GMC Yukon Yachting Key West
Race Week 2000
January 17 - 21, 2000
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GMC Yukon Yachting Key West |
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Fleet of 261 Boats Prepare for Start of Key West Race Week Cynthia Goss: (203) 453-2731, Fax (203) 453-3026,
--Sailors Prep in 20-Plus Knots for GMC Yukon Yachting Event
Key West, Fla. (January 16, 2000) - The arrival of international sailboat racers on this southernmost
island of Key West coincided with the onset of a cold front. But the cooler climate was no disappointment for this fleet from 12 nations: The front brought northerly winds in excess of 20 knots
that provided two rigorous days of practice on the eve of GMC Yukon Yachting Key West Race Week.
Racing begins Monday, January 17 in 16 classes in IMS, one-design, and PHRF classes.
Few boats spared gear or crews today, as they pushed hard in a final day of practice to prepare for five days of racing that concludes on Friday, January 21. But those who pushed hardest paid the price:
there are blown-out chutes, broken spinnaker poles, lifelines to be fixed, and bruises to recover from before racers hit the starting line for the first scheduled race, at 10 AM tomorrow.
Sparring partners Chessie Racing (ex-Pyewacket) and Equation, both Santa Cruz 70s, expect an interesting battle in PHRF 1. Chessie, a West Coat record-breaker now owned by George Collins
(Gibson Island, Md.), is turbo-charged for offshore racing; but this crew - with America's Cup sailor Chris Larson in the afterguard and Whitbread veterans running the front and middle of the boat - will go up
against Bill Alcott's Equation (Detroit, Mich.), a regular in the Great Lakes 70 fleet with plenty of round-the-buoys time under her keel. (Chessie owes Equation nine seconds a mile.)
Vicky Joe Neiner's J/80 Thrown Together (Perth Amboy, N.J.) had some quick sleighrides today. "We were flying today, surfing downwind. We did not have our GPS on, but we were moving in the teens,"
said an enthused Neiner, fresh from a successful practice run before she begins racing in this 12-boat one-design class.
Big one-design fleets have become a hallmark of Race Week, with 46 Melges 24 forming the largest
crowd on the start line tomorrow. Among the 27-boat Farr 40 class are competitors from five nations, many of whom have come to Key West to gauge their performance against reigning World Champion
John Kilroy and the crew on Samba Pa Ti (Zuma Beach, Calif.).
A new Farr 52 One Design, owned by Geoff and Mary Stagg (Annapolis, Md.), makes her debut at Race
Week. Called Scream - with a rendition of the Edvard Munch painting and the words "blame everyone, admit nothing, and be bitter" on the stern - goes up against the Irvine Laidlaw's CM 60 Highland Fling
(Isle of Man, U.K.) and a group of IMS racers tomorrow in Scream's first regatta of her career.
Strong speed runs today gave many crews here an injection of confidence as they head into what will be
their toughest competition of the season tomorrow. But all crews hope their pace continues on Monday, when performance counts for early points in this five-day series.
By Monday, the fourth day of this cold front, the breeze is expected to soften from the wild rides it produced today. "Hopefully, there will be a little less wind than today," said Jerry Carney (Pearlington,
Miss.), owner of J/120 Mad Max, "but it has to blow some, or we won't win."
Title sponsor GMC Yukon and event founder Yachting Magazine are joined this year by event sponsors
and suppliers Boatscape.com, The Florida Keys & Key West, Mount Gay Rum, Lewmar Marine, Champagne Mumm, Grand Banks Yachts, The Historic Seaport, Samuel Adams, Fiji Natural Artesian
Water, Saucony, Kenwood Cup, Historic Seaport, and the Ocean Key.
Race Week is produced by Premiere Racing of Marblehead (Mass.). Competition begins Monday,
January 17 and concludes Friday, January 21. Fleet results and feature reports will be posted on www.Premiere-Racing.com.
For more information
Cynthia Goss, Press Center
Telephone: (305) 295-6373
Email: CynthiaGoss@compuserve.com
Website: www.Premiere-Racing.com
For more information
Peter Craig: (781) 639-9545, Fax (781) 639-9171, PremiereRacing@compuserve.com
NOTE: To follow hometown sailors from your area, please contact Cynthia Goss at the numbers above until January 13. As of January 13, contact the Race Week Press Center at 305-295-6373 (telephone) or 305-295-9254 (fax).
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