Dave Franzel, Boston, as he approaches the windward mark on Saturday, Oct. 3 at the Sonar World Championship at Noroton YC. He beat second place Jud Smith, Marblehead, in a tie-breaker to become the 2009 Sonar Champion. Supplied image.
by Paul Barringer
With completion of the sixth race of the Sonar World Championship on Saturday, the one throw-out came into play and moved Dave Franzel of Boston into the slimmest of leads over Jud Smith of Marblehead. The two were tied at 26 points, but Franzel’s first place in the third race gives him the lead on the tie break.
So it all came down to the final races scheduled for Sunday. The 57-boat fleet floated around in a typical Long Island Sound calm for nearly four hours before race committee chairman Mark Murphy was able to set a line and get the fleet away in a light south westerly.
The east–going ebb had begun and the weather leg was directly uptide. As the wind faded it was obvious that no boat was going to make it to the first mark before the 45-minute time limit. So the score was unchanged and Dave Franzel became the 2009 Sonar World Champion. Sailing with Franzel were Greg Anthony, Todd Cooper and Conor Hayes.
Saturday had been another day of unreliable winds on Long Island Sound (or is that an oxymoron?) and only one race of the scheduled three was completed. That race was started in a 10 – 14 knot southerly, which shifted to the left nearly 30 degrees on the opening leg. If you got to the left early you were in the hunt; if you chose the right it was a very long race.
Neither of the two series leaders was in the top 10, but Franzel finished 11th and Smith 18th. Smith dropped his 18th, and Franzel dropped his 17th from the previous race and this brought them to the tie on points.
Karl Ziegler of Rowayton, Ct. moved from fourth to third, replacing the host Noroton Yacht Club’s Peter Galloway, who was saddled with an OCS penalty.
The wind had dropped to near zero by the end of the race and the ever-patient race committee, along with the 57 competing boats sat for nearly an hour until the wind got back up to 8 knots and another start was called.
Between the one minute signal and the start the wind swung 45 degrees to the left and 10 minutes into the contest, with the port tack boats laying the weather mark, two signals sounded the end of the race.
After another long wait racing was cancelled for the day when radar showed a line of thunder squalls descending on the race area. It was a good call, as the “squalls” produced plenty of thunder, lightning, very heavy rain and virtually no wind.
Final Scores – 2009 Sonar World Championship
1. Dave Franzel 26
2. Jud Smith 26
3. Karl Ziegler 36
4. Peter Galloway 40
5. Lee Morrison 50
6. Colin Gordon 52
7. Robert Wilber 52
8. Scott Harrison 64
9. Bob Monro 66
10. Bill Lynn 72
Sonar Worlds
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