VERVE CUP AWARDED TO BOB VICKERY

(Sunday, August 17, 2008) At the awards ceremony for the Verve Cup Regatta today, skipper Bob Vickery of Collaboration 2, was awarded the overall regatta award, the Verve Cup. This award was made as Vickery and his Collaboration 2 won the Beneteau 40.7 section at the event. The 40.7 section was deemed by the Verve Cup committee to be the most competitive of the fourteen sections participating.

2^nd place was won by Tsunami, under skipper Don Hayes with tactician Tory Enerson.

3^rd place was won by Vayu with skipper Ron Buzil. Vayu’s tactician was Ralph Godkin.

There are many stories about the 40.7 fleet that came out of this regatta – how Tsunami won the first race of the event after being laid up for repairs for almost two months, how La Tempete lost the lead after Saturday resulting from being disqualified in a protest and then came back on Sunday with heads high and winning both races that day, how Temptation could have had that lead if she hadn’t collapsed in the final three races, and how Vayu, after being called over-early in the last race, came back with a 2^nd place finish to wind up in 3^rd overall.

In the end it was consistency that paid dividends for the winners. The only boats that didn’t finish worse than a 6^th place in any single race were the three that finished first, second and third: Collaboration, Tsunami and Vayu.

The Verve Cup regatta is hosted by the Chicago Yacht Club. The event took place over three days: Friday August 15^th through Sunday August 17^th. All racing took place on Lake Michigan about five miles offshore of Chicago. At this year’s regatta 168 boats were registered in fourteen different sections. Twelve boats registered in the Beneteau 40.7 section with eleven actually competing. Jim McDonnell’s Spanker registered but did not compete.

Besides Bob Vickery, the crew of the winning Collaboration 2 consisted of: Eric Jochum at bow; Mark Palikowski, Mike Barry and Dave Kidder at mast; Laura Olsen at pit; John Berry, Lisa Getta, Chris Jungmann, Kevin and Tawnya McVicker and Chris Duhon were the trimmers; and Wulf Kaal, Mike and Lilli Russo and Archie Strole as floaters.

After the awards ceremony we had an opportunity to talk to winning skipper Vickery:

40.7: Bob, congratulations on a great victory. That’s quite an impressive cup they awarded you. Do you get to take it home?

Bob Vickery: “Are you kidding? I’m lucky they just let me touch it.”

40.7: Did you do anything in particular for the boat, you or your crew to get ready for this event?

BV: “This was a situation in which we felt the boat and sails were ready. We could always use more time practicing on the water, but the logistics of getting the core crew to the boat often seems impossible.”

40.7: There seemed to be more drama in this event than usual among our section. La Tempete leading on Saturday, then going down in flames after they were protested by Cancan which basically took them out of the silver. Still they came back as the true sportsmen they are and won both races on Sunday.

BV: “I have the utmost respect for Tom and his crew on LaTempete. His effort on Sunday to win both races after losing the protest on Saturday was outstanding and demonstrated the true character of Tom and his crew. Except for two situations of bad luck, LaTempete sailed better than any other 40.7 this weekend.”

40.7: There was also Temptations collapse in the final three races. After four races they were in 2nd place, but their final three scores were 9,10,10.

BV: “That's what makes a three day, no throw-out format so difficult. It is not how well you do on Friday or Saturday, it is how well you sail on all three days. We have all had a bad day, or a bad race bring us down. In 2006 we were leading the Verve Cup by 6 points going into the last day and our crew fell apart dropping us to fourth or in the 2004 NOOD we lost a protest (for ducking a boat and going behind) and it cost us the Regatta. I'll never forget that!

“With a format like this, we make a real effort at sailing a little more conservatively, stay away from trouble and position ourselves to have an opportunity to win going into the final day. This regatta was a perfect example of how that strategy can work. I can think of several occasions over the course of racing where we pulled back from hitting a corner or pushing a tenuous position. While we only won one race, we managed to stay in the top 4 most of the time.”

40.7: How about Tsunami's return to the fleet after a two month absence? They came into the first race without having had a practice and they won that race and finished in 2nd place overall at the end of the regatta!

BV: “Don (Hayes) had a terrible summer waiting for his boat to be repaired, but sailed so well upon his return. What a great story for them to win their first race back. They bring some real talent to the race course.”

40.7: It's interesting to note that the top three boats (Collaboration, Tsunami, Vayu) were the only boats that didn't have a race worse than 6th place

BV: “This is another example of what a great fleet we have. On any given day, any one of our boats could win a race. And that is really what the Verve Cup overall award recognizes: the overall competitiveness of our fleet. Of the seven races of this Regatta, I only recall two instances of finishing a race alone. Of the five remaining races, Collaboration 2 crossed the line in a pack of boats. In race 1 we crossed the finish line in a pack of three, with the difference between 1st and 3rd less than 15 seconds. In race 5 we crossed the line in a pack of four with the difference between 2nd and 5th less than 10 seconds.

“The top end of our Fleet is filled with solid, well sailed boats. Make a mistake and you will pay. La Tempete, Tsunami, Turning Point, Vayu, Das Boot and Excalibur all keep the pressure on. Miss a shift, drop back a position. Slow getting the spinnaker up, drop back another spot. Sloppy leeward mark rounding, step back one more. And that is after you get a good start, because if you have a bad start, every boat knows how to pinch you off and make you feel like a ping pong ball bouncing from tack to tack looking for clean air to the weather mark, only to round last.

“I am very pleased to see Mojo finding their way to the front as well. During the course of the weekend, we had to duck behind Mojo on more than a handful of situations. I believe they will have all the pieces in place and be in contention for a victory soon.

40.7: The protests amongst us seemed to be up somewhat at this regatta. What can we do about that before it tears the fleet up?

BV: “In my racing career, I have been fortunate to sail with the best in the world, Buddy Melges, Lowell North, Jud Smith, Dennis Conners, Vince Brun, Bill Buchan, Dick Jennings, Dave Irish, Dick Stearns. That list goes on and on, but what they all have in common is to avoid the protest room. If they are fouled, 9 times out of ten they will not protest but rather search out the offending skipper on land and discuss the situation. They leave protest's for serious infractions. I try to use that same philosophy. In the five seasons that I have sailed 40.7's, I have only filed two protests.

“I know that we have some skippers that raise a flag pretty quickly, and I would ask them to give thoughtful consideration to what that does to the fleet in the big picture. We have all been victimized by an infraction from another boat, but if it doesn't truly impact your position, I would encourage you to talk to the other boat after the race. Usually you will be able to share your perspective with the other boat and reach a higher level of respect for one another than if the situation goes to a protest committee.

“For whatever reason, during 2005 and 2006 we were protested six times by two boats. Thankfully we were able to successfully defend ourselves in five of those encounters, losing only once. Finally, we were able to achieve some sort of understanding. I don't race trying to be a sea lawyer. We respect the rules and expect the other boat to as well. If I disagree with another boat on the water I will let him know, but I will only carry it to a protest room if I feel it is really serious and impacted our safety or finish. I would suggest that each of our skippers give this some thought and adopt some similar plan.”

40.7: Any comments on the "T" course?

BV: “It brought back memories of old. Triangles were the standard course when I started sailing in the 70's. It has some positive benefits, i.e. they allow the leaders to separate from the pack, but it has it's detractions as well, such as passing on a reach leg being very difficult. I understand why the Verve Committee wanted to try something different and I commend them for the effort. If they sail triangles again, we might have a round table discussion as a fleet to review strategies to minimize the negatives.”

40.7: Can you describe for us the first race on Saturday, the one you won, the one in which the wind died on the 2nd leg? The lead seemed to change several times.

BV: “Talk about better lucky than good. We came around the windward mark in second place, behind LaTempete by 4 boat lengths, with Tsunami on our transom. Tsunami had an excellent spinnaker set and rolled right over us as we struggled with a gybe set. La Tempete led the charge to the east into a dying breeze followed by Tsunami and us.

“We were the first of the three to gybe back to starboard and try to reach south, only to be greeted with the realization that the pack had flipped positions and now we were in 8th. Excalibur which continued east beyond us was first boat to the leeward mark, followed by Das Boot and the others, leaving us in last place around the leeward mark. Our only option was to bail out of the pack which sat in a bunch on port tack, heading northeast. Thankfully we were able to get the boat rolling on starboard and escape the pack and crawl to victory.”

Aboard 2^nd place Tsunami, besides skipper and mainsail trimmer Don Hayes, the rest of the crew consisted of helmsman Bryan Hayes, jib and guy trimmers Wendy Enerson, Sandy Lee, and David Shy, spinnaker trimmers John O’Conner, Earle Atwater, and Rick Erickson, and mast and foredeck of Pat Carlson, Bruce Kennington, and Mike Kaspar. Tsunami’s tactician was Troy Enerson. Tory had this to say about the regatta:

“The verve was a great weekend, with the exception of the doldrums of Saturday. We had great conditions and the competition was top notch. It is so cool to have a fleet that has six or seven boats capable of taking a bullet on any given race. It was awesome to finally be back on the water racing against our friends again.

“We really didn’t do much of any preparation with the exception of some minor rig tuning to get ready for the race after the long layoff.

“I do have to admit that it was extremely gratifying to get a bullet in our first race back with the fleet, especially in light of the exceptional talent that this fleet now has in each and every race. We seemed to be fast, which was a relief because we had no idea really how the boat would move after the layoff, and we had a nice strategy for getting around the course efficiently. Though we never matched our performance in the first race, this regatta was a perfect example of what we always preach on Tsunami, and that is that consistency wins regattas. We had mostly fours this weekend and we were able to take second.

“There were definitely some kinks to be worked out and tactically I felt a little behind the curve but I never really felt like there were any major favorite sides of the course, just the need to sail very efficiently and mistake free. If we did that, I felt that we would be in the top four to every mark and that is pretty much how it worked out.

“As far as the protests, I don’t think that they are really a major problem in their frequency, this one just had such a massive effect on the outcome of the regatta that I think it really amplified the problem. I think that we may want to consider making it our class rules that one tack and one gybe can exonerate a boat of a penalty, making it easy to take your medicine and still be competitive in the race, therefore keeping everyone out of the room and in the bar where we all want to be and belong.

“Food for thought for the winter meeting.”

Ron Buzil, skipper of 3^rd place Vayu describes the last race of the regatta from Vayu’s perspective:

“That last race on Sunday was a race in which we had to do good. Like, we had to finish top three to have any chance at winning a flag because at that point in the regatta we were in 3^rd place but Turning Point was 1 point behind us and La Tempete and Temptation were only 2 points behind. So any one of the three of them could easily have knocked us down in the final standings.

“As luck would have it, we were called over early at the start and had to gybe around. We took off on port tack and re-crossed the line in last place.

“There was nothing to do but dig in and sail hard. We began passing a few boats. At the first weather mark we protested Cancan when she tacked on us from port inside the two boat length zone and forced us to sail above our close-hauled course and we lost a bit of ground there.

“By the second weather mark we rounded in 6^th place just behind Temptation. We came up on her transom and she gybed away. Tsunami and Turning Point were ahead to the right and Collaboration was ahead to the left. La Tempete was leading. We just worked at making the boat go fast. We took advantage of every puff, using our crew weight as best we could to maximize our VMG. About half-way down the leg I saw Collaboration coming back at us on starboard (we were on port). She crossed just ahead of us. We sailed on, using more puffs to head down. We gybed to starboard. It was clear that we were now ahead of Collaboration.

“Out of the corner of my eye I saw two boats to the right. Tsunami and Turning Point! I didn’t even want to look again. The crew became silent. Nobody wanted to say anything for fear that it wasn’t true.

“We crossed the finish in second place behind La Tempete. The committee boat tooted their horn and all of a sudden a thunderous cheer arose from Vayu’s crew. We were all pounding each other on the back, high-fiving, and shaking hands.

“We had pulled (what I call) a “Tsunami”, that is being called over early and coming back and doing well in the race, something they (Tsunami) have done several times.

“Though 1^st place has eluded us recently in this event, this is the third year in a row Vayu has placed 2^nd or 3^rd in our section at the Verve Cup regatta.

“I can’t say it often enough, what great people we have in this fleet. Not just the skippers but the crews of the boats and a lot of the support people, friends and relatives who often don’t race. In the end, it’s really all about the people, isn’t it? Over the years Tom Weber, Don Hayes, and Bob Vickery have been very supportive of me and the rest of the fleet. I have to include Alan McMillan also. And Jay and Cindy Muller. All of these guys are great competitors, terrific sailors, and true sportsmen in the best Corinthian sense of the word.”

Vayu’s crew, besides skipper/helmsman Ron, consisted of mainsail trimmer Scott “DS” Reich, jib trimmer Steve Zorn, spinnaker trimmer Nigel Brownett, guy trimmer Teri Ammirata, bowman Lior Cohen, mastman Bo Maca, pit persons Ed Radzikowski and Jenna Herhold, utility crew Rob Rafson and pit assist Elizabeth Arnold. Vayu’s tactician was Ralph Godkin.

At the end of Saturday’s racing, before she was disqualified after a protest by Cancan Deux in the 5^th race of the event, Tom Weber’s La Tempete was in first place in the standings. Going into the racing on Sunday morning she was in a near hopeless situation in the standings. The crew of La Tempete showed their true metal on Sunday when they won both races of the day.

Reportedly, the protest occurred just before the start of the 5^th race when La Tempete was reaching below the line on port tack. Collaboration was on port tack to leeward of La Tempete. Cancan on starboard tack was slightly to windward and approaching La Tempete. Collaboration began coming up, causing La Tempete to stay clear and come up. The result of this was she reportedly caused Cancan to avoid her and tack.

Tom Weber had this to say about the regatta, the fleet, and about the protest on Saturday:

“We did not do anything special to prepare for the Verve as we never do anything different. It was good to have Steve (Youngson, la Tempete’s long-time tactician) back with me for the weekend. That was probably the biggest difference for us. He and I have a very unique relationship on the race course. This weekend we were really gelling.

“As for our Sunday performance, we were extremely disappointed with the whole protest process and the results as I felt I was avoiding hitting two boats and making the only move possible to do this that resulted in a protest. Gary (Bunger, longtime La Tempete crew member) said Saturday night at dinner that the best thing we could do is go out Sunday and perform like we know how, take two firsts and kick some butt. He again repeated this Sunday morning to the crew and very little else was said. We were all on the same page. We knew two firsts would be the only way we could respond to this very unfortunate situation.

“Prior to the race we received some very nice encouragement from a number of our competitors wishing us good luck. It is the first time I really felt a lot of you were rooting for us. It made all of us feel real good.

“As for the protest situation in our fleet I have thought about this for some time. I keep thinking of my competition with Tsunami over 20 years and some 700 races without a protest against each other. We all need to remember that this is recreation. Not many people outside the 40.7 fleet really care what we do on the race course. The winners should be determined on the race course not in the room. Whoever goes the right direction and the fastest wins. You refered to sportsmanship. That is what is needed most on the race course more so than gamesmanship. I am not saying we should ignore the rules. The fouls should be obvious. When there is a foul do your turns. When it is close, use some common sense. If it does not affect the outcome of the race have them buy you a drink. It amazes me to hear two boats in the back of the pack having a protest. Too many of these protest can bring down the fleet.”

We were also able to talk to La Tempete’s longtime tactician, Steve Youngson:

40.7: Did you do anything in particular for the boat, you or your crew to get ready for this event? (one of my stock questions).

Steve Youngson: “We didn’t do anything special to prepare other than some last minute organizing of crew. We had several regulars that could not be here one or more days so we had a couple of new people we had not sailed with before. We were a little short with only 9 or 10 crew.”

40.7: What about Tsunami's return to the fleet after a two month absence?

SY: “Tsunami can always pull off great races. With most of the boats very close in speed now, the first beat is mainly decided by who chooses the correct direction. The fleet is large enough that there are boats sailing to both laylines and usually someone makes out big. On Saturday Tsunami was picking the right direction.”

40.7: Any comments on the "T" course?

SY: “We don’t like the triangle courses. Legs two and three offer little in the way of strategy and tactics. It becomes a drag race and faster boats jam up under slower boats. Attempting to pass a slower boat typically results in being forced way above the course line which allows other boats to possibly get through to leeward.”

40.7: Can you describe for us the mood on La Tempete on Sunday morning?

SY: “We were pretty shocked that we lost a protest to Cancan under those conditions. The incident which happened well before the start on race 5 had absolutely no impact on that race, but had a huge impact not only on our section, but the overall regatta winner. We decided Sunday morning that we wanted to finish the weekend knowing in our own minds that we were the best 40.7 in the regatta. The best we could do at that point was to finish with two bullets to eliminate all doubt.

“I think the overall number of protests being called is too high. On LaTempete we strive to sail races cleanly and stay out of protesting situations. Protests are a huge distraction for both parties and successful boats due their best to stay away from those situations. If you foul a boat that has a real affect, (like we did at a windward marking rounding a few weeks ago), do your 720 and move on with the race. Insignificant or marginal infractions that do not impact the outcome of a race or affect other competitors should be forgotten and saved for friendly conversation after the face. This builds camaraderie and respect between boats.

“I think most of us are out racing to have fun. Dealing with protests after racing when we should be socializing with our friends is a real determent to fun and continuing success of the fleet. One option to reduce the number of these quick (and frequently bluffing) protests is require a protest fee. As soon as you fly the flag, you owe the fleet a $100 fee, whether you actually take it to hearing or not. If you take it hearing and win, the fee is waived. “

Finally, the co-skipper of Mojo, Jeff Comeaux,weighed in with his observations:

“The Verve was another big learning curve for Mojo. We are now more confident that the boat can perform when we hit the right combination of tuning and sail trim. This is still a tough formula to crack. We will continue to record data, ask many questions and eventually crack the code.

“When that day comes, we think we can start winning races.

“I did have the opportunity to sail with Collaboration 2 at a beer can race. Bob is an unbelievable sailor ... he truly becomes ‘one with the boat.’

“One large breakthough this year was learning how much we underestimated the skill set of this entire fleet. There are some excellent and very competitive racers in the 40.7 fleet. With the Beneteau First 42 section, we had maybe 3 steady competitors that made our racing a fun experience.

“Now we have 10 Plus...whole different world.

“I liked the T course - it broke up the monotony of the same old thing. The first race on Saturday was a treat. We were quite pleased with how things were going for a while. Our success came from slow moves with constant focus on sail trim and weight distribution. We learned more about the 40.7 in light air ... reaching angles ... and turning the boat. The finish was completely crazy with Tsunami reaching up over us and Das Boot. The biggest surprise was Das Boot letting him in. Our mistake was taking our eye off the ball with the Tsunami distraction and not focusing on where we were and how close we were to beat two additional boats. The error also let Vayu in during the process.

“Going forward, we would appreciate any tips to help us shift gears. One of our biggest frustrations is boat speed. Our starts are typically disturbing because we can't point as high nor maintain speed .... often forcing us to tack to clean air. THIS is driving me crazy! Bob has been very helpful and offered to sail with us on a beer can race. He stated that he loves good competition and will help us get to a point where we're competing with him. That would be a great day!”

All races of the Verve Cup regatta count for the LMSRF Best Beneteau 40.7 on Lake Michigan series.

For photos of the Verve Cup 2008 go to: Photos.

(Scroll down to Verve photos)

Additional photos, courtesy of JC Strait are at JC's Photos

For current fleet standings go to: Standings

Final Results 40.7 Section, Verve Cup Regatta 2008: