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2007 Ronstan A-Class Worlds - Final Day Blown Away
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Well the racing conditions for the last day of the 2007 Ronstan A-Cat World Championship turned out to be pretty severe. The event that was building up to be a “Clash of Champions” on the final day of racing has been decided by a blow out, the wind that is. Glenn Ashby, Lars Guck and Pete Melvin all had a shot at taking the title today in a heavy air event, but in the end the wind was too much.
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A frontal system passed over the Florida Keys last night and the breeze picked up to over 25 knots just after 0300EST. This strong breeze refused to abate throughout the morning. Buoy and land station reports were coming in at 22-29 knots, with gusts in the 30+ range for most of the morning. The Organizing Authority requested a postponement at around 0900 and the PRO, Billy Richnow, flew the AP. The RC, International Jury and competitors closely monitored the wind strengths throughout the morning watching the winds with strong hopes of getting racing in today. Winds at water level continued in the 19-22 knot range with gusts to 28. There was also a fairly severe and square chop setting up with standard waves at 4 feet with frequent sets of 3 waves in the 6 foot range. In the end the decision was based upon keeping the racers and their boats safe. Even though this was a real blow to all of the competitors who had raced each other hard all week, keeping themselves in contention throughout the regatta, the OA made and outstanding call putting the safety of the sailors, their boats and all of the officials first and preventing the possible carnage that racing might have incurred.
Congratulations to Glenn Ashby, Lars Guck, Pete Melvin, Luc DuBois, Mitch Booth, Charlie Ogletree, Scotty Anderson, Murray Philpott, Andrew Landenberger, and Eugenio Calabria who were the Top 10 finishers in this event. Congratulations also to Carla Sheifer for her efforts on the course to rescue another competitor in Thursday’s racing.
A-Cat Worlds Report - Day 4
Final day preview - The 2007 Ronstan A-Cat Worlds is shaping up to be the clash of champions that it was built up to be. The top three competitors in the event have between them won national, continental and World Championships. Lars has dominated the US A-Class scene, winning the last 2 North American championships with straight bullets. Pete Melvin has won the 1997 & 2005 A-Cat Worlds along with many other A-class national or continental championships. Glen Ashby is the defending A-class world champion with many other national and international titles including the 2007 tornado class championship. Down, but not out are three more championship competitors, Luc du Bois, Mitch Booth and Charlie Ogletree, but to win, these three would need a major stumble of the top three. This all leads up to a 2 race shown-down on Friday in what is building up to be a real blow.
See hundreds of photos at
http://www.thebeachcats.com/index.php?module=pictures&g2_itemId=36401
The forecast is calling for the winds to build overnight to 20-25 knots, out of the North with gusts to 30 knots. By 6:00PM tonight, one could see all of the competitors out checking and securing their boats to the ground (A’s weigh 75kg fully rigged and are easily picked up if not secured). In addition the schedule of racing has been changed to add a second race to make up for Wednesday’s cancellation, pushing the start to 10:30AM EST. As the “Cat Fight” continues, we will see who makes the starting line in the morning.
Day 4 (Thursday) Report - Racing began this morning in 11-13 knots out of the North, steady and solid. The course was set for six 1.3 nm legs and got off on time. The course was clear of kelp with a light chop, just a perfect day for sailing. Glen got away cleanly with Lars close on him through the first leg. Scott Anderson got in the mix and Pete Melvin had a difficult leg. After the first leg, Lars faded a little and at the finish it was Ashby, Guck, Hoekstra, Beike and Calabria for the top five.
A-Cat Worlds Report - Day 2
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Grass, grass, grass… Recent storms that have rolled through the Florida Keys have washed a lot of shallow water sea grass up on shore and a change of wind carried the grass out into the Atlantic by way of the channels. Well, guess what? The A-Cats are racing both outside of a channel that cuts between a couple of the Key Islands and the racing area is located smack dab in the middle of the main Atlantic inshore channel that runs the length of the Keys. So what we saw on the course today was a lot of grass drifting downwind through the course. Oh it’s not as bad as it sounds, we could be sailing off of San Diego where the kelp will stop a boat cold dead in its tracks. But for a fleet that was expecting beautiful tropical sailing in the Florida Keys in the late Fall, the floating grass was frustrating for everyone. But, taken in the gestalt of everything, grass was fair and frustrating for everyone equally.
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The Race Committee drove around the racing area trying to find the most grass free zone and settled in for the first race. Before the start of the second race , the RC sent out a scout boat to try and find a different location to move the course. Unfortunately, the entire area had floating grass in varying thickness – from clear and weed free to floating palm fronds in clumps with entangled weed. Some competitors had rudder assemblies that enabled them to yank a line to raise one or both to easily clear. Most though had rudders that had to be raised manually and individually which made clearing the grass more problematic. There were some boats with “short boards” that could be easily pulled up to clear the weed, and some that had a more difficult time raising daggerboards to clear them. Overall, the grass was equitably challenging to all competitors.
Day One Report - Ronstan A-Cat Worlds 2007
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Monday 12, November 2007 - Today was just a spectacular day to begin racing. Spirits among the competitors were high, the weather was fantastic and the event organizers had done a wonderful job getting the event under way. The temperature was in the mid 70’s with winds clocking from 065° at 12014 knots. The race area is protected inside the reef so the racers do not get that ocean swell, but there definitely was some leftover chop to contend with. The speed and direction of the wind set up 2-3 foot chop with both left-over ocean influence and a .4 knot current running with the wind.
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The first race got off, surprisingly with a clean start. Nobody was OCS and Glen Ashby (AUS1) and Lars Guck (USA 250) had it dialed in from the start. The course was pretty even and over the 6 legs the fleet had an opportunity to spread out, look for clean air or shifts and get down to racing. Some went left, some right, but in the end the first race came down to boat speed and Glen Ashby took a large lead with Lars Guck 2nd and Sjoerd Hoekstra (NED 3) 3rd.
Aruba Heineken Catamaran Regatta 2007 Starts
The first day of the 17th Aruba Heineken Catamaran Regatta showed tough racing. Not only in terms of sailing conditions, but the competition was also full on. The shifty and gusty wind challenged the 45 competing teams, representing five countries. The Dutchmen Wouter Samama and Sam Frank, sailing a F18 Hobie Tiger, lead the fleet. They are tied on points with their fellow countrymen Eduard Zanen and Mischa Heemskerk on a F18 Nacra Infusion. Gunnar Larsen and Bastiaan Tentij are in third position, also tied on points with James and Gillian Power (GBR).
This morning, the sailors were welcomed by a strong trade wind force five. That was exactly what most competitors were hoping for. They enjoyed the tropical conditions and participated in the practise race. Others decided to save their equipment and body. They stayed ashore, which was maybe not a bad idea, as the first damages were a fact. After a lunch break, the official regatta started off with the first race. Meanwhile, the unstable wind had dropped to force three/four.
2007 Ronstan A-Cat Worlds Begin
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The stage is set and the 2007 Ronstan A-Cat Worlds gets under way today with a field that is deep in talent, experience and are proven winners. Sitting around the Tiki Bar last night at the Islander Resort, reflecting on the Blue Water classic regatta, the ISAF decision to remove multihulls from the Olympics and the talented pool of competitors at the regatta, Brian Hawboldt began a tally. He was tallying the Olympic medals, World Championships and National & Continental championships that this class of sailors represents. Present at the 2007 Ronstan A-Cat Worlds are the winners of 16 Olympic medals and over 50 World championships, not just from multihull classes, but from 505’s, I14, DN class iceboats, Lasers and a diversity of other sailing disciplines including around the world maxi-cat racers (Cam Lewis & Randy Smyth). While the results from the last day of racing in which Glen Ashby took three bullets to win the event, it would be a folly to predict the outcome of the regatta.
It is clear in looking at the final results of the Blue Water classic Regatta that the top sailors in the A-Class all are in competition for the World title. The final results are Glen Ashby in 1st, fellow Australian Scott Anderson 2nd, Swiss competitor Luc du Bois & Lars guck tied in points for 3rd and Pete Melvin in 5th. Though this was a tuning regatta, all the competitors sailed hard and the racing was close. The top thirty boats in the fleet finished within 30 seconds of each other over the course of a 45 minute race. The real test begins today.
Robbie Daniel to Auction Block for Olympic Fundraiser
WE ARE AUCTIONING OFF ROBBIE DANIEL!
With the US Tornado Olympic Trials approaching fast, we find ourselves trying to raise the funds needed to pay for the necessary equipment and expenses for Robbie Daniel and Hunter Stunzi to win the trials. At the conclusion of the trials, the winner will be your next Olympic representative at the 2008 games. Currently our goal is to try and cover about $41,000 in expenses that we expect to incur in order to compete in the event, which includes expenses for, travel, living, food, equipment, sails, coach boat, fuel, coaches and their expenses.
One of the things we are doing is to auction off Robbie Daniel. Some of you know Robbie from sailing against him and some of you know him from his coaching experiences. Robbie has a wide range of coaching experience on a variety of boats from small catamarans to large monohulls and live a boards Cats. He has been involved in Olympic Campaigns since 1995 and also has a variety of coaching experience. Currently, Robbie is at the Pre-Olympic Games coaching for the Belgium Tornado team who just finished 2nd at the Tornado ISAF World Championships, with Robbie as their coach.
Jetty Park Ocean Regatta, Cape Canaveral, FL Fleet 45 SCCA
On June 1-3, 2007 Racers from all over compete in two days of open ocean triangle races with as many as seven open classes. This year we anticipate perfect weather, perfect conditions, and lots of boats.
This world-class regatta, sponsored by Fleet 45 Space Coast Catamaran Association has endured more than 34 years of exciting open-ocean racing at its best. Centrally located on Florida’s Space Coast, the JPOR is one of the few open ocean triangle regattas for catamaran racing in the southeast US. We anticipate more than 50 boats competing in over six different classes with trophies up to five deep.
It is with great pride that we also acknowledge our sponsors for this world-class event. Without our sponsors the JPOR would not be the successful event it has been in previous years.
This year’s Friday Night Party will be at Ryans At Port Canaveral. For many years we have joined in a celebration at this location. With thanks to Ryans at Port Canaveral, our tradition continues. Hot wings and alcohol are the theme for the night. See you at 7:30 to ????
Beachcat Sailing Series at Fort Worth Boat Club, Fort Worth, TX
The Fort Worth Boat Club (FWBC) is pleased to announce that it is starting a beachcat race series on Eagle Mountain Lake, located northwest of Fort Worth, TX.
The racing will begin on April 15th and run through Dec. 9th. The season will consist of 5, six race series which run every Sunday at the FWBC (see calender for exact dates; http://www.fwbc.com ), first gun is at 2:00 pm. Fleet membership is required to participate in the series. For more information contact me at fwbccatsailor(AT)hotmail.com. I look forward to seeing all of you on the line in April.
Kevin Yeoman
FWBC Multihull Fleet Captain
Miami to Key Largo Race
The 52nd annual Miami to Key Largo race will be held April 23, 2007. For the past 25 years this race has had a strong beachcat presence. The expected classes for this race in all categories are PHRF, ARC, Laser, Westphal, Hobie 16, Hobie 20, Nacra 6.0, Tornado, ACAT, and MASF. Additional one-design classes will be added with a minimum of 4 boats.
First held in 1956 with 33 boats, the annual Miami to Key Largo Race represents the "rites of spring" to South Florida sailors. This race now has 200 or more boats participating in the various classes.
Boats start just south of the Rickenbacker Causeway and proceed directly to Jewfish Creek area of Key Largo.
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