1974 North American Championship - Cleveland, OH, USA
1974 CHAMPIONSHIP OF NORTH AMERICA
By Jack Filak, Jr.
The 1974 North American Championship held at the Cleveland Yachting Club in Rocky River, Ohio, carried on Central Lake Erie Fleet's tradition of careful planning and thorough organization, under the general chairmanship of Ernie Hanmer. In fact, the '74 North Americans had all the ingredients of a perfect regatta except one-AIR. This certainly didn't seem to bother Peter Wright, a master of light air, who with his dad, Bill, as crew won the Silver Star in convincing style, with finishes of 6-2-1-1. His throw-away 9th in the final race gave him 146 points for more than an edge over Barton and Chuck Beek, father and son also but in the opposite ends of the boat, who finished second with 139 points. After that, by contrast, the next eight places covered a point span smaller than that separating the first three. The 38 entries represented fleets from Lake Sunapee to Mobile to San Diego.
First Race
The first race was started with winds from 8-12 knots from the north. Early on the first leg the wind shifted to favor the starboard tack boats out to the west. First around the weather mark was James Allsopp in one of the few wood boats entered in the series. He was followed closely by John Thompson and defending champion Tom Adams, with the rest of the fleet well behind. However, halfway through the race the wind again shifted and the windward mark had to be changed. This created a big shake-up throughout the fleet but the leaders were able to hold everyone except Barton Beek, who passed two boats on the final run to finish second. Allsopp led the whole way.
Second Race
The second race was also begun in light northerly breezes and again the starboard tack was favored. Dave Oberg and John MacCausland, who went out to the lay line, rounded the weather mark first and second. Peter Wright was in third place and George Thomas, the local favorite, was fourth. These positions were maintained through the entire first round. On the second weather leg, Oberg chose to cover Wright, which allowed MacCausland to take the lead. However, Oberg regained the lead on the final run, only to have the wind die a few hundred yards from the finish. Eventually, the wind picked up again, enabling Oberg to cross in first with Wright second. MacCausland took third and Barton Beek fourth, while the rest of the fleet limped in behind. Beek's two-race score moved him into first place, with the Wrights in second and MacCausland third.
Third Race
On the third day the breeze was from the south and was even lighter and more shifty than it was the first two days. David Cox sailed well to round the mark first, with Chresten Jensen second and Dave Wilber of the local fleet third. There was no change in positions of the leaders over the second leg except that Peter Wright picked up two boats to go from sixth place to fourth. By the end of the second weather leg, however, the race had turned around. Wright was in first place, John McKeague had picked up eight boats, and MacCausland was in third place. After the run down to the leeward mark, McKeague passed Wright to take the lead and Howard Lippincott sailed through the fleet into third position. It was a tight race up to the finish but a last minute shift enabled Wright to nose out Lippincott for first place. Wright's three-day record of 6-2-1 put him first in the series with three points over Barton Beek, who was 2-4-6. John MacCausland retained the third in the series he had gained after the first two races.
Fourth Race
There was no holding Peter Wright in the fourth race as he poured it on in the steady northerly breeze to round the first mark in the lead. Tom Oller, who was never far out of the money in the first three races, was in second place and steady-sailing John MacCausland was in third. At the jibing mark, Wright had increased his lead and Oller was still in second but James Allsopp had moved into third place. There was no change in the positions of these three at either the leeward or windward marks, but on the final run George Thomas caught Allsopp to take third. With the throw-out provision, Wright now had enough points with his four-race score alone to secure him the Silver Star. The same situation existed for Beek, who had second locked up.
Fifth Race
With the contestants over-eager to take advantage of the first real steady breeze of the week, it took the fifth race forever to start. Finally, after three general recalls and one postponement, the boats were off. Peter Wright rounded the first mark far in the lead, with Frank Raymond second and Howard Lippincott third. These boats held their positions through the next two legs but after the second weather leg, with Wright still way out in front, Chuck Driscoll moved into second place and John Thompson went from seventh to fourth, while Raymond dropped to sixth. Halfway down the run, the wind kicked out but then picked up again, creating havoc through the fleet. Tom Oller rounded the leeward mark first, with Thompson in second, Raymond in third and MacCausland in fourth. Wright dropped to fourteenth. After a hard-fought weather leg, during which the lead was contested by the first four boats, Thompson squeezed past Raymond to finish first. Oller was third and Lippincott was fourth. Wright picked up five boats on the final leg to finish ninth.
So the end of the '74 North Americans had come. The perfectly-managed racing program was the highlight of the week, of course, but a word more should be said about the many and varied social activities that topped off the sailing. These included a Bacardi party at the home of Karen and Don Strang, with rum and more rum, and a guitar player who entertained everyone with personalized lyrics about the races, the sailors and the committees. Then there was a cocktail party and buffet at the C.Y.C. clubhouse and a fish fry and pool party. Commodore Lee Wilson, who hosted a memorable party for the North Americans in 1966, came through again with a great cocktail party and buffet at his home overlooking Lake Erie and the yacht club. Finally, the awards dinner and dance at the Marriott Inn ended "a week to remember".
Results
1974 NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP - CLEVELAND Place No. Name Skipper Crew Fleet Daily Places Pts. 1 5681 Virgo III Peter Wright William Wright SLM 6 2 1 1 9 146 2 5575 Suzanne Barton Beek Charles Beek LAH 2 4 6 5 17 139 3 5540 Spirit J.M. MacCauslandVictor Oberg CR 8 3 5 9 5 134 4 5609 Wild Thing David Oberg Alan Lippincott CR 29 1 4 10 7 135 5 5858 Easy Rider John Thompson Robert Thompson ES 3 12 8 12 1 132 6 5767 Sashay Thomas Oller Robert Maine SLM 14 7 13 2 3 131 7 5589 Big Bird George Thomas Jack Heighway CLE 7 8 9 3 22 129 8 4875 Cirrus Howie LippincottJohn Jenkins ES 9 13 2 20 4 128 9 4978 Shadow James Allsopp Michael Gunin CB 1 14 11 4 15 126 10 5576 Big If Thompson Adams Wm. Richards WH 4 38 7 14 6 125 11 5840 Dolphin VII Frank Raymond William W. Lane WH 24 20 12 6 32 116 12 5820 Misty John W. Allen John Ahlquist WH 5 11 17 15 13 112 13 5771 Humbug XV Chuck Driscoll Thomas Driscoll SDB 12 9 23 16 14 105 14 5494 Ice Blue Secret Ted Rapp Ted Rapp III WJ 11 34 10 13 20 102 15 5704 Gadfly Bruce Dougherty Gary Miller ERF 13 19 15 33 8 101 16 5654 Cowardly Lion David Cox Thomas Firth ES 16 10 14 31 18 98 17 5864 Super Toy John McKeague Marcia McKeague StJ 30 26 3 8 28 91 18 5125 Pell Mel Mel Koster Barbara Koster SLE 28 27 26 7 10 86 19 5519 Fantastic Wm. Mitchener Douglas Cook IR 22 16 25 21 11 86 20 5781 Mint Chip Roger E. Doane Donald Strang SLE 19 23 24 17 12 85 21 5294 Surprise Jack Rickard Frank Murphy JP 20 15 dsq 11 26 84 22 5012 Swiss Miss II John A. Mueller Jack Wilkins IR 27 5 21 19 37 84 23 5809 Sidereus II Dexter Richards Randy Richards Sun 15 18 33 23 23 77 24 5428 Ole Yeller StainCharles McManus John Trolley CB 17 17 22 28 25 75 25 5335 Green Machine Doug Smith Steve Westcott OtL 10 36 28 26 19 73 26 5700 Spankuk Chresten Jensen Lars Hansen JP 34 6 16 35 29 71 27 5731 Synergy Ernie Hammer Bud Wharton CLE 18 32 30 22 16 70 28 5810 Shenanigans David M. Wilber Robert Behlen CLE 21 22 19 24 27 70 29 5834 Hector Sampson Smith Rodman Carter OtL 25 28 18 27 21 65 30 5853 Berserk Jeffrey Cozzens Warren Cozzens SLM 33 25 20 25 32 54 31 5823 Peace Bruce Carroll George Auer CLE 23 37 34 18 30 51 32 5348 Blue Chip III David Gaillard Jack Levedahl CB 26 24 27 29 33 50 33 5768 Demon VII Kenneth Cole Clifford Cole LS 31 30 31 32 24 40 34 5520 Restless William Kieser Jay Langthorne CarL 38 21 29 37 36 33 35 5751 Yellow Bird John K. RobinsonGeorge Brothers MoB 37 29 32 30 34 31 36 5610 Squid Jeff Alfred Hal Davidson CD 35 33 36 34 31 23 37 4663 Bottoms Up Gordon K. Bell William Hill StJ 36 31 35 36 38 18 38 5435 Finale Bob Van Wagnen Don Klier SLE 32 35 dsq 38 35 16
