Scott Dickson takes Ficker Cup

by Sean Downey on 21 Aug 2006 The final day of the 2006 Ficker Cup was full of excellent racing in excellent conditions. However, the final results were established before the day even began with all the teams finishing the same order as they started the day.

The semi finals actually started on Saturday with one flight being sailed. The second and third flights matched up fifth and sixth seeds David Tabb and Bill Durant. The first match was fairly uneventful, but in the second, Durant was leading on the first windward leg.

Unfortunately, Durant failed to follow the instructions at the start and sailed to the wrong windward mark. Tabb was able to sail away with plenty of room to win that match and the following match, and finished the series in fifth place. Scott Dickson swept Chris Van Tol 2-0 in their matches and Bill Hardesty did the same with Brian Angel.

The petite finals began with a best of three between Angel and Van Tol. Angel controlled both races from start to finish and clinched a third place finish.

It all came down to Dickson versus Hardesty. Dickson was controlling from start to finish in the first match trading tack for tack upwind and jibe for jibe downwind.

In race two and the final of the Ficker Cup, the two engaged in another tacking duel which resulted in a penalty on Hardesty. Dickson was behind, but used superior boat speed and continued to inch closer and closer to Hardesty.

At the first windward mark it was all over for Hardesty. With a penalty already assessed, Hardesty over stood the mark and after tacking onto port Dickson attacked and sailed straight at Hardesty on starboard tack.

Flags flew and screams could be heard it seemed all the way to the beach, but at the end of the confrontation, Dickson had significantly slowed Hardesty. Both were assessed penalties, but it left Hardesty with a penalty flag flying over him.

In clean air and with a four boat length lead, Dickson sailed a flawless final race and crossed the finish line to win his tenth Ficker Cup.

Dickson commented, 'Today was Long Beach at it’s finest with very challenging conditions, but I was fortunate to be sailing with the same crew as I had in Congressional Cup this year. It was really a team effort today and I can’t say enough about the tactics, boat speed and sailing handling.'

With his tenth win at the Ficker Cup, Dickson has cemented a spot in the Congressional Cup to be raced in April of 2007. Helping Dickson, or 'the wing nut behind the helm' as he put it, were: Mark Callahan-Bow, Mark Struble-Tailing, Sonny Gibson-Trim, Matt McKinley-Main/Pit, and Tony Stuart-Tactics.

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