Robertson's chances scuppered

Fog lifts to allow final day of race at the Sonar Worlds in St Petersburg, Florida

The weatherman almost had it right. Predicted was 10-15 knots from the southwest. When we convened at the Sailing Center for the final day we had that alright. Problem was we also had pea soup fog! But despite that the fleet was itching to go racing and some had already hoisted sails and ventured out when the Race Committee put up a shore side postponement. But it cleared sufficiently to take it down within minutes, and the fleet was soon on it's way to the battlefield.

Here was the scenario: of the seven races scheduled, only four had been completed due to light winds. While we had enough to call it a regatta, we needed two more to allow a throw-out, thus the RC posted an amendment to the Sailing Instructions scheduling two races instead of the original one. But the deadline to start a sequence remained at 1230 hours.

Standing in first with a comfortable lead of five points over John Robertson, the Paralympic representatve from England, is the USA Paralympic representative; John Ross-Duggan. Third is Peter Galloway one point behind Robertson with Steve Shepstone one point behind Galloway. The crown was still up for grabs.

So while the fleet sailed out to the starting area in minimal visibility, the supremely efficient RC was preparing to start the sequnce on time. But combine an ebbing current with a feisty fleet and the first of three General Recalls occur. The third time the RC would display the dreaded Z flag, but to no avail. The fleet is just too aggressive.

But then the fog rolls back in, and this time with a vengence, so the fleet reaches back and forth within sight of the RC boat for almost two hours. Time is ticking away. The 1230 deadline approaches. John Ross-Duggan is hoping the fog won't lift...

But like Moses parting the Red Sea, at 1210 the fog lifts enough for us to see the shore! The RC gets set up for one last attempt at a start. If this doesn't go, chances are slim that we would get a race in amd JRD would become the new World Champion.

But under the Z flag they succeed, albeit with a few victims, one of whom is John Robertson. With only one race possible, it would exact a penalty that he could not possibly recover from.

The fleet splits right and left equally with Peter Galloway, Steve Shepstone and John Ross-Duggan (JRD) headed right. When they come together, Shepstone rounds first with Galloway virtually overlapped. Sweeney/Crane/Schultz (SCS) and Ed Sherman are a few lengths back. JRD has spinnaker problems and will have some work to do the get back into contention.

At the leeward mark Galloway and Shepstone are still right at each other, but the positions remain unchanged. Let's do the math... If Steve wins the race and Peter is second, then they would tie for first and Galloway would win the tiebreaker, assuming JRD doesn't manage a miracle comeback. Steve realizes he needs a boat between them, so he decides to take action.

With SCS and Sherman several lengths back, a close cover is in order. He offers a serious dose of backwind to Peter, and in doing so succeeds in building up a larger lead while allowing SCS and Sherman to gain.

Around the final leeward mark, Steve has opened up but Peter finds himself fending off SCS and Sherman. Another dose of backwind if you please...

Steve delivers.

With Steve and Peter splitting left, SCS and Sherman split right. Peter would later explain that by splitting, he hoped that they would both gain sufficiently over SCS and Sherman, so that Steve could not prevent him from finishing second, or Steve would be crossed by SCS and Sherman, thus preventing a boat from getting between them. Either outcome would give the title to Peter.

But now just to add the the drama, the fog rolls back in. Where the heck is the finish!

It lifts enough to reveal the finish less than a quarter mile away as the four boats converge. Steve jumps on Peter hard with some serious team race moves while keeping a watchful eye on SCS and Sherman closing fast. It would be close. Peter does all he can to break the close cover, but aggresive sail ragging by Steve is taking it's toll. They all cross within a few boat lengths of the finish. Shepstone, Sherman, SCS, Galloway in that order.

Steve had done it! In a virtual photo finish and nail biter right to the end, it could not have been dramatized any better. He is the new World Champion. But in the final analysis, it could easily have been Peter or John Ross-Duggan. All sailed superbly. All were deserving of the crown. But there can only be one World Champion.

So congratulations to Steve Shepstone amd his crew, Melissa Shepstone, Tom Kinney and Mike Loeb: Sonar World Champions.

And a "hip, hip, hooray" for runners up Peter Galloway, Jim Linville, Ched Proctor and Paul Steinborn, and to John Ross-Duggan, J.P. Creighton, Brad Johnson, and Colin Park.

As the Brits would say... "Brilliant!"

Results:

Pos	Crew	From	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Tot
1	Steven Shepstone, Melissa Shepstone, Tom Kinney & Michael Loeb	Watertown CT USA	6	2	7	5	1	21
2	Peter Galloway, Jim Linville, Paul Steinborn & Ched Proctor	Wilton CT USA	1	4	11	3	4	23
3	John Ross-Duggan, J. P. Creignou, Brad Johnson & Colin Park	Newport Beach CA,USA	3	3	2	6	14	28
4	Ed Sherman, Diane Fowler, Arthur Anosov & George Bothwell	St. Petersburg FL USA	4	12	3	8	2	29
5	John Robertson, Stephen Thomas, Hannah Stodel & Mark Addison	Sunderland TW UK	9	1	6	2	20\ZFP	38
6	Keith Burhans, Brian Hayes, Ira Cohen & Rich Williams	Rochester NY USA	15	8	5	7	6	41
7	James F. Miller, Lynn Fitzpatrick, Sue Miller & Michael Jacobs	Bradenton FL USA	5	7	4	17	10\ZFP	43
8	Skip Shumway, Doug Faust, Shane Onley & Tom Ruflin	Rochester NY USA	2	16	10	14	9	51
9	Ed/Jim Sweeney/Crane, John Schultz & Carl Reittenger	Darien CT USA	19	21	1	9	3	53
10	Jens Kroker, Peter Reichl, Olaf Jacobs & Bernd Zirkelbach	Mannhelm Germany	10	18	13	1	11	53
11	Dror Cohen, Gil Yakimov, Arnon Efrati & Yaron Shwartz	Israel	14	5	17	11	16	63
12	Brian Mackie, Brian MacDonald, Don Martin & David Williams	Victoria BC Canada	7	10	23	10	13	63
13	Donald C. Holst, Tim Doran, Jim Gluek & Adam Rosen	Lake Zurich IL USA	21	6	12	12	15\ZFP	66
14	Alphonsus L. Doerr, Dave Fagen, Grover Griffin & Albert Duryea	Clifton NJ USA	12	9	16	13	17	67
15	Charles Milby, Charlie Milby, Jr, Larry Neuhaut & John Meyer	Seabrook TX USA	13	17	19	4	17\ZFP	70
16	Josh Goldman., Tom Allen, Jr., Karen Park & Rick Myers	Westport CT USA	11	15	20	21	8	75
17	Leo Hiatrides, Eric Johnson, Jim Strevralia & Vladimir Kulinichenko	Sewanhaka NY USA	8	20	21	20	12\ZFP	81
18	John Twomey, Gene Hinckle, Tom Allen, Sr & Richard Myers	Kinsale Cty Cork Ireland	18	11	8	25	23\ZFP	85
19	Enrique Garcia, Francisco P. Rodenas, Raul R. Zalvez, Jose M. Lastra & Luis R. Zalvez	Santiago Del Murcia Spain	22	19	14	15	19	89
20	Jamie Dunross, Colin Harrison, Jeff Milligan & Geoff Chambers	Palm Beach WA, Australia	16	14	18	16	25\ZFP	89
21	Steve Sleight, Sara Coombes, Duncan Bates & Chris Pegna	Cowes Isle Of Wight UK	17	26\OCS	9	19	21	92
22	Ken Kelly, Peter Steel, Barry Bladen & Alex Fox	Victoria BC Canada	20	26\OCS	15	18	22	101
23	Hugh Elliot, Stephanie Stone, Jason Anuszkiewicz & Tom McCarthy	Alexandria VA, USA	24	13	22	22	23	104
24	Jennifer French, Tim French, Chris Adkins & Maureen McKinnon-Tucker	Tampa FL USA	23	22	24	24	25	118
25	Nancy Graver, Leonard Hudson, Trevor Smith & Dave Efrosinis	Lemont Il USA	25	23	25	23	26\ZFP	122