The small boats dominated the 2003 Trans Erie Yacht Race, as Ted & Denise Wagner's Cal 29, Cal Girl, the smallest boat in the PHRF fleet, took Class F and overall honors, and small boats took the top three spots overall.
This year's race, the seventh annual, starting at Grosse Ile on Friday, August 22, saw 41 boats in eight classes fight through light air and shifting winds at the start. Starters included Ryan Howe's Formula 60 trimaran, Earth Voyager, which finished just before 9 am on Saturday morning, setting a new elapsed time West to East record, covering the 140 nautical mile course in 15 hours, 54 minutes, and 30 seconds.
The rest of the fleet was not so lucky. As the leaders approached the finish line off Erie, PA late Saturday afternoon, the wind shut off, then filled in from behind, allowing the small boats to catch up.
"We sat within a mile of the finish line for over two hours" said Kevin Lemonds, eventual PHRF A Class winner with his Henderson 30, Say Uncle. "We had no wind, and could see the boats moving in behind us".
"We knew we were in trouble" said Roger Pollack, co-owner with Matt Dubois of Racer X, an X ¾ tonner Mk II, sailing in PHRF C, " We could see these little dots on the horizon behind us, and they just kept getting bigger and bigger. Then we could see they all had spinnakers up and filled, while we sat there, with no wind." As the wind filled in, the committee boat had to scramble, as 12 boats crossed the finish line within 5 minutes.
"The entire fleet finished within about 4 hours of each other, which is very unusual for a long distance race" said race committee members Dick Robertson. "By the time the last boats were crossing the finish line, the wind was blowing over 25 knots".
Class winner in PHRF A, Say Uncle, was followed by Bill Bollin's Thompson 870, Stand Aside. In PHRF B, Insatiable, owned by Norman Silverman MD, took first, followed by Jerry Frabutt's J-33, Jazzy.
PHRF C saw the closest finish in Trans Erie Yacht Race history, as Richard and Susan Huelberg's Frers 33, Asylum, dueled it out at the finish line with Racer X. With both boats rating the same, the first boat across the line would win, and Asylum crossed the line 15 feet ahead for the first place, with Racer X in second.
In Class D, Bill Braun's Sabre 38, Horizon, was first, followed by John Greiner's Santana 35, Red Cloud. PHRF E saw Christian Wolford's Cal 33-1, Andicapp, take first, and third overall, followed by My Nickel, Craig Morris' Yamaha 33. In Class F, Cal Girl was followed by Cary Deihl's Ericson 32-2, Cary On, who took second overall.
The doublehanded class saw Dave Lattie's J-105, Patriot, take first, followed by Rob Shenzdowns's Grampian 26, Intrepid. The multihull class winner was the Corsair F-27, Conker, sailed by Phillip Wadsworth, who traveled from Annapolis, MD to participate in the race. Big Storm, Jim Fredrich's Corsair F-28 trimaran, followed in second.
The race, which alternates direction every year, was hosted by MORC International, in conjuction with Grosse Ile Yacht Club, and Erie Yacht Club.
In addition to the record by Earth Voyager, this year's race featured the debut of United Resin Corporation as the race sponsor. URC is a maker of specialty epoxies, which have applications in the marine industry.
For complete results, go to www.transerie.com.