Cal 25 National Championship Regatta  Results 2001
Annapolis Maryland, Sept 1,2,3, 2001
 
Much thanks to Charlie Husar for this great description.  - webmaster
The competition was run in the Chesapeake Bay near Hackett Point just south of the Bay Bridge.  (The event was tied to the annual Annapolis Race Week.)  Most of the racing was competed in a strong ebb current (coming from the north.
We had a dead heat overall that went to the tiebreakers.
(Annapolis) 1. Arthur Libby IV in Love Shack (478)  2, 3, 1, 1
(Detroit) 2. Brian Shenstone in Draco (1633) 1, 1, 2, 3
The final tie breaker was best performance in the last race. Brian trailered his boat from Detroit for the competition along with his wife Joanne, crew members, and wives and friends.
In third place was an Annapolis boat from the Magothy River with the John Bremer, Harris Hester, Bob Seay syndicate on Double Trouble (1625).
Fourth place went to Charlie Husar on Chicken Little (1657) from Annapolis.
Fifth place went to Jim Burdick on Makani (5854) from Annapolis. Makani is a former Detroit boat.
Day 1 (Saturday September 1) started with a good northerly blow on an incoming high pressure front with some boats even testing their No. 2s before the race.  After the start, the wind died rapidly turning into a shifty set of puffs and holes.  On the second windward leg, Draco with Brain Shenstone found a good wind line toward the shore in pressed into the lead for the victory.  Only one race could be competed.
Day 2 (Sunday) started with a good northeasterly breeze that, once again rapidly died resulting in conditions like the previous day.  Draco went to the right on a very long windward tack.  He bucked the deeper water current, but found more air, and won handily.  Arthur Libby in Love Shack survived sailing with his anchor (air near zero at that point) near the leeward mark of the second upwind to come back for a third place.  Leo Surla in Harlequin sailed a similar course to Draco to come in second.  Only one race could be competed.
Day 3 (Monday) started with a weak easterly that gradually turned southeast, then south as winds gradually improved.  The shifty conditions, however, pretty much ruled the weekend.  Initially, the boats that went to the right did not do well, but that position improved with each succeeding windward leg.  Once again there were many holes and shifts, so the boats that did the best with the wind lines while avoiding the holes were the most successful.  Of the two races Monday, Love Shack won the first by a decent margin, but in the second race, there was a tight competition among Draco, Love Shack, Double Trouble and Chicken Little.  A spinnaker gybing duel at the finish resulted in Love shack First, Double Trouble second, and Draco third.  This gave the National Championship to Love Shack and Arthur Libby.
For those who have been around the CAL 25 Fleet for a while there are a couple significant items.  We had a dock party and cookout on Sunday at CAL row on Spa Creek in Eastport Annapolis. A dozen CAL 25s were docked there.
Among the visitors to the party were a couple visiting Annapolis during an East Coast tour on their CAL 46-1 Satori.  (It was in fact the boat built for Jack Jensen himself in the mid 60s).  The couple was none other than Tom and Bobbi Vandiver.  Tom used to live in Long Beach, California and was the CAL 25 National Champion in 1972.
Also for those of you with some history in the CAL 25 Fleet, this year's National Champion is the son of Arthur Libby III, a fine CAL 25 racer in the 70s.  Father Art was competing the Annapolis Race Week on his Pearson 30 #1 Results.  Son Arthur also had brother Tim competing on Love shack.