Kenwood Cup unusual weather

by Susan McKeag Champagne Mumm Media Centre on 1 Aug 2000 Race 1 of the 10-race series for the Hawaii International Offshore Series was scheduled to start at 1100 this morning (Tuesday) but up went the red and white Postponement flag while
Race Director Ken Morrison and his team searched for a consistent breeze.
Almost 2 hours later at 1250 Class A finally got underway but it was to be
a slow and frustrating business. Winds ranged from just three to eight
knots and shifted with irritating frequency. Race 2, the scheduled
windward/leeward race, had to be abandoned as it became clear that Race 1
was going to be a long and drawn out affair. Everybody here has a theory
about the weather conditions and a prediction about when normal service
will be resumed. The most scientific says that we are experiencing the
remnants of Tropical Storm Daniel, effectively blocking off the Trade
Winds, and the weather center advises that "a situation like that would
normally last for 24-36 hours".
Line honors today went to Neil Whiston's Beneteau 40.7 Fruit Machine
followed 3 minutes later by brother Simon in the matching yacht Smile, both
sailing for the Australian team. With team mate Yendys 12th over the line
it was enough to put Australia ahead after the first day in the team event
for the Kenwood Cup.
However, the fluky, shifting conditions were to come back to haunt the
Race Committee at the end of the days once the fleet was ashore. Requests
for redress were lodged against the Race Committee over the position of the
windward mark by Puff from the J105 racing in Class E, Esmeralda, Bumble
Bee 5, Air New Zealand High 5 in Class A and G'Net in Glass B. The Jury
will sit later tonight and so the results remain HIGHLY PROVISIONAL.

Racing continues tomorrow with a triangle race and windward/leeward race
sponsored by United Airlines.


Kenwood Cup 2000 Provisional Results Summary. Race 1 Class A: 1 Sea Hawk
(Farr 47, Naohiko Sera, NZL), 2 Big Apple III (Farr 45, Hideo Matsuda,
NZL), 3 Yendys (Farr 49, Geoffrey Ross, AUS), 4 Bumblebee 5 (Sydney 62,
John Kahlbetzer, AUS), 5 Air NZ High 5 ( Farr 47, Mick Cookson, NZL), 6
Esmeralda (Farr 50, Makoto Uematsu, USA), 7 Andiamo (Davidson 55, Andrew
Taylor, NZL),
Class B: 1 G'Net (Farr ILC 40, Shizue Kanbe, JPN), 2 Karasu
(Judel/Vrolijk, Yasuo Nanamori, JPN), 3 Cha-Ching (Sydney 41, Scooter
Simmons, USA), 4 Maupiti (Farr 39, Hiroshi Yamagishi, JPN), 5 Glama!
(Sydney 41, Seth Radow, USA), 6 Tower (Lidgard 45, Daisuke Kimura, JPN) 7
Liberté Expres (Beneteau 47, Yasumasa Kawamura, JPN)
Class C: 1 Zamboni (Farr 40 OD, Doug Taylor, USA), 2 Orion (Farr 40 OD,
Philippe Kahn, USA), 3 Samba Pa Ti (Farr 40 OD, John Kilroy Jr., USA), 4
Foundation (Farr 40 OD, Masato Fujumaki, JPN),
Class D: 1 Fruit Machine (Beneteau 40.7, Neil Whiston, AUS), 2 Smile
(Beneteau 40.7, Simon Whiston, AUS), 3 Matador (Aerodyne 38, Jason Khoury,
USA), 4 Mojo Rising (Beneteau 40.7, Clayton Craigie, AUS/HKG), 5 Bondi
Tram ( Frers 41, John & Margaret Haig/Chris Austin-Harmes, USA),
Class E: 1 Charade (J105, Thomas Coates, USA), 2 Jose Cuervo (J105, Sam
Hock, USA), 3 Irrational Again (J105, Jaren Leet, USA), 4 Puff (J105,
Chris Brown, GBR), 5 Juxtapose (J105, Tom Thayer & Dick Watts, USA), 6
Tiburon (J105, Steve Stroub, USA)
Kenwood Cup Teams after Race 1: 1 Australia 44 points, 2 USA White 33, 3
New Zealand 32, 4 Japan 27, 5 USA Red 25, 6 USA Blue 9