14 minute read
season champions, pt. I
Like a timid puppy visiting Ocean Beach for the fi rst time, we're gingerly dipping our toes into the boisterous waters of the San Francisco Bay Area's 2017 fleet championships. Like that hesitant pup, we don't want to get in over our heads the fi rst time out. So, while the fall racing season is still winding down, we'll start with a handful of one-designs whose classes wrapped up early enough for us to — safely — make it to press with our November issue. We'll let the momentum build like an approaching set of tasty waves with the December and January issues. November's dip in the waves takes us on visits to fl eets large and small — both in terms of boat size and fl eet membership — and designs old and new, starting with the newest.
Pac52 — BadPak Tom Holthus, SDYC Six Pac52s burst upon the California sailing scene with panache, vigor and alacrity in 2017. Four of them competed in all five scheduled regattas, which ranged geographically from San Diego's Yachting Cup in May, to the One Design Offshore Championship in Newport Beach and Long Beach Race Week in June, to San Francisco for the Rolex Big Boat Series and the Pac52 Cup in September. When racing concluded on October 1, Tom Holthus's bright blue BadPak topped the leaderboard. "Consistency in the team was huge — we pretty much had the same crew for all fi ve regattas with just minor tweaks along the way," said Holthus, who sailed with 15 to 16 crew aboard. "With the same team we found that communication and expectations were improved after each race."
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BadPak's tactician was Bruce Nelson; pit and boat manager was Matt Smith; bow, Brent Ruhne; mid-bow, Cody Schlub; headsail trimmers, John Hayes and Jon Gardner; mainsail, Matt Reynolds; runners, Brad Rodi; grinders, Dylan Staniec, Romeo Villarreal and Tom Parry; navigator, Artie Means; "and my son Kelly was a nipper. We would bring in one or two guys to help us on the local knowledge," added Holthus. On San Francisco Bay, Norman Davant, was that guy. "I was involved with the original startup of the class, having been the project manager for Invisible Hand through the build and launch," Davant explained. He said that the tactics are "nothing any different than one-design tactics, they just happen to be 52-ft one-design boats." "We still have a long way to go," admit-
SPREAD AND INSET ERIK SIMONSON / WWW.PRESSURE-DROP.US
Tom Holthus
ted Holthus. "Beau Geste and Gladiator came in late in the series and showed that they are highly competitive. We will need to get the boat moving faster and crew work done without mistakes. I also think the Hand, Rio and Fox will be working hard in the off-season to improve. Now is not the time to be complacent. It will take a lot of hard work to repeat." The boat was delivered from New Zealand and arrived in San Diego on April 1. Holthus's prior boat was a Reichel/ Pugh STP65. "It was a fun boat to sail, but I am certainly enjoying this boat. Mick Cookson built a fast boat; we are just trying to sail BadPak to the max." Holthus has enjoyed working with the group of owners during the inaugural year of the class. "Everyone wants to keep the playing fi eld level and not create an arms war so it gets too expensive to keep up. We think more owners will jump into the class for next year, as the boat is very exciting to race." "The class has turned out to be everything we had hoped it would be," said Norman Davant, "the best big-boat racing we have seen on the West Coast
'BadPak' charges back into S.F. Bay from Point Diablo in the Pac52 Cup on October 1.
in a long time." See www.pac52class.org.
1) BadPak, 85 points; 2) Invisible Hand, Frank Slootman, Tahoe YC, 94 points; 3) Beau Geste, Karl Kwok, Royal Hong Kong YC, 120. (6 boats)
Barry Lewis
J/120 — Chance Barry Lewis, StFYC This was the 16th year of one-design racing for J/120 Fleet 5. In 2017, the fl eet championship consisted of 22 races with just three throwouts in J/Fest,
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY THE WINNERS EXCEPT AS NOTED
June Invitational, Summer Keelboat and Rolex Big Boat Series. "Our keys to success seem to be the same year to year," said Barry Lewis, skipper of the victorious Chance. "That would include great boat and sail preparation and winning tactics, but, most importantly, excellent seasoned crew members. "Over 16 years we have maintained almost the same crew of 10 year in and year out. We have lost a few crew to moves across the country (or out of the country), but we even manage to get them back for key regattas every year. With that sort of longevity, everyone knows their job (and everyone else's job) and they are uniquely prepared to get everything right, whether it comes to key maneuvers like getting the big kite up and down, or to getting the rig and the sails dialed in just right for the conditions (and keeping them dialed in). As a result, we almost always make the fewest mistakes on the racecourse." Crewing aboard Chance are: tactics, Seamus Wilmot, John Wimer and Doug Nugent; main, Scott Kozinchik; jib/spinnaker trim, Michael Redmond, Christian DiCarlo and Matt Gingo; pit, Anne Alward; mast, Aaron Elder; midbow, Wood Banthin, Jamal Berkeley and Matt Borasi; and bow, David Krausz and Brian Murdock. Barry Lewis and the Chance gang also won the J/120 season in 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, making them not only the winningest Fleet 5 crew, but also, possibly — dare we say it — the winningest Bay Area one-design team in modern times. This year Chance supplemented the J/120 season by participating in the Spinnaker Cup over Memorial Day Weekend. "It is absolutely the most fun and beautiful ocean race there is," said Lewis, "beginning with the view going out the Gate and down our amazing coast, with the incredible population of humpback whales. And crossing Monterey Bay in 25 knots with boatspeeds of 15-22 knots, surfi ng down waves at night with the entire Bay lit up — nothing like it. Oh, and we did beat the other J/120s in the race." Fleet 5's website, www.sf-j120.com, hasn't been updated in a while.
1) Chance, 27 points; 2) Peregrine, David Halliwill, SFYC, 38; 3) Mr. Magoo, Steve Madeira, StFYC, 44. (5 boats)
Kristin and Ryan Simmons
J/105 — Blackhawk Ryan Simmons, SFYC With 30 boats participating in their championship season, the '90s-era J/105 Fleet 1 remains one of the most robust one-design keelboat classes in Northern California. "This year was a new challenge for Blackhawk," reports Ryan Simmons, who also won the J/105 season in 2014 and 2015, and before that as crew for his dad Scooter. "We have had a very steady crew for the past three years, and this year we turned over half of the crew. Although all members of the crew have sailed together throughout the years, it still takes time to learn the dance steps and come together as a team. "We went into the fi nal race of the fi rst three regattas with a shot at fi rst, but came up short with the regatta on the line. As the year went on we continued working to improve and were able to consistently fi nish in the top four of each race. The middle of the season had three regattas in fi ve weekends; we were sailing really well during that time and were able to post a lot of low numbers and avoid any throwouts." Their best regatta of the year was the Phyllis Kleinman Swiftsure, hosted by StFYC on August 19-20. "It was our fi nal tune-up leading into Big Boat Series, and we fi nished fi ve races with 9 points. The regatta ended with a race from Alcatraz out to Point Bonita, fi nishing off the StFYC race deck. After a two-hour race we fi nished overlapped and lost fi rst place by less than half the length of a spinnaker pole." The Blackhawk crew experienced some unwelcome excitement. "During a stormy regatta in the spring, our outhaul partially broke and the clew of the main slipped 18 inches down the boom. We were not surprised to be as slow as we were upwind, but we were completely unprepared for the power downwind. Our attempt to jibe led to one of the more impressive wipeouts we have been a part of in the J/105, and we only avoided a bow-to-bow collision by the exceptional seamanship of our fl eet. "We also had to haul the boat to fi x a failed port-starboard duck, and I managed to hit a shipping channel mark, unprovoked." The class sailed 46 races, with 11 throwouts, in 2017. Regattas counting toward the season championship were StFYC's Spring One Design, J/Fest, SFYC's Resin Regatta, the J/105 Series Stopover at StFYC, the June Invitational at SFYC, the Sausalito One Design Invitational, SFYC's Summer Keelboat, the Phyllis Kleinman Swiftsure and the Rolex Big Boat Series. We wondered if crew and gear fatigue became a factor toward the end of such a heavy schedule. "We have a very talented and deep team that are a part of the Blackhawk program," explained Simmons. "Lindsay Browne makes sure we leave the dock with all the tools necessary to succeed and helps repair everything we manage to break. Of course, we deal with mechanical failures and breakdowns throughout the year, as do all boats, but experience and creativity keep us on the starting line. As for the crew, we have so much fun sailing and racing that we can't wait to get back at it! I am sure the crew's lower backs would disagree with me, especially after an upwind leg in ebb, but Blackhawk is all about having fun, not complaining." Not complaining this year were Brent Draney, John Claude, Will Lowe, Nick Dugdale, Jon Rosen and Jessica Chase, with guest appearances from Rebecca Hinden, Scott Davidson, Carol Klammer,
Tom Paulling and Jeff Draney. Looking forward to 2018, Simmons said, "We are so excited to get our rock star, Kristin Simmons, back on the boat! It's the fi rst question I get at the dock: 'Where's Kristin?'" See www.sfj105.org.
1) Blackhawk, 82 points; 2) Arbitrage, Bruce Stone, StFYC, 94; 3) Godot, Phillip Laby, NoYC, 120. (30 boats)
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Santana 22 — Alegre
Chris Klein, RYC The oldest, and smallest, design we're profi ling in this month's edition is the Santana 22. "After 15 races and six throwouts, all that was left for Chris Klein were bullets," reports the Bay Area fl eet's cocaptain, Deb Fehr, who sails Meliki. "His score was 9. He dominated the fl eet this year!" Scott Rovanpera and John Paulling sailed with Klein. "All three of us on the
crew are experienced skippers with manymany-many years (combined about 120 years) of racing on San Francisco Bay," explained Chris Klein, the skipper of Richmond-based Alegre. "We're dinghy sailors fi rst but have a lot of keelboat racing experience too (from as far back as 1975 in MORA and YRA on the Bay and ocean). I grew up at RYC and my dad was the Big Daddy." The late Bob
Klein was called 'Big Daddy' because he so often took kids sailing; the Big Daddy Regatta is named after him. "With us each being skippers, I can concentrate on driving while the others do the tactics," added Chris. "This way
John Paulling, Chris Klein and Scott Rovanpera 'Chance' during the Rolex Big Boat Series.
the boat keeps on track, going fast. "We also take our sport very seriously. We do everything we can to the boat to make it fast and we try not to be 'stupid' on the racecourse. The last YRA CBRA race day at St. Francis was Chris's favorite of the year. "We had the three leading Santana 22s going down the Cityfront as close to shore as possible to get out of the ebb — three-abreast and close enough to pass the Grey Poupon." The Santana 22 was designed by Gary Mull and built by W.D. Schock starting in 1966. More than 800 have been built, and the design endures as an affordable vessel that holds up to the pounding that San Francisco Bay can dish out. "The second morning of the Santana 22 Nationals was pretty windy. In those conditions even the sturdy Santana 22 gets exciting." Encinal YC hosted the Nationals off Treasure Island in July. Klein has owned Alegre for 17 years. "I traded in my 5O5 (of nine years) for a family cruising boat to teach my girls the love of sailing. They enjoyed it but had other interests. Since I've always raced, I slowly started to convert Alegre from a cruising S22 to a racing one. First she got a trailer; then I removed the 35 years of bottom paint and got good sails." Looking forward to 2018, Klein comments: "My only suggestion is to make sure the YRA race committees are aware
that the little Santana 22s like long races (one hour each) too. The races we were given at the fi rst YRA regatta were only 20 minutes long. We felt short-changed." This year's championship series consisted of BYC's Wheeler Regatta, YRA Series #1, #2 and #4, the Nationals, and CBRA #6. See www.santana22.org.
1) Alegre, 9 points. 2) Albacore, Mike Quinn, RYC, 17 points; 3) Meliki, Deb Fehr, EYC, 28. (15 boats)
Express 37, Expeditious
Bartz Schneider, SFYC/StFYC Bartz Schneider of Crystal Bay, Nevada, cites "Skilled and consistent crew, great sails, thorough preparation, and the absence of Kame on Golden Moon," as factors that returned his Expeditious to the top of the Express 37 fl eet in 2017. (Sailmaker Kame Richards, who won the season championship in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016, sat out 2017 with a bum knee.) Schneider bought the current Expeditious in 1995. "Before that, I owned an Express 34, also Expeditious, from new in 1987. I believe the current Expeditious was built in 1983. It had an illustrious racing history as Blitz with owner George Neal." The Express 37s sailed 14 races for their Season Championship, with three throwouts. Regattas that counted toward points were RYC's Big Daddy, BYC's Rollo Wheeler, both days of the YRA Great Vallejo Race, the YRA Series Olympic Circle race, the YRA Second Half Opener and SFYC's Summer Keel. "My favorite regatta, as it has been for years, was the SFYC Summer Keel in August," said Schneider. "SFYC always does a great job, with perfect venues for both the racing and after racing. And this year we got bullets in four out of the fi ve races!" All was not smooth sailing, however. "We blew up both of our fi rst-line kites in the windy Rolex Big Boat Series. (We ended up fl ying a 1.5-ounce kite built by Pineapple in 1987. Did that ad just inside the front cover say their kites are long-lived? Thanks Kame!) North was
LATITUDE / CHRIS
Bartz Schneider
able to design, build, and deliver a new .75-ounce kite for the Nationals in just nine days. That too was amazing." The biggest disappointment of Expeditious's season came when they rounded Point Bonita in a stiff northwesterly during the distance race in the Nationals. "We hoisted the new kite and promptly poked the pole through the foot of it. We fi gured that if we reached up to come Mike 'aerospace engineer' Vergalla on the main really knows his lift and drag. Phil Jones, Bud Mehm, Aaron Stagg and Paul Caturegli performed the cockpit ballet. Elizabeth Little did the heavy lifting in the pit, while Chris Hackett was wherever whenever he was needed, basically keeping the front and the back in sync. And last but not least, my son Marshall, in his second year as tactician, called some pretty brilliant shots." Looking forward to 2018, Schneider said, "I would hope not to be so far behind going into the last race of the Nationals, and maybe to win a watch at the Rolex Big Boat Series." See www.express37.net.
1) Expeditious, 17 points; 2) Golden Moon, Bill Bridge, EYC, 24; 3) Stewball, Bob Harford, BYC/RYC, 26. (9 boats)
Many one-design classes wrap up their season championship series with Richmond YC's Great Pumpkin Regatta on the last weekend of October. We plan
to track down reports from those fl eets for the December issue. We also invite Bay Area fl eet captains to be proactive and reach out to us at racing@latitude38. com. Disclaimer: No puppies were harmed in the writing of this feature. — latitude/chris
in on the north side of the Gate, as we wanted, we would almost certainly blow up the new kite. So we ran off, did a peel change to the 1.5-ounce, ended up coming in on the south side and got a resounding DFL." Schneider said that he had a wonderfully consistent team throughout the season. "Andrew Kirsch and Denis Marriott on the front were near perfection.
