2014 North American Championship Report Jim Kaighin Wins Fourth Title In A Nail Biter The reputation of the RC Laser skippers at Lake Crabtree is renowned. No outsider has won a regatta against this great group of sailors on this lake until now. Jim Kaighin survived travel disruptions from the Bahamas to Florida to Raleigh to win his fourth North American Championship by one point. Tied with Tom Rummage and Gerry Cobley going into the last race, with Bob Szczepanski two points back (all Triangle MYC), Jim needed to hold them off and he did with a second in the last race to win the regatta by one point. It was a tough loss for Bob Szczepanski who won six of the first 8 races but he (and other contenders) had to count some mid fleet finishes in the regatta and that kept them out of the top spot. After three odds and evens seeding races on Saturday morning, the 22 skippers were divided into two fleets, counting two of the three seeding races toward their final point score.Each fleet, the Championship and Silver, alternated races for the balance of the regatta up the the final race at 3pm on Sunday.In the final standings it was certainly key to keep those bad races to a minimum since we had only one throw out from race #3 to Race #13. Jim Kaighin consistently managed his races the best of all winning only two of the seeding races and keeping near the top in the others. The good news was, if you were in trouble at the first mark, patience and choosing your spots on the run and the second lap often paid good dividends. Five deep prizes were awarded in each fleet. Host Triangle Model YC provided everything required for a great regatta weekend: lovely weather, southern hospitality, delicious food and drink, parking at the waterfront and a superb race committee. However, they could not swing the normal wind in their favor so we all learned what its like to be two boat lengths from a mark or a finish and have mother nature throw a curve. The A sails were the vogue all weekend and occasionally we had to wait for the NE breeze (a loose description) to fill in to start the sequence. The two skills needed to negotiate a race at this regatta was patience and keep and eye out where the Lake Crabtree guys were going. In the Silver Fleet, host Race Director and Fleet Captain, Rick Ferguson, logged four firsts in the 13 races sailed to win by 4 points over Charlestons Bill Coates and 12 points over third place Geoffrey Cohen from Indian Hill, SC. Top Six in the Championship: Jim Kaighin 35 Marsh Harbour, Bahamas Bob Szczepanski 36 Raleigh, NC Gerry Cobley 39 Cary, NC Tom Rummage 40 Garner, NC Dave Branning 54 Tilghman, MD Myles Loesel 57 Pompano Beach, FL Top Six in the Silver Fleet: Rick Ferguson 43 Raleigh, NC Bill Coates 47 Charleston, SC Geoffrey Cohen 55 Indian HIll, SC Sam Harris 59 Raleigh, NC Harry Henkel 61 Easton, MD Jacques Rioux 69 Cary, NC Pictures Here: s177.photobucket/user/twotyred/library/RC%20Laser%20North%20Americans%202014?sort=3&page=1 You can click on them individually, or view as a slide show (the best way) here: s177.photobucket/user/twotyred/slideshow/RC%20Laser%20North%20Americans%202014?sort=3 Full Results for the Championship Fleet: home.pipeline/~twotyred/RCLNA%20Championship%20Fleet.pdf Full Results for the Silver Fleet: home.pipeline/~twotyred/RCLNA%20Silver%20Fleet.pdf Big thanks to Tony Cockrell our PRO and Karen Szczepanski & Elaine Hepkin our scorekeepers. A huge tip of the hat to Rick and the team at Triangle Model Yacht Club for a wonderful regatta experience. RCLCNA Class Secretary, Dave Branning presents Jim Kaighin the RC Laser NA Bruce Kirby Trophy with Silver Fleet Winner, and Regatta Chairman, Rick Ferguson on the right.
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 01:54:47 +0000
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