GMC Yukon Yachting Key West
Race Week 2000
January 17 - 21, 2000
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GMC Yukon Yachting Key West |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 18, 2000
LIGHT WINDS ARE AN EARLY TEST FOR 261 BOATS AT KEY WEST RACE WEEK
--Mumm 30 Ville de St. Raphael of France is Boat of the Day
Key West, Fla. January 18, 2000 - True champions are those who excel in all conditions, and this week, some 2,500 racers competing at GMC Yukon Yachting Key West Race Week (January 17-21) are getting their chance to shine in a range of breeze. After an opening day of teen-strength wind that followed in the wake of a departing cold front, winds from the northern quadrant that never topped double-digit speeds blew for today's racing.
"Today's racing will really mix it up," said one Farr 40 crew member after reaching the docks. With a 7th today, Vincenzo Onorato's Mascalone Latino still leads the Farr 40 class (after yesterday's two races, they were tied for the lead with reigning World Champion John Kilroy of California). But with a 3-minute, 11-second margin at the finish today, George Andreadis' Atalanti IX won today's sole race to move into a close second place overall. Robbie Haines is calling tactics on this Farr 40 from Greece.
Long leads, however, were not the rule today: only 40 seconds separated the top five finishers in the Mumm 30 class. The French Mumm 30 Ville de St. Raphael (Nice, France), winner of the 26-boat Mumm 30 class, earned Boat-of-the-Day honors as the lead boat of this extremely tight pack. This French crew stands in second place, with Bodo von der Wense (Annapolis, Md.) leading the 26-boat class.
All sixteen classes sailed one race today in breeze that averaged 6 to 8 knots. A sailor in the 1D35 class, however, clocked the breeze as low as 4, and as high at 10 in the puffs. Twenty-degree shifts moved through on some legs, but the mean wind direction on all three circles remained consistent enough for all classes to have one race and one fair test to factor into their points totals.
George Collins' Santa Cruz 70 Chessie Racing may be turbo-charged for the rigors of offshore competition, but this crew handled light air around the buoys with aplomb. Collins drove most of the race, with short breaks during their 11.36-nm race from former Rolex Yachtsman Chris Larson (Annapolis, Md.). According to Larson, having a hull with a substantial LOA underneath this crew was valuable in these light conditions, and Chessie had a birds-eye view of the shifts ahead and the out-in-front position they needed to keep their air clean. Chessie leads its class after three races in PHRF-1.
Melges 24 sailor Brian Porter (Lake Geneva, Wisc.) and David Clark (Meltham, U.K.) are tied in points for the Melges 24 lead - with 46 boats, the largest class in the fleet. Porter, defending champion from 1999, has come on strong in the last two races, taking a win today to mirror their first-place finish in yesterday's final race. But in this large class, Melges sailors have an equal-opportunity chance to excel or go up in flames. "The water was the same for everyone," said Melges sailor Tony Watson on Typhoon. "It was a matter of puffs and shifts." The Typhoon crew is currently in ninth place, but, according to Watson, they are saving their best for last. "We usually wait until the third day to start our string of bullets," he said.
All classes have completed three races as they head into the third day of racing at Key West Race Week; a series of eight races is planned. Winds are expected to be light again on Wednesday, but this fleet may have a chance to test their heavy-air skills as this regatta winds to its conclusion. An approaching front is expected to reach down to this southernmost island by week's end.
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 Wednesday, January 19 and concludes Friday, January 21. Top-3 standings in each class follow; 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) 2-1-1--4
2. Scream (Annapolis, MD) 3-4-2 -- 9
3. Rima (Newport, RI) 1-5-3 - 9
CLASS B - PHRF 1 (10 Boats)
1. Chessie Racing (Gibson Island, MD) 4-1-1 - 6
2. Fatal Attraction (Norfolk, VA) 1-4-2 - 7
3. Uarshek (Annapolis, MD) 2-2-3 -- 7
CLASS C - Farr 40 (27 Boats)
1. Mascalzone Latino (Italy) 4-1-7 - 12
2. Atalanti XI (Coconut Grove, FL) 3-9-1 -- 13
3. Samba Pa Ti (Zuma Beach, CA) 2-3-9 -- 14
CLASS D - 1D35 (21 Boats)
1. Tabasco (San Diego, CA) 1-5-4 -- 10
2. Roxanne (Indian Island, NC) 3-2-5 - 10
3 Avalanche (Lake Wesley, VA) 2-3-12 - 17
CLASS E - PHRF 2 (14 Boats)
1. Ceres Group (Lake Geneva, WI) 2-2-2 -- 6
2. Speed Racer (Sarasota, FL) 3-7-1 -- 11
3. Purple Haze (Perth Amboy, NJ) 5-3-3 -- 11
CLASS F - PHRF 3 (11 Boats)
1. White Trash (Mobile, AL) 1-3-1 - 5
2. Brainstorm (Stamford, CT) 2-1-5 - 8
3. The Wall (St. Petersburg, FL) 5-2-2 -- 9
DIVISION 2
CLASS A - PHRF 4 (12 Boats)
1. Snake Eyes/T.L. Ballard (Annapolis, MD) 1-1-3--5
2. Frigate/H. Albert/R. Reedy (Mandeville, LA) 3-2-2--7
3. Abbey Normal/J. Gale (Hopetown, ABACO) 4-4-1--9
CLASS B - PHRF 5 (10 Boats)
1. Ultra Violet/D.&D. Prucnal (Pasadena, MD) 1-1-2--4
2. Nemesis/G. Longenecker (San Diego, CA) 2-2-5--9
3. Owslarah/J. Melino (Alameda, CA) 3-4-4--11
CLASS C - J/29 (13 Boats)
1. Titillation/P. Anderson (Deltaville, VA) 4-1-3--8
2. Tomahawk/B. Lockwood (Ludlow,VT) 1-4-4--9
3. Break Away/L. Bonser (Solomons, MD) 3-8-1--12
CLASS D - J/80 (12 Boats)
1. Syzyey/J. Lutz (Houston, TX) 1-1-1--3
2. Monster Lady/M. Kald (Pt. Washington, NY) 2-2-3--7
3. Kicks/D. Balfour (Austin, TX) 3-3-2--8
CLASS E - PHRF 6 (11 Boats)
1. Hustler/J.&A. Esposito (City Island, NY) 1-1-1--3
2. Savage/A. Townsley (Palisades, NY) 2-2-2--6
3. Scrambled/G. Fisher (San Diego, CA) 5-4-4--13
CLASS F - PHRF 7 (13 Boats)
1. MIR III/I. Slezic (Ont, CANADA) 2-1-1--4
2. L'Outrage/B. Gardner (Annapolis, MD) 4-3-2--9
2. Liquor Box/C.Simon/B. Buckles (Key West, FL) 3-2-6--11
CLASS G - PHRF 8 (8 Boats)
1. Rugger/J. Sampson (Detroit, MI) 1-1-1--3
2. Challenge/D. Johnson/C. Nielson (Racine, WI) 2-4-3--9
3. Fresh Kill/K. deHam (Seabrook, TX) 3-3-4--10
DIVISION 3
CLASS A - Mumm 30 (26 Boats)
1.Turbo Duck/Bodo von der Wense (Annapolis, MD) 2-8-3 -- 13
2. Ville de St. Raphael/Dick Jean Pierre (Nice, France) 14-1-1 -- 16
3.Blurr/J. Lindsay Clarkson (Cape May, NJ) 7-4-6 -- 17
CLASS B - Melges 24 (46 Boats)
1. Full Throttle/Brian Porter (Lake Geneva, WI) 8-1-1 -- 10
2. Snickers Workwear/David Clark (UK) 3-3-4 -- 10
3. Zenda Express/Harry Melges (Zenda, WI) 4-6-6 -- 16
CLASS C - J/105 (18 Boats)
1.Flame/Doane Ltd. Partnership (Naples, FL) 3-1-1 -- 5
2.Plum Crazy/Andrew Skibo (Ocean City, NJ) 1-2-2 -- 5
3.Phantom/Geoffrey Pierini (Perth Amboy, NJ) 2-3-3 -- 8
For more information Cynthia Goss: (203) 453-2731, Fax (203) 453-3026,
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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