Schock 35 Racing News

"...one of the toughest amateur one-design fleets in the country" Rich Roberts, The Log, October 2001 Join the fun - race a Schock 35!!!

It has been another fun and exciting year in the Schock 35 fleet. After six hard fought regattas, this year’s High Point Championship Series flipped-flopped back and forth like a light day in Marina del Rey.

Sunday at Midwinters, the fleet contended with a leeward mark set in the middle of a lobster pot mine field that included a mooring can with an oil rig tender tied up to it. Code Blue finished in First Place for the first Schock 35 High Point Championship Series.

Then there was Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club’s One Design Weekend in Hurricane Gulch were the fleet saw winds in the 30 knot range. In the past five years, I am not aware of any more carnage or man over boards than during this Schock 35 High Point race. Both Power Play and Strategem lost crew over the side but were able to recover all safely. MAKO hung onto first place with three first and a second claiming the number one spot for the second Schock 35 High Point Championship Series.

At Yachting Cup, all boats fought the kelp wars off the beaches of Tijuana. Unfortunately, team JoAnn dropping out of Sunday’s race after hitting submerged debris in San Diego Harbor which caused damage to the keel. Regatta outcome…Code Blue won Yachting Cup. However, MAKO still held onto the number one spot after the third Schock 35 High Point Championship Series.

During Cal Race Week, the fleet saw JoAnn come back after major repair to finish first with five 1^st places and a 2^nd. After the fourth Schock 35 High Point Championship Series, it became a three way tie with 12 points between Code Blue, JoAnn and MAKO.

Long Beach Race Week, JoAnn once again showing their dominance with four 1^st places and two 2^nd places and a 4^th to win the Pacific Coast Championship and moved into first place after the fifth Schock 35 High Point Championship Series.

At South Coast Corinthian Yacht Club’s One Design Weekend, the fleet witnessed Power Play proving, once again, they cannot be counted out. With three 1^st place finishes and two 3^rd places, Power Play earned their first 1^st place in 2008 with a first place finish for the sixth and final Schock 35 High Point Championship Series.

Only one point separated each of the top four boats and with two boats tied for third for the Season High Point Championship, Code Blue, JoAnn, MAKO and Power Play. A congratulation to this year’s Schock 35 High Point Champions Bob Marcus and Bruce Bennett and the crew of CODE BLUE with 10 points.

Nationals exhibited tight racing all around the course at every mark rounding and at the finishes. MAKO finished Friday in first place with 6 points. Code Blue (7 points) and JoAnn (8 points) were right on their stern. Power Play, Voodoo Doll and Perfect Circle were bunched in the middle and Stratagem and Veloce were slugging it out in the back of the fleet.

Saturday, Code Blue claimed the #1 spot with 13 points followed by JoAnn with 15 points and MAKO fell back with 21 points. There was a three way tie with 27 points between Perfect Circle, Power Play and Voodoo Doll. Stratagem and Veloce were still slugging it out.

Sunday, our final day of racing, Code Blue had the best plan and that was to stay away and sail clean. That is what they did. The Nationals finished with Veloce at 59 points, Stratagem at 57 Points, and Voodoo Doll at 38 Points. There was a two way tie at 32 points for 4^th and 5^th place between Power Play and Perfect Circle with Perfect Circle winning the tie breaker. The same thing happened for 2nd and 3rd place between MAKO and JoAnn with 25 points and MAKO won the tie breaker. First place was well earned by Code Blue with 20 points, congratulations.

The Schock fleet would like to thank Long Beach Yacht Club’s staff, Water Front Director Rick Roberts, General Manager Luis Izurieta, Friday and Saturday's PRO Jerry Leth and Sunday's PRO, Commodore Bobby Frazier, and the rest of the race committee.

For the third year in a row, it was not the exciting racing at Nationals that the competitors are anticipating… It is the tight, heart-stopping match racing at its finest with the Gutter Regatta. Each Schock team decorates and loudly campaigns for its favorite model boat. 2008 Best Of Show was awarded to MAKO. Now the real racing of the weekend began with elimination flights. Voodoo Doll – 1^st, Veloce – 2^nd, Team JoAnn – 3^rd.

Rookie Of The Year Award went to Joe Braun of Shaman for competing at Yachting Cup. We hope to get Joe and a few other boats from San Diego to participate in 2009.

The Good Guy Award went to Steve Murphy for his help and guidance that he offers to our fleet.

The Wooden Spoon Award was handed off to Fred Young of Perfect Circle. We have never seen someone try so hard to get his name on this Perpetual Trophy. Every year, Fred nominates himself. Well, this year he went above and beyond. He actually threw a race to get his name on the trophy. It was not just any race; he was in first place of the first race at Nationals and decided to go around the course one more time by rounding the leeward mark again rather than cross the downwind finish line.

With the Newport to Ensenada race being followed days later by the Leukemia and Yachting Cups, the past couple of weeks have been very busy for many of the Schock 35 fleet. For most of the skippers, this means traveling their boats well out of the “quick trip to grab something I forgot” range of their home ports. With two completely different styles of regatta, the skippers needed to prep accordingly.

This year, Newport to Ensenada saw six Schocks entered into PHRF E class (formerly known affectionately as the 72 class, but now inclusive of the 75 raters as well). PHRF E included fleet regulars MAKO, Power Play, Strategem and Voodoo Doll. Main Squeeze, a Ventura boat, participated this year and it is possible its crew has been convinced to come and participate in some High Point regattas! Bully, a San Diego boat, did the race as well.

Sparkle, skipper his first Ensenada on Power Play and having very little experience with the race, was heard to remark, “even a blind squirrel gets a nut sometimes...” Power Play emerged with the Bill Schock trophy, after a slow start with inconsistent breeze throughout the night.

There was no “right” choice of inside or outside this year as demonstrated by the finish times and aided by pure luck. Mid afternoon on Saturday, Voodoo Doll was a mere 20 minutes behind Power Play and had the red chute in sight. After the wind died completely in the bay, it was close to six long hours of staring at the Race Committee before Voodoo Doll finished. Voodoo Doll’s pickup crew from Hawaii, Dee Darby, was a little less than enthused with the light air, but serenading her boyfriend Rick (see MAKO below) with a happy birthday song and totally embarrassing him before the start, more than made up for it.

MAKO skipper, Dave Michaelis, commented, “Our guest pickup crew from Hawaii, Rick Osborne, was a great asset to our team although the light winds and swell seem to frustrate him. We had a great clam chowder for dinner that co-captain Ron Wood prepared and a delicious egg casserole that Edie Bush made for breakfast. So hey, guess what? The oven on MAKO works!”

MAKO also found themselves off Salsapuedes, “after much frustration, we preceded to short-tack the beach using our depth gauge and tacking at 10 feet at the beach. We had a 100 yard wind line to work our way out. It took us an hour and a half to work our way out of that bay. We later found out what the name of that bay means. It translates to ‘Get out, if you can!’ We managed to get to the finish line by 5:00 PM after sitting there looking at it for three and a half hours.” Voodoo Doll’s crew could have warned MAKO after last year to stay out of there!

Finishing late Saturday evening, Strategem finished out the pack. All Schock owners and crew were in attendance for the awards and party on Sunday at Bahia. Sparkle wore the sombrero well. All the boats made it to San Diego, though not all under their own power, and preparations for Yachting Cup were underway.

Leukemia Cup was held on the Friday afternoon before Yachting Cup and its goal is to raise a lot of money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Voodoo Doll was the only Schock to participate. With the money Kim and her crew raised, they managed to “buy” a favorable rating up to 81.5. How great, considering Voodoo Doll was the smallest and slowest boat in the B class start. The breeze died from nearly 20 kts to less than 10 at the start and by the weather mark, it was negligible. Racing in the Back Bay was fun, and on the water jokes with other (bigger, much bigger) boats added some spice to the day. Voodoo Doll finished 4th in the class and had a blast. More importantly, they raised nearly $1,500 for the Society. They are more proud of that, than anything else.

Yachting Cup started on Saturday morning with the long trek out to the South Roads course, (otherwise known as “Nearly In Ensenada”). Having Fleet Week at the Naval Station meant that the racers were allowed limited routes out of the harbor on Saturday morning. Being sandwiched between massive kelp paddies and the machine gun carrying protectors did not excite anyone either.

After two races, it was a three-way tie for first place between Code Blue, Power Play and Voodoo Doll. With a strong swell and light breeze, keeping the boat powered up was key to doing well. Prior to the first race, Voodoo Doll’s conversation with local Ben Mitchell included advice about going left whenever possible, since it usually pays off.

Sunday morning, JoAnn jumped out for a head start to the race course, only to return, to Team JoAnn’s disappointment, almost immediately.

Unfortunately, on the way to the “battlefield” on Sunday, JoAnn was motoring at 6 knots when it came in contact with an unidentified submerged object across from the Submarine Base. Yes, a sailboat CAN stop on a dime. NO, IT WAS NOT A SUBMARINE. However, the possibility of a submarine was discussed but quickly dismissed.

Triage was quickly set up to check for injuries (only minor – everyone on JoAnn thanked their lucky stars that they were seeing at the time), the floor boards where pulled and damage was assisted as JoAnn headed back to SDYC in search of a diver. Upon evaluation, there appeared to be keel damage. Good news, JoAnn will be back in the water in time for Cal Race Week.

Going left proved to be the right thing to do, even if only a couple of boats were willing to split from the pack and try heading to Mexico on the beat. Strategem pulled another bullet on Sunday using this method and everyone in the fleet was delighted for them. With two bullets in two days, Mark’s team certainly has shown their potential. If they can get that pesky engine problem fixed, they might be on their way to CRW under their own power!

MAKO also chose the “go left” strategy on the last race Sunday, and made up tremendous ground on the fleet. However, they will most likely be using Yachting Cup as their season throw out.

Bruce Bennett, Code Blue co-owner, stated, “Racing was closer than scores showed. Weather was great. Those that read the current correctly got rewarded.” These words were apparently true since Code Blue finished the regatta in first place.

By the end of the regatta, Code Blue came out the overall winner. Power Play was again in second, a spot they seem to have settled into over the last year or so when they are not beating everyone up trying to nail down first, followed by Voodoo Doll in third.

“What can I say, Kim asked if I would let her beat me at Yachting Cup. I told her I would think about it. So I let her beat me and when I reminded her of our conversation in Mexico, she stated that it didn't work the way she wanted it to. She wanted to get first and MAKO to get second. Typical female. Sorry Kim, you didn't tell me that part of it. So no more Mister Nice Guy. MAKO is out for the win for the rest of the season. Congratulations to Voodoo Doll on their first podium finish in the Schock 35 Fleet High Point Regatta”, Dave added.

Shaman, a San Diego boat, came out to participate in the regatta and all were delighted to have them on the course with us. Perhaps someone can persuade Joe to bring the boat up for either CRW or LBRW -- it would be GREAT to have both them and Main Squeeze on the line with us!

Team JoAnn had this to add, “Team JoAnn wishes to congratulate Code Blue on an outstanding and consistently raced regatta. Also, a loud “cheer” was shared by Team JoAnn for Strategem’s two first place finishes. Way to go, Mark and the Crew of Strategem.”

CBYC's Spring One Design Regatta turned out to be a handful for the Schock fleet, participating in the second High Point of the season. Keeping the boat racing on the course was the name of the game. With gusts in excess of 30 knots and a nasty sea state. Half the fleet had at least one DNF in the series.

At the first weather rounding of the day, the only boat to pop a chute, was MAKO. Rest of the fleet watched with a chorus of oohs and aahs when the boat rolled into what has to be one of the more spectacular round downs we've seen, culminating in one loud bang and a snapped pole. Dave Michaelis commented, "Did someone say out of control? We planned to do that. Pic’s or it didn't happen. Oh wait a second, we saw pictures of us rounding down and going sideways. Matter of fact, there is a whole sequence of it. We didn't even hesitate popping the kite coming around the weather mark in the first race. We had great control during practice. But after we recovered and looked around we still found ourselves in second place. So then it was a scramble to get the headsail back up. Unfortunately we couldn't catch JoAnn. So MAKO didn't pop the kite for the other 3 races. We feel lucky that we only snapped a spinnaker pole and tore out the boom vang base. But it was fun to have those heavy conditions for a change."

Code Blue had their own issues in race one and two, and did not return to sail on Sunday -- "At the start of race 1, we had to delay our start by 3 min because the jib sheets came off. The j-hooks were not locked and they flogged off. We made a significant recovery, picking up 2 boats, but fell back after hitting and re-rounding the last leeward mark. In the 2nd race, we had a great start, but about 5 minutes into the race we heard a large bang, and the jib halyard dropped about a foot. We could not figure out what the problem was--thought it was a mast issue, so we retired. We let the committee boat know that conditions were very unsafe. Back at the dock, we found that the aluminum tang at the base of the mast, to which the halyard blocks are attached, had broken. The noise we heard was the block hitting the boom. Had we figured out what the problem was earlier, we could have continued," was Bob Marcus' take on the situation.

Strategem also sat out most of the weekend with equipment issues on Saturday and a MOB incident in Race 3 on Sunday. Mark Hinrichs' summed it up, "Strategem had a tough weekend starting only three of the four races and finishing only one. Here is an important safety tip: when it is blowing hard enough to blow your windex off, everybody should put on their PFD’s. ….AND… DO NOT sail wing and wing without a windex, because the accidental gybe (it’s coming) will launch the mast person (butt on the boom) 50 feet in a heartbeat. CREW OVERBOARD!!! Horseshoe buoy thrown, but COB did not get to it. We got the jib down and were back to pick her up quickly, but COB could not get her boots off (they were double knotted…not good) and was having trouble staying afloat.. This episode could have been very, very, ugly. Crew was quickly recovered, but was very, very chilled, so we retired from the last race.."

Power Play also had a MOB incident on Sunday, during Race 3. Having just popped their 3/4 ounce kite, they promptly had a crew member slide off the side of the boat and into the water. With a textbook recovery, Sparkle had the boat headed upwind for pickup before the crew had doused the spinnaker. Then, once they had gotten the crew back aboard, re-hoisted and picked up one spot in the standings. Sparkle also contributed to the efforts of at least 3 other boats by turning up at the dock on Sunday morning with a spare spinnaker pole (MAKO), #3 (Voodoo Doll) and headstay fitting (Strategem) to loan. Rumor is there will be some invoices in the mail ;-)

JoAnn was fortunate to survive a very tough weekend without any noticeable damage. She did sacrifice two of her jib sheets on Saturday to the Wind Gods of Hurricane Gulch. In return, JoAnn was rewarded with two brand new jib sheets on Sunday. Despite the gallant effort of the crew to absorb as much water as possible into their foul weather pants, JoAnn took on buckets of water. Several buckets of water were dumped overboard on the trip back into the marina after racing Saturday. Some of that water must have been when JoAnn’s cockpit was turned into a “seaside Jacuzzi” after being doused by one of many swells that broke over the bow and dumped onto Skipper Steve and Tactician Bob. There did not appear to be much sympathy offered from the bow crew to those in the back of the boat after the dunking, however.

JoAnn’s Crew Member Of The Regatta was awarded to Karen Campbell. There was much discussion as to the reason for her to receive this award… (a) Surviving both Saturday and Sunday’s action on the bow, (b) Completely drenched with early hyperthermia setting, (c) Two consecutive bad-hair days or (d) Was it that somehow she survived with all 10 long fingernails intact? For whatever reason, Karen is now proudly displaying JoAnn’s 2^nd Place Trophy in her office.

The regatta also saw some visiting members from the Great Lakes boat, Schock and All, owner Russ, and crew John, James and Nate, who sailed on various boats for the weekend and had a fantastic vacation out here. John added, "My big thanks goes out to Richard Fish/Walter Prue and the whole crew of Outlier for letting me join up with them on Saturday and Sunday. Walt kept us safe and toward the front finishing day one with a 4th. Walt's real victory came from the fact that during two days of heavy seas he brought the boat and crew home safe and with no injury or damage. It is also a testament to Richard Fish for a well maintained boat that stood up to the two day beating.

“For this Ohio boy, I really enjoyed the heavy seas. We see our own fair share of heavy air but it is "the rollers" that make it different. My true thanks goes out to all the Schock competitors who made us feel very welcome. Should you ever find yourself in the Great Lakes during sailing season, look us up and let’s go sailing!"

Voodoo Doll had its share of issues over the weekend as well, turning a #3 into a 1-1-1 on Saturday, and tearing through jib sheets like they were made of kitchen twine instead of warp speed on Sunday, costing the boat a bullet in Race 3. "We figured out on Saturday that keeping the boat upright and headed to the next mark was the key to the weekend. There was no real point in tearing up equipment and slowing the boat in the process. We were pretty surprised in Race 1 to see MAKO edge out ahead of us again after they snapped the pole, and we were beyond disappointed on Sunday in Race 3 when the port jib sheet was sliced through for the third time, but we just kept on trying to stay focused and get to the finish," said Kim Stuart.

The next High Point is Yachting Cup, scheduled on the first weekend of May in San Diego, kelp capital of the New World. Last year only 6 boats participated in the regatta, this year let's try to get everyone out to race!

With only days to go before the first High Point regatta of the new year, the weather folk were forecasting a complete drifter on Saturday and only marginally more wind on Sunday -- not very encouraging to the fleet members who were prepped to start the year off with some tight racing and hopes for victory.

Luckily the wind gods decided to smile on us, and we ended up with 10+ knots of breeze both days, fairly steady and not too shifty, giving the RC the chance to complete the scheduled 5 races in the series.

The weather was perfectly described by Richard Fish -- “We enjoyed such a beautiful weekend with the sun and a nice breeze - I don't remember such perfect conditions at a Midwinters! The beautiful conditions almost (but not quite) made up for our going so painfully slow! We went fine in the first race until we warmed up, then it was all downhill!” And with that said, the first High Point of the year left the fleet with some fun memories and happily no insurance claims or bar time wasted in the room.

Mark Hinrichs commented on the racing, “Very exciting racing. Very exciting starts. Very exciting decision to flop onto port and duck the fleet to get to the right side. Duck the lead boat, check. Then somehow communications with main trimmer break down, and he sheeted the main in. Then proceeded to duck the second boat (Voodoo Doll)…… well… not so much… “Ease.. Ease!.. Ease!!.. Ease!!!!!.. Yikes!!!!!!! OH CRAP!!!!! The very close to almost-disastrous failed duck is not a maneuver Strategem wishes to repeat anytime soon. Skipper had to wash his shorts.”

The placement of the leeward mark on Sunday left everyone shaking their heads and wondering whose idea it was to drop it in the middle of a field of lobster pots, next to a mooring can (with a tender tied up to it), and perfectly situated to center the oil platform squarely on the port tack line upwind. It certainly made for some tense moments following a couple of hectic roundings, which often included the slower PHRF classes reaching the bottom mark at the same time.

The start/finish line was also restricted, causing some consternation, and ultimately, a RAF for JoAnn on Saturday. "JoAnn’s crew, on the first downwind run during the first race of the Regatta, were overheard asking Skipper Steve and Tactician Bob if the start/finish line was restricted as other boats were jibing away. 'No problem', came the answer, as JoAnn was not on line for the start/finish as she was making her way to the leeward mark. On the second downwind leg of the first race, the crew was very excited about calling a terrific jibe angle from a nice distance away, landing on layline for the mark. Again, with the crew noticing all the other boats jibing away from the line, Steve and Bob assured the crew that the line was not restricted. With the help of a protest and hail from Outlier (and Power Play), Steve and Bob (re)learned the first lesson in racing…Read The Sailing Instructions!!", recounted one crew member.

Code Blue and Voodoo Doll, last year’s Co-winners of the Rookie of the Year Award, turned in their best finishes in High Point regattas to date, with 1st and 4th place spots, respectively. Bruce Bennett summed it up quite nicely, “Fun racing. It could have been anyone's regatta”.

The Voodoo Doll crew was ecstatic with their Saturday results and, while somewhat disappointed with the Sunday finishes, felt they had a good regatta overall; they were really happy to be racing, as Thursday morning before the regatta found the mast STILL on sawhorses in the Boatyard instead of in the boat. Having to cancel two practices the prior weekend didn't exactly instill everyone with confidence in the situation.

Power Play, last year’s season and Nationals runner-up, sailed shorthanded and while they had some blistering downwind speed, couldn’t keep the boat from slipping sideways up the hill. Rumor has it that Sparkle has already started rallying the troops for the CBYC OD Regatta and intends to finish at the top...

MAKO, defending season and Nationals champions, placed a respectable second for the weekend, though it was not without some tense moments. Sailing without Don onboard for the weekend (and the entire fleet wishes him a speedy recovery!), Dave Michaelis admitted to a bad moment, “Race three was going pretty well; it was us and JoAnn running neck and neck until I second guessed my tactician. He was telling me to tack after the leeward mark onto starboard. I started my tack and as I looked over I felt that I didn't have the room that I needed to clear the other boats coming into the mark. I hesitated, then got stuck in irons, letting the rest of the fleet pass us by. Heading back to the dock the mood on MAKO was pretty somber. We all felt that we were in the middle of the fleet. That night I had to explain to my son that yes a Schock 35 can get stuck in irons just like an 8 foot sabot.”

Congratulations to Code Blue on their first place for the regatta; the year is shaping up to provide some exciting racing within the fleet and it could be anyone’s chance on the podium.

TROPHIES AND AWARDS PRESENTED AT 2007 SCHOCK NATIONALS
TROPHY	WINNERS
National Championship	MAKO
National Season Hi Point Championship	MAKO
Wooden Spoon	Voodoo Doll
Good Guy Award	Dave Michaelis
Rookie(s) Of The Year	Voodoo Doll & Code Blue
Gutter Regatta	(1) Voodoo Doll (2) Veloce (3) Outlier "Best Of Show" Voodoo Doll