83rd GYA LIPTON CUP
Nice Labor Day weekend had by most over at Bay Waveland for the 2002 Liptons. The low pressure system over the Northern Gulf of Mexico provided decent wind for some tricky sailing conditions over the three day weekend. The wind ranged from 6 to 13 knots out of an east-south-east direction. The shifts ranged from 20-50 degrees through out all four races and seemed to present enough variety that even the locals couldn’t figure them out! The racers had a real tactical dilemma in choosing to go for the wind and pressure from the clouds coming from the East or a possible strengthening sea breeze from the South. Both seemed to pay or punish in varying amounts through out the series.
In Race One, Scotty Sonnier (SYC) won the start at the pin end with Anthony Hudson (NOYC) right on his windward hip. Houston Yacht Club started towards the pin also and was first to tack right and cross the fleet. Hudson and Sonnier followed shortly, crossing most of fleet that hadn’t tacked yet. Sonnier was inside of a lift and started to roll Hudson. Hudson bailed left taking Sonnier’s stern soon to find the shift of the day. NOYC’s Hudson got knocked about 20 degrees, tacked and led the fleet to every mark their after except the only one that counted. Following Hudson was Michael Mark (BucYC) and Kippy Chamberlain (BWYC). Michael Mark worked the left side of the second upwind leg hard only to have his big gains diminished by the waves of that oh-so-obnoxious Lipton spectator fleet.  Hudson had about an 8-10 boat lead heading towards the finish but failed to gybe and cover the boats to the south and lost to Kippy Chamberlain by a half boat length at the finish. Michael Mark finished third. One competitor was rumored to have had boat speed trouble due to a new tight rig configuration set up that was down-loaded off of the internet. Several on that team were glad they weren’t the ones who had to guinea pig the new unproven set up.
In Race Two, Christian Gamble (SYC) stepped out to a big lead and never looked back. Schaefer Dane (PCYC) sailed a text book one-design strategy nailing the shifts and covering to take second. Pontchartrain Yacht Club showed some consistency and discipline with a hard fight for a third place finish. Chris Wientjes (NOYC) worked his way back from the middle of the pack to the leaders only to hit the leeward mark and finish a distant sixth. Randy Santa Cruz (BWYC) finished a disappointing eighth after suffering a breakdown which is virtually unheard of in the very durable Flying Scot one-design class.
In Race Three, Kevin Northrop (PCYC) and crew finished ahead of Adam White (GYC) for a first place finish. Both, the Pass Christian & Gulfport Yacht Club boats displayed an incredible amount of boat speed. Their boats seemed to have just a little juice that the rest of the fleet couldn’t keep pace with on most points of sail. White gambled and finished second after taking advantage of a big shift on the last leg of the race. GYA Sunfish Champion Bishop Stieffel (BWYC) brought his team back into the running with a third place finish. Robert Brennan (NOYC) finished fifth and Southern Yacht Club finished a distant 13th. Buccaneer Yacht Club broke a halyard in this race to finish DNF. Imagine that? A thin metal halyard breaking in a Flying Scot race, never heard of that happening before, could it have been sabotage or maybe they didn’t use the standard issue Sandy Douglas approved break-in-a-snap wench handle? Or maybe it’s a poor design, just figure, why the thick halyard on the small jib and the thin halyard on the big main? BECAUSE THE DAMN DRUM & CRANK CASE WAS ENGINEERED POORLY FROM THE VERY BEGINNING AND THE CLASS REFUSES TO EVOLVE.
In Race Four, Pass Christian Yacht Club was going to have to maintain its three point lead over their closest competitor Pontchartrain Yacht Club to win the series. In the first start, some local favorites were called over early, with none of them returning after the individual recall flag went up, a couple minutes later a general recall was announced. Due to the timing and boats involved, some suggested or alleged that a little bit of home cooking was being served. After the restart, Sam Hopkins(GYC) was able to cross the finish line first sailing the shifts and trying to make sure that nobody close got to much leverage to either side but was thrown out due to a port-starboard altercation early in the race. Rory Hebbler(NOYC) sailed the course in first and second place for most of the race only to lose a few boats on the last leg after he was forced left early on the last beat.  Karl Kleinschrodt (BucYC) on the pretty green boat sailed a nice last race for his club to be scored first after Hopkins was DSQ’q. Zak Fanberg (BWYC) was second followed by Olympic Tornado sailor Johnny Lovell(SYC). John Dane III (PCYC) sailed one of his worse Lipton Races of recent memory, finishing sixth, but it was good enough to bring the Lipton Cup back to the Pass for a one point lead overall series team win. Overall Winner Pass Christian (13 points), second was Bay Waveland (14 points) and third was NOYC (17 points). The lovable green team from Buccaneer won the sportsmanship trophy. I guess you have to be the only team at the event to file two separate protests to win this award, go figure?
Bay Waveland did a swell job of hosting this event. The music was laid back, the event was well organized and the drink prices were kept reasonable. In the first race, the spectator fleet was allowed by the green flagged spectator herd boats to go inside the wing mark on the first upwind leg. On the second beat, the green flagged spectator herd boats were seen making large wakes right in front of the fleet leaders not even knowing where the windward mark was changed to, this allowed the very obnoxious spectator fleet to motor with in four boat lengths of the boats that worked the left side of the course. This definitely needs to be addressed before next year, as it is quite trying for the competitors to say the least. Reports from the Good Life include a very impressive performance by Watt Duffy entertaining the crowd as their new American Idol. He is said to have given his best Robert Plant & Jimmy Page impersonation and for what he allegedly lacked in vocal talent he made up for with enthusiasm. Well, back to the Pass in 2003 and maybe the Good Life too.
-steinkamp
