Double Trouble wins 2013 HPR Nationals

San Francisco, CA (September 29, 2013) – It was touch and go today for the outcome of the 2013 HPR National Championship at the Rolex Big Boat Series. The fog in the morning was a preview of some pre-frontal warm air and clouds that would keep the normal westerly thermal from filling to its typical strength, so race managers scrambled to find the right place and time to get the class off on their tour of the Bay.

Accordingly, the start area was moved to the only area with any westerly breeze -west of Alcatraz – and delayed by nearly two hours while the other classes cleared the area. The move also shortened the race to only a Tour of only two hours duration.

Peter Krueger’s J/125 Double Trouble was in the lead in points, but only by two in a class that had Daniel Thielman’s R/P 44 Tai Kuai leading the first two days with others waiting closely in the wings. The superior light air speed of Don Payan’s MC 38 Whiplash would also come into play today, not to mention others in this class that could act as spoilers should the faster boats save their corrected time margins.

“We had to remember to sail our race and if we tried to sail somebody else’s race or somebody else’s boat that just doesn’t work,” said Krueger. “It gets down to basics: whoever makes less errors and has the best crew work. Our was fantastic, so everything went well.”

Tai Kuai was first across the line as usual, but the margins looked tight with the trailing boats, and when Whiplash crossed 3:21 later, it was good enough to take their first race victory in the series – by only 10 seconds! And with the silver-hulled Double Trouble sliding across the finish line at St Francis YC 2:54 later, Krueger’s team earned a 3rd place for the day, good enough for his team to take the win, and the title, by only one point.

“This is a huge win, not just because it’s the National Championship but also because Peter has won here the last two years but last year when he won in HPR, he wasn’t sailing against competition like a McConaghy 38 and a R/P 44,” said Brian Ledbetter, Double Trouble’s tactician and a Finn Olympic Silver Medalist from Seattle. “Sailing in HPR is like sailing in catamarans. Even if it’s a bad day out there you are ripping around the race course and having fun.”

Besides Krueger and Ledbetter, the 2013 HPR National Championship team includes: Andy McCormick, Jim Coburn, Tim Codrey, Rodney Hagebois, Chris Hackett, Garrit Greenlagh, Noah Weissich, JP Sirey, and James Clappier.

Final Results, 2013 HPR National Championship:

1. Double Trouble – J/125, Peter Krueger
2. Tai Kuai – R/P 44, Daniel Thielman
3. Resolute – J/125, Tim Fuller
4. Rock & Roll – Farr 400, Bermie Girod
5. Whiplash – MC 38, Don Payan
6. Hamachi – J/125, Greg Slyngstad
7. August Ice – J/125, Richard Ferris
8. Wicked – Farr 36 OD, Richard Courcier

For more information on the Rolex Big Boat Series, visit www.rolexbigboatseries.com, and for more details on race details and results, visit the Yacht Scoring event webpage at www.yachtscoring.com.

Dobbs Davis reporting.
Photo credit: Daniel Forster/Rolex, Double Trouble, 2013 HPR National Champions.