By Rich Roberts For the world’s only superpower, it wasn’t like splitting with Lithuania in basketball or not even qualifying in baseball – after all, we invented those sports – but what did you think of the medal count for American Olympic sailors? Is it, hey, weren’t our two medal successes wonderful? As 1992 silver…
Harken/McLube: What first attracted you to competitive sailing?
Samual “Shark” Kahn, the current world champion, won four of nine races
and led most of the week.
With only five points separating Col and second placed Shark Kahn it was still wide open going into this final race and the spectator boats were out in force to watch them fight it out.
Pegasus Racing and Shark
Still Leading On Day Three In Key West
It was a day of ups and downs in the Melges 24 fleet at Terra Nova Trading Key West today. The breeze was much shiftier and lighter than on the first two days and the change in conditions really put the sailors to the test.
Day two at Terra Nova Trading Key West provided the Melges 24 fleet with two more beautiful races. The battle between father and son Philippe and Shark Kahn cranked up a notch today and with four races completed the fourteen year old Shark now leads his father by 8 points.
The fifty-eight strong Melges 24 fleet opened their regatta at Terra Nova Trading Key West with two excellent races today. The only disappointment of the day was the weather, which failed to delivery the traditional Key West sunshine until mid afternoon and instead brought overcast skies and light showers.
Today’s two races brought thrills and spills as Melges and Kahn both found themselves down in the cheap seats for a change. After yesterday’s shifts the wind was rock steady at 225 and racing got underway at lunch time in 6 knots, which increased to around 16 knots by the end of race eight.
15 October 2003 – Harry Melges showed blistering speed on day three at the Audi Melges 24 World Championships in San Francisco to take two further bullets. Although very happy with his result Melges by no means had it all his own way and today’s racing was fast, furious and incredibly close. Melges’ nearest rival for the Championship, fourteen year old Shark Kahn, kept up an incredibly consistent performance posting a third and second leaving him trailing by just five points after six of the ten scheduled races.
14 October 2003 – After two more tough races at the Audi Melges 24 World Championships in San Francisco Harry Melges, helming for Jeff Ecklund, is still hanging onto his overall lead although fourteen year old Shark Kahn is giving him plenty to worry about and is now only 3 points behind him. “It was a good day but we missed a few opportunities and I don’t think we were quite as fast. I think some of the others found some speed today so it was tough.” commented Harry Melges after racing.
The outcome of the Pegasus 77-Pyewacket contest was determined early on, not by boat speed but by strategic differences of opinion.
A full moon lighted the way past the Diamond Head finish line for Philippe Kahn’s Pegasus 77 and a second consecutive Barn Door victory in the 2003 Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles early yesterday. Kahn’s arch rival later described the path laid by the lunar reflection on the water as “like sailing down the moon river,” but Roy E. DISNEY and his crew aboard Pyewacket were nearly five hours behind in a match of equally powerful sailing machines.
Boat Deftly Navigates 2,225-mile Crossing From L.A. To Honolulu To Win 42nd Transpacific Yacht Race By Nearly Five Hours
HONOLULU — LightSurf founder and chief executive officer Philippe Kahn won
the 42nd Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu.
With just one more day to go, the fight for supremacy in the Melges 24 fleet at Terra Nova Trading Key West 2004 is going to go all the way. Day four saw the race committee run two more excellent races despite a second day of shifty offshore winds of 12-16 knots. The completion of race seven today meant that the discard came into play and suddenly its all change on the leader board.