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Herb McCormick profiles America’s Cup veteran Jack Sutphen, who continues to race competitively in San Diego’s Pacific Class sloop fleet. “First Beat” from our July 2, 2009, SW eNewsletter
Courtesy of Sailing World (www.sailingworld.com) - July 1, 2009

The year was 1929, and Jack Sutphen’s family had just moved from New Jersey to Larchmont, New York, a decision that was not sitting well with the matriarch of the clan. One can imagine that Larchmont wasn’t a laugh a minute, particularly after the stock-market crash in nearby Manhattan, and Mom wasn’t happy about that, or the fact that she had a long summer ahead of her minding her young son on a minute-to-minute basis. That’s when she spied the newspaper ad with the incredible deal.

The Larchmont YC was offering sailing lessons for kids, six days a week, all summer long. All you had to bring was your sandwich. It didn’t matter that neither Mr. or Mrs. Sutphen, nor young Jack, had ever been in a sailboat. It was six days a week! Just a sandwich! Jack Sutphen was going to become a sailor.And what a sailor he became.

Today, Jack Sutphen is 91 years old. He is sharp as a tack. His sailing resume is incredible, but the figure that stands out most is his participation in nine America’s Cup campaigns, seven with Dennis Conner, a feat that earned him induction in the America’s Cup Hall of Fame. He’s still racing sailboats, mostly his 31-foot Pacific Class (PC) sloop, as an ubiquitous member in good standing at the San Diego YC. And talk about coming full circle: He continues to knock around in a Herreshoff 12 ½, the same design in which he first set sail from the Larchmont YC all those years ago.On a visit to San Diego last month to do a print story for Sailing World on Dennis Conner, I had the chance to sit down with Sutphen for a long lunch to discuss his unique relationship with the legendary Cup skipper—as the helmsmen for the alternate boat in Conner’s two-boat programs, for many years he served as his sparring partner on a daily basis—and his own long and noteworthy sailing career, which happens to be ongoing. The week before my trip, Sutphen had nabbed a third in a 14-boat PC fleet, coming up short behind the class’s reigning world champ and some guy named Vince Brun.

Too bad for the other guys: “It’s kind of embarrassing when a 91-year-old beats you,” said Sutphen, with a well-earned smile.

As a youngster, sailing took a seat behind hockey, his first sporting love. He matriculated to Williams College and captained the freshman squad, but then World War II came along and he found himself in command of an 85-foot air/sea rescue boat for the Army Air Corps, a tour of duty mostly spent in the Gulf of Mexico. By that time he was also a married man, to Jean, whom he’d first laid eyes upon when she was winning every race at a swimming meet—”in a silk bathing suit,” Jack is quick to remember—at the age of 15. Their marriage lasted 61 years and produced two children.Jean’s gone now, but Jack’s still going strong. He even has a girlfriend. Well, sort of. “At 91, they’re not really girlfriends anymore,” he said. “They’re associates.”

For a decade after the war, Jack refereed NCAA college hockey games all over the east, even in Madison Square Garden. But he’d picked up a thing or two racing against the likes of Arthur Knapp back in Larchmont, and that experience led him to a job at the iconic sail loft of Ratsey & Lapthorn in City Island, New York. In that capacity he got his first taste of the America’s Cup, fashioning the sail inventory for Weatherly in the 1958 Cup series.

For the 1974 America’s Cup, he’d graduated from the loft to the boat, as the alternate skipper to Bob Bavier in the Courageous camp. Things were different back then.
“I think we were the last of the amateur crews,” said Jack. “We didn’t get paid anything other than shirts and socks and ties and jackets. We lived in Hammersmith Farm in Newport (the childhood home of Jackie Kennedy and the “summer White House” during her husband’s administration). Every night we ate at a huge table in jackets and ties. Can you imagine? Bavier used to play tennis in the mornings before going out to practice. That’s the honest truth. Can you imagine?

The summer went reasonably well until the very end, when Bavier and Suthpen were bounced off the boat in favor of Ted Hood and a young California hotshot named Conner. “I think (Dennis) felt bad about that,” said Sutphen. Whatever the reason, the uneasy incident would come to forge a surprising bond, for when Conner decided to launch his own campaign in 1980, he called upon Sutphen to join his team.
His stories of life with Dennis are endless and fascinating. “He really lived that ‘no excuse to lose’ credo,” said Sutphen. “As a sailor, he was ahead of his time. He might be the greatest ever.”

Sutphen was at Dennis’s side when the Cup was lost in 1983, and still riding shotgun when Stars & Stripes won it back in 1987, which he calls “the best campaign ever.” That year, Jack became leader of the infamous “Mushrooms,” the B Boat crew, so called because they were kept in the dark, could be canned anytime, and were fed a lot of, um, crap.

He has so many stories he could write a book, and in fact, he has. Messing About in Boats for 80 Years is the name, and within its pages is one illustrated anecdote after another about his rich life on the water. It can be ordered through the publisher at their website (www.classicyachtfoundation.org).If you find yourself at the San Diego YC there’s a good chance you’ll cross paths with Sutphen, and if you do so, say hello. It’s not every day that you get the opportunity to shake hands with someone in the Cup HOF. But think twice if you get an invitation to sail a PC race. After all, as the man correctly noted, it’s no fun getting schooled by a man in his nineties.

by Annie Gardner Nelson

Results:

( 15 ) Matches Completed                

Standings       Skipper           Wins   Losses             Points

1          Sally    Barkow           12        3                      12

2          Dave   Perry              4          11                    11

3          Chris   Nesbitt            8          7                      8

4          Annie  Nelson            6          9                      6

5          Bruce Stone  6          9          *5.5                 5.5

6          Casey  Schilling          2          13                    2

June 6 and 7th, Long Beach Yacht Club hosted the Butler Cup, a new event that combined a clinic and a double round robin which feeds into the prestigious Ficker Cup.   Annie Nelson skippered the SDYC team of Shala Lawrence, Julie Mitchell, Matt Brown, John Reiter, and Paul Terhaar to a 2nd place finish.  The Butler Cup was a fantastic regatta for our team who had never sailed together before, and coupled with the fact the men had no prior Catalina 37 experience, it was a steep learning curve for us as a team.  The team did a great job of supporting each other both on and off the water and rose to the occasion.  We studied notes, read manuals, watched videos and in general did as much homework as time would allow.

Friday eve was a 3 hour lecture by Dave Perry for those that could attend.  Saturday started at 8AM with more lecturing, followed at 11AM with fast paced drills with no room for delays or errors.  It definitely made us practice thinking fast. At 1:30 PM the racing began and Dave filmed, took notes, and came up alongside to critique.  It was the best coaching I have ever experienced.

Sunday morning Dave reviewed the video with examples of sail trim and what to do and not to do at starts, mark roundings, etc.  Then we raced and finished round robin one and two.  Our goal was to beat Chris Nesbitt who was so far undefeated, and to take 2nd place as he was in too strong of a lead to beat overall. We had not attended the first event in April where the teams who placed top 3 received points. 

We accomplished both goals and at the presentation they announced that we would be given an invitation to the prestigious grade 3 Ficker Cup.  I had goosebumps!

The Ficker Cup, a match racing championship, is named after the winning America’s Cup helmsman of Intrepid, Bill Ficker.  The event was held the following weekend  June 12,13 and 14th , also on Catalina 37’s.  In the early years of the Congressional Cup, LBYC had sail-offs, which gave the winner a slot in the upcoming Congressional Cup.  As the popularity of the event grew, sailors from all over the world were sent by their yacht clubs to vie for slots. The sail-off became known as the Pacific Coast Championship and was changed in 1980 to the Ficker Cup.

The good news is we felt like we were starting to know the boats but the bad news is we still had a ways to go to be at the same level and speed as some of the other well tuned teams.  However we came home, studied and reviewed and went back up there armed for more. And now we would be racing against Dave Perry as well as Olympian Sally Barkow with her all woman team, as well as teams from San Francisco and Balboa Yacht Club. I petitioned to have the Sailing Instructions changed to allow a weight limit per team instead of all-women teams being allowed 7 and anyone with a male on board having a limit of 6 persons. Pete Ives wasn’t ready for the change and it was denied. However, as the women were noticeably kicking everyone’s butts, the conversation came up again and once Pete learned that the World Tour allows a weight limit, not a gender limit, he was more open to changing rules for the Con Cup.  OK so my point is we were light and could have used the extra hands and weight but our team still did an amazing job of sailing these yachts with only 6.  You should have seen Julie jumping the halyard. Her 125 lbs would jump up and down with Paul tailing and our kite were up as fast as anyone’s!  She had to trip the pole herself, go forward and do the dip pole, jump down the hatch and gather the kite, and pack it. Everyone had jobs just as tough.

As Matt described it, most races you do about 8 tacks during the whole race. We would do 8 before it even started!  Then there were the tacking duels and we tended to gain, not lose in those. Everyone had to help each other and multi task, keeping an eye on their job but always looking out for each other as well.  And when something went wrong like almost shrimping, Paul was right there to pull the kite out and we hardly felt the speed drop. John probably never had to work so hard since the main is a bear and from prestart to the top mark it was a full time work out. Matt and Paul learned new techniques to work together and haul a jib in twice as fast and they were great at it.  Shala was my eyes on the course and worked hard at trying to help me make good decisions.  I did my best to do that and when we won, it was because we had a great crew and won the start. When we lost, it was my fault.  But I am grateful for the lessons learned, for you learn more from mistakes than the successes. All the starts and races were extremely close so the adrenaline was always flowing. We had our sweet moments of success. An example was going in the very first start on port and winning it against Sally, then leading around the course until she got what we later termed a Barkow puff and passed us on the downwind. But the best was racing against Dave Perry in the 1st round robin. We drew a foul on him going downwind, then went into a dial up with kites up, and drew 2 more fouls to give him a black flag. The coach DSQ’d? It was an OMG moment and I was almost embarrassed.  But pretty cool because it meant we had learned some tricks from him as well as from the SDYC clinics and racing in a few women’s championship events.

Like any regatta where you don’t win hands down, there are going to be things you wish you had done differently.   But we went into this with eyes wide open and knew it would be a great event as well as a superb learning platform with lessons that we could bring back to our club. And because most of us sail on different boats we will be sharing them with different people.

The new standard issue of SDYC Sailing Team shirts were perfect. We wore them on day1 and day 3 after a good wash. Also, Jeff Brown l et us use two J/80’s to train one day before Butler Cup. That really helped get us started with communication and timing. Having the new fleet of J/22’s at SDYC will be fantastic and we are all very psyched to practice and prepare for next year.

All of us on Team SDYC are very grateful for the opportunity to represent our yacht club and compete at such a high match racing level.  The match racing initiative that is taking place is extremely important to all of us and the men would probably not have been involved if it had not been for last summer’s clinics.

We look forward to sailing together again and will take the appropriate actions to train and be prepared for next year.

As the match racing pace picks up in Southern California, a SDYC team entered the Butler Cup, an ISAF Grade 5 match race event hosted by the Long Beach Yacht Club. This was a match race training platform with Dave Perry teaching sailors from up and down the coast everything from sail trim, to penalty turns.The Butler Cup is a feeder event for the prestigious Grade 3 Ficker Cup where Dave Perry will be competing against experienced world class competitors such as Sally Barkow and others.

The winner of the Ficker Cup goes on to compete in the Grade 1 Congressional Cup.

Winds were typical Long Beach ranging from 10 - 18, and sunny skies prevailed.

The crew consisted of Annie Nelson - skipper, Shala Lawrence - tactician, Jon Reiter - main trimmer, Matt Brown and Paul Terhaar - trimmers, Julie Mitchell - bow, and Kris Olzewski - pit.

It was the first time the team sailed together, but all had attended the SDYC clinics last summer. After 2 hours of intense drills on Saturday AM, we went straight into racing. Debriefs between races by Dave were great because after a day of match racing it’s difficult to remember what happened when so many incidences take place.

The lessons were constant and as a team we improved significantly as the day went on.

We won all our starboard entry races, and lost the port entries.

Day 2 we were up against Chris Nesbitt first, who so far was undefeated after racing in the first of the 2 part series (we did not attend) and won all his races on Saturday as well.

The goal was to give him a loss and we accomplished that with some very tactical moves and superb fights.

In the end we broke our pattern of losing port entries and managing to squeak into 2nd place with 6 wins and 4 losses.

At the trophy presentation it was announced that we were given an invitation to the Ficker Cup and that said, we are going to rest, read our notes, and get ready for the next level.

Thank you for your support!

Annie and the Team

by Will Stout

This year’s Rollins bowl was marked by a small but very competitive fleet, with a strong turnout of Olympic campaign veterans.   Cloudy, rainy, and cold weather did not make for a San Diego “Chamber of Commence” weekend, but both days of racing brought relatively consistent conditions that offered great racing. 

Saturday winds were WNW 8-12 kts with 10-15 degree oscillations.  Rodney Hagerbols, sailing Endeavor 2012, showed off his pure boatspeed and handedly won 2 of 3 races Saturday.  Will Stout raced Bennie Mitchell’s Bennie’s Speedracer to consistent second place finishes.  After taking the gun in the second race, Erik Lidecis’ Team Corinthian finished third for the day.  Ms. Ruth Rollins continued a yearly tradition in honor of Rollins Bowl namesake Chick Rollins on Saturday evening, hosting a fabulous dinner for the regatta sailors and supporters.  As in past years, Ms. Rollins served up more delicious food than even all the star sailors could eat.  

Sunday brought a lighter, more stable breeze, making for great boatspeed races.   Rodney Hagerbols again proved that speed kills, winning the first race and locking up the regatta with the throw-out.  Will Stout and Erik Lidecis started the last race tied, with Bennie’s Speedracer needing to gain one point on Team Corinthian to take second.  Dr. Lee Kellerhouse snuck in between Will and Eric after an intense tacking duel up the final beat of the last race, securing the second place finish for Bennie’s Speedracer.   

Many thanks to Dr. Kellerhouse for getting everyone out on the water for a great weekend of racing, and thank you to Ms. Rollins for hosting Saturday’s dinner.

Final results: 
1. Rodney Hagerbols and Conrad Brown, Endeavor 2012
2. Will Stout and Nico Landauer, Bennie’s Speedracer
3.  Erik Lidecis and Stephan Cohan, Team Corinthian

Sunday, June 7th from 11:30 AM - 5:30 PM
On the 65′ Sportfisher Sea Watch from Seaforth Sportfishing in Mission Bay.  Sponsored by Friends of Rollo and the San Diego Yacht Club Anglers.
Ages 7 - 17
Rods and Reels, Set Menu Lunch provided free of charge!

Please sign up by contacting the SDYC Front Desk at (619) 221-8400

May 16-17, 2009
by V/Comm. Bill Campbell

San Diego Yacht Club bested three teams from Southern California in the 96th running of the venerable Lipton Cup Regatta on May 16-17. San Diego was able to win the regatta as teams from Southwestern YC and Balboa YC both lost protests on the last day of racing taking them out of contention. Cortez Racing Association made up the fleet’s fourth entry, finishing third overall.

Saturday’s racing saw SDYC get off to a fast start by winning the first race. The winds were south/southwest from 3-6 knots, and with forty degree shifts throughout the day. It was easy to go from first to last and last to first at any time on the course. Balboa did just that in two of the races Saturday, coming from fourth to first to take the lead after day one by one point over SDYC.

Day two brought what was expected to be the typical go right westerly breeze at 5-9 knots. SWYC started off hot with a 1-2. A foul by BYC on SWYC at the start of the first race of the day resulted in BYC taking a penalty turn right off the line. Having started late, SDYC noted BYC did not do their penalty correctly. This would be the undoing of BYC, and cause for SWYC to protest and be successful in the room. CRA and SWYC continued to put on the pressure by sailing the first two of three races on Sunday in 1-2 combinations. So going into the seventh and final race, with BYC figured in as a probable DSQ, SDYC, CRA and BYC were tied with SWYC one point behind. The racing could not have been closer!

In the last race SWYC was able to get to the weather mark first, and lead around the first lap. BYC coming from last place once again, along with SDYC keeping pace, was able to put the pressure on at the last leeward mark where SWYC, BYC and SDYC were all overlapped, with CRA one length behind. Had the results been tabulated there, BYC would have won, SWYC would have been second and SDYC third, with CRA fourth. But it was determined that SWYC did not give room as required at the last leeward mark and was protested by BYC and disqualified from the race. SDYC made a move to pass BYC on the last windward leg to finish second in the race and win the regatta.

The SWYC race committee, headed by Wayne Coulon, did a great job in very trying conditions and got all seven races run in fine fashion. A world of thanks goes out to Southwestern YC for hosting a great event in the middle of their club house construction.

Team SDYC was skippered by Commodore Andy LaDow who did a great job steering the lumbering J-105 in light and lumpy conditions. Benny Mitchell did the mainsheet and tactics and provided the calming influence on board when things weren’t working out as expected. Chris Busch was trimmer and gave lots of great input on tactics. Vice Commodore Bill Campbell was in the pit and giving input from the weather rail. Kelly McKeown was mast man extraordinaire and provided a wealth of information on tuning and boat set up. Peter Burton did the bow and added his input on wind and waves as well. The attitude on the boat was to be conservative, let the other guys take themselves out if possible, and stay positive. Get clean starts and see how things sorted out up the course. And stay out of the protest room! The weather provided lots of opportunities for the crews to second guess themselves and give up at any time, but I am happy to say we were fortunate enough to guess correctly more often than not.

Special thanks goes to Sharon and Dennis Case for lending “Wings” to the Club for use by the team. Graham Kelly was instrumental in representing SDYC on the Lipton Cup Advisory Committee and coordinating the Club’s effort in its entirety.

SDYC looks forward to having next year’s Lipton Cup added to the sailing agenda and hosting what has become a very good event, though low in numbers, but where every boat has a chance to win going into the last race. What more can one ask for!

2009 Team Race Invitational
Newport Harbor Yacht Club
April 3-5, 2009

Nine teams from around the country traveled to Newport Beach for the 2009 Team Race Invitational, hosted by the Newport Harbor Yacht Club April 3^rd through 5^th.  The format was 4 on 4 team racing in Harbor 20’s and each race was fully umpired by on-the-water umpire staff.  The format was a double round robin followed by a final four bracket and all racing was sailed directly in front of the Newport Harbor Yacht Club which made for some great spectating.  Representing the SDYC team were skippers: Brian Stanford, Frank Tybor, Whit Bachelor, Tyler Pruett and corresponding crews: Steve Stewart, Joe Markee, Mandi Markee, Jimmy Richardson.

Wins in the first round were scored 1 point.  Defending champions, Southern Yacht Club, jumped out to an early lead and finished the first round robin undefeated.  The SDYC team had some very close races and finished with 4 wins but looked forward to the next round robin where each win counted as 2 points.The second round robin made for some great racing as all teams were more accustomed to the Harbor 20’s along with the 4 on 4 format.  The San Diego YC team had 4 wins in the second round and managed to beat Southern YC but was unable to beat New York YC in a do or die race that sent the winner to the final four bracket.

The matchup in the final four bracket was Newport Harbor YC versus New York YC and Southern YC versus St. Francis.  NYYC pulled off an upset and swept NHYC in a best of three first round.  Southern YC also advanced and faced NYYC in the finals where New York swept the defending champions to win the 2009 Baldwin M. Baldwin Trophy.

It was obvious that every competitor had a blast and a special thanks goes to the Newport Harbor Yacht Club who hosted a top-notch regatta.  Everyone on the San Diego team appreciated all the support from our Club and was thankful for representing SDYC at such a special event.

Final Results:
1^st      New York YC
2^nd     Southern YC
3^rd      Newport Harbor YC
4^th        St. Francis YC
5^th      San Diego YC
6^th      Southwestern YC
7^th      Balboa YC
8^th      Boston YC
9^th      Rochester YC

Sunday June 7, 2009 from 11:30 am to 6:00 pm is Kid’s Fishing Day.  Anglers ages 7-17 are welcome.  Adult volunteers are needed. Fishing will take place on board the Sea Watch from Seaforth Sportfishing.  We recommend bringing snacks. Please wear sun-protective and wind resistant clothing. Rental fishing rods will be provided or you can bring your own tackle. We will meet Sunday morning at Seaforth in Mission Bay at 11:30 a.m. Return time will be about 6 p.m.   Sign up at the SDYC front desk at or call 619-221-8400. 

The Angler’s Fleet invites you to participate in the First Annual White Seabass Benefit Tournament, May 23-24, 2009.

• One Day Family Format with low entry fee
• Fish for white seabass, halibut, yellowtail
• Special fly, junior, and kayak divisions
• Huge awards bbq and raffle/auction
• Tour the Hubbs marine laboratory
• Lots of categories with trophies galore
• Visit with exotic animals from Sea World
• Enter online at www.hswri.org

View the event poster here

A local dog is being called a hero today by San Diego Fire Officials after he alerted his owner that a neighbor’s house was on fire last Thursday, allowing the occupants to escape without injuries. Sandra Angel, the dog’s owner was sleeping soundly in her La Playa neighborhood home until about 2:30 a.m. She awoke when her dog began to paw at her bed insistently.

“My dog, Cabrillo came to my bedside very agitated,” Angel said. “He kept going to the window and coming back to the bed, then scratched at the mattress and tugged at my sleeve to make sure I got up. That’s when I smelled smoke. I got out of bed and saw a smoky haze with the glow of a fire from the house a few doors away.”

Sleeping tenants were roused and quickly urged out of the home while Angel alerted other neighbors, worried that elderly residents nearby would need more time to get out safely. “It’s scary when it happens in the middle of the night,” Angel said, “but you get focused pretty fast when you realize you might have just minutes to save a few precious belongings and get to safety.”

The fire’s hero is a Portuguese Water Dog named Cabrillo, a centuries-old breed loved by yachtsmen. Boating is in the blood of these animals, known for assisting fisherman with hauling nets, herding fish, retrieving items lost overboard and even swimming messages between boats in the days before radios. When fog rolled in, they sat on the bow listening and barking as a sort of primitive radar system. In fact the breed nearly became extinct in the 20^th century as modern electronics diminished fisherman’s need for the dogs. “He’s a smart dog, and you’re lucky he picked up on the danger” said Batallion Chief David Williams, expressing his appreciation for the dog and his owner’s quick action before the fire burned out of control.

Police are still investigating the cause of the fire which started in the attic at 438 Rosecrans, destroying the roof and some of the contents. Firefighters from Point Loma Station 22 and local Police responded quickly, preventing the fire from spreading to nearby homes. They remained at the scene for several hours.