race report
The Other 24
2009 Martin 242 North American Championship
California Yacht Club and its organizers pulled out all the stops and put on a world-class event for the first US held M242 North American Championship. Although most of the boats in the class are over 20 years old and reside in Canada, 23 of them made it to the stating line in Marina del Rey Aug 6-9. PRO Bill Stump ably executed the weekend events with his keen sense of humor. He observed that the fleet looked incredibly competitive and it shocked him that there was not one protest.
Day One
Shifting gears was the key to a successful Day One. Although the regatta started in 10 knots of breeze, and finished the last race of the day in 14 knots – there was some five, six and seven knot stuff in between, major shifts, and kelp.
At the end of the day the leaders were the consistent ones mixing it up amongst old and new boats 1st thru 4th were Yumio Dornberg on his un-named hull 305, Mike George on All In – hull 307, Steve Hathaway, in Strange Crew (hull #9), Brack Duker in “Velirito,” one of the 1st M242’s brought to MDR,.
Day Two
No one was thinking about shifting gears on Day Two of the Martin 242 NAs. It was a day to power up – all day – on all legs. The breeze never exceeded 8 knots and there were a lot of holes.
Day Two
Day one was Yumio Dornberg who won two of the three races. Day two, it was Yumio’s father-in-law, Brack Duker, who had it figured out with Dave Ullman calling tactics, Duker was consistently in phase with the shifts and won the first two races, but it was Dornberg, with his wife Barbara (Duker’s daughter) as part of the crew, who won the final race of the day and continued to lead the regatta with a four point cushion over Mike George’s All In.
Steve Hathaway’s Strange Crew spent the entire day just one place behind Brack Duker’s Velerito. His 2-2-5 series kept him in third place, just one point out of second place, and five points behind the leader with two races remaining on Sunday.
Day Three
Mike George came from behind to successfully defend his Martin 242 North American Championship – but it wasn’t easy. Yumio Dornberg lead the regatta for the first two days, but an OCS in Sunday’s opening race moved him one point behind George going into the final race. Dornberg lead George off the starting line in that race but George managed to find a lane to the favored left side of the course – and that was all he needed. He won that race and the championship! Dornberg settled for second place- just a single point ahead of his father in law Brack Duker, the only competitor to finish the eight-race championship with only single digit finishes.
More Photos here and results here.
Sponsored by: MG Marine, Inc. and OpenSailing.
