Key West Race Week Competition Heats Up For Second Half

Ran and Shockwave Copyright 2012 Tim Wilkes

With three races conducted in strong winds, there was opportunity for boats to make a significant move in the standings on the second day of Quantum Key West 2012. Or in some cases it was a chance to further increase leads taken on Day 1. Pisces fit into the former category, moving into the overall lead in Melges 32 class by winning two of three races on Tuesday. Skipper Benjamin Schwartz and company showed superb boat speed and made some sound tactical decisions and now lead the 19-boat fleet by tiebreaker over John Kilroy and the Samba Pa Ti team. “We are a new program so it is a tremendous feeling to be doing well in a big-time regatta like Key West. Hopefully, we can keep it going,” said Schwartz, who joined the class last summer and promptly placed fourth at U.S. Nationals. Schwartz has America’s Cup veteran Ed Baird calling tactics and Quantum professional Scott Nixon trimming the jib and spinnaker. “You have to give Ed and Scott a lot of credit for getting our boat up to speed,” he said. “I’m fortunate to have a great crew. Today was very challenging because the wind velocity was up and down and the sea state was not very forgiving, but the guys never stopped working and we were able to change gears pretty well.” Race committees on all three courses completed three races in 8-14 knot easterly winds.

With five races in the bag, organizers with Premiere Racing are already halfway to the stated goal of holding 10 races during the five-day regatta. There was a lead change in the Farr 40 class as well with Charisma (Nico Poons, Monaco) and Struntje Light (Wolfgang Schaefer, Germany) overtaking Groovederci (John Demourkas, Santa Barbara, Cal.). Struntje Light has posted a pair of seconds and finished no lower than fourth in the seven-boat fleet, but Charisma holds the overall lead via tiebreaker by virtue of winning Race 5. “We had a very good day on the water and are happy with where we stand at the moment,” Schaefer said. “We have nice boat speed upwind and our crew work has been excellent. We have a very good tactician and he’s made some fantastic calls that have kept me in phase.” Renowned Italian professional and America’s Cup veteran Vasco Vascotta is calling tactics aboard Struntje Light, which has competed in Farr 40 class at Key West ever since 2002 with a top finish of third. “Wolfgang is doing a good job of driving and is getting better every day. The guys onboard have a great attitude and are ready to fight to the end. The good news is that we can still improve our performance.” PowerPlay lived up to its name by making a strong move in IRC 2 class with a strong line of 1-3-4 on Tuesday. Owner Peter Cunningham, a resident of Georgetown in the Cayman Islands, has a nice mix of amateur and professional crew with tactician Tony Rey, trimmer Dave Scott and bowman Geordie Shaver among the superstars aboard. “We’ve only had the boat for six months and we’ve made a lot of modifications during that time,” Cunningham said. “We’re pretty happy with our performance so far. We’re sailing fairly well and having a lot of fun.” Quantum Racing, skippered by Doug DeVos, continues to set the pace in the 52-foot class and leads PowerPlay by six points. Terry Hutchinson, helmsman for the Swedish syndicate Artemis Racing that is Challenge of Record for the America’s Cup, has made strong tactical calls in leading Quantum to victory in three races and second in the two others. “Today was far from straightforward. The wind was very shifty and there are some tricky current patches to deal with,” Hutchinson said. In other classes, the three-race day merely served as an opportunity for the early leaders to extend on the competition.

Ran, a Judel-Vrolijk 72-footer, continues to sail impressively in the Mini Maxi class (IRC 1), winning all five races so far. Red, skippered by Joe Woods of Great Britain with Paul Goodison aboard as tactician, has accomplished the same feat in the inaugural Farr 400 class. “I guess we’ve just figured the boat out a little faster than the other teams,” said Woods, who has previously sailed a Melges 32 at Key West. “We’re winning, but not by much. The racing has been awfully close.” West Marine Rigging/New England Ropes has posted straight bullets in Melges 24 class and built a commanding 10-point lead over Alan Field and the WTF team. Detroit resident Bora Gulari is steering and getting tactical advice from Australian native and North Sails pro Jeremy Wilmot as West Marine Rigging/New England Ropes seeks to follow up on its 2011 national championship. Groovederci, skippered by Deneen Demourkas of Santa Barbara, Cal., has won all five races in Farr 30 class. Teamwork, a J/122 owned by Robin Team of Lexington, N.C., has posted two bullets and a pair of seconds in grabbing a narrow one-point lead over the 1D35 Tres Hombres in PHRF 1. “We’re having a great time because the conditions have been terrific and the competition has been spectacular,” said Team, who has his brother and two sons in the crew. “We’ve been mixing it up with Tres Hombres and finished overlapped with them in the first two races today. Rush is also tough so I think it will be a dogfight the whole way.” Rush, a J/109 skippered by Bill Sweetser of Annapolis, was named Lewmar / Navtec Boat of the Day after posting a superb score line of 3-2-1. Tom Babel is calling tactics while Quantum pro Tad Hutchins is calling tactics on Rush, which is currently third in PHRF 1 and second in the J/Boats Subclass. “The conditions were very good for us today. When the wind is 14 knots or less we can fly our big jib, which is kind of like our secret weapon,” Sweetser said. “We pay for that jib in our rating so it’s good whenever we can use it.” It’s been close but no cigar for Rush at Key West as Sweetser’s boat has finished first or second in class several times, but never come away as overall winner at week’s end. “One of these years we’re going to finally break through and it’s going to be wonderful,” he said. Regatta dates are January 15 – 20, 2012.

For more Key West Race Week photos by Tim Wilkes check out Tim Wilkes Photography

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Posted by admin on Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at 11:00 am
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Anna Tunnicliffe and Bora Gulari Voted US Sailing’s 2009 Rolex Yachtswoman And Yachtsman Of The Year

Bora Gulari In Action (Photo by Sean Trew)

CST Composites International Moth World Champion Bora Gulari and Semaine Olympique Française Laser Radial Champion Anna Tunnicliffe today were named US SAILING’s 2009 Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year. A shortlist of 10 male and five female sailors – determined from nominations submitted by members of US SAILING – was evaluated by a panel of sailing journalists who selected these two sailors for the noteworthy distinction.

Established in 1961 by US SAILING and sponsored by Rolex Watch U.S.A. since 1980, the Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year awards recognize the outstanding on-the-water competitive achievement of an individual man and woman in the calendar year just concluded. The winners will be honored and presented with specially engraved Rolex timepieces during a luncheon on February 26, 2010, at the New York Yacht Club in Manhattan.

Rolex Yachtsman of the Year – Bora Gulari (Detroit, Mich.) has been named US SAILING’s 2009 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year, earning the coveted award with his very first appearance on the shortlist of nominees. Gulari had tough competition for the honor: all but one of the 10 male nominees, Gulari included, had won a world championship title. Ultimately, 10 of the 14 panel members gave Gulari their first-place vote, acknowledging his growth from square one in the Moth class two years ago to winner of the CST Composites International Moth World Championship in 2009 as nothing short of remarkable. Although many sailors compete for years in a class before making it to the elite level, Gulari won his first Moth world championship his second time out and became the first American in 33 years to claim the class’ world title. One of the panel members witnessed the first two days of competition at the worlds and attested to the high level of talent in the Moth class, while another panelist felt that the sport was witnessing a watershed moment in terms of the class taking off in the U.S. In existence since 1929, the Moth is a development class with a design rule that has remained basically unchanged, while the craft has gone from a home-built, flat-bottomed skiff to the current version incorporating hydrofoils on which the craft flies across the water.

Bora Gulari on his way to winning the 2009 Moth World Championships in Cascade Locks, Oregon (Photo by Amory Ross)

“I just do this because I love it, and I think this year was the start of great things to come for dinghy sailing in the U.S.,” said Gulari. “With the addition of the foils, the Moths became easier to sail and a lot more rewarding . . . generating a level of excitement for sailing in some of the top sailors in the country that I have not seen before. I don’t think it will take people away from traditional dinghy classes, but the Moth is so fun that it’s attracting people that have never had any interest in dinghies, and its bringing people back to dinghies who thought they were done getting wet.”

Gulari’s sensational year also included a win of the Harken McLube Moth Pacific Rim Championship along with second-place finishes at the Moth U.S. National Championship and U.S. Pacific Coast Championship. He was a member of the winning teams at the Audi Melges 20 Miami Winter Series Event No. 1, as well as the Muskegon Yacht Club One Design Regatta and Bayview Yacht Club North Channel Race, both in Melges 24s. First-place finishes at the Sperry Top-Sider Detroit NOOD, the CYC Race to Macinac, Bayview Mackinac Race and the Super Mackinaw Race were aboard Phil O’Niel’s Natalie J. Gulari’s need for speed also saw him take a turn in the Viper 640, placing second out of 40 boats at the North American Championship.

A native of Istanbul, Turkey, Gulari came to the U.S. as a toddler when his parents did their post-doctoral work at Stony Brook University on Long Island, before the family settled in Detroit when his father and mother took professorships at, respectively, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University. Both parents were sailors and they introduced Gulari to windsurfing at age four, with his Dad giving him a golf umbrella to use when a suitable-size rig was not available. It was not until he attended the University of Michigan, from which he graduated in 2001 with a degree in Aerospace Engineering, that he actually set foot in a dinghy. From his late start in dinghies during college Gulari went directly into the crew position in a 49er campaign taking aim at the 2004 Olympics. His team’s best performance was a victory at the class’ North American Championship in 2001. After Gulari’s unsuccessful bid to make the 2004 Olympic Team, he raced Melges 24s and considered going back to his windsurfing roots with an Olympic campaign in the RS:X when he read an article by Rohan Veal about the foiling Moth which led to his watching YouTube videos and reading blogs and articles on this new technology. For a speed-obsessed sailor, the Moth seemed like the next logical choice, and Gulari put a deposit on a Moth having never seen the boat in person. Bringing things full circle, in September of 2009, Gulari set a new speed record – 30.31 knots in a Moth – breaking the previous speed record of 27.9 knots which had been held for almost three years.

“It’s absolutely overwhelming,” said Gulari about winning the award. “None of my accomplishments in 2009 would be even remotely possible without an amazing level of support from a huge group of people. My family, friends, boat owners, Bayview Yacht Club, my fellow Mothies all over the world, the sailing media, and a forward-looking Awards Panel – this award recognizes all of you. So thank you!”

Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year

Anna Tunnicliffe (Photo by Walter Cooper)

– Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.) has been named US SAILING’s 2009 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year. She was nominated to the award’s shortlist for the fifth consecutive year, and, having won the award in 2008 as well, becomes the first woman in 27 years to win the award in back-to-back years, a feat previously accomplished by only four women in the award’s 48 year history: Jan O’Malley in 1969/70, Jane Pegel in 1971/72, Sally Lindsay Honey in 1973/74, and Betsy Alison in 1981/82.

“It’s truly amazing to win this award again,” said an ecstatic Tunnicliffe. “I could not have done half of my season without the help of my crew: Molly Vandemoer, Debbie Capozzi, Liz Bower and Alice Manard. I feel honored, lucky and fortunate to win. Being nominated is an achievement; winning is amazing!”

Since winning the Laser Radial Olympic Gold Medal at the 2008 Games in China, Tunnicliffe has proven her talent and versatility by excelling not only in the singlehanded dinghy but also in skippering several different one-design boats in both fleet and match racing. She dominated the Laser Radial fleet during the 2009 ISAF Sailing World Cup series by winning gold at US SAILING’s Rolex Miami OCR and Semaine Olympique Francaise in France, and bronze at Kieler Woche in Germany. She also won the Laser Radial Women’s North American Championship in Florida and finished third at the Laser Radial World Championship in Japan.

Tunnicliffe’s success on the 2009 match racing circuit was also notable. She won the Detroit Cup in Ultimate 20s and was second at U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship in St. Thomas sailed in IC 24s. Her medal haul also included bronze collected at the ISAF Nations Cup Grand Final in Brazil sailed in J/24s, and at Skandia Sail for Gold in England, sailing the Elliott 6 Metre, the equipment chosen for the debut of the new women’s match racing event at the 2012 Olympic Regatta.

In October, Tunnicliffe was fleet racing J/24s in Rochester, New York, where she won the Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship. (It was during the 1997 running of this event that she first gained national prominence – at age 14 she was the youngest skipper in the fleet.) Less than a month later, the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) named Tunnicliffe its female 2009 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year for accomplishments during the qualifying period of September, 2008, through August, 2009.

The 27-year-old Tunnicliffe, a native of England, grew up in Perrysburg, Ohio, sailing from the North Cape Yacht Club in Michigan. Her college sailing career at Old Dominion University (Norfolk, Va.), where she earned ICSA All-American honors three times (2003, ’04, ’05), was highlighted with being named the 2005 Quantum Female College Sailor of the Year. Ranked number one in the world in the Laser Radial class since April of 2008, Tunnicliffe’s recent commitment to a match racing campaign in the Elliott 6 Metre focused on the 2012 Olympic Games shows the versatile sailor has no plans to slow down.

“I’m so happy I can do this [sail] for a living,” added Tunnicliffe. “I have more goals to reach in my sailing career, and starting this year [2010] with this award is amazing.”