Hot shots and weekend sailors alike gathered in Palm Beach for the first national championship held in the popular offshore one-design class.
The storm that left the Venezuelan tanker Mercedes high and dry on the posh Palm Beach waterfront also left in its wake the season's first major cold front to sweep through South Florida. This cold front offered the 11 teams present for the first Soverel 33 Nationals a variety of conditions. Winds gusted to 25 Knots with five-foot seas on the first two days, while light air and calm seas prevailed on the final day. This mix produced what class president and designer Mark Soverel termed a a "true, all-around class champion."
The Soverel 33 made its debut two years ago with the idea that it would be a speedy one-design that would also fare well in handicap racing. What Mark Soverel designed was a light, powerful yet controllable boat that demands of its crew the utmost in concentration. As a one-design, the Soverel 33 is a solid class with no drastic variations between boats. Each boat is limited to six sails; on main, three jibs and two spinnakers, with no restriction on materials. The deck layout is left to the owners' discretion, as is the choice of either an outboard or inboard engine. If the outboard is chosen, weight must be added to compensate during one-design competition.
So far the class has lived up to the designer's expectations, with between 45 and 50 boats already built and a new builder, Olson (Pacific Boats) on the West Coast, making two boats a month in addition to the boats already being built at Soverel Marine. As in any fledgling one-design class, the manufacturer has done the initial class organizing, hoping to give the class a momentum that will carry over to an independently run class association.
Soverel Marine's role as host, organizer, and race committee for this year's event was impressive considering the type of event and the location of the race course. Marks often had to be set out in the Gulf Stream in steep waves, fast current and deep water. Starboard Olympic triangles were sailed throughout the five-race series as northerly breezes kept the windward mark close to the lee shore of Palm Beach and the reach mark out in the Stream. Many competitors found themselves beating in so close to the shore that they had to battle the shore beak on the way back out.
In the heavy breezes that prevailed on the first two days, a high premium was placed on experience, as those who kept the boats under control did the best. Most crew sported either No. 2s or 3s and some boat carried a crew of 10, placing all the weight on the rail. With 10 people aboard a 33-footer, tacks often resembled a fire drill, Those who sailed the boat with only eight found that they could handle it just as effectively but also found they had to shorten sail much sooner. In the light air of the third day, those who started the regatta with 10 were at a distinct disadvantage as class rules also stipulate that a competitor must sail the entire series with the same number of bodies aboard (after the regatta, an amendment was made to the class rules allowing a crew of up to eight for one-design events).
In looking at the final tally, a direct correlation can be established between the amount of time spent in the boat and the success of the top finishers. First-place finisher Joey Blubaugh, who reveled in the heavy air of the first two days, has been sailing a Soverel 33 almost from its conception, as has third-place finisher and class designer Mark Soverel. Tom Lihan, who skippered Red Alert to second has been sailing a Soverel 33 on a regular weekend basis as has forth-place-finisher Morgan Reeser.
All races were very tight, as any one-design regatta should be, with a high premium placed on tactics and boat trim, instead of on differences between boats and sails. The 720 rule was implemented keeping protests to a minimum. A friendly rivalry, however, which dates back to their college days, was rekindled between Morgan Reeser and Tom Lihan when Reeser fouled Lihan, breaking Lihan's spinnaker pole in the process. Reeser did a 720, then protested Lihan for flying his spinnaker without a pole (the protest was later dropped). This type of friendly yet fierce competition prevails when evenly matched boats meet for an offshore one-design event.
1. Fortune Hunter / Joey Blubaugh, Miami, FL (11.5) 2. Red Alert / Joe Baloces, Tom Lihan. Fl. Lauderdale, FL (12.75) 3. Red Sled / Mike Ellis, Mark Soverel, Gold Hill, OR (15.75) 4. Totally Awesome / Peter Grimm, Bob Mullaney, Morgan Reeser, Ft. Lauderdale, FL (17.00) 5. Hellacious / Ken Johnson. Bryson Hall, Steve Benjamin, Norfolk, VA (17.75)
The Soverel 33 class' development is evidence of the growing interest in offshore one-designs both for the one-design racer who wants to move up to a larger boat and for the owner of a larger offshore racer who is discouraged by the different handicapping systems. One-design racing takes away the obsolescence factor and keeps down the skyrocketing cost of campaigning an offshore boat by putting limits on sails and equipment. Pockets of offshore one-design racing have sprang up around the nation with certain classes enjoying popularity in varied locals. On the East Coast, the Alberg 30, New York 36 and the "40 class" (comprised of the New York 40, C&C 40, and North American 40) as well as the J/29 and J/30 daw the biggest fleets. On the Great Lakes, the North American 40 and the Tartan Ten are the most popular while in the West, the Catalina 38, Olson 30, Hobie 33 and New York 36 control the action. Down south, the Soverel 33 and the J/35 are drawing enough competition on a weekend basis to have their own start. The desire to compete on a one-on-one basis instead of against the clock is the same thinking that has contributed to the incredible growth of the "mini offshore one-designs" such as the J/24, Express 27, Moore 24 and Merit 25.
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