2000 Vanguard 15 North American Championship
2000 Vanguard 15 North American Championship
Introduction
Dinghy racers from across the US converged on San Francisco Bay over the weekend of August 18-20 for the 2000 Vanguard 15 North American Championship. Hosted by the St. Francis Yacht Club and sailed out of the Treasure Island Sailing Center, the event drew an all-star cast of competitors including 14 men and 4 women collegiate All-Americans (many with multiple awards), 10 past and present US Sailing Team Members, and 2 Olympians. Combined, the fleet members boasted numerous National, North American, and World Championship titles in various classes. This event confirmed that competitive dinghy sailing is alive and growing in the Bay Area again.
Racing Action
This year’s event saw San Francisco Bay serve up sunny skies and a wide array of challenging conditions to the 41 boat fleet. Winds ranged from 0 to 30+ knots. Racing was conducted on two courses located between Treasure Island and the Emeryville/Berkeley shore. A short course, multiple-lap racing format was used with most races taking around 20-25 minutes to complete.
Friday, Day 1:
Ahhh, San Francisco Bay in August….Sunny skies, hot weather, no wind….What the &*$%!!! A light southerly greeted the competitors to kick off the first day of racing. Anticipating the usual San Francisco summer westerly, the Race Committee choose to set up on the south course, close to the beginning of the Oakland side of the Bay Bridge. The first race was finished in a drifter and the fleet waited another 3 hours for the wind to fill. A light westerly eventually filled on the north course, so PRO John Craig and his StFYC race committee quickly moved the fleet over to squeeze in another race. Past North American Champ Karl Ziegler and crew Chris Museler quickly jumped in the overall lead with a bullet in race one and a 10th in race 2. Local all-star Morgan Larson with crew Chelsie Wheeler ended the day in second followed by Collegiate All-American Tim Fallon with crew Karen Renzulli. The competitiveness of the fleet was quickly realized as over half of the final top 10 finished at least one of the first two races above 15th place.
Saturday, Day 2:
Fog is Gooood!! Or, maybe not!! Day 2 started off with a more typical weather pattern for this time of the year in the bay area. Determined not to miss any more racing due to lack of wind, the race committee took the fleet straight to the north course where the wind had filled in nicely by the time of the first start. 3 races were banged off quickly as the breeze steadily built. Unfortunately, the wind never stopped building! Talk about blowing the dog of the chain! By the start of Race 6, the wind had risen to a steady 25 knots and showed no signs of letting off. The race was started, but the RC decided to abandon at the weather mark. Looking downwind at that point, the carnage was very apparent. At least 10 competitors (I won’t name names!) required rescuing by the RC and were forced to endure the tow of shame. Larson and Wheeler used consistent top 5 finishes in all 3 races to take the overall regatta lead followed by local past Olympians Nick Adamson with crew Charlie Boukather, and Steve Bourdow with crew Ki Mun.
Sunday, Day 3:
Anticipating a normal San Francisco day but needing to get 7 races in for a series throwout, the RC decided to set up initially on the north course to make use of the earlier breeze, then move to the more protected south course when the breeze got out of hand. This was the ideal solution. The first 3 races of the day were sailed on the north course, the remaining 4 were sailed on the south course. The top 3 boats came out firing, all finishing in the top 5 in the first two races. Races 8 and 9 were the deciding point on who would eventually win the regatta. Adamson, sailing with fiancee Carisa Harris, scored two bullets in the races while Larson and Bourdow scored an 8, 13 and a 12, 10, respectively. The wind began to taper dramatically for the last two races, casting in doubt the possibility of reaching the number of races required for a throwout, and increasing the randomness of each competitor’s finishes. Fortunately, the breeze held long enough to finish the twelfth and final race (barely!!).
Conclusion
This event was made possible by a huge amount of effort from many people, organizations, and sponsors. St. Francis Yacht Club, supported by regatta developer Sean Svendsen and Principal Race Officer John Craig, once again showed why it is one of the premier racing yacht clubs in the country. First class preparation, regatta management, and social activities are always the magical ingredients to a great event and this event lacked none. The people behind the Treasure Island Sailing Center, especially Matt Ciesicki and Pax Davis, should also be applauded for their commitment to re-energizing small boat racing in the Bay Area. Finally, the San Francisco Bay Vanguard 15 Fleet, lead by Co-Fleet Captains’ Rachel Horsch and Kara Forman, has worked tirelessly to promote the concept of easy, accessible dinghy racing to all in the Bay Area. With people like this working this hard, the future seems very bright for our sport. |
