2000 One Design 35 Great Lakes Championship
Macatawa Bay Yacht Club - Holland, Michigan
August 25-27
'WIDOWMAKER' WINS 1D35 GREAT LAKES
CHAMPIONSHIP
Double-bullets on last day seal a convincing overall
performance
Nick and Tina Worth's 'Widowmaker' won the second
annual 1D35 Great Lakes Championships on a resounding double-bullet performance,
concluding a hard-fought three-day, seven-race series hosted by the
Macatawa Bay YC. Twenty-two entries from all corners of the US were on hand
for this fourth event in the six-regatta Season Championship Series.
"This was our first major regatta win in five
years," said an ecstatic Tina Worth, "so
it feels great to have finally earned this win!" This is also the
first 1D35 class win for the Worth's, who hail from Norfolk, VA. The remainder
of the crew included Jim and Sue Miller, Greg Gendell, Tor Pederson,
Dave Pyron, Bill Icely, and Brian Bennett, who called tactics for the
team.
Like last year's National Championship Regatta also held
here in Holland,
conditions varies from light air on the first two days of
the event to a shifty but moderate breeze for the
final day. At the end of the first day's three races
sailed in a 6-10 knot southwesterly, 'Widowmaker' topped the leaderboard
over Dan Cheresh's 'Extreme', but only because Cheresh took a 20%
penalty for a mark rounding infraction in the second race. The 'Extreme'
team is the reigning National Champion in the class, having won last
year's Nationals regatta here on their home turf.
While Saturday started out promising with an 8-12 knot
southerly for the first race, this breeze slowly
lost pressure as clouds filled the area and the rain
threatened from out on the lake. Even with Principal Race Officer Terry
Bischoff shortening the course on the last leg, the breeze still died down
to zephyrs, scattering the fleet all over the course. Getting through the
trying day well, however, was Dick and Doug DeVos' team on 'Windquest',
this week driven by Mark Foster, who took their turn at the
top after scoring an impressive 1-3 finishing tally
for the day, four points ahead of Cheresh.
Unfortunately for them, however, this lead was short-lived, as a protest
from John Wylie's 'Tabasco' over a weather mark rounding incident was
decided against them, earning them a DSQ and 23 points.
So, with only two races left to complete the series,
'Extreme' now had the lead, but with only a point
between them and 'Widowmaker' and only two points
over Bill Wright's San Francisco-based team on 'Zsa Zsa'. The northeasterly
breeze for the day had over 20-degree shifts at times, but remained
between 8-14 knots in flat water to produce some of the closest racing
seen yet in the series. 'Widowmaker' and 'Extreme' managed to get sprung
free on the first beat and run to stay just ahead of the pack in the first
race to finish 1-2, respectively, while Steve Pfeifer's 'Northern Bear'
emerged from a hard-fought battle to finish third. As in nearly all the
races of this series, many finishes were decided by less than a meter, and
often three or more boats were stacked on the finish line.
The stage was set for a showdown: 'Extreme' and 'Widowmaker'
on equal points to go into the final race, the
winner to be the winner for the series.
Interestingly, neither sought to match race the other, as the remainder
of the fleet was tough enough to have them both beat by any one of
five or more contenders within the points range. 'Widowmaker' got a clean
start towards the favored left side of the course, while 'Extreme' got
mired early in the pack, never to emerge from the mid-teens in position.
And while 'Widowmaker' had the early lead, they still did an impressive
job at hitting the shifts right to extend on that lead, ultimately
to finish first in the race and first for the event.
The results of the Great Lakes Championship have made some
important changes in the standings of the Season
Championship Series, a best three-of-six series.
This was the fourth event in that series, thus allowing
the first throw-out among the scores. While Bob Hughes still remains
in the lead with a win scored in Key West Race Week, a second in the
Annapolis NOOD regatta, and a fourth in the Newport Gold, and the runner-up
is still Owen Kratz in 'Joss', both would use their performance here
as a throw-out. Moving into the third place position was Garth Dennis' 'Smiling
Bulldog', while Kip Meadows' 'Roxanne' moves to fourth.
The Next event in the Season Championship Series will be
the 1D35 National Championships, presented by
Carroll Marine, to be held over September 18-20 at
the San Francisco YC. Over twenty boats will be expected at this event,
which has a 50% bonus in scoring towards the Season
Championship Series. The final event in that Series
will be the St. Francis YC's Big Boat Series, to be
sailed by the class over September 22-24.
| Place |
Boat Name |
Owner |
Races |
| 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
Points |
| 1 |
Widow Maker |
Nick Worth |
4 |
2 |
1 |
11 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
26 |
| 2 |
Extreme |
Don Cherish |
1 |
7 (3+20%) |
2 |
9 |
3 |
2 |
14 |
38 |
| 3 |
Roxanne |
Kip Meadows |
3 |
4 |
11 |
8 |
5 |
10 |
4 |
45 |
| 4 |
Zsa Zsa |
Bill Wright |
6 |
7 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
8 |
17 |
49 |
| 5 |
Smiling Bulldog |
Garth Dennis |
15 |
6 |
10 |
7 |
8 |
4 |
3 |
53 |
| 6 |
WindQuest |
Dick DeVos |
8 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
23(DSQ) |
11 |
7 |
56 |
| 7 |
Avalanche |
|
2 |
20 |
3 |
3 |
7 |
6 |
15 |
56 |
| 8 |
Heartbreaker |
Bob Hughes |
12 |
8 |
9 |
2 |
15 |
12 |
5 |
63 |
| 9 |
Northern Bear |
Steve Pfeifer |
10 |
10 |
6 |
16 |
14 |
3 |
11 |
70 |
| 10 |
Tabasco |
John Wylie |
21 |
9 |
8 |
4 |
23 (+20%) |
7 |
2 |
74 |
| 11 |
Loose Ruck |
|
5 |
15 |
16 |
6 |
9 |
9 |
19 |
79 |
| 12 |
Joss |
Owen Kratz |
7 |
9 (+20%) |
7 |
10 |
12 |
18 |
16 |
79 |
| 13 |
Pronto |
Joel Krissoff |
13 |
17 |
12 |
18 |
1 |
16 |
6 |
83 |
| 14 |
Avanti |
|
18 |
11 |
13 |
14 |
4 |
15 |
10 |
85 |
| 15 |
Victory |
|
9 |
21 |
15 |
12 |
16 |
19 |
9 |
101 |
| 16 |
Southern Spirit |
|
20 |
19 |
21 |
17 |
10 |
5 |
12 |
104 |
| 17 |
Tsunami |
|
11 |
13 |
19 |
20 |
11 |
13 |
18 |
105 |
| 18 |
Kaizen |
|
17 |
14 |
18 |
13 |
20 |
17 |
13 |
112 |
| 19 |
Detente |
|
14 |
12 |
17 |
15 |
17 |
18 (+20%) |
20 |
113 |
| 20 |
Plowhorse |
|
16 |
16 |
14 |
19 |
19 |
22 |
8 |
114 |
| 21 |
Outlaw |
Steve Ameluxen |
19 |
18 |
20 |
22 |
13 |
21 |
21 |
134 |
| 22 |
Iris |
|
22 |
22 |
22 |
21 |
23(DNF) |
20 |
22 |
152 |
