Star Class North American Championship at Tred Avon Yacht Club

Star Class North American Championship at Tred Avon Yacht Club - Day 1

by Laura Beigel 9 Oct 2014 08:43 BST 8-11 October 2014

Race Day 1 of the 2014 International Star Class North American Championship delivered all of the tough competition and tight racing as anticipated however it was the elements that ultimately fuelled the strife instead of the all-star packed list of sailors. Races 1, 2, and 3 were completed today in remarkably different breeze than forecasted and while the fleet struggled to successfully manage the shifty, unstable conditions, a few sailors dominated them, namely Arthur Anosov & David Caesar (USA 8000), John MacCausland & Rick Burgess (USA 8490), Keith Donald & Kevin Elterman (USA 8087), and Carroll Beek-McCallum & Jock Kohlhas.

Race 1 began with a general recall, followed by a clean start in the second sequence. Six time International Star Class North American Champion John MacCausland and his crew Rick Burgess (USA 8490) took a commanding lead early on in leg 1, rounded each mark in 1st, maintained their lead throughout all 4 legs by protecting the favored left side of the course, and won the race with apparent ease.

In Race 2, the fleet saw the wind shift further left at the start and had set up for the controlling, seemingly persistent left phase but was rocked by a 45 degrees right shift as it approached the top ¼ of leg 1. District 2 locals Keith Donald and crew Kevin Elterman (USA 8087), who had been working up the right side of the course since the start, were the first team to the new breeze and proceeded to round the windward mark in 1st. USA 8087 Donald/Elterman continued to lead the fleet around the course for the remaining 3 legs and crossed the finish line in 1st place, earning their first Silver Star honours: 2 Silver Chevrons and 2 Silver Bars, respectively.

Race 3 began in the right phase wind that slowly shifted back left as the race progressed. After the start, the Star sailors headed straight to the right side of the course without hesitation. Paul Cayard and crew Brian Terhaar (USA 8460) rounded the weather mark in 1st with the 1996 Bahamian Olympic Star team Mark Holowesko and Miles Pritchard (BAH 8406) close behind, who after taking full advantage of a 15 degrees left shift downwind, eventually passed USA 8460 Cayard/Terhaar and rounded the leeward mark in 1st. Despite the now left phase breeze, BAH 8406 Holowesko/Pritchard began heading upwind on the right side of the course again and the entire fleet followed suit, except for one team. On their way downwind, Carroll McCallum and crew Jock Kohlhas (USA 8420) saw more pressure on the left, rounded the right leeward gate mark, and sailed away from the fleet chasing down the breeze. USA 8420 McCallum/Kohlhas's bold strategy paid off big time putting them in 1st place around the windward mark with a comfortable lead and they defended their position all the way downwind to the finish to win Race 3. McCallum, one of the 5 novice skippers competing this week, earned her first Star Class honours ever today: 2 Silver Chevrons.

Arthur Anosov and crew David Caesar (USA 8000) proved today that above all else, consistency is the key to overall success, especially in unsteady conditions. With a 3rd, 10th, and 2nd place finish in Races 1, 2, and 3 respectively this afternoon, USA 8000 Anosov/Caesar tops the leaderboard with 15 points total and a 9 point lead.

Quotes:

Carroll McCallum, USA 8240: "When you are trying to move up in the fleet, some times you just have to try something different. Jock [Carroll's crew] saw more breeze on the left so we went left. This race win today was for Dodie Beek, my mother, for over 70 years of loving Stars and Star sailors!"

Dave Caesar, USA 8000: "Based on the forecast, we left the dock with flat, heavy air sails and when we got to the racing area it was clear that the conditions were different than the prediction. We did everything we could to power up and stay powered up all day. Transitions and changing gears smoothly was also key today with the shifty breeze, especially in the last two races."

Results after Day 1:

Pos	Helm	Crew	Sail No	Fleet	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1	Arthur Anosov	David Caesar	USA 8000	SL	3	10	2	15
2	Larry Whipple	Mike Wolfs	USA 8484	BisB	5	7	12	24
3	Mark Passmore	Simon Van Wonderen	CAN 8235	WLOC	16	6	3	25
4	William				19	3	10	32
5	Jack Jennings	Jesse Fielding	USA 8464	LS	9	19	4	32
6	Torben Grael	Guilherme Almeida	BRA 8210	Gua	4	4	25	33
7	Paul Cayard	Brian Terhaar	USA 8460	WSFB	2	21	15	38
8	Tomas Hornos	Josh Revkin	USA 8177	BH	10	8	20	38
9	Mike Hecky	Arnis Baltins	USA 8395	CR	13	2	24	39
10	Will Swigart	Brian Fatih	USA 8291	CLIS	7	18	14	39
11	Erich Mones Ruiz	Diego Peisajovich	ARG 8285	BisB	6	27	8	41
12	Mark Holowesko	Myles Pritchard	BAH 8406	N	21	16	11	48
13	R J Cooper	Brian Boyd	USA 8024	ES	29	17	5	51
14	Claude Bonanni	Manolo Bunge	USA 8279	TaB	22	22	7	51
15	Jack Rickard	Sam Eadie	USA 8036	WH	25	14	13	52
16	Jerry Wendt	Ezra Culver	CAN 8389	WLOC	15	20	18	53
17	Rick Rundle	Kyle McVane	USA 7078	CHiH	35	5	16	56
18	Barbara Beigel‑Vosbury	Guy Avellon	USA 7986	AN	26	24	6	56
19	Keith Donald	Kevin Elterman	USA 8087	AN	14	1	NF	57
20	Bob Lippincott	Michael Zuschnitt	USA 7512	ES	24	12	21	57
21	Bert Collins	Jake Doyle	USA 8063	AN	18	31	9	58
22	John Chiarella	Bob Carlson	USA 8215	Sun	30	11	17	58
23	Alan Campbell	Steve Rollo	USA 8045	ES	28	9	22	59
24	Derek Decouteau	Jamie Stewart	USA 8083	BI	12	23	28	63
25	Alberto Zanetti	Federico Calegari	ARG 8278	OL	11	13	CS	66
26	John Maccausland	Rick Burgess	USA 8490	CR	1	25	CS	68
27	Carroll McCallum	Jock Kohlhas	USA 8420	CLIS	NS	26	1	69
28	Tom Londrigan Jr	Steve Cutting	USA 8361	LS	17	15	CS	74
29	Steve Braverman	Kevin Hetherington‑Young	USA 8052	BH	20	33	23	76
30	Doug Schofield	Bob Schofield	USA 8264	ES	8	29	CS	79
31	Schuyler Benson	Andrew Parish	USA 8067	ES	23	34	30	87
32	Daniel Della Torre	Ed Morey	ARG 8286	OL	27	NF	19	88
33	Steve Kling	Mike Lovellette	USA 8131	AN	33	30	29	92
34	Will Murdoch	Tim Paris	USA 7713	MES	31	36	26	93
35	Sandy McAllister	Spencer McAllister	USA 7828	ES	32	35	27	94
36	Richard Sears	Ken Sears	USA 7902	CD	36	28	31	95
37	Joe Pro	Nicolaus Pro	USA 8153	NCB	34	32	NS	108
38	Douglas Smith	Chris Rogers	USA 8072	SBC	NC	NC	NC	126
39	Ben Sternberg	Valentin Veytsman	USA 8358	CLIS	NF	NS	NS	126
40	Tom White	Isao Toyama	USA 8157	SL	NS	NS	NS	126
41	Eugenio Cingolani	Celia Cingolani	ARG 8268	SMB	NF	NS	NS	126