Hall Spars Admirals Cup 2015: Bailey White Champ

editor

I was waiting to have digital results on this event to publish, but they never appeared, instead we received a way better material in the end with a complete report and pics by the the organizer and the Champ of the 2015 Hall Spars Admirals Cup.
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Admirals Cup 2015.
Report y Ben Hall and Bailey White

The Admiral’s Cup, a long standing regatta sponsored by Hall Spars and Rigging through Executive Vice President Ben Hall’s deep involvement in the class, started serenely. The event caps the annual winter FL circuit that starts in the Keys in January, goes to St Pete in February for the NOODS, returns to the Keys in March, and then finishes back in St Pete / Gulfport with the Admiral’s Cup. 20 to 30 boats generally attend each event.

The picture below shows the skipper’s meeting and many of the 25 strong fleet almost ready to launch from Gulfport, FL.

It is great to see more couples getting increasingly active in the A-Class. Mark and Gina from Chattanooga TN looked great together with their two A-Class boats and beautiful new trailer.

It was also great to see more new people coming to the class to checks things out and Chris Batchelor returning with his dad and sailing Ben Hall’s modified Flyer with Z boards.

As the boats launched on Saturday, the breeze did a 180 and quickly built to levels that were too big for the fleet with puffy breeze-on conditions and gusts into the mid twenties. Racing was postponed, recommenced, and then abandoned for the day before any boats crossed a starting line due to the conditions.

Several sailors still went out to sail and a Hysucat foil assisted 28 ft rib (very appropriate) organized by Emmanuel Cerf (the importer of eXploder boats and Fiberfoam masts) to take photos and video. Ben Moon and Joseph Bello put on a great show of “on the edge” foiling in the 20-25 knot breeze.

Take a look at the five minute video of clips of the event here: https://vimeo.com/123736456

The catamaran, foil assisted RIB is the perfect powerboat for the A-Class!! http://www.hysucraft.com/ The picture below shows the minimal wake it creates as it skims a long the surface with the foils providing the bulk of the lift.

That night, the Cerfs and Halls hosted us at a private showing of the Tampa Bay Auto Museum. The museum is dedicated to automotive engineering innovation and has a truly stunning collection of cars that were ahead of their time.

While we toured the cars, sipped Dark and Stormies, and ate sushi and pork, videos and photos from the brave souls that practiced on Saturday were shown in the background on a project screen. This is the life!

Sunday started out with the same gentle winds and began to build but never established itself across the course. The ebb and flow of the breeze put a premium on perception outside of the boat, boat maneuvers, and patience. Winds ranged from 4 knots or less to 12 knots.

After two races we had a three way tie for first between Rush Bird, Woody Cope, and Bailey White. Rush and Woody, sailing Nikita’s, have had superb speed in light and shifty breezes this year and won most if not all of the events in the southern circuit in 2015.

After the fourth race, Woody took a bullet and was one point behind Bailey with Rush two points farther away. Some people were ready to pack to go home due to the light and challenging conditions but the Race Committee still had six minutes of racing left per the NOR. They started a fifth race. Bailey hooked into pressure on the left side after not looking good initially and lead conclusively around the marks to win the event overall.

As most know, the A-Class is full of various generations of boats and most all of them still have their day. This year we had boats from 2000 to 2015 racing and an older Bimare XJ with straight boards got 5th while a 2000 Marstrom beat some of the newest boats on the market. It is the sailor that is most important in our class, as it has always been. Every boat on the course is capable of winning a race, and with the camaraderie and off the water experiences the class shares, people keep coming back to the events.

Skipper / Boat / Boards of Top Five:
Bailey / eXploder / JZ boards
Woody / Nikita / C boards
Rush / Nikita / C boards
OH / Little O / CZ boards
Dave / XJ / Straight boards

OH Roger’s work continues deserves mention. He was sailing his own design from 2010 on a boat that has at least 5 sister ships. He has improvised a new foiling board that takes an existing C board and retrofits an additional lifting section. The boat works well in heavy and light breeze and just requires the trunk to move out from the center of his original boat design. The picture bellow shows one of the converted C boards, which we have started to call a CZ board.

Less than two months now to the A-Class North Americans at St Andrews Bay Yacht Club in Panama City and our fingers are crossed SailNC in the Outer Banks, North Carolina will be designated as host of the A-Class World Championships in 2016. See the picture of the beautiful St Andrews Bay below where our 2015 North American Championship will be May 18-22 with a class sponsored coaching clinic the weekend before. http://www.acatnorthamericans.com

Come join us! There are boats available for charter. Contact us via facebook at www.facebook.com/usaclass.

Final Results:
https://sites.google.com/site/gycflorida/announcements/2015-admirals-cu…

More pics available:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gulfport-Yacht-Club-Inc/ and
https://www.facebook.com/USAClass
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3l4z4j1tnj8rbc7/AAC7_3wWSpZH3S-eHX04E5Q-a?dl…