First Annual F18HT North Americans
&
F16HP Nationals
[First Day Report] [Second Day Report][Third Day Report]
Last Day of Action
Today's weather was a bit on the cool side, but the sky was clear and sunny and the winds were at 15-20 mph and steady. There was a bit of chop that the boats sliced right through beautifully.
Going in to the first race of the day, WF Oliver/Bob Hodges were in a tie with John Tomko/Kenny Pierce, but right after the start Tomko and Pierce had their gooseneck break and were forced to retire, with at least three more race to go.
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Oliver/Hodges won that race and finished the last two races with a 3rd and 2nd place finishes to capture the title and win the Perpetual Trophy. Meanwhile, Brian Lambert and Jamie Livingston started really cranking in the heavier air and took a 2nd and two bullets to take the second place overall.
William Sunnucks and Mark Self from England took 3rd place overall and Tomko/Pierce slipped to 4th place. Chris and Jean Brown rounded out the trophy winners in 5th place.
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 William Sunnucks and Mark Self of England are rounding the Gate and doing a spinnaker drop just ahead of Chris and Jean Brown |
A strong cold front roared through the Florida Keys this morning bringing storms and winds that are around 30 knots, gusting to 40 knots. A number of boats blew over on shore in the strong winds but there was minimal damage.
At this point races are canceled for the day. The RC hopes the forecast is correct for tomorrow and the winds will switch to the northeast at around 20 mph.
Since there are no races today the F16HP class event will be over and the present standings will count for the championships. They scheduled their races to end today.
This means that Dave White and Ben Gunn win the First Annual F16HP Nationals, with Chuck and Mavis Harnden taking second spot and Kirt Simmons/Geert Ruesink placing third.
The wind jumped up to the 15-20 mph mark today, yet still with pretty flat seas. And the action was fast and furious with lots of capsizes and pitchpoles.
Yesterday the fleets were able to get in four races and then they had another seven more today for a total of eleven races so far.
 John Tomko and Kenny Pierce have sailed a very steady series taking them to a tie with WF Oliver and Bob Hodges. |
WF Oliver and Bob Hodges are seemingly dominating the event for the F18HT Class, but they had a major problem with their spinnaker rigging and had to go the beach. And they also capsized in the 10th race whiloe in the lead. Meanwhile, John Tomko and Kenny Pierce have not missed a trick and keep sailing steadily with high finishes. Now, the two teams are in a tie, but well ahead of the the third place boat in point standings
Meanwhile, in the F16HP Class It appeared that Chuck and Mavis Harnden were going to walk away with the event taking four bullets in a row. But Dave White and Ben Gunn were always right behind and always poised to take the lead.
 Dave White and Benn Gunn were the only ones not using a snuffer for their spinnaker and had much better spin sets and take downs than the other boats -- most of them had lots of problems in the heavier air. Here White/Gunn approach the leeward mark (by the way graciously supplied by West Marine) |
The heavy winds took their toll on the Harndens and White/Gunn then rattled off four bullets to take a 5-point overall lead in the standings. Dave White is the son of Rick White.
 There were lots of problems with the snuffer systems in the heavier air |
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Click Here for the latest results
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The first day of sailing in the F18HT Class was pretty exciting and the competition is really close. John Tomko and Kenny Pierce are leading by a slim point over Richard Feeney/Jonathan Farrar. William Sunnucks/Mark Self of England were tied as well but lost a protest and fell way back.
In the F16HP class has some extremely close racing going on. It appeared after the first two races that Kurt Simmons and Geert Ruisink were going to walk away with it -- they took two bullets and were far ahead of the fleet. But then Chuck and Mavis Harnden and Dave White/Ben Gunn came alinve and they are in that order all one point apart.
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Click Here for the results after the first day of racing!