A review

A look back at the stories from Acura Key West Race Week

All the ingredients came together for this year's Acura Key Week. Sunny skies and temperatures in the 70s prevailed all week, consistent breeze blew throughout the five-day regatta with a wide range of conditions challenging the 286 boats from 37 states and 14 countries. As usual, racing was extremely tight with the winners in most of 19 classes not being determined until the final day.

"We're very excited to be here. It's 10 degrees and the power is out at my home in Greenwich (Conn). It's warm and sunny here and the sailing conditions are fantastic," was the midweek comment of Thomas Stark, owner of the TP52 Rush.

While America's Cup and Volvo Ocean Race programs have many of the world's top professional locked up, there was once again a who's who of "rock stars" at Acura Key West 2006. Among the notable tacticians on hand were Russell Coutts, John Kostecki, Gavin Brady, Dee Smith, Adrian Stead and Mark Reynolds.

Also competing were a pair of legends - Wisconsin boatbuilder Buddy Melges and sailmaker Tom Whidden.

"This is one of the best big-boat regattas in the world. That's why we all keep coming back. We enjoy sailing here," said Coutts, who helped Mascalzone Latino capture the 25-boat Farr 40 class.

All nine races were held in winds of 11 knots or more with back-to-back days bringing big breeze. A 20-25 knot southeasterly combined with unusually heavy seas made for some thrilling action on Tuesday. It blew even harder on Wednesday with the wind speed building to 25-30 by late morning, making it a one-race day on 3 of the 4 divisions.

"This was the second-windiest Key West in which I've competed and I've been coming here a long time," said Dave Ullman, who topped the 60-boat Melges 24 fleet. "It was a great regatta - beautiful weather and terrific wind."

Once again, there was high praise for the top-notch race committee work. Principle Race Officers Peter Reggio, Bruce Golison, Dave Brennan and Wayne Bretsch postponed on the morning it was light, shortened courses on afternoons it was heavy and still got in all nine scheduled races.

"It's been a great week. Great wind, great competition, great venue for sailing," said Massimo Ferragamo, owner of the victorious Swan 45 Bellicosa. "As usual, Key West offered a variety of conditions, which really challenges the crew. The race committee did a perfect job all week, made all the right decisions."

Chuck Simon, co-owner of the T-10 Liquor Box, marveled at the professionalism the race committee displayed on the two heavy-air days. Starts were conducted, marks were moved and finishes were recorded just as easily as if it were a drifter on the Chesapeake Bay.

"After two days of lumpy conditions I can't say enough good things about the race committee. These guys are tough hombres," Simon said. "It's pretty good for us, we're out there sailing and not bouncing around at anchor. Those guys are taking the worst of it... talk about gutsy."

Action on all four courses was intense and hotly contested.

On Division 1, the Swan 45 World Championship was decided by a mere point while the highly-competitive Farr 40 class finished with the top three boats within three points.

On Division 2, Aera and Moneypenny staged a remarkable week-long duel in IRC 1, trading leads that never rose above two points with Aera ultimately prevailing. Sister Golden Hair edged Boys Are Back in Town by one point in PHRF 2.

"Racing has been surprisingly close. The rating system has done a very good job of comparing the boats," said Dee Smith, tactician aboard Moneypenny. "We tied a race, which is really rare. Other races have been decided by seconds. You can't get much closer."

Racing in Melges 24 class, the regatta's largest with 60 entries, was predictably wild with four different boats holding first place at some point and the winner not decided until Friday. Another week-long battle waged on Division 3 came in the J/80 class with Synergy nipping Rumor by three points.

Finally, five of seven classes on Division 4 were decided by five points or less. Temptress nipped Kokopelli by a point in PHRF 4.

Ferragamo and his crew aboard Bellicosa came from behind to capture the Swan 45 Gold Cup for the World Championship, earning the Acura Trophy as Boat of the Week in the process.

El Ocaso, a J/120 skippered by Rick Wessland of Tiburon, Cal., picked up the Key West Trophy as PHRF Boat of the Week. Wesslund's team notched four bullets and finished no worse than fourth in winning a competitive 15-boat class by 12 points.

Moneypenny, owned by Jim Swartz of Newport, R.I., won the inaugural US-IRC National Championship by the slimmest of margins over Aera, the Kerr 55 owned by Nick Lykiardopulo of Cowes, United Kingdom.

USA West captured the Nautica Trophy as winner of the International Team competition, which combines the scores of Swan 45, Farr 40 and Melges 24 entries from the same country. Craig Speck's VIM placed fourth in Swan 45, Fred and Steve Howe's Warpath took third in Farr 40 while Dave Ullman's Pegasus 505 won Melges 24 as USA West totaled 90 points - 19 points clear of Italy 1.

A spectacular week of racing off Key West in mid January had many owners looking forward to more of the same in early March off Miami. That's particular true in the professionally-crewed Transpac 52 class. The 2006 Rolex TP52 Global Championship at Acura Miami Race Week will be the TP52’s inaugural championship.

Stay Calm II, skippered by Stuart Robinson of London, will be the early favorite after topping a deep, eight-boat fleet at Key West.

Key West sets the stage for the Acura Grand Prix Trophies awarded at the conclusion of Acura Miami Race Week (March 9 – 12). These prestigious awards debuted in 2005 and recognize the top boats with the best combined score from both Key West and Miami Race Weeks. TP52s, Swan 45s, Farr 40s, J/105s, Mumm 30s and Melges 24s are currently eligible.

Both the Key West and Miami events are part of the new US-IRC Gulf Stream Series.

Bruce Gardner, who won PHRF 5 aboard the Beneteau 10-meter L'Outrage, was looking ahead to Miami while negotiating the rough midweek seas at Key West.

" L'Outrage likes the waves, but not enough for me to get careless. This event is too important and I plan on following up with the Miami regatta, mostly because it's another Premiere Racing event," said Gardner, a resident of Annapolis, Md. "With sponsors like Acura and Nautica aboard, it's a good combination of professionalism and quality."

All US Regatta related articles on TheDailySail can be found here .

Division 1
Swan 45: Bellicosa, Massimo Ferragamo, New York
Farr 40: Mascalzone Latino, Vincenzo Onorato, Napoli, Italy
Mumm 30: TeamBold, Nelson Stephenson, Southport, Conn.

Division 2
Transpac 52: Stay Calm II, Stuart Robinson, London, UK
IRC 1: Aera, Kerr 55, Nick Lykiardopulo, Cowes, UK
PHRF 2: Sister Golden Hair, Farr IMS 40, Genesis Racing LLC, Charleston, S.C.
Melges 32: New Wave, Michael Carroll, Lake Geneva, WI
IRC 2: Gold Digger, James Bishop, Jamestown, R.I.
PHRF 3: El Ocaso, J/120, Rick Wesslund, Tiburon, CA

Division 3
Melges 24: Pegasus 505, Team Pegasus / Dave Ullman, Newport Beach, Cal.
J/105: Masquerade, Thomas Coates, San Francisco, Cal.
J/80: Synergy, Jay Lutz, Houston, Texas

Division 4
Corsair 28: Rocketeer II, Ken Winters/Randy Smyth, Fort Walton Beach, FL
J/109: Mojo, Steve Rhyne, Kemah, Texas
PHRF 4: Temptress, SR 33, Robert Hibdon, Charleston, S.C.
PHRF 5: L'Outrage, Beneteau 10M, Bruce Gardner, Annapolis, MD
C&C 99: Trumpeter, Bob Wilson, Toronto, Ontario
PHRF 6: Liquor Box, T-10, Chuck Simon/Bill Buckles, Rocky River, OH and Key West, FL
PHRF 7: Mistress, S2 7.9, Bryan Coon, Huntington, NY

Boat of the Day
Monday: Nautica Day, Norwegian Steam, Farr 40, Evind Astrup
Tuesday: City of Key West Day, Pegasus 505, Melges 24, Team Pegasus / Dave Ullman
Wednesday: Mount Gay Rum Day, Jeroboam Canova, Swan 45, Vittoria Codecasa
Thursday: Industry Partner Day, Storm, J/109, Rick Lyall
Friday: Acura Day, Groovederci, Mumm 30, Deneen Demourkas