Please select your home edition
Edition
Vaikobi 2024 December

IT'S OFFICIAL - KIWIS WIN KENWOOD CUP 2000

by Susan McKeag on 9 Aug 2000
USA's Esmeralda takes Molokai Race for five-in-a-row
Smile is top-scoring individual yacht

It's official - New Zealand are the winners of the Kenwood Cup 2000. The
International Jury completed their deliberations this morning by awarding
the Australian team yacht Smile 1hr 45min 17sec time credit for the time
she spent searching for the broken-masted Cha-Ching (Sydney 41, Scooter
Simmons, USA) which has put out a call requesting assistance. The credit
lifted Smile from her on-the-water 17th overall (12th in the Kenwood Cup
team yachts) to 4th equal, but the result of the Cup was already sealed by
time credit of 2hr 38min 59secgiven to Big Apple III (Farr 45, Hideo
Matsuda and Dean Barker, NZL) for her part in the same search. (Big Apple,
a larger boat than Smile, was ahead of Smile on the water when the alarm
was raised, and thus lost more time in turning back and delaying.)

Results were then further delayed when Smile asked the Jury to re-open the
case, and asked for even more credit, while Fruit Machine entered a request
that the Molokai Race be re-scored taking into account the effects of the
wind-driven surface currents sometimes known as fetch. The Jury adjusted
Smile's time credit by adding a further 11 minutes, which lifted her to
second equal in the Kenwood Cup team standings, but dismissed Fruit
Machine's request that the race be re-scored. As Race Director Ken Morrison
pointed out, there is no hydrographic data on the currents around the
Hawaiian islands: they are entirely wind-driven, vary from day to day and
are both unpredictable and unverifiable.

Perhaps unfortunately, the interest surrounding both the outcome of the Cup
and the deliberations of the Jury have somewhat overshadowed the real story
of the Molokai race itself - the quite devastating performance of Ken Read
and his team aboard Makoto Uematsu's Farr 50 Esmeralda, racing for the USA
Red team. For the fifth time in a row Read brought the sleek green yacht
home with her handicap time more than saved against the rest of the fleet.
This is a particularly creditable performance considering that Esmeralda
(like the larger Bumblebee of John Kahlbetzer, with Iain Murray as skipper)
sails the course in lonely state, with nothing to race against but the
clock and the instruments. To keep the boat and the crew at flat-out pitch
for 148 miles with no others close by is no mean feat. Esmeralda crossed
the Diamond Head finish line an hour behind Bumblebee and with just the
masthead and tip of the spinnaker of the next boat in the race -
Australia's Yendys - showing on the horizon astern.

Yendys led home New Zealand's flying pair Sea Hawk (Farr 47, Naohiko Sera/
Roy Davies) and Air NZ High 5 ( Farr 47, Mick Cookson), the two only four
minutes apart. High 5 had led the Hawk at the upwind turning mark at the
end of the tough 75-mile thrash to Maui, but the near-sister had slid past
on the long down-wind trip home. High 5's finish was something to see.
The boat is beautifully prepared, in every detail. With the sun high, the
Pacific at its white-capped blue best and the Trades a steady 18-20 knots
(Mick Cookson reported up to 28 knots across the deck during the night on
the way to Maui) High 5 turned down and picked up each overtaking crest,
great creaming wings of foam sluicing out from under her forefoot as almost
the front third of the boat lifted clear of the water, every bubble and
hiss reflected in the perfect dark blue gloss of her immaculate topsides.
Just as she crossed the line, a stronger than usual gust swept down off
Diamond Head. The yacht heeled, the spinnaker strained, High 5 bore away
and took off like a planing dinghy on two wide wings of spray: 14, 15, 16,
17 and finally hitting 18 knots as she outran the chasing camera boat. If
ever there was an image to encapsulate the perfect sailing to be found at
this Hawaiian Offshore Series, this is surely it - check out the pictures
on www.kenwoodcup.com.

Top individual scorer of the 2000 Hawaiian International Offshore Series is
Chris Whiston's Smile, one of the pair of all-conquering race-optimised
Beneteau 40.7 cruiser/racers which have dominated the past season of
Australian offshore racing. Smile beat Esmeralda and Sea Hawk to the
honour, thanks in part to the influence and decisions of the event's
International Jury. Smile's redress granted in the final race lifted her
from the 17th position in which she finished to equal-second, while
Esmeralda had to overcome the burden of an 18th overall in Race 1. In that
race, Esmeralda was OCS, had to do a re-start and then begin the long haul
up through the fleet. Then there was a problem with laying mark four, as a
result of which the Jury eventually decreed that the race should be scored
on the basis of a finish at mark 3, rather than take the final on-the-water
result. At Mark 3, Esmeralda was still working her way up the rankings.

Results - Race 10 (Molokai Race) Class A 1 Esmeralda (Farr 50, Makoto
Uematsu, USA), Big Apple III (Farr 45, Hideo Matsuda, NZL) on redress being
granted position does not affect scores of other yachts, 2 Sea Hawk (Farr
47, Naohiko Sera, NZL), 3 Air NZ High 5 ( Farr 47, Mick Cookson, NZL), 4
Yendys (Farr 49, Geoffrey Ross, AUS), 5 Bumblebee 5 (Sydney 62, John
Kahlbetzer, AUS), 6 Andiamo (Davidson 55, Andrew Taylor, NZL). Class B 1
Karasu (Judel/Vrolijk 43, Yasuo Nanamori, JPN), 2 Maupiti (Farr 39, Hiroshi
Yamagishi, JPN), 3 G'Net (Farr ILC 40, Shizue Kanbe, JPN), 4 Liberte
Expres (Beneteau First 47.7, Yasumasa Kawamura, JPN), 5 Tower (Lidgard 45,
Daisuke Kimura, JPN) Cha-Ching (Sydney 41, Scooter Simmons, USA) DNF,
Glama! (Sydney 41, Seth Radow, USA) DNS. Class C 1 Samba Pa Ti (Farr 40
OD, John Kilroy Jr, USA), 2 Orion (Farr 40 OD, Philippe Kahn, USA),
Foundation (Farr 40 OD, Masato Fujumaki, JPN) DNF, Zamboni (Farr 40 OD,
Doug Taylor, USA) DNS. Class D 1 Fruit Machine (Beneteau 40.7, Neil
Whiston, AUS), Smile (Beneteau 40.7, Simon Whiston, AUS) on redress being
granted position does not affect scores of other yachts, 2 Matador
(Aerodyne 38, Jason Khoury, USA), 3 Matador (Aerodyne 38, Jason Khoury,
USA), 3 Mojo Rising (Beneteau 40.7, Clayton Craigie, AUS/HKG), Bondi Tram (
Frers 41, John & Margaret Haig/Chris Austin-Harmes, USA) DNF. Class E
(J/105s) 1 Juxtapose (J105, Tom Thayer & Dick Watts, USA), 2 Charade (J105,
Thomas Coates, USA), 3 Irrational Again (J105, Jaren Leet, USA), 4 Puff
(J105, Chris Brown, GBR), 5 Jose Cuervo (J105, Sam Hock, USA), 6 Tiburon
(J105, Steve Stroub, USA).

KENWOOD CUP FINAL STANDINGS: 1 New Zealand 535 points, 2 Australia 521, 3
USA Red 434, 4 Japan 277, 5 USA White 210, 6 USA Blue 115.
Allen Dynamic 40 FooterPredictWind - GO! exec 728x90 BOTTOMHyde Sails 2024 - One Design

Related Articles

Ferrari Hypersail unveiled
The Prancing Horse enters the world of sailing Ferrari today unveils its new Ferrari Hypersail project, an unprecedented sporting challenge in the world of sailing that blends racing tradition with technological innovation.
Posted today at 2:56 pm
A brief history of marine instrument networks
Hugh Agnew has been involved since the outset, and continues to develop at the cutting edge One man who has been involved since the outset, and continues to develop at the cutting edge, is Hugh Agnew, the Cambridge-educated mathematician who is one of the founders of A+T Instruments in Lymington, so I spoke to him to find out more...
Posted today at 1:30 pm
Marion Bermuda Race update
Light breeze made Redwood's strategy of chasing the wind deliver them across the finish line first. The Ker 50 Redwood, skippered by Beverly Yacht Club Member Pike Severance, crossed the Marion Bermuda Race finish line off of St. David's Head in Bermuda this morning at 7:13 with an elapsed sailing time of 4d 18h 33m 42s.
Posted today at 11:53 am
2025 X-Yachts Aurum Cup
Magnificent blue skies... but some tricky wind conditions! The 2025 X-Yachts Aurum Cup was held in Sydney over the weekend in magnificent blue skies... but some tricky wind conditions!
Posted today at 8:11 am
C. Thomas Clagett, Jr. Memorial Clinic & Regatta
23rd edition of the event is in the books The 23rd C. Thomas Clagett, Jr. Memorial Clinic and Regatta wrapped up in Newport, Rhode Island on June 22nd for the 30 sailors with disabilities, after three days of competitive racing and camaraderie along with a two-day coaching clinic.
Posted today at 5:44 am
31st Block Island Race Week Day 2
Regatta Craft Mixers Race Day turns up the heat Regatta Craft Mixers Race Day turned up the heat at Block Island Race Week—literally. The Island was not spared from the heat wave sweeping the East Coast this week, but that did not put a stop to the action out on the water.
Posted today at 12:14 am
Triple amputee crosses Pacific solo & unsupported
33-year-old former Army rifleman from Doncaster, Craig Wood, has today made history 33-year-old former Army rifleman from Doncaster, Craig Wood, has today made history by becoming the world's first triple amputee to sail solo, non-stop and unsupported across the Pacific.
Posted on 24 Jun
Kieler Woche Day 5
Tuesday served as a warm-up for the hot finale of Kieler Woche Sophie Steinlein and Catherine Bartelheimer from Bavaria in the skiff, as well as Kiel native Fabian Wolf on the foiling windsurf board, will enter Wednesday's (June 25) medal races as leaders.
Posted on 24 Jun
iQFOiL International Games at Kiel day 4
Medal series line-up confirmed as wind hits hard in Kiel The fourth and penultimate day of the 3rd iQFOiL International Games in Kiel delivered full-throttle action as athletes across the Senior, Youth, and Junior fleets raced to secure their spots in the all-important Medal Series.
Posted on 24 Jun
44Cup Marstrand 2025 starts tomorrow
Fleet back up to 12 on eve of breezy Marstrand event While the RC44s were up to 11 for the last event in Porto Cervo, for this week's 44Cup Marstrand, scheduled to set sail tomorrow from the breezy west coast of Sweden, the fleet has now grown to 12.
Posted on 24 Jun