OCS penalties derail favorites at Lido 14 Nationals

Long Beach, CA (August 2, 2014) – For a while Saturday the 2014 Lido 14 National Class Championship at Alamitos Bay Yacht Club was building to a Sunday showdown between Chris Raab, who won Friday’s Qualification competition and two of Saturday’s fleet races, and young Christophe Killian, the defending champion who had three seconds before finishing first in Saturday’s sixth and final race.

It may still happen, but both would have to do it the hard way.

The drama changed critically when each returned to the dock moments at day’s end to learn they had been disqualified for jumping the start line in the last race—OCS (on course side) the penalty is called.

Both claimed they were not over early, but both of their appeals were denied by the race jury meeting them in closed hearings. They each had to eat penalties of 24 points, dropping them into fourth and sixth places before today’s last six scheduled races.

That left ABYC’s own Kevin Thomas and crew Amanda Wayne with a strlng of single digit finishes (5-9-4-1-8-2) and a three-point lead over ABYC’s Bruce Golison and crew Dina Corsi. Raab is now 10 points off the lead, four ahead of Killian.

It should be an interesting Sunday.

As for Thomas and Wayne, they were stunned to be on top, even if the latter is a chairperson of the event, as is Golison—and please don’t read anything into that.

“We learned about it when we got to the dock,” Wayne said. “It was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ ”

It was especially surprising to Thomas that it happened in very tricky light (mostly 5 knots) and shifty southeast breeze wafting over the small bay.

“We usually do better in bigger wind,” he said, “and this fleet is so deep in talent with all the world champions and the like.”

Killian said he knew he was over the line “with 30 seconds to go, but we took a quick dive and got back below the line before the start.”

Raab said, “I was behind [fellow ABYC member] Chuck Clay on his transom with Golison to weather, and he wasn’t over, either. I know to stay behind the line.”

Otherwise, despite the ugly conditions, the pair displayed the best action of the event with a fierce tacking duel toward the finish of Saturday’s third race. The veteran Raab, a four-time winner of this event, held off his 17-year-old rival to win by half a boat length.

Final racing Sunday will start at 11:30 a.m., conditions permitting.

The leaders (After 6 of 12 races; no discards)

Gold fleet (23 boats)
1. Kevin Thomas/Amanda Wayne, ABYC, 5-9-4-1-8-2, 29 points.
2. Bruce Golison/Dina Corsi, ABYC, 16-2-3-5-5-1, 32.
3. Mark Ryan/Sarah Schaupeter, ABYC/Leeway Sailing Center, 14-3-12-2-1-5, 37.
4. Chris Raab/Scott McKeiver, Newport Harbor YC/ABYC, 3-1-1-7-3-24/OCS, 39.

Silver fleet (22 boats)
1. Gabriel Ferramola/Melody Wong, 1-3-1-8-4-2, 31.
2. Bill Moore/Derrick Buczynski, ABYC, 4-12-3-6-1-1, 27.
3. Jeff Merrill/Pam Merrill, ABYC, 5-4-2-1-11-8, 31.

Event website: http://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=1123

Report and photo by Rich Roberts.