NORTH AMERICAN CORSAIR 28 CLASS ASSOCIATION

Corsair 28Rs Debut at 2004 St. Pete NOOD
by Michael Zotzky

In late November, we made plans to attend the Sailing World sponsored St Petersburg National Offshore One Design regatta.  This would be the first entry for the Corsair 28R Class in this event.  Even better, I was crewing for fellow Kemah-based boat owner Marc Waters, and had the first time luxury of flying there instead of doing the haul from Texas .  After round-trip hauling my own boat to Key West in January, this sounded like a fantastic plan.

So everything was set, and the weekend before the race, we even managed to squeeze in a practice sail.  Marc, Bobby Fulmar, Steve Stiba and I had never sailed together, so it was a good session to get the kinks out and solidify crew roles on Menage a Trois.  This was only Marc’s second race on the Corsair 28R, which he purchased just a few months before.

On Thursday afternoon, Bobby and I caught the Continental Airlines shuttle to Sarasota .  We were leaving behind cold weather – even predictions of snow flurries in Dallas – to be in sunny Florida .  We landed, hired a taxi, and then were disappointed to find thick fog as we crossed the bridge into St Pete.  Oh well, it was bright and cheery inside the St Petersburg Yacht Club, they served drinks there too, and Marc and Steve already had the boat floating and tied up.  We were just in time to catch the skipper meeting.

Our Class pulled together five entries for this event – one less than the requirement – but SPYC and Sailing World were nice enough to certify our entry anyway.  (They let the Henderson 30 Class race with five too.)  Returning from Key West was the Rocketeer II boat, albeit helmed by Charles Nethersole instead of multihull legend Randy Smyth.  Keith Notary was still onboard, as well as the rest of their Key West crew.  Tom Reese’ Flight Simulator also came fresh from Key West , with brother Bob steering once again.  Wayne Jablonowski hauled his new Dee Dee from New Orleans ; and somewhat local ( Tampa ) Gordon Gillette’s El Nino rounded out the fleet.  A BIG THANKS goes out to Gordon for coordinating our Corsair 28R entry in this NOOD regatta.

The next morning, we arrived at the yacht club early, as we were rafted outside of nine monohulls.  No one was leaving until we got away, and racing was scheduled to begin at 9:30 am .  Unfortunately, the previous evening fog forgot to set its departure alarm, and was still there waiting for us.  Racing was delayed for a couple of hours, so I walked the dock and checked things out, including saying hello to some Corsair sailors on other boats.  Doran Cushing (F-27 Formula hot-shot) had been called into action as crew on the El Nino boat, along with Gordon’s 12-year old son Matt.  Ullman sailmaker Doug Fisher was sailing on a Melges 24 (and eventually took first place honors in the 34-boat fleet), and Corsair 24 Class President Rich Carlson was crewing on something with only one hull too!

After a couple of hours, I returned to the boat, only to find that I had missed out on two rounds of rum drinks!  The crew on Menage was on vacation, and planned to race hard as well as play hard.  But alas, the breeze started to fill in, and we headed out to the course to do some sailing.

The Race Committee put the Corsair 28R’s on the faster-entry Course B, along with Henderson 30, J-29, Melges 24, J-80, J-105 and two “level” PHRF classes.  We were the ninth fleet to start.  There were 91 boats racing on Course B, and 101 boats on Course A.  The RC set two weather marks on Course B – one about 1 mile from the starting line for the smaller boats, and another one 1.5 miles from the starting line for the big boats (including us!).  That helped alleviate some of the windward mark rounding traffic.  Downwind, we all shared the same two-mark “gate”.

By 12:30 pm , the fog burned off and a light southeasterly wind was blowing. Racing started an hour later, in a 5 to 8-knot breeze.  The breeze built slightly while the first few classes worked upwind, but then it started to fade.  Rocketeer II had a great start, working under screacher on the left side of the course. (Keith Notary is probably the world’s best trimmer of Smyth-made screachers.)  Water’s Menage followed left, and the three other boats went right shortly after the start, with Reese’ Flight Simulator and Gillette’s El Nino eventually coming back to the stronger wind and more favorable current on the left side.  Menage decided to break away to try to catch Rocketeer, but found a lull and opposing current on the right side.  Rocketeer rounded the windward mark first, Simulator managed to move up into second, then Menage, El Nino, and Jablonowski’s Dee Dee.  The order stayed the same to the finish line.  Onboard Menage, it was a disappointing third place finish from a basic mistake of not covering the competition, as well as we found out later, not having the daggerboard fully down and being unable to point well.  Oh well, at least we still had ice in the cooler for rum drinks after the boat was tied up!

That night the yacht club served fried chicken, potato salad, cherry and apple cobbler, and lots of trimmings.  I just listed the important food!  Also, your wristband entitled you to as many Mount Gay rum drinks as you could carry away from one of the three bars between 6-8 pm , as well as unlimited bottles of Red Stripe beer.  One group of college kids had amassed a 2-foot diameter circle of rum and coke drinks on their table by the 8 pm cutoff!  I don’t know how much longer it took for them to actually drink them.

Saturday, the second day of racing, dawned with the forecast of more wind.  The Race Committee was on station to begin the start sequence of the first fleet prompty at 9:30 am .  The wind was 6 knots at the start, but increased to the mid-teens by the time the first fleet approached the windward mark.  This was clearly going to be the kind of conditions the Corsairs reveled in.  Rocketeer continued its winning form with a clean start and led around the course, followed to the finish by Menage a Trois, Flight Simulator, Dee Dee and El Nino.

While waiting for the other fleets to finish, we watched the right side of the course fill in with big breeze.  The strategy was clearly to head right as soon as possible.  But it was no longer a secret as the 18-20 knot wind arrived at the starting line with a vengeance just before the Corsair horn.  With the high wind and deep chop in the bay, this was clearly going to be a strategy of trimming the sails flat to keep the boat moving fast and under control (i.e., no “submarine” of the leeward bow), and sailing without any mistakes.  Waters’ Menage had his best start right behind Nethersole’s Rocketeer, but passed him to lead at the weather mark.  By the leeward gate, the lead had swapped with Rocketeer rounding ahead by a boat length.  At the windward finish line, Rocketeer still lead and finished ahead of Menage a Trois by the same margin.  It was a fantastic ride to windward on both legs, with all four crew sitting on the windward hull and some of the monohulls whooping and hollering as we launched off the tops of waves!  Reese’s Flight Simulator once again got third, Gillette’s El Nino moved up to fourth, and Jablonowski’s Dee Dee dropped out with a parted mainsail halyard and a torn sail (and at some point suffered a broken nose from the aptly-named “boom” – or maybe it should be renamed “bonk”).

Unfortunately the threat of lightning and severe wind squalls put subsequent races on hold around 1 pm, and the boats sailed back to await the Race Committee decision of whether to continue racing later in the day.  However, rain continued falling into dark.  The early abandonment gave several of the crews an opportunity to clean up, have another great dinner (Italian food this time) and drinks at the yacht club, and then try out several of the downtown clubs.  Martini bars seem to be in vogue, including a live band and dance floor.  Or at one club, you could listen to the music of legendary Foghat (yep, the real band from the 70’s) resonating through the streets.

Sunday morning dawned with dire forecast of wind at 18-22 knots, gusts in the mid-20’s, and choppy conditions.  However, as we sailed out to the course, the sun broke through the clouds, and a westerly breeze of 8-10 knots blew across flat water.  Alas, this was going to be a nice day.  We deliberated on whether to use the light air spinnaker, or the slightly smaller chute, and decided on the larger sail due to the current conditions.  We discussed the need to sail smart and cover Reese’s Flight Simulator, who trailed our second place standing by only one point.  Rocketeer, with a list of bullets, seemed untouchable in first place.

Once again the RC started the first boats at 9:30 am sharp.  The Corsair start found Flight Simulator in a favored position adjacent to the Committee Boat, and Menage a Trois buried in the second row unable to break out.  Simulator quickly made a run for the right side, and Menage had to wait to clear heavy traffic rounding the nearby leeward mark, before following suit.  By the time the decision was made to follow, Flight Simulator had made huge gains on the right side, and lead easily at the weather mark.  Menage rounded barely ahead of Rocketeer.  After two more legs, Menage managed to close the gap somewhat, but it was too little too late.  It was the first bullet for Flight Simulator, and put them in second place overall, ahead of Menage by one point.  It was a disappointing slip to third place onboard Menage, as we reviewed our mistakes of the race afterwards.  But alas, what was this announcement squawking on the VHF radio?  Another race starting on Course B?  We’d been given a chance for redemption!

The final race started in puffy and very shifty conditions, with wind having built to the forecasted 18-20 knots, but water having only minor chop.  Menage got its best start of the day, nailing the Committee Boat end with sails trimmed tight and great speed.  Simulator found itself pinned to leeward, and at one point while reaching away to gain speed, stuffed the leeward bow and stood the stern skyward.  It settled back onto the hulls, but at these high speeds, it was a loss of several boat lengths to the leader.  Menage tacked away and caught a lift straight to the windward mark, playing the main traveler down in the puffs, and gaining even greater advantage.  The downwind run was an exercise in keeping weight in the back of the boat (plane with bows pointed high), and avoiding traffic.  In the strong breeze, the key was to sail deep and under control.  And as the crew on Rocketeer learned with their spinnaker “shrimp”, make no mistakes!  Water’s Menage led from start to finish, and earned their first bullet of the regatta.  Reese’s Flight Simulator crossed the line second, Dee Dee earned a third, then Rocketeer, and El Nino.

When the final results were tallied, Waters and Nethersole each had 10 points.  With more first place finishes, the tie-breaker went to Nethersole’s Rocketeer II, and Water’s Menage a Trois slipped into second overall.  Reese’s Flight Simulator had only one point more than the leader, but finished third.  It was very close racing, and any one of these boats could have finished on top at the end, depending on the last day results.  Jablonowski and Gillette finished in fourth and fifth overall, respectively.

The boats were loaded onto the trailers, the crews met back at the yacht club for soup and sandwiches, and some great brownies!  (They may have been serving rum drinks too, but by that time, I had enough.)  Bobby and I had just enough time to eat and catch a taxi for our 6 pm flight back to Houston.  Others stayed around to accept the customary NOOD first through third place trophies – a duffle bag and crew polo shirts with embroidered NOOD logo and finish place on each – before getting on the road with boats in tow.  It was a fun event, we managed to get a nice tan (even while normally warm Houston suffered through days of cold rain), and the racing was very competitive.  I suspect our Class will have a larger entry next year, so make plans to attend this Sailing World St Petersburg NOOD regatta.