Race for the Roses 2001 - Southwinds, September 2001

- Local News for Southern Sailors - September 2001 Next Story

Kurzweg repeats as Race for the Roses champion
By Kim Kaminski

After winning the inaugural Race for the Roses some 13 years ago, Susan Kurzweg took fleet honors again this year in the race's first year as the Gulf Yachting Association Women's PHRF Championship in late July. The all-women's event attracted more than 30 boats and 139 sailors racing in PHRF keelboat divisions and one-design Laser and Hobie Wave classes.

Pensacola Beach Yacht Club established an all-female sailboat race in 1988 and called it the Race for the Roses. Over the years the sailing event has grown into a popular competition, and the Gulf Yachting Association (GYA) recognize the campaign efforts of fleet captain Rick Zern to establish the Race for the Roses as the GYA Women's PHRF Championship.

Originally set up as a one-day event, the Pensacola Beach Yacht Club elected to expand the regatta into a weekend event to allow broader competition for the championship. Major race sponsorship was provided by Morgan Stanley and Paul Mitchell Systems.

The midsummer weather conditions in the Florida Panhandle July 28-29 remained hot and humid with temperatures in the 90s and heat indices over 100 degrees. The winds were light—less than 10 knots out of the south—on the first day of the competition, but the competitors were greeted with stronger winds in the mid-teens on day two.

The race committee sent the challengers on a tour of the bay race course of 13.47 miles for the spinnaker class and 10.74 miles for the non-spinnaker class on day one. The second day of competition had some threatening skies to the north of the race course, but the storm never materialized during the race as the stronger winds gave the contestants a workout over a windward/leeward course.

Winning boat at Race for the Roses, 2001

Roberta Kuder's Delphina team takes non-spinnaker fleet honors. Bill Meilner photos.

Kurzweg has been an active competitor over the years in the Race for the Roses, winning seven of the 14 spinnaker fleet trophies. Her team took Class A honors in both races and also posted a 1-2 fleet record for the overall honors.

Other PHRF class winners included Holly Casanova's Jackpot in Spinnaker Class B, Kim Kaminski's Applejack in Spinnaker Class C, Roberta Kuder aboard Delphina in Non-spinnaker Class D, and Julie Connerley's EZ-Duz-It in Non-spinnaker Class E.

In the seven-boat Laser class, Glenda Mayo edged Mishelle Smith by two points after four races for the top trophy. Racing in a 10-boat fleet of Hobie Wave beach catamarans, Betsy Whitehurst dominated with two firsts and two seconds while Patrice Couch edged Paula Smyth on a tie-breaker for the runner-up trophy. The final scores were close in all divisions with tie-breakers used in five of the eight categories.

For full results and information on the host club, see www.pensacolabeach-yc.org.

Winning crew holding trophy, 2001 Race for the Roses

Skipper Kurzweg (holding trophy), boat owner Bob Patroni (holding champagne), Phaedra crew, and friends celebrate the "Roses" honors.

Southwinds Home