After a wet and gray summer, it was no great surprise to be rigging and measuring in the rain on Friday afternoon, but that didn't discourage 39 boats who showed up to vie for the Atlantic Coast Champs in Newport, RI, hosted by Sail Newport and Ida Lewis Yacht Club. The top two teams would earn the right to represent the US at the 2001 Worlds in Uruguay, and a little rain wasn't going to keep them away. Fortunately the forecasters were quite wrong and we ended up with a gloriously sunny weekend. But how about the breeze, you ask? Well, there is a wise saying in New England: never trust a northerly...
Saturday reinforced that wisdom. After we all struggled against wind and tide to get to the starting line just north of the Newport Bridge, there was still just enough northeast pressure to start a race but not enough to make the time limit. After the abandonment (with cheering) and a short wait, the famous Narragansett Bay seabreeze materialized, which allowed two races to be completed in more civilized conditions. The breeze quickly built to 14 knots and seemed to favor the left side, and lead changes were the norm on all legs as puffs filled and fled. Augie Diaz/Tracy Nan Hayley took the first gun, while class rookie Dave Van Cleef with veteran crew Nancy Haberland aced the second race. Unfortunately, with a late finish time the current had already turned against us for the sail home, so it was a tired but satisfied group that hit the hoists, showers, and dinner.
Fall arrived on Sunday, clear, cool... and windy, from the northwest. 3 races were completed in a funky breeze and building ebb current, so it got harder and harder to be consistent (or just get across the starting line) as the day went on. Diaz/Hayley took a second bullet in the third race (the only team to win more than one). But a 21 in the fourth race eliminated their status as the only boat to post all finishes in the top ten. Lee Griffith/Lisa Griffith found a timely left shift close to the finish of the third race to take that gun.
Race five will be remembered for all the random puffs dropping onto the course, a touch of lake sailing on salty Narragansett Bay. But deadly powerboat chop and four knots of current running about sixty degrees to the right of the wind made it feel anything but lakelike. Left shifts were reinforced by the current, making them more valuable but also making it easy to overstand on port... all around a challenging end to a very challenging regatta. Kevin Funsch and Watt Duffy started all by themselves at the boat end (on port) and never looked back, but that win wasn't quite enough to bring them even with the steady performance of Hal Gilreath and Ned Jones, who counted all top ten finishes and would have won the regatta without a drop race. Two teams (Augie Diaz/Tracy Nan Hayley and Kevin Funsch/Watt Duffy) now join the list of qualifiers (Gilreath/Jones qualified previously through the US Nationals July) for the 2001 Worlds in Uruguay; the final two spots will be filled at the Pacific Coast Championships in September.
See the Event Website for other details about the regatta.
Pl Sail Crew 1 2 3 4 5 Total
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 28810 Augie Diaz & Tracy Nan Halyey 0.75 4 0.75 (21) 12 17.5
2 29324 Hal Gilreath & Ned Jones (13) 2 8 4 5 19
3 29628 Kevin Funsch & Watt Duffy 6 (43/OCS) 7 6 0.75 19.75
4 29204 Lee Griffith & Lisa Griffith 2 7 (15) 0.75 13 22.75
5 27733 Carol Cronin & Theresa Colantuano (21) 3 11 3 9 26
6 28440 Jim Bowers & Myrna Chan MacRae 10 10 3 (11) 4 27
7 28702 Henry Filter & Lorie Stout (16) 11 2 10 7 30
8 29684 John Manderson & Maggie Manderson 9 19 5 (20) 6 39
9 29801 Dave Van Cleef & Nancy Haberland 12 0.75 (23) 9 20 41.75
10 28044 Pedro Lorson & Mimi Berry 14 (16) 4 15 10 43
11 28812 Gonzo Diaz & Lynn Fitzpatrick 15 6 (19) 7 16 44
12 29572 Charlie Bustamante & Michele Bustamante 4 9 6 (33) 25/DNF 44
13 28814 Gonzalo Diaz, Sr. & Greg Saldana 5 18 9 13 (19) 45
14 29147 Lisa Pline & Alex Pline 3 12 12 23 (39/DNC) 50
15 29699 Andrew Pimental & Monique Gaylor 8 21 18 5 (23) 52
16 29727 John MacRae & Linda Epstein 17 (22) 20 8 8 53
17 27054 Bryan Fishback & Kerry Fishback (30) 5 16 2 30/OCS 53
18 29592 Paul Cronin & Kate Fears (23) 13 10 12 21 56
19 28686 Mike Lenkeit & Liza Hughes (22) 14 14 19 15 62
20 28854 Anthony Kotoun & Samantha Rosemont 19 8 (29) 24 11 62
21 25412 Art Rousmaniere & Adam Rousmaniere (27) 24 22 14 3 63
22 25679 Dave Nelson & Magaret Read 26 20 (27) 18 2 66
23 29682 Alex Stout & Liz Filter 11 25 13 17 (39/DNC) 66
24 29442 Carr Moody & Rick Jarkow 7 15 21 35/DNF (39/DNC) 78
25 28050 Bill Kelley & Barb Evans (28) 17 20/YMP 25 18 80
26 29687 Scott Lindley & Alan Capellin 20 (30) 26 26 17 89
27 25483 Eric Reinke & Kim Couranz 25 26 24 (27) 14 89
28 26488 Nigel Mendez & Patricia Schmidt 18 (29) 25 22 24 89
29 28542 Bob Coyle & Melissa Lim (32) 27 28 16 22 93
30 29111 Joel Zackin & Celeste Zackin 24 28 17 28 (39/DNC) 97
31 29499 Brendan Koeniger & Chuck Koeniger (39) 35 30 30 25 120
32 29700 John Lally & Kerry O'brien 33 33 32 29 (39/DNC) 127
33 28680 Brad Dunn & Dianne Robinson-Dunn 34 23 37/DNF (39/DNC) 39/DNC 133
34 26743 Mike Elser & Evin Elser 37 38 31 31 (39/DNC) 137
35 25659 Ray Schmit & Diane Scheufeld 31 31 37/DNF (39/DNC) 39/DNC 138
36 26202 Shane Erickson & Jenn Erickson 38 36 33 32 (39/DNC) 139
37 25090 Kevin/Vivian Hetherington-Young 29 32 (39/DNC) 39/DNC 39/DNC 139
38 28628 John Hill & Jenna Hill 36 37 35 34 (39/DNC) 142
39 25414 McCay Debbie & Kelly Habarak 35 34 34 (39/DNC) 39/DNC 142
St.Pete Scorer for Windows95-8 at www.spyc.org