GMC  Yukon Yachting Key West  Race  Week 2000 January  17 - 21, 2000

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FOR IMMEDIATE  RELEASE

December  10, 1999

 International  Racers Open 2000 Season at Key West

--240  boats commit to compete five weeks prior to regatta

 MARBLEHEAD,  Mass. (December 10, 1999) — Former Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Dave Ullman  may be racing on the other side of the world. But he remembers GMC Yukon  Yachting Key West Race Week—the annual big-boat regatta held off Key West,  Florida, each January—as, "the best of everything" in terms of venue,  organization, and weather conditions. He's not alone in that opinion.

Five  weeks before the 13^th annual Key West event (January 17-21) begins,  240 boats from 13 nations have plans to be on the starting line of this North  American regatta that has become a sailor's mecca. Entries will be accepted  until December 17th.

Warm sunshine in January is a nice  bonus, but racers come to Key West to make their mark in a global fleet that  defines the leading edge of the sport. At week's end, one boat will be crowned  the overall winner by capturing the prestigious Yachting Magazine Trophy.

"In 1999, Race Week hit its  fourth record fleet in five years," says Event Director Peter Craig.  "But the numbers are never the big story in Key West. What makes Race  Week interesting is its position as the first major event of the season. There  are always new boats, new campaigns and technology, a new mix of afterguard  players: This is the regatta where the stories of the season emerge." 

• One-design  fleets have burgeoned to new levels: The 28-boat Farr 40 division is the  largest fleet this class has yet seen. Farr 40 World Champions from 1998  and 1999—Jim Richardson (Boston, Mass.) and John Kilroy, Jr. (Malibu,  Calif.), respectively—will be on the starting line. Owner-drivers are  the rule and tacticians are world-class: Bouwe Bekking, Vince Brun, Steve  Benjamin, Robbie Haines, and Jeff Madrigali. This will be a true  multinational fleet—with entries from Brazil, Canada, Greece, Italy,  Japan, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States—for the stakes  in this fleet recently acquired new weight. The Farr 40 was selected as  the 'small boat' for the Champagne Mumm Admiral's Cup: Key West will  be a major stage to see where CMAC aspirations will surface.
• After  the 1999 Worlds in England, the Mumm 30 class moves its 2000 Worlds to  this side of the Atlantic: With entries from the U.S. France, Italy, and  the U.K., the Key West fleet includes those who play on the world stage.  But, as current World Champion Ed Collins says, "Everyone will be  stepping their programs up this year, in preparation for the 2000  Worlds." The current count of 24 boats is likely to reach 30. Collins,  top-10 1999 Worlds finisher Kismet of Italy, owned by Massimo Leporati; and 1999 North American champion Trouble will be among the ranks.  
• Irvine  Laidlaw's CM 60 Highland Fling,  1999 Yachting Magazine Trophy winner, that sails from the Isle of Man  (U.K.), will defend its 1999 fleet win in an IMS class that will include  sistership CM 60 Rima, the  just-launched Farr 52 OD campaigned by Geoff and Mary Stagg, George David's N/M 50  Admiral's Cupper Idler, and  others ranging from 43 to 60 feet LOA.  
• Based  on current entries, seven defending class champions are returning from Race  Week 1999. But in Key West, past crowns don't translate to a leading edge.  "Racing at Key West is not defending last year's win," said 1999  One Design 35 (1D35) winner Pete du Pont (Rockland, Del.). "It's  starting over again." 1D35 skippers wipe the slate clean to begin their  six-event 2000 Season Championship in Key West; 1999 Season Champion Kip  Meadows (Rocky Mount, N.C.) and roXanne are a crew to look for on the frontlines. Twenty-one  1D35s are currently entered.
• Returning  J/105 winner Bob Swirbalus (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and his crew on Phenix  know that the J/105 competition, "will be tougher this  year." This class has more than doubled in size from its 1999 fleet, and  those who lack consistency will pay a high price, expects Swirbalus. The  18-boat fleet will have players from the East and West coats, Great Lakes,  Canada, and the U.K. Two-time North American champion Bob Taylor (New  Milford, Conn.) will race as part of the crew on Wet Leopard.
• The  PHRF ranks have a steady core of players who return each year to Key West.  But this January, some new designs will appear on the PHRF startling lines.  Look for sailing legend Buddy Melges on the Melges 32, a speed modification  of the Melges 30. Schock 40 Cincos owned by Californian Mike Campbell, a design developed  from the twin-foil, canting-keel prototype Red Hornet , makes her East Coast debut at Race Week. Race Week  veteran Bill Allcott returns after a one-year hiatus, this time with his  sled Equation, which will do  battle with George Collins' record-setting Chessie Racing (ex-Pyewacket).  WOW—winner of the 1999 Key West Trophy, which  recognized the top PHRF Boat of the Week—arrives this year with a  proven pedigree and a new skipper, Peter Davidson (Rochester, N.Y.). The  J/29s will have their own class with a slight six-second-a-mile adjustment  for masthead/fractional, inboard/outboard configurations. Three other  one-designs classes that come with numbers, but perhaps not enough for their  own start are the Henderson 30, Tarten 10 and Antrim 27. These boats will  likely compete in the PHRF ranks but receive their own class trophies. The  J/80s are expected to have their own class, for the third year in a row.     
• The  Melges 24 class again promises to be the largest at Race Week, with four of  the top-five finishers from last year returning. Class winner Brian Porter  (Winnetka, Ill.), second-place Scott Elliott (Charlotte, N.C.) and Dave  Chapin entered the eighth and final race of Race Week 99 tied in points.  Porter edged Elliott out in the final standings: In January things could be  different. Although two-time World Champion Vince Brun will be racing on a  Farr 40, Argyle Campbell (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Harry Melges (Zenda,  Wisc.) round out the top-five players returning to Key West for a shot at  the Melges 24 class title.  With  the class' 2000 Worlds in La Rochelle (France), a contingent of French  Melges sailors will compete in one of the toughest classes at Race Week.

Cynthia Goss: (203) 453-2731, Fax (203) 453-3026,  CynthiaGoss@compuserve.com

Peter Craig: (781) 639-9545, Fax (781) 639-9171,  PremiereRacing@compuserve.com

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