Key West Race Week 2001 - Southwinds, February 2001

Southwinds - Local News for Southern Sailors - February 2001Next Story

Horizontal gravity...borrowed boats... knots & shots: That's Yachting Key West Race Week 2001

By Doran Cushing

Key West the town and Key West the race week have changed greatly in recent years. In the case of the resort community, those changes haven't always been pretty as the deluge of cruise ships and glitzy development have changed the flavor of the Conch experience.

The Wall takes it to the competition for class honors in PHRF 4 at Key West Race Week.

      But the race week has thrived in the typically warm and often breezy environment, and 2001 was no exception. A record 327 boats came to play—more than 200 of those racing in one-design classes—and with the huge turnout came changes in the course layouts. To reduce congestion on the already busy three-course configuration, event director Peter Craig of Premiere Racing, Inc., elected to add a fourth course and shift the mix of the fleets. The new course—situated to the west of the existing racing circles and west of the main shipping channel leading into Key West— was home to the 37-boat Farr 40 Class and the 31-boat Mumm 30 fleet.
      In a major departure from past years when the PHRF entries sailed with event-mandated crew limits based on the size of the boats, officials abandoned limits to the number of crew allowed onboard and replaced them with crew weight limitations. However, teams were not required to weigh in, and compliance was handled by an honor system among the competitors. For a 30-foot boat, the weight limit of 1,260 pounds translated into a likely crew of six to eight sailors.
      Maintaining the tradition of the past decade, the post-race party tent roared with elbow-to-elbow conversation each night, and there was no shortage of liquids to replenish the thirsty sailors. One little known fact about Key West is that the Navy is conducting secret experiments after dark in the field of horizontal gravity, and occasional sailors found themselves being pulled slightly askew as they wandered the streets of Key West. However, no serious gravity injuries were reported.
      It may be a party scene each night in the city, but regional and professional sailors alike spent six to eight physically- and mentally-demanding hours on the water each day.

Tiburon heads downwind with New Wave in its sights

While Key West Race Week has always been a place for "firsts" in the racing scene, this year's boat swap by crews in PHRF Division 3 may be hard to top in future years. The crew of the New Orleans-based Melges 30 Tiburon and the crew of the Tampa Bay-based Henderson 30 New Wave traded boats for the closing race of the week...prompted by a protest of the Melges rating, some unpleasant words between crewmembers, and ultimately a challenge by New Wave owner Michael Carroll to swap boats.

      The protest (which the jury declined to hear) stemmed from the modification of the Melges to the tune of removing the inboard engine and replacing it with an outboard...a substantial weight savings for Tiburon, for which they paid a three-second-per-mile PHRF penalty. The New Wave team questioned the weight certificate of the modified Melges, but race officials elected to let the rating stand without hearing the protest so the challenge went forward without the endorsement of the RC.
      With Marty Kullman of St. Petersburg at the helm, the ex-New Wave sailors aboard Tiburon beat the temporarily-Cajun Henderson 30 New Wave by some six minutes over the 10.96-mile course. Unlike the four previous days when the wind rarely topped 10 knots, this closing race was sailed in 12-16 knots of breeze with the accompanying warm aqua waves. The New Orleans crew aboard New Wave was hampered by a ripped chute late in the race.
      When it came to trophy time in the tent, the New Orleans team graciously presented the daily trophy to their Tampa Bay competitors and reportedly were settling up with New Wave owner Carroll for the damaged spinnaker.
      Tiburon hardly went home empty-handed as the talent-rich team which included John Dane III, Benz Faget, and co-owner Michael Gray, won four of the five daily trophies. They won six of the seven races sailed on their own boat and finished the week 14 points ahead of New Wave, which took second overall in PHRF 3.
      Gordon Schiff's Tampa-based Mumm 36 The Wall never dropped far from the lead of PHRF 4 and iced the division title with two closing bullets and a six-point margin over the Taylor 41 Sheerness.
      "Our goal today (Friday) was to stay out of everybody's way," helmsman OH Rodgers said. "The best way to do that was to stay in front of everyone."
      Putting the boat away after locking up the division crown, Schiff said, "We had one bad race but it raised our concentration and we dialed back in. We sailed our best tactical race today (Friday)."
      Rodgers added, "We didn't have the most speed in any one conditions, just maybe the best speed all around... and some luck."
      Crewing with Schiff and Rodgers were Andy Cheney, Tim Stodola, April Schiff, Meredith Brown, Lance Dombrowki, Christian Albert, Jane Barnhardt, and David Sawicky.
      The five-day regatta went into the final race with the winners in 16 of the 17 divisions still up for grabs. In the final point totals, nine division winners were determined by a spread of three points or less. And there was no closer competition, both in the points spread and in the physical distance between boat, than in the glamourous Farr 40 Class.
      The Greek-based Atalanti XI, driven by owner George Andreadis and with an international crew aboard, came back from a poor finish on day four to edge Pegasus for the week's honors. Pegasus was leading Atalanti XI in the 37-boat fleet by six points going into the final race. The start sequence wasn't very pretty for the Greek boat as they were getting pinched out at the RC boat. Tactician Robbie Haines bailed out early enough to start behind the front row but with better boatspeed and a clear path to tack.
      St. Petersburg sailmaker Ethan Bixby, who works as a trimmer aboard Andreadis' boats, said" The start was a split second decision you have to make and thankfully we made the right one."

      Atalanti XI went right, led at the first mark, and never looked back except to see how deep Pegasus was in the fleet.
      "We just knew we had to win," Bixby said about the final race, "We had to take care of our own business and not worry about Pegasus."
      Pegasus rounded the first mark around 12th place and picked up to ninth by the finish but the Andreadis team had posted their second bullet of the week and won the Farr 40 class at Key West for the second consecutive year.
      "This win is huge," Bixby added, "It's an important regatta and to come back and win was good."
      Atalanti XI also captured Yachting Trophy Boat of the Week honors for winning the closest and most competitive class (based on a largely confusing math formula). Until the final day, no one had won more than once and the class had seen a different leader each day.
      With the Farr 40 class maintaining a strict owner-driver rule, the armada of world-class skippers-turned-tacticians included familiar names like Coutts, Brun, Walker, Benjamin, Kolius, Schumann, Barker, two Islers, Dellenbaugh, Reynolds, Brady, Whidden, Larson, and Madrigali. Atalanti XI owner Andreadis had his core crew who have been sailing together for six years, along with 1984 Olympic gold medalist Haines calling the tactics. Haines has been sailing with Andreadis off and on for about 20 years.
      In the 20-boat 1D35 Class, Olympic silver medalist Paul Foerster guided fellow Texan Owen Kratz's Joss to a fifth place on the final day—good enough to nip Shed Shellhorse's Avalanche from Lake Wesley, VA, for the overall title by two points. The two boats had both posted single-digit finishes throughout the series and led their fleet by a comfortable margin.
      Foerster said it wasn't important where Joss finished, as long as it was "one boat behind Avalanche — the only thing we cared about."
      A number of southern-based boats turned in top performances at Key West Race Week, including Jeff Gale's B-32 Abbey Normal with Sarasota sailmaker Doug Fisher calling the tactics. Gale's team took top honors in PHRF 6 with a one-point margin over the SR 33 Ragamuffin, owned by Richard Harris of New Orleans. In PHRF 7, Robert Patroni's Pensacola Beach-based Evelyn 32 Phaedra finished third, three points from the win. Peter DeBeukelaer's Mississippi-based Tripp 26 Dream Cookie posted four bullets for the win in PHRF 9 with the Lake Norman, NC, Tripp 26 Huntin' Tripp seven points back in second place.
      Bob Johnstone's J/105 Tern V took honors in the 25-boat one-design class with a one-point edge over Plum Crazy with Naples, Florida sailor James Doane finishing third overall after leading the series early in the week and winning the closing race aboard Flame.
      Gene Rohrer's North Carolina-based IMX 38 Hawkeye edged Jerry Carney's Mississippi-based J/120 Mad Max on a tie-breaker for second-place honors in PHRF 5 while Jack Cavalier's vintage C & C 40 Creola finished third in PHRF 8.
      He didn't win any trophies but first-time race week sailor Richard Gress of Sarasota, FL, said, "I love the venue. I love the competition, and I love a race committee that knows what to do. You race by the rules, you play hard, and there's no BS. I met a lot of gentlemen on the course."
      Racing a "heavy" O'Day 40, Gress said his only complaint was the weather. "In the brochure, the weather was supposed to be 20-25 knots."

Yachting Key West Race Week Jan. 15 - 19
8 races, no throwouts Top three plus southern-based boats
IMS (9 boats) 1. Esmeralda/Farr 50/Makoto Uematsu, Newport, RI 1-1-2-1-7-6-4-1 23;
2. Virago/N-M 49/Bache Renshaw, Portsmouth, RI 3-3-1-5-1-2-6-2 23; 3. Highland Fling/CM 60/Irvine Laidlaw, UK 3.1-6-5-2-3-1-1-4 25.1
PHRF 1 (9 boats) 1. Chessie Racing/Farr 52/George Collins, Gibson Island, MD 1-2-2-1-2-5-2-3 18; 2. Equation/SC 70/Bill Alcott/Detroit, MI 2-1-3-3-3-4-4-1 21; 3. Magnitude/Turbo Sled/Doug Baker/Long Beach, CA 6-3-1-4-1-2-1-4 22; 7. Decision/SC 52/Stephen B. Murray, New Orleans, LA 8-5-8-6-8-7-7-6 55
PHRF 2 (11 boats)- Strabo /J-145/Marty Fisher, Annapolis, MD 4-2-1-4-3-2-1-7 24; 2. PAX NZL/Farr 43/Robert Siegel, Stamford, CT 1-3-7-1-1-7-4-4 28; 3. Raincloud/J-125/Mike Rose/Houston, TX 3-1-5-3-11-5-5-5 38; 11. Passion/SC 50/S Hastings-V Brickley, Corpus Christi, TX 8-10-11-11-9-8-8-6 71
PHRF 3 (14 boats) 1. Tiburon/Melges 30 OB/Michael T. Gray, Metairie, LA 1-1-1-3-2-1-1-9 17;
2. New Wave/Henderson 30/Michael Carroll, Clearwater, FL 2-3-5-3-1-2-3-4 23; 3. Warpspeed/Thompson 850/H Cole-C Adams, Hood River, OR 4-4-3-4-4-5-5-2 31; 6. Cast of Thousands/Henderson 30/David Irwin, Heath, TX 5-8-7-8-7-11-8-3 57; 9. Savannah/Henderson 30/Walter Kennedy, Charlotte, NC 14-11-6-7-8-8-dsq-6 68; 14. Judy/Henderson 30/Tom W. Gore, Fort Myers, FL 13-14-12-13-10-dsq-9-13 99
PHRF 4 (10 boats) 1. The Wall/Mumm 36/Gordon Schiff, Tampa, FL 2-2-1-3-2-7-1-1 19;
2. Sheerness/Taylor 41/Keith Rodney, Newport, RI 6-4-5-1-3-2-2-2-2 25; 3. Spank Me/C & C 44/Bob Limoggio, Pt. Washington, NY 7-3-3-2-1-3-3-6 28; 4. Habanero/Aerodyne 38/Steve Jones, Belton, TX 1-3-6-7-8-5-dsq-4 45; 8. Outer Limits/Tripp 40/David Connolly, Ft. Lauderdale,
FL 8-7-8-8-4-10-6-8 59; 10. Por Fin 3/Mumm 36/Bob Handley, Asheboro, NC
10-8-10-10-10-9-9-10 76
PHRF 5 (9 boats) 1. Claddagh/N-M 40/ L Fallon-J Flanagan, Marblehead, MA 4-1-1-1-1-3-1-10-dnc 22; 2. Hawkeye/IMX 38/Gene D. Rohrer, Concord, NC 3-7-2-2-4-7-3-3 31; 3. Mad Max/J-120/Jerry Carney, Pearlington, MS 2-3-5-3-6-4-4-4 31; 8. Leading Edge/J-35/Tom Sutton, Seabrook, TX 5-6-8-8-9-8-9-6 59; 9. Solar Express/J-120/Allen Thomas, Tampa,
FL ocs-8-6-9-7-9-8-8 65
PHRF 6 (8 boats) 1. Abbey Normal/B-32/Jeffrey Gale, Bahamas 2-1-1-5-2-2-1-2 16; 2. Ragamuffin/SR 33/Richard Harris, New Orleans, LA 1-2-2-2-4-3-2-1 17; 3. No Name/Viper 830/Peter Hunter, Kill Devil Hills, NC 3-3-6-3-3-4-4-3 29; 5. Sea Dragin'/Viper 830/J Craig Cohen, Mandeville, LA 5-8-3-5-5-5-5-7 43; 7. Rasta Dog/Antrim 27/Jack Vines, Tampa,
FL 6-6-7-4-7-7-6-4 47
PHRF 7 (9 boats) 1. Family Wagon/Custom 27)/Richard A. Hallett, Casco Bay, ME 3-2-4-2-5-3-4-2 25; 2. Whacko/Soverel 33/Norm Dean, Boston, MA 8-3-3-4-1-1-2-5 27; 3. Phaedra/Evelyn 32/Robert Patroni, Pensacola Beach, FL 2-6-1-1-3-5-6-4 28; 8. Centennial/Beneteau FC10/Steve Probert, Key West, FL 7-7-6-7-9-9-7-6 58; 9. Dream Weaver/Elliott 770/Chuck Weaver, Flowery Branch, GA 9-9-9-9-6-6-9-dnc 67
PHRF 8 (8 boats) 1. Savage/C & C 34/Alan D. Townsley, Palisades, NY 2-2-2-3-4-1-1-1 16;
2. Eclipse/Frers 33/Warren Hudson, Boston, MA 3-1-1-1-1-2-2-6 17; 3. Creola/C & C 40/Jack Cavalier, Tampa, FL 5-4-3-2-3-3-4-3 27; 4. New York Times/NY 40/Ed Doughty, Fayetteville, NC 4-3-4-5-5-5-5-3-2 31; 5. Hot Ticket/Farr 37/Jim Hightower, Houston, TX 8-5-6-4-2-4-5-4 38;
7. Mother Ocean/O'Day 40/Richard Gress, Sarasota, FL 7-7-8-7-6-6-6-5 52; 8. Anticipation/Catalina 38/Thomas Steinhauer, Punta Gorda, FL 6-8-7-8-8-8-7-8 60
PHRF 9 (15 boats) 1. Dream Cookie/Tripp 26/Peter DeBeukelaer, Jackson, MS 1-2-1-3-1-2-1-3 14; 2. Huntin' Tripp/Tripp 26/J Bost-T Decker, Lake Norman, NC 3-3-3-2-2-1-3-4 21;
3. Dreadlocks/Tartan 10/Jeff Hammer, Huntington, NY 2-1-4-1-10-5-6-9 38; 5. Liquor Box/Tartan 10/C Simon-B Buckles, Key West, FL 11-5-2-4-8-10-2-2 44; 13. Wind Wizard/Express 27/Tom Roberts, Lake Lanier, GA 15-14-12-13-7-8-13-15 97; 15. Bedrbe/B-25/Donald T. Fretz, Seminole, FL 14-12-13-14-12-14-15-14 108
PHRF 10 (10 boats) 1. Rugger/S2 7.9/John & Jeff Sampson, Detroit, MI 1-2-3-4-3-3-4-1 21;
2. Kamikazee/S2 7.9/John Leyland, Canada 2-3-2-1-8-9-2-3 30; 3. Insatiable/Mariah 27/Mike Karn, Deltaville, VA 8-4-4-2-2-6-1-7 34; 9. Blah Blah Blah/J-24/Mark Milnes, Key West, FL
7-9-8-10-10-4-9-6 63
Farr 40 (37 boats) 1. Atalanti XI/George Andreadis/Greece 1-5-8-22-5-23-2-1 67; 2. Pegasus/Phillippe Kahn, Honolulu, HI 2-7-20-12-4-14-1-9 69; 3. Revolution/Brack Duker, Marina del Rey, CA 4-2-28-1-6-7-18-6 72
J/80 (25 boats) 1. No Name 352/Kerry Klingler, Larchmont, NY 1-1-1-1-12-10-1-1 28;
2. Kicks/David Balfour, Austin, TX 3-5-2-3-17-2-4-4 40; 3. No Name USA 69/PK Carelli, Cleveland, OH 2-6-10-13-3-6-6-2 48; 10. Hammertime/Steven Hammerman, Houston, TX 9-2-9-12-23-14-12-7 88; 12. Adrenaline/Bryan Dougherty, Seacliff, TX 16-19-16-17-5-8-7-8 96;
16. Whiskey Tango/Jason Liem, Seabrook, TX 11-16-18-14-13-5-21-14 112; 16. Spirit of Triton/Harry V. Frazer, Oriental, NC 17-24-13-7-15-16-13-13 118; 17. Lone Star J/K DeHam-B Zartler, Kemah, TX 18-20-15-5-16-dsq-18-9 127; 18. Gironimo/Mark Girone, Nashville, TN 22-17-21-20-19-9-3-22 133; 19. Andale/Al Poindexter, Houston, TX 21-13-22-dsq-6-22-16-20 146
J/29 (17 boats) 1. Samson, Brandon & Cindy Flack, Stonington, CT 2-1-5-2-4-5-1-9 29;
2. Tomahawk/Bruce Lockwood, Ludlow, VT 3-2-1-4-3-10-3-3 29; 3. Patriot/F Case Whittemore, Deltaville, VA 6-6-6-3-1-3-2-6 33
J/105 (25 boats) 1. Tern V/Robert Johnstone, Charleston, SC 7-2-4-4-8-2-3-3 34; 2. Plum Crazy/Andrew D. Skibo, Ocean City, NJ 14-1-7-1-3-1-6-2 35; 3. Flame/James Doane, Naples, FL 2-3-6-2-8-7-11-1 40; 5. Heart Throb/Harris-Baggett, Raleigh, NC 3-7-16-6-1-10-2-14 59;
7. Hoss/Darden-Hilliard-Williamson, Ft. Worth, TX 8-dsq-5-5-4-6-4-5 63; 12. Southern Crescent/Dan Kerekhoff, Naples, FL 12-8-12-9-20-21-13-9 104; 16. Cayuse/Hal Haltom, Houston, TX
11-20-14-21-11-14-14-10 115; 17. Babe/Malcolm Bremer, Houston, TX 17-13-20-16-5-17-12-22 122; 21. Curragh/Peter Tuite, Charleston, SC 21-18-21-20-23-11-16-21 151; 24. Haze II/Dick Starita, Palm City, FL 25-24-23-25-25-24-23-20 189; 25. Absolutely!/Rick Wieters, Jenkins Island, SC 24-23-25-24-24-25-24-dns 195
Melges 24 (59 boats) 1. Zenda Express/Harry Melges, Zenda, WI 1-1-10-14-3-1-1-1 32;
2. Full Throttle/Brian Porter, Lake Geneve, WI 10-8-2-1-18-12-3-4 58; 3. M-Fatic/Neil Sullivan, Annapolis, MD 3-4-1-4-5-21-4-24 66; 10. Buzzard/Chris Rosenberg, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 132;
16. Mach Schnell/Kent Haeger, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 187; 20. Lamorak/Mike Krantz, Lake Lanier, GA 205; 34. Gang of Four/Frank McCarthy, St. Petersburg, FL 264; 35. BCNYA/Bob & Doug Harkrider, Augusta, GA 274; 39. Animal Farm/Deborah Willits, Jacksonville, FL 296;
40. Trick Monkey/Matt Mayo, Dallas, TX 299; 45. Liberty 2/Doug Kessler, Marietta, GA 323;
47. Forerunner/John L. Mathis, Pensacola, FL 332; 48. Eraser/David Guggenheim, Savannah, GA 336; 50. Guided Missile/Mark Lockard, Mobile, AL 349; 52. Sick Puppy/S Jones-E Andrews, Nashville, TN 356; 53. Hurricane/Bill Rogner, Punta Gorda, FL 358
Mumm 30 (31 boats) 1. Turbo Duck, B&N von der Wense, Annapolis, MD 1-3-9-4-4-3-4-12 40; 2. Trouble/Phil Garland, Bristol, RI 2-10-21-2-3-1-4-3 46; 3. Surprise/David Irish, Harbor Springs, MI 11-5-3-15-12-2-11-5 64
ID35 (20 boats) 1. Joss/Owen Kratz, Houston, TX 2-7-3-1-2-3-6-5 29; 2. Avalanche/W S Shellhorse, Lake Wesley, VA 5-1-1-4-1-9-7-3 31; ;3. Wild Thing/Kara Zylstra, San Diego,
CA 6-10-2-5-10-4-1-1 39; 18. Storyville/Joe Blouin, Tampa, FL 11-20-17-18-14-19-11-18 128

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