North Sails Race Week 2002

North Sails Race Week 2002

June 28 - 30, 2002

Long Beach, California

June 30, 2002 For Immediate Release

Sunday's weather: Wind south-southeast, 6-9 knots.

THE WINNER WAS INCORRIGIBLE; YASSOU WAVES GOODBYE

LONG BEACH, Calif.---Jim Demetriades' luck was due to change, but Tom Carruthers liked the roll he was on.

The fortunes of light, shifty winds carried both men to come-from-behind victories on the last day of the 18th North Sails Race Week Sunday, when the competition lived up to its billing even if the weather conditions didn't.

Demetriades' sky blue Transpac 52, Yassou, outsailed the heavy hitters in PHRF 1 class for the biggest boats, which earned him PHRF Boat of the Week recognition.

Carruthers, the two-time defending J/105 champion sailing Incorrigible, said going in, "If you see me on the podium again it'll be because I got lucky."

But he earned the overall Boat of the Week trophy by winning the most competitive class---which also was the largest with 29 boats---by two points.

Other notable winners included Brack Duker's Revolution in the celebrity studded Farr 40 fleet, with Dave Ullman as tactician; Ventura's Dave Klatt, who claimed a berth in the J/24 Worlds by winning these Western Regionals with no finish worse than second, and Argyle Campbell, who swapped wins with fellow Newport Harbor Yacht Club campaigner Bruce Ayres to win the Melges 24s by one point.

A record total of 171 boats sailed in 13 classes on three courses. Forecasts were for stronger winds the last two days, but especially on Sunday a lingering marine layer may have discouraged the customary sea breeze. While 18 knots were expected, the wind hovered between 6 and 9 all afternoon.

Demetriades and Carruthers had no complaints. There were oddities in both men's series tallies. Carruthers won all five of his races last year. This year he didn't win a race (4-7-4-2-5), but his was the only boat without a double-digit finish.

"It was a totally different game this year," said Carruthers, who owns the J/World sailing school in San Diego. "This class is so tough now that this morning when I was tied for third I was thinking I'd be happy to hold onto that."

After his third consecutive NSRW win, he said, "This one was the best."

Yassou's finishes were 3-5-4-2-1. Crew member Tom Pollack said, "We sailed a straight flush."

Pollack, along with Jared Morford, was one of two crew members injured during Long Beach Race Week a week earlier when Yassou lost two spinnakers and wrote off the weekend as a loss.

Demetriades, 39, said, "Yassou means hello or goodbye in Greek. Last week we said goodbye when we had to leave the race course. This week we said hello, here we are again, and goodbye when we went past everyone in the last race."

Demetriades, CEO and founder of the Los Angeles software company Seebeyond, drives his own boat but was surrounded by a crew of 15---"There's a lot to do," he said---that included designer Bruce Nelson calling tactics and veteran Mike Howard, who finished the Volvo Ocean Race with runner-up Assa Abloy three weeks earlier.

"We had a lot of power in the light air," Demetriades said.

The San Diego Yacht Club's designated three-boat team of John Wylie's 1D35 winner, Tabasco; Ross Ritto's ILC 40, High 5, and Warren and Saskia Gross's Beneteau 40.7, Silhouette, won the Yacht Club Trophy.

Allan Rosenberg's Olson 30, Intense, dominated PHRF 5 with a 3-1-1-2-1 series and collected the Lydia Kent Family Trophy for the third consecutive year. His six-person crew included sons Ron and Darren and daughter-in-law Heather.

North Sails Race Week is produced by Golison & Golison. Premiere Racing, Inc., the event organizer for Terra Nova Trading Key West 2003, is co-producer for this event.

In addition to North Sails and Nautica Watches, North Sails Race Week is joined by supporters Team McLube and J/Boats. Nautica is a leading global fashion and lifestyle company with products ranging from men's, women's and children's sportswear and accessories to a complete home collection.

Class winners:
PHRF 1 (9)---Yassou (Transpac 52), Jim Demetriades, Los Angeles YC, 3-5-4-2-1, 15 points.

PHRF 3 (8)---Pendragon II (Davidson 33), David Gray, South Shore YC, 1-2-2-2-1, 8.

PHRF 4 (12)---Defiance (B-32), Scott Taylor, Cabrillo Beach YC, 1-4-3-1-1.5, 10.5.

PHRF 5 (14)---Intense, Allan Rosenberg, Alamitos Bay YC, 3-1-1-2-2, 8.
FARR 40 (14/Pacific Coast championship)---Revolution, Brack Duker, California YC, 2-3-1-3-5, 14.

J/120 (16/North American championship)---Indigo, Scott Birnberg, Long Beach YC, 2-3-1-7-5-3, 21.

MELGES 24 (14)---Rock N' Roll, Argyle Campbell, Newport Harbor YC, 3-1-1-1-2, 8.

SCHOCK 35 (10/Pacific Coast championship)---Whiplash, Ray Godwin, Long Beach YC, 2-7-1-2-1-1, 14.

SANTANA 20 (12)---Altitude Sickness, Infelise/Bell/Infelise, Alamitos Bay YC, 2-2-1-4-3, 12.

Complete results and photos at www.Premiere-Racing.com

CONTACTS

Golison & Golison: (714) 379-4884 / fax (714) 379-3865
bruce@golison.com

Premiere Racing: (781) 639-9545
NSRW@Premiere-Racing.com

PUBLICITY
Rich Roberts
(310) 835-2526
richroberts@compuserve.com

Saturday's weather: 6 to 12 knots, southerly, smooth sea.
Sunday's forecast: Sea breeze building from 6 to 18 knots, clocking westward.

CONNER, ULLMAN SHOW THE WAY ON A TRICKY DAY

LONG BEACH, Calif.---Who said over 50 was over the hill? Dennis Conner and Dave Ullman were more like over the horizon when their boats sailed into first place on the second day of the 18th North Sails Race Week Saturday.

Conner drove Dale Williams' ILC 46, Wasabi, to two wins in the PHRF 1 big-boat class, while Ullman's expertise guided Brack Duker's Revolution to a third and a first for a three-point lead among the fiercely competitive Farr 40s.

The overnight addition of three J/24s boosted the entry total to a record 171, topping the 170 that sailed in 2000. The regatta winds up Sunday with two races for each class.

The J/24s, starting a day later, are contesting their Western Regionals as a world championship qualifier. They showed up just in time for a clinic.

At the end of a sunny day when the wind never lived up to expectations, Williams said, "The boat is set up for lighter breeze. It's the smallest boat in the fleet. When the wind's up the rest of them can waterline us."

But there was more to Saturday's successes than that. The wind topped out at 12 knots but never swung far enough right to mature into Long Beach's traditional sea breeze. That played right into the hands of veterans like Ullman and Conner.

"In the first race we worked the middle," Ullman said, "and in the second we went left pretty hard"---when most of the competition was going right as if it were the Promised Land.

"The shift was going right," Ullman said, smiling a wily smile, "but not very far. There was more pressure on the left, and the pressure beat the shift."

Ullman will fly back to Auckland Sunday night to rejoin Oracle's America's Cup campaign. Duker didn't try to explain his wizardry.

"He just tells everybody what he wants to do," Duker said. "I have enough trouble driving without worrying about everything else."

Williams, of San Francisco, said Conner agreed to drive Wasabi only two days before the regatta.

"Dennis has always wanted to sail on the boat," Williams said. "He wanted to buy it a few years ago before he got Morning Glory.

"DC is a very funny fella to sail with. He'll ask a question, [such as] 'Do we want to trim the main?'---meaning he wants to trim the main. Or before a race he'll say, 'We'll cut their hearts out.' He's a man's man."

Another sailing superstar, Paul Cayard, tactician for John Kilroy's Samba Pa Ti, also recovered from a middling opening day by guiding the defending Farr 40 champion to a fifth and a second and a tie for third overall.

"But it's still tough out there," Cayard said. "It's so tricky."

One of his world-class peers, Robbie Haines, would agree. Haines, tactician on the Alexandra Geremia/Scott Harris Crocodile Rock, saw the Santa Barbara boat go from a win Friday to a 13th and 10th Saturday---the latter crafted on an early start.

On the other hand, form somewhat settled into the largest fleet, 29 J/105s sailing in the protected outer harbor. Mike Pinckney drove Carolyn Hardy's Mischief to a second and a first for a three-point lead over Dennis and Sharon Case's Wings.

That would seem to set up a Sunday showdown between two former Schock 35 class leaders, but in reality the J/105s are a tightly packed fleet that at times rounded the weather mark four abreast and often arrived at the leeward gate like shoppers at a Macy's sale.

Mike Segerblom, the race officer for that course, said, "I'm glad we had a gate or it would have been a mess."

The only anomaly was Howard Lewis' Pendragon from Dana Point, Calif., which won Saturday's first race to go between a 23rd and 24th.

North Sails Race Week is produced by Golison & Golison. Premiere Racing, Inc., the event organizer for Terra Nova Trading Key West 2003, is co-producer for this event.

In addition to North Sails and Nautica Watches, North Sails Race Week is joined by supporters Team McLube and J/Boats. Nautica is a leading global fashion and lifestyle company with products ranging from men's, women's and children's sportswear and accessories to a complete home collection.

Leaders through Saturday (2 races remaining):

PHRF 1 (9)---Tie between Wasabi (ILC 46), Dale Williams, St. Francis YC, 8-1-1, and Grand Illusion (Santa Cruz 70), Ed McDowell, King Harbor YC 1-3-6, 10 points.

PHRF 2 (11)---Cita (Schock 40), Cita Litt, Newport Harbor YC, 1-2-1, 4.

PHRF 3 (8)---Pendragon II (Davidson 33), David Gray, South Shore YC, 1-2-2, 5.

PHRF 4 (12)---Defiance (B-32), Scott Taylor, Cabrillo Beach YC, 1-4-3, 8.

PHRF 5 (14)---Intense, Allan Rosenberg, Alamitos Bay YC, 3-1-1, 5.

FARR 40 (14)---Revolution, Brack Duker, California YC, 2-3-1, 6.

1D35 (9)---Tabasco, John Wylie, San Diego YC, 2-4-2-1, 9.

J/120 (16)---Indigo, Scott Birnberg, Long Beach YC, 2-3-1-7, 13.

MELGES 24 (14)---Rock N' Roll, Argyle Campbell, Newport Harbor YC, 3-1-1, 5.

SCHOCK 35 (10)---Piranha, David Voss, Oceanside YC, 1-1-2-4, 8.

J/105 (29)---Mischief, Carolyn Hardy/Mike Pinckney, Bahia Corinthian YC, 5-2-1, 8.

J/24 (10)---Jaded, Dave Klatt, Ventura YC, 1-2-1, 4.

SANTANA 20 (12)---Altitude Sickness, Infelise/Bell/Infelise, 2-2-1, 5.

June 28, 2002 -- For Immediate Release

Friday's weather: 8 knots building to 15, with gusts to 18.
Saturday's forecast: Wind 8 knots building to 15, clocking right.

ICONS UPSTAGED FOR A DAY AT NORTH SAILS RACE WEEK

LONG BEACH, Calif.---Whatever happens the rest of the weekend, a number of recreational sailors can take satisfaction in the first day of the 18th North Sails Race Week Friday: they had better days than Paul Cayard and Dennis Conner.

Among 168 entries featuring numerous celebrity sailors, David Voss, Bill Wright and Scott Birnberg were the stars of the day. They lead the only classes that scheduled two races on opening day.

While brisk sea breezes of up to 15 knots, with gusts to 18, took their toll of some of the competition, Voss, from Playa del Rey, Calif., sailed his Schock 35, Piranha, to two first places; Wright, from San Francisco, drove his 1D35, Zsa Zsa, to a first and a second, and Birnberg, a local from Long Beach, scored a second and third with his J/120, Indigo, to lead off that class's North American championship.

Meanwhile, Conner and Cayard could only say that they'd had better days---quite a few.

Conner drove Dale Williams' ILC 46, Wasabi, but as his two Stars & Stripes America's Cup boats sailed onto the scene after another day's workout in local waters, Wasabi's headsail blew out. The San Francisco boat switched to a smaller jib but was able to finished only eighth in the nine-boat PHRF 1 fleet.

The class winner was the regatta's biggest boat, Ed McDowell's Santa Cruz 70 sled, Grand Illusion, which isn't supposed to be at its best around the buoys. But the veteran campaigner showed its transom to a couple of swift, new Transpac 52s---Jim Demetriades' Yassou and Mike Campbell's Victoria---while Lew Beery's 1D48 It's OK slipped into second place on corrected time.

Cayard called tactics on John Kilroy's defending Farr 40 champion, Samba Pa Ti, but had to coach a comeback from 14th and last at the first windward mark to get back to seventh. The Alexandra Geremia/Scott Harris Crocodile Rock, with Robbie Haines as tactician, won the day, followed by Brack Duker's Revolution with Dave Ullman aboard.

Birnberg, trying for his third consecutive North Sails Race Week title, described his simple strategy: "We planned to stay in the top five and hang in there."

He admitted his starts weren't good---first the wrong end of the line, then "somewhere back in the third row"---and he sailed a couple of crew light when they couldn't get off work.

In the second race, Birnberg said, "We were 10th at the windward mark but jibed away from everybody and passed seven boats downwind."

John Staff's Cheetah 30, Wildcat, lost part of its mast in a PHRF 4 collision with Tom and Todd Wheatley's Gator. Staff withdrew from the event.

Oscar Krinsky's 1D48, Chayah, which destroyed four sails in one day in Long Beach Race Week a week ago, continued its run of bad luck. This time the clew tore out of the new main sail before the boat reached the first windward mark.

North Sails Race Week is produced by Golison & Golison. Premiere Racing, Inc., the event organizer for Terra Nova Trading Key West 2003, is co-producer for this event.

In addition to North Sails and Nautica Watches, North Sails Race Week is joined by supporters Team McLube and J/Boats. Nautica is a leading global fashion and lifestyle company with products ranging from men's, women's and children's sportswear and accessories to a complete home collection.

Friday's leaders:

PHRF 1 (9)---Grand Illusion (Santa Cruz 70), King Harbor YCF (1).

PHRF 2 (11)---Cita (Schock 40), Cita Litt, Newport Harbor YC (1).

PHRF 3 (8)---Pendragon (Davidson 33), David Gray, South Shore YC (1).

PHRF 4 (12)---Defiance (B-32), Scott Taylor, Cabrillo Beach YC (1).

PHRF 5 (14)---Blur (B-25), Aaron and Dixon Hall, Cabrillo Beach YC (1).

FARR 40 (14)---Crocodile Rock, Alexandra Geremia/Scott Harris, Santa Barbara YC/California YC (1).

1D35 (9)---Zsa Zsa, Bill Wright, San Francisco YC (1-2).

J/120 (16)---Indigo, Scott Birnberg, Long Beach YC (2-3).

MELGES 24 (14)---Monsoon, Bruce Ayres, Newport Harbor YC (1).

SCHOCK 35 (10)---Piranha, David Voss, Oceanside YC (1-1).

J/105 (29)---Wings, Dennis and Sharon Case, San Diego YC (1).

J/24 (10)---No racing.

SANTANA 20 (12)---No racing.

Complete results at www.Premiere-Racing.com

CONTACTS

Golison & Golison: (714) 379-4884 / fax (714) 379-3865
bruce@golison.com

Premiere Racing: (781) 639-9545
NSRW@Premiere-Racing.com

PUBLICITY
Rich Roberts
(310) 835-2526
cell phone Friday-Sunday: (310) 766-6547
richroberts@compuserve.com

MEDIA ALERT: Summaries of the racing are distributed daily and posted at www.Premiere-Racing.com, which also has photos and complete results. Press/photo boats are available for media on assignment. Race headquarters is Room 100 of the Seaport Marina Hotel, (562) 434-8451.

We welcome your comments and feedback, as participant satisfaction is our top priority. Please feel free to e-mail us at: nsrw@premiere-racing.com