MacCausland and Trinter get their name on the trophy

Qualcomm Star Worlds conclude in San Diego

John MacCausland and Phil Trinter are the Qualcomm 2013 Star World Champions and add their name to the 92 year old Star Class’ International Trophy. Andrew Campbell and John von Schwarz won their second race of the series today, and their second ever race at an International Star World Championship.

According to the local sailors, the trick to sailing in San Diego is to get a clear start, tack onto port as soon as possible and sail towards the right side of the course for about 30 minutes, then tack back onto starboard and head towards the windward mark. Today, that was not the case. In fact, it was exactly the opposite. Competitors were surprised to see some boats sail on the left side and round the windward mark in the front of the fleet. Today's conditions were very unusual and yielded some interesting results throughout the fleet.

Augie Diaz and crew Arnis Baltins were able to position themselves well on the line and got a good start with speed and clear air. Diaz and Baltins rounded both the first windward mark and leeward mark in first place with the rest of the fleet close behind. After the fleet rounded the first leeward mark, the breeze began to die and became very spotty causing some frustration among the sailors and several position changes, some more dramatic than others.

For the remainder of the second upwind leg, there was a lack of breeze in the middle of the course and once again the breeze favored the left side. Campbell and von Schwarz were the first to reach the second weather mark in the dying breeze, with a large gap between them and the second boat. The breeze began to increase on the second downwind, giving Campbell and von Schwarz the ability to easily maintain their lead all the way to the finish.

Over the course of the Qualcomm 2013 Star World Championship, the Star fleet experienced some of the best, most difficult, and even uncommon conditions San Diego has to offer. The Race Committee did a phenomenal job adjusting the courses to ensure fair races for the sailors and the competition increased with each day. Several types of teams attended, such as family crews, juniors, women sailors, Continental and Hemisphere Champions, World Champions, and Olympic Champions. Among the series awards, the International Star Class gives prizes to different types of members that compete in its championships to celebrate the diversity among its members.

John MacCausland commented: “Today’s race was difficult, it was emotional, it was up and down emotion-wise because of different things. Rohart rounds the first mark well ahead, and we’re back. We’re losing. We go around the second mark. Rohart and us go right and we get in a big hole. Now Rohart’s back and we’re back. No we’re winning, and we just had to let mother nature take care of it for us. And fortunately some of our good friends were able to stay ahead of Rohart and it was all good. It was a rollercoaster of emotions, but I was very thrilled with the whole thing. It’s really a satisfying accomplishment, a lifetime accomplishment.”

Did you ever think it was possible to win the Star Worlds? "I always believed this was possible. I knew given the right situation with the right people I could make it happen. I always had confidence in myself. It might not have looked like it from the outside, but I was always very confident. And the whole program with Phil came together late last year. We did Nassau, the Spring Championship where we were 3rd this year, and I was very confident we could make it happen.

"We had a good plan, a good plan on the water. We had a good idea what we wanted to do, and to be honest, we were pretty darn fast through the water. And so our boat speed enabled us to do some things. We liked the right side of the course, we set ourselves up after some of the starts to be there and it benefitted us greatly."

What kind of boat are you sailing? "Our boat was made by Mader, in Germany. I have worked with Mader since 1986 bringing boats into this country. I got this boat in the middle of July, so it’s a brand new boat, the newest boat in the fleet here. It’s a boat that I had a lot of input with, and did it the way I wanted to. I had a boat like this prior to this, but I wanted some changes and I’m very satisfied with how it turned out."

John is 52 years old and hails from Cherry Hill New Jersey. He sails out of the Cooper River YC in Collingswood. John has sailed Stars since he was a youngster winning his first Blue Star at age 14. He sails all over the World and has chased this prestigious trophy for years. John is the owner of Morehouse MacCausland Sailing a boat dealership, sail loft and boat repair facility in New Jersey.

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