Results>1999>International regatta
The
1999 Tasar International Regatta
Mikkabi Youth Centre, Lake Hamana-ko
Japan, September 18-26, 1999
Ben Nicholas and Thomas Winter from Darwin, Australia dominated a 77 boat fleet to win the 1999 Tasar International Regatta. Ben and Thomas had the regatta won after 8 of 10 races, with 6 firsts, a 4th and an 8th. They won race 9 and discarded their 8th and a black flag disqualification in the final race to finish the regatta with 11 points.
Ten races were sailed in varied conditions, with winds ranging from a light 4 to 6 knots in some races and up to 14 knots in others. A typhoon on the west coast of Japan never brought strong winds to the regatta site, although all boats were moved to secure locations on the lay day as a precaution. (A tornado did hit Toyohashi, about 50 km away, causing several deaths and considerable damage.)
Japanese teams were very strong in this regatta. Ikuya and Noriko Tanaka won race 10 to move up to second with 31 points, one point ahead of George and Natsuki Motoyoshi. Americans Paul Beavis and Todd Adrian were fourth with 37 points, ahead of the Japanese team of Nobuhiro and Haruna Tsutsumi, who won race 5 and finished 5th with 47.points.
Martin Linsley and Nick Gray in 6th (AUS, 57 points), Yasushi and Mahoro Uchimura in 7th (JPN, 68), Yutaka and Kanoko Murayama in 8th (JPN, 82), Takumi Ozawa and Hiroki Ishihara in 9th (JPN, 98) and Tim and Mayumi Knight (GBR, 101) rounded out the top 10. Yasuhira and Noriko Ueda, who finished 13th with 114 points, were the other team to score a bullet, winning race 7.
Constantine Udo and Jan Slotemaker from Holland finished 14th with 118 points to win the Grand Masters. The Japanese team of Minoru Minoura and Tsuyoshi Hachisuka finished 18th with 217 points to win the Masters. Bryan and Moira Hill, with combined ages of over 120, were designated "Super Grand Masters" and awarded a trophy for their 66th place. Frank Bethwaite, sailing with Eriko Ikeda, who was 3rd in race 1 when it was abandoned in a dying breeze as the leaders rounded the first mark, and who finished 52nd overall, also received a Super Grand Master's award to recognize his sailing skills at age 79.
Todd and Leslie Blumel were the top Canadian team, finishing 32nd with 237 points. Richard and Helen Spencer were 40th with 271 points. American David Ryan, sailing with Shoko Hirao, was black flagged in race 1 and then withdrew from the regatta to go to Taiwan to report on the major earthquake for his newspaper.
Excellent race management and a social program that brought all competitors together off the water made this one of the best Tasar world events ever. Support for overseas entrants was outstanding, and special thanks go to Noriko Tanaka, who worked for many months to make sure that every question from outside Japan was answered, and who continued to help throughout the regatta (and was still able to finish second overall - amazing!).
Richard Spencer
posted 99-09-27