Honoring the Past, Leading the Future
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President's Message
Dear Fellow Star Class members,
The Northern Hemisphere Summer of 2024 was busy with many regattas for our Star Class. In Europe we had two Silver Stars while in North America we had one Silver Star and the World Championship. Beyond our premier regattas, there were hundreds of regional and local races all around the globe. Participation in the Class is very strong as members are enjoying not only great racing but ever greater camaraderie.
The European Championship was very well organized by the Union Yacht Club Attersee. The events and festivities ashore were second to none. Most unfortunately, mother nature deleted the wind for that week in Austria, so the Championship was not completed. The Eastern Hemisphere Championship was just a month later, in early July, in Eckernfoerde, Germany. It was a bit cold and rainy, but the wind was not lacking! Marin Misura and Tonko Barac won another Silver Star with Daniel Fritz/Michael Oberweger in second and 2023 World Champion Max Kohlholf/Steyn van Driessel in third. The North American Championship was supremely hosted by Newport Harbor Yacht Club in early August. The conditions were excellent and allowed 8 races over 4 days. The competition was close, and in the end, the father/son Cayard team narrowly won over Szabo/Avellon and Dane/Martin. The September World Championship, hosted by San Diego Yacht Club, will go down in history as one of the best of our 103 Gold Star regattas. The organization and hospitality of the San Diego Bay fleet produced and unforgettable week of events ashore along with excellent racing on the water. The San Diego Yacht Club stepped up to reset the standard of a Gold Star event. On the water, the consistency of John Kostecki and Austin Sperry won the title by just one point over Will Stout/Danny Cayard who were tied with the Altolaguirre brothers from Argentina.
The Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held on September 7th in San Diego Yacht Club. The agenda, as set out in the LOG, was followed with an expanded presentation of the class financials by class Treasurer Guus Poelen. All resolutions were briefly discussed and the IGC made its recommendations. The voting by members supported just one resolution, number 10 which, if passed by the membership this November, will allow the use of an aramid headstay.
The 2024 South American Championship will be held November 20-22 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. BA has hosted 2 Gold and several Silver Star Championships through the years. This Championship will be hosted by Yacht Club Olivos, the host of the previous World Championships in 1988 and 2015. There are over 30 entries so far. If you haven’t been to a Star Championship in Argentina, you really haven’t fully experienced the Star Class. These people know how to host!
This reminds me of a very special quality of the Star Class…..beyond the best racing in the sport, the Star Class offers competitors the chance to experience the world as though being hosted by family. Who goes to a dinner party onboard the aircraft carrier Midway when visiting San Diego? The Star Class does. Who has the best asado barbeque’s in Argentina? The Star Class. And sure, anyone can take a flight to Split, Croatia and visit the beautiful Dalmatian coastline. But not many people get to go to Split and have their experience organized by Tonko Barac. We are all very blessed to be part of a great fraternity that enriches our lives regardless of where we finish in a race!
Before we know it, we will be racing the famous winter series in Miami, thanks to Stu Hebb and the Coral Reef Yacht Club. This series of regattas offers many of our members and excuse to get out of the cold of norther climates and visit the warm tropical breezes of Miami in the dead of winter. 5 races over 2 days or 8 races over 4 days (The Midwinters) offers all the maximum amount of racing for the time spent. Once again, Frithjof Kleen will be running a one-day clinic on February 4th, between the Masters and the Midwinters, open to all, sponsored by SEA. Sign up early as space will be limited.
The SEA by Schoonmaker program continues to grow with the addition of a 6th boat thanks to Rafaello Astorri who donated his boat. Some generous members are donating sails that still have useful life in them so we can offer these as well. John MacCausland continues to do great work in maintaining these boats, 4 of which made the trip to the West Coast for the North American and World Championships. All 6 boats will be available this winter in Miami. Look on the Website for contact information.
See you on the racecourse!
Paul Cayard
ad Interim President, ISCYRA
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JOHN KOSTECKI & AUSTIN SPERRY
2024 WORLD CHAMPIONS
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The 2024 Star World Championship was one of the tightest of the last editions, with the title open until the very last leg of the very last race. The 2-mile downwind stretch of Race Six was the longest in the life of many of the teams fighting for the 2024 World Title, certainly it must have felt that way for John Kostecki and Austin Sperry (USA) who rounded first at the second top mark but saw the Argentinian brothers Leandro and Lucas Altolaguirre chasing them with great pace and eventually taking them over to finish first in the last race. But the one boat in between them, John Dane III with Peter Sangmeister (USA), was not enough for the Altolaguirres to claim the overall regatta: John Kostecki and Austin Sperry are the 2024 Star World Champions, after a tight race with lead changes.
“We won this with a lot of thirds.. still hard to process, I have to thank JK and the team for making me achieve this life dream, it’s been 30 years in the making, it just feels so special. This is for all the guys I sailed with growing up and helped me becoming the sailor and the man I am”, commented right after crossing the finish line a very emotional Austin Sperry, a 2008 Star Olympian with John Dane III.
“We sailed a great last race, we needed to, we had a great start, went fast, we had some luck with the wind shifts and it all just came together, which is what you need to win a World Championship”, added America’s Cup legend, Silver medalist at the 1988 Olympics in the competitive Soling Class, Volvo Ocean Race winner in 2001/02 with Illbruck Challenge and who has won 16 World Championship titles, now 17 with his first one in the Star Class.
In the last day 8/10 knots were blowing from Southwest so the racecourse could be set closer to the shore and away from the coastal current, it was another race with constant bearing adjustments due to clouds passing over the racecourse, difficult for both the 64-boat fleet and the Race Committee.
“It has been a challenge all week between the different wind directions, the current and the eagerness of the fleet at the starts. We had to stay south of Point Loma to have steadier breeze and not too far out to avoid the strong coastal current, but we are happy of the outcome”, commented PRO and Star Class Regatta Director Tom Guggan. “We had San Diego classic conditions on the last four days, the first two were affected by a heatwave, but all in all we had six challenging and fair races for everybody, mission accomplished”, added Deputy PRO and SDYC Waterfront Director Jeff Johnson.
At the first top mark Eric Doyle with Payson Infelise (USA) were leading followed by Jack Jennings and Pedro Trouche (USA/BRA), the first ones of the six engaged in the quest for the title were John Kostecki with Austin Sperry, with the Argentinians in eight. The Altolaguirre brothers rounded first at the gate with three boats between them and Kostecki/Sperry, they were winning the Championship in that very moment, but it didn’t last for long. At the second topmark the Americans were first, Dane / Sagmeister second and Altolaguirres third, with Kostecki /Sperry now first in the overall regatta. The second downwind was not for the fainted hearted, and a finish this close hadn’t happened in the Star Class for 23 years, the last time two teams ended one point apart was in 2001.
“It was a long week of challenging conditions and it came down to the last race between six boats, it was and a great way to end his championship really, open until the last leg”, said Danny Cayard, third generation Star sailor.
“It was close down until the end but we were just a little short today.. Congrats to the winners they did a great job and sailed the better race, so hats off to them. We are happy with our result, Danny and I have only sailed together for a short amount of time and so it was good for us personally and I am looking forward to the next one together”, added Will Stout from San Diego Yacht Club.
Leandro and Lucas Altolaguirre, great Argentinian sailors under 40 years old, proved incredible skills, especially downwind, and were backed up by all of the very active Argentinian Star Class, and of course Newport Harbor Star sailor Jim Buckingham who lent them one of his boat for the Championship.
“We had a tough finish to the Championship and this race, we started well, stayed in the shifts in the first upwind and then had an excellent downwind conquering the first position, in the second upwind we lost two boats and in the last leg, we were fast and won the race, but not the Championship”, declared Lucas Altolaguirre. “We had a fantastic week here, we are very very happy, everything was just perfect”.
The pain will hurt for a while for Star Class President, Star World Champion, Louis Vuitton Cup winner and sailing international legend Paul Cayard with two time Star World Champion and Olympian Frithjof Kleen, who end in fourth after winning three of the six races…
“It is disappointing to win three races and not the World Championship, in Race Two and Race Five I made some mistakes, just big mistakes and finishing more than tenth, you kind of need to stay in the top ten.. if you're not having a great race like today but still sail well and are able to get back to seventh it is ok, so anyway just had too many points and the other guys sailed very consistently and I'm super happy for my son Danny who finished second”, commented Cayard. “Obviously, like Frida said, we were so close to accomplishing the goal, after race four we were really in a strong spot and so it hurts, it's hard to think beyond that right now but we're a good team, we sailed well, we have a fast boat and I'm sure after a few weeks we'll digest this and we will look forward to another shot at this”.
The 2024 Star World Championship closed with the Prize Giving Ceremony at San Diego Yacht Club, with all of the 128 sailors gathered around the new Star World Champions, the ones that will get to engrave their names in the 100+ year old trophy and could lift it in front of the whole fleet tonight.
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SCOTT BARNARD
HARRY NYE AWARD RECIPIENT
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They Harry Gale Nye Trophy recognizes an individual's outstanding contribution to the ISCYRA. The trophy is named for Harry Gale Nye (1908-1987) who was twice Star World Champion (1942 & 1949) and served as Commodore the Star Class from 1958 to 1963. He also won the Bacardi Cup and the Cup of Cuba three times each.
In late 2023, President Cayard identified one of his priorities as getting all the World Championship trophies in top condition and having them present at all world championships. While this is an ambitious and expensive undertaking, it is very important. Cayard asked his friend Jim Buckingham who could do this job and he did not hesitate in saying, “There is only one guy for this job, Scott Barnard”. Jim was right!
Scott immediately got on the project. He took possession of all 15 trophies and their crates and got them out to California to his shop. He then began the task of rehabilitating all the trophies, their bases and their shipping crates. Scott did most of the work himself. He is meticulous! Where there was real silver smithing to be done, the trophies were sent out. Scott updated all the plaques with the winners’ names. When it came to the shipping crates, he repaired some and built ones where they were nonexistent.
At the San Diego Yacht Club, for the first time in decades, we had all 15 trophies present and in “like new” condition. For his contribution to the Star Class, Scott was awarded the Harry Nye Trophy honoring an individual who has made a significant contribution to the Star Class.
Thank you Scott!
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Contact Quantum Sails for the latest tuning and tweaks that made sailors go faster at the bumpy San Diego World Championship. We’re proud to support you and proud to be your sailmaker.
George Szabo | gszabo@quantumsails.com | +1-619-226-2422
Vittorio d'Albertas | vdalbertas@quantumsails.com
Alexandre Paradeda | alexandre@quantumsails.com
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Star Class Winter Clinic
February 4, 2025
Coral Reef Yacht Club/ US Sailing Center
Join Star World Champion Frithjof Kleen and SEA as he helps raise the level of Star sailing through on-the-water coaching and video leading up to the Walker Cup and Midwinters
Schedule of events
9:00am Morning Briefing
On-the-water warm-up
Fleet racing
On-the-water coaching by Frida with video
After racing video debrief session
Contact: Frithjofkleen@yahoo.de
WhatsApp: +49 163 3009693
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Thirty-two boats entered this year’s Vintage Gold Cup. In the end only six of the scheduled eight races were completed, allowing for a throw out to determine the final results of the regatta. The winners of the 2024 Vintage Gold Cup were Norwegian skipper Eivind Melleby and his crew Josh Revkin of Boston with a 2-1-1-4-1 performance. This is the second time Melleby and Revkin teamed up to win a Gold Wreath. Their only previous appearance at the Vintage Gold Cup was in 2019.
In second place were Chicago based skipper Jack Jennings and his crew Pedro Trouche of Brazil. In third were Newport Beach skipper Jim Buckingham and his crew Brad Nichol of Boston, Massachusetts.
The first two days of sailing were in light air conditions which only allowed 5 of scheduled 6 races to be completed. The third day of racing brought strong winds which only allowed for one of two scheduled races to be completed. Sailors were hopeful to complete both races, but with the wind holding 14 knots for over two minutes, the race committee by rule abandoned further racing for the regatta.
Once again, the Vintage Gold Cup was as much about on-the-water racing as on shore camaraderie. The social events were well received and may have been the best ones yet.
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SEA Program Update
The SEA program had a great summer of competitive racing and hopes you did too. We brought 4 boats to the west coast of the USA for the North Americans and World Championships. There was a lot of logistical help in getting the boats prepared, trucked, and stored at SDYC. John MacCausland put in many hard hours to get them tuned up after their winter/spring events and ready for pick up. Rick Malin, did the transport of each boat, Ian Trotter received and helped store all the boats at SDYC and Carter Cameron (one of the recipients of a boat for the summer) helped to take inventory, coordinated with Ian and Committee Members to ensure they were ready to go when they needed to be. Thank you to all involved in getting the boats ready for the Championships!
Many people in their SEA boats said they would not have been able to race had it not been for this program. We love to hear that the program is working and enabling people to race in events that they would not otherwise be able to, or bringing in great sailors from other classes like the Snipe class and get exposure to the Star. We were excited to see that George Szabo with Quantum Sails, and the pair of Eric Doyle/Payson Infelise from North Sails followed the lead of the winter series and each had their own round tables before and during the Championship. Through its knowledge sharing and fleet building, we are showing why the Star is the best class.
The boats are now packed up and being transported back to Florida by Rick Malin for a tune up before the winter season. A huge thanks to Carter Cameron, Ty Reed, and Jack Kingston for helping out with the pack up!
Looking forward, if you are interested in using a boat for the winter series, please see the SEA Program tab on the Class website. Some of the application process has changed. For the Bacardi Cup, the boats are being prioritized for U30 sailors through Bacardi’s application process. The Mid-Winters will also be its own event needing its own application process. This is all to facilitate users from overseas that may not be able to make it to winter series events but would like to come for the bigger fleet events.
We are anticipating people will want to use boats for other championships this spring such as the 2025 North Americans in Pass Christian, Mississippi in April. So we will review the options for transporting boats there and update the Class as soon as we know what the options will be.
A big thank you to everyone who participated in the SEA program this summer. We will continue to improve the program and we look forward to seeing you all in Miami this winter!
If you are interested in taking advantage of this offer, please email with any questions, which events you would like to use a boat for, and will let you know if you have been granted a boat.
Hope to see you on the water soon,
The SEA Committee
Jack VanderMolen
Bobby Lippincott
Kilian Weise
Pedro Trouche
Elizabeth Escalera
Danny Cayard
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Order your SEA shirt today - show your support for the SEA program!
link below
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RESOLUTIONS 2024 for 2025
Resolution #10 was passed by the Fleets at the recent Annual General Meeting. Per Star Class Rules, ballots will be distributed in November for both the Honorary Commodore position and Resolution #10. Look for your ballot in November.
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2025 Major Regatta Calendar
watch the Star Class website for updates.
| 2025 |
World Championship |
Gold |
Sept 8-14 |
Split, CRO |
| 2025 |
Western Hemisphere |
Silver |
June 8-13 |
Gibson Island, MD |
| 2025 |
Eastern Hemisphere |
Silver |
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not to be held |
| 2025 |
European Championship |
Silver |
June 11-15 |
Viareggio, ITA |
| 2025 |
North American |
Silver |
April 8-12 |
Pass Christian, Mississippi |
| 2025 |
South American |
Silver |
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SAVE THE DATE
Star Class Town Hall
December 7
via Zoom - more information to come
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DOYLE SAILS
By sailors. For sailors. Handcrafted in Salem, MA by world champion sailors.
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What’s New in the New Racing Rules for 2025-2028
The Star SEA Program is sponsoring 2 90-minute sessions
Save the Date: Tuesday, January 28, 2025
Reserve your spot at one of the sessions below:
SESSION 1: Register here
| Helsinki |
Paris |
So America |
New York |
Los Angeles |
| 8pm |
7pm |
3pm |
1pm |
10am |
SESSION 2: Register here
| Helsinki |
Paris |
So America |
New York |
Los Angeles |
| 4am |
3am |
11pm |
9pm |
6pm |
Dave will explain all the significant changes in the 2025-2028 Racing Rules of Sailing that go into effect on January 1, 2025. Dave welcomes questions from the audience throughout the presentation.
Dave’s brief bio:
US Collegiate National Champion and All-American at Yale
Silver Star winner (as crew)
Five-time US National Match Racing Champion
National Sailing Hall of Fame inductee
Chair of the US Sailing Appeals Committee
National Judge
Rules Advisor to several America’s Cup and Olympic Games teams
Author of three books on the rules and racing in general
Dave’s three books:
* Dave’s three books on the sport: Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing through 2028, Dave Perry’s 100 Best Racing Rules Quizzes, and Winning in One-Designs are available in print and digital formats from US Sailing. Go to https://shop.ussailing.org/racing/
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Star Legacy Foundation
The Foundation board would like to thank all who donated to the Star legacy fund in 2023, and to all who have done so in years past……. Each of you are stalwarts of the Class and deserve a huge “ Thank You” not only from the Legacy Board but from all Star boat sailors!!. Since the Foundations inception during 2017, the Foundation had raised over a million dollars in cash and estate commitments…….. as well the efforts to gain Youth participation has gone up 10 fold in our Class membership…… pretty amazing…….. Having said that we do need additional help and hope that if you are considering helping out let us know. On behalf of the Star Legacy Board we wish every smooth sailing in 2024!!!!!
All the best! Sincerely ,
Frida, Mike, Don, Whip and Alberto
Created by Star sailors, The Legacy Foundation will create an endowment and scholarships to help support the Star Class' continued growth. The Legacy Foundation helped with the first U30 Worlds and is supporting the commemorative 100th Anniversary of the Star World Championship book. The Legacy Foundation has made it easy for you to donate: 1) to the general fund or, 2) memorial donations. See donation buttons below:
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