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Rolly Tasker Sails 2023 LEADERBOARD

New boat, same old result for Benjamin at Etchells Nationals

by NYYC on 5 Jun 2017
2017 New York Yacht Club One-Design Regatta Steven Cloutier
Everybody loves a new race boat. But until it proves itself on the racecourse, there's always a tiny kernel of worry it won't live up to expectations, or even equal the performance of the boat being replaced. We all know what they say about a bird in the hand. Steve Benjamin and his team can cross that concern off their work list after sailing the freshly-splashed Stella Blue (aka USA 1427) to the 2017 Etchells U.S. National Championship, which was held as part of the inaugural New York Yacht Club One-Design Regatta, in Newport, R.I. Melges 20 and J/70 fleets also competed in the event.

Benjamin, and his team of Mike Menninger, Ian Liberty and David Hughes, were dominant over the course of the three-day regatta, winning four of eight races and finishing with a 17-point advantage over George Francisco in second place. Chris Larson finished third, one point behind second. The U.S. Etchells Youth Team, led by Connor Needham, finished 12th of 15 boats in their debut appearance courtesy of an effort designed to infuse some fresh blood into the class.



“Basically good teamwork,' said Benjamin when asked about his keys to success. 'We’ve got good camaraderie on board, good chemistry, and the teamwork is getting better and better. David Hughes joined us after the 2016 Worlds. He’s just very professional about the whole thing, with his (2016 Rio Olympic) 470 campaign, and he sails 230 days a year. Michael and I are sailing a lot together. He is on the TP52 as well. Ian’s really the work horse on the program. He does all the spinnaker clean-up, a lot of the hiking, and a lot of the dirty jobs.”

Benjamin won a silver medal in the 470 class in the 1984 Olympics, and is no stranger to that nose-tickling new-boat smell. But he held off ordering an Etchells from Dirk Kneulman's Ontario Yachts until he knew exactly how he wanted it set up. Benjamin typically sails as part of a four-person team and the ideal cockpit layout for that arrangement differs a bit from the traditional configuration, which was designed around a crew of three.

“There’s been an evolution with Etchells over the years, so that’s why we worked with the used boats trying to get the tuning and the systems all straightened out,' says Benjamin, adding that the new boat was a present from his wife, Heidi. 'This boat we just did everything that we wanted straight from the beginning and designed it that way. Dirk did a really nice job on this boat. It’s everything that we hoped it would be.”

New boat or old, Benjamin has been on some kind of a roll the past 15 months. He won the 2016 Etchells Nationals last March in Florida, finished second at the 2016 Etchells Worlds last summer in Great Britain and won the prestigious Biscayne Bay Etchells Series this past winter. He has two more Etchells events in the Northeast before he heads west for the North Americans in San Diego in August and the Worlds in San Francisco in September. With a new boat and a crack crew, momentum seems to be growing for Benjamin. But if his five decades of racing experience has taught him anything, it's to never take good results for granted.



In winning the Melges 20 division, Wes Whitmyer Jr. (far right) equaled Benjamin's win total in just five races. He and his team on Slingshot won the class by four points over Drew Freides. Both of those teams will be back in Newport this October to contest for that class's world championship, which will be hosted by the New York Yacht Club. Whitmyer was the picture of cautious optimism at the post-regatta awards.

'We don't want to get ahead of ourselves,' says Whitmyer, of Stamford, Conn. 'It's nice to do well at the New York Yacht Club, which I've been a member of for many years. It's nice to do well against pretty high level guys; some of the U.S. favorites were here this weekend. So (this win is) something for us to build on.'



In the J/70 division (above, left), Brian Keane won the regatta by two points over John Brim with Bruno Pasquinelli in third.

2017 New York Yacht Club One-Design Regatta - Final Results:

Etchells National Championship (Eight races, One throwout)

1. Steve Benjamin, Stella Blue, 2-1-1-2-1-3-(7)-1, 11; 2. George Francisco, American Baby, 6-2-4-5-4-5-2-(7), 28; 3. Chris Larson, USA 1228, 1-5-2-7-(11)-10-1-3, 29.

Melges 20 (5 races, 1 throwout)

1. Wes Whitmyer Jr., Slingshot, (2)-1-1-1-1, 4; 2. Drew Freides, Pacific Yankee, 1-4-2-3-(6), 10; 3. Alexis Michas, Midnight Sun, 3-2-(6)-4-2, 11

J/70 (5 races, 1 throwout)

1. Brian Keane, Savasana, 2-4-1-1-(5), 8; 2. John Brim, Rimette, 4-(5)-2-3-1, 10; 3. Bruno Pasquinelli, Stampede, (7)-1-3-6-4, 14.

Full Results:

Etchells National Championship


Position Sail Number Sailor(s) Boat Name/Club R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 Total Net

1

USA 1427

Steve Benjamin

STELLA BLUE

Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club

2 1 1 2 1 3 (7) 1 18 11

2

USA 1394

George Francisco

American Baby

NYYC / TCYC

6 2 4 5 4 5 2 (7) 35 28

3

USA 1228

Chris Larson

Mike Wolfs

Brooks Daley

USA 1228

Annapolis Yacht Club

1 5 2 7 (11) 10 1 3 40 29

4

USA 1408

Jim Cunningham

Bryn Bachman

Jeff Madrigali

Mark Ivey

Lifted

San Francisco / New York Yacht Clubs

5 3 (10) 3 2 8 5 6 42 32

5

USA 979

Senet Bischoff

KGB

NYYC

7 4 8 (10) 3 4 4 5 45 35

6

USA 1198

Scott Kaufman

America Jane 11

NYYC

(RET-16) 7 9 1 5 2 11 2 53 37

7

USA 1414

Jay Cross

Michael Buckley

Skanky Gene

NYYC

RDG-6.5 RDG-6.5 RDG-6.5 4 7 6 (9) 4 49.5 40.5

8

USA 1105

Robert Hitchcock

Ben Newman

Timo Platt

NBYC

8 9 3 6 6 (11) 3 9 55 44

9

USA 1305

Michael Gavin

Bill Abbott

Wes Bemus

Clean Execution

Cedar Point Yacht Club

11 8 7 8 12 1 (14) 10 71 57

10

USA 1388

Gary Gilbert

ANNIE

NYYC

4 11 11 9 10 7 6 (12) 70 58

11

USA 1412

Steve Girling

Lion Heart

NYYC

(13) 6 5 11 8 12 8 13 76 63

12

USA 1195

Connor Needham

Abby Preston

James Kennedy

Key Becker

US Youth Etchells Team

3 10 (DNS-16) 12 9 13 12 8 83 67

13

USA 1063

John Amendola

Nick Amendola

Joe Healey

Entourage

PYC

10 12 6 13 13 9 10 (14) 87 73

14

USA 1248

Meredith Carroll

John Ricketson

Will Ricketson

USA 1248

New York YC / Shelter Island YC

(DNS-16) DNS-16 12 DNC-16 DNC-16 DNC-16 13 11 116 100

15

USA 1302

Ron Thompson

Michael Carson

Ron Thompson, III

RTYC, American YC

12 13 (DNS-16) DNC-16 DNC-16 DNC-16 DNC-16 DNC-16 121 105

Melges 20

Position Sail Number Sailor(s) Boat Name/Club R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 Total Net

1

USA 217

Wes Whitmyer Jr

SLINGSHOT

NYYC

(2) 1 1 1 1 6 4

2

USA 300

drew freides

Pacific Yankee

new york, california, san diego

1 4 2 3 (6) 16 10

3

USA 305

Alexis Michas

Midnight Sun

New York Yacht Club

3 2 (6) 4 2 17 11

4

USA 228

Jason Michas

Jason Michas

NYYC

(6) 3 3 2 3 17 11

5

#76

USA 7676

Daniel Thielman

Kuai

Corinthian Yacht Club

4 (7) 7 5 4 27 20

6

USA 414

Rob Wilber

Cinghiale

NYYC

5 (10) 4 7 5 31 21

7

USA 250

James Wilson

oleander

NYYC

8 8 5 (10) 8 39 29

8

USA 196

Gordon Michas

Midnight Sin

Wadawanuck YC

(9) 5 8 8 9 39 30

9

USA 1315

Ike Babbitt

Paul Adam

Sean McLaughlin

MOBY

New Bedford Yacht Club

(10) 6 9 6 10 41 31

10

USA 306

John Bailey

Talisman

NYYC

7 9 (10) 9 7 42 32

11

#15

USA 015

Timothy Pitts

Joseph Ferra

John Holmberg

Cruzan Rhode

Sail Newport

(DNC-13) DNC-13 DNC-13 DNC-13 DNC-13 65 52

12

USA 280

bob Moran

Bobsled

AYC

(DNC-13) DNC-13 DNC-13 DNC-13 DNC-13 65 52

J/70

Position Sail Number Sailor(s) Boat Name/Club R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 Total Net

1

USA 96

Brian Keane

Savasana

Beverly Yacht Club

2 4 1 1 (5) 13 8

2

USA 340

John Brim

Rimette

NYYC/Fishers Island YC

4 (5) 2 3 1 15 10

3

USA 240

Bruno Pasquinelli

Stampede

fwbc

(7) 1 3 6 4 21 14

4

USA 419

Ray Wulff

Joint Custody

NYYC

1 3 6 4 (7) 21 14

5

USA 852

glenn darden

Reese Hillard

Jonathan McKee

Carter Perrin

HOSS

Fort Worth Boat Club

3 6 (7) 5 3 24 17

6

USA 95

Heather Gregg

Muse

New York Yacht Club

5 2 5 (7) 6 25 18

7

USA 456

Tim Healy

Paul Abullah

Will Welles

Matt Coughlin

Sail Newport

6 (8) 4 2 8 28 20

8

USA 51

Doug Strebel

Jay Lutz

Jody Lutz

Black River Racing

Lakewood Yacht Club

(10) 10 8 10 2 40 30

9

USA 311

hannah swett

sparkle

nyyc

8 (11) 9 9 9 46 35

10

USA 92

Philip Lotz

NYYC

(11) 9 10 11 10 51 40

11

USA 222

Nick Sertl

Junkanoo

NYYC

(14) 7 13 8 13 55 41

12

USA 341

Brad Gibbs

Glide

New York Yacht Club

9 (12) 12 12 12 57 45

13

USA 1150

Edward Lebens

Denny Petrovic

Conner Harding

Kenny Richardson

Cool Runnings

Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club

(13) 13 11 13 11 61 48

14

USA 344

Mark Masur

Two Feathers

Fort Worth Boat Club

12 (14) 14 14 14 68 54
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