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Youths get first taste of team competition

By Dave Ellis
Published January 24, 2007

Team racing has been part of youth Optimist Dinghy racing for many years on the international scene. It was slow to catch on in this country, however.

In 2004 St. Petersburg Yacht Club instituted the Southeast Team Racing event and it has been growing each year.

Jan. 20-21 saw 25 teams from as far away as the Midwest and New England come out of the cold to our soft breezes and balmy temperatures. Each team is comprised of four boats. A team may have five members, but one must sit out each race, so a decision is made based on wind speed, experience compared to the next opponent and sometimes guesswork.

Since these sailors are young, many have never sailed as a team. So they are divided into Gold and Silver fleets. Those with experience compete in Gold.

With four boats on each team on the race course and each boat's finishes counting, it does not pay to have one team member sail off to an easy win. That would leave the four boats on the other team free to take the wind and otherwise use the rules of sailboat racing to impede the progress of the remaining three boats.

Suppose one team attained 1-4-5-8 and the other team 2-3-6-7, each adding to 18 points. The tie goes to the team that does not get a first place. This is to encourage team, not individual, racing.

To expedite the many races needed for this style of sailing, the 18-team Gold fleet was divided into two divisions. The Long Island, N.Y., team won Division I while Team FOR-1 from Clearwater topped Division II. Unfortunately, the wind quit before the divisions could compete, resulting in co-winners.

Michael Booker, Mary Kate Hall, Dodge Rees and Michael Zonnenberg of co-winners Team FOR, coached by Eric Bardes, are experienced team racers and were disappointed the championship round was not to be. Tied for second was Team X-II, a group from the Northeast coached by former SPYC coach Kenneth Andreason.

The seven-team Silver fleet was won by the St. Petersburg Yacht Club I team of Liam McCarthy, Kathryn Booker, Georgia Hardage, Drew King and Hayden Grant. Their coach is Todd Fedyszyn.

"There were really challenging conditions for team racing," said race officer Joe Frohock.

KEY WEST RACE WEEK: This is sailing's glamor event each year, drawing 260 boats and 2,000 sailors to the Conch Republic.

Local Peter Katcha sailed his Corsair28R multihull to third place among 14 competitors despite being a new owner of the boat.

"The top two have been national champions, so it was a learning experience for us," Katcha said. His crew was Scott Cheney, John Killeen and Konstantin Kolaxazov, who recently moved to Tampa from Bulgaria.

The Melges 32, with 20 boats, was among the most competitive class. New Wave, sailed by St. Petersburg's Martin Kullman, won the class last year. Along with co-owner Mike Carroll, crew included Ron Hyatt, Jay Kuebel, Alex Shafer, Josh Wilus and Bill Icely.

There were six pro sailors on the winning Italian boat, while the New Wave crew, placing second, was amateur.

[Last modified January 23, 2007, 23:08:39]