CALIFORNIA'S WEST SIDE - THE STORY OF OPTI TEAM RACING
SAN PEDRO, Calif.
In only their second such regatta---and the first didn't turn out very well---five California youngsters known as West Side won the Team Racing phase of the US Optimist National Championships Tuesday.
Alternating in their four boats over three days, Esteban Forrer, 15, of San Diego; brothers Dane, 14, and Quinn Wilson, 12, of Santa Barbara; Kristopher Swanson, 12, San Diego, and Romain Screve, 11, San Francisco, won every one of 18 races that counted in the complex competition based on thwarting the opposing teams' every move.
'We sailed better everywhere on the course,' Forrer said.
Quinn said, 'We were one of the teams that were constantly talking . . . good tactical conversation.'
They swept their 14 races in the preliminary round robin through the entire fleet Sunday and Monday, and then won all four of their semifinal matches in the Gold group of Tuesday's sailoffs.
Their only loss was to third-place Long Island Sailing Optimist Team (LISOT) in what should have been the start of the championship match, but that was scrubbed because the round could not be completed.
There are 332 entries in the three phases of the Nationals hosted by the Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club. Racing continues Wednesday with the Girls Nationals, to be followed Thursday through Sunday on a race course outside the Port of Los Angeles breakwater. All other racing will have been inside. Racing is scheduled to start at noon each day, conditions permitting---and conditions have been good so far with winds ranging from 9 to 15 knots each day since Saturday.
Despite that, the Team Racing fell short of completing its sailoffs because of a rule in the Sailing Instructions prohibiting a race starting after 3 p.m. local time, so there was no final showdown as planned. Instead, the title was awarded to West Side on the basis of its 4-0 semifinal score.
Although racing started on time despite a late-morning fog bank blanketing the course, competition was later interrupted for 20 minutes because of a technical glitch.
Principal race officer Jay Booker said, 'There was a variation in the sail numbers competing. They were different from the [numbers] on the list.'
After that was worked out the races continued, each taking less than 10 minutes over the tight trapezoid course. But when it became apparent that time was running out, Booker considered stretching the limit by unanimous consent of the remaining contenders.
Booker said, 'I called the four coaches before 3 o'clock to check before any of the second round robin races were completed. There was not a consensus, so when we ran out of time I kept to the Sailing Instructions.'
One team, LISOT, which had an 11-3 record in the preliminary round robin, filed for redress, which was denied in a brief hearing.
That left West Side on top with 22 points (second round robin wins counted two points each) and 19-0 overall, followed by Lauderdale Yacht Club of Florida, 3-1 and 16-2 overall, followed by MIST from the Midwest, LISOT and Team FORR of Florida.
As the winner of this year's Gold Division of the Optimist National Team Racing, it will represent the U.S. in the Euro Opti Team Cup to be held in Berlin, Germany in October.
Forrer is the only member of the team who has been to Germany, and he said, 'I was very young. I couldn't read many of the signs.'
The racing may be viewed live daily at Sailgroove.com
Team Racing results
Gold fleet
1. West Side, 14 wins, 0 losses/4 wins, 0 losses, 22 points (2nd round robin wins count double).
2. Lauderdale YC, 13-1/3-1, 19 points.
3. MIST, 10-4/2-2, 14 points.
4. Long Island Sailing Optimist Team, 11-3/1-3, 13 points.
5. Team FORR, 10-4/0-4, 10 points.
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