New boat, same old result for Benjamin at Etchells Nationals

by NYYC on 5 Jun 2017 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