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2007
Etchells Long Island Sound Championship |
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Steve’s Blog |
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2007 Etchells Long
Island Sound Championship Bill & Gay Lynn
Trophy October 13-14, 2007 Hosted by Race Commentary by
Steve Girling Day One A cold and blustery
morning greeted the 25 boats competing in the Etchells LIS Championship. By the time the boats
made their way out to the race track, the breeze had become very unstable in
both strength and direction, (250-310, 3-13 knots) setting up a for a tricky
and somewhat typical Long Island Sound four-race day. Race One was a 1.3
mile 4 leg windward-leeward. Jonathan Nye, Jerry
Fulp and Barry Curtin (USA1212) were the first to punch out from the right
side of the track coming into the first mark, which was located just south of
Great Captain's Island. Hank Lammens, Dirk
Kneulman and Steve Girling (CAN1349) were the only team to properly escape
the clutches of the left side and in the final approach to the mark, gained
considerable distance back on Nye. A quick gybe from Nye,
seemed to be the move, but Lammens held on Starboard for the next new
pressure. This allowed 1349 to round
the port-hand gate bow forward of Nye force a quick clearing tack. From there Lammens led back to the right
and the final results became preordained.
Senet Bischoff, Ben Kinney and Ched Proctor (USA1308) sailed a
consistent race to finish third. Race Two had a
similar set up, with the marks a little further away from the shore. Bruce
Gollison, Steve Flam and Brian Terhaar (USA1285) were launched off the start
line but chose the right, which was hosed by the best breeze and biggest
shift that rolled up the sound for a full 5 minutes. This allowed Rob
Hitchcock, Gregg Hefler and Jack McCarthy (USA1105) to reach in from the left
leading Jeff Siegel, Jeff Madrigali, Jane Deleghaut and Millem Van Waay (USA1296)
and the other top 5 boats. However, the pressure
rush didn't last long and the conditions were soon difficult again. At the
second windward mark, it was still Hitchcock ahead of Siegel and they split
gybes right at the top of the run. The pressure gods had other ideas, despite
the leaders being a long way ahead, the boats behind started to gain. Most
notably, Lammens made a charge from 8th to 4th, Seigel slipped to 7th, Hitchcock
held on for the win despite a strong challenge from Gollison with Tim
Hotchkiss, Robert Allardice and Scott Norris (USA1185) in third. The less said about
Race three the better. Bischoff sailed a good beat to take a healthy lead
into the weather mark followed by Siegel and both worked the huge right shift
that turned the run into a procession nicely. Tim Yourieff, Bob Pattison and
Nick Amedola (USA964) managed to sneak into second by the finish. The final race of the
day saw a longer first beat of 1.5 nautical miles, but with no let up in the
challenging conditions, Hitchcock led Lammens to the right, soon followed by
Ralph Hertz Snr/Jnr and Brendan Debroth (USA4). Hertz sailed a nice beat and
led around the weather mark with Hitchcock and Lammens right on his transom. Hertz extended on the
run, in a small reshuffle that brought Wade Edwards, Justin Muller and Tim
Platt (USA1221) into contention. The second beat
worked well for the boats that worked the best pressure on the right. At the
top, it was again Hitchcock and Lammens this time with Hertz following in. Hitchcock chose to
extend away from the pressure on the final run into the finish allowing
Lammens to lead back towards it. As they converged on the line, Lammens was
slightly bow forward and forced Hitchcock to gybe, however a pin bias worked
to Hitchcock's advantage giving USA1105 its second win of the day. The Marx
brothers sailed a nice race in USA1222 to take 3rd ahead of Hertz in 4th. Day Two Day 2 of the Etchells
LIS Champs started with a stronger gradient wind (12-16kts) and a forecast of
gusts and shifts to the right. After a lengthy delay
due to an impatient fleet on the first scheduled start and an increasingly
unstable breeze, Race 5, a 5 leg windward leeward course got underway. Overnight leaders Hitchcock and Lammens
both made average starts, which left the door open for Siegel, Bischoff and
Hotchkiss to take their teams to the front. Local teams also found their
groove with Charlie Baker, Peter Simpson and Katherine Lund ( A difficult beat to
the finish saw Hotchkiss wrap up a nice win while Siegel bounced Bischoff
back to third and Lammens got through Anderson and Wade Edwards for a crucial
4th. At this point, all of the top boats
were carrying two average scores over 5 races. Lammens counted only
one average score from five. With the WNW breeze
now established, the final race of the series would be another 5 leg windward
leeward epic. The opening act saw plenty of drama as the morning's Westerly
influence showed up for one last shot spinning the bias heavily towards the
pin in the last minute before the gun. Siegel led the fleet from the pin
third of the line, crucially, he was able to tack to take the shift, Bischoff
and Gollison were close behind. Back at the boat end, Another tricky beat
followed with the fleet working middle right looking for that rightie at the
top, but for now, the max pressure was through and while there were shifts
and pressure opportunities on both sides, positions remained unchanged. The
second run was no easier, with big holes in the pressure. The only change on
the run was that Lammens got ahead of The final beat saw
another blast of pressure to test competitors in the slog to the finish. Siegel
did a nice job of sheparding the action, meanwhile, Gollison was flying and
had leverage on Bischoff after rounding the other gate. In the first cross, Bischoff successfully
lee-bowed him, but that forced Gollison back to the favored right. At the
next cross (well Senet, did you really have to try)...Gollison had him and
Bischoff did turn(s) for fouling him in the act of trying. It looked as
though Bischoff could lay the finish from under Gollison but perspective is
everything in the heat of the moment. Meantime, Lammens just needed
to hang tough to win the regatta, so a 5th was good enough to take the title.
Bischoff had a good day for second overall and Siegel had an even better day
to get back to third overall. All competitors
agreed that this was a terrific regatta and a big thank you is due to the
event chairs Jonathan Nye, and Dorothy Mosko and PRO Jeff Merz. They were
assisted by 25 or more volunteers. (Word is that there may be 30 plus volunteers
next time if Dirk promises to strip for the weigh-in)...The staff and club management of Indian Harbor
Yacht Club were excellent hosts from parking lot management to pulled pork
dining. First class effort. Thank you all! |
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