2013 Harbor Cup - Cal Maritime leads pending protests
by Rich Roberts on 10 Mar 2013
2013 Port of Los Angeles Harbor Cup - The wind wasn’t as strong as usual, but deep, rolling swells challenged Harbor Cup competitors Rich Roberts / photo boat captain Mike Learned .
Pending protests---the words that keep sailboat racers pacing the floor into the evening hours, California Maritime Academy's Keelhaulers held a 17-point lead with no more than three races remaining Sunday before they can claim their third consecutive title in the Port of Los Angeles Harbor Cup/Cal Maritime Invitational Intercollegiate Regatta.
Cal State U. Channel Islands, SUNY Maritime Academy of New York and the College of Charleston shared second place with 30 points each, and all four were involved in Saturday night's protest hearings, some to gain, others to lose.
Those that lose would be hit with 11-point penalties, which could shrink Cal Maritime's lead enough to make it a game again Sunday. No results may be discarded; there are no throwouts in college sailing.
Meantime, the sailors could only kick themselves after Saturday's five races run in southwest breeze to 12 knots, with a roller coaster of steady swells and troughs as deep as 10 feet that made maneuvering the Catalina 37s a challenge.
'I was really being stupid,' Channel Islands skipper Gregory Dair said of his 10th place that clouded a respectable day that included two firsts. 'We should have won the race. We didn't make the mark, and then we fouled the whole fleet. Otherwise, it was a successful day.'
SUNY Maritime moved into contention, closing the day with a 2-2-4 string, but crew member Dan McDonald said, 'We certainly had a rough start [in the regatta], just getting back in the groove of sailing.'
The Privateers, none from the West Coast, were 2-8-6-6 in their first four races before, McDonald said, 'We got some local knowledge that helped.'
That came from Bill Mier, a San Pedro resident who attended SUNY Maritime.
'He's been helping us a lot,' McDonald said.
Cal Maritime has won four of the seven races but had its worst finish Saturday---a fifth.
Skipper Matt Van Rensselaer said, 'When the wind shut off we fell back and climbed back to fifth. We're still trying to be conservative and have a good time.'
The two-lap races are on a windward-leeward ocean course measuring eight-tenths of a nautical mile west of the L.A. Harbor entrance, visible from the bluff of Point Fermin Park. Sunday's three-race windup is scheduled to start at 11:30 a.m., conditions permitting, but no race may start after 2:30 p.m.
Saturday's weather: wind 12k SW; high temp. 68F.
Sunday's forecast: wind 10k NNW; high temp. 73F.
The Port of Los Angeles is the event sponsor, the Los Angeles Yacht Club the regatta organizer and host for the West Coast's only intercollegiate big boat regatta.
Standings
(After 7 of 10 races; no throwouts)
Protests pending
1. Cal Maritime, 1-1-2-1-1-5-2, 13 points.
2. CSU Channel Islands, 4-2-1-5-10-7-1, 30.
3. SUNY Maritime New York, 2-8-6-6-2-2-4, 30.
4. College of Charleston, 5-4-3-2-3-6-7, 30.
5. UC Irvine, 6-3-7-3-4-1-9, 33.
6. Maine Maritime, 3-5-5-7-7-3-5, 35.
7. U.S. Naval Academy, (11/DSQ)-6-4-4-6-10-6, 47.
8. USC, 8-9-8-8-9-4-3, 49.
9. Michigan, 7-7-10-10-5-8-8, 55.
10. U.S. Coast Guard Academy 9-10-9-9-8-9-10, 64.
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