2014 18' Skiff International Regatta

2014 18' Skiff International Regatta - Day 3

by Rich Roberts on 29 Aug 2014

Johnny Heineken (r.) leads Joey Pasquali down a brisk Bay in Ronstan Bridge to Bridge Race Rich Roberts

2014 18' Skiff International Regatta - Early every day at Crissy Field hundreds of San Francisco's hardiest citizens and their dogs can be found running, biking or walking briskly along the wind-swept bay, where some may even be sailing later.

So the brave and upbeat sailors from around the world fit right in for the 13th annual 18' Skiff International Regatta hosted by the St. Francis YC. They race faster than the wind, not for money but the thrill of it all, with winning almost secondary.

Almost. Survival also comes into play.

A couple of 18s tested the waters © Rich Roberts

'It was a crazy, survival type of day,' said Johnny Heineken, a local lad who at 26 is a world kiteboarding legend and proved it again by sailing his hydrofoil to another victory in the Ronstan Bridge to Bridge Race, after six of the eight skiffs chose not to challenge the rugged combination of clashing wind and tide.

Howie Hamlin, the Long Beach, Calif. veteran who has won six of the 13 events, noted, 'Over the years we've missed maybe two races, but we've never blown off a Bridge to Bridge.'

That was the six boats' call. Earlier, the race committee abandoned any attempt to start the class's own fifth scheduled race, citing incoming winds of 25 to 30 knots with an overpowering outgoing ebb tide.

An 18' Skiff needs help © Rich Roberts

Heineken said, 'That might be the nastiest (Bridge to Bridge) I've ever sailed'---so nasty that he finished the traditional 5.3-nautical mile race from the Golden Gate to the San Francisco Bay Bridge around the corner of The City in 15 minutes---three minutes slower than the record he set last year.

The two 18s that started---David Liebenberg's Only 18 and John Gilmour's Flytac---didn't each reach the corner before breaking down.

'You gotta try,' Liebenberg said.

The 18s stayed on the beach © Rich Roberts

Concerning their own canceled race, ASCC skipper Brett Van Munster of Australia, who has won two of the skiffs' class races, said, 'We had to look at what's going to happen the rest of the regatta if we're busy fixing our boats.'

Graham Catley of New Zealand said, 'It's a safety issue. We had another drowning last year at Brisbane in similar conditions. A sailor was trapped underneath and couldn't get out.'

For the skiffs, the Bridge to Bridge Race will count as a DNF (did not finish) or a DNS (did not start) and their own abandoned race won't count at all. They hope to make it up by finishing the week with three races Friday and two Saturday.

The boats are launching off the beach bordering Crissy Field west of the host St. Francis Yacht Club. Admission is free. The schedule calls for a total of 10 races through Saturday, two per day starting at 1 p.m.

2014 18' Skiff International Regatta Standings:

Place	Boat	Skipper	Crew	Club	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Total
1	CST	Howie Hamlin	Cameron McDonald/Matt McKinlay	Newport Harbor Yacht Club	3	5	4	2	14
2	ASCC	Brett Van Munster	Paul Montague/Harry Thurston	Australian 18 Footers	1	10/OCS	3	1	15
3	Events Clothing	Skip McCormack	Nick Catley/Josh McCormack	Auckland Sailing Club / SFYC	4	1	1	10/DNF	16
4	MaerskLine	Graham Catley	Tom Peet/Brad Collins	Auckland Sailing Club	2	2	2	10/DNF	16
5	Only 18	David Liebenberg	Dan Morris/John Grey	Richmond Yacht Club	7	6	5	4	22
6	WWW.FLYTAC.COM	John Gilmour	Cooper Dressler/Matt Van Rensselaer	Richmond Yacht Club	5	4	7	10/DNF	26
7	Yandoo	Press	Andrew Hay/James Beck	Double Bay 18'	10/DNC	10/DNC	6	3	29
8	Lightning	Chad Freitas	Dan Brandt/Corey Lynch	The Skiff Sailing Foundation	6	3	10/DNC	10/DNC	29
9	Sparkle Motion	Dan Roberts	James Clappier/Patrick Lewis	Richmond Yacht Club	10/DNF	7	8	10/DNF	35

Ronstan Bridge to Bridge Results:

PLACE	SAIL / JERSEY #	FIRST NAME	LAST NAME	CLASS	START TIME	FINISH TIME	ELAPSED TIME
1	69	Johnny	Heineken	Hydrofoil Kite	17:35:00	17:50:01	0:15:01
2	32	Joey	Pasquali	Hydrofoil Kite	17:35:00	17:50:38	0:15:38
3	1	Chip	Wasson	Hydrofoil Kite	17:35:00	17:50:44	0:15:44
4	64	Seth	Besse	Hydrofoil Kite	17:35:00	17:51:15	0:16:15
5	66	Stefanus	Viljoen	Hydrofoil Kite	17:35:00	17:51:38	0:16:38
6	49	Moraya	Iacono	Hydrofoil Kite	17:35:00	17:54:23	0:19:23
7	451	Xavier	Ferlet	Formula Windsurf	17:35:00	17:40:00	0:22:27
8	38	Nicolai	Sutter Sponholtz	Hydrofoil Kite	17:35:00	17:57:42	0:22:42
9	Shadow	Peter	Stoneberg	Formula 40	17:35:00	17:40:00	0:22:54
10	54	Chris	Brown	Hydrofoil Kite	17:35:00	18:00:10	0:25:10
11	6	Eugenia	Gueorguieva	Formula Kite	17:35:00	18:00:36	0:25:36
12	42	Ariel	Poler	Hydrofoil Kite	17:35:00	18:00:52	0:25:52
13	67	Haydn	Fischer	Formula Kite	17:35:00	18:01:16	0:26:16
14	26	Johnny	Gomes	Hydrofoil Kite	17:35:00	18:01:41	0:26:41
15	47	Amil	Kabil	Formula Kite	17:35:00	18:03:46	0:28:46
16	30	Anthony	Locke	Formula Kite	17:35:00	18:03:59	0:28:59
17	L9	Weyman	Lundquist	Formula Windsurf	17:35:00	18:04:33	0:29:33
18	51	Eric	Geleynse	Hydrofoil Kite	17:35:00	18:04:34	0:29:34
19	13	Stephan	Zimmermann	Formula Kite	17:35:00	18:04:43	0:29:43
20	57	Marcelo	Segura	Hydrofoil Kite	17:35:00	18:04:57	0:29:57
21	46	Nick	Levi	Hydrofoil Kite	17:35:00	18:05:07	0:30:07
22	37	Sebastian	Sutter Sponholtz	Hydrofoil Kite	17:35:00	18:05:54	0:30:54
23	7	Daniela	Moroz	Hydrofoil Kite	17:35:00	18:06:00	0:31:00
24	8	Thomas	Gore	Hydrofoil Kite	17:35:00	18:06:06	0:31:06
25	a	Soheil	Zahedi	Formula Windsurf	17:35:00	18:06:10	0:31:10
26		Josh		Hydrofoil Kite	17:35:00	18:06:46	0:31:46
27	33	Chris	Brent	Hydrofoil Kite	17:35:00	18:07:20	0:32:20
28	Z	Jean	Rathle	Formula Windsurf	17:35:00	18:07:23	0:32:23
29	111	Jesper	Vesterstroem	Formula Windsurf	17:35:00	18:08:07	0:33:07
30	2	Erin	Loscocco	Hydrofoil Kite	17:35:00	18:09:00	0:34:00
31	3068	Mike	Smith	Formula Windsurf	17:35:00	18:22:00	0:47:00
32	34	Geoff	Headington	Hydrofoil Kite	17:35:00	18:25:31	0:50:31
	17	Justin	Scott	Formula Windsurf	17:35:00	DNF
	56	Maxim	Sokolov	Formula Kite	17:35:00	DNF
	ASCC	Brett	Van Munster	18 Skiff	17:35:00	DNF
	CST	Howie	Hamlin	18 Skiff	17:35:00	DNF
	Events Clothing	Skip	McCormack	18 Skiff	17:35:00	DNF
	Lightning	Chad	Freitas	18 Skiff	17:35:00	DNF
	MaerskLine	Graham	Catley	18 Skiff	17:35:00	DNF
	Sparkle Motion	Dan	Roberts	18 Skiff	17:35:00	DNF
	FLYTAC.COM	John	Gilmour	18 Skiff	17:35:00	DNF
	Only 18	David	Liebenberg	18 Skiff	17:35:00	DNF
	53	James	Shanahan	Formula Kite	17:35:00	DNF
	3	Steve	Gibson	Formula Kite	17:35:00	DNF
	882	Al	Mirel	Formula Windsurf	17:35:00	DNF
	SmartRecruiters	Jerome	Ternynck	Extreme 40	DNS