Continued to dominate Round Robins, got challenged in Semi’s, but went 2-0 in Final for first 2011 Season Grade 3 win
In another wild day of greatly varied conditions off Chicago’s Belmont Harbor, US Virgin Islander Taylor Canfield and his team of Alden Reid, Matt Clark and Tod Reynolds have won the Eurex Match Cup. The 22-year old Canfield gained not only Grade 3 points on the ISAF World Match Race Ranking List, but an automatic invitation to the Chicago Match Race Center’s Grade 2 event being held next month over August 12-14th.
This team led the competition from start to finish, showing incredible consistency and poise under pressure amongst a talent-stacked final four today.
“I was thoroughly impressed with how our team pulled things off. This is the first event that we’ve been reunited for this season,” said Canfield, Sailing Director at CMRC and recent Boston College graduate. “I look forward to doing some more racing soon.”
While the winning record throughout the event was impressive, the wins did not always come easy. Perhaps the toughest opponent Canfield faced was not runner-up Don Wilson in the Finals, but his 3-1.25 Semi-Final series opponent Jordan Reece and his young Australian team. In the first match, the Australians traded leads several times with Canfield proving that races are not won at the start. In the second match, Canfield was hit hard enough by Reece in a pre-start incident that the Aussie team received a ¾ point deduction despite winning the match.
In a must-win situation, Reece was against the wall sitting at 2-1.25, but still came out fighting, showing a skill level far beyond the team’s adolescent years. Reece, though, was still unable defeat Canfield, who has the second highest-ranking of any North American-based skipper.
“We really enjoyed our first event here in Chicago,” said Reece, “While we didn’t qualify for the Grade 2, we’re looking forward to our North American match race tour. We hope to come back to CMRC whether it is to race or train; this place is great.”
In the defining second match of the Finals between Canfield and Wilson, Wilson owned the start forcing Canfield to be late across the line. Both upwind legs were littered with tacks, but it was one bad tack that probably cost Wilson the race. “Our twang line actually got caught in the winch with the jib sheet forcing an override,” explained Wilson’s tactician Steve Hunt. One punch led to another on Wilson, with Canfield on starboard and Wilson on port, the CMRC founder tried to leebow his young opponent and cut it too close earning himself a penalty. The teams were still neck and neck on the final downwind with Canfield’s team rejoicing as they crossed the finish.
Chicago, IL - At the end of the GoPro Match Cup Series, 113 races were completed even with the challenging weather. More difficult conditions plagued the beginning of Day 2 of the GoPro Match Cup B Event. No wind and pouring rain delayed the start until Regatta Director Maggie Shea decided that the rising breeze was enough to race at 11AM. Shea chose to finish the 2.5 flights left from yesterday’s Round Robin and go straight into the Semi-finals after much deliberation over a 4-way tie for second between Guy Mossman, Taylor Canfield, Don Wilson and Colin Rathbun.
Canfield, ranked number 29 in the world and last year’s US Match Racing Trifecta winner, was predicted to win this event with reasonable ease, but that just wasn’t the case. There were several tough matches for the St Thomas, USVI native, including those raced yesterday against Mossman and Nevin Snow.
The most excruciating match to watch was in Flight 3 of the Round Robin when Canfield met Wilson. Fluky winds were from both the east and west, leaving Canfield dead in a hole in the middle of the course. “We were a little bit fortunate that we made our first rounding in a puff and extended away from the seawall,” Wilson’s tactician Steve Hunt explained. As Canfield was approaching the leeward mark with a ragged, empty spinnaker, Wilson was rounding the top mark leaving Canfield in the dust. “It was a pretty scary race because of the 2 conflicting winds with holes everywhere,” said Hunt. “Even on the second downwind, I saw Mossman 20 yards to our right sitting there, not moving.” Wilson’s team finished a lap ahead of Canfield.
In stark contrast to the morning conditions, the winds picked up to a puffy 20 knots for the Semi-finals. While light air proved to be Colin Rathbun’s strong suit by the end of the event, he still put up a fight against GoPro A Event winner Nevin Snow. “In the light air we learned so much about the boat and familiarized ourselves with it. When it switched to heavy air, everything on the boat changed,” said Rathbun. Rathbun’s team was 80 pounds light and could have used 10 hands as opposed to 8. Even with this disadvantage, the 2 were matched bow-to-bow until the last downwind where multiple gybes cost Rathbun boat speed and Snow’s team crossed the finish line ¾ of a boat length ahead. “Nevin was truly impressive,” complimented Rathbun. “He sailed a really conservative race and focused on his boat speed, which was the right thing to do.”
Everyone was on their toes for the Finals match between Snow and Wilson. Previously, Snow knocked Wilson out of the Semi’s after Wilson, the Round Robin winner, picked him to race first. Both teams were matched evenly up and down the course trading positions and covering each other before splitting tacks. After dueling to the windward mark, Snow was able roll Wilson on the first downwind leg, but Wilson was able to gain the overlap at the bottom and extend ahead. Spectators were still holding their breath on the second downwind leg as Snow’s team continued to catch up to Wilson. Just when the crowd thought Wilson was getting rolled again, he and his team extended just enough to get across the finish line safely.
The heavier air presented a new opportunity for our GoPro Hero Team to get some exciting shots from the water. Two divers went into the water for pre-starts getting as close as safely possible for the dial-ups and crossings. The divers were then shuttled around the course gathering footage of high-speed spinnaker sets and douses. Another addition to the GoPro footage was having bowmen like Erik Shampain wearing chestcams to tell the story from the front of the boat.
Final GoPro Match Cup B Results:
1)Don Wilson 6-3, 2-0, 2-0
2)Nevin Snow 7-2, 2-0, 0-2
3)Taylor Canfield 6-3, 0-2, 2-0
4)Colin Rathbun 6-3, 0-2, 0-2
5)Guy Mossman 6-3
6)Nick Dugdale 5-4
7)Stratis Andreadis 4-5
8)Lars Hansen 3-6
9)Lance Fraser 2-7
10)Leo Vasiliev 0-9
Videos, results and pictures and other media resources can be found at www.chicagomatchrace.com.
Official Partnersof the CMRC includeEurex, CME Group, Newedge, City Inns family of hotelsandLine Honorsis theOfficial Clothing Supplierto CMRC. For more information on CMRC, visit www.chicagomatchrace.com or contact CMRC Program Director Tod Reynolds at tod@chicagomatchrace.com.
About GoPro: Based in Half Moon Bay, California, GoPro is the world's leading activity image capture company. GoPro's HD HERO line of wearable and gear mountable cameras are used by more consumers and video production professionals than any other camera in its class. GoProʼs HD HERO line of wearable and gear mountable cameras and accessories are sold in over 60 countries, in specialty sports retailers, Best Buy, and at gopro.com.
About CMRC: The Chicago Match Race Center was founded to promote and grow the sport of match race sailing. Besides being used in the America's Cup, match race sailing has recently also been adapted as a Women's discipline in the 2012 Olympic Games. As part of its mission to provide the highest-level match racing training facility for professional and amateur sailors in the US, CMRC sponsors and hosts the US Olympic Team with their fleet of Elliott 6M class boats, the type that will be used in the London Games. Additionally, the CMRC retains a full fleet of TOM 28 class boats and all umpire and support boats needed to run international-caliber regattas, advanced training, or adventurous corporate outings. For the complete list of events for the 2011 season, please visit www.ChicagoMatchRace.com.
Chicago, IL- “We have Boat 6 going upwind with a spinnaker,” voiced Principal Race Officer Darcy Cooke over the radio after an unpredicted twist of the wind after the start of flight 9. The race committee was disappointed they didn’t fit in a full round robin, but 8 ½ flights were completed on the first day of the GoPro Match Cup B Event.
Several boats from Friday/Saturday’s “A” event were joined by skippers Taylor Canfield, Nick Dugdale and Lars Hansen for the B event. Although the wind was on and off for the better part of the day, at least the skies were clear and the temperatures were in the mid-60’s offshore.
The most anticipated match of the day was between ISAF ranked 29th Taylor Canfield and GoPro Match Cup “A” Event victor Nevin Snow. The breeze was very light when the two teams entered the box providing a difficult situation for the dial-up. Snow provided the play-by-play. “When we dialed Taylor up, we were on port. When we were both head to wind, we got a big shift from the left filling our sails to port as Taylor anticipated the wind and came at us calling starboard.” A penalty was given to Snow. Snow also crossed the line on the pin end 3 seconds early, and a large gap developed between the 2 boats. It wasn’t until the second downwind leg that Snow was able to catch up to Taylor and get his bow across the finish line first. Unfortunately, Snow also had to address his penalty before he actually completed the race. “We felt really good about the race other than a few simple mistakes at the start. We’ll be getting our heads on straight and doing a little more pre-start research if we have to face Taylor again,” Snow confidently stated.
In Flight 6, Guy Mossman proved to start with a clean slate from the A event as he went up against Taylor Canfield. “Friday and yesterday, I felt like I had too many things in my head from work and such. I feel much better now,” Guy explained. The teams were well matched in the pre-start taking turns at controlling each other. “As we were in the heat of it, he got close enough to push up from leeward and when we tacked, our transom hit him,” gaining a penalty. Even with the penalty, Mossman was in a better position for the start and was able to take off at the line. The team continued to extend on the first upwind after covering for a few tacks. At the second encounter with the windward mark, Guy’s team briefly considered scraping off the penalty, but the wind conditions weren’t ideal. So it was downwind at the finish line when they tried to burn the penalty off as they crossed the line. “We tried to make sure the spinnaker was below the gooseneck before we went head to wind, but it just didn’t quite make it.” This technicality cost Mossman the match against the highest ranked racer in the event. “It felt good to be that close racing against someone like Taylor Canfield.”
The end of the day unknowingly occurred during Flight 9 Match 1. “We coasted across the finish line right before the wind shut off,” described Don Wilson’s bowman, Erik Shampain. By the time Match 10 was in sequence, boats were attempting to sail both upwind and downwind with spinnakers. Shampain stated at the end they were just barely going to make the pin layline when a 60degree wind shift came around and they managed to finish at the boat.
The CMRC media decided to try a few new positions for GoPro’s today, putting their stabilization to the test. During the match of Canfield versus Snow, Canfield was wearing a headcam as well as Snow’s jib trimmer. Mounting the cameras to the masts to look back at the crews was another new addition. The waterproof casings provided a new underwater angle of the foils as the boats passed as well.
The weather for tomorrow is forecasted to have a 70% chance of precipitation and winds of up to 25 knots. Hopefully the winds will come through without storms for some exciting, fast-paced racing. With 2 1/2 flights left to finish the round-robin, the race committee is waiting on the weather to determine the format. If the storms are bearing down, the RC might push straight into the semi-finals.
Weather pending, the completion of the round robin will commence at 9AM tomorrow. Real-time results and videos can be found on the CMRC website and live text updates can be followed on Twitter @matchracecenter.Media resources (results, press releases, photos and videos) will also be posted on the CMRC website.
GoPro Match Cup B Day 1 Results:
1)Taylor Canfield 6-2
2)Nevin Snow 5-2
3)Colin Rathbun 4-2
4)Don Wilson 4-3
5)Guy Mossman 4-2
6)Nick Dugdale 4-3
7)Lars Hansen 3-4
8)Stratis Andreadis 2-4
9)Lance Fraser 2-4
10)Leo Vasiliev 0-7
Official Partnersof the CMRC includeEurex, CME Group, Newedge, City Inns family of hotelsandLine Honorsis theOfficial Clothing Supplierto CMRC. For more information on CMRC, visit www.chicagomatchrace.com or contact CMRC Program Director Tod Reynolds at tod@chicagomatchrace.com.
About GoPro: Based in Half Moon Bay, California, GoPro is the world's leading activity image capture company. GoPro's HD HERO line of wearable and gear mountable cameras are used by more consumers and video production professionals than any other camera in its class. GoProʼs HD HERO line of wearable and gear mountable cameras and accessories are sold in over 60 countries, in specialty sports retailers, Best Buy, and at gopro.com.
About CMRC: The Chicago Match Race Center was founded to promote and grow the sport of match race sailing. Besides being used in the America's Cup, match race sailing has recently also been adapted as a Women's discipline in the 2012 Olympic Games. As part of its mission to provide the highest-level match racing training facility for professional and amateur sailors in the US, CMRC sponsors and hosts the US Olympic Team with their fleet of Elliott 6M class boats, the type that will be used in the London Games. Additionally, the CMRC retains a full fleet of TOM 28 class boats and all umpire and support boats needed to run international-caliber regattas, advanced training, or adventurous corporate outings. For the complete list of events for the 2011 season, please visit www.ChicagoMatchRace.com.
Maneater's crew lost First Mate Kelp yesterday 3/29/11 when bone cancer finally got the best of him.
Kelp was born to be a water dog. While growing up in Florida, he helped rehab countless whales, sea turtles and dolphins. When he came north 11 years ago, he graced our family and countless others with his unconditional love, kisses and fuzz.
He was everyone's best friend and we all miss him more than words can express.
With a sponsor like BACARDI, one can only try to remember exactly what happened this past week.
The registration party and dinner was overwhelming. There was an array of garnished meats to go along with the free BACARDI, wine and beer that would be served all week. The opening event set the tone for what would be a hell of a week.
Before heading out on the Melges media boat, I checked Facebook and saw a rather ominous picture posted by Bora Gulari sailing in the 24s. The picture was a radar snapshot showing a red monster swallowing southern Florida. I decided to bring my foulies out just in case.
The first day of racing for the 24s, 20s, Vipers and J24s was called after one race due to the storm that blew through.
The Italian stallions of UKA UKA dominated the 35 boat M24 fleet followed by Alan Field on WTF.
In the 26-strong fleet of M20s, Red Sky with Paul Reilly started off strong with what would be there only bullet for the event.
The Stars didn't even head out on this day, which would be their third day of racing.
If you're wondering where the coverage is for the Vipers and 24s is, you should just stop reading now. Let's be honest, the only fleets at this event were the Melges and Stars.
Sailors turned into sprinters as they ran off the dock to the Coconut Grove Sailing Center for cover. As one Alabama sailor so aptly put - it was raining like a “cow pissing on a flat rock.”
"The last thing we want is total carnage on the first day out there," commented, Jack, one of the event organizers over the radio.
The storm had significantly cooled the air for Friday's racing as well as starting with winds of up to 20 knots, but decreasing throughout the day. This was a day to really see the M20s perform. They shoot off like rockets downwind.
On Saturday, I got to spend some time on the Star course. While they are celebrating their 100th year, 93 of them graced the starting line with their presence. I asked skipper, Don Massey, what was the starts were like when he recalled, "We found a spot that we were going to have to battle the Norwegians for. When they saw what we had planned, their skipper turned to us and just screamed, 'NO!'" It was a lot of foresight and skill that helped others get clean starts across the line.
When awards rolled around, quite the party ensued. The highlight, though, was Mary Anne Ward of M&M Racing winning the M20 class and being what was announced as the first woman to win that particular class*.
All-in-all, it was a well-run event while everyone was out on the water. I made some great friends and had a ton of fun. So, overall, I'd call the event a win.
