January 17, 2000

MODERATE WINDS, SLIM LEADS AT OPENING DAY OF KEY WEST RACE WEEK

--Farr 40 Mascalzone Latino Wins Boat-of-the-Day Honors

Key West, Fla. (January 17, 2000) - Two Farr 40s have brought a rivalry that began last summer at the Farr 40 Worlds in San Francisco to the opposite corner of the United States. On the opening day of GMC Yukon Yachting Key West Race Week (January 17-21), John Kilroy's Samba Pa Ti (Zuma Beach, Calif.) and Vincenzo Onorato's Mascalzone Latino of Italy are tied in points in the Farr 40 class after two races. Kilroy edged Onorato out for a Worlds win this past summer, but Key West Race Week may be a payback opportunity for Onorato's well-honed crew from Itlay.

Kilroy's finishes of 3-2 today match Onorato's of 4-1 for 5 points each as the 27-boat Farr 40 class enters the second day of racing. Onorato earned Boat of the Day honors today, a determination based on a formula that factors time and points differential, with a weighting factor for class size.

It was a "Chamber of Commerce day," said Event Director Peter Craig of today's sun and 12- to 17-knot breeze. A cold front that hung over the island on the eve of Race Week -- bringing chilly climate and northerly breeze in excess of 20 knots -- faded today, bringing moderate winds to this 261-boat fleet from 12 nations.

John Wylie, the San Diego-based skipper of the One Design 35 (1D 35) Tabasco, summed the day up: "It was a blast out there today, the conditions were perfect. Getting off the line with speed and then finding a clear lane immediately were so important." Wylie's tactician, Rick Merriman, did a nice job managing his starts as Tabasco jumped out to a fast 1-6 today, winning the first race by a single second over Virginia-based rival Avalanche, skippered by Sledd Shelhorse. The first six boats in this 21-boat class finished within a minute of each other in the first race.

After two races, Kip Meadows' 1D35 Roxanne (Indian Island, NC) leads the 1D35 class.

Opening day for the nine boat IMS-1 class was a pitched battle with CM 60 sisterships Highland Fling and Rima ending the day standing 1-2 respectively in the point scores. Geoff and Mary Stagg's Farr One Design 52 Scream, a new design launched about ten days before Race Week opened, is in third after taking a 3-4 in the opening two races of her career. Highland Fling, owned by Irvine Laidlaw, is defending her win as 1999 Boat of the Week winner.

Another just-splashed design making a debut in Key West is Melges 32 Ceres Group, owned by Mike Nauert of (Lake Geneva, Wisc.). America's Cup veteran Buddy Melges lead his crew on this Reichel/Pugh design to an early lead in its 14-boat PHRF class. "I'd say we were victorious no matter how we finished," said crewmember Hans Melges, "because we had a good time - and we sailed very fast."

Andrew Skibo's J/105 Plum Crazy (Ocean City, N.J.) took a 1-2 in opening day sailing in the 18-boat J/105 class. But Skibo's beginnings may not be as strong as they sound: this East Coast entry will begin the second day of racing with a slim one-point lead over the Naples, Fla.-based, Flame.

A panel of experts who gave a presentation on Sunday night on Race Week tactics advised taking a conservative approach in this competitive fleet on the opening day of racing. That theme carried out through much of the fleet, as Peter Craig, PRO on the Division I circle, noted. In Race 1, the Division I Race Committee did not have to break out their X Flag during the start of the first race. Starters in Race 2, however, were more aggressive - a telltale sign of lethal battles to come. "Some of these classes will be a dogfight to the very end," said Craig.

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 continues on Tuesday, January 18 and concludes Friday, January 21.

Top-3 finishers in each class are below; 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

DIVISION I

CLASS A - IMS (9 Boats)

1. Highland Fling (Isle of Man, England) 2-1--3

2. Rima (Newport, RI) 1-5 - 7

3. Scream (Annapolis, MD) 3-4 -- 7

CLASS B - PHRF 1 (10 Boats)

1. Uarshek (Annapolis, MD) 2-2 -- 4

2. Chessie Racing (Gibson Island, MD) 4-1 - 5

3. Fatal Attraction (Norfolk, VA) 1-4 - 5

CLASS C - Farr 40 (27 Boats)

1. Mascalzone Latino (Italy) 4-1 -- 5

2. Samba Pa Ti (Zuma Beach, CA) 2-3 -- 5

3. Barking Mad (Newport, RI) 6-2 -- 8

CLASS D - 1D35 (21 Boats)

1. Roxanne (Indian Island, NC) 3-2 -- 5

2. Avalanche (Lake Wesley, VA) 2-3 -- 5

3. Tabasco (San Diego, CA) 1-5 -- 6

CLASS E - PHRF 2 (14 Boats)

1. Ceres Group (Lake Geneva, WI) 2-2 -- 4

2. New Wave (Clearwater, FL) 6-1 -- 7

3. Purple Haze (Perth Amboy, NJ) 5-3 -- 8

CLASS F - PHRF 3 (11 Boats)

1. The Wall (St. Petersburg, FL) 3-2 -- 5

2. Awesome (Pensacola, FL), 1-5 -- 6

3. Pamlico (Charleston, SC), 2-9 -- 11

DIVISION 2

CLASS A - PHRF 4 (12 Boats)

1. Snake Eyes/T.L. Ballard (Annapolis, MD) 1-1--2

2. Frigate/H. Albert/R. Reedy (Mandeville, LA) 3-2--5

3. Ragamuffin/R. Harris (New Orleans, LA) 2-3--5

CLASS B - PHRF 5 (10 Boats)

1. Ultra Violet/D.&D. Prucnal (Pasadena, MD) 1-1--2

2. Nemesis/G. Longenecker (San Diego, CA) 2-2--4

3. Owslarah/J. Melino (Alameda, CA) 3-4--7

CLASS C - J/29 (13 Boats)

1. Titillation/P. Anderson (Deltaville, VA) 4-1--5

2. Tomahawk/B. Lockwood (Ludlow,VT) 1-4--5

3. Killshot/B. Wardwell (Deltaville, VA) 5-2--7

CLASS D - J/80 (12 Boats)

1. Syzyey/J. Lutz (Houston, TX) 1-1--2

2. Monster Lady/M. Kald (Pt. Washington, NY) 2-2--4

3. Kicks/D. Balfour (Austin, TX) 3-3--6

CLASS E - PHRF 6 (11 Boats)

1. Hustler/J.&A. Esposito (City Island, NY) 1-1--2

2. Savage/A. Townsley (Palisades, NY) 2-2--4

3. Night Nurse/S. Davis (Key West, FL) 3-5--8

CLASS F - PHRF 7 (13 Boats)

1. MIR III/I. Slezic (Ont, CANADA) 2-1--3

2. Liquor Box/C.Simon/B. Buckles (Key West, FL) 3-2--5

3. L'Outrage/B. Gardner (Annapolis, MD) 4-3--7

CLASS G - PHRF 8 (8 Boats)

1. Rugger/J. Sampson (Detroit, MI) 1-1--2

2. Rhumblefish/P. Fischel (Miami, FL) 4-2--6

DIVISION 3

CLASS A - Mumm 30 (26 Boats)

1.Trouble/Phil Garland (Barrington, RI) 3-5 -- 8

2.Turbo Duck/Bodo von der Wense (Annapolis, MD 2-8 -- 10

3.Blurr/J. Lindsay Clarkson (Cape May, NJ) 7-4 -- 11

CLASS B - Melges 24 (46 Boats)

1.Snickers Workwear/David Clark (UK) 3-3 -- 6

2.Full Throttle/Brian Porter (Lake Geneva, WI) 6-1 -- 7

3.RockN'Roll/Argyle Campbell (Newport Beach, CA) 2-6 -- 8

CLASS C - J/105 (18 Boats)

1.Plum Crazy/Andrew Skibo (Ocean City, NJ) 1-2 -- 3

2.Flame/Doane Ltd. Partnership (Naples, FL) 3-1 -- 4

3.Phanton/Geoffrey Pierini (Perth Amboy, NJ) 2-3 -- 5