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Forum Index: DISCUSSION: Event Reports: A-Class Catamaran North American Championship 2008

The Publisher ***** Sep 28, 2008, 4:13 PM Post #1 of 7 (7291 views) Shortcut A-Class Catamaran North American Championship 2008 Log-In to Post/Reply A-Class Catamaran North Americans September 30-October 3, 2008 A Cats Warm Up in Santa Cruz By Lynn Fitzpatrick Santa Cruz, CA – September 28 Oliver Moore and his co-pilot left in Bristol, RI on Sunday with five A-Cats behind a suburban. They picked up another three in St. Louis, stopped for a memorable universal joint repair in the middle of Nevada, and arrived in Santa Cruz at 2:00 am on Saturday morning, in time for practice races for the 2008 A-Class Catamaran North American Championships being hosted by Santa Cruz Yacht Club. Three-time A-Cat North American Champion, Pete Melvin, and his A2 design with the bad black hulls set the pace around the short practice courses. Following him toward the shift off Point Santa Cruz bluff were other three-time A-Cat North American champions Lars Guk and Ben Hall. For Phil Kinder, who has been the bridesmaid three times and wants the A-Cat NA champion title, "It's all of nothing this year." There is a budding talent joining in the fun and trying to soak up multihull expertise from the pros. I think his name is James Spithill. The 30-boat fleet is scheduled to sail 11 races during the regatta that runs from Tuesday through Friday. Event website: http://www.acatnas.org/ Attachments: IMG_0219.JPG (272 KB)

The Publisher ***** Sep 30, 2008, 6:32 PM Post #2 of 7 (6830 views) Shortcut Re: [The Publisher] A-Class Catamaran North American Championship 2008 [In reply to] Log-In to Post/Reply Guck Gets off to a Fast Start By Lynn Fitzpatrick Santa Cruz, CA, September 30, 2008 - Lars Guck is leading the 2008 A-Class Catamaran North Americans with a 3, 1, 1 after the first day of racing in gorgeous conditions in Santa Cruz, California. Pete Melvin is keeping close company with Guck and finished the day with a 1, 4, 2. Guck and Melvin went right toward the shore in the southwesterly. “You had to figure out when to go back left to avoid the kelp and to stay out of the void below the bluff,” said Guck. Guck and Melvin pulled away from the fleet in the 6-8 knot breeze that picked up to 10-12 knots for the second race and faded back to 8-10 knots during the final race in the late afternoon. “I had to get around the weather mark far enough ahead of Pete so that he wouldn’t pass me on the run,” commented Guck on his strategy for the day. Racing continues through Friday and the Race Committee hopes to have an 11-race series. Event website: http://www.acatnas.org Results: http://www.scyc.org/...a/pdf/acat-na-rr.pdf

The Publisher ***** Oct 1, 2008, 5:51 PM Post #3 of 7 (6219 views) Shortcut Re: [The Publisher] A-Class Catamaran North American Championship 2008 [In reply to] Log-In to Post/Reply Guck Goes Fast in the Breeze By Lynn Fitzpatrick Santa Cruz, CA, October 1 – Lars Guck continued to pull away from the fleet at the A-Cat North Americans hosted by Santa Cruz Yacht Club. Guck posted a 1, 1 in today's two races. Pete Melvin sailed a consistent 3, 3 and Phil Kinder and James Spithill slipped in between Guck and Melvin to cop a second in Race 4 and Race 5, respectively. It was another sunny fall day in Santa Cruz, but today's breeze was a lot more thrilling for spectators and racers. A front came through, the sky clouded over and the wind piped up during the first 1.5-mile beat of the second race so that by the time the fleet popped out from the protected area below the bluff they were in 20-25 knot winds with gusts up to 28. Some overstood the weather mark and reached out of control into the mark. Bearing away for the offset or heading downwind in the 4-5-foot waves and swells proved to be the undoing of many. "It was like riding a bucking bronco in those conditions," said Melvin. Some people got washed off their boats, others pitch-poled and still others broke shrouds and masts. With people separated from their boats and watching boats sail off by themselves with the trampoline as their sail, the race committee shortened course and finished the fleet at the bottom of the run. The day may have been short on the water, but there was a lot of work being done in the boatyard during the late afternoon. Unofficially, nine of the 28-boat fleet were scored DNF and the committee will hear requests for redress on Thursday morning. Newcomers to the A-Cats (but not multihulls) who seem to be getting the hang of things – Enrique Figueroa, of Puerto Rico, who sailed a 9, 4 for the day and James Spithill of Australia with a Valencia address, who posted a 7, 2 amidst the carnage on the course. Provisional Results following 5 Races and no discards. Lars Guck – 6 Pete Melvin – 11 Phil Kinder – 20 Ben Hall – 41 Paul Allen – 46 Woody Cope – 46 Enrique Figueroa – 48 Pease Glaser – 50 James Spithill – 52 Ken Marshack - 55 Results: http://www.scyc.org/...a/pdf/acat-na-rr.pdf Event website: http://www.acatnas.org

Dan DeLave * Oct 1, 2008, 6:37 PM Post #4 of 7 (6188 views) Shortcut Re: [The Publisher] A-Class Catamaran North American Championship 2008 [In reply to] Log-In to Post/Reply Lynn: Thank you for the reports! The website is woefully low on information. They do not even have today's results up yet. Later, Dan

The Publisher ***** Oct 2, 2008, 6:40 PM Post #5 of 7 (5701 views) Shortcut Re: [The Publisher] A-Class Catamaran North American Championship 2008 [In reply to] Log-In to Post/Reply Surf's up, fog's in and Guck's on top By Lynn Fitzpatrick Santa Cruz, CA, October 2 - It took no time for Lars Guck to pop into the lead on the first beat of Race 6 of the 2008 A-Class Catamaran North American Championship. It was a long course and Pete Melvin and Phil Kinder did all that they could to reel Guck in, but it was to no avail. Focused on piercing through and surfing over waves in the building breeze, some of the sailors got around the second weather mark and could see the race committee boat and the finish line. They were the lucky ones. A fog bank closed in on the fleet so fast that others got lost. Local, Davi Ottenheimer, was one of the ones who got lost in the fog. "I had about six feet of visibility and was flying southeast toward Moss Landing in the 20-25-knot breeze. I couldn't find the finish line. Once I saw a very large fin, I think it was a whale, and a sunfish, I tacked and went back upwind. Eventually met up with the rescue boat," said Ottenheimer as he pulled his boat out of the water after the first race. One by one the A-Cats surfed through the fog and into the mouth of the harbor. Just like the sea otters in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, they hovered around Aldo's harbor side restaurant sunning themselves and waiting for hamburgers and fired to be delivered to them. There was a break in the fog at about 15:15 and about 20 A-Cats lined up like skiers at the lip of a powder bowl to take turns breaking through the surf at the mouth of the harbor and heading out to the starting line, which had been moved closer to shore, in the chilly air and cold water. The mid-afternoon break and an additional layer of clothing did not slow Guck down. Guck won both races and Melvin had another good day as the two extended their leads on the rest of the fleet. Ashore, Melvin congratulated Guck, "Nice weed management." They and the rest of the fleet that went out for the afternoon made tactical decisions based on the kelp. "I went toward shore in both races, but tacked to avoid the 'evil zone' with all of the kelp," said Guck as he and Melvin compared notes on the day. "Yeah, it was a tough decision to stay in or go out in the waves and the weed islands," admitted Melvin. It was another afternoon of pitch poling for the tired sailors. Results: http://www.scyc.org/...a/pdf/acat-na-rr.pdf Event website: http://www.acatnas.org Pete Melvin

The Publisher ***** Oct 2, 2008, 7:11 PM Post #6 of 7 (5698 views) Shortcut Re: [The Publisher] A-Class Catamaran North American Championship 2008 [In reply to] Log-In to Post/Reply Shark- It works By Lynn Fitzpatrick Santa Cruz, CA, October 2 - Thursday's wind and water conditions made it very apparent why they call Santa Cruz "Surf City." Dressed in thick wetsuits and caps, surfers, A-Cat sailors and Aussie 18 sailors took to the water. Surfers carved turns on the point set under the Santa Cruz lighthouse. A-Cat sailors did the wild thing every now and then on the runs and a Pegasus Racing team Aussie 18 sliced through the fog in the big breeze. The yellow Aussie 18 hull has been in mothballs for a few years, but it and its Pegasus crew performed well throughout the day. With winds in the low 20 to mid-twenties, the steed kept a steady 20-knot pace in the big surf. Everything is working and is in ship shape to be shipped to Hawaii for Shark Kahn and his University of Hawaii teammates to sail.

The Publisher ***** Oct 5, 2008, 2:48 PM Post #7 of 7 (4959 views) Shortcut Re: [The Publisher] A-Class Catamaran North American Championship 2008 [In reply to] Log-In to Post/Reply Guck Takes A-Cat NA’s with a Perfect Score By Lynn Fitzpatrick Santa Cruz, CA, October 3 - The writing was on the official notice board at Santa Cruz Yacht Club Friday morning. After having sailed eight races, Lars Guck had seven points. It would be tough for anyone to prevent Guck from winning his fourth A-Class Catamaran North American championship title. The committee was going to give it their best to get off three races on the final day of the A-Class Catamaran North American Championships in Santa Cruz, CA. Pete Melvin also had a phenomenal score of 15 points and Phil Kinder was in third with 25 points going into the day. Clustered, but more than 20 points behind Kinder were Paul Allen, Enrique Figueroa, Peter Cogan, James Spithill and Ben Hall. Guck, a boat repair wizard and the new builder of the A3 A-Cat from Bristol, RI, claimed to be on vacation all week and has been enjoying himself in all conditions on and off the water. He’s gotten a few chuckles out of watching a pro or two behind him trying to master the A-Cat, the wind, waves and weed in Santa Cruz. After winning all three of the final day’s racing and finishing the 11-race, 2-discard regatta with 9 points, Guck said, “It’s all about the local fleet. We sail every Tuesday night and complete about 100 races every summer. It keeps you sharp.” Guck’s winning equipment combination was an A3, a Glaser sail and a Fiberfoam spars. New to the A-Cat, James Spithill certainly performed better as the week went on. Mortal that he is, he started the week by thinking that he crossed the finish line only to discover that he went to the wrong side of the pin. He got hung up on the weather mark during the second race. He went for a swim on Thursday. He yelled at the kelp, just like everyone else. He got the most satisfaction out of Friday’s second race when he shared the lead with Pete Melvin until getting stuck in kelp near the second weather mark. I loved it,” said Spithill of the racing. Not only did he have a lot of brains to pick and styles to emulate, but he found it, “good to be overpowered,” in the breeze. He learned how to control the feisty A-Cat by “playing with the trim, trying stuff and just getting the feel of it in all kinds of conditions.” Some of the competitors, including Enrique and Carla Figueroa, the 2002, 2005 and 2006 Hobie 16 North American champions packed up quickly so that they could make it to Dana Point, CA for the Hobie 40th Anniversary Regatta this weekend. 1. Lars Guck - 9 2. Pete Melvin - 19 3. Phil Kinder - 34 4. Peter Cogan - 60 5. Ben Hall - 63 6. Paul Allen - 64 7. Enrique Figueroa - 68 8. James Spithill - 73 9. Pease Glaser - 79 10. Ken Marshak - 83 Results: http://www.scyc.org/...a/pdf/acat-na-rr.pdf Event website: http://www.acatnas.org Lars Guck...WINNER! Lynn Fitzpatrick World Regattas Raising the Profile of Sailing and Sailors Lynn@WorldRegattas.com Skype: +1 305-432-2699

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