Sailing Anarchy
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It’s all up for grabs on the final day of the two thousand seventeen 49er Worlds, and for the fellows at least, its the very first time in ten years that anyone not named Burling, Martinez, or Outerridge will be crowned master of the studs’s skiff. Slew of breeze for the four dudes’s gold fleet races, and if we don’t get another afternoon gale, the medal races for the guys and women will be a look to behold.
Witness it all unfold above, and be sure to check out Clean’s dock walk a few minutes ago for the forecast, format, and a look at the fleet launching.
the win
2017 International fourteen North American Championships
15 International 14’s came to Richmond Yacht Club for the biennial I-14 North American Championships. Our Canadian friends to the North elected not to make the journey and concentrate their travel dollars for next years World Championships being held on the same Berkeley Circle race course in two thousand eighteen – which we certainly understand but they and their antics 😉 were certainly missed. With the fifteen skiffs that we did have the competition was very stacked with more than half the boats having at least one former National or major championship winner on board and a few former World Championship winning skipper and crews in the mix.
With the next year’s fourteen World Championships being held in August two thousand eighteen at Richmond Yacht Club; the Club, Race Committee, Race Management, and Organizers were utilizing this NA regatta as a major warm up and test event. That being said, you wouldn’t have known it as RYC ran a flawless regatta from embark to finish with key attention to details. All of the starts ran on time, the commencing lines were square, the distances of the races were set well and monitored closely. Mark switches were done tightly and by the book and they varied the angles of the reach marks via the event but all of them were challenging but fair. Regatta Chair Tim Knowles and Principal Race Officer Del Olson did a tremendous job as did their many volunteers and the fleet was left amazed with how sleek everything ran.
Leading up to the event the weekend before there were fairly a few fourteens out practising. The wind seemed to be a bit lighter for the practices with the core of the days ranging inbetween 14-18 knots of breeze out on the race course. That being said, launching out of RYC is always nice as the ‘Richmond Riviera’ is protected, usually sunny and launch conditions are almost always in less then eight knots of breeze it seems.
The two practice days before the event demonstrated fairly a bit of activity at the club with the local NorCal teams there and people showcasing up from Seattle, Hawaii, Southern California and a few making the journey up from Australia. We did have two Canadians sailing on US boats which was also good to see. Those two practice days showcased a solid half dozen boats on the water almost at all times. Those days the breeze ranged from 12-18+ and displayed a bit of bump on the race course due to the ebb tides.
Race day one had scheduled two races the very first day. The very first being a brief race followed by the mandatory Distance race. Instead of a large tour of the bay – the RC opted to send the teams on a large ‘Worlds style’ course with long gams and Four.Five laps including two triangles. The very first race commenced in about sixteen knots of breeze – the course was a elementary but long triangle with a total upwind finish. Former World Champ Kris Bundy and Fritz Lanzinger won the commence with Terry Gleeson sailing with Australian Ian ‘Footy’ Furlong also poked out but closer to the pin. Bundy/Lanzinger had strong speed matched with tremendous height.
The lead switched numerous times with both Bundy/Lanzinger and Gleeson/Furlong setting early and not making the reach mark. The rest of the fleet caught up to them while they had to take down, reach and reset and by the bottom mark there was a good pack of five boats rounding together. Bundy/Lanzinger held on to their lead at the finish, followed by Gleeson/Furlong and Michael Radziejowski and Evan Sjostedt on B5 USA 1162.
The 2nd and long race of the day was began in about eighteen knots of breeze and during the race in enlargened to about twenty knots at the top of the course. The long gams permitted for many to concentrate on speed and at the top mark there were a number of boats rounding in a taut fever together. The very first lap was a triangle and at the reach the taut gybe angle left a few of the lead boats tangled together and a number of them resulted in testing the water.
Sailing in the brand fresh and super flash Henderson B6 USA one thousand one hundred ninety nine wielded by John Clark – Australians David Alexander and three time World Champ team, Dan Wilsdon, took advantage of the situation and legged out followed by Gleeson/Furlong. Gleeson/Furlong sailed indeed hard in the wavy conditions, embarked legging out little by little over the long race and finished with a substantial lead by the end of the race for a 2-1 for the day. Galvez/MacDonald were three rd . Alexander/Wilsdon finished with eight points for the day as did the two thousand fifteen North American winning team Steve Goodson and Alan Diercks from Seattle.
That evening after sponsored beverages at the dock – fourteen sailor and local Point Richmond resident John Clark, sponsored an epic pizza night at his waterfront home. Beer was flowing as Chef Clark, Greg Mitchell, Jenn Virskus and others attended the pizza oven (no that was not an autoclave) and everyone helped turn out pizzas with miraculously no one getting burned! The entire fleet, friends, and most of the race committee were in attendance and it was a superb event at a beautiful home. Thank you John!
The 2nd day was the most breeze that we witnessed the entire week. The wind ranged from 17-21 knots with some gusts just touching twenty three during the 2nd race of the day at the top end of the course. There was very little current with the tides being slack during racing with minimal variance. Strong boat prep, aggressive starts, solid boat treating, and stronger teams all paid a strong dividend in the conditions.
Gleeson/Furlong who had not sailed together before the event put together an exceptional day with triple pickets over the three races. Alexander/Wilsdon had a tougher very first race, but then put up two 2nds. Galvez/MacDonald had a two nd in the very first race of day two and then posted a 4-5. Bundy/Lanzinger and Goodson/Diercks both suffered some breakdowns towards the end of the day – while both Radziejowski/Sjostedt and Brad Reutenik & Jake Sorosky in the fresh B6 USA one thousand two hundred each managed one top three finish.
That evening there was a lot of camaraderie on the docks and in the boatyard with Galvez Insurance Company sponsoring a keg and just about everyone tending to a bit of boatwork before the club sponsored a fine sit down meal for everyone in Richmond Yacht Club’s brand fresh club house which was built last year. Excellent times, good wine, regatta photos running on the screen, and panoramic window views out on to San Francisco Bay made for a nice evening for everyone.
On Race Day three the forecast was for a bit lighter and then lightening more for the following week. The day we witnessed the breeze range from 14-18 knots and the final three races were scheduled. Goodson/Diercks, widely known as specialists in breeze came into form and clutched the very first race. Radziejowski/Sjostedt sailed a solid race and were two nd with Dave A & Dan coming in three rd . Bundy and Lanzinger were in four th while Gleeson/Furlong lost some form during the race and finished five th after a quick recovery. The 2nd race turned into a long three lapper with two reach gams. The breeze came up a bit and Gleeson/Furlong embarked spreading out after the very first gam and half. Alexander/Wilsdon finished behind and the rest of the fleet was led in by Mikey and Evan on USA 1162.
With one race remaining Gleeson/Furlong had won the event but there was too much joy sailing to still be had. Galvez/MacDonald had fine speed all week and indeed showcased it off in the final races with many lead switches and working the left palm side of the course upwind followed closely behind by Goodson/Diecks. Gleeson/Furlong finished the final race three rd with Reutenik/Sjostedt four th and Alexander/Wilsdon five th . Final results posted here.
Richmond Yacht Club put on a tremendous and well run event, both on and off the water. If this is what we have to look forward to for Worlds next year we can say that everyone at this event is very enthusiastic about both the sailing and the proven capabilities for this club to run a fine event.
An excellent effort by all of the competitors and we spotted many lead switches via the regatta. Skiffs are always hard and this is a challenging race course, but never felt that it was too extreme. Gleeson and Furlong sailed a very taut regatta especially with having only two days of practice together in total. They focused on keeping the maneuvers elementary while truly sailing the boat hard across the event. They worked the flaps when able, not slowing down while just keeping on the right side of control. Well done and the hard work put in certainly pays off! Terry and Footy were able to walk away with the very large William Randolph Hearst Perpetual Trophy that dates back to the 1940’s. That is a big one!
It is safe to say that the Australians will like this race course with the top three regatta finishers having a total of four Aussies inbetween them. The US boats are getting slew of breeze on practice and will get more before our big event next year. The race course is a big area with room for the RC to budge the course if it gets lighter or stronger. We would expect that at Worlds we will see conditions like this, but also see some lighter air days maxing at 14-16 knots as well. The Worlds Organizing committee has been busy this last year+ putting the event together and from this regatta we can see that they will do a fantastic job.
We look forward to watching you all at the two thousand eighteen I-14 Worlds! – Terence Gleason.
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