2004 Bacardi Cup

Report By Tom Londrigan Jr.

Bacardi Cup Day Five:

 My brother Pat Londrigan and his Swedish crew, Christian Finnsgard, are having difficulty communicating.  Christian asked Pat if the “yib” is set up ok.  Pat said, “What?

 Christian responded, “the yib?”  Yah, the yib!  Tell me before we yibe.”   “What,” Pat says. 

Christian answers, “Yah, should I yibe the yib, before we yibe?”  Pat says, “What?  Get ready to jibe, but jibe the jib first.”  “Yah, that’s what I asked, do you want me to yib the yibe first?”  said Christian.   Pat responds, “No, we’re going to jibe, but jibe the jib first.  And it goes on and on.

 Pat and Christian are sailing 8015… not his boat.  It is our father’s boat.  Dad, take a seat.  Apparently, another boat decided to ventilate 8015 after the leeward mark.  We not sure of the insurance situation yet but both Pat and Christian believe that the other boat was at fault.  Christian says the other boat hit them about the place where the yib cars are located.  Pat says it is closer to where the jib cars are located.

 Conditions were inconsistent with winds shifting from 60 degrees to 90 degrees. But the wind was solid.  The Race Committee decided to wait for an hour and a half before starting us.  Many have speculated as to what was going on inside the Race Committee boat.  Some suggested that in light of the Portuguese team’s lead that they were enjoying siesta in honor of Domingos/Santos.  . 

 The bitterness waned when the starting sequence was initiated.  One recall then we were off.   Percy won, again but Domingos and Santos finished seventh today and assured their first Bacardi Cup championship and the first European to win a Bacardi Cup.  Congratulations boys, impressive.  Good luck in qualifying for the Olympics.  Howie Shiebler’s Olympic campaign appears to be peaking at the right time a week before the trials.

Bacardi Cup Day Four

             Last night, Bacardi hosted a party in Miami Beach at an exotic bar called “Touch.”  Touch provided go-go dancers, who regularly changed outfits, and belly dancers.  Alcohol was served.

             Harry Walker, a long time Star Class sailor is sailing with British sailing legend Alan Warren.  Apparently Alan Warren was a medallist in the 1976 Olympics.  But, this is not his only claim to fame.  In the 1980 Olympics in Montreal, Warren did not fare as well.  Warren thought that his boat was part of the problem.  He may have been right but no one will ever know because during the last race of the Olympics, Warren and his crew decided to fill the cockpit with Acetone.  A few minutes later, Warren lit a match and swam ashore.  Wow, I hope he was right about the boat being slow.  Advice to Harry Walker, be sure not to blame the boat for any bad finishes and leave the Acetone at the dock.

             Yesterday, I noticed a very large skipper, Eric Lidecis (6’10’, 230 lbs.) and his crew Darrel Hiatt (6’5”, 250 lbs.) drinking beers early in the morning.  They were sailing and older boat and were not sure how to properly rig the spreaders.  After the race, they unloaded an empty cooler from the boat.  Apparently, they find time to abide in few cold ones on the course.   They are from Los Angeles as well (the movie “The Big Lebowski” comes to mind).  In their first year in the Star, and maybe their twentieth year in beer, these guys are doing quite well with consistent finishes in the high twenties.  These guys have unparallel success when straight leg hiking becomes a factor and are probably poster children for tweaking the weight limit rule; little guys like me need help.

            The weather was fairly windy at times and often dropping to moderate.  Percy/Mitchell won with Domingos/Santos in second.  Domingo and Santos are winning sailing a borrowed older boat (7500 series Folli) and using sails that look like something my dad used in the 80’s.  These guys are excellent sailors and are not very big either.  Look out for them in the Olympics!

 Bacardi Cup Day 3:

             Today’s forecast called for winds 0-10 knots from the South …or maybe the North.  This is the type of forecasting that wins awards.  As we sailed/drifted out to the course it was 1.5 knots from the North.  The race was postponed and then started in an eight-knot breeze from 130 degrees; the crews were over the side.  In retrospect, the forecast doesn’t seem so bad.

             One general recall later, we were off under the “Z” flag.  If you are like the scholars on my boat, you may be wondering what does the “Z” flag mean?  I told my crew, Chris Wallner, that we could be over early but the “Z” means that we will just have to accept a 20% penalty; “sail on Chris we’ve got to 20% better than usual,” I exclaimed.    As I rounded the first mark in ninth, I found out what the “Z” flag really meant.  First, my number was proudly displayed on the chalkboard.  Boy, that was nice bit of recognition, thank you.  Second, I was asked to “remove” myself from the course.  Well, that wasn’t necessary!  I thought that the “Z” flag meant a 20% penalty for premature starters.  I was more than willing to accept my 20% penalty, what gives? 

            Tom Babel, one the hired-gun coaches, shared his rulebook with me as I “removed” myself from the course.  Irishmen Max Tracy and Anthony Shanks, who also received similar recognition on the chalkboard, helped explain that you can only accept the 20% penalty if you returned to the starting line and started properly.  Well, this was information was a little too late to be useful.   I lowered my red flag.  Ironically, after sailing around the spectator fleet and horsing around with Babel and Traecy/Shanks, we found ourselves down at the leeward mark before every boat in the fleet except the leader George Szabo and Mark Strube; who by the way has been released by the Miami Police Department on his own recognizance after a misunderstanding on Friday night.  Seeing 96 boats behind us did not seem to ease the pain.

             What did ease the pain was seeing my brother Pat Londrigan and Christian Finsgaard and Rick Brethorst with Matt Peterson round the first mark in eightieth; give or take a few.  They took a similar course as us to the leeward mark and picked an easy forty boats.  After a little more handiwork, Londrigan/Finsgaard finished eleventh and Brethorst/Peterson finished 22^nd.  Nice work boys.  Domingos/Santos surmounted the insurmountable Szabo/Strube lead and won the race. 

 DAY TWO

 Someone challenged my report about the fishermen and Riccardo from the first race of the Bacardi Cup.  As any diligent reporter would do, I asked Riccardo himself.  I admit that I reported inaccurately.  Riccardo confirmed most of my report verbatim.  However, he added that one of the fish hurled at his boat landed on the deck and, for reasons unknown, exploded.  Riccardo’s crew absorbed the brunt of the innards on his face and sunglasses.  Riccardo is usually a fairly high-strung sailor; however, to his credit he spent the majority of the first beat laughing about the incident with his crew.

             We had only one general recall; I abandoned the race with 10 seconds to the start after Cayard/Trinter sent me to the third row.  So we tried again.  This time the race was on.  Wind as moderate from the NW and the boys on the middle left rounded in the lead; Loof/Eckstrom with Bromby/Siese next.  The wind diminished.  Bromby/Seise caught up.  The wind increased.  The wind diminished.  The wind shifted.  It shifted left and right.  It increased and diminished.  Lake sailing on the Bay, I was at home and spent the entire race riding the wake of my fellow Midwesterners: Gay/Klerk, Allen/Lichter, Londrigan/Finsgaard (not Midwestern but nice anyway), and VanderMolen/Ticknor.   In the end, the winners finished as the tail of the fleet rounded the leeward mark and we all arrived home before 3:00 pm for the Bacardi opening party.  Surprisingly, alcohol was served and later, many poured into Flannigan’s for dinner.  

Oh yeah, Bromby/Seise won, and Brun/Dorgan caught Loof/Eckstrom.  At Flannigan’s, I asked the European sailor (please reference yesterday’s report) about his “but we are in Amerika” comment.  His is Greek but immigrated to Boston a long time ago.  The offender was not American but German.  The Greek Bostonian felt that an obvious foul should be followed with “rounds”, particularly in “Amerika.”  I’m not sure the comment carries the same persuasive weight with someone not from “Amerika.”

 DAY ONE

 The Bacardi Cup started today.  No wind appeared by noon but the race was not postponed due in large part to the pageantry set up for the first race which included helicopters, several large VIP yachts, and a special banner towed over the race course by a small airplane.  Ah, the pageantry. 

We sailed around for a few hours before the south sea breeze filled in.  Several porpoises joined us in the wait and after the start one slammed into Rick Brethorst’s keel.  Ah, porpoises they are so smart?

We tried a few starts to no avail then the black flag joined the party and we were off.  The wind was steady and hiking conditions and a 5-10 degree shift favored the boats on the right side including Cayard and Pickel.  Merriman won the left and was close behind.  Apparently Riccardo Simmonechi, our class president, sailed too close to some local teenagers fishing on the Bay.  They proceeded to throw live fish at Ricccardo and several of the fish hit the boat and landed in his cockpit.  The generous lads weren’t finished welcoming Riccardo to the Bay, the gave him some well thought advice and claimed (I am not making this up) that his mother “is a whore!”  Ah, south Florida, so subtle so understated.

The leeward mark brought further issues.  The twenty boat pile-up on the right gate brought the usual crunching of fiberglass, lack of communication between the several languages, and red flags.  However, one European sailor insisted that an American sailor, who clearly fouled him, do his “rounds.”  He was referring to the 720 rule.  After much persuasion, the American boat sailed on, ignoring his pleas.  In frustration, the European skipper exclaimed, “but this is Amerika!”  I’m not sure what to make of this observation.  Yes, he is correct, Miami is in America.  Other than the correct geographic reference… as I sit here and type this I still don’t know what he meant.  Should I have done a 720 out of guilt or shame for my countryman?  Ah, geopolitics at the leeward mark.