Mad Dog Grabs the Gold

Russ Jellison Wins Rookie of the Year Trophy

Click here to see a table listing the complete results

Sixteen Ultimate 20s and their owner-drivers, plus two other U20 owners who came to crew, representing fifteen states, assembled in Little Rock, Arkansas for the 1999 Nationals on September 23-26, hosted by the Grande Maumelle Sailing Club. As promised, they encountered glorious weather, so beautiful that it was the subject of an editorial in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette a few days later which described Friday as

Friday morning as he walked to his own U20 which was still in its slip while the fleet began to head out from the harbor in a steady 8 knot breeze for the first race, and as he looked out at the brilliant blue sky, pristine green shoreline, mountains in the background, and at the largest gathering of Ultimate 20s in history, the Regatta Chairman's eyes momentarily went blurry—with tears of joy.

Unfortunately that chairman had also promised "a variety of wind conditions" (that's a verbatim quote from the official regatta brochure). And the "variety" included everything from a steady 15 knot northwesterly (on Wednesday, two days before the championship races began), to near-drifting conditions part of the time on Friday, to a 150 degree wind shift which caused the first race on Saturday to be abandoned near the end of its third leg, to the notorious Lake Maumelle southerly with its 20+ knot gusts and 60-90 degree shifts in the final race Saturday afternoon. As Chet Hight had warned us in his article about the winds on Lake Maumelle, in that southerly you didn't need a compass. Indeed, if you were near the middle of the course on a windward leg and weren't overstanding the mark at the time you knew you were on the wrong tack.

The unpredictable Ouachita Mountain winds and the balance of the competition this year produced by far the most suspenseful of the five Ultimate 20 Nationals so far. No boat took more than one bullet in the five-race series. Virtually every boat had at least one moment of glory in first place in one race or another. An average of fourth place in each race would have won the championship. More than half of the entrees were still in contention at the end of the first day. And five boats were within two points of third place going into the final race.

Chief Registrar Carole Martin checks in Karen Wilson as Richard Hunt waits his turn. Note the "deer in the headlights" look, which was frequent this week photo credit: Dick Martin

Scenes at the Annual Banquet      photo credits: Dale Handlin
Kevin Knight, David Crall, Lynne Randal, Robert Bilthouse and Allyson Young		You remembered to bring the awards, didn't you? Dick teases Carole while Kent admires the centerpiece.

Thus, when the sailors assembled for the Ultimate 20 Annual Banquet at The Little Rock Club on the top floor of a downtown skyscraper Friday evening, Cecil Griggs with nine points led Morrow by three and held a seemingly comfortable lead over a pack of six  boats which were clustered between 16 and 19 points. But, like the Phantom at the Paris Opera House Gala, the U20 First Day Leader Jinx was spotted lurking ominously among the crowd during the festivities. Highlights of the banquet were roast tenderloin Madagascar, flower arrangements and a centerpiece which carried out the theme of "Go For the Gold," and presentations of a commemorative plaque to GMSC's Commodore, Bill Brierley, for hosting us this year, and a special award to our outgoing president, Kent Morrow, recognizing his two years of outstanding leadership of the class. Other awards, donated by corporate sponsors Harken and Ullman Sails, were presented to the Road Warriors of the Year who had traveled the longest distances (Morrow, and Clifton Odom who flew from San Diego to crew) and to the second largest and largest state delegations, Ohio (2 boats) and Texas (3 boats) respectively.

At the Annual Meeting Saturday morning Charlie Cushing was elected President of the class association, with Clifton Odom Vice-President, Pat Woodham Secretary-Treasurer, and Kent Morrow Chief Measurer. The current state of the class and the choice of a site for the 2000 Nationals were discussed while everyone anxiously watched a steady eight knot breeze fill in tantalizingly from the ideal direction on Lake Maumelle, the east. Race four (of the five scheduled) got started on schedule, just as clouds appeared on the southwestern horizon and the easterly began to act squirrelly. Sure enough, the wind began to shift to the south as the lead boats were on the second leg of an Olympic course, and a further shift made the second reaching leg a tight reach and then a beat. To the dismay of the leaders, the Race Committee abandoned the race and awaited the arrival of the day's predicted southwesterly. (Overall, the GMSC Race Committee headed by Carl Garner met the challenge of the shifty wind magnificently, changing course headings just often enough as dictated by persistent shifts, setting near-perfect starting lines for every race, and doing a thoroughly professional job of race management.)

The Phantom's jinx struck when the starting gun sounded for the restart of race four ... and Griggs was over early. Lainie and Marsh Pardey and Doug DuBois led most of the way to pull eUphoria from sixth place on Friday to second, four points off of the lead. David Crall and Pandemonium from Loveland, Ohio took second, while Mad Dog took command of the series by coming in third. A fourth place finish put 1998 Southeast District champion Whirligig among the contenders, and Dale Handlin from Houston in Unruly took fifth. After returning to restart, Griggs was forced to gamble on shifts that repeatedly went the wrong way and #126 finished next to last.

So the stage was set for the dramatic final battle between Mad Dog and eUphoria, with the rest of the fleet hoping for miracles and realistically resigned to fighting it out for the third place trophy. While the southerly built to 10-15 knots with occasional transient gusts to over 20 and became even more shifty, it seemed that the Phantom must have established permanent residence on unlucky #126, as Griggs was again over early at the start. Your reporter was having too much fun and was too busy trying to play the gusts and shifts himself to observe other boats until the final leg, and we will have to wait for reports from other sailors to learn how Mad Dog and eUphoria reached the last leeward mark of the long Olympic course in about second and fifth respectively. Dick Martin and his long-time regular crew member Pat Ferguson and last-minute replacement/ GMSC J/80 sailor Bob Edmonds finally got themselves dialed in, rounded the last mark in fourth, went left where BigBird and Antics found better pressure and a persistent 30 degree shift that put them near the port layline for most of the leg, and crossed the finish first, with Corey second and Hunt, who had led at the leeward mark, third. For the third straight time Whirligig sailed a consistent race to take fourth. 

Meanwhile, in the real race for the gold, Morrow chose the right side of the last windward leg and failed to cover when Martin and Corey, followed by Hunt and the other leaders, including the Pardeys, tacked toward the left. eUphoria could scramble up to no better than fifth at the finish, however, and Mad Dog's sixth place was good enough to win Kent and Gina Morrow and Fred Abelman the national championship they have worked so hard for and so richly deserve.

In addition to the customary trophies, which went five deep for the first time this year, many special awards were presented in the late afternoon shade on the GMSC deck about an hour after the boats had returned to the harbor (computer printouts of the final results were already waiting in the pavilion when the fleet docked, courtesy of Chief Judge Max Mehlburger). An award for the top family crew was presented to Bill and Jan Minardi from Madison, Wisconsin and their son Mike. The Minardis also received a waterproof sailing notepad in recognition of their performance while intentionally capsizing Kije between races to retrieve a stray halyard. Every skipper and many crew members received at least one award. The "Inspector Clouseau Award" was inaugurated to honor the skipper whose boat proved to have the most deficiencies during the Thursday inspection. There was a four way tie this year, and the winner on a tie-breaker (who was the last one to present proof that his deficiencies had been corrected) was our new Chief Measurer, Inspector Kent Morrow. 

Another tradition was established this year, to reward the best performance among the relatively inexperienced skippers in the fleet. This year, skippers with a SALT score of 3 or less (roughly: those who, in any class or handicap racing have won no more than one local club regatta or have finished no higher than fourth in regattas involving boats from more than one region) were eligible, and seven qualified for the "Rookie of the Year" Trophy, a laser engraved walnut plaque. The battle for that trophy was even closer than the one for the overall championship, as Russ Jellison won a tie breaker from David Crall, with Dale Handlin finishing third. A new perpetual trophy will be established to recognize the "silver fleet" champion each year from now on, and next year's Nationals logo can say, "go for the silver and gold."

Each of the top five skippers and crew were awarded polo shirts specially embroidered with a silhouette of a U20 and their place in the regatta, and skippers received a plaque shaped like the state of Arkansas with a reproduction of the 1999 Nationals logo (shown at the top of this page). Fifth place overall went to new class president, Charlie Cushing, his wife, Lynne Randall, and Robert Bilthouse. Don Corey, Allyson Young and Clint Milner took fourth and the Martin/ Ferguson/Edmonds team took third. The silver polo shirts for finishing second went to the Pardeys and Doug DuBois. And the gold shirts, emblematic of winning the gold, will be worn by Kent, Gina and Fred, the crew of the 1999 National Champion, Mad Dog. 

Trophy presentations on the GMSC deck    photo credits: Dale Handlin
Doug and Marsh hold their silver shirts while Lainie gets a hug		Gina and Fred hold a gold shirt and the keeper championship trophy as Kent collects the USI perpetual trophy

After presenting the Mad Dog team with the magnificent USI perpetual trophy, past-champion Dick Martin established a new class tradition by giving the new champion a pair of gold bars to replace the bars under the U20 on Mad Dog's sail logo. Post-ceremony partying among GMSC members and some U20 sailors went on well into the twilight, while other sailors packed up their boats and began the long trek for home. And, as the last guests left and the sun set behind the Ouachitas, Carole and Dick Martin found some wine and cheese left over from Thursday, pulled up a bench on the GMSC deck, and relaxed for the first time in two months.