| KEY WEST, FL. USA-(21-1-2004) To those who think Samuel (Shark) Kahn had an off-day at
Terra Nova Trading Key West 2004, presented by Nautica, Wednesday with 14th-
and 10th-place finishes, think again. The 14-year-old phenom of the Melges
24 class twice spotted his 57 rivals an advantage by having to return to the
line after crossing before the starting horn---but finished the day by
increasing his lead from 12 to 14 points.
‘Stuff happens,’ said Mark Reynolds, coach of the Santa Cruz, Calif.-based
Team Pegasus. ‘They did a great job coming back.’
But a moment of reckoning is due Thursday. The worst stuff that happened to
most of the 301 boats from 18 countries and 32 states will be forgiven when
the discard rule kicks in after the seventh race---a blessed event for
especially for the French.
Philippe Ligot's P&P Sailing Team, with former European champion Sebastian
Col driving, has won half the Melges 24 races this week but remained out of
the lead pack while carrying a 59-point burden for failing to return after
an overanxious start of their own Monday. If they and the Shark both
discarded their worst scores now, the French would lead with 11 points to
Kahn's 24. But there is still a lot of sailing to do.
Only the Division 1 boats---Farr 40s, Swan 45s and Mumm 30s---must count all
of their races of the nine scheduled through Friday, so the Farr 40s
especially seem destined to continue as a dogfight. Crocodile Rock,
Alexandra Geremia and Scott Harris' defending champion from Santa Barbara,
Calif., is the third leader in three days---without winning a race.
The secret is that it's the only one of the 23 boats without a double-digit
finish, the same formula that won for them a year ago---a title last year
and in first place again without running a race the last two years.
Fred and Steve Howe's Warpath, the co-leader from San Diego a day earlier,
has a clear handle on the situation after finishing first and 19th in
Wednesday's fluky moderate winds.
Steve Howe, the younger family partner who drives, said, ‘It was shifty out
there . . . hard to stay in phase [with the wind shifts]. In the first race
we were definitely in phase and in the second race we couldn't get into
phase. Today was a good example of what it's like in this class. It could be
worse.’
Warpath shares third place with Jim Richardson's Barking Mad, Newport, R.I.,
five points off the pace, with a reborn John MacLaurin, the 70-year-old
phenom from L.A., holding Pendragon V on a role only 1.8 points out of first
place.
A similar scrap is going on among the biggest boats in PHRF 1, where three
rivals are within five points of Clay Deutsch's Swan 68, Chippewa, sailing
their handicaps for all they're worth against the fastest rated pair---Tom
Hill's R/P 75 Titan and Bill Alcott's Andrews 68 Equation---who are running
an easy 1-2 boat-for-boat consistently but finding it difficult to cover
from so far ahead.
With the clock calculations, Roger Sturgeon's San Francisco-based Transpac
52, Rosebud, scored a first and fourth Wednesday to win Mount Gay Rum Boat
of the Day honors---extending a sweep this week for West Coast boats,
although owner Roger Sturgeon has lived in Ft. Lauderdale the last two
years.
‘We feel like the most improved boat this week,’ said Sturgeon, who won the
class last year and is in third place now. ‘It isn't quite as easy as last
year. This is harder than most one-design racing. The adrenaline pumping is
what it's all about. Win or lose, it's just a blast.’
Other significant performances came from American multihull icon Randy
Smyth, who drove Ken Winters' Corsair 28R trimaran Rocketeer II past Bob and
Doug Harkrider's Bad Boys into first place by two points, and Rich
Bergmann's Zuni Bear, the 2003 Boat of the Week from San Diego that scored
two firsts and will toss an opening day 19th Thursday. That will all but
wrap up the J/105 title again.
Then there is the Mumm 30 affair between John and Deneen Demourkas, husband
and wife, from Santa Barbara. After a few years of Deneen driving the family
Farr 40, they now have separate boats---both winners Wednesday.
Although they're running third and fifth overall, John said, ‘It'll be a
happy camp tonight.’
Ross Macdonald, a former world Star class champion from Vancouver, B.C., is
calling tactics for John.
‘After a few days I started listening to Ross,’ John said.
Do they race each other?
John: ‘She was on my air today, so I don't know. Fact is, I don't have any
concept of where she is.’
Deneen: ‘We keep an eye on him. Gotta keep him under control.’
Shark Kahn seemed not at all disappointed about his day. ‘Each race we
passed a lot of boats . . . maybe 40 or so,’ he said. ‘But we shouldn't
depend on that.’
Father Philippe paid a more severe price, slipping from second to ninth
place on a 30-22 day. When he jumped the start in the second race, he didn't
hear his sail number hailed on the radio until he was so far up the course
that he hoisted his spinnaker to go back downwind to re-start.
‘That cost him about six minutes,’ Reynolds said.
Title Sponsor, Terra Nova Trading, L.L.C. (member NASD, SIPC & PCX), is
recognized as an innovative leader in Electronic Direct Access Trading. The
Chicago-based firm enables customers to electronically route orders to major
markets and ECNs. Terra Nova Trading's technology partner, Townsend
Analytics, Ltd., is the developer of the premier real-time trading platform,
RealTick(r), which is also a Key West sponsor.
Nautica has upgraded its role to the Presenting Sponsor level. The winners
of the multi-boat International Team Competition will receive the Nautica
Trophy.
Mount Gay Rum, Lewmar, Samson Rope Technologies, Pearson Yachts, Raymarine
and the Florida Keys and Key West Tourist Development Council round out the
official line-up. The Historic Seaport is the Official Site for the event.
The Performance Sailing Industry Partner Program, now in its third year,
features 26 companies that have made a multi-year commitment to the event.
CLASS LEADERS (6 of 9 races)
Swan 45 (8 boats)---RUSH (Reloaded), Thomas Stark, Newport, R.I.
(4-2-2-4-1-2), 15 points.
Farr 40 (23)---Crocodile Rock, Alexandra Geremia/Scott Harris, Santa
Barbara, Calif. (9-2-8-9-3-8), 39.
Mumm 30 (13)---Turbo Duck, Bodo Von Der Wense, Annapolis (1-2-2-1-2-4), 12.
Melges 24 (58)---Pegasus 492, Samuel (Shark) Kahn, Waikiki, H.I.
(4-5-4-1-14-10), 38.
J/105 (29)---Zuni Bear, Richard Bergmann, San Diego (1-19-1-2-1-1), 25.
J/80 (20)---Sooner Magic, Mac Kilpatrick, Ft. Worth, Tex. (1-5-1-2-5-5), 19.
Corsair 28R (10)---Rocketeer II, Ken Winters/Randy Smyth, Miami Beach
(2-2-1-3-2-1), 11.
Corsair 24 (9)--- I-Fly, Steve Marsh, Miami, Fla. (1-2-2-2-2-2), 11.
C&C 99 (11)---Trumpeter, Wally Hogan, Toronto (1-4-3-1-2-2), 13.
T-10 (8)---Liquor Box, Chuck Simon/Bill Buckles, Key West (1-2-3-1-1-3), 11.
PHRF 1 (9)---Chippewa (Swan 68), Clay Deutsch, Road Harbour, BVI
(7-1-1-1-8-1), 10.
PHRF 2 /IMS (8)---Storm (R/P 43), Les Crouch, San Diego (1-2-1-1-4-5), 14.
PHRF 3 (8)---Raincloud (J/133), Mike Rose, Kemah, Tex. (1-1-2-1-1-1), 7.
PHRF 4 (10)---Tiburon (Melges 30), Michael Gray, New Orleans (1-5-1-1-2-1),
11.
PHRF 5 (12)---K2 (J/120), Luis Gonzalez, Mallets Bay, Vt. (10-2-1-2-4-1),
20.
PHRF 6 (14)---Bounder (Sydney 36), David Hudgel, Detroit (1-5-1-2-2-1) 12.
PHRF 7 (12)---Phaedra (Evelyn 32-2), Robert Patroni, Pensacola, Fla.
(7-1-3-2-2-1), 16.
PHRF 8 (9)---Hot Ticket (Farr 37), Jim Hightower, Houston, Tex.
(1-1-3-1-4-3), 13.
PHRF 9 (11)---Rhumb Punch (J/29), John Edwards, Solomons, Md. (4-5-5-1-3-3),
21.
PHRF 10 (7)---Ego Tripp (Tripp 26), Rich Harrison, Annapolis, Md.
(2-1-2-1-2-6), 14.
PHRF 11 (12)---Circus (J/30), Team Circus, Chicago (3-2-3-2-3-3), 16.
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