| Key West
2005, Presented by Nautica
January 4, 2005
Another Full Plate
Set for Key West Jan. 17-21
KEY WEST, Fla.---Fair weather getaway, celebrity sailor
conclave, debutante ball for new boats and some of the best sailboat
racing on the planet-as the entry list for Key West 2005
presented by Nautica firms up, it's clear that the Northern
Hemisphere's largest midwinter keelboat regatta remains all of those.
Nine races are scheduled over five days, Monday-Friday, Jan. 17-21.
Preliminary class splits, Sailing Instructions, Notice and Conditions
of Race, schedule of events and much more are now posted at
www.Premiere-Racing.com
Entries are approaching 300 as America's East Coast digs itself out
from a Christmas freeze and the West Coast wrings itself out from
record rains, leaving visions of sailing in balmy breezes on turquoise
water dancing in sailors' heads.
Among them are more than a dozen Olympic medal winners, past and
present, and an even larger dose of America's Cup and Volvo Ocean Race
participants---including Russell Coutts, the Kiwi core of his winning
Alinghi crew from 2003 (on separate boats) and illbruck's
victorious round-the-world skipper, John Kostecki---all of whom
will be tested by the most serious weekend warriors anywhere. Coutts
and Alinghi have parted company, but he'll be calling tactics on Hasso
Plattner's Farr 40, Morning Glory.
Former Alinghi mates Brad Butterworth, Warwick Fleury, Dean
Phipps and Simon Daubney will carry on without their former skipper on
Dan Meyers' CM 60, Numbers, from Newport, R.I.
Coutts expects them to enjoy the week. "It is probably the best
collection of one-design keel boat fleet racing talent in the world,"
he said. "It is well organized and usually has good sailing
conditions, with few or no protests."
The boats are from 14 foreign countries and a record 36 states,
including Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, led by New York,
31; Illinois, 23; Florida, 22; California, 19, and Maryland and
Michigan with 18 each.
New boats making their debut include Dooie Isdale's Diode 36,
Rampant; a Melges 32, and the McAllister/Silver JS 9000, A Lil'
Tipsy, from Colington Harbor, N.C. Also, Ian Maclean's Ker 11.3,
Blue Belle, from The Hamble, UK is making its Key West debut.
The Melges 32 is something new from Zenda, Wis., by way of Trinidad.
Melges Performance Boats vice-president Andy Burdick said it is
basically a Melges 30 re-designed by Reichel/Pugh with a six-foot
taller rig and new sail plan. Longtime Melges 24 campaigner Jeff
Ecklund will sail it with Harry and Hans Melges on board.
"We tested it at Key West a few years back, but we haven't built a
Melges 30 in six or seven years because of our capacity in Zenda,"
Burdick said. "Now we have Soca Sailboats in Trinidad producing the
boat, [along with] our new Melges 17 scow. We're going to go
mainstream into production.
"It's a super-size Melges 24---really quite exciting. The goal is to
become a one-design class at some point but, like the Melges 24, it
has to start out in PHRF."
Key West has grown other one-design classes, most notably the J/105s
that have a record 40 entries this time. Jim Johnstone, director of
sales for J/Boats in Newport, R.I., said one reason for the J/105s'
boom at Key West and elsewhere is the development of boat transport
operations, which he estimated will deliver most of the fleet to this
southernmost point in the continental U.S. For a busy owner, the
logistics can make the difference whether he enters or not.
The entry list includes six one-design winners from last January:
Dutch businessman Peter De Ridder's Farr 40, Mean Machine, the
Boat of the Week from Monaco; Bodo and Nick von der Wense's Mumm 30,
Turbo Duck, from Annapolis; the Richard Bergmann/Shawn Bennett
J/105 Zuni Bear, San Diego; Bob Harkrider's Corsair 28R
trimaran, Bad Boys, Augusta, Ga.; Bob Wilson's C&C 99,
Trumpeter, Toronto, and the Chuck Simon/Bill Buckles T-10,
Liquor Box, Key West and Vermillion, Ohio.
Also, the 1D35s' most recent winner, David Kirk of Chicago, leads the
class back after a year's hiatus. Their national championship is on
the line.
PHRF winners returning are Mike Rose's J/133, Raincloud, Kemah,
Tex.; the John Dane/Michael Gray Melges 30, Tiburon, New
Orleans; David Hudgel's Sydney 36, Bounder, Detroit, and Robert
Patroni's Evelyn 32-2, Phaedra, from Pensacola, Fla.
Phaedra has been repaired after suffering severe damage from
Hurricane Ivan. "Ivan totaled her," Patroni said. "But it takes more
than a category 4 hurricane to keep an Evelyn down. We wouldn't miss
it for the world."
There will be at least two married couples on separate boats. San
Diego's Peter and JJ Isler will face off in a clash of five Transpac
52s and assorted big boats in PHRF 1. JJ will drive Roger Sturgeon's
TP52, Rosebud; Peter will call tactics on Marco Birch's B/C 58,
Talisman. Santa Barbara's Deneen Demourkas will race a Mumm 30
while hubby John drives the family Farr 40---both called
Groovederci.
JJ Isler---bronze in 1992 and silver in 2000---also is one of the
Olympic notables, along with Kevin Burnham and Charlie Ogletree, gold
and silver, respectively, at Athens last summer.
Others are Kostecki, Mark Reynolds, Jonathan and Charlie McKee, Jeff
Madrigali, Randy Smyth, Robbie Haines and John Bertrand, plus Canada's
Ross Macdonald and New Zealand's Coutts and John Cutler. Burnham,
Isler, the McKees, Smyth and Macdonald have won two medals each,
Reynolds three.
Burnham will park his 470 and Ogletree his Tornado catamaran to
compete as rivals on Philippe Kahn's and Alex Ascencios' Melges 24s,
respectively.
Kahn isn't sure which Pegasus he'll sail on-the Farr 40 or the Melges
24. But he's certain he'll be here.
"It's a great event---a perfect regatta," Kahn said. "The race
committee does a great job. They talk on the radio and explain
everything to you. It's awesome. It's the greatest regatta in North
America."
Most of the others listed above will race as tacticians in the fierce
Farr 40 fleet or on other big boats.
Australia's James Spithill, the new helmsman for Italy's Luna Rossa
challenge, will drive a Melges 24 entered by teammates Jonathan and
Charlie McKee.
One-design classes include the Farr 40, Mumm 30, 1D35, Swan 45, J/105
(a record 40), J/120, J/109, J/80, J/29, C&C 99, T10, Corsair 28R and
the largest fleet of all, the Melges 24s with 61.
Key West 2005 sponsors are Nautica, Mount Gay Rum,
B&G, Lewmar, Samson Rope Technologies, and the
Florida Keys and Key West Tourist Development Council. The
Historic Seaport is the Official Site.
Support also comes from a record
number of 29 Industry Partners.
Premiere Racing is also managing the new
Acura Miami Race
Week 2005 ("the SORC renaissance"). Race dates are March
10-13, 2005, with ocean and Biscayne Bay racing. Many Key West
entrants are planning to store boats in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale and
return for more great South Florida racing.
CONTACTS
PREMIERE RACING, Inc.
67B Front Street, Marblehead, MA, 01945
Tel: (781) 639-9545, Fax: (781) 639-9171
Email Premiere Racing
PRESS OFFICER
Rich Roberts
(310) 835-2526
Email
Rich
CURRENT ENTRY LIST
Media Advisory and Registration
Key West
2005, Presented by Nautica
December 5, 2004
BURNHAM, SPITHILL
JOIN FLEET FOR KEY WEST 2005
-- First Entry Deadline is Dec. 10
KEY WEST, Fla.---The Athens Olympics are a fond memory, the
next America's Cup isn't until 2007 and it will be too cold to sail in
most of the northern hemisphere, which leaves one prime destination
for the world's best sailors next month.
Key West 2005, presented by Nautica is where gold
medalist Kevin Burnham and Luna Rossa helmsman James Spithill,
among other sailing celebrities, will be found Jan. 17-21, along with
more than 300 other teams, if current entry projections play out.
The J/105s have already surpassed their Key West record turnout
of 29 Boats with 31 entered and 40 expected. So far there are 42
Melges 24s from coast to coast and seven countries, matching the
number of PHRF entries, And there will be lots more before the
deadline.
Burnham became world-famous in photos of his back flip dive at the
Athens finish line---a 10.0 in Olympic scoring---after winning the
men's 470 class with helmsman Paul Foerster. At Key West he will join
a crew on Rocketeer II, a Corsair 28R trimaran entered
by Ken Winters of Dallas. Randy Smyth, America's foremost multihuller
and a two-time Olympic silver medalist, will also be on board, with
Charles Nethersole driving.
Burnham said Winters was a key supporter of him and Foerster. "Ken
had been helping Paul and me make ends meet for the Olympic campaign,
but I could not sail with him at Key West last year so I contacted
Randy. Randy was able to go sailing with my friend and find the crew,
too. They all had a great time and are back again. This year I have
been invited to join them. I am really looking forward to it. It is
one of my favorite regattas."
With the AC scene momentarily marking time, Spithill will sail a
Melges 24. It's somewhat removed from the International America's Cup
Class machine he now drives for the Italian syndicate, but the young
Australian should feel right at home in one of the event's heavily
international fleets.
“It
is my first time in [a Melges 24],” said McKee, who owns Olympic
bronze and silver medals. “I am really excited. This is not official
Luna Rossa business, just a fun event for us. Having said that, we are
sailing with mostly Luna Rossa guys, including [brother] Charlie McKee
and Manuel Modena, but also a young kid from Miami who sails
Optimist.”
Besides the Melges 24s, the Swan 45s, Transpac 52s
and Farr 40s also share in the universal zest of an entry list
currently showing boats from two dozen countries and five of the seven
continents. Only Antarctica has never been represented, but give it
time.
Many of those will figure in the intense competition among teams for
the International Team Trophy. Peter de Ridder's Mean
Machine from Monaco won the Farr 40 class last January as part of
the Europe B team that wrested the title from Italy's multi-year
dominance.
Dec. 10 is the deadline for entry applications to avoid late fees.
Final entry applications are due Dec. 27. The regatta is limited to
the first 350 entries.
Entry information and current list, Notice and Conditions of Race,
accommodations and much more at
Premiere-Racing.com
Anticipated one-design classes include the Swan 45s,
which debuted a year earlier; Transpac 52s, Farr 40s,
Mumm 30s, 1D35s, J/105s, J/120s, J/109s,
J/80s, J/29s, C&C 99s, Corsair 28Rs and
the largest group of all, the Melges 24s.
One-off designs and others without the numbers to establish level
classes will be assigned to the PHRF, IMS and IRC fleets that
traditionally comprise about one-third of the turnout.
Key West 2005 sponsors are Nautica, Mount Gay Rum,
B&G, Lewmar, Samson Rope Technologies, and the
Florida Keys and Key West Tourist Development Council. The
Historic Seaport is the Official Site.
Support also comes from a record
number of 29 Industry Partners.
Premiere Racing is also managing the new
Acura Miami Race
Week 2005 ("the SORC renaissance"). Race dates are March
10-13, 2005, with ocean and Biscayne Bay racing. Many Key West
entrants are planning to store boats in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale and
return for more great South Florida racing.
More details about the Keys, including web cams, are available at
fla-keys.com
or by calling 1-800-FLA-KEYS.
KEY WEST NOTES: Among the latest entries is Titan 12,
Tom Hill's Reichel/Pugh 75 maxi from Newport, R.I. It again
will line up as base handicap boat among the big PHRF competitors,
alongside Bill Alcott's Andrews 68, Equation, from
Detroit, and Daniel Meyers' Farr 60, Numbers, from
Newport, among others. . . . Daisuke Kimura of Hayama, Japan, is
returning to sail Maleesh, a Beneteau 40.7 he has
chartered. Kimura owns the same kind of boat and will bring his own
sails. He chartered a Beneteau 36.7 last January. . . . Four of the
Transpac 52s planning to compete also will do the "feeder" race
from Ft. Lauderdale starting Jan. 12. They are Makoto Uematsu's
Esmeralda, Japan, with Ken Read on board; Mike Brennan's
Sjambok, Roger Sturgeon's Rosebud and Fred Detwiler's
Trader.
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November 8, 2004
NOW HEAR THIS: THE KEYS
ARE INTACT AND READY FOR RACING
-- Californians Stirring, Not Shaken, As Entry List Soars
KEY WEST,
Fla.---Some Californians who know only about earthquakes may have
been all shook up when they thought a series of hurricanes might spoil
their plans for Key West 2005, scheduled Jan. 17-21.
"We had just booked our rooms, so I was a little nervous," said Chris
Busch of San Diego. "But it all missed Key West, and now it looks like
a big turnout."
Indeed, hurricane season is long gone and the entry list has already
reached 108, matching the record pace of 326 in 2001.
But the Florida Keys, like many destinations throughout the state, are
suffering from a misperception that the island chain was devastated by
the four hurricanes that came ashore in other regions of Florida
during a six-week period in August and September.
In fact, dangerous hurricane-force winds from all storms stayed well
offshore from Key Largo to Key West, according to Matt Strahan,
meteorologist-in-charge for the National Weather Service in Key West.
Harold Wheeler, director of the Keys tourism council, said, "The fact
is that the Keys is unscathed and open for business."
Such reassurance has put competitors from the Golden State at ease.
Busch and his wife Kara, sailing their 1D35 Wild Thing, will be
joined by several other Californians, including Philippe Kahn and son
Samuel, a.k.a. "Shark," of Santa Cruz, sailing a Farr 40 and Melges
24, respectively; husband John Demourkas and wife Deneen from Santa
Barbara, sailing a Farr 40 and Mumm 30, and two-time Key West winners
Richard Bergmann and Chris Bennett with their J/105, Zuni Bear.
The Busches won the 1D35 class in 2002---after which Chris proposed to
Kara---and Chris crewed on David Kirk's first-place Détente
from Chicago in 2003. There was no 1D35 class in 2004, but they're
back in force for what will be their national championship in 2005.
"It'll be fun," Chris Busch said. "Right after Transpac [in 2003] Kara
got pregnant and we had a baby last March. She's been working out hard
trying to get back in shape. This will be the first regatta she's done
since becoming a mother."
Peter Busch, the newest family member, is penciled in as a future crew
member.
Entries are arriving from across the U.S. and overseas. Peter de
Ridder's Farr 40, Mean Machine, is among the flood of early
entries. Last January the Dutch entry came from behind on the last day
to claim the class title. and the Boat of the Week award.
Anticipated one-design classes include the Swan 45s, which debuted a
year earlier; Transpac 52s, Farr 40s, Mumm 30s, 1D35s, J/105s, J/120s,
J/109s, J/80s, J/29s, C&C 99s, Corsair 28Rs and the largest group of
all, the Melges 24s with their usual strong international turnout.
One-off designs and others without the numbers to establish level
classes will be assigned to the PHRF, IMS and IRC fleets that
traditionally comprise about one-third of the turnout.
Key West 2005 sponsors are Nautica, Terra Nova Trading, RealTick,
Mount Gay Rum, B&G, Lewmar, Samson Rope Technologies, and the
Florida Keys and Key West Tourist Development Council. The Historic
Seaport is the Official Site.
Support also comes from a record number of
28 Industry Partners.
Premiere Racing is also managing the new Acura Miami Race Week 2005
("the SORC renaissance"). Race dates are March 10-13, 2005, with ocean
and Biscayne Bay racing. Many Key West entrants are planning to store
boats in Miami and FT Lauderdale and return for more great South
Florida racing.
Entry information and current list, Notice and Conditions of Race,
accommodations and much more at www.Premiere-Racing.com
KEY WEST NOTES: The 30th running of the 160-nautical mile Ft.
Lauderdale to Key West Race will start Jan. 12 and run south to the
end of the Florida Keys. The event, organized by the Storm Trysail and
Lauderdale Yacht Clubs, serves as an unofficial feeder to Key West
2005, which starts five days later. Contact Storm Trysail for more
information
www.keywestrace.org
More details about the Keys, including web cams, are available at
www.fla-keys.com
or by calling 1-800-FLA-KEYS.
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