MacCausland/ Trinter Win Star World Championship

San Diego, CA (September 6, 2013) – With the sixth and final race to decide the Qualcomm Star World Championship, only John MacCausland/ Phil Trinter (USA) or Xavier Rohart/ Serge Pulfer (FRA) had the scores to reach the title.

When the French team rounded the first weather mark second with the Americans in the thirties, there were just four more legs before the French skipper earned his third Star title. However, the wind conditions got light and squirrely on the second weather leg, and Rohart found himself sinking into the 20s.

With the Americans now deep into the fleet, the French team needed to finish fourth or better for the title. Their final position of 16th dropped them down to fourth overall, with MacCausland/ Trinter retiring from the race to relish their victory.

Final Standings (Top 10 of 66)
1. John MacCausland/ Phil Trinter (USA), 2-11-2-2-2-(67/ret), 19 points
2. Andrew Campbell/ John von Schwarz (USA), 3-19-(22)-4-1-1, 28
3. Mark Reynolds/ Hal Haenel (USA). 8-7-(61)-3-3-8, 29
4. Xavier Rohart/ Serge Pulfer (FRA), 6-(16)-1-1-7-16, 31
5. Brian Ledbetter/ Gregg Morton (USA), 9-1-3-6-20-(67/ret), 39
6. Augie Diaz/ Arnis Baltins (USA), 13-3-(33)-8-8-15, 47
7. George Szabo/ Craig Moss (USA), 7-6-4-5-26-(33), 48
8. Carl Buchan/ Jamie Buchan (USA), 12-(22)-9-18-6-5, 50
9. Vincent Brun/ Brian Terhaar (USA), 4-5-(41)-12-5-29, 55
10. Steven Fleckenstein/ Rob Mulder (CAN), 15-(25)-7-25-9-7, 63
Complete results

Full report…
John MacCausland and Phil Trinter steal the Qualcomm 2013 Star World Champion title and add their name to the 92 year old Star Class’ International Trophy. Andrew Campbell and John von Schwarz won their second race of the series today, and their second ever race at an International Star World Championship.

According to the local sailors, the trick to sailing in San Diego is to get a clear start, tack onto port as soon as possible and sail towards the right side of the course for about 30 minutes, then tack back onto starboard and head towards the windward mark. Today, that was not the case. In fact, it was exactly the opposite. Competitors were surprised to see some boats sail on the left side and round the windward mark in the front of the fleet. Today’s conditions were very unusual and yielded some interesting results throughout the fleet.

Augie Diaz and crew Arnis Baltins were able to position themselves well on the line and got a good start with speed and clear air. Diaz and Baltins rounded both the first windward mark and leeward mark in first place with the rest of the fleet close behind. After the fleet rounded the first leeward mark, the breeze began to die and became very spotty causing some frustration among the sailors and several position changes, some more dramatic than others.

For the remainder of the second upwind leg, there was a lack of breeze in the middle of the course and once again the breeze favored the left side. Campbell and von Schwarz were the first to reach the second weather mark in the dying breeze, with a large gap between them and the second boat. The breeze began to increase on the second downwind, giving Campbell and von Schwarz the ability to easily maintain their lead all the way to the finish.

Over the course of the Qualcomm 2013 Star World Championship, the Star fleet experienced some of the best, most difficult, and even uncommon conditions San Diego has to offer. The Race Committee did a phenomenal job adjusting the courses to ensure fair races for the sailors and the competition increased with each day. Several types of teams attended, such as family crews, juniors, women sailors, Continental and Hemisphere Champions, World Champions, and Olympic Champions. Among the series awards, the International Star Class gives prizes to different types of members that compete in its championships to celebrate the diversity among its members.

Classic Boat (under 7300 series)
USA 7209 Mark Buler and John Rudderham

Woman Sailors
1) USA 7621 Jessica Costa
2) FRA 7663 Nina Ariles

Junior Sailors (under 25 years of age)
Top Junior Skipper – Tomas Hornos
Top Junior Crew – Josh Revkin

Master (50 – 60 years of age)
John MacCausland and Phil Trinter

Grand Master (60 – 70 years of age)
Vince Brun and Brian Terhaar

Exalted Grand Master (70+ years of age)
Alessandro Pascolato and Magile Boening