The 2009 Melges 24 US National Championship ended with a three-way tie for first place between Brian Porter, Vince Brun, and Dave Ullman.  In the start of the last race I started at the boat just above Porter and his Full Throttle team. 

At 15 seconds to the gun, my tactician Brian Ledbetter said “stall high, Full Throttle is early.”  He was right.  Full throttle had pulled the trigger too early.  And, they were the last boat to be called over early.  They returned to the line so late, their fate seemed determined.  But, leave it the the Full throttle team and tactician Harry Melges to never give up.  They rolled the dice and banged each corner and before you knew it, they were on the 5th leg of the race and the last beat sitting in 5th place behind Lounge Act.  From that point they focused on beating Lounge Act at the finish line, which they did in the very last tack of the race.  To say these guys pulled off a miracle win is to adequately describe how they could possibly come from so far behind on what should have been a one-way race course to finish just well enough to win the regatta on a tie breaker. 

I am happy to report that yesterday was a great day for Team Brick House.  Kristen Lane and Brick House 623 won race #7 of the US National Championship.  It was a thrill that I will never forget.  We executed a great start at the boat with the intention to tack immediately into a lane of late ebb on the north side of the Bay.  We were in about 4th or 5th place going into the last beat to windward.  That last beat was a magical leg for us and it really all just came together.  We were cranking and able to sail high in puffs while hitting great numbers on the speedo.  We rounded the last windward mark in 1st and took a conservative line down the middle of the Bay while our competitors sent it to the corners.  We were working hard sailing in displacement mode and taking advantage of any little wave we could find and in the end, we were victorious.  I can tell you the sound of the gun is extra sweet when it comes from your home yacht club!  It was a great achievement for my team and I’m very proud of that bullet. It was also wonderful to receive congratulations and well wishes from the fleet leaders off the water.  I look up to these guys and here they are congratulating me....  It demonstrates the open and welcome nature of this class’ top competitors. 

St. Francis and San Francisco Bay delivered very challenging conditions and a very tough event.  The wind conditions alone were difficult to master in that each day was unique and when you thought you had it figured out, the wind speed would change and the set up had to be adjusted.  Of course current played a big role on this race course.  The currents of San Francisco By are notorious for making the race course one-sided.  However, this event proved the tremendous value of weighing the strength of pressure and wind angle over current relief.  Although, diving into the San Francisco City-front shore with 20 other Melges 24s quickly turns into a thrilling knife fight...  The winner of the fight is the team who can execute perfect tacks and return to top speed the fastest while managing large puffs (Over 20kts) that contain huge shifts (30 degrees) due to the geography of the shore and how it makes the wind slam down on the water surface.  If you’ve never experienced this race course, you should make a point of doing it once in your life.  It’s very unique.

The big surprise at this event was the mild and lighter conditions that we experienced on Saturday and Sunday.  Typically when you prepare for an event on San Francisco Bay you are expecting over 20+kts every day.  Well, we had those conditions on Friday, but Saturday started light and then built to a nice 19 to 20kts for the final race.  Then, on Sunday we had mild conditions that built to about 15 or 17 kts in the puffs. 

In the end, it was a great event.  Thank you to the St. Francis yacht club and all the volunteers who came out to support the event. 

We now turn our attention to preparing for the World Championship in Annapolis MD, this October.  It will be a well attended event with the top international teams.  The Brick House boats are getting some work done to repair some damage they have incurred over the past year.  Our sail inventory is getting completely updated with the fastest sails in this class.  Our program organization is getting finalized as we determine the best practice schedule before the event.  We will be working with Dave Ullman as a coach leading up to the World Championship regatta.  I am very excited to sail these boats again.  It’s a genuine thrill to sail when you line up against the best sailors around.  It’s even more thrilling when you experience a little success against those big boys!

Thank you for staying tuned to Team Brick House and our progress. 

You can also follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/teambrickhouse

Sail Fast!

Kristen Lane