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Tom Warren bowman on Twist
Tom Warren on the foredeck of Dayenu. ©2010 Sergei Zavarin/http://ultimate-yachtshots.smugmug.com

Stone Cup

May 17, 2010

The weather looked odd for this year's St. Francis Yacht Club Stone Cup, with an approaching front squeezing the fog in the Gate and forecast cold temperatures. We asked Tom Allard, tactician aboard the J/120 Mr. Magoo how it went. "It looked like it was cold out there because it WAS," said Tom, "and there was some dockside wagering as to whether the air temperature or wind speed would be higher. The saving grace (and curse) was a 4.0 knot flood which pushed everybody to the beach to short-tack up the Cityfront. Ping-ponging off the jetty walls always tends to get ‘sporty’ in a tightly bunched fleet - and it also keeps everybody’s blood flowing.

Grace Dances
The rail crew on Grace Dances must know some good jokes. ©2010 Sergei Zavarin/http://ultimate-yachtshots.smugmug.com

"Even though the StFYC RC once again set up fair and true tracks all weekend, the big flood and starboard roundings provided few passing lanes, so starts were huge. John Wimer in the J/120 Desdemona has always been a good starter, and his skills paid handsomely this weekend – posting two bullets out of the regatta’s four races. A better come back story was the J/120 leader board on Saturday night, where not just two but three boats were tied for first place with five points – a list which did not include perennial favorites, Chance or Mr. Magoo.

Twist rail
Twistin' the day away. ©2010 Sergei Zavarin/http://ultimate-yachtshots.smugmug.com

"There was little separation of the fleet all weekend, and Saturday night’s leader board was another testament to the fun of one design racing and how competitive the J/120 fleet is. We tried desperately to recover from an OCS on Saturday, and Tad Lacey’s Cityfront tactics helped us win the day on Sunday by posting a 2-1 - but it wasn’t enough, and we ended up winning a tie-breaker to take second." Dayenu came in third.

Risk and Jam Session
Risk chases Jam Session. ©2010 Erik Simonson/www.h2oshots.com

The big winners in the suprisingly small J/105 fleet (16 boats) were Adam Spiegel's Jam Session, with Bruce Stone and the Arbitrage gang four points behind. Finishing third at the podium was Scooter Simmons' Blackhawk. The IRC division fielded nine boats with Dan Woolery's Soozal powering away from the rest with four bullets. You can see the results and more at www.stfyc.com.

Soozal and Ciao
Ciao and Soozal (blue) in IRC at a mark rounding. ©2010 Sergei Zavarin/http://ultimate-yachtshots.smugmug.com

Soozal
Soozal's well dressed crew hikes hard. ©2010 Erik Simonson/www.h2oshots.com

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