1975 World Championship - Chicago, USA
The following results are from the Star Logs. In common with the early Logs from 1950 through 1976 both yacht numbers and names were given, but starting with 1977 frequently only yacht numbers were given. The last time both yacht numbers and yacht names were given was 1989.
In later years sometimes, fleet designations were omitted. In these cases some of the more obvious fleet designations were supplied. Also from time to time only last names were supplied. First names, where known, were added.
Results
No. Yacht Skipper Crew Fleet Daily Places Pts. 5607 Dingo Ding SchoonmakerJerry Ford Biscayne Bay 6 7 1 2 3 1 357 5651 Impossible Tom Blackaller Ron Anderson WSFB 28 1 2 5 7 3 352 5681 Virgo III Peter Wright Bill Wright S. L. Michigan 3 11 6 1 1 wdr 348 5576 Big If Thompson Adams Bill Richards Wilmette Harbor 10 3 11 9 4 6 338 5854 Too Late Jim Lippincott Chris Schmidt Barnegat Bay 8 9 7 16 6 13 327 5883 Something Else Dave Peterson Carlos Monte San Diego Bay 5 wdr 5 4 16 14 326 5773 Windy Too Jay Winberg Earl Lasher Puget Sound 23 12 4 13 11 12 318 5525 Gem Durward Knowles Steven Kelly Nassau 7 10 25 23 5 9 316 5840 Dolphin VII Frank Raymond William Lane Wilmette Harbor 13 13 17 10 20 2 315 5460 Tranquil Pete Bennett Kim Fletcher San Diego Bay 9 dsq 34 6 2 5 314 5732 Star of the Sea Joseph Duplin Francis Dolan Boston Harbor 15 8 13 8 21 wdr 305 5575 Suzanne Barton Beek Charles Beek Los Angeles Hbr 11 24 15 7 22 11 304 5397 Slider Mark Reynolds Jim Reynolds San Diego Bay 4 16 31 3 65 31 295 5660 Mustard Seed Jim Allsopp Mike Gubin Chesapeake Bay 14 18 22 24 43 4 288 5793 Sanctuary Malin Burnham John Burnham San Diego Bay 12 25 39 33 8 8 284 5918 Up Yaws Ted Rapp Ted Rapp III West Jersey 17 2 51 26 24 17 284 5922 Jaws Larry Whipple Jim Alexander WSFB 27 4 30 dsq 13 15 281 5659 Fjord Star Tog Rogers Al Townsend Galveston Bay 24 5 26 17 34 19 279 5771 Humbug XV Chuck Driscoll Jim Oberg San Diego Bay 20 22 35 11 32 7 278 5870 Lady Bug William Gerard Sheridah Gerard Santa Barbara 21 17 3 14 41 wdr 274 5661 Griffin Skip Elliott John Riddell Newport Harbor 26 14 16 22 40 18 274 5931 Nate Heinz Nixdorf Josef Pieper Moehnesee 16 23 32 28 10 23 270 5540 Spirit J.M. MacCauslandVictor Oberg Cooper River 42 15 19 34 15 22 265 5907 Aquarius S. Prinsenberg D. Prinsenberg Lake Ontario, C wdr 16 8 47 25 20 254 5820 Misty John Allen John Ahlquist Wilmette Harbor 1 20 21 53 49 25 254 5589 Big Bird George Thomas Charles Hurlbut C. Lake Erie 22 wdr 14 15 38 28 253 5781 Mint Chip Roger Doane Rbt Van Wagnen S. Lake Erie 45 54 20 12 9 34 250 5767 Sashay Tom Oller Bob Maine S. L. Michigan 35 29 18 29 30 16 248 5856 Shrew William Parks Jim Machin S. L. Michigan 2 37 38 37 47 10 246 5926 Pummel X Detlef Kuke Joerg Ricken Berliner 34 43 12 wdr 17 21 243 4497 Shadaw John Cram Walter Cram Santa Barbara 19 28 49 20 12 wdr 242 5815 Tenacious Dick Slayter Fritz Kunzel San Diego Bay 36 19 24 41 29 wdr 221 5873 Home Grown Doug Smith Keith Yeates S. Lake George 16 41 58 19 26 46 220 5864 Super Toy John McKeague Otie Ingraham St. Joseph 25 38 10 48 35 wdr 214 5875 Gemini Peter de Manio Henry Mullen St. John's R. 44 42 60 31 14 32 207 5548 SS Gary Schlegel Harold Erlandso English Bay 43 21 47 dsq 19 35 205 5881 Surprise Jack Rickard Frank Murphy Jackson Park 50 27 23 40 62 27 203 5800 Sea Eagle John Slack John Schuhsler Galveston Bay 54 51 46 25 31 26 191 5734 One Over Par Ruse Bogie Rik AlexandersonS. Lake George 31 32 wdr 18 28 dns 187 5787 Alpha Centauri Ian Elliott Jeff Cozzens Puget Sound 37 33 54 49 42 24 185 5719 Donnybrook Jack Lynch Bob Larsen Western Shore M 32 39 wdr 30 58 30 181 5704 Gadfly Too Bruce Dougherty Gary Miller Elk River 30 44 28 50 37 wdr 181 3130 October Gene McCarthy Glenn McCarthy Jackson Park 39 53 48 27 48 33 175 5858 Easy Rider II Jim Thompson James Foster Eastern Shore M 63 60 9 21 44 dns 173 5012 Swiss Miss II John Mueller Jack Wilkins Illinois River 52 35 41 52 36 38 168 5428 Cow Chip III Charles McManus John Trolley Chesapeake Bay 57 45 42 36 23 wdr 167 5445 Magic Robert Rodgers Donald Casey Green Lake 48 50 29 44 60 40 159 5809 Siderius II Dexter Richards Per Rappestad Lake Sunapee 62 59 43 39 27 43 159 5780 Symphony Tom Linville Geoff Bullard S. Lake George 29 49 36 42 63 dns 151 5750 Glider W. von HütschlerThomas Heimann Rio de Janeiro dsq 34 27 51 46 wdr 138 5906 Debbie III A. Osterwalder Toni Hartl Rapperswil 40 46 55 56 64 36 137 5610 Squid Jeff Aldred Chris Latham Continental D. 49 48 61 35 wdr 45 132 5862 Hornet William Suson Sam Owings Eastern Shore M dns 36 56 58 37 37 130 5480 Robin Robert Ferguson Rbt Van Peenan Gull Lake wdr 31 40 46 50 dns 129 5333 Conquest Neil McConagby Neil McConagby Commencement B. 56 wdr 37 38 39 wdr 126 5825 Fiamma Robert O'Neil Paul Colianni S. L. Michigan 47 dns 53 54 18 wdr 124 5685 Natty III A. V. Nicholson Dave Stephenson Ithaca dns 26 52 45 52 wdr 121 5672 Puff Cal Hadden Clint Berkey New Orleans 41 30 wdr 32 wdr dns 119 5348 Blue Chip III Dave Gaillard Jack Levedahl Chesapeake Bay 51 52 67 64 56 29 118 5188 Quick Silver Girl Marc Hulburt Allen Hartung Puget Sound 61 56 wdr 59 33 44 117 5852 Islander Richard Bliss Richard Rottier Lake George 55 55 67 61 45 42 112 5359 Amuck Gunnar Dahl Borje Olsson Stockholm 53 dns 45 55 59 41 111 5865 Cutty Sark George Brothers Jenn Brothers Mobile Bay 46 58 57 66 51 48 110 5827 Solid Gold Philip Noren Dick Forester WSFB 64 40 64 62 61 39 104 5721 Silkie Richard Wait Chris Rogers Otsego Lake 65 47 59 60 54 47 103 5751 Yellow Bird John Robinson D. N. Rindsberg Mobile Bay 60 57 33 63 55 dns 102 5700 Spankuk Chris Jensen Kristian KirstenJackson Park 33 wdr 50 57 70 wdr 86 5930 Demon VIII Ken Cole Tom Londrigan L. Springfield 38 wdr 44 dsq 69 dns 71 5565 Chameleon At Atkinson Glenn Atkinson Continental D. 68 63 68 69 67 49 55 5923 Chinook Wm. Kieser Jr Tom Kilfoyle Carter Lake 53 61 63 68 71 wdr 54 5810 Shenanigans Dave Wilber Robert Behlen C. Lake Erie 58 wdr wdr 43 68 wdr 53 4820 The Village Idiot Ned Rawn Dave McCurdy Commencement B. 66 62 66 67 57 wdr 52 4646 Rumble Gerry Cayne Bob Banks East River 67 wdr 65 65 66 dns 33
Regatta Report
from the 1976 Star Class Log
James M. (Ding) Schoonmaker, who earlier this year won the North American Championship, climaxed a 25 year career in the Star Class by capturing the 1975 Gold Star in Chicago with Jerry Ford crewing. In a fleet of 73 boats, a record surpassed only in 1966 at Kiel. Ding beat the reigning champion, Tom Blackaller, by 5 points and Peter Wright by 9, after each had dropped his worst race, which for Dingo was remarkably high, a seventh. The contestants met a variety of weather conditions but no races were washed out, all being completed without a double header. All courses were "O", with lines well set by Gary Comer's race committee. Guns were fired from a boat that hovered to windward of the middle of the line and then quietly stole away after the start. Power of recall from both ends of the line and loud hailers on all three boats kept the huge fleet under control."
What follows is a crew's eye view, written for the LOG by the winning crew of each race except the second.
First Race - Misty, John Ahlquist
The first race of a major regatta is always approached with great anticipation, and as this was my first gold star event my feelings were especially acute. It is awesome indeed to look around and see so many gold and silver stars adorning the forest of sails.
Winds were out of the south at eight to ten at the start, and they increased slightly during the race. We got a good start about tw-?thirds of the way toward the leeward end of the line and were able to break clear of the body of the fleet about half way up the first leg as there seemed to be slightly more air on the left side of the course. The importance of clear air in a fleet of seventy-three boats cannot be overestimated as we were to learn to our chagrin during the rest of the week.
We reached the first mark in fifth place following Bill Parks, Pete Bennett, Pete Wright, and Bob Ferguson. Reynolds, Nixdorf, Duplin, Burnham, and Knowles rounded out the first ten. Two reaching legs later the order of the first ten was unchanged as one might expect in steady moderate air.
During the second weather leg the wind freshened slightly and we had mini-hiking conditions for the first time. We sailed this leg tacking on small shifts but never going to the edges of the course. We arrived at the weather mark second to Parks and closely followed by Wright, Reynolds, and Knowles. John Cram made an appearance, rounding the mark in sixth place.
On the run there were some minor changes in position among the first five, but no new faces appeared as we rounded. It was Parks, Allen, Knowles, Reynolds, and Wright, while Barton Beek (7) and Dave Peterson (10) joined the top ten for the first time.
On the final leg we again avoided the extreme edges of the course, and Bill covered us loosely. About two-thirds of the way up the leg we approached Parks on port tack and were able to achieve a safe leeward. He tacked away and we followed and covered him. When Bill tacked away again we let him go as we were nearly laying mark. A lift during the last two hundred yards added to our final margin of victory. A Star boat is a beautiful sight under any circumstance, but a huge fleet of them astern is infinitely more beautiful.
Second Race - Impossible
The wind, out of the southwest at 18-20 knots, was very shifty, coming directly off the Chicago skyline. There were several general recalls because the committee boats would not hold anchor. When a proper start was finally managed, Blackaller was well away in the middle of the line. The leeward end was favored again, but Tom held starboard tack and with superior boat speed managed to clear all the boats below him except Ted Rapp, who was going very well.
At the weather mark it was Rapp, with Blackaller hot on his heels. The positions didn't change for the leaders in the first triangle, but on the downwind leg Blackaller jibed inside Rapp, giving him a favored angle in to the leeward mark. After that it was Impossible all the way. Pete Bennett was second, only to be disqualified for being over the line early, giving Ted Rapp second in the race. Schoonmaker was seventh today, and Peter Wright eleventh.
Third Race - Dingo, Jerry Ford
Conditions again were light, with winds five to eight knots east-southeast. We were in second place now, with finishes of six and seven; but felt we needed something a lot stronger to solidify our position. We were going to try to start at the leeward end because it had been favored every other time, so why not now? As the boats came up on the line, we were exactly where we wanted to be, the leeward most boat, with 45 seconds to go and no one pushing us.
At the thirty second mark, we realized that there was a current pushing everyone down, making a starboard tack start virtually impossible in such close quarters. We started to head down so that we could jibe around, take as few sterns as possible and go off on port tack.
Just as we were about to jibe, we saw Gene McCarthy (just off our weather quarter) go head to wind. He was determined to make the line on starboard tack and when he went up he put the brakes on the whole fleet. He opened up a four-boat-length hole at the leeward end and we took advantage of it, tacked with clear air and shot out, port tacking the whole fleet. We were moving at top speed while everyone else was fighting to get over the line.
Ding asked me to call out compass readings, but I was so excited over our start it took me five minutes to stop shaking. We were out and away and two minutes after the start were seventy five yards ahead. We led all the way around and won it by three minutes and forty seconds. Blackaller, who was about twelfth at the weather mark the first time up, made a great recovery finishing second, with Bill Gerard third and Wright sixth.
Fourth Race - Virgo, William Wright
The weather for the fourth race looked perfect for my skipper with 8-10 knots of wind from the North, accompanied by comfortable waves. We chose our usual middle of the line start and shortly after tacked on a small header. The wind seemed to gradually knock the boats that went out in the lake. By sailing up the middle we managed to get around the weather mark sixth. Tom Adams was first, followed by Joe Duplin.
We stayed low on both reaches, which enabled us to pass several boats. On the second beat we traded tacks with Frank Raymond to round the mark first and held the lead to the leeward mark where Schoonmaker moved into second place. On the final beat the wind picked up and Pete opened his lead to win, with Schoonmaker, Reynolds and Peterson following.
Fifth Race - Virgo, William Wright
This race started with moderate winds from the South at 8-10 knots accompanied by light chop, another day to Pete's liking. After another conservative start at the middle of that "endless" line, we worked our way up the middle to find ourselves rounding the weather mark second, with Tom Adams again leading. After the first reach the order at the jibing mark was: Bennett, ourselves, Raymond, Adams and Schoonmaker.
On the second windward leg we seemed to have good boat speed and were in phase with the shifts. We rounded the mark first with Pete Bennett second, followed by a gap. On the final beat the air was light, almost none at times; luckily we did find some air to cross the line first. We learned later that we finished seven minutes ahead of Pete Bennett, the second place boat. Third was Tom Adams, with Durward Knowles fourth.
With this finish, Pete was leading the World's Championship by one point. Unbelievable!
Sixth Race - Dingo, Jerry Ford
Chicago's famous northeaster had come in across the lake. It was blowing fifteen to twenty knots with five to ten foot seas, raining, with no signs of it breaking up.
We got out to the starting line one hour early so we could get a good feel for the boat in the heavy weather. As we reached up and down the line, ourselves and Blackaller were giving each other the hawkeye, trying to psyche each other out. Tom was happy with this breeze and we were looking forward to sailing a strong race. We started at the weather end just below Blackaller, and immediately knew we had speed.
We came off the blocks two to one on everyone around us. We looked back and we had Tom on our starboard quarter and he wasn't going at all. We couldn't find Wright anywhere so we figured he was buried somewhere at the leeward end of the line. By the time we got to the weather mark, we were in fourth place and as soon as we were around the mark we blew right through Pete Bennett and Bill Gerard's lee, riding on a beautiful ten foot sea. At the first reaching pin, we didn't quite have an overlap on Jim Allsopp, who was leading the race so we rounded behind him.
Half way down the second reaching leg we got a good blast of wind and a big wave all at once and sailed over Allsopp for the lead. From this point on we continued to increase our lead. We rounded the weather mark the second time and flew downwind, riding those big seas and really feeling good. At the leeward pin, we had about a hundred yards on Allsopp and noticed that Blackaller was sailing through the pack. We were very much at ease though, because we knew Tom would have to put four boats in between us to win and that didn't look as if it was going to happen.
So we came across the line in the rain and wind, wet and cold and happy to be World Champions.