1993 North American Championship – San Diego, California, USA
Regatta Report By Neil MacDonald
The day after the first race of the 1993 North American’s, one of the local newspapers made much of the fact that six of the top seven spaces had gone to local sailors, or former locals, including Olympic Silver medalist and recent expatriate Brian Ledbetter. The paper had gone on to cite “local knowledge” as the probable factor in the outcome. This may be true; because of the shape of the California coast south of Los Angeles, the north to south current along the West Coast tends to form large eddies off of San Diego Bay. Furthermore, the waters off San Diego are exposed to the well sweeping in from the open Pacific. Both of these factors make steering and tactics quite tricky at times. However, attributing the first day’s race results entirely to “local knowledge” may be somewhat misleading.
The San Diego Yacht Club, host for the event, has a deep tradition in Star Class history: such sailing notables as Lowell North, Malin Burnham, Dennis Conner, Gerry Driscoll, Jim and Mark Reynolds, Paul Cayard, Brian and Alan Ledbetter, and Vince Brun have all sailed Star boats off San Diego Bay, not to mention their various forays in the America’s Cup arena. Indeed, the fleets in the area between Los Angeles and San Diego, if taken as a whole, would represent one of the prime talent pools in contemporary sailboat racing.
Most competitors believed that the tactical question, at least early in the week, was not which side of the course was favored, but how hard to hit the right hand corner. Howie Schiebler, a San Francisco Bay sailor well-known in the class, remarked after the regatta, “In a group like this, straight line boat speed is critical, since everyone generally has the same idea about where to go on the course. If you don’t have boat speed, you’ve got a real problem.” One other “real problem” noted with universal dismay by competitors and race organizers alike was “Kelp Hell”’ huge clumps of the drifting plantlike which plagued competitors all week. Several Skippers, new to the area, made an early effort to try to gain by sailing through the patches, rather than tacking around them. One competitor moaned, “One moment we were crossing three boats, doing four knots upwind. The next moment, our boat had come to a complete standstill. It was like we had crashed into the dock.” The decision to try to sail through the kelp paddies was one generally made only once. Russ Silvestri and crew Marcus Maher, both new to the Class, were racing this year to prepare for the 1994 Star World’s Championship, also to be held in San Diego. “It was terrible. The kelp was so bad, we started using two kelp sticks,” laughed Silvestri ruefully.
From day one, the International Jury gave notice that they would tolerate no nonsense on the race course. Reminiscent of the “on the water” juries seen at the America’s Cup last summer, judges Arthur Wullschlager and Canadian Livius Sherwood kept a close eye on the competitors from a small inflatable they drove through course, while Tom Ehman, Jr., Dave Kilponen, and Durwood Knowles of Nassau monitored the fleet from larger boats following the fleet or stationed at the marks. Along with the results of Saturday’s practice race were posted the names of those who, had the warm up been an actual race, would have been disqualified for various infractions (most prominently Rule 54, for rocking the boat on the downwind legs). This warning prior to the actual regatta served notice that all of the rules would be swiftly and impartially, irrespective of sailing pedigree.
Remarked one well-known skipper, who had protested the committee for a PMS after leading the fleet to the weather mark early in the regatta, “I went into the protest committee looking for some sort of opening. They told me that they had spotters on both ends of the line, and boats above and below the line. Everyone was in radio contact with one another, and they all confirmed at the gun that I had been over early. End of story. I barely had time to sit down.”
Typical of San Diego conditions at this time of year, winds remained within a 6-10 knot range throughout the week’ with the significant exceptions of the last races, the shifts were generally small and oscillating. Some leaders made their gains by getting off the line cleanly and then tacking as quickly as possible off towards the right side of the course. With a clear lane to the right, and out of the stronger current in the center and the left of the course, they banged the right corner, tacked and drag raced down the layline to the weather pin.
Others taking advantage of the slowly oscillating shifts took small bites towards the center of the course, but again, heavily favoring the right side. With such light conditions overall, crews and skippers alike kept a watchful eye of the water’s surface in order to stay in the puffs. Boats separated by only a few yards turned out to have much different breezes, and those teams fortunate enough to be in even slightly greater velocity were able to reap big benefits. After having lead much of the 3rd race, 1986 Star World Champion and two-time North American title-holder Vince Brun and crew Mike Dorgan saw their lead slip away half way up the last beat. Rounding the leeward pin 41 seconds behind Brun and Dorgan, Olympic Medalist Mark Reynolds and two time World Champion crew Hugo Schreiner began the last beat by very slowly working to windward of the leaders.
Over the next fifteen minutes, Reynolds and Schreiner separated enough that they were able to catch a finger of wind that didn’t reach down to Brun and Dorgan. When Brun and Dorgan realized what was happening, they tacked back to cover their opponent. By this time, however, Reynolds and Schreiner had slipped away, and having crossed Brun, tacked to place themselves firmly to weather of the former leader. Brun then initiated a quick series of tacks in an unsuccessful attempt to wriggle free of the cover. Close behind, a pair of Olympic medalists, John Kostecki (1988, Silver in the Soling class) and Ross Macdonald (1992, Bronze Star class) continued to grind away on the lead of the two professional sail makers. Wisely, and with an eye towards maintaining their overall finish standings, Reynolds and Brun broke off the engagement: at the line, Reynolds led Brun by 15 seconds.
A considerable amount of pre-regatta media energy had been focused on Joe Londrigan’s attempt to become the first Star skipper in class history to win the North American title three years in a row. The Illinois transplant had won the event decisively in 1991, dominating the fleet in his home waters of Wilmette Harbor. Then, with Phil Trinter, a former college football tackle who was new to sailing, he went on to capture his second title in as many years in Detroit the following summer. Last October, the team finished second overall in an extremely tough 53-boat fleet at the Star World Championships, held in San Francisco. The regatta had come down to the last race, when a freak wind shift to the left on the first beat pushed the team of Carl Buchan and Hugo Schreiner ahead at the final gun.
Londrigan and Trinter came up short this year. Along with eventual regatta winners Ross Macdonald and crew Eric Jespersen, Londrigan broke early for the line on Monday, at the start of race two. By Wednesday morning, that PMS, combined with a dying breeze on the left side of the course the preceding day, had made a third successive victory unlikely for Londrigan and Trinter. The Canadian team of Ross Macdonald and Eric Jespersen, on the other hand, had come back on Tuesday with a fourth-place finish, and then earned back-to-back bullets on Wednesday and Thursday. Those two had sailed together for the past two years, including an Olympic Star campaign which resulted in Bronze medals in Barcelona last summer. Prior to that, Jespersen’s Star boat experience had been limited to sailing his own home made Star in the early ‘80’s, a boat Macdonald referred to as a “limited production model – there was only the one!”
True to form, the point spread had tightened considerably by the morning of the last race. Vince Brun and crew Mike Dorgan had taken an early regatta lead, but by race four, had seen that lead dwindle. By Thursday evening, Macdonald and Jespersen had moved ahead. 13.7 points separated the top five boats, and only 5.4 points separated the top three boats: Macdonald (22.0), Brun (25.0), and Reynolds (27.4), respectively.
On Wednesday, and Thursday, both days that Macdonald and Jespersen had won races, they had opted to start at the committee boat despite a noticeable pin-end bias to the line. The two Canadians, quite talkative on the boat, shared a good deal of the responsibility for the tactical decisions. They had reasoned that the freedom to tack to the right side of the course when they felt it necessary, and the need for a clear lane on the long port tack drag race to the right side of the course, far outweighed any advantages the pin might offer. At the starting gun Friday morning, Macdonald and Jespersen therefore pushed hard to win the battle for the committee boat, while Brun and Dorgan elected to start at the pin end of the line. Reynolds and Schreiner started a few boats to leeward of the Canadians.
Almost immediately after the start, Macdonald tacked to port. After several minutes of sailing Jespersen let Macdonald know that they could probably cross everyone except Brun. They therefore decided to tack towards the mark short of the layline, to preserve their options should Brun and Dorgan decide to tack on their air. Brun crossed, and then tacked, driving the Canadians back to the right. Brun continued to push them right, back into the fleet, and t the weather pin, it was Brun, Reynolds, San Diegans Eric Doyle, crew Bill Bennett, and then Macdonald Jespersen.
Along the first reach, Brun and Reynolds began taking each other up. As the two professional sail makers headed towards Hawaii, they were reported to be discussing advertising strategies for forthcoming issues of Starlights and The Star Log. Doyle and Macdonald wasted no time, however, working inside at the gybe mark, rounding first and second, respectively. At the leeward pin, Macdonald and Jespersen began to foot off slightly to work out underneath Doyle and Bennet. At this point, as he had done most of the week, Macdonald opted to play it conservatively, heading right while being attentive to the wind shifts. Several minutes into the second beat, however, the wind suddenly began to creep left, leaving Macdonald and Jespersen on the outside. The uncharacteristic left-hand shift, and increased velocity in the center of the course put those who had gone center and left well in front at the second weather mark, and by the leeward mark, the Canadians were well off the pace, having dropped to ninth place, rounding right behind the noted local sailors, the Camet brothers.
Eric Doyle and crew Bill Bennett who had shown solid boat speed all week, had been leading since they moved ahead at the gybe mark. Reynolds rounded behind Doyle and in front of Brun, the three teams again heading to the right side of the course. The wind continued to oscillate. At the point, it appeared that Reynolds and crew Hugo Schreiner were well on their way to taking the regatta. Heading right, Doyle stayed inside and to weather of Reynolds and Brun, enjoying the benefits of clear air but remembering the lessons of the previous days’ races, maintaining a careful eye on both Reynolds and Brun. Macdonald and Jespersen, their chances of a North American Championship fading, had quickly tacked onto starboard to clear their air after turning the bottom corner. Almost immediately, however, the Canadians began to get lifted as they headed into a building breeze. It was then that they decided to hang it all out and just stay where the wind was, and decide everything else accordingly. “Looking back, we just hadn’t been looking closely enough for the puffs,” said the soft-spoken Macdonald “We were more concerned with getting to the favored side of the course, rather than staying where the wind was strongest.”
Sailing left for about two minutes, the two continued their lifted heading, then tacked back towards the right side in a steady vein of breeze. As the fleet began to converge at the top of the course, what had appeared to be a walk-away race win for Doyle and Bennett, and a regatta victory for Reynolds and Schreiner, suddenly looked much less certain. Macdonald and Jespersen had come back hard by playing center of the course. And they were being lead back by the Camets (sailing number 6643, almost 1100 hulls older than the newest hull at the regatta), who had also gone left after rounding the leeward pin.
Charging the favored boat end of the line, Doyle and Bennett (7596) had the starboard tack advantage, but the Camets (6643) could lay the finish without having to tack. Moments before the Camets shot the line, Doyle and Bennett came across with a powerful, perfectly-executed roll tack, 15 feet inside, and two feet ahead, of the Camets taking the last race. Silvestri and Erlin (7425), who had played the center right of the course on the last beat, had also made an impressive comeback, finishing moments after Doyle/ Bennett and the Camets 45 seconds later, however, the overall title was decided, as Macdonald Jespersen swept across the finish line moments behind Reynolds/ Schreiner, who had needed to place a boat between themselves and the Canadians to grab the victory. It was Moet all around as Ross Macdonald and Erick Jespersen claimed their first North American Star Championship by 3.4 points.
Regatta Results
Place No. Skipper Crew Fleet Daily Places Pts.
1 7469 Ross Macdonald Eric Jespersen EB 8 pms 4 1 1 5 32.0
2 7592 Mark Reynolds Hugo Schreiner SDB 6 7 1 5 3 4 35.4
3 7619 Vince Brun Mike Dorgan SDB 1 5 2 13 5 11 40.0
4 7405 Brian LedbetterAlan Ledbetter PS 3 3 7 12 6 7 49.1
5 7631 Howie Shiebler Anson Stookey WSFB dns 2 6 2 8 15 52.7
6 7713 Joe Londrigan Phil Trinter SDB 4 pms 13 3 2 13 54.7
7 7425 Russ Silvestri Mike Erlin WSFB 12 4 pms 6 7 3 56.4
8 7558 J. Kissseoglou Dimitris Boukis GR 10 10 12 4 4 9 63.0
9 7657 Eric Doyle Bill Bennett SDB 5 11 pms 7 18 1 64.6
10 7640 John Kostecki Marcus Mahar WSFB 9 8 5 9 14 10 70.0
11 7309 Brett James Scott Warnes SY 19 9 3 19 10 6 73.4
12 6643 Brian Camet Alex Camet SDB 7 20 21 8 22 2 83.0
13 7655 Rob Maine III Greg Alm WH 18 15 10 15 11 8 89.0
14 7664 Chuck LewsadderRick Peter NH 17 1 pms 20 16 17 94.0
15 7603 Rus Carlstrom Magnus Liljedahl BisB 13 21 9 10 15 19 97.0
16 6991 John Bennett Joe Garner SDB 20 19 16 17 9 16 107.0
17 7607 Don Campbell Garth Miller EB 11 13 15 25 23 18 111.0
18 7294 Charles Beek Val Lyon NH 21 17 19 18 33 12 117.0
19 7681 J.A. MacCauslandEric Beckwith CR 16 29 11 11 dnf 20 118.0
20 7629 Barton Beek Joel Kew NH 14 22 23 21 13 30 123.0
21 7209 Lee KellerhouseMario Columbo SDB 22 27 18 16 21 21 129.0
22 7492 Philip Graves Ian Brodhi EB dns 26 24 14 12 22 129.0
23 7260 Bill Buchan Jr Garth Olsen EL dns 24 8 22 19 26 130.0
24 7615 Logan Farrar Mike Iverson CD 28 12 17 24 29 24 136.0
25 7626 Jack Dollahite Steve Dietrich NH dns 25 20 28 25 14 142.0
26 6682 Jon Little Mike Claxton EB 29 14 22 26 30 29 151.0
27 7451 Kim Fletcher Jim Nicholas SDB dns 18 dnf 23 17 25 158.0
28 7040 Jo Hartingh Chris Henry Jr DR 23 16 pms 29 28 32 159.0
29 7630 Ben Mitchell Bill Stump LB 2 6 pms dns dnf dnf 164.7
30 7533 Pat Londrigan Chuck Nevel LS 15 33 pms 31 35 23 168.0
31 7612 Karl Jacob Scott Gordon WSFB 24 31 25 33 38 28 172.0
32 7460 Glenn Read Warick Anderson PP dns 34 31 27 20 33 176.0
33 6847 Robert Hook Paul Karkin SDB dns 32 14 30 27 dnf 177.0
34 7531 Richard Pearce John Callahan WSFB 26 37 26 35 26 dns 180.0
35 7305 Ed Sprague Matt Lewis SDB 27 36 28 39 32 27 181.0
36 7400 Peter Siemsen Mario Garcia Cop 25 35 27 32 36 dnf 185.0
37 7579 Hans Bucher Paul Krasge CarL 30 28 34 38 37 34 194.0
38 7042 Greg Sieck Jeff Sieck H dns 23 pms dns 24 31 191.0
39 7296 Charles RollinsTom Londrigan SDB dns 30 32 34 31 pms 201.0
40 7173 Angel O'Mahony John O'Mahony NH 31 41 30 41 39 35 205.0
41 6890 George BrotbersNoel Miller MoB dnf 39 29 37 34 36 206.0
42 7570 Brian Dunn Scott Pack SDB 32 38 33 36 40 38 208.0
43 6149 Philip Ross Craig Ross EL 33 40 35 40 41 37 217.0
