1989 North American Championship - English Bay, Vancouver, Canada
1989 Star North American Championship
By Ross Macdonald (EB)
During the second week of August, forty-one Star sailors from four nations met to compete in the Star North American Championship in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Situated on the west Coast, the city has a long history of Star boat activity in being the first Fleet outside the United States to join the Star Class. The year 1923 was the year that the English Bay Fleet made the Star Class International.
Regatta Chairman Bonar Davis knew that when he took-on the job there would be more tasks to be handled than normal. First, he had to establish a Race Committee that could deal with Vancouver's three meter tides that can sometimes run up to two knots in velocity. Also, he knew in being a Star sailor himself that the competitors liked to eat and dress well. So in order to address these problems a Committee was established well in advance, and as we saw during the regatta every detail was well attended to. These volunteers were deserved winners of a great deal of praise by the close of the regatta.
To kick the regatta off, the fleet set out on a clear Sunday morning to take part in the practice race. As the fleet approached the starting area the sea breeze was beginning to build to a steady eight knots. By the time we were halfway through the race the wind was up to ten knots, and Allen Leibel with John Finch were in the process of winning the tune-up race. Leibel credited their good start as the main ingredient in their win. After the race the Opening Ceremonies were held at the Kitsalano Yacht Club, followed by a beautiful salmon barbeque sponsored by the hosting English Bay Fleet.
After a half hour postponement race one got underway in a building seven knot wind similar to the day before. This race became the most controversial race of the regatta because of an error by the Race Committee in trying to recall a number of PMS boats. It was not until one minute into the race that the recall flag went up, so the majority of over early boats decided to continue sailing, hoping to use the signal delay as grounds for a YMP resolve. Mark Reynolds and Hal Haenel crossed the line first followed by Bill and Carl Buchan, but both were over early. This gave Durward Knowles and Steve Kelly, who sailed a beautiful race, the win. Second place went to locals John Polglase and Donald Campbell in their one-off Star, followed closely by Ed Adams and Rick Hennig. The Jury would later award a YMP by giving the effected boats their finishes, sighting a USYRU Appeal as their reasoning. Needless to say, the results sheet looked very interesting.
Race two began after the conclusion of the first race. With the wind now steady at twelve knots, the fleet charged off the starboard biased line towards the favoured left side. The Adams/Hennig duo proved to the rest of us that they would become a force to be reckoned with by winning easily. Regatta organizer Don Campbell with crew Pat Dion proved that their speed was no fluke by taking the second in their Lillia, and by holding off third place Reynolds and Haenel.
Going out to the third race it looked as though the conditions would be the same as the previous two days, however, as Fred Dill and Andreas Naumann showed, this was not the case because of a tide line running down the right side of the course. On the left side there was one knot of bad current and on the right slightly over one knot of good current. Since Fred and Andreas were the only boat to use this current difference to advantage, they consequently led most of the way around the course. Unfortunately it did not take long for the fleet to catch-on-to their secret, especially since they started over one minute late! The Reynolds-Haenel team sailed well to both overtake the lead boat and to increase their regatta lead substantially. Leibel and Finch would be the only other boat to overtake Dill and Naumann to finish in second, the latter in third. With the results tallied at the end of the day, Reynolds- Haenel would be leading with 1-3-1 placings, with Adams-Hennig finishes of 3-1-4 in second position.
That evening all competitors ventured by bus to a spectacular restaurant on top of a mountain, 1500 meters above sea level, overlooking the city for the mid-week prize awarding dinner. Highlights of the evening were a fabulous sunset and the awarding of exceptionally handsome, native indian carvings as prizes. The day following was a lay day, so crews could elect to stay in town or to go on a cruise to one of the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club's outstations. The cruise was thoroughly enjoyed by many and all were taken-back by the tranquility of a place located only one hour away from the city.
When racing resumed the next day, the confusion about which way to go was taken care of by the wind. It has switched 180° to an offshore breeze. Both races that day were held in shifty, puffy winds of three to eighteen knots. Those who were patient and conservative would be rewarded at the end of the day's racing. In race four Reynolds-Haenel were again the winners, with Adams-Hennig right behind. Mike Clements and Rob Burton sailed a brilliant second beat to almost upset the order, but had to settle for third after being passed on the last beat.
In the fifth race the breeze had clocked to the right 20°, and on the first beat the lead changed numerous times. On the second weather leg Bruce Macdonald and I elected not to follow the six boats in front of us on a port tack towards the shore, but instead we went left hoping that the wind would back. As luck would have it, it did! We managed to cross the line first in our Mader, followed by Adams-Hennig with another second. John A. MacCausland and Todd Raynor managed to pass their archrivals from Cooper River to grab third.
With one race to go, only the teams of Mark Reynolds-Hal Haenal and Ed Adams-Rick Hennig had a chance to take the Championship. We were in a position where we had no chance of losing the third place, so we chose not to race. However, the race for fourth place was wide open and exciting with a number of boats fighting for the spot.
After numerous general recalls, the final race finally got underway in a good fifteen knot breeze. The two leading boats match raced from the five minute gun onward, with Adams-Hennig getting a slight edge at the start. But the race belonged to Joe Londrigan and Mark Busch, who not only would lead all the way around the course, but who also increased their lead on each leg. The boys in their Folli boat won by over three minutes. Reynolds and Haenel had to make sure that they did not finish worse than sixth if Ed Adams and Rick Hennig were second or better. This is exactly where they each would finish the race, and because of a tie-breaker Mark Reynolds and Hal Haenel would become the new North American Champions. Meanwhile, the battle for series fourth was taken by Don Campbell and Pat Dion by virtue of their last race third. Bill and Carl Buchan edged out the Clements-Burton pair for fifth in the regatta. Durward Knowles and Steve Kelly finished seventh and Durward became the new Masters Champion.
At conclusion of the week the fleet was rewarded with a superb prize giving dinner, at which many veteran members of English Bay's 62 years-old Star Fleet were present. It was during this superior function that all of the regatta's organizers were treated to perhaps the best complement of all, when Commodore Durward Knowles accepted his trophies and said, "This regatta was one of the best that I have ever been to in all of my years of sailing."
Second place finishing Ed Adams attempted to get a clarification from the Protest Committee on if Mark Reynolds finish in the first race was valid in the tie breaking process. Without clarification, Ed Adams took the matter to the Star Class' Judiciary Committee for evaluation. Following an original decision and a subsequent appeal by Mark Reynolds, the Judiciary Committee has determined that an error was made in the original Protest Committee's findings, and the 1989 North American Championship was awarded to Ed Adams and Rick Hennig, their second consecutive title. Mark Reynolds and Hal Haenel were scored second, and the Buchans switched placings with Mike Clements and Rob Burton for fifth place.
Results
Place No. Skipper Crew Fleet Daily Places Pts.
1 7288 Mark Reynolds Hal Haenel SDB ymp 3 1 1 6 6 17.4
2 7302 Ed Adams Rick Hennig NB 3 1 4 3 2 2 17.4
3 7321 Ross Macdonald Bruce Macdonald EB 4 6 5 4 1 dns 37.7
4 7256 Don Campbell Pat Dion EB ymp 2 10 7 8 3 44.6
5 7014 Mike Clements Rob Burton EB 9 4 8 2 13 7 53.0
6 7405 Bill Buchan Jr Carl Buchan PS ymp 10 11 6 7 4 60.9
7 7306 Durward Knowles Steve Kelley N 1 13 27 9 11 8 65.0
8 6680 Allen Leibel John Finch LOC 10 7 2 12 18 9 65.0
9 7409 J.A. MacCauslandTodd Raynor CR 6 5 17 13 3 18 69.4
10 6560 Foss Miller PS 7 11 6 14 14 5 71.7
11 7193 T. Herrmann NB 5 18 7 11 4 dnf 72.0
12 7330 Joe Londrigan LS 15 pms 13 15 9 1 76.0
13 7197 Phil Graves EB dnf 9 30 10 10 10 99.0
14 732 B. Willetts 14 12 18 25 16 14 104.0
15 5607 Bob MacCausland CR 25 14 29 3 5 pms 106.0
16 6681 B. West EB 12 16 21 20 15 13 106.0
17 7097 Tom Londrigan LS 11 24 14 30 27 11 117.0
18 7408 Bob Van Wagnen SLE 18 22 15 17 17 20 117.0
19 7101 Andy Ivey Sun 24 8 28 8 19 pms 117.0
20 6603 Fred Dill Andreas Neumann EB 26 31 3 21 22 22 120.7
21 6481 Rick Burgess GrL ymp 15 32 18 23 19 123.0
22 7305 J. Dollahite Steve Dietrich NH 19 pms 9 dnf 12 12 128.0
23 6674 M. Upson 5 23 41 23 35 15 134.0
24 6646 B. Huse 27 25 33 22 20 17 141.0
25 7031 Carl Petersen 13 33 23 29 25 26 146.0
26 7122 Watt Webb 20 20 19 34 24 pms 147.0
27 6960 R. Cardozo 37 27 12 26 31 25 151.0
28 6283 George Szabo SDB 23 30 16 28 26 dnf 153.0
29 7087 T. Huse 21 21 24 38 34 24 154.0
30 7293 John Foster ISOL 16 32 22 27 30 pms 157.0
31 7354 Joseph Pro WJ 22 17 26 32 33 dnf 160.0
32 6983 John Polglase Donald Campbell EB 2 dnf 36 19 32 pms 160.0
33 7173 C. Collins 29 dnf 25 24 21 32 161.0
34 7314 Logan Farrar CD ymp dnf 20 dsq 29 23 177.5
35 6491 Bill Kieser CarL 30 34 39 31 28 28 181.0
36 6801 K. Kirkland EB 17 29 35 dns 42 29 182.0
37 7370 John W. Allen WH 28 19 37 36 36 33 182.5
38 5918 L. Warshawski 31 33 43 37 40 16 187.0
39 6316 J. Heywood 36 36 31 33 39 21 187.0
40 6660 E. von Wolffersdorf 34 28 38 16 dnf pms 192.0
41 6976 J. Revkin PS 35 26 12 40 38 31 200.0
42 6360 L. Frojen 32 37 34 41 43 27 201.0
43 6254 J. Gemmell 33 39 40 39 37 30 208.0
44 4736 M. Garrett ymp 38 dns 42 41 34 223.8
