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Left: a spectacular day even for old Havana and one of the most famous photos in the Star Class’s long history. Willard Hodges and John McCrillis launch off a wave at the 1946 Worlds – with crews laying out along the rail McCrillis broke several ribs when their boat landed; 60 years before today’s equally violent foiling Imocas prompted a first twinkle in Guillaume Verdier’s eye. The stuff of legends (above)… it blew 25kt+ every day for the 1972 US Star Olympic trials on San Francisco Bay. Lowell North and Pete Barrett (pictured) won this race – which finished in 45kt of wind – but could only finish third overall. On the same leg Tom Blackaller and Bill Munster sailed their Star Good Grief! under, finally sinking as they rounded up for the beat still full of water
The racing is some of the best you will find anywhere in the sport. I made this same observation in my April 2001 Seahorse article, after coming back to the class and duking it out in that Bacardi Cup with class greats like Reynolds, Brun, Bromby, Beashel and Torben Grael – several of whom I had just finished racing against as my America’s Cup competitors a month earlier in Auckland! The Star is a ‘violin’ of a boat. The rig has lots of strings attached to it that need to be tuned. Constantly. Tune them perfectly and you are going well in that condition. If the wind speed drops half a knot or the sea builds a bit you need to retune your violin. This technical challenge coupled with all the great sailors who have trespassed through the Star Class are what make the racing so special for all these years.
This year also marks the 100th year of Star World Champion - ships. To honour this amazing life the class is producing a book recalling those 100 world championships, the venues, and the com- petitors. The 2022 Championship will be held at Eastern Yacht Club in Marblehead, Massachusetts, the host of two previous world championships. The first world championship was held at Larchmont Yacht Club in 1922, on Long Island Sound.
We will be honouring each year of the world championship by assigning all entrants a sail number from 1922 to 2022. There will be a gala dinner midweek, hosted by Bacardi, that will be very special. All of the class’s perpetual trophies will be on display, and we expect a number of former world champions to be in attendance even if some are no longer racing.
In writing this piece I am reminded of how fortunate I was to have come into the Star Class 45 years ago. The memories I have of my first world championship in 1978 on San Francisco Bay; 100 boats on the starting line on Berkeley Circle, 25kt of breeze blowing through the Gate, five boats sinking at the first mark of the first race, Melges flying away from the fleet with his yarn tempered super- flat sails, Blackaller and Conner doing all they could to get in his way, Bill Gerard and I finishing a creditable fourth behind those three, Ding Schoonmaker right behind us in fifth, Buchan, Petterson, Wagner, Lundqvist and Henderson rounding out the top 10. Everyone dressing for the opening ceremony, the midweek and final prizegiving dinner…
This experience and all my subsequent years in the Star Class have been integral to the sailor I am. This is where my sailing heart and soul come from. And today I am still racing my Star and sharing all this with my son Danny, the grandson of Pelle Petterson, who is the class’s newest life member! Very blessed!!
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