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Bridge win sets up Hamlin & Co. for 18 Skiff title

Posted 2 years ago

Bridge win sets up Hamlin & Co. for 18 Skiff title
SAN FRANCISCO---A week that started with an accidental dunking is about to end with a splash of champagne for Howard Hamlin and crew Mike Martin and Trent Barnabas sailing Pegasus White in the 18' Skiff International Regatta. The team from Southern California and Australia (Barnabas) tamed tempestuous San Francisco Bay to their bidding Friday by winning both races, including the traditional Ronstan Bridge to Bridge free-for-all from the Golden Gate to the Oakland Bay. Now leading Samuel (Shark) Kahn by four points and Australia's John Winning by five, they need only finish respectably in Saturday's first race to clinch the championship without sailing the last race, which would be their second discard. "We need to look at all the scores," Hamlin said cautiously, but barring catastrophe---which is not unheard of when these fragile little boats venture out onto these lively waters---they'll have their second consecutive title and third overall in the five years of this regatta. With the skies partially clearing after a ceiling of fog most of the week, the winds remained brisk up to 25 knots, although they dropped a bit for the Bridge race starting at 5:30 p.m. after the 18 Skiffs sailed their usual windward-leeward contest. Then 13 windsurfers and 17 kite boards joined the fun for a thrashing start in the churning waves under the Golden Gate known locally as the "Potato Patch." Kite boarders---Jeff Kafka of Pacific and last year's winner, Anthony Chavez of San Francisco---finished 1-2, followed by Hamlin & Co. Kafka, 31, operates a kite boarding school called Wind Over Water (www.wowkite.com). Kafka's time was 20 minutes 28 seconds---an average speed of about 15 knots for the five miles but well off the record. Among the 18 Skiffs, Kahn and Winning followed Hamlin in both races, in that order, switching positions in the standings. Meanwhile, since capsizing the first day, Pegasus White has won four of six races, with two seconds. Hamlin praised his crew, saying, "Mike and Trent were on fire today." Both wins were by comfortable margins, and their tactics were flawless. Martin said, "In the first race we led at the first mark and jibe-set [the spinnaker] into the pressure. That was the big move. Then in 50 yards we jibed again and got a nice puff all the way down the course." They also had a plan for the Bridge race, with a strong 3 ½-knot ebb tide flowing against them out of the bay. Martin said, "Our plan was to be closer to the city front where the wind was lighter because it was really bouncy out in the middle. Some boats looked good in lots of pressure, but they were bouncing up and down, and some had breakdowns." Worst off was Peter Barton's United Kingdom team, which had broken two bowsprits earlier in the week but finished fourth in the early race Friday. Then its luck turned sour again in the Bridge race. After the spinnaker tack line broke, the boat flew out of control and crew Ian Turnbull wound up hanging onto the dagger board (also repaired), then slammed into the rudder. "I said, 'Oh, we hit a seal!' " Barton said, "then I saw it was Ian." Turnbull has a sore back but the boat has a split where the transom joins the hull. "I think we're through here," Barton said. This is one of the class's three major events each year, along with the JJ Giltinan World Trophy Championship in Sydney and the European champion held last June on Lake Garda in Italy. STANDINGS (after 8 of 10 races; one discard): 1. Pegasus White, Howard Hamlin/Mike Martin/Trent Barnabas, Long Beach, Calif., Newport Harbor YC, 2-(3)-2-1-1-2-1-1, 10 points. 2. Pegasus Black, Samuel (Shark) Kahn/Cameron MacDonald/Paul Allen, Honolulu, Waikiki YC, 1-2-3-(5)-3-1-2-2, 14. 3. Yandoo, John Winning/Andrew Hay/'Geoff Bauchop, Sydney, Aust., Australian 18 Footers League, (3)-1-1-2-2-3-3-3, 15. 4. DeLonghi, Grant Rollerson/Simon Nearn/Dan Wilsdon, Sydney, Australian 18 Footers League, (DNF/8)-DNS/8-4-3-4-DNF/8-5-6, 38. 5.Tie between West Marine, Peter Barton/Martin Borrett/Ian Turnbull, United Kingdom, Royal Lymington YC, (DNF/8)-DNS/8-5-4-6-DNF/8-4-DNF/8, and Vodka Cruiser, Patrick Whitmarsh/Mark Breen/Ben Glass, Alameda, Calif., Monterey Peninsula YC, (DNF/8)-DNS/8-7-DNF/8-5-4-7-4, 43, 7. Skiff Sailing Foundation White, Chad Freitas/Dan Malpas/Matt Noble, San Francisco, St. Francis YC, (DNF/8)-4-6-6-7-DNF/8-6-5, 44. PRESS OFFICER Rich Roberts(310) 835-2526 cell (310) 766-6547   richsail@earthlink.net Full Story »

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