Star North Americans - Torben Grael and Guilherme Almeida victorious

by Laura Beigel on 15 Oct 2014 The 2014 International Star Class North American Championship came to an exciting close Saturday with the completion of the final race in the series held at the Tred Avon Yacht Club in some of the most challenging winds Star sailors have faced in a Silver or Gold Star regatta this year.

Overall success was not defined by number of race wins, but by consistency and maintaining a low point average as seen in the final results. Within the top five finishers, none of the teams won a race throughout the series and first through fifth place, with 40 and 72 total points respectively, were separated by a seemingly large 32 point gap that calculates to a mere four point difference in race finishing place averages. Brazilians Torben Grael and Guilherme Almeida (BRA 8210) ultimately won the Championship with a cumulative 40 points and a race average eighth place for all eight races.

For Race 8, the final race of the 2014 International Star Class North American Championship, the Race Committee sent the Star sailors on their longest and most difficult race yet: the five leg, windward-leeward Course 3 with 1.8 mile long legs. The wind was blowing 10-12 knots from the West at 060 deg., similar to the previous day’s wind conditions. The Race Committee started the sequence for Race 8 right on time and with all boats clear at the start, the fleet had officially begun its final crusade for the 2014 International Star Class North American Championship Silver Star title.

Shortly after the start, several boats tacked onto port and aimed for the right side of the course without looking back, a strategy that paid off huge in Race day three’s conditions during Race 6 and 7. Unfortunately as the fleet approached the windward mark, it became very clear that a relying entirely on the right would be the best way to sail yourself to the back of the fleet. Sailors who stuck to the left side of the course upwind made major gains playing the center-left shifts all the way to the windward mark. Douglas Smith and Chris Rogers (USA 8072) were the first team from the left to fetch the windward mark, they rounded with a three boat length lead and carried the fleet onto the second leg of the overall five leg race. Paul Cayard and Brian Terhaar (USA 8460) rounded in second with Tomas Hornos and Josh Revkin (USA 8177) right on their hip. Canadians Mark Passmore and Simon Van Wonderen rounded in fourth just ahead of Arthur Anosov and David Caesar (USA 8000) in fifth.

As the Stars made their way downwind on leg 2, the wind shifted left 10 degrees giving teams who set up closer to the right side the advantage and ability to move up within the fleet more easily. USA 8460 Cayard/Terhaar had overtaken USA 8072 Smith/Rogers about halfway down leg 2 and rounded the leeward mark in the lead. USA 8177 Hornos/Revkin held on to their second place position, rounding ahead of CAN 8235 Passmore/Van Wonderen in third, and USA 8000 Anosov/Caesar in fourth. The Race Committee moved the weather mark to 050 deg. to match the new wind bearing and notified all competitors as they rounded the leeward gate marks and moved onto leg 3.

The first leeward mark rounding was perhaps the most pivotal point in the race because despite the left shift trend on the previous two legs and the recent windward mark change 10deg. to the left, many of the sailors, including the majority of the leading boats, set up to sail upwind on the right hand side of the course. At the second windward mark rounding, it became evident just how persistently unfavorable the right side of the course was when only one of the top five boats from the previous two mark roundings sustained its position.

Local Eastern Shore of Maryland Star Fleet member and recent recipient of the International Star Class’s Boat Donor Program, Alan Campbell with crew Steve Rollo (USA 8045) rounded the leeward mark in the low teens and anticipating another major shift, headed left. Just as they had expected, the wind shifted another 15deg. to the left and USA 8045 Campbell/Rollo sailed into first place eventually rounding the weather mark 10 boat lengths ahead of second place USA 8177 Hornos/Revkin. Derek DeCounteau and Jamie Stewart (USA 8083) followed the pair around in third place with fourth place Bob Lippincott and Michael Zuschnitt (USA 7512) and fifth place Jerry Wendt with Ezra Culver (CAN 8389), close behind. The top five sailed the final remaining downwind leg and leeward mark rounding in the same order, however due to another left wind shift and course change by 10 degrees to 040 deg., CAN 8389 Wendt/Culver and USA 8460 Cayard/Terhaar managed to move up a few places during leg 5 on the parade to the finish line.

Alan Campbell and crew Steve Rollo (USA 8045) crossed the finish line in first place, winning one of the International Star Class’s 5 North American Championship perpetual trophies: the Edward N Hay Memorial Perpetual Trophy for the first place finisher in the last race of the series. Race 8 was the second race at a Silver Star Championship Campbell has won thus far in his career and was Rollo’s first race win after just two regattas (this event included) in the Star, earning him a Star Class Honor of two Silver Bars as a Race Winning Crew. Jerry Wendt and crew Ezra Culver (CAN 8389) finished the race in second overall, earning Culver his first Star Class Honor of one Silver Bar for a Race top three Finishing Crew. Tomas Hornos and Josh Revkin (USA 8177) finished in third place with Paul Cayard and Brian Terhaar (USA 8460) immediately behind them in fourth, and Derek DeCounteau with crew Jamie Stewart (USA 8083) crossing in fifth place.

Quotes of the day:

Alan Campbell, USA 8045: 'We had good boat speed and were fortunate enough to have watched the guys on the first leg pay off on the left. We just followed suit and covered middle left. We knew we the left is where we wanted to be so we just made the decision and stuck to our guns. We sent it.'

Torben Grael, BRA 8210: 'The conditions were very tricky so sticking to the fundamentals, you know staying in phase at all costs, was very important to fighting through the fleet from the back to the front and to making consistent results.'

Tomas Hornos, USA 8177: 'I have never been happier to finish second in a regatta. Seriously.'

Top 5 after five races (preliminary):

Place	Sail #	Name	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Total
1.	BRA 8210	Torben Grael & Guilherme Almeida	4	4	[25 RDG]	14	2	2	3	11	40
2.	USA 8177	Tomas Hornos & Josh Revkin	10	8	[20]	6	4	7	8	3	46
3.	USA 8000	Arthur Anosov & David Caesar	3	10	2	2	[42 BFD]	18	4	9	48
4.	USA 8460	Paul Cayard & Brian Terhaar	2	21	15	3	11	[23]	5	4	61
5.	USA 8464	Jack Jennings &Jesse Fielding	9	19	4	7	17	6	10	[27]	72

               *Numbers enclosed in = discarded score

Awards & Winners:

For full results, click Event website