18ft Skiff International Regatta at San Francisco - Day 1
by Rich Roberts 23 Aug 2006 08:41 BST
22-26 August 2006
Kahn capsizes but leads after crazy day on SF Bay
This is how the 18' Skiff International Regatta got rolling Tuesday: Seven boats started and six capsized, including the leader, 17-year-old Samuel (Shark) Kahn of nearby Santa Cruz.
If the Golden Gate wind tunnel keeps howling at 20 knots this chaos is likely to continue through Saturday, or until the local marine hardware stores run out of parts.
Four boats didn't finish the first race and three didn't start the second, retiring to the Crissy Field staging area adjacent to the host St. Francis Yacht Club with a variety of broken gear. The only boat that stayed upright through two races was John Winning's Yandoo from Australia, which sits in second place, one point behind Kahn and one point ahead of defending champion Howard Hamlin.
Nobody who sails these boats could be called conservative, but Winning, 54, in the wisdom of his years that include a world championship and a victory here may have throttled back just a tad to stay under control.
"Yeah, probably," he said. "You look at the hard angles and pick your spots. But you can get too conservative. If you're not going fast when you jibe you can get into trouble."
Jibes were trouble for Kahn and Hamlin. After finishing second in the first race, Hamlin, sailing Pegasus White with Mike Martin and Trent Barnabas as crew, was leading the second at the first leeward mark when they took their dip.
"We got the main [sail] out by accident in mid-jibe and just stuck it in a wave," Hamlin said.
By the time they righted their skiff Kahn, sailing Pegasus Black with Cameron MacDonald and Paul Allen, and Winning, with Andrew Hay and Geoff Bauchop, had blown by, but not for long. At the next windward mark it was Kahn's turn to swim.
"We had a little miscommunication on the boat," Kahn said. "We were going to do a jibe set and the main didn't get let out. That loaded up the boat."
Winning slipped by, as did Hamlin just before Kahn got sailing again. As they all sailed downwind on the second of three laps it looked like the day would end in a three-way tie for first place, but Kahn overtook Hamlin near the end of the leg and held on for second place behind Winning.
Bauchop summed up the winning strategy: "You have to stay upright to win the race."
Racing continues through Saturday, but Peter Burton's team from the UK will need to repair or replace their dagger board and veteran campaigner Grant Rollerson of Australia needs to fix the broken tip of his carbon mast.
Burton, sailing Hamlin's former West Marine boat with Martin Borrett and Ian Turnbull, did a sudden stop when he ran aground on a sandbar off the south beach west of Crissy Field.
Turnbull said, "We all got thrown clear around the boat on our [trapeze] wires. I wonder if anybody got a picture."
Kahn summed it all up: "It was a weird day."
This is one of the class's three major events each year, along with the JJ Giltinan World Trophy Championship in Sydney and the European champion held last June on Lake Garda in Italy.
The schedule calls for 10 races over five days starting at 1 p.m., twice around a 1 ½-mile windward-leeward course set for ideal spectator viewing from just inside the Golden Gate Bridge past the Crissy Field staging area and the host St. Francis Yacht Club. The exception will be a later start Friday followed by the annual Bridge to Bridge race when the 18s will mix it up with kite boards and windsurfers.
Standings: (after 2 of 10 races)
1. Pegasus Black, Samuel (Shark) Kahn/Cameron MacDonald/Paul Allen, Honolulu, Waikiki YC, 1-2, 3pts
2. Yandoo, John Winning/Andrew Hay/'Geoff Bauchop, Sydney, Aust., Australian 18 Footers League, 3-1, 4pts
3. Pegasus White, Howard Hamlin/Mike Martin/Trent Barnabas, Long Beach, Calif., Newport Harbor YC, 2-3, 5pts
4. Skiff Sailing Foundation White, Chad Freitas/Dan Malpas/Matt Noble, San Francisco, St. Francis YC, DNF/8-4, 12pts
5= Tie among DeLonghi, Grant Rollerson/Simon Nearn/Dan Wilsdon, Sydney, Australian 18 Footers League, DNF/8-DNS/8, 16pts
5= Skiff Sailing Foundation Blue, Patrick Whitmarsh/Kevin Richards/Ben Glass, Alameda, Calif., Monterey Peninsula YC, DNF/8-DNS/8, 16pts
5= West Marine, Peter Barton/Martin Barrett/Ian Turnbull, United Kingdom, Royal Lymington YC, DNF/8-DNS/8, 16pts
Complete results and photos at www.stfyc.com (click on Regatta Information / 2006 Racing Calendar / August)