23rd Albacore Internationals at the Sarasota Sailing Squadron

by Jeremy Rook 1 Apr 2015 13:25 BST 23-27 March 2015

Albacore International Championships at Sarasota, Florida © Pauline Rook

The 23rd Albacore Internationals were held in fabulous conditions at the Sarasota Sailing Squadron, Sarasota, Florida from 23rd to 27th March 2015.

12 boats from the UK had been loaded into a container for the trip back in early March, and they and their owners emerged blinking into the Factor 60 plus sunshine of the high season in Florida.

Describing itself as the best sailing club in the World, the Sarasota Sailing Squadron did its best to live up to its reputation, with racing taking place on both Sarasota Bay (inside the offshore islands) and for 2 days on the incredibly blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The near-constant sunshine and warm weather was a great relief to the teams from the North East of the USA and Canada who have been experiencing life in the freezer this Winter. The weather was also a blessing to the many teams who were in tents or RVs in the grounds of the club.

The Albacore has one of the largest dinghy racing fleets in North America with over 50 boats regularly turning out for the Friday evening races around Toronto on Lake Ontario, so it was perhaps fitting that the first 2 boats overall were Canadian - George Carter and Almir Tavares in 8185 and Geoff Moore and Christine Short in 8202. Previous winners Barney "Mr Albacore USA" Harris crewed by David Byron were in 3rd place – probably weighed down with the responsibility of organising the event – the curse of the England Cricket captain!

Albacore International Championships at Sarasota, Florida - photo © Pauline Rook

Darren Monster and Tony Zakrajsek having won the North American Midwinters the previous week were in the first of the beautiful wooden boats in 5th place being beaten by James Stanley and Julie Stuart in 8198.

The best GBR crew overall were Judy & Paul Armstrong in 7th, followed by Nev Herbert and Mark Fowler in 8th. The latter crew actually won 3 races but jetlag or over-partying gave too many discards earlier in the week. The final boat in the top 10 was sailed by Jerry Rook and Shige Takezoe. Other GBR results were: Matt & Ellie Thompson 25th, Richard & George Smith 26th, Howard Witt and David Young 29th, Trevor & Anne Smith 36th, Barry & Sam Wicks 37th, Steven Bailey & Beth Smith 38th, Mike Banner & Graham Darvill 39th, Ken Richards & Dave Hodgson 43rd and Hazel & Andy Smith 44th.

The next Albacore Internationals will be held at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (the 2012 Olympic sailing venue) in 2017.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	Pts
1	8185	George Carter	Almir Tavares	Mooredale Sailing Club	1	1	4	1	4	4	2	3	2	1	4	[7]	27
2	8202	Geoff Moore	Christine Short	RCYC	7	6	1	2	1	7	4	7	5	3	6	[12]	49
3	8200	Barney Harris	David Byron	PRSA	9	10	[17]	7	16	1	3	2	1	4	3	4	60
4	8198	James Stanley	Julie Stuat	OHCC	2	3	[10]	3	8	5	10	8	7	5	1	10	62
5	7363	Darren Monster	Tony Zakrajsek	OHCC	[14]	7	3	6	7	8	5	11	11	6	2	6	72
6	8184	Paul Clifford	Mia Drake Brandt	Westwood Sailing Club	4	8	7	[14]	3	9	8	4	10	2	8	11	74
7	8209	Judy Armstrong	Paul Armstrong	Scalind Dam Sailing Club	5	2	13	11	12	6	13	[17]	3	7	5	3	80
8	8192	Nev Herbert	Mark Fowler	Royal Lymington Yacht Club	10	12	[DSQ]	18	14	2	1	1	4	8	14	1	85
9	7243	Ian Brayshaw	Jenny Gibbons	Outer Harbour Centreboard Club	8	9	12	4	11	12	7	5	6	9	[15]	9	92
10	8128	Jeremy Rook	Shigeaki Takezoe	Lyme Regis S C	13	[RET]	5	5	2	3	16	14	13	13	9	13	106
11	8191	Sterling Spruill	Sidney Spruill	Hampton YC	3	14	[19]	16	10	11	15	15	17	10	10	15	136
12	8150	Christine Kelly	Bruce ?	Mooredale Sailing Club	26	5	6	10	5	13	12	9	8	[DNC]	DNC	5	144
13	8013	Tim Woodford	Caleb Woodford	queens recreational boating association	11	13	2	[30]	22	29	14	13	12	15	7	14	152
14	8183	Jude Brown	Lee Sayasithaena	none	16	15	16	[23]	9	18	9	19	15	21	13	2	153
15	6731	Adam Nicholson	Julie Postit	RCYCOHCC	19	11	20	13	18	14	11	10	16	20	[32]	25	177
16	7984	Khin Thein	Aung Aung Kyaw	‑	28	23	15	[38]	15	17	6	6	19	25	18	8	180
17	CAN 7700	Chris Gorton	Henry Pedro	Shelbourne YC	18	22	18	[26]	23	10	17	12	9	22	12	19	182
18	8220	Jeff Krause	Anna Sepko	Mooredale	12	18	21	9	24	16	[30]	27	23	19	16	16	201
19	8125	Michael Heinsdorf	Farley Will	PRSA	15	17	8	19	25	22	18	[26]	24	11	17	26	202
20	7419	Ken Clarke	Cathyann White	OUTER HARBOUR CENTREBOARD CLUB	[42]	4	22	25	33	19	21	20	22	12	11	22	211
21	8120	Pasquale Leone	Michael Webber	St Jamestown Sailing Club	27	[DSQ]	11	15	28	21	19	21	21	17	24	17	221
22	8171	Teresa Miolla	John Bennet	QCYC	6	24	14	12	6	24	27	16	31	[DNC]	DNC	DNC	250
23	7971	Marty Minot	Jordan Minot	None	[41]	21	32	21	35	23	23	25	14	16	20	21	251
24	8195	Michael Williamson	Michelle Adolph	TISC	21	19	[36]	36	17	32	25	24	29	14	23	20	260
25	8155	Matthew Thompson	Ellie Thompson	Tewkesbury Cruising and Sailing Club	35	42	9	24	13	20	20	29	18	18	[DNC]	DNC	273
26	6959	Richard Smith	George Smith	Benfleet Yacht Club	33	30	29	[42]	39	27	24	18	27	23	21	24	295
27	8149	David Provan	TBD ?	OHCCRCYC	37	33	27	20	38	26	22	23	25	[DNC]	27	18	296
28	8199	Greg Jordan	Andrew Shireman	West River (inactive status)	20	27	23	8	21	15	28	[DNC]	DNC	30	DNC	DNC	307
29	GBR 7987	Howard Witt	David Young	Maindenhead Sailing club UK	31	[35]	34	33	30	33	26	22	20	27	30	28	314
30	8201	Brock Munro	Danny Pohrofsky	Westwood Sailing Club	29	39	30	22	26	28	32	28	[DSQ]	38	25	23	320
31	8023	Nicholas Allen	Marisa Allen	PRSA	[38]	29	35	31	37	34	29	34	26	29	29	29	342
32	8123	Robert Bear	Anne Savage	West River Sailing Club	[40]	36	40	40	19	35	34	30	28	24	26	32	344
33	8178	Chris Maslowski	Chris Bennet	St. James Town Sailing Club	34	[38]	28	32	27	37	36	36	34	34	19	30	347
34	8027	Daphne Byron	Ross Sorci	WRSC	[39]	32	26	35	31	30	35	39	37	26	31	27	349
35	8167	Ken Yamazaki	Lynn Pashleigh	J‑Town	23	16	25	28	32	31	33	38	36	[DNC]	DNC	DNC	352T
36	8000	Trevor Smith	Ann Smith	Parkstone Yacht Club	17	25	33	29	40	40	31	33	35	36	33	[DNC]	352T
37	8069	Barry Wicks	Sam Wicks	Maidenhead Sailing Club	24	20	38	37	34	36	37	31	30	28	[DNC]	DNC	360
38	6504	Stephen Bailey	Beth Smith	The Nottingham Sailing Club	32	34	[42]	17	41	25	38	41	38	35	28	33	362T
39	8133	Mike Banner	Graham Darvill	Leigh and Lowton	43	31	31	39	20	41	40	32	[DNC]	32	22	31	362T
40	8083	Lloyd Leonard	Gary Bain	PRSA	22	28	24	41	42	38	41	42	33	33	[DNC]	DNC	389
41	8021	Jim Graham	Susan Graham	PRSA	25	26	39	44	36	42	39	37	39	31	[DNC]	DNC	403
42	8122	Rolf Zeisler	Sue Zeisler	WRSC	36	40	37	27	29	39	[DNC]	35	32	DNC	DNC	DNC	410
43	8134	Kenneth Richards	Davie Hodgson	SCALING DAM SAILING CLUB	30	37	41	34	43	[DNC]	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	455
44	8154	Hazel Smith	Andy Smith	Tewkesbury Cruising and Sailing Club	44	41	43	43	44	43	42	40	[DNC]	37	DNC	DNC	467