Consistency pays big for Hardesty in Jacksonville

by U.S. Melges 24 Class Association on 19 Nov 2007 The first day of racing at the Florida Yacht Club's King's Day Regatta produced challenging, light air conditions. Alan Field from Los Angeles, California initially looked like he had mastered the art of Melges 24 sailing winning race one, then Brian Porter's 'Full Throttle' turned on the speed pulling ahead of the fleet to win race two. But it was Bill Hardesty at the helm for David Ford's 'Lightwave Nano' that has officially taken the overall lead of a fleet forty boats strong.

On the course, the fear of no wind became reality as the fleet went into immediate postponement. And they waited... And, waited for two hours, then the breeze got busy.

The first start consisted of a traffic jam at the committee boat. The combination of a little bit of breeze and incoming tide made things very interesting. With just a few seconds to go, the start got tenser with a big push right at the clock. Massive over-earlies resulted in a general recall. The second start was nice - with the nerves firmly settled in place and the adrenalin kicking in, Field on 'WTF' stepped into the lead with a great chase of competitors right behind including Hardesty, Bora Gulari helming for Michigan's Chuck Holzman on 'Flyer', Geoffery Pierini on 'Gazoo' and Mark Ivey at the helm for David Ford's second entry 'Lightwave Micro'.

This group quickly became the lead pack of boats while former America's Cup tactician for 'Emirates Team New Zealand', Terry Hutchinson and reigning National Champion Porter clawed their way to the front. Around the second windward mark it was Field, Gulari/Holzman, Hardesty, Pierini, then Ivey. Porter beat Hutchinson to the punch rounding sixth. Alan Field went on to capture first, Gulari/Holzman was second and in third was Hardesty.

Race two of the day was equally exciting especially for new boat owner Joe Boulin on 'Wicked Witch.' Yesterday, Joe was getting a grip on the ins and outs of what it means to be a U.S. Melges 24 Class member. Today, he led the pack around the first mark. Although, his lead was short lived — this is what Melges 24 racing is all about! Joe contended with the likes of class veterans Hardesty, Holzman, Porter and Kelly Gough helming for Shawn Grisham on 'Bulls-eye'.

The chase to the gate entailed a match-up between Porter and Gough/Grisham with Porter getting the upper hand. Porter headed left again as he gained big on the fleet, eventually blistering the race with relentless speed. Hardesty gained ground on the downwind run, followed by Ivey as Gough/Grisham struggled in fourth. Porter put some distance between himself and the rest of the fleet to secure the win. Hardesty maintained second place, and Gough/Grisham nailed third.

As we head into the second and final day of racing the leaderboard could not possibly
be tighter. Hardesty is sitting pretty in first place overall with five points, Porter is second, then Chuck Holzman in third. Ivey is fourth, then Hutchinson in fifth.

Top ten results (overall)
01.) Bill Hardesty/David Ford; Lightwave Nano
02.) Brian Porter; Full Throttle
03.) Bora Gulari/Chuck Holzman; Flyer
04.) Mark Ivey/David Ford; Lightwave Micro
05.) Terry Hutchinson; Quantum Racing
06.) Kelly Gough/Shawn Grisham; Bulls-Eye (c)
07.) Geoffery Pierini; Gazoo
08.) Alan Field; WTF
09.) Mike Dow; Flying Toaster
10.) Simon Strauss; Team Gill

Top ten results (Corintians)
01.) Kelly Gough/Shawn Grisham; Bulls-Eye
02.) Alex Shafer; Sweaty Betty
03.) H. Scott Gregory; Team Satisfaction
04.) Tony Stanley; Hermes
05.) Bill Carleton; Tiburon

Full results will be posted shortly.

To find out more about the 2007 King's Day Regatta | Atlantic Coast Championship, visit http://www.thefloridayachtclub.org/index.php.