Santa Cruz Big Boat Regatta
Two windy days on Monterey Bay took its toll on boats and participants, and provided many colorful bar stories. With bright sunny skies, beautiful ocean swells, and plenty of breeze, the IRC fleet had a memorable weekend. The Santa Cruz Yacht Club lived up to its tradition by hosting an outstanding regatta. Great conditions, great courses, great food, and great camaraderie!
The race committee ran four terrific windward-leeward races, including a distance race on Saturday. PRO Mike Gross and his team outdid themselves on Sunday by moving the entire course over a mile East to find somewhat mellower conditions, without missing a beat. The excellent race management work made the weekend truly incredible. Wind speeds were consistently in the high 20s with higher gusts.
The strong winds tested boats, sails and crews. In the end, attrition determined the outcome. First day leader Tupelo Honey had problems in race 3 when a borrowed replacement jib halyard jumped a sheave and resulted in a fouled spinnaker halyard. White Dove who survived an injured crewman on Saturday (18 forehead stitches), blew up their spinnaker in windy race four and retired. Aleta blew out their #3 jib in race four and limped home. Spectators were treated to the sight of several exposed keels over the weekend.
Scorpio was the benefactor of this havoc and ended up winning
easily. Scorpio and her crew reveled in the windy conditions and big seas.
Notably, Frank Morrow's new IMX-38,
Hawkeye, showed consistent improvement on Sunday and moved up in the standings.
Race Results:
Overall
| Series Place | Sail No | Boat | Type of Boat | Owner | Handicap | Series Points | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Race 4 |
| 1 | 28900 | Scorpio | Wylie 42 | John Siegel | 1.098 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 28908 | Tupelo Honey | Elan 40 | Gerard Sheridan | 1.035 | 14 | 1 | 2 | DNC8 | 3 |
| 3 | 50758 | White Dove | Beneteau 40.7 | Mike Garl | 1.051 | 17 | 2 | 4 | 3 | DNC8 |
| 4 | 50444 | Hawkeye | IMX - 38 | Frank Morrow | 1.038 | 19 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 5 |
| 5 | 38407 | Phantom Mist | Beneteau 40.7 | Gary Massari | 1.050 | 19 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| 6 | 43690 | TNT | Custom Tripp 43 | Brad Copper | 1.168 | 20 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 2 |
| 7 | 67205 | Aleta | Peterson 46 | Keith Brown | 1.047 | 20 | 3 | 3 | 6 | DNF8 |
Race 1 - Started 5/31/08 - 12:00:00
| Points | Sail No | Boat | Type of Boat | Owner | Finish Time | Elapsed | Handicap | Corrected | Finishing Place | Points |
| 1 | 28908 | Tupelo Honey | Elan 40 | Gerard Sheridan | 13:40:04 | 1:40:04 | 1.035 | 1:43:34 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 50758 | White Dove | Beneteau 40.7 | Mike Garl | 13:39:16 | 1:39:16 | 1.051 | 1:44:20 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 67205 | Aleta | Peterson 46 | Keith Brown | 13:39:42 | 1:39:42 | 1.047 | 1:44:23 | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | 28900 | Scorpio | Wylie 42 | John Siegel | 13:35:26 | 1:35:26 | 1.098 | 1:44:47 | 4 | 4 |
| 5 | 38407 | Phantom Mist | Beneteau 40.7 | Gary Massari | 13:40:58 | 1:40:58 | 1.050 | 1:46:01 | 5 | 5 |
| 6 | 50444 | Hawkeye | IMX - 38 | Frank Morrow | 13:43:49 | 1:43:49 | 1.038 | 1:47:46 | 6 | 6 |
| 7 | 43690 | TNT | Custom Tripp 43 | Brad Copper | 13:32:47 | 1:32:47 | 1.168 | 1:48:22 | 7 | 7 |
Race 2 - Started 5/31/08 - 14:10:00
| Points | Sail No | Boat | Type of Boat | Owner | Finish Time | Elapsed | Handicap | Corrected | Finishing Place | Points |
| 1 | 28900 | Scorpio | Wylie 42 | John Siegel | 16:29:40 | 2:19:40 | 1.098 | 2:33:21 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 28908 | Tupelo Honey | Elan 40 | Gerard Sheridan | 16:41:16 | 2:31:16 | 1.035 | 2:36:34 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 67205 | Aleta | Peterson 46 | Keith Brown | 16:40:33 | 2:30:33 | 1.047 | 2:37:38 | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | 50758 | White Dove | Beneteau 40.7 | Mike Garl | 16:41:39 | 2:31:39 | 1.051 | 2:39:23 | 4 | 4 |
| 5 | 38407 | Phantom Mist | Beneteau 40.7 | Gary Massari | 16:42:58 | 2:32:58 | 1.050 | 2:40:37 | 5 | 5 |
| 6 | 50444 | Hawkeye | IMX - 38 | Frank Morrow | 16:47:38 | 2:37:38 | 1.038 | 2:43:37 | 6 | 6 |
| 7 | 43690 | TNT | Custom Tripp 43 | Brad Copper | 16:31:31 | 2:21:31 | 1.168 | 2:45:17 | 7 | 7 |
Race 3 - Started 6/1/08 - 12:10:00
| Points | Sail No | Boat | Type of Boat | Owner | Finish Time | Elapsed | Handicap | Corrected | Finishing Place | Comments | Points |
| 1 | 28900 | Scorpio | Wylie 42 | John Siegel | 13:06:34 | 0:56:34 | 1.098 | 1:02:07 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | 50444 | Hawkeye | IMX - 38 | Frank Morrow | 13:14:27 | 1:04:27 | 1.038 | 1:06:54 | 2 | 2 | |
| 3 | 50758 | White Dove | Beneteau 40.7 | Mike Garl | 13:13:57 | 1:03:57 | 1.051 | 1:07:13 | 3 | 3 | |
| 4 | 43690 | TNT | Custom Tripp 43 | Brad Copper | 13:07:37 | 0:57:37 | 1.168 | 1:07:18 | 4 | 4 | |
| 5 | 38407 | Phantom Mist | Beneteau 40.7 | Gary Massari | 13:16:39 | 1:06:39 | 1.050 | 1:09:59 | 5 | 5 | |
| 6 | 67205 | Aleta | Peterson 46 | Keith Brown | 13:16:54 | 1:06:54 | 1.047 | 1:10:03 | 6 | 6 | |
| 8 | 28908 | Tupelo Honey | Elan 40 | Gerard Sheridan | 1.035 | DNC | 8 = |
Race 4 - Started 6/1/08 - 14:00:00
| Points | Sail No | Boat | Type of Boat | Owner | Finish Time | Elapsed | Handicap | Corrected | Finishing Place | Comments | Points |
| 1 | 28900 | Scorpio | Wylie 42 | John Siegel | 15:17:55 | 1:17:55 | 1.098 | 1:25:33 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | 43690 | TNT | Custom Tripp 43 | Brad Copper | 15:18:48 | 1:18:48 | 1.168 | 1:32:02 | 2 | 2 | |
| 3 | 28908 | Tupelo Honey | Elan 40 | Gerard Sheridan | 15:28:58 | 1:28:58 | 1.035 | 1:32:05 | 3 | 3 | |
| 4 | 38407 | Phantom Mist | Beneteau 40.7 | Gary Massari | 15:27:48 | 1:27:48 | 1.050 | 1:32:11 | 4 | 4 | |
| 5 | 50444 | Hawkeye | IMX - 38 | Frank Morrow | 15:35:14 | 1:35:14 | 1.038 | 1:38:51 | 5 | 5 | |
| 8 | 67205 | Aleta | Peterson 46 | Keith Brown | 1.047 | DNF | 8 | ||||
| 8 | 50758 | White Dove | Beneteau 40.7 | Mike Garl | 1.051 | DNC | 8 |