Star Winter Series gets underway

The 2021-2022 Star Winter Series got underway with the first of the five event schedule in which 17 teams competed in the Schoonmaker Cup on November 13-14 in Miami, FL.

The weather was forecast to be pretty flat on day one with a southerly sea breeze filling in shortly after noon. The Race Committee took the fleet out for an on-time start at 1130, and after a 45 minute postponement got a grace started in 5-6 knots of the predicted breeze.

The Southern California contingent from Newport Harbor, also known as Light Air Heaven, showed the fleet how it’s done as Jim Buckingham and Phil Toth won the race, with Andy MacDonald and Brad Nichol inches back, and local denizen Augie Diaz with Bruno Prada taking the 3rd.

Second race gave more of the same, oscillating breeze that hung in an axis of 180°, and anywhere from 4 to 8 knots. Once again, Buckingham and Toth took the bullet, with Scott Mason and Luke Lawrence posting the second. Race 3, which nobody thought was going to happen, was the best of the day, with Diaz and Prada winning by a ton, followed by Jud Smith and Guy Avalon in second with Buckingham and Toth in third.

Great weather scheduled for day two turned out to be a bust as 15 seconds before an on-time start, the wind took a 30° righty, finally dropped out totally, and while another 40° right shift prompted tempations but the fleet spoke to the Race Committee loud and clear, so AP over A was hoisted and the fleet towed in.

Details: https://yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=14748

Final Results
1. Jim Buckingham / Phil Toth , USA – 1 -1 -3 ; 5
2. Augie Diaz / Bruno Prada , USA – 3 -4 -1 ; 8
3. Scott Mason / Luke Lawrence , USA – 4 -2 -8 ; 14
4. Jud Smith / Guy Avalon , USA – 8 -8 -2 ; 18
5. Andy Macdonald / Brad Nichol , USA – 2 -11 -7 ; 20
6. Larry Whipple / Scott Ewing , USA – 7 -9 -4 ; 20
7. Bert Collins / Colin McLaughlin , USA – 9 -7 -5 ; 21
8. Peter Vessella / Phil Trinter , USA – 6 -6 -10 ; 22
9. Jack Jennings / Rob Shivor , USA – 5 -10 -9 ; 24
10. Jock Kohlhas / Arthur Anosov , USA – 11 -3 -11 ; 25
11. Alberto Zanetti / Lucas Altolaguirre , ARG – 12 -5 -12 ; 29
12. Scott Barnard / Craig Moss , USA – 14 -14 -6 ; 34
13. Josh Powell / Mark Strube , USA – 10 -13 -15 ; 38
14. Shane Zwingelberg / T C Belco , USA – 13 -17 -13 ; 43
15. Kevin McNeil / Jake Doyle , USA – 16 -12 -16 ; 44
16. Lars Ahlstrom , SWE – 15 -15 -14 ; 44
17. Zach Hansman / Luke Morton , USA – 17 -16 -17 ; 50

2021-22 Star Winter Series
Schoonmaker Cup – November 13-14, 2021. (up to 5 races)
Commodores Cup – December 4-5, 2021. (up to 5 races)
Levin Cup – January 8-9, 2022 (up to 5 races)
Walker Cup – February 10-11, 2022 (up to 5 races)
Star Mid-Winters – February 10-13, 2022. (includes Walker Cup, up to 8 races total).

SWS scoring: Only the best three Winter Series weekend regattas will count toward the SWS Championship. The Star Winter Series Champion will be the skipper with the lowest total score to be calculated as follows: The sum of the overall place in the Star Midwinters multiplied by 2, plus the lowest three scores from the four SWS weekend regattas. Series Championship ties will be decided by your place in Midwinters.