (SWE) 12. Santi LÓPEZ-VÁZQUEZ (ESP) 12-Metre Worlds NEWPORT, R.I. (September 18, 2005) -The largest-ever collection of 12-Metres to assemble for a regatta in the U.S. sailed the East Passage of Narragansett Bay and out to their old stomping grounds off Brenton Point this week. The boats that sailed for the America’s Cup from 1958 to 1987 were reunited for the International 12-Metre Association’s 2005 World Championships sponsored by The Jibe. The 16 entrants were divided into four divisions to compete for the class’s North American Championships. Under the current class rules, only the Grand Prix division was also eligible for the world championship title. Winning seven of nine races made Edgar Cato and his Hissar the new World Champion. As such he won the Chandler Hovey Memorial Trophy. Cato also won the North American Championship in the Grand Prix class. The North American Championship Modern was won by Craig Millard’s Courageous. The North American Championship Classic Traditional went to Weatherly, Clayton Deutsch, and the North American Championship Classic Vintage was won by Onawa, sailed by the Parrish/McMillen/Keilland/Fremont-Smith Syndicate. Clayton Deutsch’s Weatherly was also presented a Rolex timepiece for the outstanding performance of the regatta based on a championship formula. The Azzurra Trophy was awarded to New York Yacht Club as the club of the world champion. The NYYC also hosted the event. Full results can be found online at www.nyyc.org Soling North Americans TORONTO, Ont. (September 18, 2005) – Once again the sea breeze played a big role in the conditions on the final day of racing. CAN 17 (Rick Huczek, Dave Hymers and Will Logar) came up with a big win by sticking to their game plan of going to where the pressure was building and staying in clear air. CAN 17’s win moved them into first place overall in the Silver fleet. Hans Fogh and Stu Walker rounded out the top spots in race 7 with second and third place finishes respectively. The overall results in the Gold and Silver fleet were: Gold Fleet First overall and 2005 North American Soling Champions: Bill Abbott, Joanne Abbott and Brad Boston Second Overall: Hans Fogh, Roger Cheer and John Kerr Third Overall: Bruce Clifford, Chris Tattersall and Matt Abbott Silver Fleet First Overall: Rick Huczek, Dave Hymers and Will Logar Second Overall: Ted Richards, Gord Deveries, and Ian Watson Third Overall: Scot Mundle, Craig Mundle and Brian White(Nick Kaars-Sijpesteijn) Complete Results at: www.soling.com/results/ShowResults.asp?ID=264 http://www.soling.com/MoreNews.asp?LENG=ENG&ID=455 Mallory and Adams Trophies RYE, New York (September 16, 2005) – Zak Fanberg (New Orleans, LA), Sara Fanberg (New Orleans, LA) and Marcus Eagan (Metairie LA), representing Bay Waveland Yacht Club won the 2005 U.S. Men’s Sailing Championship after a very tight final race against Rush Creek Yacht Club’s team of Kenneth Wolfe (Dallas, TX), Jake Scott (La Porte, TX) and Jameson Rabbitt (Irving TX). The two teams had swapped leads during the regatta and the racing between them was always very close with only one point separating them at the very end. Sailing for Cedar Point Yacht Club, Josh Goldman (Westport, CT), Marc Jacobi (Bridgeport, CT) and Jay Lurie (New Canaan, CT) captured third place. This is Fanberg’s third win in a row, a feat only equaled by Harry C (Buddy) Melges Jr. in the 1960’s. What is bittersweet about his victory is that the team’s home yacht club, Bay Waveland was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina. Representing Deep Creek Yacht Club, Joni Palmer from Annapolis, Md and her crew, Carrie Carpenter (Oakland, MD) and Meredith Dodd (Pittsburg, PA) with a first and a third regained the U.S. Women’s Sailing Championship which the team won in 2003. In what began with a three way tie for second, Theresa Brooks (Key West, FL), Caroline Grove (Sullivan Island, SC) and Jessica Koenig (Charleston, SC) sailing for Charleston Ocean Racing Association had a first and third to capture second place. Kirsten Cummings and her San Diego Yacht Club team of Diana Carter and Stacey Szabo had two fourths to win third place. The two teams had battled it out the entire championship and in the end, only four points separated them.