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Tough Enough
The untimely arrival of a cold front on day 3 of Acura Key West 2006 brought a
strong northerly, causing a brief race delay. Owners and crews had more time for
dockside strategy before facing a windy start. The northerlies brought flatter
water and gusty conditions setting a no-nonsense tone for class leaders looking
to hook in, hang on and increase their lead. Split-second precision was required
to stay on top. For sailors who shine in heavy air, the spotlight was on boat
handling, preparation and performance. Wednesday was an opportunity to show that
boats of all sizes were more than tough enough for the conditions.
Racing began under partly cloudy skies and a steady 20-knot wind increasing to a
solid 25 with gusts to 30. Divisions 1, 2 and 3 held one race. Division 4,
located farther in the lee, completed two races. "It's more important to have
quality over quantity," said David Brennan, PRO for Division 3. A steady 20 is
one thing, but 30 and over becomes a boat handling issue for many.
"That was a good decision by the Race Committee," said Software Mistress
owner Ian Maclean (Hamble, UK). "We survived."
Jim Bishop and his untouchable J/44, Gold Digger, seemed unfazed by the
conditions and has earned five bullets in a row, dominating the IRC-2 class.
Nelson Stephenson's TeamBOLD rules the Mumm 30 class with five bullets.
"They have every card in the deck to play, including a couple of jokers,"
Stephenson said, thrilled about the performance of his team.
Division 1
Vincenzo
Onorato sported a very satisfied look as he stood on the dock at Historic
Seaport Wednesday afternoon.
Onorato, skipper of the Italian Farr 40 Mascalzone Latino, had many
reasons to be happy. He was sailing off Key West in heavy air with three-time
America's Cup champion Russell Coutts and was tied for the lead in an incredibly
tough class.
"I am always happy to be racing in Key West, and days like this are the reason
why. Warm weather and lots of wind... I love the place," Onorato said.
Northerly winds that steadily increased to 25 knots made for another thrilling
afternoon at Acura Key West 2006, presented by Nautica.
Competition can get intense and a bit hairy in the professionally-crewed Farr 40
class when it blows because the boats tend to be so tightly congested.
With Coutts calling tactics, Onorato has done well in the difficult conditions
of the past two days and soared to the top of the 25-boat fleet. He steered
Mascalzone Latino to fourth in Wednesday's race and is now tied with Warpath
at 30 points apiece.
This regatta marks the first time Onorato and Coutts have teamed together. Their
goal is to capture the 2006 Farr 40 World Championship.
"It is the most exciting thing in the sailing world to sail with the king,"
Onorato said of Coutts. "Russell brings a unique champions' attitude to the
boat."
Warpath, owned by the father-son team of Fred and Steve Howe, also made a
major move up the leader board since the heavy air arrived on Tuesday. Past
Volvo Ocean Race winner John Kostecki is calling tactics on Warpath, which
placed second in Wednesday's start and is winning the regatta by tiebreaker over
Mascalzone.
Fiamma, an Italian entry skippered by Alessandro Barnaba, won
Wednesday's Farr 40 race. Tommaso Chieffi is calling tactics for Fiamma, which
is making its Key West debut.
"It is very exciting sailing in these conditions. Today was a very tough race
because the top five boats were really close," Barnaba said. "We had a nice duel
upwind. It was important to keep the boat speed going, which was not easy in
that much wind."
Goombay Smash continued to extend its lead in the Swan 45 World
Championship. Skipper William Douglass and crew posted a third on Wednesday and
is now eight points ahead of DSK-Comifin (Danilo Salsi, Italy).
British match racing veteran Chris Law is calling tactics for Douglass, who has
led the series since Day 1 by relying on a conservative gameplan.
"Doug is sailing the boat very well and we are going really fast both upwind and
downwind," Law said. "I give a lot of credit to Don Kelly, the boat captain.
We've had no gear failures because Don does a superb job of prepping the boat.
He makes my job a lot easier."
Jeroboam Canova, skippered by Vittorio Codecasa of Porto Cervo, Italy,
was the winner of Race 5 on Wednesday. "Today was very good. Fantastic!
Everything was perfect... the teamwork was very good and it was easy to steer,"
Codesda said. "We were not particularly influenced by the tough conditions,
because after many times sailing in Sardinia, we are used to weather like this."
Tactician Gabriele Benussi said Jeroboam got a good start and made the
correct decision by heading to the right side of the course en route to earning
Mount Gay Rum Boat of the Day. "Vittorio helmed very well and we were first at
the first windward mark. Downwind, we increased our advantage over the rest of
the fleet with good speed, and on the second leg we built a really good distance
between us and the next boat," Benussi said.
Division 2
Sjambok, owned by Michael Brennan (Annapolis, MD), returned to the dock
in good spirits despite the crab pot line that had snagged on the Transpac 52's
underwater appendages. "Today was awesome!" said Mike Beasley, pit. "Everyone
put out a good effort in handling the conditions." In the groove on Wednesday,
the great speed machine thrived in the strong wind. Leading the fleet so far is
Stay Calm II, owned by Stuart Robinson (London, UK). Thomas Stark's Rush
(Newport, RI) is in close second with Eamon Conneely's Patches (Newport, RI) in
third.
The PHRF-3 fleet sailed all over the map on Wednesday. Rick Wesslund's J/120,
El Ocaso (Triburon, CA), enjoyed two bullets on Tuesday and remains in the
lead. It wasn't easy. "We weren't on our game and we struggled a lot today,"
Rick said about Wednesday's less than ideal conditions. Anticipating the strong
gusts was a challenge and the El Ocaso team was appreciative of the Race
Committee's decision to hold only one race.
Daniel Gourash's Blue Dog, a shiny new C&C 115, is being raced in Key
West for the first time. The boat had already sailed through a howling cold
front to arrive in Key West just before Race Week started. The crew was quite
familiar with heavy air. "We didn't break that much," said trimmer Andy Drum
after Wednesday's race.
Division 3
Thomas Coates and his Masquerade team breezed through the finish with
flying colors and leads the fleet. Rival Zuni Bear maintained a solid second and
the crew are looking forward to changing the status quo.
In third place, James Doane's Flame (Naples, FL) is ready to take
advantage of the slightest slip by the top two contenders. Alice Leahey's Grace
O'Malley (Los Angeles, CA) sailed right alongside Masquerade and Zuni
Bear in a fast and furious upwind leg flight. Maintaining a position near
the top leaders, Alice is delighted about Grace O'Malley team's progress. "It's
a very competitive fleet," said Leahey. "In a large fleet, sometimes it's easy
to get flustered. The key is keeping your head and not getting worked up when
things go wrong."
"It was wild!" Steve Olinger enthused. Owner of J'Makin Waves, Steve
(Treasure Island, FL) remains in the top half of the fleet. Onboard Chemically
Adjusted, owners Mike Barber and Danny Bonner, (Atlanta, GA), are just as
excited about the vigorous and challenging racing. The J/105 was literally
flying. "The ride was intense," said crew member Ric Dexter.
"We have a captain with nerves of steel," said Mal Hill of the Forerunner
team. Owners John and Scott Mathis (Pensacola Beach, FL) wanted to keep the
slippery vessel in one piece on Wednesday. "We were very conservative," said
John. "And we didn't break anything," added Margo Partain, foredeck. The large
J/105 fleet was scattered all over the course and the Forerunner crew
didn't have an easy time keeping track of opponents.
The top J/80, Synergy, earned two bullets on Tuesday and was working
double time in Wednesday's wet and salty competition. "You've got to watch your
opponents," said owner Jay Lutz (Houston, TX). This day was challenging for the
Synergy team. "It's really tough to get an idea of what the other boats
are doing when everyone is on the edge," said Lutz. The light and
hyper-responsive J/80's were being bowled all over the course on Wednesday,
happy for an early return to the dock. C'est Nasty, last year's J/80
fleet winner in Key West, is currently in second. Owned by Rick Schaffer (Ft.
Worth, TX), the team was in its element on Wednesday and is just one point
behind Synergy. John Storck Jr., owner of Rumor, (Huntington, NY), is in
a close third so far.
Partners & Partners, a French entry skippered by Philippe Ligot, took
over the lead in Melges 24 class with a second place on Wednesday. Blu Moon,
a Swiss boat owned by Franco Rossini, fell to second after leading for two days.
"We were third at the leeward mark, but our kite wrapped on the run and we lost
two places," said Chris Rast, helmsman aboard Blu Moon. "Today was all
about boathandling."
Dave Ullman (Pegasus 505) was winning Race 5, but wiped out on the last downwind
leg. Jeff Madrigali (Pegasus 492) had a clean gybe and wound up snatching
victory from his teammate.
"I told the crew to hang in there and we'd see if we could win the final run
sweepstakes," Madrigali said. "Dave was going to beat us until he broached. We
didn't make any big errors, which wasn't easy in the big breeze."
Division 4
The crew on Temptress chalked up a 1-2 on Wednesday in the PHRF-4 fleet.
The team raced right on the ragged edge of their SR33's max hull speed. "She
loves to go fast, and I've exceeded it only once," said O'Reilly. Along with
skill on the playing field, the factor that sends owner Robert 's crew into the
winning zone are the nightly reviews of videotapes of the day's racing, provided
by their chase boat. "When you see your mistakes that way, you have a leg up on
correcting them. It also helps when we're breaking in new crewmembers," says
McCray, former 470 coach for the US sailing team 2000-2003. "With us it's
practice, practice and more practice"
Thinking outside the box is a way of life for Chuck Simon's Liquor Box
crew, the Key West entry that is renowned for sailing and partying hard. In the
PHRF-6 fleet, Box is the team to beat with three bullets in a row. Between races
1 and 2 on Wednesday, a broken boom threatened to upset their lead. In a gutsy
move borne out of desperation and necessity, they decided to hang in and fly the
jib for race 2. "The air was heavy enough and it was worth the try." Simon said.
The strategy was sound and the Box remains ahead of Amethyst, a J/27
owned by Doug Davies and Aileen Eppig (Glen Cove, NY). Third in the fleet is
Bert Carp's Remedy (Annapolis, MD).
Bryan Coon, owner of Mistress (Huntington, NY), wondered what his team
was going to do when he saw the day's conditions. "We don't have a storm
spinnaker, so I decided to sail without the kite," Coon said. "The S2 7.9 likes
the heavy weather but on day two, on our first tack we had the gunnels buried,
water up to the windows and almost lost two of our hikers."
Mistress was first in the PHRF-7 fleet on Wednesday. "I was a little
surprised to learn we were in first place. I figured Circus had nosed us out,"
Coon said. The tough conditions tested the competitors and proved their worth.
"The key-" says Coons, "is conservative, steady sailing." Tactician Roy Sherman
believes in solid, no-nonsense sailing and it's paying off. "Key West Race Week
is the best racing event in North America," says Sherman. "Since we're in the
lead," said Coon, "we'll have to be sailing harder and smarter. This promises to
be a tough week and we're going to get tough enough to keep it that way."
Writers Brooke Babineau, Rebecca Burg and Bill Wagner contributed to this
feature.