Tim Fallon has had his fill of silver. He and his Whishbone teammates have finished second more times than they care to remember at major team racing regattas, including the 2002 Hinman Trophy and the last two world team racing championships, in 1999 and 2001. Today, just a stone’s throw from America’s Cup syndicate row and the Viaduct Basin, Whishbone finally broke through, winning the 2003 ISAF World Team Racing Championships with a 3-0 drubbing of Great Britain 2 in the finals.
“I think our whole strategy worked pretty well,” said Fallon, the teams captain and a former All American at Tufts University. “It was not to team race too much, but to get up the course and go fast.” It was a strategy that Fallon said the team decided upon before the regatta started and worked well through a range of conditions. The final day was scorching hot, with a shifty and puffy southerly. But the wind ranged from windy and steady to light and extremely shifty over the course of the six-day event.
The Whishbone Team, or USA 2 as it was known throughout the event, started off extremely well, winning all 15 races in the opening Round Robin. But Fallons crew, which included Graeme and Leigh Woodworth, Karen Renzulli, Brian Doyle, and Ery Largay, slipped slightly in the three Gold League Round Robins, winning 15 and losing six, and finishing in third position. During those Gold League Round Robins, however, USA 2 did win all three of its matches against USA 1, which had defeated them last November in the 2002 Hinman Trophy in New Orleans. Since only one team from a country can qualify for the semifinals, these victories may have been the most important of the early rounds.
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| Stuart Streuli|
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| Whishbone team captain Tim Fallon (facing camera, Bow No. 8) and crew Karen Renzulli sail to windward during the semifinals. Fallon has finished second in the previous two team racing world championsh* * *|
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In the semifinals, USA 2 matched up against defending world champions NZL 1, a team which includes the sibling combo of Andrew, Rebecca, and Hamish Murdoch, and promptly dispatched them 3-1. The finals, against Steve Tylecotes GBR 2 team, wasnt quite the blowout that it might appear to be from the score. In one race, USA 2 was able to overcome a very stable 2-3-4 combination on the final race and no races were easy.
“This is definitely the pinnacle,” said Fallon, of the win. “Our team has wanted to win this regatta for 5 to 10 years.”
Final Results
Finals: USA 2 def. GBR 2, 3-0
Petit Finals: NZL 1 def. IRL 1, 3-0
5th through 16th: GBR 1, USA 1, NED, AUS 1, NZL 2, CZE, JPN 2, IRL 2, IND 1, JPN 1, AUS 2, IND 2
