A day of crash and burn for 18ft Skiffs

by Rich Roberts on 1 Sep 2005 Shark Kahn's Pegasus Black broke its mast, Patrick Whitmarsh's Skiff Blue blew out its sail track and Ty Reed's Skiff Red, an unofficial entry, also retired early with a hole in the middle of its mainsail bearing the rough outline of crew member Trevor Bozina, who said it was ‘like falling through a jelly doughnut.’

Another way to measure the carnage wrought by 25-knot winds on the third day of the 18' Skiff International Regatta was that only two of the nine wild and crazy craft remained upright through both races: the crippled Pegasus Black and Howard Hamlin's Pegasus White, still the leader but by only two points over Jack Young's Pegasus Gold.

Everybody discarded his worst score after five of the six completed races, so Kahn, despite a DNF, is still in fourth place overall. Four races remain, including Thursday's change-of-pace Ronson Bridge to Bridge Race---five miles from the Golden Gate to the Oakland Bay---when a flock of kite boarders and windsurfers get off work in time to join the fun at 5:30 in the afternoon.

The regatta concludes with two races Friday, but it isn't likely to produce more thrills than Wednesday's switch from balmy conditions the previous day to the cool, customary blasts in the 20s with gusts above 25 delivered straight down the bay through the heart of the Golden Gate.

The show opened at 1:40 p.m. with Grant Rollerson's Rag & Famish (named for a Sydney pub) and Andrew Cuddihy's Fisher & Paykel already flipped over as the other seven boats crossed the line. Fellow Australian John Winning sailed Yandoo (‘messenger’ in Aborigine) to his first win of the week as Peg Gold took a dive halfway through the race, but the defending champion slipped to fourth in the next race after pitch poling in the 1.8-knot ebb tide opposing the breeze.

‘We just punched the pole into one [wave] in front,’ Winning said. ‘You're living in danger the whole time here.’

And loving it, according to Dave Chatham on Skiff Red, who after flipping three times said, ‘That was by far my most fun day sailing.’

Peg White took a different approach to hold onto first place. Before the start, forward crew Trent Barnabas told Hamlin and veteran Mike Martin that the key to success Wednesday would be ‘survival---stay upright and win.’

They did so, but Hamlin blamed bad tactical calls on their fourth place, their worst finish so far. As the wind increased, they stuck to their plan and came back to win, as Cuddihy sailed Fisher & Paykel to second.

Martin noted how strongly Peg White's crew concentrated on keeping their boat on its tender little feet, ignoring normal tactics in the interest of safety.

‘If we were on a layline it didn't matter,’ Martin said. ‘We said, 'When we get to that smooth spot out there, we're going [to tack].' ‘

Pegasus Black, with skiff veterans Cameron MacDonald and Paul Allen alongside the 16-year-old skipper, notched its best finish with second place in the first race and was running a solid second to Hamlin in the second race when the top four feet of the mast snapped off at the leeward mark.

‘It just went 'bang,' ‘ Kahn said.’It's too bad. Two seconds today would have been nice.’

But Hamlin had to admit, ‘When the wind is building like today, that's when it's really fun.’

Bozina's unplanned flight happened when the Skiff Red team was trying to right the boat from a capsize but his teammates were slow to counterbalance it as it came upright, catapulting Bozina through the main sail.

Standings (6 of 10 races):

1. Pegasus White, Howard Hamlin/Mike Martin/Trent Barnabas, Long Beach, Calif., Newport Harbor YC, 3-2-1-1-(4)-1, 8 points.

2. Pegasus Gold, Jack Young/Euan McNicol/Casey Smith, Santa Cruz, Calif., Santa Cruz YC, 1-1-(6)-2-3-3, 10.

3. Yandoo, John Winning/Andrew Hay/'Geoff Beaushop, Sydney, Aust., Australian 18 Footers League, 2-3-2-(4)-1-4, 12.

4. Pegasus Black, Samuel (Shark) Kahn/Cameron MacDonald/Paul Allen, Honolulu, Waikiki YC, 5-5-3-3-2-(DNF/9), 18.

5. Rag & Famish, Grant Rollerson/David Cunningham/Chris Cleary, Sydney, Australian 18 Footers League, 6-4-4-5-6-(9), 25.

6. Fisher & Paykel, Andrew Cuddihy/Brent Dennis/Gerard Smith, Newton, NSW Australia, Australian 18 Footers League, 4-6-7-(DNF/9)-7-2, 26.

7. Fernside/Skiff Sailing Blue, Patrick Whitmarsh/Kevin Richards/Ben Glass, Alameda, Calif., Monterey Peninsula YC, 7-8-5-6-5-(DNF/9), 31.

8. Skiff Sailing Foundation White, Chad Freitas/Dana Jones/Matt Noble, San Francisco, St. Francis YC, (8)-7-8-7-8-5, 35.

Complete results: www.stfyc.com

More photos by Chuck Lantz: www.chucklantz.com