District 20  Regatta Report

Sat Jan 4th, 2014 through Sun Jan 5th, 2014

Lars Grael and Samuel Goncalves<br>Photo: 2014 © Meredith Block/Star Winter Series

Lars Grael and Samuel Goncalves
Photo: 2014 © Meredith Block/Star Winter Series

2014 Levin Memorial

 

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Diaz Dominates Star-Studded Star Fleet
Series Leader Continues Run As Internationals Descend On Miami

As the 2013-14 Star Winter Series Presented By EFG reaches its halfway point in this weekend's Levin Memorial Regatta, last year's overall series champion Augie Diaz along with crew Arnis Baltins continues to show the fleet his stern. This despite the presence of not one but two past Star World Champion teams, as well as Continental champion Lars Grael and numerous other class racers of note. The Miami-based Diaz won two of Saturday's three races in Easterly winds between 6 and 15 knots, with Brazil's Grael winning the second race by a solid 5-boat length margin.

"We may have banged the corners a bit too much in the first race, but considering the high level of skill in the fleet, we didn't always have a choice," said Grael. "We settled down after that and played the shifts and puffs better, but got stuck on the lighter side of the course in the last race of the day." While Grael has race numerous events on Biscayne Bay, this is his first day of racing in the series launched last year by Coral Reef Yacht Club member and local fleet captain Stu Hebb, and Grael says he's very glad he came. "This is one of the best places in the world to sail this time of year," he said. For his part, Hebb led the talented fleet around the first mark of the Race 1 of the Levin Memorial Regatta and currently lies in sixth position, just two points behind reigning Star World Champion John MacCausland. "We sailed a solid day, but what a great feeling to beat this group of competitors to that top mark," said Hebb. "With three Brazilian teams, Johnny Mac, George [Szabo], Augie and plenty more, this is, by far the toughest fleet we’ve had yet at the Star Winter Series."

Hebb says the entry list bodes well for the biggest event on the Series calendar, next week's Star Midwinters, which counts double for the Series title.

While the pointy end of the fleet may be extra sharp, the rest of the fleet continues to build in size and talent. New for 2014 is the first all-female Star team in the history of the Star Winter Series; Isabella is helmed by longtime Star skipper and Class Executive Director Barbara Beigel-Vosbury and crewed by her niece Laura Beigel, and currently sits in 15th position despite full-hike conditions and a total crew weight less than half that of the winning boat's. "We can't hang with some of those boys but there are definitely ways to sail light and still get good results, and of course we're having a great time here with another 5 days of racing over the next week and a half," said Beigel.


Star
Place Boat Skipper Crew Sail #: Fleet 1 2 3 4 Total
1 Renata   Lars Grael   Samuel Gonçalves   BRA 8392   Par   2.0 1.0 4.0 1.0 8
2 USA 8465   Augie Diaz   Arnis Baltins   USA 8465   BisB   1.0 3.0 1.0 3.0 8.0001
3 USA 8320   George Szabo   Roger Cheer   USA 8320   SDB   4.0 5.0 2.0 5.0 16
4 Stella   John Maccausland   Phil Trinter   USA 8490   CR   3.0 2.0 13.0 4.0 22
5 CAN 8466   Stuart Hebb   Mike Wolfs   CAN 8466   BisB   5.0 7.0 8.0 2.0 22.0001
6 Star   Arthur Anosov   Valentin Veysman   USA 8000   SL   7.0 9.0 3.0 6.0 25
7 Barakablue   Larry Whipple     USA 8484   BisB   6.0 11.0 6.0 7.0 30
8 Juanita   Alberto Zanetti   Edward Morey   ARG 8278   OL   8.0 8.0 5.0 10.0 31
9 Picnic   William Swigart   Brian Fatih   USA 8291   CLIS   9.0 6.0 7.0 9.0 31.0001
10 Surfin'Bird   Admar Gonzaga Neto   André Serpa   BRA 8459   Par   12.0 4.0 14.0 11.0 41
11 Grinch   Bert Collins   Jake Doyle   USA 8063   AN   11.0 10.0 10.0 13.0 44
12 Tesser   Mike Phinney   Rick Burgess   USA 8410   SLE   10.0 13.0 11.0 12.0 46
13 Care Bear   Kevin Mcneil   Matt Ogden   USA 8408   AN   13.0 12.0 12.0 14.0 51
14 Isabella   Barbara Beigel-Vosbury   Laura Beigel   USA 8379   AN   15.0 14.0 16.0 8.0 53
15 Vivi   Frederico Viegas   Renato Moura   BRA 8403   Par   14.0 15.0 9.0 16.0 54
16 8084   Robert Teitge   Keith Gardner   USA 8084   DR   17.0 20.0 17.0 15.0 69
17 Goodfellas   Charles F Kohlermann IV   Dan Shelton   USA 7964   NCB   16.0 17.0 18.0 18.0 69.0001
18 Drunken Stupor   Manfred Kanter   Anne Marie Willan   CAN 8094     18.0 16.0 19.0 17.0 70
19 High Octane   Lothar Geilen   Adrian Geilen   GER 8396     19.0 18.0 15.0 23.0 [DNC] 75
20 Spax   Sandy McAllister   Spencer McAllister   USA 7828   SL   20.0 19.0 20.0 20.0 79
21 USA 7611   Ralph Grossmann   Ralph Grossmann IV   USA 7611     23.0 [DNS] 23.0 [DNS] 23.0 [DNS] 19.0 88
22 Pied Piper/National Marine   Jack Jennings     USA 8464   LS   23.0 [DNC] 23.0 [DNC] 23.0 [DNC] 23.0 [DNC] 92

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