1978 World Championship - San Francisco, CA
The following results are from the Star Logs. 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
Place No. Skipper Crew Fleet Daily Places Pts. 1 6346 Buddy Melges Andreas Josenhans S. L. Michigan 1 1 1 3 4 dns 13.7 2 6300 Dennis Conner Ron Anderson San Diego Bay 2 2 2 8 10 9 38 3 6150 Tom Blackaller Ed Bennett WSFB 4 10 dsq 14 2 3 52.7 4 6220 William Gerard Paul Cayard Santa Barbara 7 24 4 12 7 2 55 5 6367 Ding SchoonmakerKim Fletcher Biscayne Bay 11 12 17 1 1 28 58 6 6281 Peter Wright Todd Cozzens S. L. Michigan 5 6 12 10 9 8 66.7 7 6291 Eckart Wagner Peter Moeckl Zugspitz 10 22 3 5 11 16 70.7 8 6051 Paul Henderson Bruce Brymer Lake Ontario, C 17 26 5 20 8 1 73 9 5638 John Dane A. Frederick May New Orleans 16 13 7 2 20 35 83 10 6042 Bill Buchan Jr Douglas Knight Puget Sound wdr 3 53 4 3 6 90.1 11 6365 E. de SouzaRamosPeter Erzberger Guariparanga - 21 dsq 17 14 4 97.5 12 6028 Stig WennerstromLennart Roslund Onsala 13 8 51 6 32 12 100.7 13 6149 Thomas LundquistLars Engelbert Stockholm 9 9 10 19 39 24 101 14 6266 Sune Carlsson Leif Carlsson Rasta 14 16 13 22 37 7 102 15 6235 Allan Leibel David Shaw Lake Ontario, C 8 27 9 27 5 25 103 16 6305 Paul Louie Les Shaw English Bay dnf 32 6 11 16 13 107.7 17 6343 Pelle Petterson Stellan Westerdahl Kattegatt 24 15 22 18 dns 11 120 18 6322 B. Binkhorst Piet Aafjes Iso Holland dnf 4 18 7 40 26 123 19 6310 Don Trask William Kreysler WSFB 3 11 39 40 43 5 123.7 20 6192 Mogens Nielsen Mogens Pedersen Iso Denmark 6 20 dsq 25 45 10 135.7 21 6357 William Parks Alan Leehner S. L. Michigan 19 29 16 dsq 23 29 146 22 6264 Tryg Lilestrand Carl Blomquist Los Angeles Hbr 27 41 40 28 12 14 151 23 6263 Malin Burnham Robbie Haines San Diego Bay 23 34 15 30 21 dnf 151 24 5761 Ian Elliot Mark Brink Puget Sound dsq 30 30 13 22 34 159 25 6315 Stephen G. GouldChristopher Gould WSFB dnf 35 8 60 6 23 160.7 26 6232 Ian MacDonald-S.Michael Baker-Harber Iso England 26 7 25 64 33 40 161 27 5523 Larry Whipple James Alexander Puget Sound 38 17 36 23 17 dnf 161 28 5793 Peter Sundelin Hakan Lindstrom Sandhamn 25 25 24 36 25 42 165 29 6210 Kirk Reynolds Michael Huber Skameateles L. 22 33 28 32 64 21 166 30 6254 Lars-Erik Molse Bernt Ekstrom Vinga dnf 23 35 35 28 18 169 31 5364 Jeff Madrigali John Mann WSFB 12 45 58 46 26 15 174 32 6250 Peter Holds Thomas Anderson Pittwater 15 42 34 26 46 33 180 33 6065 Chas. CorbishleyPaul Nolan Ithaca 20 39 21 34 dnf 37 181 34 6323 Hartmut Voight Hans-Juergen Duggen Aachen 31 28 38 29 34 30 182 35 5575 James Allsopp Barton Beek Annapobs dnf wdr 14 9 18 19 196 36 6361 James Dobbs Craig Symonette Nassau dnf 56 19 52 15 32 204 37 6242 Heinz Nixdorf Josef Pieper Moehnesee 36 51 23 39 29 dns 208 38 6176 Uwe von Below Franz Wehofsich Hamburg dnf 18 11 dnf 38 17 220 39 6355 Dierk Thomsen Christian Prey Glueksburg 21 14 55 69 56 51 227 40 6243 Ben Staarges Ko van den Berg Iso Holland dsq 40 dsq 16 19 22 233 41 5900 Uwe Mares Wolf Stadler Kiel dnf 5 20 15 59 dns 234 42 6161 Flavio Scala Testa Mauro Lario 28 * dnf 38 51 49 236.3 43 6311 Fritz Riess Josef Steinmayer Sakburg-Mozart 33 80 56 41 31 48 237 44 5814 Hans H. DomschkeJorg C. Stegman Sao Paulo 48 37 52 48 36 44 243 45 5787 Gary MacDonald David Winkler Boston Harbor 40 dnf 64 33 35 46 248 46 5659 Yan Rogers Tog Rogers Galveston Bay 34 64 43 dnf 51 41 263 47 5884 Stef ScheureggerWolfgang Schneider Ammersee 44 54 46 53 52 39 264 48 6342 Goran Tell Borje Larsson Stockholm dsq dnf 26 43 24 38 267 49 6081 Larry Shorett David Nielsen Puget Sound dnf 36 27 24 dnf 45 268 50 6376 Thomas S. Meric Kyle Smith New Orleans dns 31 32 57 30 dns 286 51 5771 Hans Prechter Dr. Ulrich Rattenhuber Ammersee 49 66 48 58 47 54 286 52 6358 Dr. Arno Gudrat Manfred Joppich Tegernsee 30 62 69 72 50 47 288 53 5460 A. Osterwalder Theo Toggweiler Rapperswil 37 60 49 70 dns 43 289 54 6283 J.M. MacCauslan George Szabo Cooper River 47 70 41 47 54 dns 289 55 5983 Sven Karlsson Peder Cederschiold Aros 29 38 54 81 dns 58 290 56 6163 Ian Woolward Philip Rutledge Norfolk Broads 35 68 44 66 57 dnf 300 57 6005 Thomas Norrman Peter Schulz Onsala 59 55 57 56 48 dnf 305 58 6209 John Jenkins Theodore Petterson Chesapeake Bay 50 46 59 65 70 56 306 59 5923 William Kieser Craig Collins Carter Lake 45 71 60 55 66 55 311 60 5915 Wulf Kahl Hermann Hedinger Hamburg 43 57 77 68 63 52 313 61 5548 Gary Schlegel Charles Lawson English Bay 52 53 45 73 60 dnf 313 62 5924 David Gaillard William John Levedahl Chesapeake Bay 32 75 67 71 62 53 315 63 6070 Ulf Blencke Lars Andersson Stockhoim dnf dsq 42 21 dnf 20 325 64 6302 George Thomas Donald Harris C. Lake Erie 46 58 33 54 dns dns 327 65 6224 Durward Knowles Michael Russel Nassau 8 wdr dnf 37 dns 31 328 66 6321 Daniel Adler Marceilo C. Adorno Rio de Janeiro 51 dnf 37 62 42 dns 328 67 6368 William CampbellArthur W. Silcox Kaneohe Bay dnf 43 47 42 60 dns 328 68 5566 William Cowles Ross F.Wood Coeur d'Alene 57 59 76 80 65 50 337 69 6112 Giorgio Gorla Alessandro La Lomia Lario dnf dns dsq 59 13 27 341 70 6350 Ricardo Didier Manfred Kaufmann Guarapiranga 54 47 62 74 74 dns 341 71 5204 Eugene McCarthy Glenn McCarthy Jackson Park dsq 52 71 44 41 dnf 344 72 6205 Steve Jepperen Kenneth Keefe WSFB dsq 48 dnf 85 44 36 349 73 5661 Peter U. Wyss Bruno Muller Zuerichsee dnf 19 29 63 dns dns 353 74 6359 Hans J. Ruedel Michael Esselgroth Kiel dnf 44 31 79 71 dns 361 75 5443 Jochen Schwarz Dennis Watts Starnbergersee 55 63 70 78 * dns 362.5 76 5929 Neil McConaghy Chris Holden Commencement B. dnf 49 dnf 45 27 dnf 363 77 5699 R. Roellenbleg Starnbergersee 41 50 dsq 76 67 dnf 270 78 6246 Rudolf Lange Heinz Mitterhauser Attersee dns 72 61 86 72 57 378 79 6225 Detlef Kuke Udo Winands Berlin 42 65 68 67 dnf dns 378 80 6364 Jack Lynch Duncan Skinner Western Shore M 39 wdr dsq 31 68 dnf 380 81 6256 Victor Thausing Sepp Nostlinger Traunsee 60 77 63 50 dns dns 386 82 5867 John McGann Fred Simmons Continental D. 63 84 78 88 76 59 390 83 5941 Trmothy A. OwensRobert Cox Lake Macquarie dnf dsq 50 49 55 dnf 396 84 6373 Klaus Kappes Peter Ledosquet Überlingersee 56 61 65 82 dns dns 400 85 6336 E. F. Aitkinson Mark Svenson Continental D. 62 83 dsq 87 78 60 400 86 6362 Mario Innecco Guanabara Bay 53 67 dnf dsq 58 dsq 420 87 6043 Sven Rhyheden Hakan Berntsson Kattegatt 58 73 dsq 51 dnf dnf 424 88 6100 Edgar Purins Sigurd Purins Lake Macquarie 61 81 74 83 dns dnf 435 89 6333 Ralph F. DeLuca Julle Lewicki Cape Ann dnf 76 72 * 73 dnf 438.8 90 6076 Stefano Ongania Giovanni Vaisecchi Lecco dnf dns 67 61 75 dnf 445 91 6004 Lloyd Bush Dave McCalley Santa Barbara dnf 78 dsq 77 49 dns 446 92 5350 Erwin Joras Dieter Freund IJsselmeer dnf 69 dnf 75 69 dns 455 93 5829 Franz von GagernGunther Frieracher Salzburg-Mozart dsq 79 75 84 dsq dns 480 94 5927 Manfred Meyer Guenter Haack Starnbergersee dnf 82 73 dnf dns dns 503 95 5598 R. Schermerhorn Susan Schermerhorn Continental D. dnf 85 dns dns 77 dnf 510 96 5627 Thomas Drew-BearMark Hurlbut Caracas dnf 74 dnf 89 dns dns 511 97 4275 Daniel J.Clark Michael de Paemeiare Central Wyoming dnf dns 79 90 dns dns 517 98 5861 Horst Loos Georg Beck Chiemsee dnf dns dns dns dns das 560 99 6222 Heinz Maurer Heinrich Scherer Interlaken dnf dns dns dns dns dns 560 *Breakdown points awarded
Regatta Report
from the 1979 Star Class Log by Todd Cozzens
Every sailing area has its own unique character or mystique. Nowhere does this character stand out more than on San Francisco Bay. It is one of the few areas of the world where ocean, desert, mountainous region, forest and islands, can be found all within one hundred miles. The micro-climates are numerous and give the area many peculiar qualities. I discovered this on my first day there, the Wednesday before the 1978 World's.
We had arrived at St. Francis Yacht Club in the late afternoon- just in time to catch the big boats taking off right off the club porch. The awesomeness of the sleek seventy-plus footers Merlin, Kialoa and Windward Passage was magnified many times by the bitter 30 knot breeze. Reefed to a minimum, the eerie giants sliced through the steep, short chop unaffected and within a couple of minutes vanished in the low, thick fog toward the Golden Gate - which we knew was out there somewhere.
My wonder changed to uneasiness as they disappeared and I turned to see Buddy Melges standing there with eyes afire behind aviator sunglasses, the patented baseball cap with yachting crest, and an ear to ear grin. I had a strange feeling in me that he would win the 1978 Gold Star as I saw that half-crazed expression gazing out into the fog. It wasn't a psyche-job nor was it a wager, just a strong premonition.
Melges was later to tell me that it was indeed at that same moment that he felt that he was really prepared to win the series.
I walked around the dry mooring area to inspect the different equipment and sailors. 105 Star boats in a line - what a terrific sight: Stars of every make, model and color. Conspicuously at the hoist was Dennis Conner, the pre-regatta favorite, busily reinforcing his jibstay-bow connection while crew Anderson buffed the hull with some important smelling compound. Dierk Thomsen, the European V. P., was putting the finishing touches on his new Miller-built boat while Arnold Osterwalder, the Swiss Star loyalist, raced around with arms in air, wondering why his charter boat had no anchor, paddle or mainsheet.
Bill Buchan and Doug Knight were just returning from a practice session (more like a "survival lesson" for us normal sailors). Eckart Wagner, we learned, had just found out why no one ever escaped Alcatraz Island, as he ran into trouble on the island's windward side. While only moderate breezes were forecast for the series, I recalled the wild stories that my skipper, Peter Wright, had been telling me about the U.S. Olympic Trials held here in 1972. 1 began to understand why San Francisco could be a rather unforgiving place to conduct a sailboat race.
The weather situation the next day was somewhat different. We rigged our boat and went out expecting to encounter some heavy air in which to exorcise any last minute intimidation left over from the day before. But it blew no more than eight knots as we ventured east toward Berkeley. About thirty boats were holding a race in front of the yacht club but we elected to check out the racecourse and see what we could find. By the time we reached the edge of the Olympic circle it was too late to do anything but return to the club.
We tacked back toward Fisherman's Wharf and as we approached the shore we notice that the current was carrying us east. We tacked out toward Alcatraz for fifteen minutes and then back toward shore again. We found that we had not made any headway at all and that in fact we had lost ground! After twenty minutes of going nowhere fast, the breeze picked up enough to help us override the tidal influence and we arrived at the harbor mouth at dusk.
After the measuring (I will never understand how 100 boats were measured so thoroughly in such a smooth, orderly manner and short time), came the tune-up race.
The Tune-Up Race
This race was surprisingly uneventful. The anticipated chaos and general recalls never occurred. The wind ranged only from 10 to 15 knots from 210°. The precision International Race Committee had an opportunity to assess and counter any final hour difficulties. John Dane, buried by Dennis Conner at the start (Conner was over early), ducked a few transoms as he immediately shot the right corner of the first leg. President Malin Burnham came up the left side three hundred yards ahead of his closest competitor and looked as if he would be in great shape at the weather mark. To the surprise of all of the "left-siders", however, Dane had a comfortable lead followed by a handful of others who chose his side of the course.
The right side had proved to be as reliable as the local sailors had warned us and Dane, the former Soling North American Champion, led all the way around the course. Afterward we tried to figure out why the right side was optimal. Some of the locals claimed that it was all due to the current. This seemed hardly likely because the phenomenon would occur regardless of ebb or flood. The other explanation was that the wind veered off Angel Island, situated almost to weather of the circle. The closer one got to the island on port tack, the more the wind would knock. This effect was supposed to be more prevalent in a stiff breeze, and in the last race we were to experience just that. Further evidence of this theory was that the wind was always 10° more northerly at the weather mark than at the leeward mark.
As often happens at major regattas, a wave of equipment paranoia hit the fleet before the first race. In this case it was bailing devices. In a matter of hours, the Bay area was completely depleted of pumps, splashboards and self-bailers. Nevertheless at the end of the first race there were three Star boaters who wished that this mass hysteria had struck them. All they had to do in order to be reminded of this was to glance at their half-sunken boats with masts and sails protruding out of the water two meters.
Annual Meeting
Saturday was the day of the annual meeting and flag raising ceremony. At the meeting President Burnham, graciously capable at such functions, kept things going smoothly and efficiently. The major point of discussion was the resolution to limit the number of entries to the World's. The majority present were almost angrily against any thought of qualification solely through the Districts. Even raising the number required to send one fleet entry to the World's was quickly turned down. Finally, as the meeting was resumed another night, it was decided only to limit District entries to the World's by one in each five boat increment. Burnham expressed the majority opinion that this was a step in controlling the clutter on the race-course while at the same time it avoided the disenfranchisement of the fleets.
It was heart-warming to see former greats like von Hutschler and de Cardenas actively participating in Class affairs. In addition to the nine Gold Star titleists sailing in the regatta, six others were present as dignitaries, race committee or spectators. The non-Starboater would probably view the scene and wonder why all the fuss. George Elder probably caught part of it when he said, "All you have to do is win your first Star race, and you are an addict for life."
First Race
On Sunday, the day of the first race, many routines began that would continue throughout the series. The boat was rigged by 10:00 each morning. By 10:15 we would always have our wet gear on, and at 10:45 we were picking up the same tow. Just as we passed Alcatraz at 11:15 the breeze would gently pick up. By noon we would be almost in the starting area ready to hoist sails. By 1:00 p.m., the breeze would always be enough to hike and be coming from somewhere not too far from 210°. And at 1:32 p.m. the gun would have gone off two minutes earlier and several boats would still be returning for the individual recall - and Buddy Melges with crew Andreas Josenhans would be leading the fleet straightaway.
The wind was a bit stronger on the first leg of the first race than for the others (18-20 knots). Again most of the fleet sailed on starboard until clear air or a tack over to the right was attainable. Those who went right immediately after the start, however, suffered. About one-third of the way up the course we met Conner, who seemed to have a slight lead over Widgeon, 6346. But as the breeze piped in near the weather mark, Melges took the lead. On the first reach the iceboat experience paid off, and Melges' superior power reach technique increased his lead with each puff and wave.
After Dennis came a trickle of boats in single file: Trask, Wright, Blackaller and Mogens Neilsen, the only Dane present. One of the most concentrated packs of Stars ever assembled met at that first mark. The current was running so strong to weather that one could tack short of the layline on starboard and have no trouble rounding, even in bad air. This only snarled things up worse. After witnessing that mess, I promised myself never to go into the yacht insurance business.
On the next reach, Blackaller worked his way up to fourth while Trask almost whittled away Conner's second place. Trask maintained his well-earned placing to the finish as Melges won by his largest margin (two minutes).
As we approached the finish I thought I saw two Lasers sailing around the line. Wondering why they had not been escorted out of the finish area I took a closer look, only to find that these were Star masts with sails, two boats that had swamped in route to the first mark because of lack of bailing devices. Fortunately there were no injuries. A third boat, 5861, decided to abandon its skipper and crew and join that legendary perpetual race on the bottom of San Francisco Bay.
Although the USFB (Underwater San Francisco Bay) fleet does not have quite as many boats as her sister fleet, the (above water) West San Francisco Bay fleet, there are now the required number of boats to obtain a charter. Contact Tom Blackaller or Don Trask if you have a boat, which you would like to enter in this fleet. Crews will be accepted only with dues paid and full scuba gear.
After the first of many long beats to the yacht club, we were exhausted. There were a few surprises in the first race, the biggest being Melges' convincing victory. Bill Buchan could not release his sheets in time to duck the transom of Bill Gerard, and he was forced to withdraw. Wright, better known for his light air talent, finished a strong fifth. Nielsen and Trask both sailed good races. The beefy pair of Conner and Anderson failed to win in what would normally be considered "their air."
Second Race
Winds were somewhat lighter on this day than on the first, but only for the first weather leg. After one general recall, the fleet finally got away, with a large number of boats being individually recalled. Wright worked his way up the middle, staying slightly to the left. Melges went right, and at the weather mark a short tacking duel found him able to squeak in just at the mark. Hot in pursuit of Melges and Wright was Jimmy Allsopp with his "super crew" Barton Beek. Close on Jimmy's heels were Dennis Conner, Uwe Mares and Bill Buchan.
On the second reach Melges and Wright pulled out slightly while Buchan moved through Mares' lee and began to challenge the top four. But for the second day in a row, Allsopp ran into some bad fortune as his rudder came loose, forcing him to retire. Conner moved up to second on the next weather leg, taking advantage of Melges' loose cover of Wright. The breeze kicked up and Buchan blazed through the others into third place. Mares caught Wright on the last beat for fifth. Dennis almost caught Melges on the last weather leg but fell short just at the finish.
That night Conner remarked on how shook up he was that Melges had such speed when the breeze came in. He knew that if he didn't do something the next day his hopes of a third Star World Championship would have to be postponed to another year.
Third Race
Conditions in the third race almost identically matched those of the second. The thermal came in at 12 knots at the start. Conner split tacks with Melges early in the game and wound up first at the weather mark. Eckart Wagner was second with Melges close behind. Gerard, Henderson, Dane and Louie became involved in a four-way battle for fourth. The finest demonstration of determination and sportsmanship of the series came from Bill Buchan.
Called over early three minutes after the gun, when he returned to the starting line he was in 80th place, two minutes behind the closest competitor. Miraculously, he caught 27 boats in a steady breeze and finished 53rd, which was good enough to later give him tenth place overall.
Melges caught Conner upwind and for the third straight race was able to hold him off until the finish. Not far behind was the speedy Wagner. Gerard's upwind speed enabled him to come out on top of the other three for fourth. Blackaller, although he finished the race in protest, was also over early at the start and thus was forced to use up his throwout race.
Fourth Race
Winds were lighter in the fourth and fifth races, never reaching more than 15 knots compared to the 18-22 maximum in the second and third races. Ding Schoonmaker finally convinced himself that Melges' winning ways were no fluke and he decided to go with a Melges mainsail. Evidently he found the sail to his liking as he won the next two races.
In the fourth, he approached the weather mark in fifth place and quickly moved through the fleet. Melges broke his vang on the second reach and was barely able to hold off Buchan to the finish. John Dane, sailing the oldest boat in the top 25, found the standard North sails suitable for a second place finish. His cover of the tricky Melges on the last leg was superlative. Conner, still trying to rebound after a mediocre weather leg, moved up to eighth place as things began to look very good for Melges.
Fifth Race
This race saw similar conditions and a repeat victory by Schoonmaker, the Miami institution who first brought Melges into top level Star racing. Blackaller began his usual end-of-the-series lunge for the silver and for the first time since the first race, finished in the top five by grabbing second right behind Dingo. Buchan had another fine race, always moving up in the fleet, never relinquishing a place, to finish third. Melges, sailing fairly conservatively, covered Conner the length of the course and ended up fourth.
The Canadian pair of Leibel and Shaw and the Gould brothers of the home fleet both sailed near-perfect windward legs, which eventually entitled them to fifth and sixth place respectively. Melges at this point had clinched victory while Conner would have to finish very poorly to lose his hold on second place. It had been a two boat race all the way with a slight edge going to the "Wizard of Zenda". The only contest now would be for the third place, with Schoonmaker, Blackaller, Gerard, Wagner and Wright all within a few points of each other- virtually tied under the Olympic scoring system.
Sixth Race
The race was first scheduled for Friday but as the fleet coasted in the void of wind around the starting area, a breeze came in from the east, off the Berkeley hills. One hundred yards to the west was the edge of a northerly wind. In the middle, there was nothing. The two winds seemed content with each other and by 3:00 p.m. nothing had changed and the race was postponed to the next day. Melges, who had gone out to better his score, had since sold his boat to a German and would be a very elated spectator.
The last race was heavy air from start to finish and matched only the first race in velocity. The fog rolling in off the Golden Gate Bridge was an indicator of how it was to blow for the day. This morning the fog came in early, low and thick - a sure sign of a wild ride. Before the start we saw Conner hawking over Schoonmaker, apparently in preparation for one of his Twelve-Meter starts. Blackaller and Trask got off the line perfectly at the boat end while Henderson, Gerard and Wagner stayed in the middle. Down toward the pin, Conner buried Schoonmaker, his only real threat in the standings.
Blackaller, Trask and Wright dueled all the way up the right side. Gerard, after a bad start, went to the right corner uncontested with Henderson. Wagner found himself in the middle of the fleet soon after the start, and had no place to go to catch up. The pair of Henderson and Brymer, weighing together no more than 340 pounds (154 kg) led all the way around.
Gerard's last ditch run for the right corner was successful as he wound up in second. Blackaller, Trask and Eduardo de Souza Ramos, the top Brazilian, followed. There were strange spots of no wind mixed in with the twenty-two knot breeze. On the last leg the right side was so heavily favored that places changed five or six times in fog so thick that most crews timed their tacks up to the finish line. I.Y.R.U. Vice-President Paul Henderson found himself with two very well deserved gold Chevrons. Blackaller sneaked into third place overall by grabbing third in the race. He seems to get really fired up under pressure. Bill Gerard's fourth place overall was his best in a World's to date.
Together with the thick fog, steep chop and fierce breeze, this day reminded me of that first Wednesday. A very fitting end to a great regatta and an eerie farewell to a very mystical sailing area.
The Equipment
The boat with the most radical equipment was Melges' 6346, Widgeon. I quote Jocelyn Nash in the January, 1979, issue of American Yachting magazine for an informative account of Widgeon's layout:
Melges and his crew actually did quite a bit more than win the 1978 Star World's. They used initiative, intelligence and originality to build a better mousetrap, starting with a bare Gerard hull, without keel or skeg. Melges and his wife somehow trailed the hull back to Zenda, Wis., on top of his Soling after the Soling North Americans at Newport Beach. At Zenda, he added stiffening, a computer-optimized keel section and a standard Spartech D-section mast. All of the rigging and sail design were an expression of Melges' ideas about how a Starboat should be set up and operated.
In addition to its inherent stiffness, Melges' Widgeon has a reinforcing strongback down the centerline. This allows for port and starboard buoyancy tanks forward of an A-frame bulkhead at the mast step, which is four inches wide at its base and two inches wide at the top, and which helps keep the hull rigid under loading from the rig. Coupled with a bulkhead at the after end of the cockpit, Widgeon has 27 cu. ft. of buoyancy, Melges claims Widgeon could be sailed dry (upon being fully swamped). Topsides, Widgeon has no tracks for running backstays.
By eliminating the tracks for the upper and lower running backs Melges has reduced windage and gained a clean deck layout. The running backstays lead into the mast then down through the interior of the spar to the centerline, where the pressure is taken. Adjustment lines for fine and gross tuning are led to side decks and the forward bulkhead. By taking the loading from the running backs down to the area where the hull is heavily bulkheaded, he has eliminated some hull twist. The lower shroud goes down through the deck and is loaded on the reinforced centerline. This rig has made it possible to adjust the leeward shroud so as to lock up the rig, holding it rigid instead of permitting it to pump in waves.
International Race Committee
The I.R.C. did an excellent job of insuring square lines and good starts. Probably the single most important reason why the 100 boat fleet encountered only one general recall was that the I.R.C. refused to recall unless absolutely necessary. Often a clump of boats would be seen starting early. Spotters waited until the clump dispersed enough to read the sail numbers then immediately dispatched one of two Zodiac rubber boats to individually recall each boat. The pin end boat and committee boat both had high towers upon which the spotters kept vigil. Nineteen boats were individually recalled in one race.
Another unique policy of this committee was to split up the committee into two groups to hear protests. One group would hear only port-starboard situations while the other would be concerned with mark roundings and luffing rights situations. Chairman Bobby Symonette did a remarkable job of coordinating the activities of the committee. A copy of his report is on file in the Central Office for anyone wishing to use it for future reference. Also on file is the report of Roger Eldridge whose crack team of measurers easily handled the seemingly insurmountable task of measuring 105 boats.
Addtional Notes from Paul Cayard
Flying home from Europe recently, I began thinking back over my career and my thoughts focused on my first Star World’s Championship. The year was 1978, the venue was San Francisco and the characters are now famous to all of us. For a change of pace I thought I would take a look back at this event. The protagonists are legends of our sport. I think you’ll enjoy the story.
At 18 years of age, 6’ 2” and 205 pounds, I was the perfect 505 crew. However, Tom Blackaller had taken notice of me and asked me to crew for him in the 1978 Star North American Championship in Toronto as a lead up to the Star World’s in San Francisco later that year. I drove the boat from San Francisco to Toronto, cleaned it, rigged it, got it measured and waited for Tom to fly in the night before the first race. Such is the life of a keen young, aspiring, sailor. The championship was not to be as there was no wind to be found in Toronto that year. But I was exposed to the world of “Big Time” sailing. Durward Knowles, Buddy Melges, Bill Buchan, Joe Duplin, Dennis Conner, Lowell North, Ding Schoonmaker and of course Tom Blackaller were all present. So was a lesser-known boat builder named Bill Gerard. As Tom was to sail the Star World’s with his regular crew, Ed Bennett, Bill asked me to crew for him and as keen as I was, I said sure.
Star sailing in those days was a “man’s” sport. No hiking vests, no self bailing cockpits and sliding track backstays that had to be tacked. What this meant was that the crew was hiked out over the side hanging on by his ankles, pulling on a rope that was attached to a bilge pump and retracted by shock cord, and tacking and releasing the backstays on tracks at each tack. It was a workout to say the least. But because you had to hang out over the side with no support, 205 pounds was not that far off the pace for weight. Of course there were exceptions; Ron Anderson, crewing for Dennis Conner at 275 could hike the whole way and Bill Munster at 285 crewing for Malin Burnham could most of the way.
To say that Bill Gerard and I were underdogs was an understatement. The best Bill had ever done in the World’s was 15th and this was my first. But to our good fortune, two days before the World’s started, Buddy Melges came up to Bill and, handing him a bag of sails, said “Here, give these a try.” We had no idea that we had in our hands was pure speed…an innovation the likes of which comes around once every 10 years in one-design sailing and produces speed that makes a significant difference. The sails in the bag were the first of the heavily yarn-tempered Dacron cloths and cut into the flattest set of Star sails ever seen. Buddy brought five suits to San Francisco; two for himself, and he gave one set to us, one to Ding Schoonmaker and one to our current ISAF president Paul Henderson. Little did anyone know that those five suits would win every race in that regatta. The standard in the class at the time was the North “DC2” main with a “TA4B” jib. “DC” stood for Dennis Conner, the reigning World’s champion having won every race at Kiel the year before. But the DC2 would be too full for the strong wind of San Francisco Bay once Buddy Melges came blowing off the starting line in truly a different gear.
In the first three races of the regatta, the story was told. Buddy first, Dennis second and Tom third in each race. Buddy would come off the line and within five minutes it would look like he had started 30 seconds over early. With Andreas Josenhans at 255 holding the boat down and the supper flat supper hard “SF” main, Buddy was untouchable. There was nothing that stalwart Star Champions Blackaller, Buchan and Conner could do to equal Buddy’s speed. Through excellent sailing and experience in the class, Blackaller and Conner dragged their extra full sails around the course better than anyone else but Buddy was in a league of his own.
There were 99 boats at the World’s that year, the biggest fleet ever to that date. At the first windward mark of the first race five boats sunk, all but one being retrieved off the shallow bottom of the Berkeley Circle. A relatively short 2 mile beat, a shiftless 20-25 knots of wind, and 99 boats was a recipe for carnage. Places 30-70 arrived at virtually the same time. A scene like that had never been seen before. In fact, the first leg of a Star World’s race is now 2.75 miles for this reason.
After three races, Ding Schoonmaker gave up on his North sails and went for the Melges sails and proceeded to win the next two races. Buddy finished second or third in each and virtually sewed up the regatta without having to sail the last day.
The last race is a historical one. We were having our best race in 2nd place fighting it out with the current ISAF President, Paul Henderson for the win. Henderson was the better sailor on the day and won the race, the only race he has ever won in the Star World’s. I am sure it is one of his fondest memories.
In the final tally, Melges won the World’s (the first of two in a row) and his legend continued to grow in yet another class. The win also launched Melges as the boat builder and sailmaker of choice in the Star class at that time. He must have sold 400 suits of sails and 20 boats in the year following his win. Dennis Conner finished second, Tom Blackaller third, Gerard/Cayard fourth and Ding Schoonmaker fifth.
A lot of water has passed under the bridge since that regatta.
