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Shields News Sail Information || Shields News || Shields Tuning Guide || Contact Shields Experts || Order
Report by Charlie Enright
After Fridays’ racing the teams enjoyed a fabulous dinner and, while some of the more seasoned veterans turned in for a good night’s rest, some other heartier (or less wise) sailors took to a night of fun and frivolity. I will plead the 5th on which way our team choose to go! Saturday dawned with stronger breezes which allowed the teams to finally stretch their legs and perhaps even hike a bit. Although the breeze was fresher the oscillations remained which made starting and hitting the first shift critical to finding a clear lane up the 1st beat. The Crocker/Weisenflueh team from Larchmont were able to do this batter than anyone else and had a terrific 2, 1 to pull them into 5th place overall. The Burton team had a 3rd in the final race to finish alone in 4th.The Clark team had a 3, 6 which was good enough to tie for 2nd but also just good enough to lose the tiebreaker and finish 3rd. This years’ runner-up is the Monk team as their 4, 7 last day proved to be just good enough to earn “bridesmaid” honors. The winner of the 44th National Championship, and now 2-time Champion, is Bill Berry and his team from Beverly, MA. Team Berry sailed fast and smart and their final scorecard (4, 1, (8), 5, 1, and 4) displayed a consistency that the other teams found difficult to match. Congratulations to Bill and the entire “SYRINX” team. Lastly, congratulations and thanks go to Tred Avon Yacht Club, Regatta Chair Peter Bailey, the members of Fleet #21, PRO Tot O’Mara and all the support staff and volunteers who made us all feel some welcome during the event.
For more information about the North winning sails, contact our Shields Experts!
Report by Will Welles The 2007 Shields Nationals were held August 15, 16, 17 and 18 in Newport R.I. The host club was the IDA Lewis yacht club and many great volunteers from the shields fleet 9 help make the event run smooth. The event kicked off with a practice race on Wednesday afternoon. The wind was blowing around 18 mph so many teams opted to stay on shore and save their equipment…..or so it seemed. We made it out for some of the practice starts and then the first beat of the practice race before we decided to get back to shore and save our equipment. Thursday morning brought us very light winds, and a brief postponement. Then Robin Wallace and his team made the decision to send us North of the Newport Bridge or “up the bay”. This turned out to be a stellar call by the race committee as we were able to run three great races in a light southwesterly. This turned out to be a long day on the water but a good one for sure. The fog came in at the end of the third race which made it interesting for some to get back to Newport! After day one it was Ultimate pressure 3 at the top of the score board with many of the Shields fleet top sailors close at it’s heals. Friday morning brought us a light westerly breeze so Robin and his team sent us “up the bay” again. They started us near halfway rock which put the weather mark just off the Northern tip of Jamestown Island. The first race Ultimate pressure 3 helmed by Peter Denton jumped out in front right off the start line and never looked back. The boat was perfectly tuned and the team took advantage of every shift. There was one other boat that made a mark on my mind that race and it was Ted Fischer and his team on #145, they made the most of the right hand side on the second beat and launched themselves into the front of the fleet. They had a great day and were leading by one point after the close of racing on day two. Day two was an interesting day which seemed to require patience and good boat speed. We sailed two races that day which left us with two more to sail on Saturday, as the race committee had seven races planned for the regatta. Saturday, brought us bigger breeze out of the west and it felt a lot like Fall. It appeared most people didn’t want to go out sailing that day as it seemed like it took for ever for the fleet to get out to the starting line that day. Eight boats decided not to put more hours on their sails and stay ashore and three boats had to retire due to equipment failure. It was exciting and maybe even a touch scary to be on a Shields this day! It was still a tight regatta at the top of the leader board and the winner was far from decided. The Race committee had decided to take us out to the “outside course” which was off beavertail. Believe it or not it was a bit lighter compared to inside the bay but the waves were bigger for sure. Bill Berry and his team from Marion Mass. Showed that they are kings in the breeze and waves winning both races. It was still a race between Peter Denton and Ted Fischer’s teams as they were tied going into the last race. Denton’s team controlled Fischer’s team up the first beat but lost them on the downwind leg as Fischer’s team did a superb job around the top mark and were able to jibe on to the favored jibe before Denton’s team. This put Fischer’s team winning the Nationals on the downwind leg. Denton’s team worked hard to get in front of them but it just wasn’t going to happen. Denton’s team decided to try and pull Fischer’s team back in the fleet to at least a 12th as we had not really sailed our “drop race” yet. This was the only way Denton’s team could win the Nationals and have Fischer’s team finish ahead of them in this final race of the regatta. It was a bit of an aggressive move as there were two other teams that were close enough to sour this plan. At the end of the day, this plan had worked and Denton’s team won the 2007 Shields National Championship. It was a great regatta, North Sails shields sail designs seemed to dominate the regatta. The race is a touch easier when you have speed on the race course! For more information about the North winning sails, contact our Shields Experts!
Report by Chuck Allen Congrats goes out to Bill Berry from the host club of Beverly (Marion, Mass.), who has been second and third too many times at this event. He and his team showed superior speed and tactics throughout the whole event! North Facts:
Top Five:
For more information about the North winning sails, contact our Shields Experts!
Report by Chuck Allen The 2005 Shields Nationals were held at Larchmont YC on Sept. 15-17th. North Sails customer Jonathon Pope repeated as champion after winning by 10 points. The first day was really light air seeing only one race completed, day two brought in a solid 16-20 knots-allowing the R/C to get in three great races and finally the last day was light again for the last scheduled race (they plan 5 races for The Shields Nationals). With a throw-out, Pope finished with a 2, 1, 2, 1-6points. We saw a tie for second between Kurt Weisenfluh and Bill Berry at 16 points, followed by Robin Monk and Reed Baer/John Burnham (both of which have won recent Shields Nationals). NORTH FACTS: The top five boats sailed with North Sails and 9 out of the top ten
used North Sails. For more information about the North winning sails, contact our Shields Experts!
Report by Chuck Allen North Sails takes 1, 2 and 3 again in Fleet 9-Newport! North Sails, once again, dominated The Shields Wednesday Night Series in Fleet 9. With 39 boats qualifying this year, the top three boats all sailed with North Sails! Peter Denton/Chuck Allen aboard (226) edged out Jamie Hilton/Tim Healy (217) by only two points. Only one point behind Hilton/Healy was John Burnham/Reed Baer (107). This season saw some of the closest racing ever with more individual boats winning races up and down the leaderboard, most of which used North Sails! The series is broken down into: Spring, Summer and Fall: taking the combined of all three seasons with the lowest score winning. For more information go to: www.shieldsfleet9.org or call Chuck Allen at 1-401-366-6010.
Report by Chuck Allen Edgartown, Mass. 1,2,3,4,5 powered by North! 9 out of top 10 powered by North! Arriving at EYC, the first thing they do is drop a cold six-pack on the boat-we had not even been on the dock yet. Right to measuring sails was the next task. They had four people measuring with all the marks in place on the floor, streamlining the whole procedure. Out to the mooring, where a safety equipment check boat come by with two guys in it and next thing you know we are completely registered and began fishing. I have to hand it to the EYC-they really made the “check-in” part of the event easy for all 30 boats. Wed-skippers meeting followed by three practice starts and a short practice race. We quickly found out how far Cow Bay was from the EYC-we missed the first start by about two minutes, but heard on the radio “245-over early”-Shoe. The line was very short for all the boats and many were over early each start, after it was all said and done 245/Shoe and the boys broke the record with three OCS’s. Finally, off to the practice race: The only way to race one of these is with your radio off. Were we over? We still do not know, but we won by a minute or so over the fleet. Theory: get in their heads early and let them know you are out there! Some cold brew at The EYC and a bunch of tall tales followed the day on the water. Thursday-We wake up to about 24 knots from the SE, the backside of a hurricane, borderline going out to race conditions. Anyway, we are off to Cow Bay again where we find the waves larger than anything 226 has seen. I’m glad they put the pump and buckets on the safety list, if you catch my drift! Race 1 is underway after a general recall and the show is all right with very large puffs shearing in. We found ourselves overlapped with 220 at the top mark (a common occurrence throughout the regatta). It became a two boat race until the last beat when the bolt holding the uppers and headstay aboard 226 sheared through the aluminum of the mast. You want to talk about sailing with headstay sag-try 4 feet in 26 knots. 220 went on to win and we limped into second followed by 224, 239, and 217. We dropped all sails and had to be towed in to have the rig pulled for inspection. The second race for the day was cancelled because of too much wind-we lucked out; it would have been a throw out. It is amazing what cash will do-we found a welder, actually an air conditioning guy that would work late for us. We had two plates welded on at the uppers, predrilled the holes and we were back in business. Everything was finished just before dock call the next morning, it could have been done earlier but The Patriots were playing so we skipped over to the local pub. Day 3 (last day of sailing) had the final two races scheduled. Another windy day, this time from the North-Northeast at about 18 knots with large waves dumping into Cow Bay. It was almost impossible to drive on port tack because you were pounding right into them. Two different lead settings were needed this day. 226 was to lead both races off the pin end (which was heavily favored all day) only to be caught by the regatta winner 220 in both races. 224 had a wonderful day of sailing with 2 and a 3, which moved them up into fourth overall. Bill Berry on 239 had a nice last race to secure third-they had good speed throughout the event for sure. The top ten went: 220, 226, 239, 224, 217, 107, 245, 150, 235 and 252. A nice showing by Fleet 9 with five out of the top ten! A very nice awards dinner followed that evening with The EYC pretty much maxed out with sailors. Jeff Randall (EYC Fleet Captain), The EYC Commodore, R/C Chair, Skip McGuire and others all spoke during dinner and handed out beautiful awards. This was followed by a 100’ walk to a local establishment for viewing of The Red Sox-wall to wall Shields Sailors ruled the night! The very last day, Sunday, was the perfect day for a tow to Falmouth. Team 226 with a hitchhiker (217) was in full tow mode: flat water, killer sun, bunch of beers and two fast Shields we were looking good. A warm reception again at MacDougall’s where the boats were hauled in minutes. The best thing about the regatta-no Cape traffic after Labor Day! Looking forward to Larchmont, NY for The 2005 Shields Nationals. For more information about the North winning sails, contact our Shields Experts!
2002 SHIELDS NATIONALS -
NORTH 1,2,4,5,6,7,8,9,10..
The 2002 Shields National Championships were held on September 11-14 at the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club in Oyster Bay, NY. 23 teams from Newport, Chicago, Buzzards Bay, Larchmont and Oyster Bay attended and were treated to a fabulous time and a professionally run event. John Burnham and Reed Baer and their Newport based team on "Grace" completed the 6 race (1 throwout) event with finishes of 1,2,(11),2,2,2 to beat Bill Berry and the team on "Syrinx" from Buzzards Bay by 7 points. Reg Willcocks and his team, sailing "Whistler", was the top local boat finishing fourth. These teams used all North Sails One Design Shields sails. The series featured all types of conditions as a wind storm blew through on Wednesday, measurement day, with gusts up to 60 mph! The next three race days saw the winds continue to diminish from 20-25 on Thursday down to around 10 on Saturday. The changing conditions put a premium on boatspeed and gear changing. As this years champion told us after the event:
John was not alone as 9 of the top 10 sailors in this years' Nationals chose North Sails One Design Shields sails for their inventories and used the North Sails tuning guide for top their top finishes. North Sails finishers:
For more information about the North winning sails, contact our Shields Experts!
2001 SHIELDS NATIONALS North Sails Aboard 8 of top 10 at Shields Nationals. Mixing great boatspeed with a dose of conservative tactics, Anthony Kotoun and Jerome Jordan guided No. 57 to victory at the 2001 Shields Class National Championship hosted by Ida Lewis Yacht Club and contested on Rhode Island Sound. North Sails nearly completed an unpresedented 1-10 sweep, with sails on 8 of the top 10 and 4 of the top 5. Jordan and Kotoun took delivery of a 2001 North Mainsail and gave this one particular sail quite a bit of credit for their win. "We needed a boat speed boost going into the Nationals, said Kotoun of Newport, R.I, " and the new main gave it to us". JohnBurnham placed third with a set of 2001 sails in his first year in the class. Peter Denton and Chuck Allen nearly pulled off the comeback of the event with a final four-race run of 1-1-1-2, but totaled 19 points and fell short of the top three after a poor first day. "Our sails and speed got us out of quite a few jams over the event" said Allen. "We just ran out of time". George Petrides and Reggie Willcocks from Seawanhaka, N.Y rounded out the top five, helping compile an amazingly successful run for North Sails customers. North's Shields Sails and tuning have always claimed great speed over
the entire range of conditions. The weather for the regatta brought
just that. The first day's light southerly was tricky, but the southwesterly
the last two days was typical Newport fall-time sailing conditions.After
the event, the North Sails Shields Team compiled their list of tweaks
for the 2002 sails, and also voted unanimously to start the Fall discounting
program earlier than in years past...a great chance for all to enjoy
National Championship speed next year at lower costs. 2001 SHIELDS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Final Standingsa after 6 of 6 scheduled races, including 1 throw out: 1. Jerome Jordan/Anthony Kotoun (Newport, RI) (6)-1-5-2-2-3-13 points
- North Sails* For more information on North Shields sails contact our Shields experts. * Partial inventory
2000 SHIELDS NATIONALS The 2000 Shields Class Nationals were held September 20-23 at the Larchmont Yacht Club in Larchmont, NY. While only 16 boats were able to attend, the racing conditions were fair and the racing for the top spot was very close.Thierry delaVillehuchet and Joe Schulz-Heik, of Larchmont, defended their title by 1 point over Bill Berry of Marion, MA. Both programs were powered by all-North Sails inventories. The delaVillehuchet/Sculz-Heik and the Berry teams were truly dominant. 6 races were completed and, after 1 drop race, the delaVillehuchet/Sculz-Heik team had 6 points while Berry's crew had only 7!!! That is a tight finish.
(1) Villehuchet/Schulz-Heik (Larchmont YC) 7 North Sails (2) Bill Berry (Beverly YC, Marion MA) 8 North Sails (3) Charles Schoemaker (Ida Lewis YC, Newport MA) 14 (4) Mike Carr (Larchmont YC) 17 North Sails (5) Fred Werblow (Larchmont YC) 19 North Sails (6) Skip McGuire (Larchmont YC) 20 North Sails (7) Bob & Fran Monro (Larchmont YC) 21 North Sails (8) Mark & Danielle Ames (Larchmont YC) 25 North Sails (9) George Gardner (Beverly YC, Marion MA) 35 (10) Roland Schulz (Larchmont YC) 37 North Sails
2000 NEWPORT MEMORIAL DAY REGATTA The Newport Memorial Day Regatta was held on May 27-28 out of SailNewport and run by Ida Lewis YC. Three classes, Etchells, J24's and Shields each completed 7 races. North Sails were on each of the winning boats in each division. Conditions were 4-10 on Sunday and 12-20 on Monday. Etchells - Bill Healy, with Brian Hayes and David Peck dominated the small 5 boat Etchells fleet with finishes of 1,1,2,1,1,3,1. Henry Spingler of Newport was 2nd. Sailing the boat for the first time, with the PC main and LM jib, we had very good all around speed and were exceptionally fast downwind with our Runner. J24 - Brad Read won this division with no race out of the top 4. 22 boats competed and Jens Hookensen, sailing with North Sails was 2nd. North Sails Tim Healy was 4th with his new boat. Tim got off to a slow start but got his program on track at the end to win the last 2 races. Shields - The Chuck Allen/Peter Denton Syndicate won the Sheilds Class over Ben Brayton/Andy Seagal's team. 3rd was Hilton/Anderson/Schumway. All the top 3 used all North inventories. For more information about the Newport Memorial Day Regatta, contact Chuck Allen or Brian Hayes.
For more information on Shields sails, contact the North Shields experts.
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Two words come to mind when thinking back on The 2004 Shields Nationals: Hospitality and Breeze. We knew it was going to a good event when we arrive to launch the 226 at MacDougall’s in Falmouth and the first guy we meet is Jeff Randall from EYC and he says “can I go get you guys some lunch” and we say “yes?” He drives out to pick up a bunch of sandwiches while we rig the boat-awesome. MacDougall’s does a great job getting everyone launched and off we go to EYC-11 miles away. We had a towboat come from Newport, which made things fairly easy. Sounds like 107/Burhnam could have used one too or at least a chart-ask him.
Day 2 was hooting in the morning but expected to slow up as the day went on. They sent us out to Cow Bay only to be told to sail to the beach and toss our anchors and wait for the conditions to become more manageable. Finally, we were told to come down to the line where Race 2 would get underway. Newport sailors had some groove on with 217 and 107 finishing out in the front followed by 220, 226 and 150 (from Chicago). Race 3 followed with some strong breeze- 226 got out to early lead and never looked back with 220, 107, 150 and 239 rounding out the top five. Wow the “another race flag” is up-a third race that day-yes! The conditions had to be like Buzzard’s Bay because 239 and 220 were way out front. 245/Shoe finished third with 224 and 217 rounding out. What a day of sailing everyone was saying back at the club. It looked like Ida Lewis YC that night with tons of Fleet 9 Members hanging around everywhere (they had come by Ferry)-then I found out there was a free Rum Party down the road-that explains it! The Slees had a bunch of booze sent out-great effort! 226 hosted a cookout after with some interesting characters attending-ask me next time…
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