Key West 2005 - Race Week News

cover photo: Sue Bodycomb / Yachtshots.com

Friday - Issue 5 - January 21, 2005

Saturday - Issue 6 - January 22, 2005

Celebration & Anticipation

by Bill Wagner

Every skipper would love to clinch victory in a major regatta before the final day.

To know you can sit out the last race and still win is a great, great feeling. It’s also a testament to outstanding and consistent sailing.

Eight teams at Key West 2005 could pop the cork on the champagne bottles and light a cigar in celebration upon return to the dock on Thursday afternoon.

“What we need now is some rum,” crew members from the Tartan 10 Liquor Box were overhead saying while walking up the gangway at The Galleon.

Liquor Box put together another impressive series, winning five races and finishing second in another to earn their fifth consecutive victory at Key West. Owner Chuck Simon said the team would definitely sail the final day in hopes of notching another bullet, but helmsman Bill Buckles said the crew might have some fun along the way.

“What we’ve done in the past is put everyone’s name in a hat and draw for positions on the boat,” Buckles said. “One year, the bowman got to drive and I had to work the foredeck.”

Another impressive performance came in J/105 class, where Thomas Coates and Masquerade sealed the deal amidst a highly-competitive fleet. Coates posted his third bullet of the regatta yesterday and is currently throwing out an eighth.

“It feels fantastic, but we’re not done yet. We’re going to go out there tomorrow and try to win because we would like to be considered for the Boat of the Week,” said Coates, a San Francisco resident.

Most of the skippers who had clinched victory had mathematically figured it out on the way in from the race course. However, John Fries, skipper of the Evelyn 32 Remedy, didn’t know and didn’t care that his team had already won PHRF 5.

“I’m not a scoring expert so I’m going to go sailing tomorrow,” said Fries, a designer with Halsey-Lidgard in Mystic, Conn. “There’s no sense in staying ashore. I want to enjoy sailing in Key West as long as I can because when I get home there’s going to be snow on the ground.”

Interestingly, two of the early winners were first-time participants in Key West. J/120 victor George Petrides (Avra) and PHRF 2 champion George Gamble (Pretty Woman) both had a bit of beginner’s luck.

“It’s absolutely wonderful to come down to this great regatta for the first time and come away a winner,” Gamble said. “I’m very proud because Key West Race Week is a big, big deal. It doesn‘t get any better than this.”

Other boats that guaranteed victory with a solid performance on Thursday were C’est Nasty (Rick Schaffer) in J/80, Amethyst (Doug Davies) in PHRF 7 and Hustler (John/Tony Esposito) in J/29.

Meanwhile, 13 other classes are coming down to the wire and _ weather permitting _ will be decided in today’s ninth and final race. Nothing is closer than the professional-laden Farr 40 class as Hasso Plattner’s Morning Glory leads Peter de Ridder’s Mean Machine by a mere point.

Morning Glory moved into the overall lead thanks to a first and a third in difficult conditions yesterday.

“Why we won over Mean Machine and Barking Mad (in Race 8), I don’t know,” Plattner said. “In only 3 ½ knots of wind with shifts and puffs, it was luck.”

Thursday’s afternoon race began in eight-knot winds that steadily decreased and shifted dramatically. Tomorrow’s forecast calls for more of the same, which is bad news for PHRF 4 leader Pamlico.

The Andrews 38, co-owned by Annapolis brothers Kurt and Bobby Muller, won five of the initial six races, but struggled to a 4-7 yesterday. That enabled Dame Blanche, a Beneteau 40.7 skippered by Othmar von Blumencron, to cut the deficit to three points.

“We’re very concerned. If it’s this light tomorrow we’re in trouble. We just cannot get the boat moving in anything under 10 knots,” Muller said. “We’re going to say some prayers to the wind gods tonight.”

DIVISION 1

Deneen Demourkas and Groovederci have have not clinched Mumm 30 class, but hold such a commanding lead that the tactician aboard the second-place boat has conceded defeat.

“We would have to win and they would have to tank, which isn’t likely,” said Nick von der Wense, whose Turbo Duck was defending class champ.

Groovederci took control with a 1-1-2 line on Wednesday then tacked on another bullet in Race 6 yesterday. Turbo Duck was unable to keep pace, suffering a disastrous 14th after jamming the halyard during a spinnaker douse.

“It was so random we couldn’t do it again if we tried,” von der Wense said. “It took nearly two minutes to get things sorted out and the whole fleet sailed by.”

Former Team New Zealand member Hamish Pepper is calling tactics aboard Groovederci, which holds a comfortable nine-point lead over Turbo Duck despite suffering an 11th in yesterday’s afternoon race.

“They are getting off the line cleanly and picking a good lane by about three-quarters of the way up the beat,” von der Wense said. “They have been top three at nearly every mark.”

Race 9 will determine the winner in Swan 45 class since Andrzej Rojek’s Better Than only leads Craig Speck’s Vim by two points. Plenty, skippered by Alex Roepers, is lurking four points back in third.

“Racing has been very, very close. All the boats are being sailed well,” Speck said. “We’ve had a couple races when all six boats reached the top mark at the same time. It’s very exciting.”

Competition is equally keen in 1D35, where Wild Thing holds a tenuous two-point advantage over Midsummer. Wild Thing, sailed by the husband-wife duo of Chris and Kara Busch, notched a fourth and a first yesterday to take the overall class lead for the second time this week.

Chris Busch felt fortunate to put up two solid finishes in the light and fluky conditions _ a performance that earned Wild Thing the Industry Partners Boat of the Day honor.

“It was frustrating for everybody. It’s tough mentally when you have to keep trying to figure it out all the time,” said Busch, adding that Race 8 was extremely close. “The top four boats finished within 30 seconds of each other. The only difference was that we got a little puff at the end.”

DIVISION 2

Gamble purchased Pretty Woman four years ago and has primarily been sailing the Beneteau 47.7 in Europe and the Caribbean ever since. The Pensacola, Fla., resident only recently began doing buoy racing and won the Gulf Coast Ocean Racing circuit this past season.

While Gamble has never been to Key West, most of his crew has _ helping the Evelyn 32 Phaedra capture PHRF 7 at last year’s event. Gamble, who calls tactics, had high praise for helmsman Rick Zern (Murray Yacht Sales) and main trimmer Hunter Riddle (Shore Sails).

“Our team was extremely well-prepared. We came down early and practiced for a week beforehand. We got used to the heavy air and that’s why we came out of the gate so fast,” Gamble said.

Petrides and his crew aboard Avra had some anxious moments before nailing down the J/120 class with a 2-1 performance yesterday. Avra started the regatta with three straight bullets, but fell back with a 3-3-5 line on Wednesday.

“We hit a little speed bump in the middle of the week. We had some mechanical issues that affected us and Wednesday just did not go our way,” said veteran professional Chris Larson, tactician aboard Avra. “We had a nice chat about things in the evening and agreed the only way we were going to lose the event was if we beat ourselves. We were determined to not let that happen.”

Avra had to perform a 720 coming off the starting line in yesterday’s morning race yet battled back to place second. Petrides and his New York-based crew clinched class honors by taking the gun in Race 8.

“Conditions were a bit dicey in the second race today, but we had good boat speed and were able to stay in the wind veins,” Larson said.

Any of three boats could win J/109 class, which has seen a lot of standings shuffling throughout the week. Rush, owned by Bill Sweetser of Annapolis, regained the lead with a pair of seconds yesterday. Antaean (Mike Manila) and Mariah (Jose Suarez Hoyos) are tied on points for second.

“We have to go out (Friday) with the mindset of sailing to win. We cannot worry about the other boats, we just have to go for the win,” Sweetser said.

Rick Orchard, skipper of the Mumm 36 Grins, is hoping for another light air race in his bid to overtake the newly-launched Melges 32 Star (Jeff Ecklund) in PHRF 3.

“They are really, really fast in the middle range. We tend to do better when it’s very heavy or very light,” Orchard said. “The fact we’re still in the hunt is exciting. There are a lot of really good teams in this class so you don’t feel bad if you get beat by them.”

Titan, the Reichel-Pugh 75 owned by Tom Hill, remained on a roll by posting its fourth straight bullet yesterday morning. However, it might be too little, too late to overtake Makoto Uematsu’s Esmeralda in PHRF 1.

DIVISION 3

Coates and the rest of his crew aboard Masquerade were determined to go all out for victory at Key West 2005 after losing a first-place tiebreaker a year ago.

“When we realized we were going to be second last year, it took us about five minutes to say we were coming back with the same crew to try and get over the hump,” said Coates, who earned his first class victory in seven trips to Key West.

Chris Perkins, whose Good Timing has won every major J/105 event, served as tactician aboard Masquerade.

“Chris is the best tactician in the class and he was on his game as usual this week,” Coates said. “I thought the entire crew was fantastic. We were very steady and consistent throughout the week.”

Coates ranked Key West 2005 alongside the Rolex Cup in Newport as the most important victory of his J/105 career.

“Key West is a phenomenal event. To win this regatta in a very deep and talented 40-boat fleet is very rewarding,” he said.

C’est Nasty clinched victory in J/80 class by winning Race 8. It was the fifth bullet of the series for Schaffer and his crew from Fort Worth, Texas.

“We were getting off the line in good shape, getting separation quickly and picking clean lanes from there,” said Schaffer, who finished fourth at last year’s event. “We made our money early then struggled when the wind came down.”

C’est Nasty endured an eighth in Wednesday’s final race then followed that with a fifth in Thursday’s initial start. That gave trailing entry Sooner Magic (Mac Kilpatrick) hope.

“Sooner came after us and put the pressure on. It was like a match race and we had to respond,” C’est Nasty tactician David Hiebert said.

Joe Fly, the Italian entry owned by Maspero Giovanni, moved back atop the standings in the 58-boat Melges 24 class with 27 points. Bill Hardesty’s Pegasus 575 is just one point behind in second while James Spit hill (USA 493) and Neil Sullivan (M-Fatic) are within striking distance with 31 points apiece.

“We’re happy to be there at the end with a chance to win,” said Morgan Larson, tactician aboard Joe Fly. “In a huge and talented fleet like this, you just want to be in the hung going into the last race.”

DIVISION 4

It would be hard to find a more fun-loving team than the one aboard Liquor Box, the Tartan 10 with the suggestive name and tongue sticker on the stern. Simon, Buckles and the entire crew hail from the “west side” of Cleveland, Ohio _ towns such Vermilion, Avon and Lorain.

It’s a team that likes to party ashore, but is all business on the water, a veteran contingent that captured Tartan 10 Nationals on Put-In-Bay in August. Liquor Box always does well on the southern winter circuit and is slated to race at the St. Petersburg NOOD, Acura Miami Race Week and Charleston Race Week.

Gene and Christy Koeth, Kerry McSweeney, Trey Sheehan and Chris Finke round out the regular crew. Matt Ayers was aboard for this regatta.

“Our advantage in an event like this is that we have a stable team. A lot of the other skippers have to pick up crew because their regular people can’t get away,” Buckles said.

Simon felt runner-up Team Farr From Sober (John Woodruff), Full-Bore (Donald Fritz) and Cygnet (Rathburn/Chambers syndicate) all sailed well during the week.

“It might look easy because we had five bullets, but it wasn’t. It never gets old winning in Key West and we always have fun,” he said.

Several classes remain up for grabs on Division 4, most notably C&C 99 that features a one-point separation between leader TAM (Wally Hogan) and second-place Breakaway (Tom Sawchuk). Things will change dramatically if an eighth race is held today as all teams will be allowed a throwout.

Breakaway, which took a 10th in Race 1 due to an OCS, has the most to gain by the inclusion of a throwout.

“We’ve had tremendous racing all week. Today sort of favored our boat because we’re light,” Breakaway tactician Trey Sunderland said.
Any sort of podium finish would mark a major improvement for Breakaway, which finished 10th among the C&C 99s last year.

“The boat was not set up correctly and the crew this year is much better,” Sawchuk said. “I think experience on the boat has helped. We learned a lot racing against these guys last year.”

Action is also tight in PHRF 6, where Usual Suspect (Bryan Sims) leads E-Ticket (Dan Myers) by three points. There will be no covering or match racing between the boats as Usual Suspect is a C&C 43 and E-Ticket is a Moorings 38.

“There’s a large rating difference so we can’t try to sail them boat-for-boat,” Sims said. “We’ve gotta watch E-Ticket, but we can’t sail her boat-for-boat. I think the big thing is to treat the last race like any other and not let the pressure get to you.”