Painkiller 4 gets bullets at US-IRC Championship

by KPMS on 26 Jul 2008
Alice Martin's Sydney 38 Painkiller 4 set the bar for the IRC fleet in the first day of racing for the Rolex US-IRC National Championship Friday. After a nifty port tack start in the first race, she didn't look back. Her performance was perfect on a day that saw shifty westerly winds at 15 to 25 knots. Painkiller 4 had three bullets in IRC 4 in the first day of racing.

'We liked all that wind,' said Martin (Chicago, Ill.). 'The Sydney 38 likes a breeze and we got a port tack start at the committee end of the line when the rest of our class bunched up at the pin on starboard. The competition gave us the opportunity and we took it. A port tack start just keeps us from getting bored.'

'I thought we had excellent crew work getting the chute up quickly and with the breeze we had we were able to sail deep angles, almost dead downwind. The boat is very stable.'

'We didn't have any instruments,' Martin quipped, 'so we were back to sailing basics. We made the right choices in sail selection. I guess we guessed right.'

Her tactician, Dobbs Davis (Annapolis, Md.) noted, 'The crew did exceptionally well shifting gears to get the most out of the boat in the changing breeze. We had winds bouncing from 15 to 25 knots and shifting 10-15 degrees. After we took the port tack start, we sailed into a nice 10-degree shift that set the pace for the first race. We tried to find the best pressure and catch the shifts. It was a good day for the Painkiller crew.'

Rampage a Farr Concordia 47 sailed by the John Odenbach, his family and friends, out of Rochester, New York had the second best performance on the day with three second places in IRC 2. John shared the helm with his brother Fritz. The Rampage crew includes four family members, is very experienced and has sailed together for many years.

Pied Piper, a GL70 owned by Jack Jennings ( Niles, Ill.) and Vincitore, a new Southen Cross 52 owned by Jim Mitchell of Zurich, Switzerland were both early favorites in the series. Pied Piper stands first in IRC 3 with a 1, 2, 3, day.

Vincitore, started the day with first in the first race. She showed blazing speed, but didn't fare so well after breaking her main halyard in the second race and retiring for the day. Inferno took a port tack start at the pin in the third race and got her second bullet to lead IRC 3 today.

The 2008 Rolex US-IRC National Championship is being sailed in conjunction with the 48th Little Travis Yacht Club Regatta and One Design Series. The event, known at the 'You Gotta Regatta', continues with a 14 leg 'Tour of the Bay' race on Saturday and concludes with more windward-leeward racing and great prizes from Rolex.

Results are posted at http://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=176 For more information, including results and news, visit www.ltyc.org and follow the links to Yachtscoring.com's interface.

Preliminary results - Top 3 boats in each IRC class

IRC 1 ( 8 Boats)
Position, Boat name, Boat make, Name, Hometown, Race 1-2-3, total points
1. Pied Piper, Santa Cruz 70, Jack Jennings, Niles, IL, USA, 1-3-2;6
2. Stripes, Santa Cruz 70, William Martin, Ann Arbor, MI, USA, 2-2-3;7
3. Thirsty Tiger, Santa Cruz 70, Albert D'Ottavio, Joliet, IL, USA, 4-5-1;10

IRC 2 (8 Boats)
1. Rampage, Farr Concordia 47, John Odenbach, Webster, NY, USA, 2-2-2;6
2. Wooton, Rogers 46, W. Harris Smith, Chicago, IL, USA, 4-3-1;8
3. Natalie J, N/M 46 C/R, Philip O'Niel III, Bloomfield Hills, MI, USA, 3-1-4;8

IRC 3 (11 Boats)
1. Inferno, Farr 40 , Phillip Dowd, Chicago, IL, USA, 1-6-1;8
2. Gaucho, Farr 44, Sanford Burris, Kirtland, OH, USA, 2-1-10;13
3. Eagles Wings, Grand Soliel 44, John Gottwald, Glencoe, IL, USA, 7-3-5;15

IRC 4 (7 Boats)
1. Painkiller 4, Sydney 38, Alice Martin, Chicago, IL, USA, 1-1-1;3
2. Serenissima, Sydney 38, Robin Munden, Chicago, IL, USA, 3-2-2;7
3. Skye, J 122, Bill Zeiler, Wilmette, IL, USA, 2-3-5;10