North Sails Race Week 2002

North Sails Race Week 2002

June 28 - 30, 2002

For Immediate Release -- June 27, 2002
FAIR SAILING, RECORD NUMBERS SEEN FOR NORTH SAILS RACE WEEK

LONG BEACH, Calif.---Mix a probable record number of entries with a flock of celebrity sailors and a favorable weather forecast and you have the 18th edition of North Sails Race Week, the West Coast's largest inshore regatta.

Dennis Conner, Dave Ullman, Paul Cayard and Dee Smith will be calling tactics on some of the larger boats competing Friday, Saturday and Sunday, along with Olympic medallists Jeff Madrigali, Steve Benjamin and Ross Macdonald and America's Cup veteran Ed Baird.

The entry list---all keelboats from 20 feet up, topped by 29 J/105s---had climbed to 168 Thursday and was expected to surpass the record of 170 boats that sailed in 2000.

Conner will sail on Dale Williams' ILC 46, Wasabi, from San Francisco. Ullman, whose Melges 24 was Boat of the Week last year, will be on Brack Duker's Farr 40, Revolution. Cayard will complement the crack crew of John Kilroy's defending Farr 40 winner, Samba Pa Ti. Smith, who just finished the Volvo Ocean Race on Amer Sports One, will be on Mary Coleman's Farr 40, Astra, from San Francisco.

The three-day event will be run on three courses: one inside the Long Beach outer harbor, one outside the federal breakwater and another to the east off Seal Beach. Classes will include five PHRF and eight one-design: Farr 40, J/120, 1D35, Schock 35, J/105, J/24, Melges 24 and Santana 20.

In-class competitions will include the J/120 North American Championships, Farr 40 Pacific Coast Championships, Schock 35 Pacific Coast Championships and the J/24 Western Regionals, which is a J/24 world championships qualifier.

The J/120s, 1D35s and Schock 35s will sail two races Friday at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Other classes will sail one race Friday at 4, then two each Saturday and Sunday at 11:30 a.m., except for the J/24s and Santana 20s, which won't race Friday but will do three races Saturday and two Sunday.

Among several winners returning is Tom Carruthers, sailing Incorrigible in the largest fleet of J/105s assembled in Southern California.

"It's amazing how many good programs have come into the fleet this year," Carruthers said, citing former Schock 35 leaders Carolyn Hardy (Mischief), Dennis Case (Wings) and Ed Cummins (Bold Forbes). "They know how to make boats go. If you see me on the podium again it'll be because I got lucky."

Carruthers believes there is less difference in the boats than in the crews.

"We installed float lines this year and made all the boats sink down to the same level, which was a great equalizer," he said.

But Carruthers may have one advantage in tactics and strategy: Steve and Barney Flam. Steve, the son, is a local amateur who is in frequent demand on an international level. Barney, the father, has spent his life sailing these waters.

"Jeff Trask [of J/Boats] knew I was looking for a tactician," Carruthers said. "He called me up and said, 'This is your lucky day. Would you accept Steve Flam?'

"I said, 'Yeah, right.' He said, 'No, seriously, but there's a catch. You gotta take his dad with you.'

" 'The only guy who knows more about sailing in Long Beach than Steve? Yeah, I can take him.' I told the rest of the crew, 'All we have to do is see that the boat's going fast through the water. We have a couple of guys that'll know where to put us.' "

The marine forecast calls for an overnight curtain of fog to rise each morning, Friday through Sunday, bringing brisk sea breezes as triple-digit temperatures in Southern California's inland areas draw the cooler air from the ocean. Temperatures on the race courses are expected to be in the lows 70s.

Long Beach, by its location on the south coast of Greater Los Angeles opposite Santa Catalina Island, especially benefits from a funnel effect blowing through the San Pedro Channel that produces customary summer winds of 10 to 20 knots.

North Sails Race Week is produced by Golison & Golison. Premiere Racing, Inc., the event organizer for Terra Nova Trading Key West 2003, is co-producer for this event.

In addition to North Sails and Nautica Watches, North Sails Race Week is joined by supporters Team McLube and J/Boats. Nautica is a leading global fashion and lifestyle company with products ranging from men's, women's and children's sportswear and accessories to a complete home collection.

CONTACTS

Golison & Golison: (714) 379-4884 / fax (714) 379-3865
bruce@golison.com

Premiere Racing: (781) 639-9545
NSRW@Premiere-Racing.com

PUBLICITY
Rich Roberts
(310) 835-2526
cell phone Friday-Sunday: (310) 766-6547
richroberts@compuserve.com

Race headquarters is Room 100 of the Seaport Marina Hotel, (562) 434-8451.

For Immediate Release - June 21, 2002
NAUTICA KEEPS NORTH SAILS RACE WEEK RIGHT ON TIME

LONG BEACH, Calif.---North Sails Race Week, long known for its strong race management, will underscore that reputation when it welcomes Nautica Watches as the official watch sponsor of the 18th annual inshore regatta June 28-30.

Bruce Golison, co-event director, said races on all three courses will be started and finished with the new NS-83 Class watches.

"We are excited to use the Nautica NS-83 Class watch as our official timekeeper," Golison said. "Its functionality will be a wonderful asset to our race managers."

The new watch has the ability to track up to three boats simultaneously. Its features include an alarm, digital display of date and time in two time zones, plus an additional time zone in analog, a countdown feature with four timers and beepers for racing. It will be sold at retail beginning this summer.

The three-day event will be run inside the Long Beach outer harbor and on courses set outside the federal breakwater. Classes will include several PHRF groups and one-design classes Farr 40, J/120, J/105, J/24, Melges 24, 1D35, Schock 35 and Santana 20.

The event also will feature the J/120 North American Championships, Farr 40 Pacific Coast Championships, Schock 35 Pacific Coast Championships and the J/24 Western Regionals, which is a J/24 world championships qualifier.

The J/105s currently form the largest one-design class with 29 boats, led by defending champion Tom Carruthers' Incorrigible with local legend Steve Flam as tactician.

The Farr 40s also come with a boatload of celebrity sailors. Class rules require owners to drive, but they'll be backed up tactically by professionals such as Paul Cayard on John Kilroy's defending champion Samba Pa Ti, Mark Reynolds on Brack Duker's Revolution, Ross Macdonald on Deneen Demourkas' Groovederci and Ed Baird on Peter Stoneberg's Shadow.

North Sails Race Week is produced by Golison & Golison. Premiere Racing, Inc., the event organizer for Terra Nova Trading Key West 2003, is co-producer for this event.

In addition to North Sails and Nautica Watches, North Sails Race Week is joined by supporters Team McLube and J/Boats. Nautica is a leading global fashion and lifestyle company with products ranging from men's, women's and children's sportswear and accessories to a complete home collection.

All current regatta information, including the Official Notice and Conditions of Race, an entry list and past results, is available online at www.Premiere-Racing.com. The NOR contains a schedule of racing and shoreside events.

FIVE DEFENDING CHAMPS AMONG FIRST ENTRIES FOR 2002

LONG BEACH, Calif.---Five defending champions and the event's "cover model" are among an initial flood of 41 entries for the 18th North Sails Race Week June 28-30 as the timer counts down to May 31, the deadline for avoiding late entry fees.

For the West Coast's largest inshore regatta, this year's total entries are projected to surpass the record of 170 boats. The three-day event will be run in the Long Beach outer harbor and on courses set outside the federal breakwater. Classes will include PHRF, one-design classes Farr 40, J/120, J/105, J/24, Melges 24, 1D35, Schock 35 and Santana 20, as well as Corsair trimarans.

Class winners already committed to returning from their 2001 successes are John Kilroy's Farr 40, Samba Pa Ti, from California Yacht Club; John Wylie's 1D35, Tabasco, San Diego YC; Tom Carruthers' J/105, Incorrigible, San Diego YC; Chris Winnard's Santana 20, Altitude Sickness, Southwestern YC, and Aaron and Dixon Hall's B-15, Blur, in PHRF-5.

Also, there is veteran Long Beach campaigner Mike Campbell, whose Transpac 52, Victoria 5, is featured on the cover of the 2002 event's Official Notice and Conditions of Race. Victoria 5 was eight seconds shy of correcting out on Dennis Conner's Reichel/Pugh 50, Stars & Stripes, in last year's final race in PHRF-1 class. That gave Conner the victory on a tiebreaker.

"Oh, well," Campbell said this week. "You win some, you lose some."

But he loves his boat and the event. "It's as well run an event as you're gonna sail in, [and] it's a wonderful boat. They're fun to sail. They're pretty quick."

There aren't yet enough Transpac 52s to form a class, so his competition will include a PHRF mix of boats of similar size.

"They adjust the handicaps and some people will complain, and some won't," Campbell said. "Whatever, I think we're rated fairly. We weren't rated unfavorably last year. We can sail to our rating. We have pretty good guys on those boats. They should sail pretty well."

This year's event also will feature the J/120 North American Championships, Farr 40 Pacific Coast Championships, Schock 35 Pacific Coast Championships and the J/24 Western Regionals, which is a J/24 world championships qualifier.

North Sails Race Week is produced by Golison & Golison. Premiere Racing, Inc., the event organizer for Terra Nova Trading Key West 2003, is co-producer for this event.

In addition to North Sails, Race Week is joined by returning supporters Team McLube and Nautica Watches, the official timekeeper.

All current regatta information, including the Official Notice and Conditions of Race, an entry list and past results, is available online at www.Premiere-Racing.com. The NOR contains a schedule of racing and shoreside events. It also may be obtained by contacting Golison & Golison.

May 1, 2002 For Immediate Release

IT'S TIME TO PRIME FOR 18TH NORTH SAILS RACE WEEK
Notice and Conditions of Race Available

LONG BEACH, Calif.---The Official Notice and Conditions of Race magazine for North Sails Race Week 2002 is available for upwards of 170 entries planning to participate in the 18th year of the West Coast's largest inshore regatta.

The NOR contains a schedule of racing and shoreside events and other important event information. It may be obtained online at www.Premiere-Racing.com or by contacting Golison & Golison at bruce@golison.com.

The three-day event is scheduled June 28-30 in the Long Beach outer harbor and on courses set outside the federal breakwater. North Sails Race Week is produced by Golison & Golison. Premiere Racing, Inc., the event organizer for Terra Nova Trading Key West Race Week, is a co-producer for this event.

Longtime title sponsor North Sails, the world's largest producer of racing sails, is back again to help make North Sails Race Week possible.

North Sails President Gary Weisman said, "We are once again excited to be working with the fantastic team of the Golisons and Premiere Racing. The event stands for the same principles we do, which are to provide the highest quality of racing."

North's all-star panel of racing sailors will again present a free seminar on trimming and tactics before the opening day's racing. All shoreside activities, including post-race socializing with food and refreshments, will be based at the Seaport Marina Hotel, which offers discount lodging to competitors.

The regatta is traditionally blessed by brisk sea breezes blowing through the San Pedro Channel between Santa Catalina Island and the mainland. The conditions have been irresistible for as many as 170 boats from the western states and beyond, competing in more than a dozen one-design and handicap classes.

Lead organizer Bruce Golison said, "Early indications are that we could have our largest entry list ever. We received several applications even before the NOR was ready."

Classes will include PHRF, one-design classes Farr 40, J/120, J/105, J/24, Melges 24, 1D35, Schock 35 and Santana 20, as well as Corsair Trimarans.

Along with ideal sailing conditions, NSRW has pioneered systems of alternative penalties and protest arbitration that have spread worldwide, allowing competitors to avoid the time-consuming and often painful process of protest hearings.

The level of competition and race management is such that several classes use the regatta as a stage for their own championships within the event. This year's event will feature the J/120 North American Championships, Farr 40 Pacific Coast Championships, Schock 35 Pacific Coast Championships and the J/24 Western Regionals, which is a J/24 world championships qualifier.

In addition to North Sails, Race Week is joined by returning supporters Team McLube and
Nautica Watches, the official timekeeper.

All current regatta information and past results are available online at www.Premiere-Racing.com.

CONTACTS
Golison & Golison: (714) 379-4884 / fax (714) 379-3865
bruce@golison.com

Premiere Racing: (781) 639-9545
NSRW@Premiere-Racing.com

PUBLICITY
Rich Roberts
(310) 835-2526
richroberts@compuserve.com