Tuesday, November 12, 2002

LEVESQUE, LENZ QUALIFY FOR TEAM RACING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

NEW ORLEANS -- One of the biggest upsets in recent team racing history took place this past weekend (Nov. 9-10) as the young team of Silver Panda, which includes 2000 Tufts graduate Carlos Lenz and current senior Pete Levesque,  knocked off two powerhouses of team-racing on their way to the 2002 Hinman trophy championship and a berth as USA-1 at the upcoming team-racing world championship.

Although several members of the Pandas had sailed together before, the team just started team-racing together this summer in a bid to win the championship. On their way to the championship, the Pandas fought off near certain elimination from one of last year's semifinalists (Longfellows), the 1999 Hinman champions (New York), and world championship silver medallists (Whishbone) to take the title. Former Jumbos Graeme Woodworth '97 and Tim Fallon '97 were members of a team that also qualified for the Worlds in New Zealand. There many other Tufts alums on teams in the regatta.

The format of this year's 14-team championship called for the fleet to be split into two seeded groups of seven teams. After initial round-robins in each group, the top three teams in each fleet advanced to the Gold fleet while the remaining eight teams were placed in the Silver fleet to dogfight for the last two spots in the quarterfinals. WHishbone looked up to form early on and went undefeated in their opening round. NYYC also looked strong, losing only to WHishbone on a controversial kinetics call. The Pandas squeaked their way into Gold fleet by winning a tiebreaker after going 3-3. In the other fleet, the English powerhouses New Forest Pirates looked strong only losing to the Longfellows. Amateur Hour performed well and went through to Gold. The third spot in the second group went to J. Naced who won a gigantic 4-way tiebreaker for third between themselves, Boston Longfellows, SYC Homeboys, and Spinnaker All-Stars.

Extremely close racing and a proliferation of umpire-initiated kinetics calls marked the first round. One major change to the event was the addition of umpire-initiated kinetics calls. This change was meant to mirror the umpiring at the forthcoming world championship, but it left competitors with mixed feelings. Supporters felt that the threat of umpire-initiated protests discouraged kinetics. Critics felt that it was against the self-policing spirit of sailing and team-racing to allow umpires to have such a large influence on the outcome of a race. Following a regatta wide discussion after the first round, the umpires altered the penalty for kinetics to be a 360 (rather than a 720).

The second round began in stronger breezes as the Gold fleet jockeyed for seeding positions in the final ladder and Silver fleet fought for the last two spots on the championship ladder. Whishbone continued their dominance, only losing one to Amateur Hour. The Pandas also looked strong also losing only one. Silver fleet was extremely competitive. Boston Longfellows managed to go undefeated after squeezing out some come-from-behind victories. Hot Southern Connection was the second team to make it through from Silver with only one loss.

The quarterfinals began with Whishbone dispatching of Hot Southern Connection in two races. New York was able to do the same to Amateur Hour. New Forest looked strong enough to win and took down J. Naced in two races. In the fourth quarterfinal, the Pandas squared off with the Longfellows in a series that would set the tone for the Pandas. After splitting the first two races, the Longfellows looked to have the third race under control with a 1-3-4 at the last leeward mark. While the Longfellows tried to convert the 1-2, the Pandas were able to escape and sail free to hit some windshifts. As the fleet converged on the finish, the Pandas somehow gained the upper-hand to walk away with the series victory.

The semifinals were smooth for Whishbone who dispatched of New Forest in three races (in a best of five series). Up to this point in the regatta, Whishbone had put in one of their more dominating performances with only one loss. In the other semifinal, the Pandas were in trouble. New York handily beat them in the first two races and looked poised for a rematch of the 1999 Hinman championship with Whishbone. The Pandas, however, had different ideas. They fought back by winning the next two races to tie the series. The final race would be the deciding race. New York rounded onto the run with a tight 1-2, but the Pandas sailed fast off the breeze and were able to convert to a 2-3-4 which they held to the finish.

The final began in breezy conditions with solid 20 knot puffs. Most already-eliminated competitors felt that it would be 3-0 Whishbone, but the Pandas had other ideas. The Pandas were able to open up a quick and easy 2-0 lead when Whishbone had boats flip in both of the two opening races. Having years of championship experience behind them, Whishbone were not about to give up. They battled back to tie the series at two races apiece. The final race would decide it all. Whishbone held strong and, like the Longfellows, rounded the last leeward mark with a dominant 1-2-4 advantage over the Pandas. Showing their mettle and refusal to give up, the Pandas clawed their way back into it.

First, the duo of Pat Hogan and Lenz made a leeward mark rounding that will hereby be referred to as THE rounding. Planing and surfing in 3 on the final reach, Hogan and Lenz were able take their momentum actually pass Whishbone's 1 and 2 boats with an incredible mark rounding. Back in the race, the Pandas 5 and 6 boats were able to sail free as Hogan/Lenz controlled two Whishbone boats. As the race converged to the finish, the combination was unclear and the boats were tight. Pandas had 1 and not last, so they were winning, but just barely. Pandas Colin Merrick and John Cline had control of the last Whishbone boat, Woodworth/Woodworth. Both boats were on port as a starboard tacker came across. Woodworth/Woodworth ducked down to give Merrick/Cline room to duck, but it was not enough room and Merrick/Cline ended up flipping. Throwing their protests flags from the bottom of their boat, Merrick/Cline asked the umpires for a call.

The umpires agreed and demanded circles from Woodworth/Woodworth. Since it took time for Merrick/Cline to right their boat, the umpires handed out additional circles the Woodworth/Woodworth to guarantee that Merrick/Cline would cross before them. With 1 and not last, the Pandas had sealed it. An incredible win built on top of incredible comebacks.

Silver Panda
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Pat Hogan/Carlos Lenz
Colin Merrick/John Cline
Pete Levesque/Liz Hall