Augie Diaz and Arnis Baltins win Walker Cup

Miami, FL (January 6, 2017) – Agonizingly light winds offered just one race for the 26 teams vying for the Walker Cup and Midwinters Championship on day two.

The race committee postponed ashore waiting for wind and finally around 13:30 a feeble southeasterly breeze filled in at 5 knots. The wind died throughout the race to less than 1 knot at the finish.

Paul Cayard and Josh Revkin had a good start and sailed well to lead at the first mark, but the wind was getting spotty on the first downwind leg and Augie Diaz and Arnis Baltins found good pressure off the the right side and moved from sixth to a close second. Cayard/ Revkin held the lead at the second windward mark with Diaz/ Baltins right in their tail but with a huge gap back to third by this time.

The wind dropped to 2 knots for the final run, and after just a quarter of the distance remaining to the finish, Diaz/ Baltins gybed away, again to the right, gaining a 60 degrees in his favor to win the race. Jack Jennings and Frithjof Kleen moved into second at the finish (but later retired), with Cayard/ Revkin barely grabbing third in the shifting and drifting wind.

Jennings/ Kleen retired after realizing they had rounded a vertical offset mark, which is new to the Star fleet, on the wrong side going downwind.

The results are now final for the Walker Cup, with the scores continuing to roll into the Midwinters.

Tomorrow’s forecast is for 12-15 knots from the South Southwest with stronger winds coming for the final day of racing on Sunday, January 8.

Results
1. Augie Diaz / Arnis Baltins , USA – 8 -2 -1 ; 11
2. Jim Buckingham / Craig Moss , USA – 5 -6 -6 ; 17
3. George Szabo / Roger Cheer , USA – 1 -5 -12 ; 18
4. Alberto Zanetti / Mark Strube , ARG – 14 -1 -7 ; 22
5. Paul Cayard / Josh Revkin , USA – 4 -15 -3 ; 22
6. Andrew Macdonald / Brad Nichol , USA – 9 -3 -10 ; 22
7. Brian Cramer / Cam Lymburner , CAN – 7 -7 -9 ; 23
8. Charles Buckingham / Austin Sperry , USA – 2 -11 -13 ; 26
9. Hubert Rauch / Edoardo Natucci , GER – 15 -9 -5 ; 29
10. Larry Whipple / Marc Pickel , USA – 6 -10 -14 ; 30
11. Jack Jennings / Frithjof Kleen , USA – 3 -4 -27 ; 34
12. Stuart Hebb / Mike Wolfs , USA – 16 -13 -8 ; 37
13. Jerry Wendt / Bryan Milne , CAN – 11 -12 -16 ; 39
14. Doug Smith / Eugenio Cingolani , USA – 18 -19 -4 ; 41
15. Allan Cullen / Dave Martin , CAN – 17 -8 -17 ; 42
16. Admar Gonzaga Neto / Figueiredo de Freitas Alexandre , BRA – 12 -14 -18 ; 44
17. Charles F. Kohlermann IV / Richard Burgess , USA – 10 -17 -20 ; 47
18. Stefan Lehnert / Dietmar Hobbie , GER – 13 -16 -23 ; 52
19. John Chiarella / Larry Scott , USA – 20 -21 -15 ; 56
20. John Hokanson / Paul Avery , USA – 26 -24 -11 ; 61
21. Shane Zwingelberg / Ed Morey , USA – 21 -22 -19 ; 62
22. Jason Veatch / Phil Toth , USA – 24 -18 -21 ; 63
23. Mike Phinney / Alex Baker , USA – 19 -20 -27 ; 66
24. Henrik Dannesboe / Jan Bonhoeffer , SUI – 22 -27 -22 ; 71
25. James Revkin / Chad Easley , USA – 25 -23 -27 ; 75
26. Aaron Smith / Tim Ostrander , USA – 23 -25 -27 ; 75

Event details – Scoreboard

Star Winter Series 2016-17
Nov 19-20, 2016 – Schoonmaker Cup (up to 5 races)
Dec 3-4, 2016 – Commodores Cup/District 20 Championship (up to 5 races)
Jan 5-6, 2017 – Walker Cup (up to 5 races)
Jan 5-8, 2017 – Star Midwinters (up to 8 races)
Feb 11-12, 2017 – Levin Cup (up to 5 races)

Scoring for the Star Winter Series: Points shall be determined from the finishing place at each regatta. The sum of the best three of the four weekend regattas plus the Midwinter regatta place multiplied times two will determine the winner of the Winter Series. Ties will be broken in favor of the best finish at the Midwinters.

Source: Scuttlebutt, Paul Cayard