Semi-Finals set at U.S. Match Racing Championship

San Francisco, CA (October 4, 2014) – Turnabout being fair play, match racing world champion Taylor Canfield is crewing for his sometime crew, Nathan Hollerbach, in the U.S. Match Racing Championship on San Francisco Bay, and so far, it’s working. From straight wins in Round Robin One to 4 out of 7 in Round Robin 2, Hollerbach will advance to Sunday’s Semifinals as high points skipper.

In what was easily the race of the day on Saturday, Hollerbach met second-place Dave Perry in the sixth flight. Scrappy would hardly describe it. Think close tacks up the cityfront against the current, close crosses, close calls leading eventually on the second beat to a side-by-side scraping collision—with a pretty loud bang. All the hails had been in order, but the umpires flagged Hollerbach for failing to give room. The outcome was a runaway win for Perry, but Hollerbach closed the round robins with 11 points to Perry’s 9 points.

Joining Hollerbach and Perry in advancing to the Semifinals on Sunday are (by unofficial count) Dave Dellenbaugh (8 points) and Russ Silvestri (8 points).

Hollerbach represents the powerful Chicago Match Race Center. Perry and Dellenbaugh both hail from the Pequot Yacht Club, Easton, Ct. Silvestri represents the St. Francis Yacht Club, which is hosting the event, scheduled to wrap on Sunday with Semifinals, Petit-Finals and Finals.

Saturday’s seabreeze was mild by community standards, 7-10 knots with one gust reported to 15, but October is a transitional season on San Francisco Bay, with the pressure differential moderating between a heated inland valley and a current-cooled ocean. Even so, the breeze filled through the Golden Gate at 1 pm, the default hour in local lore, and held to an evening finish as sundown reddened the hills to the west.

About the players, Hollerbach won the U.S. Match Racing Championship in 2003 (and his crew Taylor Canfield won in 2012). Dellenbaugh won in 2013, 2002, 1997, and 1984. Perry won in 2011, 2008, 2006 and 1982. Once a match racer, always a match racer.

Race report by Kimball Livingston. Photo by Chris Ray.

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