2007 OPERA HOUSE CUP
Light winds, tight finishes
BY STEVE SHEPPARD INDEPENDENT SPORTS EDITOR
The 35th Opera House Cup is now in the books, and the day and the race was a beauty. "It was definitely the best race I've

Sailboats cross the line during Sunday's second start, above. Overall winner Black Watch (sail number 71) is in the foreground. Left, Emyl Hattingh enjoys the view from the rigging aboard the schooner When and If.

seen in ten years," Nick Judson would say Monday morning.

Judson, the executive director of Nantucket Community Sailing, the overseer of the classic wooden boat race for the last ten years, said despite Sunday's light winds there was plenty of action.

"What was amazing about this race was how close the boats were throughout," he said. "They were close around each marker, and boats were finishing within seconds of each other. One of the most impressive finishes of the day was in the Alerion class, where you have two 26-foot boats sail a 15-mile course and cross within 30 feet of each other at the finish." (For the record, the one and two boats in that finish were Bapple, skippered by several time Alerion winner Bruce Failing, and Fast Tracks, skippered by Tom Darling.

PHOTOS BY ROB BENCHLEY/The Independent

Black Watch, skippered by Trevor Fetter, was the overall winner of the classic, wooden-hulled regatta. The 68-foot yawl from Newport, Rhode Island was the fourth boat to cross the finish line but, after the handicap formula was applied, shot up to first. Columbia came in second place and White Wings, the first boat across the finish line, placed third.

Although 68 boats had registered for the race, 55 boats were at the start Sunday afternoon, and all 55 finished. (Last place finisher Molly Rose, a 28-foot catboat, was honored with the Gwen Gaillard Spirit of the Race Award for the determination and perseverance of her crew.)

The winds were light Sunday, but Saturday's steady blows would have been too strong for the race to take place, Judson noted. "By Sunday, there were incredibly light conditions out of the north, and the race was postponed for an hour and 10 minutes," he said. "We got calls from Eel Point and from the south shore, saying the wind was filling in, and we were able to get the starts off."

There were three separate starts, with smaller boats like the Alerions going off first and the largest yachts, like the 12-metres, being sent off third.

The light winds were better than no wind, the conditions that greeted the field 10 years ago. "It was the first Opera House Cup sponsored by Nantucket Community Sailing, and we had to abandon the race for lack of wind," Judson recalled. Sunday, comparatively, was downright blustery.

Other special awards given out Sunday night were:

Robert H. Tiedemann Award, for the most authentically maintained boat, went to Peggy Bawn, a 36-foot gaff cutter from Ireland -

Performance Awards, to: Arion, a 42-foot ketch; Juno, a 65-foot shooner; Shadow, a 27.50-foot sloop.

Visit the Nantucket Community Sailing Web site,

www.nantucketsailing.com for full results. I

35TH ANNUAL OPERA HOUSE CUP RACE RESULTS

Overall winner: Black Watch
Homeport: Newport, R.I.
Owner/Skipper: Trevor Fetter
Built: Nevins 1938
Designer: Sparkman & Stephens
Winds: SW 5-10 knots
Course: "S" + 1/2 mile weather leg
Registered: 68 boats
Starters: 55 boats
Finishers: 55 boats

Class Winners
12-metre class: Columbia
Alerion class: Bapple
Division Winners
"Classic" division: Black Watch
"Spirit of Tradition": White Wings
First to finish: White Wings
Awards
Gwen Gaillard Spirit of the Race: Molly Rose
Robert H. Tiedemann Award: Peggy Bawn
Performance Awards: Arion, Juno, Shadow

RACE WEEK RESULTS

12-Metre Regatta Final Results:
Vintage Division:
First place: Northern Light (skippered by Charlie Gustin);
2nd- Onawa;
3rd- Gleam (skippered by John Everetts)
Classic Division:
First place: Weatherly;
2nd- Nefertiti; 3
rd--American Eagle
IOD Pro-Am:
1st--Jim Bishop; Brad Read professional
2nd--Robert Constable; Gary Weisman professional
3rd--Ernest Jacquet/Sandy Yellot;
Geoff Moore professional
Sail Nantucket Series (skippers' names in parentheses):
Classic Division:
1st--Piera (Daniel Harper)
2nd--Sumurun (Buzz Goodall)
3rd--Fortune (Don Classie)

Racing Spinnaker Division:
1st--Mustang (Harvey Jones)
2nd--Ruse (Bill Marsh)
3rd--Maakona (Chris DeCollilous)
Cruising Non-Spinnaker Division:
1st--Chinook (Neil Tomkinson)
2nd--Saylavee (Peter Soule)
3rd--Star (Joe Standardt)
Unlimited Dinghy Division:
1st--White Wings (C. Bliss/ D. Tofias)
2nd--Wild Horses (G. Kritzinger)
3rd--Sleighride (Greg Yeo)
PHRF Race to Nantucket (corrected times):
Cruising Division--1st place Saylavee, 2nd place Zingara,
(separated by 20 seconds) 3rd place Club Car.
Racing B Division--1st place Ruse, 2nd place Grimace,
3rd place Chinook.
Racing A Division--1st place White Wings, 2nd place
Shindig.