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Weekend Wrap-Up

September 7 - San Francisco Bay

Labor Day Weekend was, as usual, the busiest sailing weekend of the year around the Bay Area. Here are some of the highlights from the last few days:


Friday's Aussie 18 finale

Skiff Internationals - Howie Hamlin, Mike Martin and Trent Barnabas continued their winning streak, taking the StFYC-hosted 18-ft Skiff International Regatta with Pegasus White. Defending champion John Winning of Australia was four points back in second, while 16-year-old Shark Kahn, a newcomer, was third. Not coincidentally, Pegasus White was the only one in the 9-boat fleet to stay upright throughout the windy 10-race, 2-throwout series. For full results see www.stfyc.org.



Scout Spirit heads for Santa Cruz

Windjammers - It was another slow one for the Windjammer YC's annual run down to Santa Cruz. Bill Turpin's chartered R/P 77 Scout Spirit, at a PHRF rating of -120 the most potent monohull ever entered, was the first boat to finish in seven hours and two minutes - not good enough for a course record, but enough to win class and overall honors over the TP-52 Flash. Other class winners in the 31-boat fleet included Auspice (Schumacher 40), Saffron (SC 27), and Tiger Beetle (N/M 45). Most boats took about 16-18 hours to finish the classic 67-mile course. Full results (coming soon) at www.scyc.org.



Bill Sr.'s C-Cat at Point Pinole

Jazz Cup - Bill Erkelens' C-Cat Freedom topped an 89-boat fleet in the 26-mile Jazz Cup, co-hosted by SBYC and BenYC. Peter Stoneberg's black ProSail 40 Tuki was second, finishing in just 2:01:23 - a new course record. Third overall was Kit Wiegman's Hobie 20 Bastet, followed by the first monohull, Chris Kim's Ultimate 24 Vuja De. Jeff McCord's new custom N/M 36 Quiver, with Scott Easom aboard, had a successful debut, finishing fifth overall and first in Div. I. Hank Easom, Scott's uncle, finished first in Div. II and seventh overall with his 8-Meter Yucca. Unfortunately, Yucca dismasted on the trip home when the port chainplate pulled out. Full results at www.southbeachyc.org.



Roadmaster Brad Butler of Seattle schools the local Moore 24 fleet.
Photos Latitude/Rob

Labor Day Regatta - StFYC's Labor Day Regatta attracted 51 boats in six classes, three of whom added an extra day to the regatta (Friday) and had it double as their Nationals. Class winners follow:

ANTRIM 27 (Nationals) - 1) Cascade, Steve Reinhart (5 boats); EXPRESS 27 (Nationals) - 1) Motorcycle Irene, Will Paxton (15 boats); MOORE 24 (Nationals) - 1) Eclipse, Brad Butler (16 boats); 1D-35 - 1) Tabasco, John Wylie (5 boats); MELGES 24 - 1) #505, Dave Ullman (7 boats); J/24 - 1) Jaded, Deke Klatt (9 boats). Full results at www.stfyc.com.

J/120 Nationals - SFYC hosted 11 J/120s to a 7-race, no-throwout series on the Southampton race track. After three days of racing, Steve Madeira and the crew of Mr. Magoo were crowned the 2005 J/120 national champs. Dennis Jermaine and Don Payan's Dayenu was second, followed by Barry Lewis' Chance. Full results at www.sfyc.org.


Swedish America's Cup Team Names John Kostecki as Inshore Tactician

September 7 - Valencia, Spain

The Ericsson Racing Team announced today that former Marinite John Kostecki will be the eleventh crewmember onboard the Swedish entry in the Volvo Ocean Race 2005/06. Kostecki won the 2001/02 Volvo Ocean Race as skipper onboard illbruck, and he was an Olympic silver medalist (1988) and 10-time world champion in a range of one design classes.


John Kostecki
Photo Courtesy Ericsson Racing Team

Ericsson skipper Neal McDonald of Great Britain commented, "John will be a great asset to the Ericsson team. With the experience of two Whitbread/Volvo Ocean Races and four America's Cup campaigns, he has a proven track record in both inshore and ocean racing. The inshore races count for nearly 22% of the overall results and so his talent and knowledge will be invaluable to the team."

For updates and pictures on the Swedish team's participation in the Volvo Ocean Race, see www.ericssonracingteam.com.


Gone Cruisin'

September 7 - Southern California

Thirteen days ago - although it seems like two years - your main 'Lectronic editor took off for a little cruising in Southern California aboard Profligate. The primary idea was to get away - really get away - from the 12-hour days at the keyboard, the Internet, and all the other little workaholic things that go along with publishing the world's biggest - in terms of pages - sailing magazine.

Usually when we go on 'vacation', we still work a lot, taking photos, interviewing people, writing stories, and providing much of the material for 'Lectronic. This time we were determined not to do any of those things. We were just going to get on the cat in Newport Beach, take care of a few items, and spend a week singlehanding around Catalina before Doña de Mallorca joined us for the second week.

Our 'no work at all' plan got shot to hell after about an hour, when one of the big Thursday night races started right next to our mooring in Newport Beach. How could we not get out the camera? Then rigger Chuck Simmons pulled alongside in his Whaler, and took us along to follow the fleet to the windward mark at the far end of Newport Bay. It was blowing about 12 knots, and Simmons told us it was one of the best breezes of the summer for the evening races. Sailing is so different in Southern California than on San Francisco Bay.


The 1D-48 It's OK! and the J/165 Barking Mad hit the starting line of the Thursday night races.


Four of the big boats tack off the moored boats on the side of the main channel.


The N/M 55 Bolt leads T&T and It's OK! in classic Newport Beach conditions.


Men, women, children - there's at least a dozen of them aboard the Santana 35 Slippery When Wet.


A close-up view of one of six UC Irvine Sailing Association Shields to be seen on Newport Bay.


Spinnakers aren't allowed, so the boats set two headsails for the run back down the bay. It's a weird look we haven't seen anywhere else.


With a crew of more than 20, It's OK! looks like a boat doing a Wet Wednesday in Santa Cruz.


Only in Newport. Chuck Simmons' wife, daughter, and friend fraternize with a race boat during the race.

On the way up the bay, we came to Orange Coast College's sailing base, where Director Brad Avery was standing on the bow of the newly-donated S&S designed 80-ft Kialoa III, one of the most historic racing yachts ever. It was with this yacht that owner Jim Kilroy introduced the concept of going all over the world to compete in all the great races. Kialoa III has done it all, from TransPacs, to Sydney-Hobarts, to SORCs, to the tragic Fastnet Race of '79. Although Kilroy would build several more modern Kialoas for racing, he always kept III for cruising, often in the Med. In fact, we remember berthing Big O next to her in Marmaris, Turkey, a decade ago.


A happy Brad Avery of Orange Coast on the bow of the great Kialoa.

A smiling Avery gestured toward the open dock space next to Kialoa and said, "This is where Pyewacket is going to live." As most Latitude readers know, Roy Disney recently donated his $7 million MaxZ86 Pyewacket, along with money to maintain and operate her, to Orange Coast College. What a coup for Orange Coast!

The next day, Avery entered Kialoa III in the three-day Long Point race series to Catalina, up the face of the island, and back to Newport. "We were fifth of five boats in class," he later said, "but we had a great time." A better No. 2 would have helped. We'll say this for Kialoa III - she appears to be in terrific condition and will be a terrific addition to the Orange Coast program.

For Big Boat Series and TransPacs, of course, Kialoa III's big rival was the much-beloved Guerney-designed 72-ft Windward Passage, no doubt the greatest racing yacht ever built on a beach. As Simmons motored us another 150 feet up Newport Bay, there was Passage, positively gleaming in her berth. Her current owner, who reportedly takes her sailing every Friday, is keeping her in perfect condition. We salute him.


The legendary Windward Passage, looking fantastic

While we had immediately broken our vow of not working, we've done much better in the last 12 days. The singlehanding to and around Catalina, as well as over to Redondo Beach and back, was spectacular. Everybody should singlehand for a week or more from time to time, as it's good for the soul. For much of that time, our 'home' has been six to 10 feet of water above Harbor Reefs, which is about a quarter of a mile off Two Harbors, Catalina. What a great place that has been. We'll tell you more about it on Friday.


Profligate's 10-day home atop Harbor Reefs.
Photos Latitude/Richard

Having not been on the Internet in nearly two weeks, we don't know what the weather has been like on San Francisco Bay. We hope it's been as good as down here, where we haven't seen fog since we arrived. Each morning when we awake to look out our hatch, there has been nothing but blue sky. And just before hitting the sack at night, the Milky Way has been bright over our heads. In other words, it's been the most perfect Southern California offshore weather we've ever seen. Shorts and T-shirt weather day and night.


Kevin Burnham Talk at Corinthian YC Postponed

September 7 - Tiburon

Winner of the Olympic Gold Medal in Men's 470s at Athens last year, Kevin Burnham had been scheduled to speak tomorrow at the Corinthian Yacht Club. Kevin has had to postpone this appearance, but hopes to reschedule. Check www.cyc.org/speakers/index.html for updates.


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