2003 North American Championship – San Francisco, California, USA
Regatta Report
Paul Cayard on the racing, sailed at St. Francis YC, San Franciso, California.
Day 1 - Race 1:
"We started out the Star North American Championship with a bang...a gun actually. We won the first race which was held on the Berkeley Circle Race course in 12-16 knots of wind. 40 Stars were on the line for the only race of the day which got under way about 14:45. The wind was fairly steady in direction with some small oscillations and velocity differences that had to be played in order to gain some advantage. Leading at the first mark was George Szabo with Howie Sheibler in a close second. We were third, Marazzi of Switzerland fourth and Reynolds/Liljedahl were fifth. The wind lighted considerably on the first run but not much changed in the positions. Reynolds made a nice move by getting onto port right away to begin the second windward leg and took over the lead. We battled with Shiebler and finally Reynolds at the top of the second beat and took the lead at the second windward mark. We held it from there to the finish although there was some gains and losses. Sheibler was second, Reynolds third, MacCausland fourth, Marazzi (SUI) fifth, Hutchinson 6th, Eric Doyle 7th, and Freddy Loof from Sweden 8th."
Day 2 - Race 2:
"Tough day for sailing on San Francisco Bay. The wind did not cooperate until 1400 today and then was on the light side. However, this coupled with a relatively weak current made for the most "open course" racing that you can have on SF Bay. Normally, racing on San Francisco Bay, especially along the city front, is a one way street. He who wins the start and gets control of the race rarely loses as the others have to follow his track. This was not the case today. With the starting line just west of Alcatraz and the windward mark just north of Presidio Shoals, the shoreline was not a factor. The wind shifted back and forth and the pressure was also inconsistent. So it was a heads out of the boat race."
We had a great start at the leeward end but that wasn't good enough to get us the lead up the first beat. We rounded the first mark about 4th and passed one boat on the run. Unfortunately, we set up to go toward the shore and there was much more pressure out in the middle of the bay. Sheibler and Hutchinson made the most of that. There were a few more shifts up the beat that we did not make the most of but we still rounded the windward mark 5th. Eric Doyle had a big move at the end of the second windward leg to round fourth. Down the last run, we paid too much attention to the current and not enough to the pressure and lost Mark Reynolds and finished 6th. Howard Sheibler won the race so he has a handily lead in the regatta with a 1,2. Terry Hutchinson finished second, Freddy Loof third.
Day 3 - Races 3 and 4:
The wind was late in arriving again today but we got race number 3 off around 13:30 in 14 knots of wind. The current was ebbing so this kept the racecourse as open as it can be on the City front. We had a great start at the pin again but the guys just up the line, the boats had a bit more pressure and a bit more right shifted wind. We got around the top mark 4th but lost a bit to the boats who gybed out early. Eric Doyle and his crew Rodrigo Meireles made a big move there. There was more pressure out and even though the shore was favored from a current standpoint, Eric moved into the lead there and held it for the rest of the race. We rounded the second windward mark 3rd but lost Freddy Loof on the run to the finish so we finished fourth. Doug Schofield and his brother Robert sailed a great race to finish second. Shiebler/Stout and Reynolds/Lijedahl, our main competitors from yesterday were behind us so we were moving up. At that point, Eric Doyle was winning the regatta.
The second race started in much the same conditions, 14 knots of wind but the current was starting to slacken from the max ebb situation we had in the first race. We started right at the pin again but were called over early. We rounded the pin quickly and headed off on port in a clear lane. We worked the shifts nicely and round the top mark about 10th. Down the run we were one of the first to gybe out. Again, this was "bad" from a current standpoint but good from a wind pressure standpoint. In the end, the wind pressure was more valuable than the current and we gained. We rounded the leeward mark 3rd. Up the second windward leg we passed one boat and down the final run we passed the leader. We actually got very lucky here. A ferry boat went by and we surfed it's wake. We went from being in second by 100 meters to being in first. From there we just hung on and got the bullet.
Day 4 - Races 5 and 6:
Today, we were greeted with more typical San Francisco Bay conditions. Windy, cold, foggy and big current. Both races today were decided by a big move on the first run. In the first race of the day, Howie Shiebler and his crew Will Stout hung it out into the middle of the bay and got that last of the flood to win the race. We finished fourth in that one and with Freddy Loof finishing third we went into the last race tied with Shiebler and 2 points ahead of Loof/Eckstrom.
For starts on the city front racing it was important, for current reasons, to start at the left end of the line. In three out of the four starts we won the left end of the line, once we were over early and restarted but still won that race after quickly gybing around the pin.
We had a good start in the last race just to leeward of Shiebler/Stout. We could not pinch them off so we drag raced out to the left side. We had to tack first and duck Shiebler and this put him in control of the race and the regatta. However, he got caught up in some traffic and we sprung free of him to round the first mark right on his heels. He gybed out to the middle, a move which won him the first race, and we continued straight along the city front. It was a regatta-winning move for us this time as Shiebler and all those who gybed immediately lost several hundred yards when we converged down at the leeward mark off Alcatraz. 1992 World Champions Carl Buchan and Hugo Schriener led at the leeward mark and won the race. For us, once we rounded the leeward mark it is a matter of not making any big mistakes for the rest of the race.
Results
