St. Petersburg man is regatta's top sailor

Mark Mendelblatt, fresh off an America's Cup challenge, was the outstanding sailor in the Miami Olympic Training Regatta.

An Olympic torch from the 1980 Games, which the USA did not attend, is the trophy for this honor. Mendelblatt's name will be the first to be inscribed.

Mendelblatt, of St.Petersburg, was the winner over several of the world's top-ranked Laser class racers in the regatta.

Bay area sailor Zach Railey placed sixth in the Laser fleet, Brad Funk took seventh and Brett Davis was 10th.

Robbie Daniel of Clearwater and his crew were the area's top USA Tornado catamaran team, placing fourth overall. John Ross-Duggin, a frequent St.Petersburg visitor, won the Paralympic Sonar fleet.

There were 526 sailors in 328 boats in the competition on Biscayne Bay.

The global importance of the event was shown by only half the sailors being from the USA. There were 35 countries represented in the 11 Olympic and Paralympic divisions.

KEY WEST RACE: The Terra Nova Key West Regatta is considered by many to be the closest thing to a world championship for keelboats.

Many of the America's Cup sailors who no longer are in the running for that Feb.15 start were there. Just about everybody you have heard or read about in the sport wants to be in the event.

Michael Carroll of Clearwater guided his Henderson 30 New Wave to a convincing win in PHRF Class IV without having to sail the windy last race.

His crew included Tampa Bay area sailors Marty Kullman as helmsman, Matt Bryant trimming the asymmetrical spinnaker and jib, Colin Park the tactician and main-sheet trimmer, Ron Hyatt on the bow, Chris Russick fine tuning the jib and Jay Kuebel, Karen Park and Laura Bryant on halyards, spinnaker sets and douses.

Their chief competition was from a well-sailed Melges 30 that owed them some time in the handicap system. Upwind, the Henderson 30 often led, being passed on the run by the ultra-light Melges.

While leading one race, New Wave faked a jibe, making the boat noisy, putting the boom over and generally looking busy but not quite jibing the big asymmetrical spinnaker.

The following Melges quickly jibed, thinking they would cover. When New Wave resumed her former course, the Melges tried a fire-drill jibe back with the inevitable wrap and loss of several places.

"Our crew work was excellent," skipper Marty Kullman said. "We could quickly make any tactical decision, and the crew would make it happen."

SPSA RACING: Once a month, the St.Petersburg Sailing Association has races for keelboats off the St.Petersburg Pier.

A cold and windy day greeted 13 boats Feb.1.

Winners were Frank Venezio, on Mischief; Dave Beatson, aboard No It's Not; Maurice McGough's Sonar and Ted Lischer's Yankee.

Only seven boats were in the second race. All three of the True Cruising vessels sailed both events, showing their mettle.

Race 2 was led by Richard Neal in Back Off and Chris Arnold in his J-24 Moondance.

Sonar and Yankee repeated.

The National Offshore One Design Regatta will be a sailing showcase Friday-Sunday.

More than 100 keel boats will be competing on two courses on Tampa Bay off the pier.

Parking and launching are challenging this year due to the Grand Prix auto racing preparation on the waterfront.

Gulfport Yacht Club sponsors a catamaran event this weekend. It is open to beach cats 22-feet and shorter.

A feature will be a fleet of A-Class cats. These are among the fastest upwind craft. The Gulfport pier will be a good vantage point.

College racing is in full swing.

University of South Florida and Eckerd have strong teams with locally-trained coaches.

Last Saturday's Points Race had winds from the north at 15. There were no protests, a rarity at the collegiate level.

The University of Florida captured first place in overall points, with South Florida a close second.

Rollins College was third and followed by Florida State and Eckerd's junior varsity squad.

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