Unbeaten Baylis faces top four - Mayor's Cup final

by Rick Roberts on 12 Jul 2008 Liz Baylis, San Rafael, Calif., is still unbeaten with a record of 13-0 going into the final day in the 2008 Mayor's Cup presented by St. Mary Medical Center and part of the 2008 City of Long Beach Sea Festival, presented by Charter Communications.

'The team work was flawless and the tactics were brilliant today,' Baylis said, 'and that makes it a lot easier on me. Today was tough with light air and a lot of kelp. Then we got mixed in with the other boats upwind in one race and had to tack away to stay clear. It was difficult but we came out okay.'

The second round-robin will finish Saturday with the top four in points going into the semi-finals in a bestt-of-three series of races. The finals will then be run in the same format between the top two to determine the winner of the event.

'After the finish of the round-robins, it's a whole new ballgame,' Baylis said. 'I'll have to stay on my game tomorrow.'

Currently in the top four at the end of Friday's competition was, Baylis in the lead, with Sandy Hayes, Scituate, Mass. and Samantha Osborne, New Zealand tied for second and Charlie Arms-Cartee, San Diego, Calif. close behind by only two points.

'We'll have to stay focused and keep the boat rolling,' Hayes said about her team's plan for Saturday. 'Last night we watched the video of this year's Congressional Cup, watching the men to see how hard they sail the boats, their tactics and their moves. They sail these boats all the time and we know we can learn from them.'

Osborne has a similar plan in mind for Saturday. 'We're keeping it simple. What we're doing is working for us. no changes. I learned that from my last regatta where I crashed [figure of speech], getting excited and making changes. We're going to stay calm.'

Not everyone was able to stay calm Friday as there was a collision during a race between Sandy Hayes and Liz Hjorth in which the judges deducted one point from Hjorth, ruling that Hjorth in failing to avoid a collision caused excessive damage to Hayes' boat.

Saturday is the final day with racing starting around 11:30 a.m. (weather permitting) which can be viewed from the Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier. Parking is available in the City of Long Beach public parking lot adjacent to the pier.

ROUND ROBIN STANDINGS (13 rounds)
1. Baylis, 13-0
2. Hayes, Osborne, 9-4 (tied for second)
4. Arms-Cartee, 7-6
5. Thorelius, 5-8
6. Lovell, 4-9
7. Hjorth, 4-9, (3 points*)
8. Bejar, 1-12
*---Deduction for causing excess damage.

www.mayorscuplongbeach.com .