2014 North Americans @Sail NC: Day 1
Press release by Rachel Jasperen / OceanIamges.co.uk
Top ten below. Full Results at http://www.yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eid=955&RaceCl…
Image Gallery at https://www.facebook.com/sailncorg
-----
Capricious Wind Brings Challenging Start To North American A-Cat Champs
Sailors and Boats of All Ages And Designs In The Hunt
With wild shifts and fickle Southerly breeze all day, the largest fleet in the history of the International A-Class Catamaran North American Championship sailed a challenging two-race day in the waters of Croatan Sound. The Outer Banks provided the usual warm weather and bright sunshine, but the big attraction to sailors - the near-constant 15-knot breezes the area is so well known for - didn’t make an appearance.
Instead, sailors contended with everything from dead calms to 12 knots of South wind, and wily veterans like Tampa's Woody Cope sailing light-air weapons like his Nikita design thrived, the soon-to-be 66 year old riding a 5-1 scoreline to second place on the day behind Houston’s Bruce Mahoney in his state-of-the-art DNA catamaran. “I’ve got to teach this younguns a lesson every now and again,” Cope said, though he credited his A-Cat friends from Tampa for much of his speed. “I’ve been getting beat by these guys for so long, I guess finally something rubbed off on me,” said Cope.
At the other end of the age spectrum but also from Western Florida, 18-year old Jeremy Herrin nearly won the day on a boat he built in his garage with his dad. The high school senior trailed the winning Mahoney over the line by seconds in the first race of the day, and he was ahead halfway through the second race.
“At first I thought my carbon shroud had broken, but then I saw the full tang attachment had pulled through the deck and I knew my day was over," said Herrin. “Fortunately, I only lost one race, and I’ll have it fixed by the morning and hopefully no more trouble after that.” Herrin’s DNF in Race 2 puts him all the way back in 28th position; something that should be remedied tomorrow. “We have a drop coming in after five races, so I’ll need to make sure I have no more big gear problems and I should be in a pretty good position,” said Herrin.
A minimum of 3 races is planned for Thursday, the second day of this four-day regatta, with more Southerly breeze of up to 15 knots on forecast throughout the day."
---------------
Top Ten - Full Results http://www.yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eid=955&RaceCl…
Pos Sail Boat Desing Helm R1 R2 Tot
1. USA 311 USA 311 A Cat Bruce Mahoney 1 3 4.0
2. USA 310 none A Class Woody Cope 5 1 6.0
3. USA 322 AUS 11 DNA Ben Moon 4 2 6.0
4. USA 230 Bas Clas DNA Bob Hodges 3 9 12.0
5. USA 320 el Presidente DNA A Class Bailey White 12 4 16.0
6. USA 231 New Boat The O Rush Bird (M) 9 7 16.0
7. USA 192 DNA Ken Marshack 8 8 16.0
8. USA 465 USA 465 A Cat Bob Webbon 6 12 18.0
9. USA 135 n/a A Cat Tracy Oliver 7 11 18.0
10. CAN 44 Woodscraft A Class Larry Woods 14 6 20.0
