Spinnaker Cup - May 28 - Strategy?

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New Record for Spinnaker Cup



Akela takes advantage of her long legs and stretches them out to knock 5-9 minutes off record!
Finishing at 6:59 PM ahead of Criminal Mischief and Double Trouble. Andy Costello's bright red J boat corrects out to win overall quite handily. Philippes Kahn's Open 60 Pegasus managed to grab a crap pot and was forced to retire....No word on the fate of the crabs... full report to follow!!!



Open 60 Pegasus crabs towards the Golden Gate




Andy Costellos Double Trouble crosses Chip McGeath's Criminal Mischief en route to class & overall victory!

Provisional Results

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WindSpeed:0 WindDirection:

Division=PHRO3
Date: 05/28/10 StartTime: 12:18:00 Distance: 0.0nm

Pos Order Sail Boat Skipper PHRF Finish Elapsed Corrected Score
1 32 5166 Shaman Waterloo 102 1|02:31:55 14:13:55 15:16:47 1
2 27 38747 Ay Caliente! Kennedy 87 1|02:24:20 14:06:20 15:30:02 2
3 41 38011 Escapade Sands 84 1|04:01:59 15:43:59 17:22:15 3
4 44 2707 MIMICAT Long 129 1|05:17:39 16:59:39 17:31:11 4
5 38 33 Tiki J Dickinson 87 1|04:17:11 15:59:11 17:34:03 5
6 47 295 Seabiscuit Neumann 129 1|06:54:29 18:36:29 19:11:01 6
DNF 42 38056 Estrella Huette 117 9
DNC 16 VALIS Elliott 99 ___


Division=PHRO2
Date: 05/28/10 StartTime: 12:09:00 Distance: 0.0nm

Pos Order Sail Boat Skipper PHRF Finish Elapsed Corrected Score
1 15 50039 Raven Thomas 15 22:53:06 10:44:06 13:18:00 1
2 17 US 28900 Scorpio Siegel 15 22:59:14 10:50:14 13:25:36 2
3 25 18410 Loca Motion Chaffey 72 1|00:55:22 12:46:22 14:22:28 3
4 20 52879 Jamani Mulvihill 30 1|00:05:02 11:56:02 14:24:11 4
5 29 40 Split Water Britt 87 1|01:22:06 13:13:06 14:31:32 5
6 26 38423 Tiki Blue Troxel 66 1|01:26:16 13:17:16 15:05:59 6
7 37 59284 Petard Newell 102 1|02:46:48 14:37:48 15:42:25 7
8 33 43533 Brainwaves Brainard 96 1|02:46:20 14:37:20 15:50:40 8
9 39 53470 megahurts Mattson 120 1|03:25:54 15:16:54 15:57:57 9
10 36 USA 47 Joyride Vickers 66 1|02:40:52 14:31:52 16:30:45 10
11 35 692 Irish Lady Mahoney 72 1|02:51:48 14:42:48 16:33:30 11
12 28 56086 Tierra Lynn Hestness 24 1|02:44:23 14:35:23 17:47:32 12
DNF 34 280 Wife Not Happy Carleton 66 16
DNS 3 33007 Rhum Boogie Lamprey 66 16
DNS 2 40046 Twisted DeVries 3 16


Division=DOUBLEHANDED
Date: 05/28/10 StartTime: 12:31:00 Distance: 0.0nm

Pos Order Sail Boat Skipper PHRF Finish Elapsed Corrected Score
1 21 GBR 9830 Trunk Monkey McCormack 21 1|00:12:58 11:41:58 14:20:33 1
2 46 101DH Elise Criou 129 1|04:43:19 16:12:19 16:42:23 2
3 43 8398 moonshine benjamin 111 1|04:21:46 15:50:46 16:46:52 3
4 40 28390 Pegasus Sykes 75 1|03:54:40 15:23:40 17:14:30 4
5 45 97707 Plus Sixteen Disario 129 1|05:40:01 17:09:01 17:40:51 5
DNF 48 US-3510 Recidivist Olcott 15 8
DNC 44 Galaxsea Willey 81 ___


Division=PHRO1A
Date: 05/28/10 StartTime: 11:48:00 Distance: 0.0nm

Pos Order Sail Boat Skipper PHRF Finish Elapsed Corrected Score
1 6 USA 93204 Double Trouble Costello -30 20:19:34 08:31:34 11:28:39 1
2 7 43717 Kokopelli 2 Spund -60 20:06:10 08:18:10 11:51:40 2
3 5 usa2245 Criminal Mischief Megeath -72 19:58:17 08:10:17 11:57:59 3
4 8 28909 Ocelot Greg Nelsen -48 20:31:37 08:43:37 12:10:09 4
5 10 97263 Deception Helvestine -33 21:21:00 09:33:00 12:55:49 5
6 12 USA 002 War Pony Howe -18 21:52:31 10:04:31 13:15:25 6
7 11 28538 Serena Kuettel -21 21:52:21 10:04:21 13:19:42 7
8 4 69011 AKELA Turpin -174 18:59:06 07:11:06 13:22:35 8
9 14 38042 tiburon Stroub 0 22:48:26 11:00:26 14:00:33 9
10 13 87868 Delicate Balance Storkovich -45 22:22:50 10:34:50 14:39:58 10
11 16 28398 Cinnabar Condy -27 22:57:37 11:09:37 14:56:14 11
DNS 1 28701 Lightwave Leckie -30 14
DNF 9 101 Pegasus OP-50 Kahn -144 14


Division=PHRO1
Date: 05/28/10 StartTime: 11:57:00 Distance: 0.0nm

Pos Order Sail Boat Skipper PHRF Finish Elapsed Corrected Score
1 18 38008 Sapphire Rasmussen 15 23:28:09 11:31:09 14:16:18 1
2 23 18151 Bloom County Jon Stewart 57 1|00:40:13 12:43:13 14:40:09 2
3 19 35024 Alpha Puppy Farell 9 23:48:27 11:51:27 14:50:54 3
4 22 28454 Always Friday Liebenberg 42 1|00:43:34 12:46:34 15:06:25 4
5 24 18983 Spellbound Gardiner 27 1|00:42:59 12:45:59 15:29:16 5
6 30 28469 For Pete's Sake Cook 78 1|02:48:40 14:51:40 16:33:54 6
7 31 18282 Flexi Flyer Wells 57 1|02:26:15 14:29:15 16:42:26 7


RaceOfficer:

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© Matt Siddens

Ocelot catching Koko, Waddell Bluff in background

[norcalsailing]

We've posted some photos from the start (one appears to be the reciprocal of one that Erik took!) and a short teaser story about the Spinnaker Cup on http://www.norcalsailing.com
We'd love to hear how your race went, and you think of the Downwind Ratings and how they affected the results. Please contact us via the form at http://www.norcalsailing.com/contact_us.html
Thanks!

[PD Staff]

Andy Costello's J/125 Double Trouble heads toward the Marin shore on their way to an overall win in the Spinnaker Cup. ©2010 norcalsailing.com


The R/P 78 Akela heads upstream. Despite defying the flood, she would be first to the finish. ©2010 norcalsailing.com


The Santa Cruz 50 Deception at Horseshoe Cove, while Akela makes it past the North Tower. ©2010 norcalsailing.com

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The waiting is the hardest part


After a few seasons of a lack luster or wrong direction winds, the 2010 Spinnaker Cup finally live up to its namesake with near perfect if not perfect conditions. After a near hour postponement at the start the fleet was able to seek current relief on the north side of the channel where the building ebb assisted those early starters riding the tide had just enough current and breeze to sneak out past Lime Point and hug the north shore to Point Diablo, then cross the river to Seal Rocks.


Akela Leads from the Start


From there, the fleet was able to blast reach across the shoals of Ocean Beach in downright pleasant conditions, flat seas and 10-15 knots and bright sunshine. By Pillar Point, the led boat, Bill Turpin’s 78’ RP sled made tracks and disappeared from the remainder or PHRO1A and onto a new Spinnaker Cup record, finishing the 90 mile course in just 7 hours, 11 Minutes and 6 seconds, eclipsing Kokopeli’s 2006 record of 7 hours and 19 minutes and 50 seconds. On board Akela, Rob Grant relays the former Zephyrus was clipping along at 16-17 from the time they set the Code 2 near Pigeon Point and reduced to Code 4 just past Davenport where they lost sight of Criminal Mischief and Koko before hitting 26 knots across Monterey Bay. They had enough breeze to carry the kite across the finish then all hands raced to get it down lest they ended up on the beach!



Akela and Criminal Mischief seeking relief

Yet just behind, SC 52 Koko, J-125 Double Trouble and Fox 44 Ocelot engaged in an 8 hour gybing duel down the coast. Winds and swell increased from Pillar Point to the 15 – 20 knots and 25 plus after Año Nuevo maxing out in the low 30’s from Davenport to midway across the Monterey Bay. Tom Warren, the bow dude on Ocelot comments “ This was the funnest Spinnaker Cup EVER!!” “ We had saw 22 Knots Boat Speed in 32 knots of breeze endured 3 nice round ups and 1 massive round down after a blown gybe, and the ride across Monterey Bay was a “ Huge Pucker Factor”. Andy Costello’s J-125 sailed and excellent race and corrected out as top dog finishing with kite up in dying wind, crossing the line 1hr 20 mins after Akela to claim 1st in Division and 1st Overall.



A Chamber of Commerce day greeted the fleet as they reached the ocean


A bit further back in the pack, on Delicate Balance, the Andrews 56, the race was more of a shake down for the Pac Cup. It’s 1st sail together since early November, “the boat is currently going through a weight reduction program “, crew member and boat manger Nick Salvador indicates.” It was a great ride down the coast and some of the best conditions we have sailed in” We made consistent 15 ‘s and saw 18.5 in the middle of Monterey Bay, however we had a downwind asymmetrical rating and only carried our symmetrical kites, so we took a big hit before we even left the starting line. After crossing the finish, when the crew prepared for a “’ Turn and Burn” to head back to SF a pan-pan alert was initiated from the USCG and the crew hung tight awaiting to assist. The cause, as it turns out was an epirb false alarm signal from Sapphire. A couple hours of concern and chaos ensued and the USGC scoured the area with searchlights until the signaling beacon was located.


What a difference a week makes. The previous Sunday, these waters claimed 2 lives!


As is often the case the wind eased as darkness fell and the infamous finish line wind hole began creeping slowly out to sea. While many of the fleet hit record speed and excellent surfing condition down the coast in the 6-8’ wind swell and 25 knot breezes, the seemingly unreachable finish added bundles to their time.
Division Winners are:
PHRO1A : Andy Costello’s J-125 “Double Trouble”
PHRO1: David Rasmussen’s Synergy 1000 “Sapphire”
PHRO2 Mark Thomas’s CM1200 “ Raven”
PHRO3 Steve Waterloo’s Cal 40 “ Shaman”
Doublehanded: Skip and Jody McCormack’s Mumm 30 “ Trunk Munkey”

We’ll have more stories as they trickle in!

https://event-manager.compete-at.com...R1275149639320

https://event-manager.compete-at.com...h1275149639315

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… and the winners are:



PHRO1A : Andy Costello’s J-125 “Double Trouble” crosses in front of Chip McGeath’s Criminal Mischief.
Double Trouble won class AND corrected out for overall…. Congrats Andy and crew



PHRO1: David Rasmussen’s Synergy 1000 “Sapphire”



PHRO2 Mark Thomas’s CM1200 “ Raven”




PHRO3 Steve Waterloo’s Cal 40 “ Shaman”



Doublehanded: Skip and Jody McCormack’s Mumm 30 “ Trunk Munkey”

[norcalsailing]

Like salmon swimming upstream, the smaller boats racing in Friday's SFYC-MPYC Spinnaker Cup from SF Bay to Monterey Bay had to deal with a strong flood only to flop around and die in Monterey Bay due to of lack of wind. In between, they were treated to a steady 25 knots of breeze and fun surfing most of the way. For the complete feature story, see http://www.norcalsailing.com/entries...erCupRace.html

[PD Staff]

Elise, an Express 27, sailed in the doublehanded division with Nathalie Criou and Heather Bowers. Nat described their race: "We started last and it took us five minutes to get across the line because the flood was so strong. We went for current relief on the north shore, then crossed over at Mile Rock. Then we picked a heading which would clear all points of land and get us out into the stronger wind offshore." They had 10-15 knots at Mile Rock, which increased to 18-19 when they set their chute, then built to 25-30 knots.

"We were averaging 11-12 knots of sustained boatspeed," said Nat, "hitting 14-15 surfing the waves. When we jibed at the layline for Monterey before midnight, we were in wind in the mid-twenties. Heather was trimming and I was driving when the spinnaker sheet jammed. We rounded up, then down, and it only took seconds to recover, but by then the spinnaker wrapped around the forestay and jib, and it took us forty minutes to clear it." The wind had gone forward in Monterey Bay, and died at a quarter past midnight, so once they'd cleared the spinnaker it took four hours to finish in two knots of wind at best. The breeze picked up for them just before the finish line.

On the other side of the coin were the fast, big, fully-crewed boats. They had a rip-roaring good time, with boats such as the J/125 Double Trouble, the Wylie/Kiernen 44 Ocelot, the R/P 45 Criminal Mischief, the R/P 78 Akela, and the Santa Cruz 52 Kokapelli2. Andy Costello of Double Trouble got the best of the others to correct out first.

"We had a great ride and pushed very hard the whole way," said Andy." We were just super fast all day. We were able to hang with the Criminals [Criminal Mischief] and Kokopelli2 for the upwind portion of the race, keeping them in sight while Ocelot trailed closely behind us. We set our A3 kite early just outside Pacifica and were able to reach comfortably at 110 degrees true in 12-14 knots of breeze making 8-10 knots reaching hard. We were suprised to see that we were holding our position against Kokopelli2 and Criminal, and that we had not been passed by Ocelot. The J/125 has tremendous reaching potential and really does well on this point of sail.

"We then peeled to the larger A2 since we had to run a little lower to follow our waypoint. As we progressed down the coast, the breeze continued to build and we peeled to the A4. Shortly after the breeze steadily built to 25 with gusts up as high as 29 on our instruments, and the last 40 miles was the best sailing we have done in a long time. We reeled in Kokopelli2 and passed them before Santa Cruz. Our crew was so stoked to be passing a 52-ft turbo SC52 in our 41 footer.

"Ocelot had the afterburners on also, and we were locked into an all-out drag race with them. Neither one of us could break free. We sailed side by side for a good 20 miles pushing 20+ knots, and they were finally able to pull out a small lead but pushed a little to hard and wiped out. It was pretty scary as they rounded up into our path, but we pushed our boat up a little higher and they managed to regain control of their boat. We crossed their stern and headed out for more pressure. Ocelot went in towards Santa Cruz and that was the last we saw of them.

The last hour of the race was spectacular sailing - great waves, 25-30 knots of breeze. We pushed DT as hard as we could, and we reached a top speed of 23.7 knots on our GPS." It looks like the J/125 was the right weapon for this year's race. And it helps to have good crew. "The crew was fantastic Trevor Baylis called a perfect race tactically. Mark Breen, Cameron McCloskey, JV Gilmore and Mo Gutenkunst all rocked it. I'm calling this the perfect race in my book for now. It will be hard to top."

The late-comers arriving at Monterey Peninsula Yacht Club in the wee hours before dawn pondered a hot shower and some sleep. "The Race Committee was at the club all night," said Nathalie. "We called in two hours before we finished, and then again at the finish. We got a light and a sound signal from the race committee, and a water taxi came out to help us. It was very well organized. They had coffee, breakfast and showers at the club."

From Nor Cal Sailing!

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FULL GALLERY NOW POSTED... HOORAY!!!!