(Written by Charlie McKee)
Saturday dawned clear and warm in Coronado. A great spirit of cooperation was in the air as the final arrivals Karl and Nigel got their boats put together, and Bora gave us all some tuning and tweaking tips while we waited for the wind to fill in. At 12:00 the fleet headed out; surely a historic moment as 12 Moth's took to the water in the US. 12 moths including 12 year old twins (Paris & sterling Henken)at 12 O'clock hoping for 12 knots, Hmmm.
Race 1 started in an erratic 5-9 knot westerly, with Bora's more consistent foiling giving him a solid lead coming down the run of the single lap windward-leeward course. Unfortunately Bora was thinking 2 lap race, and he rounded the gate and headed back upwind while the rest of the fleet sailed through the finish, led by Charlie and Hans. This was to be Bora's only chink in the armour though, as he posted a string of 3 firsts to close out the rest of the afternoon. Solid starting, good upwind speed and very impressive boathandling were an inspiration to the rest of us, and also gave the spectator boat fleet a great show.
Races 2, 3, and 4 were all sailed in a perfect 12-15 knot wind with a 2 lap windward leeward course. Charlie and Hans traded 2nd's and 3rds through the afternoon, with Bora ending the day with scores of 13, 1, 1, 1, Charlie with 1, 2, 3, 2, and Hans 2, 3, 2, 3. Behind them was some very close racing between a large group including Nige, Ian, and Doogie (NW contingent), Zack, Jack, and Karl from Southern Ca, with foiling newcomer Dalton Bergan quickly getting the hang of it after 2 days in the boat.
The day ended with some slalom heats consisting of a reaching start, 4 jibe marks and a leeward mark followed by a beat back to the finish. Wind for the semifinals was a perfect 15 knots, with tight reach-to reach jibes and a 4-minute total race time making for some thrilling action. Bora and Charlie won the 2 semi's, but then the wind died down to 3-5 knots and the petit-final was wisely abandoned, with the petit and the final to be re-raced on sunday. The 6 qualifiers for the final are Bora, Nigel, and Zack from group A, and Charlie, Hans, and Ian from group B.
The long upwind sail home included lots of boat swapping, starting with 65 pound Chuckie Eaton giving a light air foiling exhibition in Charlie's boat, and ending with Bora hitting 21 knots with it ripping back into Glorietta Bay as the breeze re-built. The day ended with more tuning discussion and a massive taco feed at CYC organized by Mark Gaudio. =========== Another perfect day of sailing concluded the 2008 Moth PCC's hosted by Coronado YC in San Diego this past weekend. The fleet was moving a bit slowly Sunday morning, following Friday's 6 practice races, Saturday's 4 windward-leewards and 2 slalom heats, and way too many Carne Asada tacos that night. Luckily the wind was slow to fill, but its arrival around 12:30 left the sailors foiling downwind to the South Bay racecourse at speeds of up to 18 knots. When they arrived the RC had the slalom course set up, and race 5 petit-finals and finals quickly commenced. 49er ace and Moth newcomer Dalton Bergan won the pertit-final convincingly. For the final first Nigel Oswald then Charlie McKee briefly held the lead before faltering carving turns around the 130 degree jibe marks, opening the door for Detroit's Bora Gulari to storm home to victory. The competitors, RC, and spectator fleet enjoyed the spectacle so much that it was decided to immediately run a 2nd slalom competition. Following the heats and petit-final the 6 finalists lined up; consisting of Moth ace Bora Gulari (runner -up in the recent Moth Australian Nationals), former 49er teammates Zack Maxam and Dalton Bergan, AC veteran and former skiff sailor Charlie McKee, and a pair of 15-year old local rising stars Jack Driscoll and Hans Henken. The start again saw McKee jump out to an early lead, as a big windshift at the start led to a broad 1st reach and a very tight 2nd. Seeing McKee struggling to fetch mark 2 Henken footed off, sped up from 10 to 15 knots of speed and tacked to starboard. Pinching around, McKee crossed Henken by 2 boatlengths but to the amusement of the spectators his leeward foil hooked the mark's anchor line, forcing him to flip to de-tangle the mess. Henken then led for 2 more legs, but Bora's jibes and 2 perfect layline calls got him past for another victory, followed by Henken and Bergan. The final 3 races consisted of 1 or 2 lap windward-leewards sailed in perfect 12-16 knot winds. With upwind boatspeeds of 10 knots (pinching) to 13 knots (footing), and downwind speeds of 15-19 knots in these conditions, the racing was fast and furious, with a premium on finding pressure and shifts upwind and down, good laylines, and nailing foiling jibes. Bora again outclassed the field in race 7, but in race 8 local phenom Hans Henken nailed the start, controlled the left side upwind and hit all his tacks and jibes for a well deserved win, with Charlie holding off Bora for 2nd. Former Brit and current Seattleite Nige Oswald also came on strong as the breeze built, posting solid afternoon scores of 3, 4, 4. For the last race the championship was solidly in Bora Gulari's hands, while the real podium battle was between Hans and Charlie, with the winner determining 2nd for the regatta. The 15-year old and 46-year old have been training partners in Coronado leading up to the regatta, and know each others' game well. Coming off the pin Charlie and Bora were neck and neck footing for the left corner with less than 2 boatlengths separation between them the entire way. When they tacked back though Hans crossed them both from the boat and tacked in front. Around the top mark it was Bora, Hans, then Charlie. Hans held close to Bora down the 1st run, but Bora gradually pulled away on the 2nd beat and Hans turned his attention to covering Charlie to secure 2nd. Charlie rounded the last mark about 7 seconds behind, and immediately jibed away in a right-y puff. Hans looked behind, coolly jibed to port, Charlie jibed back to starboard and a jibing duel ensued, McKee desperately hoping for a mistake from the young buck. Henken continued to carve perfect foiling jibes between McKee and the finish line, securing 2nd for the race and the regatta. Inaugural PCC Champ Bora Gulari commented later on the rapid improvement in the fleet througout the regatta. "By the end of the weekend everyone was up on the foils coming off the starting line, and even the newcomers were starting to hit some foiling jibes. With such high calibre of sailors joining the fleet and the spirit of openness and cooperation shown, the learning curve is going to be rapid". The fleet is looking to organize the next event for Long Beach later this spring, with the US Nationals scheduled for The Gorge Aug 15-17, and a possibility of the US hosting the World Championships there in 2009. A huge thanks to everyone at Coronado YC, and to Gaudio Sailing International for sponsoring the event. Here are a few pics from Christin Feldman (and more to come): (Races 5 and 9 were the slalom races, the finals of the first heat and all of the second slalom race were all held on Sunday) Postion | Sail No
| Skipper
| 1
| 2
| 3
| 4
| 5
| 6
| 7
| 8
| 9
| Total
| | 1 | 3281
| Bora Gulari | [13] | 1 | 1
| 1
| 1
| 1
| 3
| 1
| 1
| 10 | | 2 | 1 | Hans Henken | 2 | 3 | 2
| 3 | 2 | [4] | 1 | 2
| 2
| 17 | | 3 | 3299 | Charlie McKee | 1 | 2
| 3
| 2
| 4
| 2
| 2
| 3
| [4]
| 19 | | 4 | 7 | Zack Maxam
| 5 | 4
| 4
| 4
| 3 | 6
| 5
| 5
| [6]
| 36 | | 5 | 4 | Nigel Oswald
| 7 | [9]
| 7
| 5
| 6
| 3
| 4
| 4
| 7
| 43 | | 6 | 3127 | Dalton Bergan
| 8 | 7
| 6
| [8]
| 7
| 7
| 6
| 6
| 3
| 50 | | 7 | 6 | Ian Andrewes
| 3 | 6
| 8
| 7
| 5
| 8
| 8
| 9
| [9]
| 54 | | 8 | 3 | Doogie Couvreaux
| 6 | 5
| 9
| 6
| [10]
| 9
| 7
| 7
| 8
| 57 | | 9 | 3282 | Jack Driscoll | 13 | 13
| 5
| [13]
| 8
| 5
| 9
| 8
| 5
| 66 | | 10 | 8 | Karl Witnebel | 4 | 8
| 10
| 9
| 9
| 10
| 10
| 10
| [10]
| 70 | | 11 | 2 | Paris/Sterling Henken
| 13 | 13
| 13
| 13
| 13
| 13
| 13
| 13
| [13]
| 104 | | 12 | 3180 | Paul Kilkenny | 13
| 13 | 13 | 13 | 13
| 13
| 13
| 13 | [13] | 104 |
(Results were manually copied from a print out by Nige so may contain the odd mistake - please let me know if you see one)
|
