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Letter to the editor

Two area men on the America's Cup bubble

By DAVE ELLIS Sailing
Published June 13, 2007

Switzerland's Alinghi and Emirates Team New Zealand go head to head on the waters off Valencia, Spain, starting June 23.

It remains to be seen whether the two Tampa Bay sailors, one on each team, will figure prominently in the America's Cup finals.

Mark Mendelblatt, who grew up in the St. Petersburg Yacht Club program, was thrust into the position of handling the traveler of the mainsail and being pulled near the top of the mast on offwind legs to look for wind coming up behind them. A radio system is used to report to the decision-makers down below. The regular crewmember had injured his hand, but when healed Mendelblatt was moved to the practice boat. He will be standing by for action.

Ed Baird is a product of the same sailing program a generation earlier. A champion match racer and one design sailor, Baird has been a principal in several America's Cup programs, starting as coach with the New Zealand team when it won the Cup in San Diego.

Baird and Peter Holmberg of Annapolis are the skippers of Alinghi. They have been sailing the two Alinghi America's Cup boats for practice. Only one will be the Cup skipper. Now that the less aggressive Dean Barker of New Zealand is their competitor instead of the more volatile James Spithill of the Italian team Luna Rossa, owner Ernesto Bertarelli will make his decision.

CLEARWATER TO KEY WEST: The season's final regatta for big boats out of Clearwater Yacht Club was an easy jaunt to Key West. Steve Liebel's 60-foot racing catamaran Stars and Stripes got to the Conch Republic in a little over 15 hours. Other winners include Allen Thomas of Davis Island YC on a Farr 395; Dean Summer's Tartan 37, also from DIYC; the Bristol/Hood of Russ Tardif; the Alberg 36 sailed by Gregory Cahanin of SPSA.

SCHOOL'S OUT REGATTA: Kids from the bay area met at Davis Island Yacht Club in their annual first regatta of summer vacation.

Connor Blouin and Sam Rubin teamed up to win the Club 420 competition. The largest class was the Optimist Dinghy with 41 boats. Michael Popp won, followed by Alex Ruiz-Ramon and the first girl finisher, Mary Hall. Courtney Lehan was fourth and led the blue fleet.

COLLEGE SAILING: USF qualified for all three disciplines of sailing at the College Nationals again this year. Coach Allison Jolly predicted after last year's finishes this would be a re-building year due to graduating seniors. While USF's finishes were not up to last year's results, it beat several qualifying teams. Racing were USF students Elizabeth Foy, Jesse Combs, Timothy King, Alyson Dagly, Kim Witkowski, Ash Landes, Ali Kirchofer, Kristen Murray and St. Petersburg sailors Kristin Britt and Mitchell Hall.

USF's King, a sophomore, was named a crew All-American. Combs, a senior, was named co-ed skipper All-America honorable mention.

HIGH SCHOOL TEAM RACING: Tampa's Plant High placed third nationally and Lakewood eighth in the national championship.

FLYING DUTCHMAN NORTH AMERICANS: Lin Robson of St. Pete Beach won the FD championship with only 18 points after 11 races. It was not as easy as it appeared on the results line. Lake Canandaigua is a finger lake in upstate New York. The winds blew across the narrow lake, making the wind shifts massive. Velocity would range from full trapeze conditions, de-powering the sails, to suddenly no wind at all. A big lead in a race was sometimes a disadvantage when the fleet can go around a becalmed boat. Robson's crew was St. Petersburg sailor Dave Ellis.

LASER ATLANTIC COASTS: The 4.7 rig Laser results show Cameron Hall placing second. In the full rig, Fred Strammer ran into foul trouble in the last race to end up third in fleet. Tampa's Genoa Griffin placed fourth in the Radial fleet.

[Last modified June 12, 2007, 21:48:06]