Strange results on flukey day

Rich Roberts and Fi Brown reports from Key West Race Week

Nick Maxwell is a successful general surgeon from Madison, Wisconsin, which answers the question sweeping the Melges 24 fleet after the third day of Terra Nova Trading Key West 2003: Who?

"I was very lucky," Maxwell said after winning Wednesday's race, and he means it. The victory lifted him into, uh, 35th place in the 57-boat fleet, still behind a couple of world champions and other world-class talent overall but thoroughly enjoying his moment of glory.

When dying wind brought abandonment of the day's competition after only one race, Maxwell had no complaint. That meant he could enjoy it the rest of the day and all night long, because Thursday's forecast looks gnarly. It calls for ideal breeze to 15 knots in the morning followed by a cold front bringing a sustained blow of 20-25 knots in the early afternoon when the second race should be under way.

"Wait 'til tomorrow when the wind picks up," Maxwell said. "I think we'll have a little more trouble. This is the best race I've ever done in this boat. It was great to hang with the big boys. Usually, we just see them going by, but today we went by them."

Wind shifts - including one of 100 degrees that shuffled the Farr 40s, 1D35s and Mumm 30s on a different course - may have played a part in Maxwell's success, but he also said, "We had a very loose rig with a lot of power."

While the Division 1, 3 and 4 courses managed one race, the biggest boats on Division 2 called it a day when the wind swung so far, principal race officer Bruce Golison said, that "there was no way to get a finish line [placed] due to the rocks." That left Rosebud, Roger Sturgeon's Transpac 52 in command of PHRF 1 ahead of Bill Alcott's Andrews 70 turbosled, Equation.

The Farr 40s remained muddled as George Andreadis' Atalanti XII with Robbie Haines on tactics and the Scott Harris/Alexandra Geremia Crocodile Rock swapped spots on the leaderboard and John Kilroy's Samba Pa Ti with Paul Cayard calling the shots appeared to be running away (following their last place yesterday) until the monster shift kicked her back in to seventh place.

Atalanti XII struggled from the start and was recovering nicely until the shift dumped it into 15th place in the race and second in the regatta, two points behind Crocodile Rock.
The day's winner? Stuart Townsend's Virago with Steve Benjamin tactician finished first, but opted for a 20% alternative penalty on the water rather than risk a DSQ on a protest by Alex Krstajic's Honour, which claimed leeward rights at the start. That made John Coumantaros' Bambakou the day's low scorer in second place, although still in mid-fleet overall.

It was clear that the race committee had its hands full, but the sailors seemed satisfied that the difficulties were handled as well as possible. Gavin Brady, the tactician on Jim Richardson's Barking Mad, has raced in the top level all over the world and had high praise for Division 1 PRO Ken Legler, although he didn't know his name.

"The race committee guy on that course is the best I've ever seen," Brady said. "He doesn't make it a mystery for the competitors. He talks to us [by radio] and lets us know what's going on: 'Hey, guys, I'm only going to do one race today . . .' He needs to write the book on how to run a race committee."

The 1D35 class is now in the grip of David Kirk's Détente. Kirk said, "The wind gods smiled on us." Détente has a string of 2-2-1-1-1 finishes after Wednesday's win.

The strong West Coast group is absent this year, but Chris Busch, who won six of seven races with Wild Thing last year, is sailing on Détente to wind down from service with Team Dennis Conner's America's Cup campaign. Kirk recruited Busch to make his boat more competitive.

"Our biggest shortcoming was boat speed," Kirk said. "Tactically we had enough depth, but Chris is extremely familiar with how to get these boats going. Last year we weren't even in the game. They sent the Coast Guard out for us a couple of times."

Among the Melges 24s, while Maxwell had his fun defending champion Flavio Favini benefited from leader Bruce Ayres' 21st-place finish and slipped into first place overall with a fourth. Favini is four points ahead of Ayres' Newport Beach colleague Argyle Campbell, with Ayres another 10 points back.

Favini blitzed the fleet last year when the prize was the delayed 2001 class Worlds title, but he hadn't sailed a Melges since while participating in the America's Cup.

"It's a nice place to sail, but you face a lot of different conditions," he said. "We were over the line at the start, so we had to go back. But [the wind] was streaky, and when it's streaky you have a chance to get back."

Favini, an Italian, again is sailing Franco Rossini's Blu Moon from Switzerland, which is part of the German team that took over the lead from Italy in the International Team Competition for the Key West Trophy by a single point. The other two are Dr. Wolfgang Schaefer's Farr 40, Struntje light, and Bent Dietrich's Mumm 30, Rainbow.

There is only one unbeaten boat remaining -Mike Carroll's Henderson 30, New Wave, with four wins in PHRF 4, which was unable to race Wednesday.

Class leaders (after 5 of 9 races, except 4 of 9 in Div. 2):

FARR 40 (24 boats)---Crocodile Rock, Scott Harris/Alexandra Geremia, Santa Barbara, 2-2-4-17-5, 30 points.

1D35 (8)—Détente, David Kirk, Chicago, 2-2-1-1-1, 7.

MUMM 30 (15)—Foreign Affair, Richard Perini, Sydney, Australia, 2-3-4-1-4, 14.

MELGES 24 (57)---Blu Moon, Flavio Favini, Switzerland, 2-4-12-7-4, 29.

J/105 (29)---Wet Leopard, Jim Sorensen, Sag Harbor, N.Y., 12-1-7-1-3, 24.

J/80 (22)---Warrior, Craig and Martha White, Fort Worth, Tex., 1-2-1-9-1, 14.

J/29 (10)---Rhumb Punch, John Edwards, Solomons, Md., 2-3-2-1-1, 9.

TARTAN 10 (8)---Liquor Box, Robert and Bill Lehnert, Cutchogue, N.Y., 1-2-1-1-1, 6.

CORSAIR 28R (14)---Hot Flash, Robert Gleason, Wareham Mass., 1-3-1-6, 11.

IMS (4)---Idler (N/M 50), George David, New York, 1-1-2-1, 5.

PHRF 1 (5)---Rosebud (Transpac 52), Roger Sturgeon, San Francisco, 1-1-2-2, 6.

PHRF 2 (6)---Bandolier (1D48), Charles Burnett III, Seattle, 2-4-1-2, 9.

PHRF 3 (12)---Tsunami (Farr 395), Ostberg/Aras/Daily, Annapolis, 1-1-2-1, 5.

PHRF 4 (10)---New Wave (Henderson 30), Michael Carroll, Clearwater, Fla., 1-1-1-1, 4.

PHRF 5 (13)---Fitikoko (Tripp 38 ML), Andrew Wilson, Annapolis, 3-2-1-3, 9.

PHRF 6 (12)---Dr. Evil (Olson 29), Tom Treat/Cliff Davis, Milford, Conn., 3-1-3-1-3, 11.

PHRF 7 (10)---Invincible (N/M 30), Brian Lees/Jeff Gastrau, Annapolis, 1-1-1-1-2, 4.

PHRF 8 (9)---Hot Ticket (Farr 37), Jim Hightower, Houston, Tex., 5-1-4-1-4, 15.

PHRH 9 (10)---Ruby My Dear (Express 37), Grosse Point Park, Mich., 3-4-2-2-2, 13.

PHRF 10 (12)---Rumblefisch (J/24), Peter Fischel, Savannah, Ga., 1-3-1-4-2, 11.

Farr 40

Pos	Name	Skipper	Tactician	R 1	R 2	R 3	R 4	R 5	Total	Country
1	Crocodile Rock	A. Geremia/S. Harris	Vince Brun	2	2	4	17	5	30	USA
2	Atalanti XII	George Andreadis	Robbie Haines	11	3	1	2	15	32	GRE
3	Barking Mad	James B. Richardson	Gavin Brady	10	5	2	16	3	36	USA
4	BOTTADI CULO	Arrivabene/Mincione		3	4	14	6	12	39	ITA
5	ISKRA	Borys B. Jarymowycz	Dave Curtis	7	12	6	10	4	39	USA
6	Samba Pa Ti	John Kilroy	Paul Cayard	4	7	3	23	7	44	USA
7	Virago	Stuart Townsend	Steve Benjamin	20	6	11	7	6 p20	50	USA
8	LeRenard	Steve Phillips	Andy Horton	21	8	5	5	18	57	USA
9	Struntje light	Dr.Wolfgang Schaefer	Iain Percy	8	1	9	21	19	58	GER
10	Heartbreaker	Robert L. Hughes	Jeff Madragali	1	14	16	19	8	58	USA
11	Bambakou	John G. Coumantaros	Chris Larson	13	15	21	8	2	59	USA
12	SLED	Takashi Okura	Yutaka Takagi	6	20	17	4	13	60	JPN
13	Warpath	Fred & Steve Howe	George Szabo	14	17	8	3	20	62	USA
14	Breeze	Vincenzo Onerato	Adrian Stead	22	13	7	1	21	64	ITA
15	Mean Machine	Peter De Ridder	Stu Bannantyne	16	10	12	22	6	66	NED
16	Groovederci	Deneen & John Demourkas	Jesper Bank	15	9	13	15	14	66	USA
17	Honour	Alek Krstajic	Tony Rey	9	16	24	9	9	67	CAN
18	Joss	Owen Kratz	Terry Hutchinson	5	18	25 p20	18	10	76	USA
19	Racing Bull	Jean Pierre Delmotte	Franck Cammas	12	21	15	13	16	77	FRA
20	Nitemare	Tom Neill	Pat Considine	23	11	10	12	25 dsq	81	USA
21	Flash Gordon 4	Helmut Jahn		24	24	19	14	11	92	USA
22	Kokomo	Lang Walker	Roger Hickman	18	22	22	11	22	95	AUS
23	Gone Too Farr	David Carrel	Jason Rhodes	17	23	18	25 dsq	17	100	USA
24	Diana	S.A. Promendo	Afonso Domingos	19	19	23	20	23	104	POR

Fi Brown reports on the Melges 24

It was a very hard day's racing with light airs and two huge shifts for the Melges 24 crews to contend with in the single race completed at Key West today. Nick Maxwell was the delighted winner of the race which caught many of the series leaders on the hop. "We got a little bit lucky and the Gods were in our favour." commented Maxwell after racing.

Race five in the series started in a steady 10-12 knots from the North East with the fleet spread pretty evenly down the line. Series leader Bruce Ayres was looking good off the start until he heard his number called over forcing him to turn back. Also fouled up at the start was Kristian Nergaard who got caught in a scrum at the committee boat end and actually ended up caught on the committee boat's transom.

Once away up the beat the fleet was spread out across the course, but the breeze began to go left and drop so those out on the left benefitted enormously. At the weather mark it was Stuart Rix who once again led the fleet closely followed by Nick Maxwell, Argyle Campbell, Joe Woods, Jeff Littfin, Terry Gibson and Peter Wright.

Down the first run right was pretty much the only option and the top three arrived at the leeward mark in the same order. Mike Dow put in an impressive leg to come from the teens to fourth place with Woods dropping back to fifth and Gibson and Wright still in sixth and seventh. At the leeward mark a change of course was being signalled to allow for the big left hander and the course was also shortened slightly.

Rix and Maxwell were tight all the way up the second beat until just before the mark "We got Rix right at the top of the second beat and just managed to sneek inside him on the mark." said Maxwell. Behind them Dow had overtaken Campbell with Wright now fifth. Meanwhile Kristian Nergaard, whose crew includes reigning Melges World Champions Harry Melges and Jeff Ecklund, was making up for time lost at the start and rounded sixth, just ahead of Woods.

As the front of the pack bore away there was a massive shift to the right and the final run to the finish turned into a tight reach. Those who spotted it just managed to hold their kites to the finish but many boats ended up two sailing in. "That last run was very tough as it was a tight reach." said Maxwell, "the two boats behind us took their chutes down but we were able to hold on to ours so we ended up with a comfortable lead of probably ten boat lengths." Behind him places were changing rapidly as boats struggled to hold their kites and many of those forced to drop lost out big time. By the finish Wright had worked his way up to second with Campbell third.

Overnight second place holder Flavio Favini sailed a terrific final lap to come from twelfth to fourth whilst Rix dropped down to fifth ahead of Porter. Nergaard ended up seventh with Dow eighth, Mike Budd ninth and Cutler tenth. With the light winds becoming increasing unstable the race committee wisely decided to call it a day and sent the crews home for an afternoon by the pool.

Overall after five races Flavio Favini, helming for Switzerland's Franco Rossini, now holds the lead by four points ahead of Argyle Campbell. Bruce Ayres has dropped back to fourth with Alec Cutler, helming for John Sherlock, fifth, Brian Porter sixth and Kristian Nergaard seventh.

Tomorrow's forecast is for much stronger, colder winds which will bring a new element into the regatta. Full results are available at www.premiere-racing.com and further information about the Melges 24 Class is available from www.melges24.com, which also features comment from race winner Nick Maxwell and Britain's Joe Woods.

Place	Name	Entrant	Country	R 1	R 2	R 3	R 4	R 5	Total
1	Blu Moon	Franco Rossini	SUI	2	4	12	7	4	29
2	Rock N' Roll	Argyle Campbell	USA	12	12	2	4	3	33
3	Monsoon	Bruce Ayres	USA	3	8	3	8	21	43
4	Frequent Flyer	John Sherlock	CAN	1	2	22	9	10	44
5	Full Throttle	Brian D. Porter	USA	11	5	17	6	6	45
6	Baghdad	Kristian Nergaard	NOR	4	23	1	15	7	50
7	Gorgeous Worgeous	Quentin Strauss	GBR	20	16	7	5	5	53
8	USA 399	Morgan Larson	USA	13	11	13	1	20	58
9	Madison	David Happ	USA	14	19	5	2	26	66
10	Liberty 3	Paul Lovejoy	GBR	9	24	8	18	9	68
11	Kilroy	Jeff Jones	USA	27	1	9	17	18	72
12	Joe Fly	Maspero Giovanni	ITA	35	17	11	3	16	82
13	No Manners	D Clark/ T Wetherell	GBR	8	21	28	16	12	85
14	Wicked Feet	Art Brereton	USA	5	26	23	12	24	90
15	Flying Toaster	Mike Dow	USA	15	18	20	29	8	90
16	Panty Raid	Sean & Todd Scarborough	USA	19	6	19	13	35	92
17	First Crush	Paula M. Zubrzycki	USA	40	9	10	14	23	96
18	Pegasus	Philippe Kahn	USA	7	27	6	31	27	98
19	Mad Hatter	Nick Halmos	USA	26	22	14	10	30	102
20	WKD Silver	Joe Woods	GBR	17	7	21	48	13	106
21	Black Seal	Richard Thompson	GBR	6	30	4	45	22	107
22	Cagey	Karen Gottwald	USA	16	25	18	22	33	114
23	Defiant	Peter Wright	USA	33	28	33	24	2	120
24	Pegasus	Samuel "Shark" Kahn	USA	22	13	25	28	32	120
25	Spider Cookie	Steve Suddath	USA	21	14	31	26	28	120
26	Own-It	Chris Doubek	USA	24	3	36	19	43	125
27	My Dixie Wrecked	Brian J. Harrison	USA	23	10	35	30	34	132
28	Xcellent	John Pollard	GBR	10	58 ocs	16	11	38	133
29	Mach Schnell	Kent Haeger	USA	25	31	15	50	14	135
30	Sofa King Fast	Bret Gripenstraw	USA	18	37	24	32	36	147
31	Grinder	Jeff Littfin	USA	29	36	26	20	39	150
32	Suzanne	Routt Reigart	USA	39	15	32	27	40	153
33	booby trap	Terry Gibson	CAN	44	32	34	35	11	156
34	No Tourism	John Raymont	USA	31	38	30	38	19	156
35	Star Tack	Nicholas Maxwell	USA	37	43	41	42	1	164
36	Foursquare Spiced Rum	Ron Weed	USA	47	20	44	41	15	167
37	Aura	Sheldon Ecklund	USA	30	44	40	21	37	172
38	Panic Pending	Lainie Pardey	USA	46	29	46	23	31	175
39	AF GAAT LIGGEN	Carlo Vroon	NED	28	35	29	37	47	176
40	Lamorak	Mike Krantz	USA	32	33	38	36	45	184
41	Ajax	Cindy Cromwell	USA	36	52	39	34	25	186
42	Adrenaline	Michael Royer	USA	45	45	42	44	17	193
43	Bling Bling	Evan Jahn	USA	34	41	27	51	46	199
44	Highland Heritage	Ian Cleaver	SCT	41	40	43	25	58 ocs	207
45	Adrenaline	Wolf Lixfeld	CAN	38	34	45	47	44	208
46	MovingMtnsChalets	Frits Bus	ANT	42	49	37	40	42	210
47	USA 525	Tim Fay	USA	43	50	49	33	41	216
48	Flyer 02	Chuck Holzman	USA	52	48	53	46	29	228
49	Express Lane	Frank A. Davenport	USA	51	39	47	43	48	228
50	Mellow Yellow	Vladimir Butenko	RUS	50	46	50	39	49	234
51	Nobody's Girl	Scott A. Baker	USA	49	51	48	53	53	254
52	Elektra	Dan van Heeckeren	USA	48	42	58 dsq	49	58 ocs	255
53	CPB	Tom & Deanna Hager	USA	53	47	52	58 dnc	51	261
54	Forerunner	John L. Mathis	USA	54	53	51	54	52	264
55	Mayhem	Colin Cassady	USA	58 dnf	54	55	52	50	269
56	Maiden Heaven	E. Middleton/K. Maguire	GBR	55	55	54	55	54	273
57	TBA	John Muir		58 dnc	58 dnc	58 dnc	58 dnc	58 dnc	290