Here's a report from Team Zephyr...
The South will rise again_.in a General Lee
type fashion _. Zephyr raced for the J/30
North American Championship. The venue
was Columbia Yacht Club on Lake
Michigan. The weather for August was
incredible and the race committee work was
perfect. This championship was a who's
who of J-30 sailors. Past North American
J/30 Champion Carl Sherter racing Fat
City who won this regatta the last time it was
in Chicago in a loaner boat showed up. 2000
North American champion Dorsey Owings
sailing the renowned Sea Biscuit came to
defend his title. Key West Race Week
regulars Ed Austin & crew on Chinook
brought their boat in from New Jersey. 2000
MORC International Champion John
White trucked in his tricked out J- Boat from
Annapolis. Local favorite and J/30
President Dennis Bartley on Planxty had
his boat tuned up from the Verve Cup. Dan
Darrow on Salacious sailed in from
Waukegan. John McArthur from the East
Coast hauled in his J-30 Smiles.
In Race one, the breeze was light at 6-9
knots and fading. The seas were lumpy and
confused. We were told at the docks from
one unnamed East coaster that MORC
Champ John White from Annapolis would
be the boat to beat. Some of the SR 33
Snake Eyes crew from Key West and a
hotshot sail maker were spotted on the
boat and we bought into it. I think the same
unnamed east coaster told White that we
were the boat to beat (pretty smart_play
us against each other early). Back to the
race, with forty seconds to start, John White
seeks us out and shoots head to wind as
we tack from port to starboard. This move
puts us over the line but we were lucky as
there was a general recall. Same race second
start, we use the same approach on port
tack, mid-line and complete our tack to
starboard and aim at White before he can set
up to leeward. We nail the start, pin end with
bow out on entire fleet. Unfortunately, we
were going right and so was the breeze. We
sailed a 15-20 degree header for about 300
yards, we got more header and tacked. We
looked ok at first and then the breeze
gradually headed us on the new tack. We
dropped six boats already and things
were looking not-so great. We decided to
get to the right side of the course so nobody
else could get leverage on us. As we got to
lay line, we got great circled and lost another
6 boats. We rounded the weather mark in
last. The breeze was dying so two
crewmembers went to sit on the keel. We
were able to grind a few boats down on the
second beat and finish 8th. The first place
boat, John MacArthur on Smiles had a
good bit of their crew in the cabin sitting
on their keel and it seemed to pay.
In Race two, the breeze had slacked to
about 4-8 knots and the seas were nasty. We
quickly sent two people down below on the
keel to help the boat settle down in the
slop/chop. We had a real sweet start but
the fleet quickly divided into two. Half
working the right and half working the left.
We worked the middle and left on the first
beat and got past on both sides. Our brain
trust that had no local knowledge was really
having trouble dialing in on the shifts. Plus,
we had another problem that Zephyr
rarely encounters_.the other boats had
boat speed all over us in anything less
than 8 knots. We were having trouble
hanging with our competitors even when we
went the same direction. We were deep most
of the race but some how salvaged a fifth. I'd
love to tell you how, but I had my turn down
below in the cabin for some time in this race
also. The only good news in this race, was
that several of the top finishers of the
first race, finished in the back of the pack
for the second race. The results at this point
were real scrambled. We were already
hoping that they would finish enough
races for a throw out.
In Race three, the breeze had freshened to
about 10-13 knots. We were now a little
more happy with the conditions and we
had thought that we had shaken out the
kinks in our crew work, driving and
tactics. We hit the line bow out with boat
speed, one small problem though; our
foredeck looks back to brain trust with
look of death with five seconds to go
before the gun sounds. We had run out of
runway to leeward and had no place to go.
We were over the line early and locked
to leeward and windward by other boats.
We were hoping for a general
recall_didn't happen_just us. In the
process of getting back to the line we sailed
down on and over one of our competitors
and he flagged us. We got back to the line
and now had to consider what we had to do
in regards to the protest. One third of the
crew wanted to take a 20% penalty, one
third wanted to do a 720 (you had a
choice between 720 & 20% penalty for
this regatta) and the other third was in
denial regarding the entire incident. Our
jib trimmer Donnie Brennan held the I
Flag in his pocket and gave a hard sell to
our driver for the 720 turns. We then
proceeded to do a 720 that took at least a
minute. I don't think that I have to tell you
what place we were in at this point or how far
back we were. It wasn't suppose to turn
out like this_ tricked out boat_.kick
ass bottom_. perfect foils_cracker jack
crew_.new sails_.enough time and
money spent on the "CHICAGO
ZEPHYR PROGRAM" to bring the
entire country out of the
CLINTON/GORE millennium recession
and here we were in DFL, with an 8th and
5th in on our prior races. The only good
news is that we have clear air for a change
with nice lanes as the entire fleet is launched.
We head to the right side of the course with
good pressure. We nailed a nice shift and
caught the back of the fleet but we were still
in last at the first mark. The breeze had now
filled in at 15-16 knots and Zephyr really
likes this stuff. We set and jibed at the first
mark and picked up two boats really quick.
We got nice pressure down wind on the
opposite side of the entire fleet and were able
sail fast and low towards the mark which
brought us to the back of the
mid-pack-bunch. At the leeward mark, the
boats were really bunched up and six boats
ahead of us rounded the mark overlapped.
The inside boat went for a tactical
rounding and really pin-wheeled the other
five out wide. We had an awesome take
down and got inside four more right at the
mark. We decided to work the right side of
the course hard as the leaders went left and
the right sided had already helped us catch 8
boats. We got lifted on every tack and
rounded the weather mark overlapped for
second/third. We had a better set than the
boat to leeward that we were overlapped
with and he jibed out. The first boat place
also jibed to cover the third place boat,
as they were much closer in points as we
were hardly a contender in overall points
at this juncture. We sailed on opposite jibes
with the leader and were able to grind him
down to get an overlap. At this point, if we
had sailed the down wind chess game a little
more aggressively, we could have won the
race, but we got out maneuvered and
finished second. Even after a great come
back, we were still pretty bummed. After one
day of sailing that included three races, we
were 10 points out of first. Our outlook for
winning this regatta was slim and if the
breeze didn't pick up, it was very doubtful.
We didn't truck this boat 1,000 miles,
change every halyard, replace every
piece of deck hardware, rebuild the
wenches, buy new sails, work on the foils,
wet sand the bottom, max out our credit
cards and have our wives hate us, just for
honorable mention. One wife said it, but
all of them were thinking it "I can't wait for
all of this Zephyr in Chicago crap to be
over with". Plus this writer hates come
back stories_.blow out stories only on
this web page baby_..kind-a-like the
blow out that is going to happen in Tiger
Stadium this Labor Day Weekend.
In Race Four, the breeze was on; it was
pumping in at least 18-20 puffing 25 plus.
Lake Michigan was covered by a
low-pressure system followed by a cold
front. We got to sail in the same
conditions/weather pattern at Verve Cup
the prior weekend, so we had a good feel
for which way to go. We cranked down the
rig and took the sag out the head stay.
We had the #1 on the rail with the halyard
attached. We had the #3 on the deck just to
make the other boats think we were going
with it, we really thought the breeze was
going to crump a little through out the day. A
third of the fleet went with #1's, a third
went with #2's and three went with #3's.
The entire fleet had a great start; from the rail
it looked like one of those Star World
Championship starts with just a hair of
midline sag. The boats with the #3's were
finessing through waves the best. The
boats with #2's were bow down and fast
(we have a like new 8 year old air
conditioned stored #2 that has only been
used twice, we don't even know where the
car position for it goes). Dennis Bartly went
with a #2. We went with the #1 and so did
John White. We were higher and faster than
the boats sailing with #3's but we would
pound a wave wrong every once in awhile
and really lose a lot to guys carrying
#2's. We were a little faster than the boats
sailing with the 3DL #1's in the heavy stuff,
our North Pentex #1 was a slightly heavier
cloth and we could get a little more halyard
tension with out rolling the draft forward to a
knuckle. About 200 yards after the start,
we tacked and crossed everyone except
John White. John cow pied us and we
cracked off about 5 degrees to get our bow
out. After going side by side, beam to beam
with John for about 50 yards, we could tell
we were sailing higher and faster. We
worked up through his lee and forced him to
tack. That was the last we saw of the fleet.
We were first at every mark and finished with
about a two-minute lead. Breeze on, lifts,
clear air and boat speed are wonderful
things when your sailing one design!
In Race Five, the breeze was still on, it was
a steady 17-20 with out the puffs that were in
the fourth race. Everyone ditched the #3's
and went with #1's or #2's (majority went
with #1's). Again, the entire fleet had a pretty
good start on a very square line. We started
towards the pin and carved a nice hole to
leeward so we could foot if needed. About
two hundred yards into the race we could
tell that we had boat speed on all of the
boats with #1's and could point higher
than the other boats sailing with #2's. We
tacked and crossed the entire fleet except for
John White. He again, slam-dunked us
and we footed off. With the breeze just
beginning to slack off, it took a lot longer
to get too him or through him. When we
finally got to him he tacked off and layed, we
tacked shortly after on his hip and slightly
over layed. We rounded the off set mark
over lapped in second and Dennis
Bartley was a close third. We sailed the
entire down wind leg right behind or
overlapped with John White. We tried to roll
him and he held us off. Our brain trust had
its first fight with some deck stomping.
We had one guy holding the tiller and
three people giving their thoughts as to
which direction it should be pushed or
pulled. During this small turmoil, John White
pulled out about a half boat length. We then
got a little puff that we could sail down in
which gave us an overlap and helped us push
him out to the lay line. When it came time
to jibe our foredeck team of David Zahn
& Tyler Garrett dwarfed our competition
and made the pole in a snap. This allowed
us to get in front of John White. The only
bad news, is that while we were jacking
with White's boat, Dennis Bartley rolled
into leeward from third to first at the
down wind mark. We pretty much all went
around the mark with in seconds. Dennis
Bartley had the best rounding, as he
didn't have to jibe and he went wide on
one side and tight on the other. The next
two boats had to do the opposite. On the
next beat, we ground down Dennis Bartley
and rounded first. John White was still in third
in Dennis Bartley's loose cover. We opened
our lead and finished first and the race
committee told us to stand by for another
race. Bartley finished second and White
finished third.
In Race Six, the breeze was starting to fade
to 10-12 knots but Zephyr's crew was
pumped. We took some turns off the rig and
the brain trust drank some more go-go
juice (Heinekens). Morale on the boat
was sky high, we new that things were
falling into order and we would have a
throw out. We started a little poked, in front
of the mid-line- sag with boat speed and
seemed to be ok until the boats at the race
committee end started to get lifted. The
breeze was dying and backing to the right.
We stayed left and the boats on our hip
started to bail out. We tacked right and took
two sterns. We played the shifts on the
right side of the course mainly looking
for pressure in a dying breeze and
stretched out a nice lead to the first
mark. We rounded every mark in first this
race and put three boats between us and
Dennis Bartley who finished fourth. Our lead
on the fourth leg, was large enough for the
crew to lose interest in the race and to start
discussing what crazy things they would
do to meet ("yeah right" "meet")
Britney Spears. Our foredeck, David
Zahn won this contest. Congrats David_
more about Zahn later.
In Race Seven, the breeze was a fresh
12-15 knots and out of the north. The cold
front behind the low had pushed through
during the night just like the past weekend
and was clearing the clouds out. We were
virtually in a three-way dead heat tie with
John White and Dennis Bartley with out
the throw out. With the throw out, John
White would have to put two boats on us and
Dennis Bartley would have to put one.
Everyone knows that Zephyr does not
have a rep for choking but they are fully
capable of bombing. The pressure was
on, so to cut the tension a little bit, David
Zahn shared a little bit of his late night
Chicago adventures with us before the
start. David hooked up with a little hottie
named Keri. She just happens to be from
the Big Easy and is part of the MTV
REAL WORLD cast that is taping in
Chicago this summer. David had to sign all
kind of legal releases and had cameras in his
face all night. Look for David naked this
fall on Episodes 2 or 3. Back to the race_.
At the start, we ended up right underneath
Dorsey Owings and about three seconds late.
John White and Dennis Bartley won the
start mid-line towards the pin. The entire
fleet was overlapped and working towards
the left. The middle-of-the-packers started to
bail right and got some nice pressure and lift.
We were on the opposite tack and got
knocked down to Bartley and Whites
transom. We bailed out onto port tack and
soon realized that the guys that went right
made out. Bartley and White tacked over
shortly after and were 15- 20 boat lengths
inside of us, to windward and back. We soon
realized that we would be ducking transoms
on a lift to get to the right side of the course.
As we ducked these boats Bartley and
White made big gains. (Here comes what
we refer to in the Deep South as home
cookin' or team racing.) The three
unnamed boats (2 local boats and one
east coaster) that we ducked were all
close and on starboard. Bartley should
have had to tack or duck, but these boats
took huge ducks to let Dennis go on port or
waved him across. "No Big Thing" the
same thing would have happened
anywhere else when one of the local boys
are in contention for a North American
Championship. We continued right to
starboard lay line and got hosed as we didn't
have any lanes to tack and we had to over
stand the weather mark to find a lane.
Dorsey Owings rounded the weather
mark in first, John White in Second,
Dennis Bartley in Third, John McArthur
in fourth and Zephyr in Fifth. We quickly
jibed out to the left with the third & fourth
place boats and sailed deep. White & Owings
sailed higher polars out to the right and were
able to stretch their leads. All of the boats
rounded the down wind mark in the same
order they rounded the top. After rounding
the bottom mark, McArthur and Bartley
bailed out to find a clear air lane on the
left side. Owings and White tacked over
to cover. This left the right side open with
clear air lanes and it is the side that paid the
most on the last leg. A little luck, but will take
it at this point. We sailed it about another 25
boat lengths before we got a 10-degree
bump and tacked. We were now inside on a
lift and had ground down McArthur and
Bartley. White was grinding down Owings
slowly but no longer had the points on us
he needed. Owings rounded in first with
White right on his stern. Zephyr soon
followed and Bartley was about 10 boat
lengths behind us. Owings and White rounded
the mark together but it looked like White
had gotten closer or inside of him at the
leeward mark. Zephyr rounded 8-10 boat
lengths back. White and Owings bailed
out again to the left, as that is which way
the RC had moved the new weather
mark. This opened the right side to us
with clear air once again. We were totally
in phase; we got a 4-degree header and
flipped over to starboard. This put us
inside of White and Owings with lift and
leverage. We all remained on the same tack
for about a half-mile. The entire time, it was
lifting us 7-15 degrees. We had now passed
Owings, and White was getting much
larger. Owings bailed out and took our stern.
White followed shortly and crossed us on
Port lay line by about five boat lengths. We
tacked on his windward hip. White rounded
the weather mark first and Zephyr was in
Second. Now remember, the RC moved
the weather mark about 15 degrees to
the left, White sailed the same high polar
angle off to the right he had sailed during
the previous two down wind legs. Our
foredeck (not part of the brain trust) spotted
the finish line and suggested a jibe. The
Zephyr brain trust agreed and jumped all over
it. This jibe allowed us to rollover White
and take our fourth consecutive first
place finish.
The Zephyr Team rocked on in the last four
races of this regatta. Our owner/driver
Scott Tonguis sailed the regatta of his life to
get the monkey off of his back from the 1994
Chicago North Americans debacle. The brain
trust of Donnie Brennan and Benz Faget
worked flawlessly once the breeze came on.
Lateral righting specialists Dale Steinkamp
and Dave Erwin did their jobs of keeping
the boat flat, calling waves and staying out of
the way. The foredeck team of Tyler
Garrett and David Zahn performed some
of the most perfect choreographed spinnaker
hoists, jibes and takedowns in the history of
sailing. The Zephyr Team owes thanks to
several people who helped make this North
American Championship, Chicago
Leukemia Cup & Verve Cup victories
possible: Clifford, Jackie, Scott & Mike
Tonguis, Richard Harris, Rocky Bond,
Mike Bird, Dennis Bartley, Jeff
Ragland, Grant Crowley, North Sails,
Sea Brook Marine, Diversified Marine,
Buck Kreighs Machine Shop, Erwin
Container Corp., Sintes Sea Chest,
Riccardo Gutierrez, Steve Klyce, Chris
Wientjes, Dale Steinkamp, Terry Kay,
Benz Faget, Donnie Brennan, David
Zahn, Dave Erwin, Cletus Junious, all of
our wives &
New Orleans Yacht Club.
-steinkamp
