Marblehead (Mass.) July 27, 2001 — In sailboat racing, there is such a thing as a sailing widow or a sailing widower, when one half of a couple lives for sailboat racing and the other half lives for anything but. Except in the Rhodes 19 class.
Husband-and-wife crews are a common sight in this 19-foot sailboat competing at the Sailing World NOOD at Marblehead Race Week. Today, at the second day of Race Week, race results proved this combo works. In the Rhodes 19 class’ second race, two husband-and-wife teams dominated.
Kim and Christina Pandapas of Marblehead–the crew that leads the 42-boat Rhodes 19 class, the largest fleet racing in the regatta–had current national champions Jeremy and Katie Bloxham of Marblehead in their radar screen today, and their key to a victory in Race 2 was simple. “We got past Jeremy and Katie,” said Christina.
Kim Pandapas, who helms the boat, trailed the Bloxhams upwind–hunting for wind pressure and watching carefully for a window of opportunity. When Jeremy Bloxham made a tactical misjudgment at a mark rounding, the Pandapas took their leading edge. They are winning the class by 00 points entering the third day of racing.
After a frustrating opening day on Thursday, where the mornings heavy northeasterly breeze dwindled to nothing, racers prayed for better breeze. It came today, but not soon enough for some.
Don Yeaple of Marblehead–who lead the Corinthian class going into today–took a third- and a fourth-place finish in todays two races. It was close to the money–but not close enough. Yeaple knew he had potential to do better, but he lacked critical horsepower in the first race of the day.
“We were eight minutes late for the start of the first race today,” said Yeaple. “The wind just simply vanished at the start.” This mornings breeze was unstable and light–until an 8-knot southeasterly filled in on all three racing circles. But once the breeze arrived, most sailors forgot about the mornings struggles.
“Weve had Race Weeks with days of rain, with fog,” said Yeaple, who has sailed a Corinthian for some 25 years, “but today, when the wind filled in, it was about as good as it gets out there.”
One family crew has nailed down a solid string of wins despite the vagaries of the breeze. The Braun family of Marblehead–with Kelley Braun at the helm, local sailmaker J.B. Braun calling tactics, and their 11-year-old son Ryan as crew–have won all three races in the Viper 640 class. The Brauns lead the Viper class, the newest design in the regatta, by 00 points.
Competition in 14 classes resumes Saturday, July 28, and racing in all classes concludes Sunday.
Final awards will be presented at Corinthian Yacht Club on Sunday evening. Each class winner will be awarded a trophy, and the lineup of final prizes also includes two prestigious overall awards: the Leonard Munn Fowle Trophy and the Norman E. Cressy Trophy.
After two days of racing, sailors still have a very vague idea of which skippers are headed for a page in Race Week history: with conditions as changeable as they have been for this regatta, competitors know that no result will be clear-cut until the final moments of this four-day series.
The first Marblehead Race Week was held in 1889. This 112-year-old Race Week joined the family of NOOD (National Offshore One-Design) events, a nine-regatta national circuit organized by Sailing World magazine (Newport, R.I.), in 1998. Marblehead Race Week is hosted by the Boston, Eastern, and Corinthian Yacht Clubs. Support sponsors of the event include: Hall Spars & Rigging, High Sierra Sport Company, Lewmar, Mount Gay Rum, North Sails, Samuel Adams, and Sunsail.
Racing resumes on Friday, July 27 and continues until Sunday, July 29. Final awards will be presented on Sunday evening at the Corinthian Yacht Club, the host club that is the site of regatta headquarters for Race Week 2001. Race watchers can find daily race reports and results at the Sailing World website (www.sailingworld.com).
RESULTS (top 3 in each class)
[Skipper/Hometown/Boat Name/(Finishes)/Points]
210 (8 boats)
1) Susan Epstein/Tom Robinson, Sharon, MA, In The Hunt,(1-2-2), 5 points
2/tie) Robert Reis, Hingham, MA, Windy Calm, (DNF-3-1), 13
2/tie) Bert Roth, Gloucester, MA, Grace, (DNF-1-3), 13
Corinthian (7 boats)
1) Herb Maher, Marblehead, MA, WINDSONG, (3-1-3), 7
2) Don Yeaple, Marblehead, MA, Nepenthe,(1-3-4), 8
3/tie) Pete/Heather Kaznoski, Marblhead, MA, Summer Place,(2-5-6), 13
3/tie) Bill,McGrail, Marblehead, MA, STARDUST, (DNS-4-2), 13
Day Sailer (7 boats)
1) Natalie Coleman, N. Chatham, MA, Odile, (1-DNS-1-1), 11
2) John Killian, Acton, MA, NAN-LEE, (DNS-2-2-2), 14
3) Dan Duggan, Marblehead, MA, Cherry Bomb,(2-1-DNC-DNC), 19
Etchells (27 boats)
1) **Robbie Doyle, Marblehead, MA, No Time At All, (6-8-1), 15
2) Charles Quigley, Marblehead, MA, Valkyrie, (3-10-3), 16
3) Patricia A.,Stadel, Marblehead, MA,(1-12-5), 18
IOD (14 boats)
1) Bill Widnall, Lexington, MA, Javelin, (1-4-2), 7
2) **Bruce Dyson, Marblehead, MA, GYPSY, (DNF-2-1), 18
3) Michael Best, Lakeville, CT, TANGO,(DNF-3-3), 21
J/80 (9 boats)
1) Jason Balich, Beverly, MA, OVER ACHIEVER, (1-1), 2
2) Geoffrey Pierini, Metuchen, NJ, Bada Bing,(2-2), 4
3) Anthony Picardi, Wellesley, MA, IOLANTHE, (4-3), 7
Laser 28 (10 boats)
1) Tim Dear, Nepean, Ont.,Canada, Rock ‘N Roll, (2-2), 4
2/tie) Denise C. Bienvenu, Dorval, Quebec, Canada, Convictus,(4-1), 5
2/tie) Judy Button, Mississauga, Ont.,Canada, RAGS,(1-4), 5
Rhodes 19 (43 boats)
1) Kim Pandapas, Marblehead, MA, MO HOTTA MO BETTA, (2-5-1), 8
2) Alex & Conway Felton, Wenham, MA, Seguin, (3-1-8), 12
3) **Doug Trees/Shan McAdoo, Hamilton, MA, SWINGROOM, (7-3-5), 15
Viper 640 (11 boats)
1) J.B./Kelley Braun, Marblehead, MA,(1-1-1), 3
2) Rob Gorman, Marblehead, MA, UFO, (2-2-5), 9
3) Peter O. Frisch, Swampscott, MA, PENWPACKET, (3-3-4), 10
J/24 (30 boats)
1) Paul Adam/Jon Vass, Beverly, MA, Kaya, (1-6-3), 10
2) Joseph E Winston, Barrington, RI, PASSAGE EAST, (11-2-1), 14
3/tie) Eric Cressy/Adams/Warren, Marblehead, MA, Banana Slug,(12-4-4), 20
3/tie) William Welles, Marblehead, MA, (10-3-7), 20
**denotes a defending class champion from Race Week 2000
