Pepper and Williams win Star North Americans
by Sail-World on 18 Nov 2006

Carl Williams (standing)and Hamish Pepper after racing in the 2006 Star Worlds Chuck Lantz
http://www.ChuckLantz.com
The New Zealand crew of Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams have won the North American Star Championship with a race to spare.
Williams and Pepper won the World Championship six weeks ago in San Francisco, having been sailing for just eight months in the class. They won today's race sailing against a very classy 79 boat fleet in Miami, Florida, and are in an unbeatable points position.
The second placed crew of Xavier Rohart and Pascal Rambeau (FRA) the 2004 Olympic Silver medalists have 20 points on the table with the Kiwis on top with just six points after the discard has been counted. Their worst placing is seventh in the Race 4, and even if they had to count this place they would still have 13pts, compared to Rohart and Rambeau's 14 points - should they win the final race of the regatta.
The third placed crew of Olympic Gold Medalist and seven times world champion in the Laser class, Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada (BRA) are on 20 points and can't look at Pepper and Williams.
The victory caps off an amazing year for the Kiwi crew, who have risen from zero to be #3 in the ISAF rankings and will probably top that feat when the latest rankings are announced in a couple of weeks.
Pepper and Williams have completely dominated this regatta winning three of the five races sailed to date, and with their two worst placings being in the top seven.
The other New Zealand crew of Rohan Lord and Peter Fox are lying in 15th overall having been scored as an OCS (early starter) in today's race. They were previously in eighth place overall.
Hamish Pepper spoke to Sail-World after their series win in the North American Star Championships in Miami.
'We certainly had great speed upwind. The breeze here wasn’t totally tricky (as it was in the Worlds in San Francisco) and was readable.
'We started off well with two good wins on the first day, followed by the third and seventh on the second. The seventh should really have been a third.
'Although we didn’t get off the start line as well as some, we were sailing very fast.
'In the fifth race we opted for a conservative start to stay out of trouble, and then looked for good clear water. We were second for much of the way to a Canadian crew, then we passed them and went on to win by 40 to 60 seconds.'
Day 3 Report – 5th Race by Lynn Fitzpatrick
Only one race was scheduled for the 3rd day of racing at the Star North Americans. Despite light conditions, the sailors were more exhausted following racing than had they sailed two heavy air races. After a ½-hour postponement on the water, and two general recalls the fleet coasted up wind. A big left shift caught most of the fleet off guard. Those on the left could fetch the weather mark, those on the right were nearly a mile behind at the first mark. As Robert Schiedt and Bruno Prada approached the leeward gate, the committee signaled an abandonment.
The line was shifted several hundred yards to the east and the race was restarted. Ten boats, including two of the top ten contenders (Lord and Szabo) were OCS. Canadian Grand Master Hans Fogh and Dave Caesar rounded the weather mark in the lead with Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams close behind. The two boats rounded the offset mark before any of the other boats reached the weather mark.
Pepper/Williams stole the lead going up the second beat as the wind shifted left and Fogh protected the right. At the top of the second sausage, Pepper was 1:20 minutes ahead of Fogh and Mark Reynolds was 4:00 minutes behind. The last boat rounded 20 minutes behind the leaders.
While Hamish, Carl, Hans and Dave continued to extend, Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada and Peter McChesney and Todd Hiller quietly picked off boats to move from 16th and 17th to 4th and 6th, respectively.
Competitors saw the most breeze during the end of the final beat. In many cases, they were able to stretch their backs, get out of the hunched and squatting positions that they had been in for hours, and actually hike. Mark Reynolds and Skip Dieball and Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada ended the marathon day in a photo finish for 3rd and 4th.
After 6 races and a drop, Pepper and Williams have 3 bullets and 6 points. They are far enough in front of Rohardt and Rambeau so that they do not have to sail the final race of the series. They’re on an amazing run. Scheidt and Prada are in 3rd with 20 points. Ross MacDonald and Mike Wolfs are the top North Americans with 30 points.
Updates to follow when they come to hand.
2006 North American Star Championships
Provisional Results after Race 5
Place |
Boat |
Skipper |
Crew |
Sail #: |
Fleet |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Total |
1 |
NZL 8187 |
Hamish Pepper |
Carl Williams |
NZL 8187 |
ISOL |
1.0 |
1.0 |
3.0 |
7.0 |
1.0 |
6 |
2 |
FRA 8107 |
Xavier Rohart |
Pascal Rambeau |
FRA 8107 |
NI |
5.0 |
3.0 |
4.0 |
1.0 |
23.0 |
13 |
3 |
BRA 8127 |
Robert Scheidt |
Bruno Prada |
BRA 8127 |
GuB |
7.0 |
6.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
20 |
4 |
CAN 8168 |
Ross Macdonald |
Mike Wolfs |
CAN 8168 |
EB |
2.0 |
8.0 |
12.0 |
54.0 |
8.0 |
30 |
5 |
GER 8213 |
Marc Pickel |
Ingo Borkowski |
GER 8213 |
Brm |
9.0 |
7.0 |
8.0 |
19.0 |
11.0 |
35 |
6 |
USA 8156 |
Andy Horton |
Brad Nichol |
USA 8156 |
NB |
25.0 |
2.0 |
2.0 |
13.0 |
22.0 |
39 |
7 |
POL 8252 |
Mateusz Kusznierewicz |
Dominik Zycki |
POL 8252 |
ISOL |
11.0 |
4.0 |
15.0 |
42.0 |
10.0 |
40 |
8 |
USA 8239 |
Mark Reynolds |
Skip Dieball |
USA 8239 |
SDB |
12.0 |
11.0 |
35.0 |
15.0 |
3.0 |
41 |
9 |
USA 8250 |
Andrew Macdonald |
Brian Fatih |
USA 8250 |
NH |
4.0 |
19.0 |
16.0 |
27.0 |
7.0 |
46 |
10 |
DEN 8147 |
Benny Andersen |
Mogens Just |
DEN 8147 |
DF |
6.0 |
23.0 |
40.0 |
12.0 |
9.0 |
50 |
11 |
USA 8273 |
George Szabo |
Mark Strube |
USA 8273 |
SDB |
20.0 |
12.0 |
9.0 |
11.0 |
80.0 [OCS] |
52 |
12 |
GER 7991 |
Matthias Miller |
Manuel Voigt |
GER 7991 |
UB |
29.0 |
32.0 |
7.0 |
6.0 |
15.0 |
57 |
13 |
SUI 8138 |
Flavio Marazzi |
Michael Herrmann |
SUI 8138 |
TB |
21.0 |
10.0 |
6.0 |
24.0 |
28.0 |
61 |
14 |
BER 8044 |
Peter Bromby |
Bill Mc Niven |
BER 8044 |
ISOL |
38.0 |
9.0 |
10.0 |
17.0 |
25.0 |
61.0001 |
15 |
NZL 8061 |
Rohan Lord |
Peter Fox |
NZL 8061 |
ISOL |
24.0 |
5.0 |
13.0 |
20.0 |
80.0 [OCS] |
62 |
16 |
AUS 8269 |
James Spithill |
Magnus Liljedahl |
AUS 8269 |
WSFB |
80.0 [DNS] |
15.0 |
27.0 |
3.0 |
20.0 |
65 |
17 |
USA 8195 |
John A Maccausland |
Robert Schofield |
USA 8195 |
CR |
15.0 |
18.0 |
23.0 |
10.0 |
41.0 |
66 |
18 |
POR 8145 |
Afonso Domingos |
Bernardo Santos |
POR 8145 |
CP |
10.0 |
17.0 |
21.0 |
22.0 |
19.0 |
67 |
19 |
AUS 7836 |
Iain Murray |
Andrew Palfrey |
AUS 7836 |
LMac |
19.0 |
16.0 |
17.0 |
80.0 [OCS] |
17.0 |
69 |
20 |
GER 7971 |
Robert Stanjek |
Frithjof Kleen |
GER 7971 |
BF |
16.0 |
30.0 |
14.0 |
80.0 [OCS] |
12.0 |
72 |
21 |
BRA 8034 |
Alan Adler |
Ricardo Ermel |
BRA 8034 |
RdJ |
18.0 |
27.0 |
20.0 |
8.0 |
38.0 |
73 |
22 |
USA 8222 |
Rick Merriman |
Eric Monroe |
USA 8222 |
SDB |
13.0 |
24.0 |
31.0 |
9.0 |
80.0 [OCS] |
77 |
23 |
AUT 8226 |
Hans Spitzauer |
Christian Nehammer |
AUT 8226 |
Att |
28.0 |
13.0 |
25.0 |
16.0 |
24.0 |
78 |
24 |
IRL 8158 |
Maxwell Treacy |
R Anthony Shanks |
IRL 8158 |
ISOL |
80.0 [DNS] |
26.0 |
36.0 |
4.0 |
13.0 |
79 |
25 |
USA 8264 |
Peter McChesney |
Todd Hiller |
USA 8264 |
AN |
30.0 |
37.0 |
24.0 |
21.0 |
6.0 |
81 |
26 |
ITA 8014 |
ALBERTO BAROVIER |
Umberto Coppola |
ITA 8014 |
SG |
17.0 |
36.0 |
32.0 |
14.0 |
18.0 |
81.0001 |
27 |
USA 8136 |
Henry Filter |
Will Wagner |
USA 8136 |
AN |
26.0 |
31.0 |
28.0 |
28.0 |
5.0 |
87 |
28 |
USA 8045 |
Augie Diaz |
Phil Trinter |
USA 8045 |
BisB |
32.0 |
29.0 |
37.0 |
18.0 |
21.0 |
100 |
29 |
USA 8153 |
Eric Doyle |
Steve Calder |
USA 8153 |
NH |
27.0 |
45.0 |
11.0 |
80.0 [OCS] |
27.0 |
110 |
30 |
SWE 8256 |
Fredrik Loof |
Anders Ekstrom |
SWE 8256 |
SC |
80.0 [OCS] |
80.0 [OCS] |
1.0 |
2.0 |
31.0 |
114 |
31 |
USA 8278 |
Peter Vessella |
J Darin Jensen |
USA 8278 |
WSFB |
80.0 [DNS] |
25.0 |
22.0 |
32.0 |
39.0 |
118 |
32 |
USA 8268 |
John Dane III |
Austin Sperry |
USA 8268 |
MoB |
3.0 |
21.0 |
80.0 [DNF] |
80.0 [OCS] |
16.0 |
120 |
33 |
ARG 7907 |
Fabian Mac Gowan |
Federico Engelhard |
ARG 7907 |
OL |
31.0 |
35.0 |
29.0 |
48.0 |
33.0 |
128 |
34 |
ARG 7213 |
Julio Labandeira |
Luis Hornos |
ARG 7213 |
OL |
47.0 |
20.0 |
43.0 |
26.0 |
40.0 |
129 |
35 |
ITA 8290 |
Silvio Santoni |
Sergio Lambertenghi |
ITA 8290 |
NG |
35.0 |
52.0 |
18.0 |
41.0 |
36.0 |
130 |
36 |
CAN 8236 |
Hans Fogh |
David Caesar |
CAN 8236 |
LOC |
48.0 |
43.0 |
49.0 |
40.0 |
2.0 |
133 |
37 |
NOR 8183 |
Eivind Melleby |
Petter Morland Pedersen |
NOR 8183 |
ISOL |
14.0 |
41.0 |
58.0 |
46.0 |
34.0 |
135 |
38 |
SUI 8009 |
Christoph Gautschi |
Alexander Gouda |
SUI 8009 |
Bod |
8.0 |
57.0 |
30.0 |
80.0 [DNF] |
44.0 |
139 |
39 |
USA 8072 |
Douglas D Smith |
Mike Moore |
USA 8072 |
SBC |
37.0 |
33.0 |
48.0 |
31.0 |
42.0 |
143 |
40 |
SUI 8232 |
Henrik Dannesboe |
Igor Kaptourovitch |
SUI 8232 |
BSL |
46.0 |
50.0 |
26.0 |
37.0 |
35.0 |
144 |
41 |
BAH 8265 |
Steven Kelly |
William Holowesko |
BAH 8265 |
N |
36.0 |
55.0 |
46.0 |
35.0 |
30.0 |
147 |
42 |
CHI 8181 |
Rodrigo Zuazola |
Marcelo Ferreira |
CHI 8181 |
VAL |
39.0 |
59.0 |
54.0 |
30.0 |
26.0 |
149 |
43 |
USA 8235 |
Larry Whipple |
Doug Brophy |
USA 8235 |
PS |
57.0 |
54.0 |
47.0 |
36.0 |
14.0 |
151 |
44 |
AUS 8234 |
Andrew Landenberger |
Simon Reffold |
AUS 8234 |
UB |
42.0 |
40.0 |
41.0 |
39.0 |
32.0 |
152 |
45 |
ARG 7700 |
Alejo Rigoni |
Gustavo Gonzalez |
ARG 7700 |
BA |
22.0 |
14.0 |
80.0 [DSQ] |
80.0 [DNF] |
37.0 |
153 |
46 |
USA 8043 |
Jock Kohlhas |
Arthur Anosov |
USA 8043 |
BisB |
50.0 |
39.0 |
39.0 |
29.0 |
46.0 |
153 |
47 |
CAN 8143 |
Brian Cramer |
Tyler Bjorn |
CAN 8143 |
LOC |
43.0 |
34.0 |
33.0 |
44.0 |
50.0 |
154 |
48 |
USA 8245 |
Joe Zambella |
Peter Costa |
USA 8245 |
BH |
55.0 |
22.0 |
57.0 |
34.0 |
45.0 |
156 |
49 |
ITA 8183 |
Antonio Tamburini |
Renzo Ricci |
ITA 8183 |
SI |
41.0 |
42.0 |
60.0 |
55.0 |
29.0 |
167 |
50 |
GER 7863 |
Klaus Meyer |
Dirk Struve |
GER 7863 |
Brm |
51.0 |
28.0 |
45.0 |
51.0 |
80.0 [DNF] |
175 |
51 |
USA 8215 |
Bill Allen |
Brad Lichter |
USA 8215 |
WH |
54.0 |
47.0 |
38.0 |
38.0 |
55.0 |
177 |
52 |
CAN 7626 |
Mark Passmore |
Larry Scott |
CAN 7626 |
LOC |
60.0 |
51.0 |
53.0 |
25.0 |
52.0 |
181 |
53 |
LAT 8135 |
Eizens Cepurnieks |
Alexander Muzicenko |
LAT 8135 |
ISOL |
45.0 |
38.0 |
51.0 |
47.0 |
60.0 |
181 |
54 |
NED 8263 |
Erik Broekhof |
Erik Veldhuizen |
NED 8263 |
Med |
33.0 |
58.0 |
59.0 |
33.0 |
80.0 [OCS] |
183 |
55 |
USA 7866 |
John Manderson |
Matt Semler |
USA 7866 |
Mid |
58.0 |
60.0 |
42.0 |
43.0 |
47.0 |
190 |
56 |
USA 8095 |
Gunti Weissenberger |
Chris Brown |
USA 8095 |
NCB |
49.0 |
44.0 |
63.0 |
49.0 |
51.0 |
193 |
57 |
GER 7450 |
Stefan Lehnert |
Peter Menning |
GER 7450 |
Brm |
65.0 |
62.0 |
44.0 |
56.0 |
43.0 |
205 |
58 |
USA 8077 |
Thomas Londrigan Jr |
Matt Pederson |
USA 8077 |
LS |
80.0 [OCS] |
49.0 |
55.0 |
23.0 |
80.0 [OCS] |
207 |
59 |
FIN 8094 |
Staffan Lindberg |
Erkki Heinonen |
FIN 8094 |
Fin |
34.0 |
80.0 [OCS] |
19.0 |
80.0 [OCS] |
80.0 [OCS] |
213 |
60 |
ARG 8169 |
Alberto Zanetti |
Juan Pablo Engelhard |
ARG 8169 |
OL |
23.0 |
80.0 [OCS] |
34.0 |
80.0 [DNF] |
80.0 [OCS] |
217 |
61 |
USA 8063 |
Bert Collins |
Brent Ostbye |
USA 8063 |
AN |
61.0 |
66.0 |
56.0 |
45.0 |
57.0 |
219 |
62 |
USA 8080 |
Fotis Boliakis |
Guy Avellon |
USA 8080 |
CLIS |
52.0 |
56.0 |
61.0 |
57.0 |
61.0 |
226 |
63 |
USA 8227 |
Jon Vandermolen |
T C Belco |
USA 8227 |
GL |
44.0 |
53.0 |
50.0 |
80.0 [DNF] |
80.0 [DNF] |
227 |
64 |
ITA 8277 |
Renato Irrera |
Corrado Cristaldini |
ITA 8277 |
Pal |
53.0 |
67.0 |
64.0 |
50.0 |
80.0 [DNF] |
234 |
65 |
USA 7916 |
Timothy J Delaney |
Michael Delaney |
USA 7916 |
SLE |
66.0 |
72.0 |
65.0 |
52.0 |
53.0 |
236 |
66 |
USA 8279 |
Claude Bonanni |
Richard Burgess |
USA 8279 |
TaB |
62.0 |
63.0 |
68.0 |
80.0 [OCS] |
49.0 |
242 |
67 |
ARG 7976 |
Martin Pendola |
Ariel Simonet |
ARG 7976 |
BA |
59.0 |
73.0 |
52.0 |
80.0 [DNF] |
59.0 |
243 |
68 |
USA 8084 |
Robert Teitge |
Fielden Fleming |
USA 8084 |
DR |
69.0 |
69.0 |
72.0 |
58.0 |
48.0 |
244 |
69 |
GER 7887 |
Philipp Rotermund |
Florian Fendt |
GER 7887 |
Glu |
40.0 |
46.0 |
80.0 [DNF] |
80.0 [DNF] |
80.0 [OCS] |
246 |
70 |
USA 8065 |
G Brooks Sperry |
Tim Ray |
USA 8065 |
WSFB |
63.0 |
68.0 |
62.0 |
59.0 |
64.0 |
248 |
71 |
USA 7425 |
Barbara Beigel-Vosbury |
Shane Zwingelberg |
USA 7425 |
AN |
56.0 |
64.0 |
71.0 |
80.0 [DNF] |
58.0 |
249 |
72 |
USA 8000 |
Harry W Walker |
Chris Rogers |
USA 8000 |
BisB |
64.0 |
70.0 |
70.0 |
53.0 |
63.0 |
250 |
73 |
USA 7659 |
Rick Peters |
Christel Gruenewald |
USA 7659 |
SMB |
67.0 |
71.0 |
66.0 |
62.0 |
56.0 |
251 |
74 |
USA 7999 |
Tiani Hausen |
Ellie Holloway |
USA 7999 |
BisB |
73.0 |
74.0 |
67.0 |
61.0 |
54.0 |
255 |
75 |
USA 8083 |
John Chiarella |
Robert Carlson |
USA 8083 |
Sun |
70.0 |
65.0 |
73.0 |
60.0 |
65.0 |
260 |
76 |
USA 8036 |
Jack Rickard |
Tom Ferrier |
USA 8036 |
WH |
68.0 |
48.0 |
80.0 [DNF] |
80.0 [DNF] |
80.0 [OCS] |
276 |
77 |
GER 8016 |
Hubert Rauch |
Ingo Schappeler |
GER 8016 |
And |
72.0 |
61.0 |
69.0 |
80.0 [DNF] |
80.0 [DNF] |
282 |
78 |
USA 7956 |
Tony Herrmann |
Rebecca Ruhm |
USA 7956 |
WLM |
71.0 |
80.0 [DNF] |
80.0 [DNS] |
80.0 [DNS] |
62.0 |
293 |
79 |
USA 8132 |
Thierry De La Villehuchet |
Witold Gessing |
USA 8132 |
Mid |
80.0 [DNS] |
80.0 [DNS] |
80.0 [DNS] |
80.0 [DNS] |
80.0 [DNS] |
320 |
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