Ill winds blow well for Staghound and Indigo

by Rich Roberts on 26 Jun 2005 Light wind and Long Beach are not often heard in the same breath, as in breath of air, which was all there was Saturday for Day 2 of Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week.

However, it was day made to order for Alec Oberschmidt's boat, Staghound, which sailed into first place among the big boats in PHRF 1 with two first places and a second.

Too bad he was not here.

‘Oh, my God,’ Oberschmidt said by phone from his home in Rancho Santa Fe just after returning from vacation. ‘I will never be able to live with my team now.’

Following Friday's more typical 15-20 knots of breeze, Oberschmidt's afterguard of Artie Means, Mark Gaudio and Graham Kelly did well enough without him, although they will welcome him back Sunday for what has the seeds of a dramatic windup.

They will try to hold onto a five-point lead over Oscar Krinsky and Walter Johnson's Chayah and Mike Campbell and Dale Williams' Peligroso, the scratch boat. Paul and Laura Sharp's Taxi Dancer is another two points back in fourth.

Oberschmidt would not have wanted to know where his boat stood after Friday's racing---next to last among eight boats.

But that changed overnight when the scores of Staghound and two other boats were adjusted because marks had drifted during the races, skewing the course distances on which their handicap times are based. Then, with winds of only 6 to 10 knots through the afternoon, the Reichel/Pugh 51 found itself in its element.

As Oberschmidt said, ‘We have done well in real light stuff.’

Means, who drove for the starts said, ‘It was a whole different game. The light air was a blessing for us. We had Mark with us and he was on fire. He is a master of light air.’

Later Saturday, the Chayah team appealed to the race jury to have Friday's races discarded. They won a partial victory when the jury tossed Race 1, which will be re-sailed Sunday, and after 3-2-1 finishes Saturday the 1D48, otherwise 10 points behind with two races to go, is only four back with three races remaining.

Johnson said, ‘It was light out of the south all day but not too shifty. But when it did shift left in the first race and right in the third race, we were on the proper side each time.’

Elsewhere in the fleet of 127 boats in 13 classes, Scott Birnberg's Indigo made a move similar to Staghound's, playing the subtle zephyrs for a 1-1-3 day that launched them from a tie for fifth into a 10-point lead among 23 J/105s, the largest class.

Birnberg, with two first places and a third at the end of the day, also welcomed the more challenging light air after Friday's straightforward heavy air sailing. He lauded tactician Doug McLean's calls as ‘excellent’ and the crew's work as ‘incredible.’

‘The guys were great at changing gears when the wind changed,’ Birnberg said. ‘[Friday] was just a couple of tacks and a straight line.’

McLean said, ‘Yesterday was survival; today was tactical. We got good starts and went where we wanted to go . . . [to the] left side in the first race and the right in races 2 and 3. We got lucky.’

Racing Sunday will start at 11 a.m., conditions permitting.

The event is the final of four stops on the new Ullman Sails Inshore Championship series, following the Ahmanson Cup at Newport Beach, Yachting Cup at San Diego and Cal Race Week at Marina del Rey. The event serves as the Pacific Coast Championship for the Schock 35s, the national championship for the Catalina 37s and a world ranking qualifier for the Melges 24s.

Ullman Sails International has 20 lofts in six countries, including nine in the U.S. President Dave Ullman, who will sail a Melges 24, grew up in Southern California and has been a lifelong competitor in various dinghy and keelboat classes. He was honored as Rolex Yachtsman of the Year in 1996.

Class leaders (after 5 of 7 races):

J/105 (21 boats)---Indigo, Scott Birnberg, Long Beach YC, 6-5-1-1-3, 16.

CATALINA 37 (6)---Team Evaul, Claudia Wainer, Long Beach YC, 1-1-1-5-3, 11.

J/109 (7)---Current Obsession, Gary Mozer, LBYC, 1-2-1-2-4, 10.

J/120 (10)---Caper, John Laun, San Diego YC, 6-1-4-2-1, 14.

J/80 (6)---Avet, Curt Johnson, CYC, 2-1-1-3-1, 8.

MELGES 24 (10)---Monsoon, Bruce Ayres, Newport Harbor YC, 1-1-5-1-3, 11.

OLSON 30 (7)---Intense, Allan Rosenberg/Darren Rosenberg, Alamitos Bay YC, 1-2-2-1-1, 7.

SCHOCK 35 (9)---Ripple, Jeff Janov/Gordon Palmer, CYC, 1-12-4-1, 9.

PHRF 1 (8; four races scored)---Staghound (Reichel/Pugh 51), Alec Oberschmidt, Southwestern YC, 2-5-1-1-2, 11.

PHRF 2 (11)---Wild Thing (1D35), Chris Busch, San Diego YC, 2-3-2-2-1, 10.

PHRF 3 (13)---Rival (J/35), Dick Velthoen/Paul DeFrietas, Ventura YC, 3-1-5-2-1, 12.

PHRF 4 (12)---B-Moven (B-25), Hank Schofield, Cabrillo Beach YC, 3-4-5-2-1, 15.

RANDOM LEG (7; 14 miles)---Sorcerer (New York 36), Bill McKeever/Ray Booth, Balboa YC, 2-1, 3.

Complete results: http://www.lbrw.org/results.html