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TERRA NOVA TRADING / YACHTING KEY WEST RACE WEEK January 25, 2002 Friday's conditions: No racing; wind 2-3 knots, E-SE, and dropping. NO WIND, NO RACING BRINGS GREEK THREEPEAT FOR ATALANTI
XI KEY WEST, Fla.-A subtropical climate that presented nearly 3,000 sailors
with three days of dream conditions had no more to give Terra Nova Trading/Yachting
Key West Race Week Friday. Racing, scheduled to start at What wind there was of 2-3 knots peaked at 10 o'clock and died. "We checked with all our weather experts, who told us there was nothing on the way," said Peter Craig, event director and principal race officer for Div. I, the big-boat course.Midweek winds approaching 20 knots followed a quiet Monday of 6 knots, tops, until dying off Friday. That made Thursday's leaders regatta winners and expanded celebrations around the globe. Grecian George Andreadis' Atalanti XI led the cork-popping. The former banker was the Farr 40 winner for the third consecutive year and Yachting Magazine Trophy winner as Boat Of the Week for winning the most competitive class for the second year in a row. Othmar von Blumencron, a former German and Swiss Olympian, now homeported at Annapolis, Md., won the Key West Trophy as PHRF Boat of the Week by outsailing a tight PHRF-5 fleet. Italian veteran Flavio Favini, under siege by the rest of a powerful flock of 76 rivals hoping to check his runaway victory, won the 2001 Melges 24 world championship, which was resurrected after its cancellation at Ft. Lauderdale last autumn. U.S. national champion Argyle Campbell of Newport Beach, Calif., won the class's Corinthian award as the top amateur. He placed 10th overall with best finishes of third and a pair of fifths. A complete Melges 24 report follows this release. The above winners followed Australia's Richard Perini, who clinched the Mumm 30 title Thursday. With 54 foreign boats from 14 countries, the International Team Competition for the Terra Nova Trading Trophy packed a spirited punch. Runner-up finishes by Harry Melges' Melges 24, Star; the Wally Tsuha/Bob Hughes Farr 40, Heartbreaker, and Fred Sheratt's Mumm 30, Steadfast, carried the USA Great Lakes team to victory among 11 three-boat teams representing eight countries. Flags sagged limp in the Historic Seaport section of town as the fleet
of 324 boats towed and motored out to the four races courses south of
the island and the temperature, unassuaged by any air movement, crept
into the humid 80s. And there they sat. Some crew went swimming while
others competed for shade. George Collins' Chessie Racing rigged its main
sail cover as an awning. Finally, after nearly an hour and a half, came
the welcome sound of abandonment. A few contenders were disappointed not
to have a last shot at their class leaders-notably, the Heartbreaker team,
which trailed Atalanti XI by only two points, 24-26. "We wanted to
race and have a chance to win," Tsuha said. "Without the throwout,
we would have beaten them. But it was a good series." A system allowing
a boat to discard its worst finish was introduced this year. Under the
old system, Atalanti XI would have had to eat a 26-point disqualification,
which it simply tossed. Atalanti XI tactician Robbie Haines was asked
if he would rather have sailed Friday. He thought for a moment, then replied
with a smile: "It's OK." Andreadis said, "It's best to
win it by racing, but . . . " He shrugged and smiled, then continued
to pour champagne for friends and crew.His victory wasn't nearly as dramatic
as last year when Atalanti XI exploded from out of the pack on the final
day with second- and first-place finishes. This year Andreadis and his
crew won while drifting lazily on a But who is George Andreadis? Sailing followers know he is Greek and used to own a bank-actually, the Commercial Bank of Athens, his hometown. At 60, he is a fourth-term International Sailing Federation (ISAF) vice-president and is involved in the organization of the 2004 Olympic sailing in Pireaus, the port of Athens. "I have been sailing for 50 years," Andreadis said. He met Haines when both were campaigning for the 1980 Moscow Olympics, which the U.S. boycotted under President Jimmy Carter's direction.Andreadis sailed a Flying Dutchman in the 1968 and '76 Olympics and owns several boats which have won five world titles. It is assumed there have been 10 previous Atalantis."At least," Haines said. Besides a passion for sailing, Andreadis and Roy E. Disney have something in common: Robbie Haines. The San Diego sailor, 1984 Olympic gold medallist and longtime North Sails executive has been Andreadis' tactician/sidekick/mentor not only at Key West but for other major international events since 1979.Haines also has managed Disney's offshore campaigns in the Transpac, Pineapple Cup and other events. But Andreadis and Disney have never met."[Andreadis] will not go offshore or do a race overnight," Haines said, noting that Disney doesn't do many buoy races.With Andreadis, Haines said, "George is an excellent helmsman. I tell him when we need to [bear away to] go fast or [head up to] go slower. He communicates very well with the crew. If we don't have any other boats around us I don't say a thing." Other one-design winners included Kerry Klingler, repeating last year's
J/80 triumph; John Esposito's Hustler in J/29s, Bob Johnstone's Tern 7
in J/105s, Randy Smyth in F-28R trimarans and, as reported earlier, Chris
and It also was the maiden regatta for J/Boats' newest creation, the 35-foot
3-inch, sprit and asymmetrical spinnaker-equipped J/109, designed by Alan
Johnstone, which his father Rod sailed to second place two points behind "We just took it out of the box from the factory in France and went racing," Johnstone said. "I'm so happy with it. The boat performed great in every condition, and it seemed to be best in No. 2 [jib] weather. We've sold 15 in the U.S. and 20 in France, and only five have been built."A close fourth in that class was Euro Trash Girl, a J/120 driven by Nicole Christie of Annapolis with four other women and three men, including tactician Kevin Ryman. "A lot of people expected us to have problems because we sailed with a small crew of eight and five of us weigh only about 140 pounds instead of 180," Christie said. "But we never struggled with the strong winds, and we're very happy with our result." YACHTING MAGAZINE TROPHY BOAT OF THE WEEK KEY WEST TROPHY PHRF BOAT OF THE WEEK BOATS OF THE DAY Monday/ Lewmar Marine Day: Nerone (Farr 40), Masimo Mezzaroma,
Savona, Italy
Publicity INTERNATIONAL MELGES 24 CLASS ASSOCIATION FLAVIO FAVINI WINS 2001 MELGES 24 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP With a score line that included five bullets Italian Flavio Favini won the 2001 Melges 24 World Championship in true style after the final day of racing eventually had to be cancelled due to lack of wind. Although disappointed that no more racing was possible the fleet were in full agreement with the Race Committee's decision that sailing in under 4 knots would be no way to finish what had otherwise been a fantastic championship. Favini (helming for Switzerland's Franco Rossini) was delighted to have taken the title and is looking forward to being back in Key West next year. "Our team is thrilled to win this championship. I'm involved with an America's Cup campaign so unfortunately I'm not going to be in a Melges until the end of the year but after that the plan is to be back in the boat at Key West again for 2003. I like the small boat racing much better than the big boats. The fun of sailing for me is related to the length of the boat, the smaller the boat the more fun!" Runner up Harry Melges (helming for Jeff Ecklund) was disappointed not to get a final chance to go up against Favini for the title but was philosophical about the situation. "Unfortunately the wind was too light to get any racing in today. We were hoping for some light to moderate winds so we could maybe mix things up a little bit with Flavio and Franco and their team, but it didn't happen for us. Flavio, Franco and their guys sailed a great event so we're happy for them that they won a championship with five firsts in a row, which is pretty hard to beat, but we'll be back sailing in the 2002 Worlds in Travemuende and see what we can do there" Overnight the protest between Brian Porter and Favini, following an incident in race 8, was dismissed by the jury as it was lodged out of time so the final results after 8 races stand for the overall rankings. Vince Brun, who had been hoping to take a record third Melges 24 World title, had to content himself with 3rd overall while Britain's Jamie Lea (helming for Richard Thompson) took 4th. Thompson and Lea had the consolation of knowing that their result here was just enough to win them the Melges 24 World Ranking Series for 2001. "We've had a fantastic time and really enjoyed the racing here in Key West. We've got a full European season planned in the Melges 24 for 2002 including the Travemuende Worlds and hope to back in Key West again next year." commented a very happy Thompson on the dockside. Alongside it's main competition the Melges 24 Class also runs a "Corinthian" competition for the non-professional helms and crews. Argyle Campbell, Doug Clark (helming for Paula Zubrzycki), Bruce Ayres, Tony Wattson, Don Jesberg, Suzuki and Keith Musto (helming for David Happ) spent the week battling this one out with Campbell eventually getting the upper hand by just three points from Clark. Ayres took 3rd and Wattson was 4th just head of Jesberg. "I think it's been a fantastic event. Premier Racing has worked incredibly hard with the IMCA team to get the event organised at such short notice after the Ft Lauderdale Yacht Club pulled out. It's been a great event, the organisation both ashore and afloat have been excellent. We can't praise the Race Officer and his team enough for the exemplary way in which they've managed the racing. They've done a tremendous job and we're grateful to them." said Olympic Silver Medallist Keith Musto, a regular at Key West over many years. Key West always attracts a good Melges 24 turnout but the additional lure of a World Championship helped to bring a record of 25 overseas teams from three continents to join the almost 80 strong fleet. The furthest travelled team was lead by Kunio Suzuki from Japan. He and his team won the 2001 Japanese Nationals and were making their first foray into international Melges 24 sailing so were very happy with their 20th overall. International Melges 24 Class Chairman Tom Freytag was delighted with
how the event has gone. "It was a lovely regatta, plenty of sunshine,
some good breeze on the days we had wind and we had a great time. Key
West is always a great place to be and the Melges 24 fleet enjoyed being
here. It was the biggest fleet we've ever had at the regatta and they
gave us terrific racing and a quality championship and we're really looking
forward The 2001 Melges 24 World Championship is being run in association with Terra Nova Trading/Yachting Key West Race Week 2002. Our thanks to Melges 24 World Championship sponsors Woody's Ice, Geneva Trading, LightSurf Technologies, North Sails, Melges Performance Sailboats, the USMCA and all Terra Nova Trading/Yachting Key West Race Week sponsors. ---FIONA BROWN Full results and further information on the Melges 24s can be found at www.melges24.com. |
