Reports From Rich Roberts

Mark Gaudio reached far down into his arsenal of sailing skill and determination to beat back a strong, young challenge by Freddie Stevens by one point to win his second consecutive and 12th overall Naples Sabot Senior championship hosted by Alamitos Bay Yacht Club Saturday and Sunday.

 

Stevens, 27, representing the host club, and Gaudio, a 53-year-old veteran from Bahia Corinthian YC and winner of various classes of boats, small and large, during his versatile career, were by far the two fastest of the eight-foot, single-sail dinghies that were born on the small bay during WW II.

 

And it was a dogfight that reached its height in the final race, with most of the barking and growling coming from Gaudio. 

 

Stevens, who won the title in 2005, trailed Gaudio by a point going into the sixth and last race but could claim the crown on a tiebreaker by winning it. To raise the bar, a quirk in the scoring left Gaudio with a tricky strategy based not on winning but forcing Stevens to finish worse than third.

 

It was essentially and totally a match race, with Gaudio pulling every aggressive maneuver in his book—trying to force Stevens over the start line early, later carrying him past the wrong side of the windward mark as other boats went by—until the job was done.  

 

Gaudio had put himself in a vulnerable position in the third race Saturday. After winning the first two, he bumbled away the lead in the third by going for the finish line instead of the windward mark a lap too soon. He managed to recover to place fourth, leaving Stevens with an overnight one-point lead.

 

But Stevens returned the break and opened the door for Gaudio when he jumped start in the first race Sunday and failed to restart, not realizing his error until four laps later when he led Gaudio across the finish line by 20 yards without getting a whistle.

 

Stevens then pulled his act back together with a runaway win in the fifth race, and after discarding his earlier blunder entered the showdown one point behind.

 

As the breeze built to 18 knots, best of the weekend, Gaudio went to work, working into position to control Stevens while totally ignoring the competition. Stevens finally broke free on the last beat to the finish, but by then he was in fourth place. When he saw his tactics had worked, Gaudio, 40 yards from the finish in fifth place, spun his boat around and headed for the docks.

 

“I did the math,” Gaudio said. “I play hard and do my job … play ball control, try to frazzle him and knock him off his game.” 

 

He dropped out, he said, “as soon as I saw my job was done. He knows the game.” 

 

The non-finish became his throwout score.

 

Stevens said, “His whole plan was to take me out.”

 

Gaudio said the strategy was somewhat dictated by their superiority.

 

“When there are only two or three fast guys with that long a course it’s different,” he said.

 

Stevens said, “I was just trying to sail my own race, but we have a different gear than everybody else. We were in a different time zone.”

 

Trophy winners  

 

CLYDESDALE (min. weight 220 pounds)

1. Jeff McDermaid, Alamitos Bay YC, 1-1-1, 3 points.

2. Robert Rice, ABYC, 2-2-2, 6.

3. Steve Kent, Balboa YC, 3-3-3, 9.

 

SABOT SENIOR (18 and older)

1. Mark Gaudio, Bahia Corinthian YC, 1-1-4-1-2-(DNF/15), 9.

2. Freddie Stevens, ABYC, 2-2-1-(OCS/15)-1-4, 10.

3. Mike Bartell, BYC, 3-4-3-2-(5)-3, 15.

4. Danny North, SDYC, (9)-6-2-4-4-2, 18.

5. Darren DeSilva, Dana Point YC, 4-7-5-7-6-(8), 29.

 

SABOT MASTER (40 and older)

1. Erik Mayol, BCYC, 1-(4)-3-3-4-2, 13.

2. Robin Townsend, ABYC, 5-3-4-1-2-(6), 15.

3. John Ellis, ABYC, 2-(8)-1-2-6-5, 16.

4. Betty Becker, San Diego YC, (9)-1-2-6-5-3, 17.

5. Geves Kenny, SDYC, 32-(5)-5-4-1-4, 17.

 

GRAND MASTER (65 and older)

1. Pinky Greene, BYC/ABYC, 5-1-1, 7.

2. Mary Riddick, ABYC, 1-3-3, 7.

3. Rowell Green, BYC/ABYC, 4-2-4, 8.