Mercury Championship Run in Challenging Conditions
Seventeen Mercurys raced for their class championship at Richmond Yacht Club on September 13-14. After a long delay on shore, PRO Fred Paxton got the fleet out for the first three races of this five-race series. John Ravizza, with crew Chris Boome, showed the same great speed that had helped John win the Huntington Regatta a month earlier. John was celebrating his birthday by leading all the way for a win in Race 1. The race was a single sausage with wind under 10 knots and a small chop. Race 2 was two times around, with the wind and seas increasing. Jim Bradley and Richie Burns had their best race of the series, leading around the second lap, only to lose to Chris Raab and Kenny Dair on the finish line.
Race 3 got underway late in the day, with the wind still holding around 10 knots. As the fleet reached the midway point on the run, the wind completely shut off. Chris Raab was leading at the time, but as the fleet bunched, everyone who was first became everyone who was last. Mike Burch with crew Greg Dair broke out of the pack on a small zephyr to take the lead. Mike attributed his success to his light-air telltales made from old Barry Manilow tapes. The fleet caught a tow back to RYC just as the sun was setting and the moon was rising. With three races in the books, Mike Burch, Chris Raab and Chris Messano were virtually tied for first place.
Saturday was a complete change in conditions. Fred Paxton had the fleet on the starting line early, hoping to get a race off before the wind got too strong. With wind of 18 knots and heavy seas, Chris Messano and crew Doug McLean took a big lead. Paxton could see the conditions were not favorable for Mercury racing. There were no major breakdowns, but a couple of boats returned to RYC. Unfortunately for Burch, a broken main halyard ended his day.
The RC went looking for lighter winds and smaller seas in Keller Cove, but before they could get a race off the wind started dying. Doing an excellent job searching out the best conditions, the race committee moved the fleet back to Southampton for the final race.
Dave West with crew Chris Krueger made good use of the left side of the race course and rounded the weather mark first, with class president Park Densmore and crew Tony Basso close behind. That’s the way it stayed for the second lap around this two-sausage course in winds of around 12 knots and reasonable seas (at least for Richmond). West went on to win, with Densmore second. Messano and Raab in third and fourth place were battling for the championship. To win, Messano needed to put a boat between them, which he almost did. But in the end Chris Raab and Kenny Dair took their seventh championship victory.
Winning the Jack and Jill Trophy for first male-and-female team was regatta chair Lyn Hines and his wife Odile. In the Silver fleet, newer members to the class, it was Chris Davis, fresh off a strong showing in the Millimeters Championship a week earlier, and Bob Shore. The fleet enjoyed racing with new members Charles McKenzie and Tony Chargin. It was also good to have Walter Smith and crew Peter Baldwin back in the class after taking time off to race Walter’s Cal 40 Redhead.
The race committee did a fantastic job in the most difficult of conditions, including everything from heavy winds and choppy seas to very light winds on smooth water. Five different boats won the five races, and the championship went down to the last 100 feet to the finish line in the final race. That is great Mercury racing!
Mark Phillipps from RYC shot video on the first day and photos on the second day. The following weekend, the Mercury fleet headed over to the St. Francis YC for the Joe Logan Regatta on September 21. John Ravizza and Chris Boome won with two firsts and a second in three races. Check out Chris Ray’s drone video here.