Star Midwinters complete Winter Series

Miami, FL (January 12, 2020) – The final day of the Star Midwinters on Biscayne Bay received beautiful conditions, with a medium easterly breeze that built throughout the day to around 13 knots. After two more races, Jørgen Schönherr/ Markus Koy (DEN/GER) retained the lead they held from the first race to take the title.

The first upwind of the first race was so even, that it was difficult to tell where the winners would come from, making for extremely close racing. Schönherr and Koy led at mark one, yet three out of the top four teams rounded just behind them.

Arthur Anosov/ Andrey Shafranyuk (USA), who went into the day tied with Augie Diaz/ Henry Boening (USA/BRA) and Schönherr/ Koy (above), was further back in the fleet. Diaz and Boening showed good downwind speed, with the team driving well in the waves.

Schönherr and Diaz, were neck and neck by the end of the run, with Schönherr choosing the left gate and heading right upwind and Diaz choosing the right gate and playing the left side of the course. Light rain and building breeze mixed things up a bit for the second half of the race.

Diaz was ahead at the second windward mark and maintained the lead for the race win. After tough first leg, Anosov sailed fast and smart, sailing through the top of the fleet to finish fourth overall, keeping them within reach of the podium. John MacCausland/ Arnis Baltins (USA), who were only two points behind the leaders going into the day, finished in tenth place.

For Schönherr and Diaz, it was who beat who in the second and final race. Talking about their win, Schönherr remarked that, “We knew it was tight going into today with four boats separated by only two points. We had to perform in every single way.

“We did our very best to be conservative, but still not so conservative that we couldn’t make good start. The start was extremely important, without getting too close to any other competitors, but just getting a free lane. We knew that we had good speed, so with a good start, we would have a good change to control the situation.”

Schönherr and Koy stuck to their game plan and nailed the start of the final race. A little gun shy, because of the black flag, Diaz and Boening were slower getting off the line and not in a position to put their bow down and go fast forward. With the breeze up, Schönherr and Koy put the hammer down and arrived first at the windward mark.

MacCausland and Baltins found themselves up to speed again, rounding just behind them in second. On the downwind, Jack Jennings/ Pedro Trouche (USA) put their SSL style downwind technique into full gear, launching them to the front of the fleet. Diaz struggled in the traffic at the top of the beat and rounded behind the top pack in tenth. Diaz and Boening used their downwind speed to catch up to the front pack, but couldn’t get out of the middle to make more gains at the first leeward gate.

Jennings and Trouche maintained their lead to win race six. Schönherr and Koy finished only a few boat lengths behind. Diaz and Boening managed to climb back to sixth place, just behind Anasov and Shafranuk, ensuring the two teams second and third places respectively. MacCausland and Baltins finished third in the race, securing fourth place overall.

Finishing 31st, Bob Lippincott and Matt Rajacich (USA) won the under 30 award, while Diaz and Boening won the four-event Star Winter Series.

Racing for the Midwinters was January 9-12, with the winner from January 9-10 to earn the Walker Cup, and results from both events to be the final two stages of the 2019-2020 Winter Series.

Series information – Event details – Results

Final Results (Top 10 of 41 teams; 6 races)
1. Jørgen Schönherr / Markus Koy , DEN – 1 -6 -5 -3 -2 -2 ; 19
2. Augie Diaz / Henry Boening , USA – 4 -5 -4 -2 -1 -6 ; 22
3. Arthur Anosov / Andrey Shafranyuk , USA – 6 -2 -3 -4 -5 -5 ; 25
4. John MacCausland / Arnis Baltins , USA – 2 -9 -1 -5 -10 -3 ; 30
5. Jack Jennings / Pedro Trouche , USA – 42/DNC -1 -2 -1 -3 -1 ; 50
6. George Szabo / Kevin Heatherington-Young , USA – 5 -10 -6 -23 -4 -4 ; 52
7. Tom Lofstedt / Johan Tillander , SWE – 3 -4 -14 -21 -8 -7 ; 57
8. Andrew Macdonald / Brad Nichol , USA – 11 -8 -7 -9 -9 -14 ; 58
9. Jim Buckingham / Phil Toth , USA – 7 -11 -8 -10 -12 -10 ; 58
10. Ante Razmilovic / Brian Hammersley , GBR – 8 -12 -9 -11 -11 -8 ; 59

2019-2020 Winter Series schedule
Nov. 9-10 – Schoonmaker Cup
Dec. 7-8 – Commodore’s Cup
Jan 9-10 – Walker Cup
Jan 9-12 – Star Midwinters

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 your overall place in the Star Midwinters multiplied by 2, plus your lowest three scores from the four SWS weekend regattas. Series Championship ties will be decided by your place in Midwinters.

Source: Kathleen Tocke