2002 USTRA Midwinters Results

Jensen Beach, FLA - The 2002 USTRA Midwinters was hosted by the United States Sailing Center - Martin County (USSCMC) January 12-13. The event itself was run out of the River Palms Cottage resort as the USSCMC is moving to a brand new home (in a great location) in March. The event drew ten teams and was composed team racers from across the nation. In a departure from the usual "3-minute justice" system, umpiring was used and many of the top team racing umpires in the U.S. flew in for the event. In addition to "bragging rights", the victorious team would also be awarded a berth in the Sailing George R. Hinman team racing championship: the top team racing event in the United States.

The first day of the event brought extremely light and fluky winds, the same winds which had plagued the Vanguard 15 Midwinters run January 10-11. In a true test of their ability, the race committee had to reset the "digital-N" course repeatedly, and eventually had to relocate the course to a new area. The new racing area, however, proved no better, and the first day ended with only twenty-nine races of the 45 race, 10 team round-robin; the victim of light wind.

On the water it was too early to draw conclusions. Dilligaf, which was composed of "mini-jumbos" and Harvard sailors, was undefeated but still had some trying races left. The rest of the fleet traded races, and Dilligaf's nearest competitors had two losses. Team Stamina (BC sailors) were also sailing well, but fell victim to some inconsistencies. Team Ronstan was composed of several talented veterans and looked good as well. Randy Johnson and Old Mary Smith had both been involved in some brawls and were at 4-2 without having faced each other.

Concerned the single round-robin might not be finished by the 3:30 ending time on Sunday, PROs Terry Bischoff and Campbell Rich ordered a 9:15 warning signal for Sunday and proceeded to start running races right away. In a shocking surprise that no one seemed capacle of explaining, all the competitors made it out to the course on time! For the first time in several days, a front had passed through over night and had left a crisp 10 knot breeze under overcast skies. The race committee capitalized on this and finished the remaining 16 races in almost no time. Dilligaf continued its ways and retained their hold on the lead. Their perfect record was blemished on the last beat of their last race when a foul cost them victory. Ranked second and third were Old Mary Smith and Team Stamina. Tied for 4th were Team Ronstan and Randy Johnson, with the tie-breaker going to Randy Johnson.

A top-four best-of-three championship ladder was ordered, while the bottom six completed an additional six team round-robin. Dilligaf faced Randy Johnson and was quickly dismantled in two races via strong Randy Johnson starts. In the other half of the semi-final, Team Stamina traded races with Old Mary Smith until Old Mary Smith took the third race with a breakaway 1-2. The finals began with Old Mary Smith taking a 2-3-6 into the final leeward mark before fouling and eventually losing the race. Determined to take the second race, Old Mary Smith took a solid 1-2 into the last beat before Randy Johnson clawed their way back into the race at the finish, apparently in victory but an umpire call after the finish reversed the decision. Tied 1-1, the third race was the deciding one. While the first mark rounding was tight, Randy Johnson escaped for a solid 1-3-4 by the leeward mark. Although Old Mary Smith fought back hard it was not to be, and Randy Johnson, the lowest seed in the Final Four, took the regatta victory home.

The USTRA would like to thank Jack LeFort Sr. and Todd Hudgins both of whom did an outstanding job coordinating the event. PROs Terry Bischoff and Campbell Rich, and the whole USSCMC volunteer staff did an exceptional job of running 68 races in extremely difficult conditions. Additional support was provided by Mack Sails (http://macksails.com) and Gulfstream Marine (http://www.gulfstreamsailboats.com).