October 2009 eBook all pages (free PDF, 36.6 - Latitude 38

The Sausalito YC-hosted Melges 32 North
Americans turned out a small fleet of seven
boats with competition as tight as you see here.
Don Jesberg, inset, and his all-Corinthian crew
— the only one at the regatta — came out on
top after a hard-fought series.
Tiger, Marc Pinckney. (9 boats)
PHRF < 99 —1) Yucca, 8 Metre, Hank Easom;
2) Bullet, Express 37, Michael Maloney; 3) Savoir
Faire, Beneteau First 42, Paul Osborn. (16 boats)
CORSAIR 24 — 1) Origami, Ross Stein; 2)
Flash, Brett Nelson, 8; 3) Wings, William Cook. (7
boats)
MULTIHULLS — 1) Tuki, Prosail 40, Roger
Barnett; 2) Lanikai, Cruising, John Brady; 3) Wahoo!,
Dolphin 460, Gary Thompson. (6 boats)
OVERALL — 1) Tuki; 2) Origami; 3) Flash; 4)
Weckless; 5) Flight Risk; 6) Jet Stream; 7) Arcadia;
7) Word; 8) Star Ranger; 9) Lanikai; 10)
Hoot. (103 boats)
Complete results: www.southbeachyc.org
Melges 32 North Americans
The 2009 Melges 32 North Americans
was hosted by Sausalito YC September
6-8. Despite being the only boat without
at least one pro aboard, Viva — sailed
by Mill Valley's Don Jesberg and an
LESLIE RICHTER/WWW.ROCKSKIPPER.COM
all-corinthian crew
— ended up atop
the seven-boat fleet
after the eight-race,
one-throwout series.
Jesberg was
joined by Zarko
D r a g a n i c , A n -
drew Holdsworth,
Thomas Iseler, Eric
Baumhoff, Steve
Marsh, Jeff Wayne
and Kristin Loewenthal.
While the fleet
wasn't large, it was
stacked with talented,
big programs
like Jim Swartz's
USA-007 Q, John
Kilroy Jr.'s Samba
Pa Ti and Stephen
Pugh's Taboo. What
the Rolex Big Boat
Series — which
functioned as the class' national champ
i o n s h i p —
didn't get for
weather later
in the week,
t h e N o r t h
Americans got
in spades with
breeze in the
20s, and sunshine.
29er US Nationals
N o r t h e r n
California sailors
Max Fraser
and David
L i e b e n b e r g
gave the 25boat
fleet that
g a t h e r e d a t
St. Francis YC
September 18-20 for the 29er US Nationals
a severe spanking. The duo finished
the regatta with a 20-point cushion over
runners-up Sterling and Hans Henken
SHEET
— the top youth team — in the eightrace,
one-throwout series. After dropping
a sixth, Fraser and Liebenberg counted
all bullets and a fourth, and were one of
only six boats in the 25-team field to not
take at least one letter score.
The source of all those letter scores
was breeze that scratched the mid-
20s with a ripping ebb that turned the
Cityfront into a field of moguls. The top
women's team honors went to Julia Paxton
and Nina Malingri who finished fifth,
just three points behind third place JP
Barnes and the American 49er crew from
Qingdao, Chris Rast — themselves only
a point ahead of Northern Californians
Finn and Alek Nilsen.
Leukemia Cup
The 2009 Leukemia Cup hosted
by the San Francisco YC produced a
lot more than winners in the 10 onedesign
and six handicap divisions. We're
happy to report that, as we went to
press, the regatta's fundraising figures
were up to $650,000 in only its fourth
year — matching last year's record
haul thanks in part to an anonymous
$250,000 donation.
There was a keynote address the night
of September 19 by the country's former
V.P. Al Gore, that we heard was very upbeat.
Over 100 boats showed for the big
boat classes, with the one-design racing
run on Saturday by St. Francis YC and
the handicap racing by San Francisco YC
on Sunday. Seventy-two Optimists also
came out for two days, hosted by SFYC,
Max Fraser and David Liebenberg took the 25-boat fleet at the 29er US Nationals
to school – scoring all bullets and a sixth to take the title by 20 points.
which also counted as the class's Pacific
Coast Championships.
Because the regatta happened late in
our editorial cycle, we were unable to do
October, 2009 • Latitude 38 • Page 133
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